"I'm going to the sea. Do you have any ideas?"
Zhang Xiaoqiang didn't want to waste his time on these trivial matters and expressed his idea. Angor immediately guessed Zhang Xiaoqiang's intention and did not try to stop him. He pointed at the sea and said, "I know you're from the sea, so you should know a lot more than I do. But think about it. The inner sea is different from the outer sea. The seabed where you came from is very high, so large creatures can't get in. But the outer sea is different, especially in the deep water. There are many monsters lurking there. They eat everything floating on the surface …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang was speechless. The big fish made him realize that the monsters in the water were much scarier than those on land. If it was already like that in the freshwater, there was no need to say anything about the deep water. He was just trying his luck, but Angor's warning dispelled his hope. Zhang Xiaoqiang did not think that Angor was lying to him. The middle-aged man had an outstanding scholarly temperament and bright eyes. He was not a despicable person. Otherwise, Zhang Xiaoqiang would not have thrown Karina away. He believed that Karina was being punished for a good reason.
"Monsters in the deep water usually attack slow-moving ships. Once an assault boat starts moving, only a sailfish can catch up to it. If you're lucky, you won't run into one. These fish usually live in the tropics and sub-tropics. It's too cold here …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang had never heard of a sailfish. Just because there was no sailfish here did not mean Zhang Xiaoqiang did not care. If his plan was correct, his destination was the entrance of the Yangtze River in Shanghai in the southeast.
"How fast is that thing?
An assault boat can go 65 nautical miles per hour. There shouldn't be a fish that fast, right? "
Zhang Xiaoqiang said with uncertainty. Angor shook his head with a wry smile.
"Sailfish can go up to 130 miles per hour. That's 120 nautical miles …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang stared at the sea blankly while Karina stood behind him. Angor went to the kitchen to prepare Zhang Xiaoqiang's lunch. Zhang Xiaoqiang brought about more than 50 kilograms of supplies, excluding the ones he kept for himself. Considering the number of people on the ship, this amount could last them for more than 20 days. This was a huge favor. Of course, Angor had to treat Zhang Xiaoqiang well. It would be even better if Zhang Xiaoqiang did not leave.
It was another sunny day, and the sun was shining warmly on them. Zhang Xiaoqiang did not feel as relaxed as yesterday. He was very anxious. He knew it would be difficult, but he did not expect it to be this difficult. Going home by sea was his only option. No matter how difficult it was, he had to solve it …
"That thing on the roof over there, is it the hen you were talking about?"
Zhang Xiaoqiang asked Karina while pointing at the building Angor pointed at. Karina turned around and looked at Pavel, who walked up to Zhang Xiaoqiang in a friendly manner. "That's our neighbor. There were about 30 of them. They tried to rob us, but Angor beat them off. They traded a can of sugar for some potato seeds. That's how we maintained a good relationship. We traded some useful supplies through the underground sewers. Then it started raining, and we lost contact …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang nodded and kept looking through the binoculars. He saw a large sign behind the man, which was written in Russian that he did not recognize. Since he was too far away, no one except Zhang Xiaoqiang could see what was written on the sign. And Zhang Xiaoqiang could not see it anyway.
"They probably ran out of food. I don't know what happened …"
Pavel, who was standing beside Zhang Xiaoqiang, could guess what it meant. He said to Zhang Xiaoqiang casually. They had seen too many things like this. Even if Pavel knew what was going on, he could not do anything about it, and they would be in big trouble themselves.
Zhang Xiaoqiang went downstairs and stood by the window, smoking a cigarette and looking at the zombies outside. Various thoughts flashed through his mind. There were rules of survival in the city, and there were rules of survival in the wild. After Zhang Xiaoqiang's army recovered the city, they found some survivors. Zhang Xiaoqiang only knew about them, but he never saw them. They were all sent to the rear to farm. He did not expect to meet foreign urban survivors in a foreign country.
Everything Angor said replayed in Zhang Xiaoqiang's mind. Sunlight shone through the golden window and passed by him, leaving various spots of light on the ground behind him. Standing in the sunlight, Zhang Xiaoqiang felt a lot warmer. A strange idea came to his mind. He could make Angor obey him, help him clear the zombies, recover this area, and then …
Thinking up to this point, Zhang Xiao Qiang stopped himself. This wasn't practical, or rather, he didn't want to go back to the era of empires. Farming also depended on the location. If he were to farm in a foreign country, it would be the outsiders who benefited.
