Chapter 51: The New District, an Unfriendly Atmosphere

To be honest, in all her years, Bian Changxi had never ridden in a police car before. She never expected that after being reborn into the apocalypse, she’d finally get to check that off her list.

She looked around curiously, as if she were on a sightseeing tour. Before long, the car stopped at the south square of the train station—the very square she could see from her fourth-floor window.

There were clearly more survivors arriving in the new district today than yesterday. The south square was packed with vehicles and bustling with people. The noise was overwhelming as families queued up with their bags, waiting to get in. Several workers in blue uniforms were collecting supplies and registering people. Those who handed over supplies were led to a ticket office with curtains—probably for health checks. Every so often, someone would come out grinning, then be taken inside the station.

Bian Changxi watched all this with interest. Aside from lacking a bit of order and thoroughness, the procedures here weren’t much different from those at the larger bases that would appear later. She couldn’t help but marvel—there were always people who could rise to the occasion and seize the moment. It was only the sixth day of the apocalypse, and someone was already organizing a force on this scale. Wasn’t this the prototype of a base?

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the waiting hall. A disheveled man was dragged out. “You bastard! You got bitten by a zombie and you still dare try to sneak in? Get as far away from here as you can before I lose my temper!”

The man was thrown onto the square, sending the crowd into a panic. People scrambled to get away, shouting, “Drive him out!” “Kill him!” The scene became even more chaotic.

But the burly policeman who’d thrown the man out didn’t seem worried at all. He waited until the man started convulsing and let out a beast-like roar, leaping up to lunge at the crowd. Only then did the officer flick his hand, sending out several golden blades that sliced through the man’s flesh like a thousand cuts, then pierced his body like a hail of arrows.

The man shook violently, riddled like a sieve. Having just turned into a zombie, he had neither defense nor attack power, and was quickly finished off by a flash of golden light through his forehead. He collapsed to the ground.

Only then did the tainted blood slowly seep from his body.

The crowd erupted in screams and cheers.

The policeman flicked his jacket with the back of his hand and raised his chin proudly as he strode back into the station. His imposing figure filled the ordinary people with excitement. “With someone this powerful protecting the station, we’ve come to the right place!” they said. Only Bian Changxi noticed the slight tremor in his arm and the unsteady steps he took.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she glanced back at the dead man. Suddenly sensing something, she looked up at a certain spot.

At the entrance to the waiting hall, a boy stood trembling, eyes red, biting his lip as he stared at the corpse. His mother clung to him desperately, tears streaming down her face as she tried to muffle his sobs. “Don’t go! Don’t cry, you can’t cry!”

She pressed the boy’s face into her chest, apologizing humbly under the disgusted stares of those nearby. Even so, two rough-looking men shoved her. “You’re with that guy, aren’t you? You weren’t bitten by zombies too, were you?”

“No, no, we weren’t! When the zombie attacked, the boy’s father shielded us.”

“Oh, so you’re a family. You say you weren’t bitten, but how do we know? Strip down so we can check!”

“Yeah, strip for inspection!” the other echoed. The two of them started harassing her right there in front of everyone.

Everyone else was too busy with their own struggles to intervene. A few who were sympathetic quietly backed away when they heard the mother and son were related to the dead man—afraid they might really have been bitten.

Bian Changxi frowned, her hands slowly clenching into fists as she hesitated over whether to step in. Suddenly, a stern voice rang out: “What do you think you’re doing?!”

A well-dressed, middle-aged man came out of the station with several others, pointing at the two troublemakers and berating them. The men sneered, “Big talk. Who are you? Do you know who we work for?”

The workers at the station bristled at this. They put down what they were doing and stepped forward, puffing up. “We don’t care who you work for, but look where you’re standing! This is Zhonghai Group’s turf, and this is our boss, Du Zhonghai. Keep shouting and we’ll throw you out!”

So this was Du Zhonghai. Everyone had heard he was the boss of the new district, and now they looked at him with a new sense of awe.

Du Zhonghai took a deep breath, about to speak, when the gold-powered policeman suddenly reappeared, grinning. “Oh my, Boss Du, why are you so angry? You’re the number one man in the new district—if you get sick, who will we rely on?” He looked around in mock surprise. “Hey, why aren’t your people working? I’ve said it before—these construction workers are great at building houses and driving cranes, but registration and security checks aren’t their thing, right? No worries, my men are all trained. We’ll help you out.”

He waved his hand. “What are you all standing around for? Get over here and help! From now on, you’re in charge of security. Clean up the station inside and out, make things easier for Boss Du, got it?” In no time, a group of uniformed, armed officers took over the workers’ posts with practiced efficiency, as if they’d rehearsed it a hundred times. The atmosphere changed instantly—it now felt like entering a police station.

Du Zhonghai’s hands shook with anger, his chest heaving, and his people rushed to steady him.

The gold-powered officer smirked. “Young Master Xiao has more instructions for me, so I’ll be going now, Boss Du.” He waved at Bian Changxi’s group. “You’ve brought the suspect, right? Hurry up and bring her in, the higher-ups are waiting!” With that, he strode off, looking even more smug than before.

Everyone stared, not sure what to make of it, but Du Zhonghai and his people understood perfectly—this was the police system flexing its muscles, trying to force them to give up control.

So what if they had a few more guns? Why act so high and mighty every day? They’d worked so hard to organize the people in the new district and set up rules—how much effort had that taken? Now they were supposed to just hand it all over?

The workers clenched their fists, veins bulging, and asked Du Zhonghai what to do. He swallowed his anger, finally letting out a long sigh and waving his hand. “Find a place to bury the body.” Then he pointed at the mother and son. “Bring them in and settle them somewhere. It’ll be hard for a widow and orphan to survive.”

He muttered the last part to himself, but Bian Changxi, on her way into the station, heard it and gave him a thoughtful look.

The train station was nearly finished—modern and enormous, with four floors. The two basement levels were for the tracks and connected directly to the outside, but were deserted. Most of the people being sheltered were on the first basement level. The ground floor was bustling with people coming and going, while Bian Changxi was escorted to the second floor, which was likely where the leadership operated.

She stepped onto the now-stationary escalator. The polished tiles gleamed, the high ceilings and massive columns making her feel small. Every ten meters or so, a uniformed officer stood guard, and people bustled up and down, busy with their tasks.

The gold-powered officer was nowhere to be seen. Instead, two men approached—one was Boss Zhang from the internet café, whom she’d met yesterday, and the other looked like a professional office worker.

Boss Zhang smiled. “You’ve brought her? Thanks for your hard work.”"