You were supposed to hoard supplies, why the heck did you hoard zombies!

Zhang Meng was a businessman.

He was before, and he still was even after the end of the world had come.

It was on his advice that Li Wanhao decided to open up to the outside world.

And so, a market area was established specifically for foreign trade.

Initially, Wanhao District imposed very strict controls on the survivors that passed through the settlement.

The reason was simple.

Supplies.

The more people there were, the more supplies were consumed.

Even though Li Wanhao had led people to occupy Market Street and gathered a large amount of supplies from the various shops there.

No matter how abundant, supplies eventually were non-renewable.

An additional person meant an extra mouth to feed.

And one more share of consumption.

Most of his subordinates shared the same opinion.

With so many supplies, as long as they could hold onto the Market Street territory, the hundred or so people under them wouldn't starve.

Li Wanhao's initial strategy was to hold the secure area and wait for government rescue.

But as time passed, hope in people's hearts grew dimmer.

Zhang Meng, who held a negative opinion of the government, seized the opportunity to make his proposal. Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

That was to give up the idea of holding out for help and to open their doors to absorb survivors who had no place to settle.

More people certainly meant more consumption of supplies, but it could also directly enhance the strength of the settlement, bringing many benefits.

For one, it could directly boost their territory's combat power.

Secondly, it could increase the number of people available for scavenging and exploration, thus acquiring more supplies.

And these two advantages became increasingly apparent as time went on.

They not only built walls around Market Street, but also cleared out several factories near the original card factory.

Li Wanhao established Wanhao District on this basis and formally issued a new type of currency for internal use.

This New Currency began to circulate rapidly through trade with other settlements.

Wanhao District, with its abundance of people and food, became the source of credit for the New Currency.

With the New Currency being produced almost endlessly by the card factory, Wanhao District, like a giant beast with a huge appetite, absorbed the population and supplies of nearby settlements.

And Zhang Meng's position became unshakable because of this.

Peng Yue's visit this time was under the pretext of trading with him.

Those several carts full of canned goods and instant noodles were his gesture to earn Zhang Meng's trust.

The goods were quickly brought in.

A tea table with a missing corner held four or five cans with different names.

The cardboard box next to it was filled to the brim with packs of noodles.

Each one was individually wrapped.

Plastic bags were worthless.

There were at least four or five factories producing cling film and plastic bags in the industrial area.

The plastic bags made from materials in the warehouses were enough to go around the entire Sujiang Province.

Zhang Meng initially didn't take it seriously.

Canned goods and instant noodles.

Quite common.

But when he inadvertently saw the words on them, he sat up suddenly and grabbed the can closest to him.

His sharp gaze fixated on the words on the can.

"Dog meat canned food?"

"There are such cans in Sanjiang City?"

Zhang Meng's gaze slowly moved down, then stopped again.

"Zhang's Group Food Limited Company?"

"What company is this?"

"Never heard of it."

Peng Yue, who was next to him, had already started to chuckle.

Hearing his laughter, Zhang Meng's heart suddenly tightened as he instantly understood something.

He then turned his head abruptly to Peng Yue and exclaimed,

"Did you make these yourselves?"

"Peng Liu, open it for Director Zhang to see,"

Peng Yue didn't answer him; instead, he instructed Peng Liu to open each of the cans on the table one by one.

Soon, the rich aroma of meat wafted through the first-floor space.

Zhang Meng stared blankly at the four or five opened cans in front of him.

Each looked very fresh.

A layer of light yellow grease floated on the milky white broth.@@novelbin@@

This was an unrivaled temptation for the survivors of today.

Fat and juicy?

Most of them couldn't even manage to fill their bellies every day.

Let alone get any dietary fat and oil.

This box full of canned food meant more than just sustenance.

It also meant plenty of protein and fat.

This was valuable nutrition.

And such a precious commodity was actually produced by Peng Yue himself?

"This isn't the meat from those stray dogs outside, is it?"

Zhang Meng suddenly asked.

These days, it wasn't uncommon for people to eat the meat of wild beasts.

After all, the most prolific animals outside were stray dogs and rats.

Even though their appearances and behaviors had somewhat differed from the past, they were still flesh and blood, and they would die naturally.

Hunger is a terrifying thing.

The pain, as if flames were scorching one's stomach, could drive anyone insane.

You'd wish you could bite off your fingers and swallow them one by one.

For mere wild beasts, even less needed to be said.

After the initial unease and fear had passed, people quickly discovered that the meat of these Mutant Beasts was still edible.

However, the brave were still the minority.

The reason was simple.

It wasn't because they were disgusted by the Mutant Beasts eating corpses.

It was because of the danger.

Whether it was mutant dogs or rats, they lived in groups.

Without being equipped with firearms on a large scale, they posed a far greater threat to the average survivor than ordinary zombies did.

Therefore, even though they knew the meat was edible, nobody considered these Mutant Beast meats as a staple food.

On the rare occasion someone hunted a few, they would mostly sell the meat to the big shots in the district.

Like Zhang Meng.

That's what shocked him the most.

Could it be that Peng Yue's men were now able to hunt these Mutant Beasts on a large scale?

Peng Yue, however, just smiled and pointed at a few other cans:

"Why don't you take another look?"

Take another look?

Zhang Meng hurriedly turned back to look at the other cans on the table.

His gaze quickly took note of the differences.

Dog meat cans.

Rat...

Fuck!

There were even rat meat cans?

Moving to the right, there were even cans of seafood?

And it seemed the meat inside wasn't all the same type?

Zhang Meng tentatively picked up a piece with his hand and put it in his mouth; the texture was smooth and seemed like fish, while the one next to it was slightly different.

"Is this..."

"Shrimp? No, lobster?"

Shock filled his eyes.

Everyone in Sanjiang City knew there were things in the water.

But without sufficient firepower and large boats, no one dared to go into the water.

Let alone catch those terrifyingly large fish and shrimp.

How on earth did Peng Yue do it?

On the other hand, the fruit cans at the very end seemed quite ordinary.

The people below might not know, but Zhang Meng was very clear about it.

Chen Xiaoyong had come into conflict with Peng Yue over that orchard in the first place.

Everyone knew what happened afterward.

Chen Xiaoyong's whereabouts became unknown.

It was said he was thrown into the river to feed the fish.

And his territory was taken over by Peng Yue and a few brothers.

"How about that?"

"Are you satisfied with these goods?"

But Peng Yue had no intention of resolving his doubts.

Instead, he started discussing business directly.

"Satisfied, very satisfied!"

"Hahahaha!"