บททั้งหมดของ The Endgame Chronicles: บทที่ 251 - บทที่ 260

That night, after learning that Hayley had launched the first recapture attack on the city that very day, Alex fell into heavy silence.It was February 27th.The coldest time of the year, yet they were going out to fight zombies in this weather.Was it just because the cold slowed the zombies down and made them easier targets? The freeze might be brutal for zombies, but wasn't it just as hard on real, living people?Alex ran the simulation through their most powerful supercomputer, and the results were terrifying. They couldn't use large-scale weapons in the city. That would only draw every zombie in town to them at once. That meant the only option left was the most basic one: clearing the land and pushing forward slowly.It was almost like monks going on some endless pilgrimage with no shortcuts, slowly chewing through the city, one block at a time.One wrong move in that process meant death.Alex clenched his fists."Those people are insane. I'm not going crazy with them!

Coming down from the mountains, the endless plains below were divided into ten massive farms. Every inch of land was under cultivation, spanning thousands upon thousands of acres.Thousands of acres.Milo was stunned.Liam was stunned, too.What shocked them even more was how few people were actually inside Hayley's base.All of that land was being farmed by machines alone.No way.Other bases had barely restarted farming at all, yet Hayley had gone fully automated.Near the fields stood row after row of black high-tech greenhouses. Under the dark panels, there were all kinds of fresh vegetables, fruits, and grain.The winter cold hadn't affected anything at all.When they finally stepped out of the vehicle, Milo and Liam heard something they hadn't heard in ages: machines at work.Warm, mouthwatering smells drifted out of a nearby house.A few female residents were outside setting down huge tubs of dried foods, and beside them were entire boxes of instant noodles.Milo an

"I want to ask you to help me process a batch of food," Liam said.He had brought a huge amount of supplies with him from the granary mission. However, he had been worried because of poor storage conditions.Now that he saw Hayley had full-scale food processing up and running, he couldn't help but be tempted."Of course. We're friends," Hayley said. "Now let's talk money."Liam went quiet. Then, he offered, "For every pound you process, I'll pay you two-tenths of a pound as a service fee.""Half a pound. Also, I'll let you trade food directly for our dried meal packs. Three pounds of grain for one pound of dried meals."Liam thought it over for half a minute. "Deal."Hayley made her money by importing raw materials and exporting processed goods, earning a big margin in between.She had no interest in taking over other bases or controlling them directly.Rather than becoming a high-responsibility manager, she preferred being the kind of base overlord who only enjoyed the benefi

Before anyone else could answer, a voice rang out."Wait… Are you Scarlett?"The only middle-aged woman among the group looked at Scarlett with obvious excitement.Scarlett froze and looked at her carefully. "Ms. Fox?""That's right!" Wilona Fox replied happily.Scarlett immediately explained to Hayley, "She's my old manager, Wilona Fox.""So you know each other. That's great," a middle-aged man in the group said. He shot Wilona a look, then motioned for the other men to leave with him. A flash of cold calculation passed through his eyes.Wilona quickly walked over with a bright smile and pulled both of them to sit down. "I never thought I'd run into you here, Scarlett. You did such a good job before, and I really hated to let you go. After the apocalypse started, I even worried about you. Where are you staying now? How did you end up here? What about your family?"Scarlett listened to the stream of questions and instinctively looked at Hayley without saying a word.Hayley

"Are you actually scared I poisoned you?" Wilona snapped when Scarlett refused to drink. "I treated you like family, took you in, and even had people cook for you. How could you be this rude?"At that moment, Hayley reached over and took Scarlett's cup. While they had been talking, she had quietly "finished" her own coffee. Now, she lifted Scarlett's cup and tilted it toward Scarlett's mouth."You're just too young. Do you really think your old boss would hurt you? If she wanted us dead, why would she bother saving us earlier? You've got to learn from me and be grateful, okay, sweetheart?"Scarlett thought the coffee was going to pour into her mouth, but her lips were just held open, and not a single drop went in.Hayley raised her arm higher to block Scarlett's mouth, silently pouring the entire cup into her inventory. Then, she showed the empty cup to Wilona."She's young and doesn't get it. Now she does."When Wilona saw that, her eyes lit up at once. All the suspicion she h