Guo Zhun was currently sitting in a small car on the road to the Daqing Mountain Prison Base.

Beside him, a mighty force of sixty thousand troops had already left the city, heading directly towards the Daqing Mountain Prison Base.

Watching the bustling traffic around him, Guo Zhun felt quite pleased with himself.

He had already figured out the troop strength in the border areas of the Dawn Army; two field regiments plus some armored artillery, totaling just over ten thousand people.

Deploying sixty thousand troops himself, no matter how strong the Dawn Army's combat power was, they would undeniably be defeated, right?

Before this expedition, he specifically had the surviving staff from the former Ice City Meteorological Bureau check the weather.

It was April 1st, the weather forecast showed that within three days, the temperature would be rising, nearing negative ten degrees Celsius, which was considered rare warm weather.

The temperature would be just right for marching and traveling in those three days. After the troops settled at Daqing Mountain, he could also rest for a while, allowing the troops to train and adapt to the battlefield environment.

While still thinking of how to handle things after defeating Ye Fan, a messenger suddenly ran over.

"Count, Ye Fan from Dawn City is calling, saying he has something important to discuss with you. Do you want to take it?"

Guo Zhun was momentarily stunned, then he chuckled.

He was sitting in the back seat of a modified Rolls Royce at the moment, with Yan Zhihuan in the passenger seat, and a female secretary beside him.

Guo Zhun said to Yan Zhihuan, "Did you hear that, Ye Fan is calling me. Guess what Ye Fan wants with me?"

"He's definitely realized we're serious and is ready to surrender, right?"

Guo Zhun shook his head gently, "No, I have somewhat understood Ye Fan as a person. He is very cunning, full of deceitful tricks. I guess he's definitely up to some mischief to disrupt my judgment. Let's listen together if you don't believe me."

The messenger brought over the radio communication device, and Guo Zhun had a conversation with Ye Fan.

"Leader Ye, aren't you busy setting up defenses at this time? How do you have the leisure to chat with me?"

Ye Fan's voice came from the other end, "Leader Guo, don't blame me for not warning you. There's unusual zombie activity in your Ice City Jiangnan District. Over three million zombies have gathered at the Riverfront, all hidden behind a street. There's no doubt that they are being commanded by a Corpse King. Their ability to hide proves that they might launch a sudden attack. You should quickly organize some men to check and prepare for defensive operations."

"Oh! Is that so!"

Guo Zhun revealed an amused smile, "It seems Leader Ye is suggesting I strengthen the defense at the Riverfront?"

"Exactly. Quickly mobilize your troops and set up multiple defense lines over at the Riverfront. I remember your Riverfront defense walls are only eight meters high, whereas other places are fifteen meters. Why is there such a difference?"

Guo Zhun calmly replied, "That was because the Riverfront had the Great River as a natural defense, so we didn't waste resources on extensive construction. Other places don't have the Great River as support, so, of course, they need strengthened defenses."

"Leader Guo, that's a misconception. The Riverfront is frozen now. Once the zombies cross the river, your city will be in danger."

Guo Zhun laughed, "Okay, thank you, Leader Ye, for the reminder. I will definitely strengthen the defense. Is there anything else?"

"As long as Leader Guo knows, that's all."

After speaking, Ye Fan hung up the phone.

Yan Zhihuan in the passenger seat listened from start to finish, completely puzzled.

"Count, what's the meaning of this call from Ye Fan? Just to remind us of zombie activity? Would he be so kind?"

Even Guo Zhun wasn't sure, but he didn't believe Ye Fan would be so kind, always suspecting some plot inside.

Yan Zhihuan thought for a while, "Count, should we send someone to check the Riverfront? Some things are better to be believed possible than impossible."

Guo Zhun thought for a moment, "Alright, inform the base over there to send a couple of skilled people to check it out and shoot a video for me."

......

Guo Zhun gave an order, and over at Ice City, two survivors immediately rode snowmobiles, setting off from the Jiangbei Base, onto the frozen Great River.

Riding the snowmobiles, it took them a while to cross the frozen river and reach the Jiangnan Region.

"Old Four, you go down and take a look. I'll wait here. Remember, don't mess around. Just observe a little bit."

"Don't worry, I understand. I won't go in deep. I have only one life and won't sacrifice it for Guo Zhun."

The one called Old Four was a speed-type mutant, who got off the snowmobile and set foot on Jiangnan District along the former Riverside Park.

There weren't many zombies by the Riverfront, wandering sporadically, some even standing still.

Old Four smeared some blood on himself. This blood was black, emitting a foul stench.

This wasn't fresh blood; it was zombie blood.

After applying this blood, his own scent would be masked, replaced by the zombie scent. This way, zombies would consider him as one of their own and not attack him.

However, this trick wasn't foolproof. He couldn't get too close or stay too long. Otherwise, a gust of wind could disperse the scent, and the human scent would gradually emerge.

These were methods researched by some adventurer squads, typically used to obtain valuable items from difficult places.

Old Four covered his clothes with the blood and then stepped onto the riverbank.

He tried not to get close to the zombies, keeping a certain distance. He didn't dare to walk too fast or make too much noise, staggering forward.

When some zombies were closer, they paused curiously, as they sensed something off about his scent but weren't sure.