As he was struggling, Angor came in and stood beside Zhang Xiaoqiang with a hesitant look. Zhang Xiaoqiang stared at him, waiting for him to speak. After a while, Angor said hesitantly, "I know a way to get him there. There's no danger, but I need tools …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang was overjoyed. As he listened to Angor's explanation, he cursed himself for not thinking about it. Angor's method was simple. Powered umbrella.
Powered umbrella was the safest type of aircraft. Even if it stopped in the air, it could still glide down like a paraglider.
There were two types of powered umbrella: the wheeled type and the backpack type. The wheeled type was safer than the backpack type because it had a shock absorber.
However, a seemingly simple powered umbrella required a lot of work, and an experienced craftsman was needed to make it. Angor did not come up with the idea. It was his neighbor, Akim. Akim was a fan of powered umbrellas. Powered umbrellas were not cheap, and Akim could not afford one with his salary. He learned online and made a decent one himself.
The original idea was to gather enough materials and parts from both sides to see if they could make a powered umbrella. This way, they could travel to different places and search for food and supplies. Unfortunately, they did not have any. They could only go to a metal factory five kilometers away to find the necessary materials and equipment.
When Zhang Xiao Qiang heard this, he felt a little depressed. Why was it so troublesome to create a kinetic umbrella? What he didn't know was that while it looked simple, it was actually complicated. It had high requirements for the materials. Otherwise, all the kinetic umbrellas in the country would be imported, and no manufacturer would dare to produce them.
"If you can find a way to get Akim here, maybe we can make a powered umbrella …"
Angor paused. There was something else he did not say. If Zhang Xiaoqiang could reclaim the supermarket like he did yesterday, he would not have to go to the metal factory five kilometers away. There were enough tools and spare parts in the supermarket. However, the thousand zombies outside the supermarket made him shut his mouth.
"When do we leave?"
Karina looked at Zhang Xiaoqiang in surprise since he did not translate what Zhang Xiaoqiang just said. Urged by Angor, Karina repeated Zhang Xiaoqiang's words with a stutter. Angor was surprised …
Following Zhang Xiaoqiang's valiant declaration, Angor went to the rooftop and found his three subordinates. He told them what Zhang Xiaoqiang told him. Korchagin was the first to yell, "Don't believe him! This Chinese is a madman! Why should we risk our lives for Akim? We only have one life. It's a blessing from the heavens that we're still alive. I don't want to waste my precious life …"
Then Guslav joined the discussion. He waved his fist in the air and yelled, "Unless he gives me alcohol, I won't go.
"I won't go unless he gives me alcohol. I need alcohol to give me courage. I know he has it. Angor, he gave you a bottle yesterday. He still has the other one. If he gives it to me, I'll go …"
Angor slapped his forehead and looked at Pavel, who had a gloomy expression on his face. Pavel seemed to have made up his mind when he saw Angor looking at him. He nodded to Angor. "None of us expected him to make it out alive yesterday. But he did, and he was carrying a bag heavier than mine. He showed up at our place without us noticing. If he's hostile, we'll all be dead. Why shouldn't we trust someone like that?
Maybe this is our chance … "
Pavel was abandoned by his sister and eaten by zombies, and he still managed to escape. He was a decisive and courageous young man. He had faith in Zhang Xiaoqiang, and he also had faith in himself.
"Yeah, I'm going to die. It's not too much to give me a bottle, right? If one bottle is not enough, half a bottle will do …"
"Shut up!"
Angor yelled at Guslav. Seeing that Angor was angry, Guslav quickly shut his mouth. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked down at his feet. "Pavel is right.
Going is our chance. This man is mysterious, and I think we're in luck. Maybe we'll live a good life with him. Pavel, Guslav, and I will go out. Korchagin will stay here. If we don't come back, you can take care of the children and the women. "
Next, he looked at Old Slav.
"I'll give you a sip, and I'll give you the rest when we get back. I still have half a bottle of high-grade alcohol in my stash …"