Farther west than Chuan Yu Base lay a sparsely populated region. When the apocalypse broke out, it had also been one of the rare areas with the fewest zombies. After three years, some parts had been cleared by teams of New Humans dispatched from Chuan Yu Base, sparing the survivors living here from the threat of zombies.
Small bases began to appear, as did crude tribes linked together, relying on one another to survive.
However, Chuan Yu Base's clearing operations had only solved the zombie problem. Berserk Animals remained a tremendous threat here, especially now, three years into the apocalypse, when nearly all animals had grown terrifyingly powerful.
The small bases had no ability to withstand those animals. Groups of humans could only move their settlements farther up into the highlands.
It was not that they had not considered heading east to seek the protection of large bases. But unless they were High-Order New Humans, they simply lacked the ability to cross forests filled with Berserk Animals, much less fight off zombies that could emerge from anywhere. Not to mention that wars frequently broke out in the east—humans against zombies, humans against mutants, and even humans against humans.
Their desire to survive drove them ever higher, until they finally settled at altitudes they could never have imagined in the past.
Among them was Ye Yongyang's family, which had relocated from the distant east. This family, with several generations of relatives, had encountered crisis after crisis during their long journey. By the time they reached the human settlements in the west, only a scattered few remained.
As the current head of the Ye family, Ye Yongyang had proposed the move and forcibly led several dozen relatives, young and old, on foot. The countless family members who had died along the way