hotmtlnovel Chapter 57 Warwick Biological Research Institute
Chapter 57 Warwick Biological Research Institute
After making his promise, Gao Yuan immediately began to reassure everyone.
After Wang Bowen finished his broadcast, the crowd on the rooftop stirred for a while. Gao Yuan weaved through the crowd, patting one person on the shoulder and whispering a few words to another.
He didn't preach any grand principles; he just repeated the same few practical points: "The military has given it an official designation; this is the official outpost."
"Captain Lu is now a lieutenant captain, and the combat team arranged by the military is already on its way."
"The shelter won't be able to reach the West District for at least half a month. Staying here means we have food, a bed, and guards. Even if we went to the shelter, we'd only get this kind of treatment."
It was blunt, but effective.
In less than fifteen minutes, the crowd that had been whispering among themselves gradually quieted down.
These survivors were somewhat unwilling, but the military had already left, and the drones had flown far away, leaving them with no other choice.
The young men who had been the loudest earlier exchanged glances and silently followed at the end of the line downstairs.
Staying means at least we'll have food to eat; going back means we'll just be waiting to die.
Lu Chen did not leave immediately. He stood on the edge of the rooftop, holding binoculars in his hand, the lens following the quadcopter drone that was moving away.
The afternoon sun was still strong, providing excellent visibility, and the drone's metal casing reflected tiny points of light in the air.
The drone, broadcasting a message, flew out of Xiangyang Community and is now moving towards the Cuizhuyuan Community across the street.
The sound from the external speaker came back from hundreds of meters away; the sound was already muffled, but the rhythmic cadence was still there.
As the sound drifted over, there was an immediate response from the Green Bamboo Garden.
However, most of these reactions came from the zombies... Many zombies wandering on the main road of the community heard the noise above them, raised their heads, and let out hoarse roars. Some even chased after the drone, waving their claws in vain in the air.
But Lu Chen wasn't focused on those things. He stared at the windows. The several residential buildings in Cuizhu Garden stood quietly in the afternoon sun, most of the windows were closed and the curtains were drawn tightly.
But less than two minutes after the drone flew over, he saw the change.
A window was pushed open, leaving only a small crack, and a piece of red cloth peeked out from inside, its surface mostly unfurled by the wind.
Then came the second, the third, and so on, with people hanging red cloth on their windows one after another.
Some people were quick; after hanging up the red cloth, they leaned out halfway and waved frantically in the direction of the drone.
Some people were very careful, only hanging the red cloth on the window handle before pulling it back in, drawing the curtains again, leaving only a piece of red cloth fluttering outside.
It wasn't just the Cuizhu Garden area; Lu Chen pulled his binoculars back and scanned the buildings on his own side of the Xiangyang Community, where he also noticed that several residents had hung up red cloths.
These people didn't really trust Lu Chen before, thinking that a young man's verbal promise was less reliable than staying at home and waiting for official rescue.
Now the military has intervened... A drone carrying a loudspeaker flies around the neighborhood, and the liaison officer announces the outpost number and commander's name in an official tone—the nature of the situation is completely different.
Of course, not everyone cooperated.
Through his binoculars, Lu Chen saw several shadowy figures moving behind windows in the Green Bamboo Garden, but no red cloth was ever hung up.
The reason is simple... Even if a drone bearing military markings were to broadcast a message from the sky, it wouldn't be enough to immediately put everyone at ease.
They need to see more concrete evidence, such as soldiers in uniform, armored vehicles, or a military flag flying at the entrance of the outpost.
Overall, however, the results have been quite good.
Just from those few minutes of broadcasting, the number of people he can rescue tomorrow has increased at least several times.
"This kind of drone..." Lu Chen put down his binoculars, stroked his chin, and muttered to himself, "I feel like we could buy one too."
He had previously glanced at the redemption list on the Dawn Project's official website and vaguely remembered that in addition to firearms, ammunition, and individual soldier equipment, there were also several drones in the equipment section... ranging from palm-sized reconnaissance drones to medium-sized reconnaissance and strike drones with wingspans of several meters.
With drones, you can fly over with a loudspeaker to call out to survivors so they can prepare in advance, increasing the efficiency of picking them up several times over.
He kept the thought in mind and raised the binoculars again.
Lu Chen watched from the rooftop for 15 minutes. After completing its broadcast to Xiangyang Community and Cuizhu Garden, the quadcopter drone did not stop but flew to its next target.
It first flew to Sunshine Garden, shuttling back and forth between several buildings, with the sound of the loudspeaker faintly echoing back.
Then further west is that old-style apartment building... that's the most densely populated area in the region, with dozens of five- or six-story old buildings crammed together, the gaps between them so narrow that even sunlight can't get in.
The drone hovered above the apartment buildings several times, repeating the announcement three or four times, before slowly ascending to prepare to leave.
Within a 3-kilometer radius, Wang Bowen flew every single inch of the area.
But what Lu Chen found strange was that after the drone finished broadcasting, it didn't ascend in the east.
Its nose swung further west, and its altitude continued to climb until it became a small dot on the horizon and disappeared into the thin mist illuminated by the afternoon sun.
This doesn't look like a return flight at all. The refuge in Wanshun City is located in the East District. A return flight should fly east, not west, which means going further and further away.
"Strange... Could it be that the military actually has a base in the West District?" Lu Chen put down his binoculars and muttered to himself.
He thought about it and realized that this guess wasn't impossible.
This military quadcopter drone should have a much longer range than the civilian version, but it can't be too exaggerated.
After completing the broadcast mission, if you need to fly back to the shelter in the East District, you should return immediately.
Of course, whether this speculation is true or false, it doesn't mean much to him for the time being.
Whether the military has a base in the West District or not will not change his plan to build his own territory here.
After confirming that the drone had completed its broadcast mission and would not return, he folded the binoculars and tucked them into the small bag at his waist, then turned and walked toward the fire escape.
It's only 3:30 pm.
There are still nearly 3 hours until sunset, which is plenty of time to get things done.
What Lu Chen didn't know was that his guess was actually correct.
The military does indeed have a base in the western district. To be precise, it's a biomedical facility that must be protected at all costs.
The research institute of Huawi Biotechnology Co., Ltd., the largest biomedical research institution in Wanshun City, is located in a high-tech industrial park in the western suburbs of Xicheng District.
If you walk about 8 kilometers west from Xiangyang Community, you will see a cluster of buildings with gray and white exterior walls... several low-rise research and development buildings, an experimental center, and two standardized sterile workshops.