Watching the Tigers Fight from a Safe Distance

The A58 Gathering Place.

It was a small frontier town, its long history evident in its quaint architecture.

Centuries ago, it too had been a thriving, bustling place.

But the accursed Zombie Virus had destroyed everything here.

By now, the jeep convoy was less than a kilometer from the A58 Gathering Place.

Liu Feng waved his hand, and the convoy stopped in the dense woods beside the road.

"Feng, what's wrong?"

At the question, Liu Feng raised his head, and several familiar faces came into view.

Han Bing, Fatty, Feng Wen, Feng Wu, Old Ge, and Little Knife.

These were Liu Feng's trusted companions. With them at his side, this group would not fall apart.

Liu Feng glanced over them, then lowered his voice. "Things don't look good at the A58 Gathering Place. We need to prepare in advance!"

Uncle Ge looked puzzled at his words.

"Feng, what exactly happened?"

Seeing the confusion in Uncle Ge's eyes, Liu Feng turned his gaze toward the town wall.

Dozens of burly men carrying heavy weapons stood atop the old gate tower. Judging by their fierce gazes, they seemed ready to fight to the death.

"We didn't tell anyone we were coming. But judging by their stance, they clearly don't want any survivors entering the town. Still, we've got nowhere else to go. We have to get into the A58 Gathering Place today, no matter what. That's why we need to be ready."

After Liu Feng's explanation, the mood plunged.

He was right. They had exhausted every option, and the A58 Gathering Place was their only hope.

Meanwhile, atop the wall of the A58 Gathering Place.

A man in a camouflage T-shirt swaggered to the center of the gate tower, his hands clasped behind his back.

At the sight of him, everyone on the wall immediately straightened with respect and obediently lowered their heads.

"Hello, Long!"

"Thanks for all your hard work, Long!"

"Long, what brings you up here? Were those girls not taking good enough care of you?"

Long Wu did not answer his men directly. Instead, he walked straight to the edge of the gate tower and stared into the distance with a worried expression.

"Where's that bastard Liu Honggou? He should've been back by now!"

One of the men beside him answered quietly, "Long, they picked somewhere pretty far away to hunt mutant beasts this time. It's normal for them to come back a little late."

At this, Long Wu curled his lip in disdain.

"Hmph! Better if he never comes back. That'd save me the trouble!"

With that, Long Wu clasped his hands behind his back and made to leave.

"Long, if he does come back, should we still go ahead with our plan..."

Before the man could finish, Long Wu turned around. His eyes blazing with anger, he looked at everyone present and said coldly, "The plan goes ahead as usual! He dared to steal my woman. I'll make him pay!"

"Understood, Long!"

A figure suddenly rushed into the dense woods.

Looking at Fatty, who was panting for breath in front of him, Liu Feng asked quietly, "What's happening?"

Fatty took the water Uncle Ge handed him and gulped it all down. Only then did he slowly straighten up and look at Liu Feng. "Feng, you sent me to scout things out just now. The guys and I had barely left the woods when we spotted something big! There's another group behind us!"

At those words, Liu Feng drew in a sharp breath.

"How is that possible?"

"Exactly. We came from the Residential Camp. That place should be full of nothing but zombies!"

"Could it be that the A58 Gathering Place really doesn't want us here? Is this some kind of act to make us realize where we stand and retreat?"

As he listened to his companions' discussion, Liu Feng's gaze sharpened, his brows drawing together in their habitual slight frown.

"Feng, what do we do next?" Fatty asked Liu Feng.

Facing everyone's eager gazes, Liu Feng paused, cleared his throat, and spoke quietly. "Ahem, don't panic yet. Little Knife, come with me."

Little Knife said nothing in response. She simply nodded and followed close behind Liu Feng. The two left the woods, one behind the other.

Liu Feng lay flat among some shrubs and surveyed the road through the gaps between the green leaves.

Fatty had been right. There really was a group roughly a kilometer behind their convoy.

But from a distance, the group looked dispirited, without the slightest fighting spirit. Most of them also bore injuries of varying severity, as though they had just endured a brutal battle.

"Little Knife, do you think these people are coming after us?"

Little Knife looked at Liu Feng and shook her head.

"I don't think so either. But judging by all that fine equipment, it's not hard to tell they must be on their way back. If that's the case, then they're..."

Liu Feng turned his gaze toward the nearby town wall, where dozens of burly men were still standing guard.

Now everything seemed to make sense.

The three gangs in the A58 Gathering Place had never gotten along. This time, there might be quite a show.

Liu Feng's thin lips slowly curved into an amused smile. He patted Little Knife on the shoulder and said to her with a grin, "Come on. Let's head back!"

Little Knife looked at Liu Feng in confusion.

"Don't overthink it. This is definitely good news!"

When Liu Feng returned to the woods and shared his theory, everyone laughed at the others' misfortune.

"Feng, if they really start fighting, won't we be able to reap the rewards?"

"I doubt it'll be that simple. Neither of those gangs is easy to deal with."

"Right. Even if this second group is covered in wounds, you know what they say: even a starving camel is bigger than a horse!"

Liu Feng nodded in agreement.

"We'll watch them fight for now. Once they've worn each other down, we might have a chance to act. We don't necessarily have to wipe out both groups. We could choose to support one of them instead!"

Everyone nodded in agreement with Liu Feng's words.

Sometimes, profiting from someone else's fight was not so easy. Offering token support to one side might actually yield the greatest benefit.

Liu Feng glanced at everyone, then nodded.

"Fatty, go up ahead with Feng Wen and Feng Wu and keep an eye on the fighting!"

"Old Ge and Han Bing, get the men ready. The moment I give the order, everyone needs to show them what we're made of. This is our last hope!"

Everyone nodded solemnly at his orders.

"Understood, Feng!"

Just then, a timid voice reached Liu Feng's ears.

"Then... what about me?"

Liu Feng turned and saw Little Knife standing there, looking a little awkward.

"Just stay with me!"

(End of chapter)