"Now it seems that there are more survivors than I estimated, which is a good thing... but I don't know how many will ultimately survive. Let's go, we don't have much time!"

Hong Tao didn't have any thoughts about the ice storage. He was calculating a number in his mind. When he first learned about the catastrophe, the estimated number of survivors was very small, but after these days of exploration, the situation seemed to have improved.

However, this estimation was too rough and could only be considered a trend, without specific numbers. Even if many survivors managed to avoid the initial mutation, whether they could truly survive was still a big question.

For example, Liu Quanyou and the others. If they hadn't accidentally discovered it, they would have had to fight against zombies after consuming all the food and water. With their abilities and weapon levels, the chance of escaping alive was almost zero.

To prevent any zombies from wandering into the park, Hong Tao simply closed the south gate and searched the office location of that company. After confirming that there was no one, they drove to the north side of the east gate under the high wall.

A ladder, another ladder! The entrance to this underground circular structure was outside the east wall of the park, where there was a small courtyard that used to be part of the golf practice area. After the golf course was canceled, the courtyard was abandoned. It was much easier to climb over from the inside of the park's high wall than to kill zombies on the main road.

"Click..." It was quiet outside the blast door. Hong Tao and Sun Ge were the first to climb down the ladder and circled the small courtyard to confirm that there were no living creatures before taking out the keychain and unlocking the padlock on the iron chain. Actually, this lock was not as sturdy as the lock on the police station's armory, but having the key was more convenient than using an angle grinder.

"You two, don't speak loudly and don't move around randomly, understand?" Originally, Hong Tao wanted to leave the two girls on the wall to wait. The outer wall of the park was over four meters high, and no zombies could climb up.

But seeing their frightened appearance, he felt that doing so was a bit too heartless, so he decided to bring them along. However, he had to establish discipline in advance. If they didn't listen or couldn't comply, they couldn't blame him for being ruthless.

"...What's inside here?" Yang Ling, the chubby girl who wanted to run away when she saw Hong Tao drop the box, was more talkative. She took a flashlight and wanted to know what was behind the extraordinary large cement door before deciding whether to go in or not.

"It's likely to be our future home... Old Liu, it's up to you to explain the current domestic and international situation to them, as well as our discipline!" If they knew what it looked like inside, there was no need to take such a risky exploration. Hong Tao had also learned to be lazy like Sun Ge and let Liu Quanyou handle the ideological work.

"Come, you two follow me. This is the current situation..." Liu Quanyou was indeed not afraid of taking charge. He solemnly called the two girls to the back and started tapping his palm with the back of his hand. It was his habitual action. He would do it when he was thinking and when he was talking nonsense.

"Sun Ge, I've been here many times before, so I'm quite familiar with the situation. There shouldn't be anyone downstairs, but we can't rule out special circumstances, so we shouldn't get too close. I'll go ahead, and you stay behind, alright?"

Although the market had been closed for four or five years, the appearance inside the blast door hadn't changed much, and the air was still relatively fresh. Hong Tao walked down the stairs with a flashlight in hand, followed by Liu Quanyou with the two girls about three or four meters behind, and Sun Ge at the back.

"There's an elevator here?" Sun Ge obviously hadn't been here before. He used to live in a house outside the fifth ring road, and this house was where his son and daughter-in-law lived. They only moved here three years ago, and by then, the market had already closed.

To access the premium content, go to [ pawread dot com ].

The flashlight they found in the civil defense office's safe was really bright. In the pitch-black underground space, it was like a big white stick swinging left and right, gently illuminating every corner.

Seeing that there was no place for anyone to hide downstairs, Hong Tao felt more at ease. He was afraid that the previous shops and counters hadn't been cleaned up properly and were in a mess, which would make them an easy target for a surprise attack.

"There used to be many small shops on both sides here, but unfortunately, they closed. Old Liu, do you know why?" Now that he was relaxed, his mouth followed suit.

"Hey, this wasn't decided by the district. I heard that the area within the second ring road is going to be transformed into a government affairs district, so the population must be evacuated. Haven't you seen that even the city government has been relocated to Tongzhou District? Who has time to care about the market... Old Hong, this door..."

Liu Quanyou had a deeper understanding of this issue, but he didn't plan to discuss it in detail. He just casually responded. His main focus was still on the blast door. Should it be closed or left open?

"Close it and lock it from the inside!" Hong Tao made the decision without hesitation.

Locking the door with the key in hand, even if there were problems outside and they couldn't leave from here, there were still other exits. He had carefully studied the blueprint, and there was indeed a passage connected to Metro Line 5. If all else failed, they could escape from there.

Not locking the door, thinking that there was a way out, was actually more dangerous. Aside from the possibility of zombies getting in, if they were discovered by others, the danger would be even greater than the zombies.

"Clang... Swish..." As the locking device of the blast door closed, the underground space immediately became pitch black, and three flashlights lit up instantly.

"Yang Ping, turn off your flashlight... Old Liu, don't shine it at people, focus on the left and right sides and the ground. Sun Ge and I will take care of the front and back!"Hong Tao had always enjoyed exploring air-raid shelters since he was a child, and was quite familiar with such enclosed spaces. In fact, too much lighting could be a hindrance, as the constant flickering of light beams from all directions made it even harder to see clearly.

The design of this circular fortification was quite interesting. It was a ring, not a circle, buried under a layer of soil seven meters thick. It resembled a stadium track, but the center was solid, with only a ventilation hole.

Hong Tao didn't understand why it was designed this way. According to the blueprint, the ring-shaped space was nearly eight meters wide, with a circumference of over 300 meters and a height of about five meters. There were two entrances, one on the east side and one on the north side.

After measuring, the actual data matched the blueprint almost perfectly. However, the original design couldn't be seen on this blueprint. To see that, one would need to look at another blueprint drawn in 1974, which was found in the civil defense office's safe.

On this blueprint, the circular fortification should have five ventilation holes, two of which were outside the park wall, and the other three were inside. There were as many as six entrances, three of which had been permanently sealed. Adding the existing two, there was still one missing.

This missing entrance, marked as a ventilation hole on the new blueprint, was now just three meters away from Hong Tao. It was inconspicuous, with a two-meter-wide blast door painted over with a thick layer of paint. If one didn't look carefully, it would blend in with the surrounding walls. The only difference was the few centimeters of thick steel plate at the edge, with a large lock hanging on it.

"Get ready... Yang Ping, you unlock it!" Hong Tao handed the key to Yang Ping, holding a riot shield and ready to charge. Sun Jianshe and Liu Quanyou each held a fire hook, with Liu Quanyou also holding a gun, standing behind Hong Tao. The other girl, Yang Ling, was leaning against the opposite wall, nervously biting her fingers.

"I... I'm a bit scared..." Yang Ping's hands clenched together, refusing to take the key.

"You were surrounded by zombies and still had the mood to eat fried dough sticks, your courage is not bad. Come on, it's just unlocking a door. Once it's open, get out of the way quickly. There's nothing to worry about. If you don't unlock it... hmm hmm hmm... you know what will happen..."

Hong Tao simply stuffed the key into her bosom, then issued his final ultimatum with a sinister laugh. To enhance the atmosphere, he even held a flashlight to his chest, shining it upwards to make his face look even more ferocious.

"...Slurp... I was just enjoying my fried dough sticks, and this uncle insisted on dragging me out... Slurp... What's so good about the outside... It's too scary... Slurp..."

The effect was achieved. Yang Ping's tears and sobs came out together, full of resentment and complaint. But she didn't hesitate, tremblingly inserting the key into the lock and turning it forcefully.