A long convoy was slowly advancing on the highway.

The convoy included seven thousand members of the Women's Army.

The majority of them were women.

Originally, Wang Juan and Zhang Zhijian had allied to fight against the Dawn Army, but they ended up dead on the battlefield.

These female survivors were struggling even more.

Back when Wang Juan and the others were alive, some men here behaved relatively properly, given Wang Juan's group had several Evolvers and wielded many weapons.

But now that Wang Juan and her group were gone, these men changed their demeanor almost overnight.

They seized some female soldiers' weapons and took control of the entire Women's Army base.

Facing weapon-wielding men, the women had almost no resistance, and the Women's Army's fate changed overnight.

Women became playthings, subjected to the men's abuse, with their dignity trampled into the dirt.

It wasn't until the Dawn Army broadcast announced that they would start collecting survivors to head to Dawn City that those men panicked.

Their actions were destined to be unforgivable, and how could life be good once they reached Dawn City?

Since the apocalypse began, women, due to their physical attributes, tended to fall victim to zombies more than men at first.

Initially, people were obsessed with pursuing strength and forming bases, overlooking this issue, but gradually they realized the scarcity of women was an issue.

Humanity, after all, requires reproduction and survival.

Thus, these women in the Women's Army were still in high demand, and it was almost certain that the Dawn Army would send people.

These men discussed and decided to join another power.

There were no reliable factions left in the Huacheng Region; the Wangbei Army seemed unreliable, and the tragedy involving the Burning Corps recently made them abandon any thoughts of heading to Rakshasa.

Unable to go to Rakshasa, the only option was to leave Huacheng and head east to Crane City.

Southeast of Huacheng was Ice City, southwest was Coal City, and the location of the Women's Army was not far from Crane City.

Crane City had a large survivor base reportedly populated by over two hundred thousand people, known as the Divine Dragon Army.

Their leader, Jiang Mountain, was a powerful Level 2 Evolver, with some fame across the province.

They immediately headed to Crane City to liaise with the Divine Dragon Army and discuss terms of allegiance.

Crane City almost immediately agreed.

Six to seven thousand women could certainly alleviate the awkward situation of having too many men and too few women at their base.

The Divine Dragon Army not only agreed but also dispatched a two thousand-strong force to Huacheng to bring these women away.

Just as they returned to the Women's Army base, Dai Yu arrived.

The men of the Women's Army shouted immediately: "These are Dawn Army people; don't let them go back!"

Crane City had sent a full two-thousand-strong force for the pickup; Dai Yu and his dozen people were simply no match, and he quickly opted for everyone to scatter and flee.

In the end, only Dai Yu, being a speed-type Evolver, managed to escape back, while the others could not.

Dai Yu reported urgently to Ye Fan: "Leader Ye, the Women's Army base is only a few hundred kilometers from Crane City border; they can definitely return to Crane City within three days. I have already spent more than a day running back; please act quickly, leader."

In Dai Yu's view, time may not be on their side; do they really have to chase down the Divine Dragon Army base in Crane City to demand the women back?

Ye Fan nodded: "Don't worry, I ask you, how are the weapons and equipment on Crane City's side?"

"Leader, they came with light equipment this time, not carrying heavy firepower, perhaps to make it easier to collect people."

"Alright, you may go, I am aware of this." Dai Yu left, and Ye Fan immediately issued an order.

The Women's Army must be brought back; otherwise, if they fall into Crane City's hands, they may also face a tragic fate.

"Issue my command, deploy all transport trucks, head to Crane City direction immediately, and bring back the Women's Army people."

"Deploy all paratroopers and transport aircraft to intercept them before they leave Huacheng territory!"

The Dawn Army had already produced three transport planes and three combat helicopters, alternating the production back then.

With the original transport plane and combat helicopter, they can fully transport all five hundred paratroopers.

Ye Fan also brought several Hero Level units, boarding Tang Yafei's Three-Star Combat Helicopter to set off.

********

After collecting people these days, the population inside Dawn City had reached more than thirty thousand.

Most of these people were ordinary survivors; things involving conflicts didn't concern them, simply abiding by the rules and living steadfastly was what they pursued.

Moreover, the Dawn Army had practically brought them over in a semi-coercive manner, leaving some people feeling discontent inside.

Of course, they dared not voice it, but a sense of belonging was absent.

But today everything changed.

It snowed yesterday, and all new survivors were clearing snow on the roads.

Although the Dawn Army had obstacle-clearing vehicles and many snowplows, priority had to be given to clearing airports and other important areas.

The snow in the Outer and Inner City Districts was cleared by the residents.

Where you live, the snow in that area is your responsibility; it's a task that must be done.

While people were working, suddenly bird calls emerged from deep within the city.

