No Choice

Maybe important people just like to arrive fashionably late.

It wasn’t until exactly 3 PM that the doors to the conference room opened again. Standing at the entrance was a sharp-eyed man with a hooked nose—he was the current commander of the base, Lu Linyuan.

Lu Linyuan swept his gaze across everyone seated at the table, then nodded slightly.

No one was late.

The moment he stepped into the room, the entire atmosphere dropped several degrees. Everyone straightened up immediately, falling silent, no longer chatting as they had been moments before.

Behind Lu Linyuan followed another man—Pei Shoucang, the head of the logistics department. He wore a worried expression, sighed, and slumped into the last empty seat at the table, on the far right. His head was lowered, and he looked utterly dejected.

Ping Chengcheng raised her brows slightly—she had a good idea why. Running a base this large required a massive amount of food. If she remembered correctly, during this exact period in her previous life, many survivors were participating in tasks to earn food. But the rations provided by the base were shrinking rapidly, leading to several major riots.

Though the uprisings were eventually suppressed, the base lost a great deal of expendable resources and nearly half of its labor force. That was a serious blow to its development.

Judging by Pei Shoucang’s demeanor, it was clear—the food supply was nearly gone. If they didn’t replenish the reserves soon, history would repeat itself.

Ping Chengcheng did, in fact, know about a military grain depot located in A City, and she even knew its exact location. But for now, she had no plans to bring it up. She wanted to hear what Lu Linyuan, the current commander, had to say first.

Lu Linyuan took the main seat as naturally as breathing. He exuded a sharp, commanding aura, though his eyes carried a hint of exhaustion.

He had built this base in S City from the ground up, and now it was facing a food crisis. It felt, to him, like walking a tightrope.

If they didn’t secure more food, chaos was inevitable within the base.

“Everyone, I’m sure you’re already aware—our food supplies are almost depleted.”

“Even at the bare minimum allocation, we can only last about two more months.”

Lu Linyuan sighed, his gaze deep and distant. Ping Chengcheng noticed the increasing streaks of white in his hair.

He seemed like a competent leader. But… she remembered what Shen Mengyuan had told her before.

So she felt no goodwill toward him. In fact, a bit of disgust.

If the opportunity arose, she wouldn’t mind eliminating him. Consider it a gift to a friend.

Of course, Lu Linyuan wasn’t someone easy to kill. Even if she succeeded, it would expose her and make it impossible to stay at the S City base.

She had never seen it with her own eyes, but she was certain—without a doubt—there were plenty of people from the Security Department or other special units guarding him at all times.

And who knew? Maybe he was even wearing an exoskeleton right now.

Ping Chengcheng discreetly scanned the conference table and saw it—ambition—burning in the eyes of several people, just like in Xiao Lie back then.

So this… was the allure of power?

Lu Linyuan was no fool. He understood exactly what the people under him were thinking. But to him, the greater their ambition, the more eager they were to make achievements—and that benefited the base.

He’d even said before: if someone could truly impress him, he’d step down willingly.

He had no problem handing over leadership to someone capable. He was tired. Worn out. Though the apocalypse had only lasted three months so far, he had lost far too much already.

Lu Linyuan continued speaking, Ping Chengcheng listening half-heartedly. She’d hoped they might have an actual plan, but his closing statement was:

“From here on out, I want the reconnaissance team to expand their search area—focus on unexplored supermarkets, warehouses, and even residential buildings.”

“In addition to personnel from the logistics department, I want members from the Order Division, the Combat Division, and the Security Division involved in resource searches.”

“All other available department staff should assist the Support Division.”

“What do you all think?”

It sounded like a thankless job, but no one objected. All the department heads and chiefs nodded in agreement.

Lu Linyuan hummed in approval. “Everyone discuss the plan—we’ll settle on a final course of action.”

The room buzzed with activity. Senior staff began exchanging ideas, suggesting changes, refining proposals.

But to Ping Chengcheng, it was all getting increasingly boring.

Seriously? Over ten thousand people, and you want to rely on rummaging through random supermarkets and apartments?

When would they ever have enough food?

Xiao Lie was also actively contributing. He proposed assigning the Third Unit as escorts for the resource team. Ping Chengcheng couldn’t help but chuckle.

Xiao Lie shot her a cold glare.

She shrugged and leaned toward him, speaking in a whisper: “Hey, I’ve got a piece of information you’ll definitely be interested in.”

Her voice was so low that only Xiao Lie heard her.

He raised an intrigued brow. “Oh? What info?”

“A military grain depot.”

“What?!” Xiao Lie was stunned, barely keeping his voice low.

“You sure it’s legit?”

Ping Chengcheng crossed her arms with a scoff. “Believe it or not, it’s true. It’s on the outskirts of A City, near the mountains.”

Xiao Lie mulled it over. This girl had no reason to lie—chances were, she was telling the truth.

“Hmph. Alright, I’ll believe you this once.”

Then, Xiao Lie looked up at the still-lively discussion around the table and smiled smugly. Looks like this round… was his win.

He stood, clapped his hands, and the room immediately fell silent. Lu Linyuan turned to him with a gentle smile and nodded.

“Commander Xiao, did you think of an important detail?”

Xiao Lie smiled. “Not quite. I just have a piece of news.”

“A military grain depot.”

A military grain depot?!

The room erupted.

“You sure? Did you see it yourself?!”

Xiao Lie let out a soft scoff and turned toward Ping Chengcheng. “She’s the one who told me. She says there’s a military grain depot in the mountains at the edge of A City.”

“She knows the exact location.”

At that moment, many eyes filled with jealousy turned toward Xiao Lie, and people stared at the girl with burning intensity.

Damn it—Xiao Lie really got lucky!

Lu Linyuan cleared his throat, signaling for silence.

He nodded to Xiao Lie. “Xiao Lie, you have a good eye for people.”

Then he turned to Ping Chengcheng.

“Is what you said true?”

She nodded without hesitation. “It’s true.”

Lu Linyuan furrowed his brows in thought. “In that case, Xiao Lie, tomorrow send out your intel squad’s drones with her to confirm and investigate.”

“If it checks out and no one else has beaten us there…”

“Then we’ll dispatch all necessary forces—combat, logistics, medical—to secure it!”

Zhao Chang looked uneasy. “But… the corpse tide in A City…”

Before he could finish, Lu Linyuan raised a hand to cut him off—almost like he was deliberately hiding something.

He shook his head. “We have no choice. If we succeed, the food crisis will be completely solved.”

“Besides, we can scout for a route with fewer infected first.”

No one objected, though Zhao Chang still looked worried as he glanced at the girl. A City right now was practically a deathtrap… even if she was strong, it was unlikely she’d get out unscathed. The number of special infected over there was growing at a frightening rate.

Ping Chengcheng was completely unaware of all this. She leaned on her hand, yawning lazily. In her past life, she’d only been a civilian guard and never really knew much about A City’s military base situation. But she figured—as a mutant, as long as she was careful, nothing too bad should happen.

After all, things were different now. With her evolved legs—even if she couldn’t win in a fight—she was very confident she could run.