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

Having taken their seats, Zhang Ye's gaze quickly settled on Lu Yong, yet he just watched without speaking.

The man's name had not appeared before his eyes.

It meant the level of trust was still far from sufficient.@@novelbin@@

But that was not important.

Because he had never intended to bring this person into the company.

"Lu Yong."

"You seem to be doing quite poorly here."

Zhang Ye suddenly asked.

As he spoke, his eyes intently studied the somewhat yellowed coat on the other person.

It was an old-fashioned suit jacket.

It looked fairly neat, obviously well-tended before coming here.

In contrast was Lu Yong's equally yellowed face.

Gaunt features, a dark yellow complexion.

Just like those vagrants outside who often go hungry.

It was also for this reason that, although Lu Yong had a fairly tall figure, the suit still looked somewhat baggy on him.

His muscles were no longer sufficient to fill out this once well-fitting piece of clothing.

Zhang Ye's words evidently touched a soft spot in this man, who appeared to be over forty, as a flash of shame crossed his face in an instant. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire

Yet it was suppressed just as quickly.

"Ah haha."

"Director Zhang, what you said..."

Lu Yong's gaze began to shift evasively, and eventually, his head gradually lowered.

The tone of his voice seemed to have become much lower as well.

"In these times, there's no such thing as fairing well or not, we're all the same."

"One meal to the next is uncertain."

"No difference at all."

Although Peng Yue didn't speak, there was a hint of confusion in his eyes as he looked at Zhang Ye.

He obviously didn't quite understand the meaning behind Zhang Ye's words.

But Zhang Ye just smiled, then said softly:

"What if I could help you escape this life?"

Lu Yong's head immediately lifted.

But the look in his eyes as he regarded Zhang Ye was not one of excitement or gratitude, it was full of doubt and wariness, which became more apparent as time passed.

The sudden arrival of the apocalypse did not just destroy morality and laws, it also obliterated something else along with them.

That was trust.

The trust between people.

Family, colleagues, friends, anyone close could suddenly turn the next second, becoming flesh-eating zombies.

When they finally survived these disasters, they immediately faced a shortage of supplies for various reasons.

Murder.

Looting.

Betrayal.

Survivors who should have been helping each other to continue living were soon preying on the lives of their fellows like mortal enemies.

The last shred of trust people had in each other was exhausted.

What remained was only self-interest.

Lu Yong, who had survived from half a year ago to the present day, naturally understood this principle.

Unsolicited kindness is a sign of an ulterior motive.

There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Seeing him looking at himself with such wariness, Zhang Ye actually responded with an open smile.

"Don't overthink it."

"The benefits aren't just given for nothing."

Hearing these words relaxed Lu Yong's tense mood significantly.

"What do you want me to do, Director Zhang?"

He finally asked the question.

In fact, he had been wanting to ask it ever since he set out to come here.

From the words Zhang Ye said before leaving, he had been pondering the purpose behind being asked to come over.

At first, it was merely speculation.

Now, hearing what Zhang Ye said, he could confidently ask.

A look of satisfaction spread across Zhang Ye's face.

His body leaned back slowly.

"It's very simple."

"We will come here regularly from now on."

"There's only one thing you need to do for us, and that's to recruit people for us."

"Recruit people?"

Lu Yong was taken aback.

"But Director Zhang, didn't you all today..."

He meant to say, didn't you all already recruit a bunch of people in the shanty area today?

But before he could finish, Zhang Ye had already raised his hand to interrupt:

"Not enough."

It seemed that he feared Lu Yong wouldn't understand, so Zhang Ye further explained with a smile:

"The factories I have are quite large, and there's a lot of work to do."

"Which means the demand for workers is much greater."

"Understand?"

Lu Yong immediately nodded, but his mind was already trying to figure out what he meant.

After all, a factory now wasn't what it used to be in the past.

Take those factories in the north, for example.

The entire plant might have only about a dozen people working in it.

And there were even fewer machines that worked.

After all, everything ran on generators.

And the main source of energy for these generators was fuel, which naturally was consumed in great quantities.

Add to that the shortage of raw materials, so factory scales tended to be quite small.

Some could actually be classified more as workshops.

With fewer than ten workers.

Their main activities involved processing and repair.

It was because of this that the recruitment spots were always crowded, yet the factories recruiting workers were few and far between.

In fact, whenever those factories did come to recruit, it was mostly for one reason.

And that was because a worker had died.

As for how they died, that was common knowledge to everyone.

Yet despite this, some people still wanted to go work there.

Even if the factory was small, it still offered a full meal.

And today's fact that Zhang Ye had gone directly to the shanty area and recruited over a dozen people had spread before he even returned.

Of course, on the surface, it was Peng Yue's men recruiting in the district.

But now, with the three of them sitting face to face, could Lu Yong not discern their respective statuses?

The Peng Family's boss, notorious for his brutality, was now like a watchdog, constantly vigilant around him.

Clearly, he was afraid that Lu Yong would harm Zhang Ye.

Thus, the master-servant relationship between the two was crystal clear.

Even so, Lu Yong still didn't quite understand why Zhang Ye needed to keep recruiting workers, and on a long-term basis at that.

If he kept recruiting over a dozen people each time, then after several times, it would add up to dozens, if not hundreds of people. How big would a factory have to be to employ so many hands?

Or could it be that these people weren't truly being recruited to work in factories?

There had been precedents for this as well.

Some people who came to Wanhao District and bought slaves were actually doing so to increase their own power.

After all, having a gun nowadays made you a kingpin.

If you could afford it, having a blade meant having a hitman.

Furthermore, many workers were already doubling as enforcers for the factories.

With this in mind, Lu Yong couldn't help but caution:

"Director Zhang, managing so many people you're bringing back won't be easy."

"In case there's trouble..."

Peng Yue, who was beside him, suddenly laughed out loud.

He didn't just laugh; his whole body rocked back and forth like a roly-poly toy.

Finally stopping, he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and scornfully said:

"Trouble?"

"Who dares to make trouble on our turf?"

His reference to his turf wasn't about his little plot of land from before.

It was the entire residential area controlled by the company.

From the central base to Jiangbei.

Within the company-controlled area, the armed personnel had been expanded several times.

Various security guards, police officers, and the specially selected zombie squad, together accounted for a total of five hundred people.

It could be said that over one-third of the entire company's workforce was made up of soldiers.

Trouble?

As if they were playing with toy Ak's in a fortress?