Huge Eagles soared from behind the base, flapping their wings and circling in the sky, driving away groups of nearby birds so they scattered and fled in all directions.

Some of the mutated birds were quite ferocious, even attempting to fight the eagles, but those eagles were far more fierce. They even knew how to cooperate with each other, slaughtering the disobedient mutated birds around them like chopping vegetables.

Some of the surviving birds fled in a sorry state, never daring to approach this airspace again.

This scene often played out in Dawn City, but the new residents had never seen it before and were dumbfounded.

Does the Dawn Army really raise mutated birds?

How can those gigantic eagles be so obedient?

This left them dumbfounded, and what happened next left them even more astonished.

Four helicopters rose from the depths of the base, stirring up gusts of wind.

The rotors roared, flying higher and farther.

These new residents hadn't seen airplanes since the apocalypse, and even before that, they hadn't seen as many as four armed helicopters.

"This...this...are these planes from our base?"

"Hmph, you're so inexperienced. I just knew you folks without Dawn local citizenship aren't knowledgeable."

The person speaking felt proud: "What don't we have here? Let me tell you! Do you see this sky? From one end to the other, it's all our Dawn Army's airspace; no other planes are allowed to fly."

"Really? That's so exaggerated."

"Of course it's true. Last time, when I got up at night, guess what I saw?"

"What?"

"Haha! Such a huge plane, not a helicopter, just like the civilian airlines from before, taking off from the base at the back."

The newcomers were filled with awe: "Is there really such a plane? I used to be a gold card member of an airline company, could sit in first class. I wonder if I'll ever have that chance again?"

"Your gold card is useless now. Getting inner city district status, now that's impressive, hey, look!"

Before they finished speaking, one plane after another took off from the deep part of the base with a thunderous roar.

One, two.

Three, four!

Four transport aircraft took off consecutively, flying in one direction; this was the first time in all of Dawn City.

People below collectively looked up at the sky, turning their heads until the planes flew far away, then burst into a unified cheer.

Those who were previously dissatisfied with the Dawn Army were all convinced now.

In such a city, with such an army, such planes, something they had never seen before.

Being able to live in such a place, what could they be dissatisfied with?

A casual show of strength inadvertently united the hearts of those within Dawn City, making the atmosphere unprecedentedly lively.

********

Ye Fan sat in the combat helicopter, watching as the four transport planes ahead gradually increased power and overtook.

The transport planes were on a mission; they were tasked with deploying airborne troops in front of the enemy to form a blockade, then would rush over themselves to handle the aftermath.

It wasn't far from Dawn City to the Women's Army, but flying towards Crane City took more than an hour.

This was the first large-scale mission for the airborne troops; hopefully, everything would go smoothly for them.

********

On the highway, a long convoy was trudging along.

The road from Huacheng to Crane City wasn't peaceful, passing through villages where zombies often emerged.

Someone at the front drove a vehicle with a loudspeaker to draw the zombies' attention, trying to lure them away, making it easier for those behind to pass. It was their usual tactic.

But it wasn't foolproof; sometimes a few zombies slipped through.

Thus, progress was slow, taking over a day to barely cover half the distance.

Last night, they camped with a bonfire in the valley, and this morning many had frostbitten hands and feet.

But they dared not delay and had to continue quickly.

After all, they were in Huacheng territory and felt uneasy being from Crane City.

Hurrying along, a large sign appeared on the road ahead.

"Welcome back to Huacheng!"

The leader from Crane City was Qian Ming, an Evolver with an evolution value of 1.2.

Holding a rifle, he exhaled a long breath of white air as he saw the sign.

"Phew! Finally out of Huacheng. Past this sign, it's our Crane City territory, should be safe now."

A person next to him said: "Brother Qian, you're too careful, aren't you? The Dawn City is just a speck on the map, what's its potential for war? Even if the Dawn Army had the guts, would they dare challenge our Divine Dragon Army? If they knew we took these women, that Ye Fan wouldn't even dare to make a peep, right?"

Qian Ming glared fiercely at his subordinate: "What do you know, you pig brain? The Dawn Army proved their strength by defeating the Survivor Alliance. While our Divine Dragon Army is strong, we're still on someone else's turf, so it's better to be cautious."

The reprimanded subordinate didn't mind: "Brother Qian, no need to worry. Only one of those people escaped yesterday, even if they wanted to report back, the Dawn Army would catch up two days later."

Qian Ming nodded slightly, it did make sense.

He glanced back at the flock of women behind him, feeling secretly delighted.

Bringing these women back, the Divine Dragon Army might just become the most promising base in the future.

There was a faint buzzing in the sky, but with their ears covered by cotton hats, no one could hear it.

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