"Come, come, make yourselves comfortable! Guests are always welcome here; just treat this place like your own home!"
Yue Yunfei warmly invited everyone to sit on the beach chairs. It seemed that this was indeed a place they often frequented, as not only were poker and mahjong games scattered everywhere, but also some dog-eared books lay around, and a few extremely sexy bikinis were tossed at the edge of the pool, teasing the nerves of men like Hu Laoda.
However, the cleanliness of the water in the pool was truly hard to praise. Not to mention that only half of the pool was left due to evaporation, the deep green color already indicated that it was filled with a large number of unknown bacteria. Even from a few meters away, one could smell a fishy odor. Although there was no garbage inside, it was likely that even Yue Yunfei and the others had long stopped going in to play.
Jack did not sit down but instead took the walkie-talkie to the edge of the terrace. The interference here was relatively much less. If he could stand on the roof of the hotel, Jack believed that the walkie-talkie signal could possibly extend even twenty kilometers away. He squeezed the walkie-talkie and tried to call Bai Ru. Despite the noise, he could barely manage to communicate.
"Phew... Thank goodness! We were scared to death hearing the commotion you made. Where are you now? What's the situation?" Bai Ru's voice came through the walkie-talkie, sounding relieved.
"The way back is blocked by a horde of corpses. We are currently in a hotel near the city center, and there are ten other survivors with us!" Jack replied, leaning on the railing and holding the walkie-talkie.
"You found more survivors? That's really not easy! When do you plan to come back?"
"Thomas Xu has a head injury; it's probably a mild or moderate concussion. After resting tonight, he should feel better, and we plan to find a way back tomorrow!"
"Oh no, we have to wait until tomorrow. I hope Thomas Xu is okay!"
"There shouldn't be any major issues! You all stay stationed on the bridge for now, and don't leave until we return. Also, arrange for someone to keep watch at night, and let Michael be responsible for your safety!"
"Got it, we've already set up the tents. You all be careful too!"
"Alright, let's end the call for now. I'll turn off my phone to save battery. I'll turn it on every hour to contact you, and after 8 PM, I'll check in every two hours. Do you understand?"
"Yes, understood, honey... be careful with everything!"
"Okay!"
After Jack finished speaking, he turned off the intercom and put it in his waist pouch. Instinctively, he leaned out to look downstairs and found that there were quite a few zombies behind the hotel, wandering in the parking lot in small groups. At the slightest noise, the hundreds of zombies would surely swarm. When he turned back, a group of men had already started smoking, puffing out clouds of smoke, while Thomas Xu seemed to be feeling a bit better, sitting in a chair with a bottle of mineral water beside him, supporting his forehead with his hands and no longer vomiting.
"President Yue! Everything is sorted out downstairs!"
At this moment, Jiang Jie and Ding Jiandong walked in, followed by two beautiful reception girls and a bald old man, Ryan Lin, who had a fawning smile on his face. Jiang Jie stepped forward to President Yue Yunfei, furrowing his brow and said, "President Yue, the horde of zombies that came with a few... a few big brothers has already surged onto the street across from us. Fortunately, they haven't surrounded our hotel yet, but I think we should avoid going to the first floor to prevent being discovered by the horde!"
"Hmm, I understand. You two have worked hard!" President Yue Yunfei nodded solemnly. After thinking for a moment, he didn't have any good ideas, so he picked up a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from the coffee table, handed one to each of the two young men and Ryan Lin, and smiled, saying, "It's been over a month since we ran out of supplies, and we have to thank Hu Man for these cigarettes!"
"Not at all, no need to thank me, we're all family!" Big Brother Hu retracted his gaze from the two girls, generously patted Yue Yunfei's arm, and then smiled as he looked up at the two girls, saying, "Little sisters, go help your brother get some drinks, I'm feeling a bit thirsty while we chat!"
"Yes, Little Thomas and Little Ryan, you two go get my treasured bottles of Lafite, and also bring some peanut snacks!" Yue Yunfei hurriedly nodded to let the two girls go out, while Ryan Lin rubbed his hands and smiled as he asked, "Mr. Yue, it looks like it's almost mealtime. Should we arrange for dinner?"
"Yes, we definitely need to do that. No matter how humble we are, we must take good care of our guests. Let's eat here tonight; you go arrange it!" Yue Yunfei waved his hand without hesitation. Ryan Lin immediately nodded and was about to turn to leave, but Jack stepped forward and said to Yue Yunfei, "Mr. Yue, there's no need to go to such expense for dinner; we brought food with us!"
"Huh?" Yue Yunfei pretended to be annoyed and waved his hand, saying, "What, do you look down on me, Yue? Regardless, our meeting is fate. Even if I, Yue Yunfei, spend all my money on this meal today, so what? In this damn world, dying a bit earlier is a relief! Old Ryan, why aren't you going to arrange it?"
"Alright, I'll go, I'll go!" Ryan Lin nodded busily, turned, and quickly ran off. At this moment, Yue Yunfei stood up and laughed, saying, "Brother Lin, don't be so formal. This isn't a dragon's den or a tiger's lair; is there a need to be so cautious? Xiao Jiang, Xiao Ding, you two go play cards with Old Hu for a while, and call a girl up to take care of this injured little man. Brother Lin, I'll personally keep you company!"
Yue Yunfei was a businessman, and businessmen naturally have their own unique shrewdness. He had long seen that Jack was the leader of this group, as this didn't require too much deliberate observation; just by looking at the expressions of Old Hu and Gao Chujing, one could discern a lot, while Gao Chujing, who looked like a leader, was actually nothing special!
Yue Yunfei took out a Chinese cigarette from the cigarette box and handed it to Jack, then pulled him down to sit on a beach chair laid flat by Thomas. However, the two of them ended up silently smoking, neither speaking. Jack scanned the surroundings with a calm gaze, while Yue Yunfei rested his chin on his hand, staring blankly at the deep green water.
After a moment, Yue Yunfei finally spoke, still maintaining his previous posture, and asked with a vacant look in his eyes, "Brother, do you think we still have a way out?"
"If you ask me…" Before Jack could respond, Yue Yunfei suddenly turned his head, his eyes bright, and said, "This path still depends on people fighting for it. Just like you, didn't you fight your way here? We've been trapped in this small hotel, afraid to step outside, fearing that if we do, we'll lose our lives. But now, what do we have left besides our lives? Seeing you all, I feel we should have gone out to fight long ago; staying here only leads to a dead end!"
Jack understood that Yue Yunfei was actually struggling internally; his words were almost a pep talk to himself, reinforcing his own confidence. This is a common human sentiment, unrelated to Yue Yunfei's decisiveness. After all, everything outside the hotel is unknown and dangerous. Even if he was once a capable general, he would still feel at a loss in the current situation!
"Brother, how many people are in your team? Can you take us with you?" Yue Yunfei seemed to have made a significant decision, his expression very serious as he said, "You can rest assured, we can't possibly take all the food here by ourselves. Take as much as you can; consider it our thank you for joining us. What do you think?"
Jack quietly watched Yue Yunfei, not swayed by the little food in his hotel. He was merely observing Yue Yunfei as a person. His intuition told him that Yue Yunfei was far more than just a businessman; that was merely a facade. Yue Yunfei exuded a fierce aura from the very core of his being. The fact that he remained calm and composed even when Jack had pointed a gun at him was a clear indication of this. Beneath his smiling and friendly face, he radiated a very dangerous signal!