Ye Fan dressed in a sharp military uniform, hat properly positioned, and cloak fastened.

Zhuge Yunxue finished tidying him up, stepped back two steps, and took a look.

"Officer, you look quite handsome."

Ye Fan straightened his posture: "How handsome?"

Zhuge Yunxue blinked her big eyes: "So handsome it's falling apart."

Ye Fan felt it was necessary to give the main figures of the Dawn Army a lesson in Chinese, at least teaching them some vocabulary for compliments.

The walkie-talkie sounded, it was Zhao Xiaoman.

"Ye Fan, it's about time to attend the party, let's also discuss some strategies."

"Alright, I'll head back now."

Ending the call, Ye Fan began organizing people to board the vehicle.

First, he packed some powerful troops into the Commander's luggage.

Then, he led his Dawn Squad of over thirty people, driving four vehicles towards Shannan.

The winter wilderness was chilly with gusty winds as Ye Fan sat on the Fierce Dragon Vehicle, eyes closed, resting.

Having been out for nearly a month now, it was only ten days until the New Year.

Once things here were concluded, he should immediately start the journey back.

Not knowing exactly what Mu Haiyang had planned, even though he was heading to what was apparently a deadly banquet, Ye Fan couldn't help feeling a sense of anticipation.

********

The party starts at 8 PM, and it was 6 PM now.

In a room, Mu Haiyang had already gathered a large crowd.

Among them were Captain Wang of the Guard Team, Jiang Army of the Half Sky Cloud, and some major commerce figures.

Usually, these people weren't strangers to Mu Haiyang's office, but at that time, each of them would sit with their legs crossed high, emanating arrogance and confidence.

But today was different; the people here sat relatively properly.

They had officially been subdued by Mu Haiyang, becoming true subordinates, and couldn't behave as recklessly as before.

Only one person had moved a chair to sit beside Mu Haiyang with a proud look on his face.

Mu Haiyang didn't mind, showing even a hint of respect for this person.

Mu Haiyang began to speak.

"Everyone, I won't elaborate on the importance of today's party; there is no room for error."

"Whether we can completely suppress the Heavy Truck Army is crucial today, our main task is to deal with the forces of Lawson, Zhao Xiaoman, and Ye Fan. As long as we deal with them, the remaining squads will naturally choose correctly, I'll assign tasks later."

"Before assigning tasks, let me introduce someone to everyone."

"Many of you may already know, he is Qu Lin, the chief representative of Mr. Meng Liang from Quancheng. He's here to discuss alliance matters with me."

Everyone around straightened up solemnly, having heard of the renowned Meng Liang.

Mr. Meng made a name shortly after the apocalypse began, proposing a grand Yellow Sea strategy broadcasted, even before establishing a base!

He claimed that one day he would form a strategic circle centered around Quancheng, the Luqi Province Capital.

This strategic circle would even include the Yellow Sea; back then, everyone thought he was talking nonsense, no one cared, dismissing it as a lunatic's fantasy.

People were still desperately finding food, trying to survive the zombie threat, while he boasted so shamelessly.

But now, Meng Liang had already established the largest survivor base in Quancheng, marching towards his goal, in hindsight, his words were indeed frighteningly insightful.

Mu Haiyang's alliance with Mr. Meng was also an important means to neutralize the commerce assemblies.

"Mr. Qu Lin has specially dispatched a three-thousand-strong elite guard to assist me this time."

"With Mr. Qu Lin's cooperation, I believe this operation will be extremely smooth."

The man named Qu Lin stood up arrogantly: "Nice to meet you all."

People around smiled and nodded.

"Mr. Meng had long known about the Heavy Truck Army here in Penglai, but due to poor communication, there was never a chance to come over. This time, Mr. Mu Haiyang invited us over to express goodwill for an alliance, and secondly to ensure everything goes smoothly."

Qu Lin seemed very confident in his power: "From what I understand, the combined forces of Lawson and Zhao Xiaoman aren't more than a thousand people, Ye Fan seemingly only has a group of thirty-something, but I estimate he actually has around three to four hundred people; altogether, they have about two thousand people."

"Seeing your earnest demeanor towards the three groups, leave it to me to handle, while you all continue your discussions, I'll take my leave first."

After finishing, Qu Lin turned and left.

Once Qu Lin left, those present looked at each other, evidently feeling that Qu Lin was somewhat overly arrogant.

Mu Haiyang still exercised caution, clearing his throat: "Everyone, even though Qu Lin said he could handle the three forces, we mustn't let our guard down; now, let me further layout...."

They kept discussing, not only addressing Ye Fan and their matters but also many subsequent events.

********

Ye Fan led his team back to Shannan Base.

Several soldiers from the trading market came up and handed over the earnings of the past three days in full to Ye Fan.

This was the final 150,000 Gold, as from tomorrow on, there would likely be no trade opportunities.

Letting the soldiers return to their posts, Ye Fan returned to his rented small building.

The lease there was also about to expire soon.

Lawson and Zhao Xiaoman were already waiting for Ye Fan there.

Seeing Ye Fan return, the two people's expressions were rather heavy.

"Brother Ye is back, let's sit down and discuss for a bit."