Even Old Four himself was anxious, internally cursing his own bad luck for landing such a deadly task.

But it was a required order; he had to take a video across the street from the Riverfront to complete the task, leaving him no choice but to come.

A towering Armored Zombie staggered past him just five meters away, its large head repeatedly glancing suspiciously in his direction.

Seeing the Armored Zombie's dark, massive claws, Old Four held his breath, not daring to make a sound, using the best acting of his life to shakily walk past this deadly stretch of road.

He turned a corner, not far from the next street.

He took out a camera and started recording over there.

"Oh my god! So many!"

Even though it was just the tip of the iceberg, he saw that a large horde of zombies was wandering here aimlessly, with some areas so densely packed their shoulders were nearly touching.

No matter how many zombies there were, it shouldn't normally reach this degree.

Among them, there were occasionally armored ones, agile ones, fatties, and even giant King Kongs passing by.

On the building walls, Crawlers were slowly moving around.

Old Four's entire body bristled with sweat as he watched, able to manage only a minute of filming before he could no longer endure it. Holding the camera, he turned and headed back.

On his way back, passing beside the Armored Zombie once more, this time it noticed him.

"Roar~~~!"

The Armored Zombie opened its bloody maw and bellowed, sensing the presence of flesh.

Its roar immediately attracted the attention of numerous zombies.

Quite a few zombies were shambling towards him, and Old Four couldn't care about anything else, bolting in a sprint.

Just like a parkour athlete, but with even more difficulty than a parkour athlete, Old Four quickly darted across Riverside Park and dashed up River Beach.

A string of Agile Zombies was already following him closely, relentlessly pursuing and howling continuously.

"Quick, quick, quick!"

The snowmobile driver even pulled out an anti-riot gun, firing continuously to help him fend off the zombies, enabling Old Four to get on the snowmobile smoothly.

With the snowmobile starting, Old Four finally felt relieved. He was dedicated enough not to forget filming as he escaped.

By this time, he once again filmed the chasing zombie horde.

Those zombie hordes, in their pursuit, soon lost their target because they couldn't catch the snowmobile on the frozen river surface.

Without a target, they immediately entered a wandering state, becoming zombies that only knew how to circle around the spot.

The two returned to the Ice City Base and handed over this video.

Someone piloted a helicopter to catch up with the troops that had just left Ice City not long ago, delivering the video into Guo Zhun's hands.

Guo Zhun took the video and watched it with furrowed brows.

"Is it really this many... ? This shouldn't be."

Beside him, Yan Zhihuan and the female secretary dared not breathe a word; in their view, the pressing matter of the moment should be to withdraw the troops.

But after watching for a while, Guo Zhun's eyes suddenly brightened.

"Hahaha! Well done, Ye Fan, such deep intrigue. If not for my vast experience as a Count, you would have fooled me!"

Yan Zhihuan hastily asked, "Sir, what did you discover?"

Guo Zhun laughed heartily, "Remember what Ye Fan just said? That a Corpse King appeared on our side, right."

"That's right, that's what he said."

"But actually, it's not. These zombies are not controlled by a Corpse King; instead, he guided them over."

"Guided them? How?"

"There are many methods. You could have people scatter blood meals along the way, causing zombies to be drawn by the scent, or dispatch an armored vehicle to flaunt and parade, naturally gathering a large horde of zombies behind it. Since Ye Fan dared to lay a trap for me, he surely has a backup plan. He deliberately had people guide a large group of zombies to the Riverfront with the aim of forcing me to withdraw the troops."

"Are you so sure, sir?" The female secretary interrupted gently.

After all, Ice City's survival concerns everyone, so she had to be concerned, and that video was indeed terrifying.

Guo Zhun pointed confidently at the video, "Would zombies controlled by a Corpse King move like this? Look closely."

Yan Zhihuan scrutinized it again and finally relaxed.

"These are definitely not controlled by a Corpse King. I've seen zombie attack documentaries about Dawn City; those zombies operated in uniform commands like an army; these aren't. They're just ordinary wild zombies, guided here by Ye Fan's people."

Guo Zhun sneered, "This is Ye Fan's cunning trick. He plans to disrupt our troops' morale. If I believed his words and heavily guarded the Riverfront, how could we attack then? We'd likely have to withdraw, and the crisis for the Dawn Army would be resolved."

Yan Zhihuan suddenly realized, "Ah! So that's how it is. Ye Fan is indeed cunning. What does sir plan to do now?"

"If Ye Fan can make the first move, I can make the second. Communicator, relay my orders to secretly mobilize 40,000 troops out of the northern gate and circle to Daqing Mountain. This time, I want to gather 100,000 troops to catch Ye Fan off guard!"

Yan Zhihuan listened, constantly giving Guo Zhun a thumbs-up, "Brilliant, Count sir! This tactic of yours is ruthless; not only did you not withdraw, but you secretly increased the troops, catching them by surprise and surely being able to topple the Dawn Army in one go. But isn't our base left somewhat undefended?"

"No matter!"

Guo Zhun waved dismissively, "Zombies without a Corpse King's command pose no threat. Our main opponent is Ye Fan. There's no love lost in war; this time, I will definitely make Ye Fan taste his own medicine!"

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