Lawson invited Ye Fan to sit down, then said, "Gentlemen, I won't speak much on the dangerous situation now. In fact, since a week ago, the Heavy Truck Corps has been watching us closely, even forbidding our entire force from leaving the Heavy Truck Group. Every time we go out, only a portion of us can leave."

"Perhaps Brother Ye's team is small and doesn't matter, but my team and Zhao Xiaoman's have already become their primary monitoring targets."

Zhao Xiaoman also nodded slightly, clearly feeling the situation was urgent.

Lawson spread out a map, placing it on the table.

"This is the map of their hotel, and the reception is located in the lobby on the first floor."

"Mu Haiyang thinks he has control over all power, but he underestimates these Adventurer Squads, believing that as long as he takes us down, the other Adventurer Squads will willingly surrender. But he hasn't considered the saying 'lips die, teeth get cold,' will the other Adventurer Squads just willingly lay down their arms?"

Ye Fan's eyes lit up slightly, this big guy Lawson actually has a brain.

Lawson then looked at Ye Fan: "Brother Ye, tell me honestly, are the people who did the prison break under your command?"

Ye Fan nodded: "That's right."

"There should be about thirty people involved in the prison break, right?"

"Yes."

Lawson shook his head slightly: "Then your numbers are too small, you can't be the main force tonight. How about this, I'll give you a task."

"What task?"

"Take advantage of the reception opportunity to contact the leaders of other Adventurer Squads, try to bring over as many as you can. The more forces we can attract, the less reckless Mu Haiyang will dare to be, there might still be hope to avoid tonight's incident."

Ye Fan didn't think Lawson's plan would work, Mu Haiyang had made up his mind to act, and wouldn't be delayed by this.

But after all, Lawson was just a team leader, it was already commendable that he could think of this and put it into action.

Zhao Xiaoman proposed some details, about what to do if a fight breaks out, and how to retreat.

Ye Fan didn't say much, not because he was pretending to be a fool, but because there were things he really couldn't explain.

For example, suddenly pulling out over a hundred people from his bag, that was unexplainable, involving Ye Fan's secret.

So he simply didn't mention it, playing it by ear.

Once the tactics were set, the time had come.

The three of them left together, each allowed to bring four guards.

Ye Fan was followed by Shen Ruihui, Zhuge Yunxue, Udyr, and Zhao Ming.

Lawson and Zhao Xiaoman each brought four Evolver subordinates.

The group drove to the entrance of the core area, then got out of the vehicles and handed their invitations to the doorman.

The doorman checked the invitations of the three, smiling: "Welcome, commanders. It's almost time, Leader Mu Haiyang and the others are already in the banquet hall, please enter."

They walked into the courtyard of the core area, all the way to the courtyard of the banquet hall.

There was another guard at the door, and after entering, they found the place unusually crowded today.

Nearly a hundred Adventurer Squads from the Heavy Truck Corps were present, with hundreds of leaders and subordinates alone.

On the surface, there didn't seem to be many guards here, maintaining the festive atmosphere of the reception.

But Ye Fan could see through the radar that outside the courtyard, there were many blue spots everywhere.

Clearly, if needed, these people could rush in anytime to control the situation.

Arriving at the door of the banquet hall, there were several people ahead of them entering.

Someone was checking invitations, then shouted loudly and stretched the sound.

"Mr. Qu Lin, personal representative of Mr. Ming from Quancheng, arriving!"

They saw a man, with a beautiful woman on his arm, entering slowly to applause from inside.

Ye Fan sneered: "Always putting on some boring spectacle."

Lawson said to Ye Fan: "Everyone is like this, it's important to maintain face, let's go in as well."

The guard once again checked the invitations of the three and continued to shout loudly, stretching the sound.

"Captain of the Rock Squad, Giant Stone Lawson arriving~~~!"

"Captain of the Dark Night Rose Squad, Zhao Xiaoman arriving~~~!"

"Captain of the Dawn Squad, Ye Fan arriving~~~!"

Music welcoming them played in the background.

Stepping into this hall of intersecting lights and shadows, the people inside were dressed impeccably, gathered in small groups, drinking and chatting. Seeing them enter, all eyes turned towards them.

Zhao Xiaoman, at Ye Fan's side, subtly hooked her arm with Ye Fan's.

This was as a gesture of ceremony, not implying anything, as everyone basically entered that way.

Among the women here, apart from Zhao Xiaoman, there was Zhuge Yunxue. Lawson also politely extended his hand, hoping Zhuge Yunxue would hook his arm.

But he didn't expect Zhuge Yunxue to walk to Ye Fan's other side, intertwining her arm with his other arm as they entered.

In Zhuge Yunxue's mind, staying with the officer was her only thought; she didn't even have the concept of hooking the arm of any other man.

Zhao Xiaoman did not expect Zhuge Yunxue to act like this; at this moment, releasing Ye Fan's arm would have been inappropriate, so she continued to walk forward intertwining her arm with his.

Lawson was momentarily stunned, naturally falling behind Ye Fan and his group's pace.

Following along, his large physique made him appear like a bodyguard.

This group brought a gust of wind as they walked in, attracting many glances.

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