"It's impossible, impossible, you're lying... Please give me a car and allow me to return to the embassy myself!" Kanninghan certainly couldn't accept this statement. He stood up unsteadily and leaned against a pillar, making a request.

"Don't be in a hurry. In another twenty minutes, I can let you have a brief conversation with some Americans who are far away in their homeland. Then you will know whether what I said is true or not. Before that, if your body allows, you should take a shower first. This is not a request, but an order. Considering hygiene and epidemic prevention, I think you should understand, right?"

Hong Tao looked at his watch and saw that it was not far from the time he had agreed to talk with Ronaldo yesterday. At that time, there would not only be Ronaldo, but also all the survivors he had contacted through the radio, including two Americans. Since Kanninghan didn't believe him, there was no need to waste time explaining. It would be better for him to talk to his fellow countrymen.

Kanninghan was still quite rational. He didn't make a big fuss and understood the purpose of taking a shower. He obediently followed Jiao San to the lakeside. Hong Tao no longer needed to personally set up the temporary bathroom, and Linna, Chu Qiu, and Zhang Tao took care of arranging for the newcomers to take a shower. Finally, he felt a sense of being a leader. Sitting here and giving orders made his subordinates run around.

"... "In fact, there was no need to talk in person. Just change the earphones to speakers and let Kanninghan listen to a few sentences. This big man covered his face with both hands and started sobbing. In his hometown, he had not only parents and brothers, but also a wife, a daughter, and a son.

According to the farmer who escaped from near Pittsburgh, all the major cities in the United States have fallen and become a paradise for zombies. Military bases cannot approach, and the stationed troops have also turned into zombies. Obviously, Kanninghan's family is in great danger.

In addition to China, the United States, and Mexico, Hong Tao also had brief communication with seven or eight radio enthusiasts from Canada, Russia, South Africa, Germany, Sweden, and India.

Everyone's situation was similar. Only the Larson family from Sweden was relatively lucky. He was a forest ranger and his home was built in the woods. He usually didn't have much contact with outsiders. Except for his eldest daughter who attended boarding school in a nearby city, the whole family of five, including his youngest son, was still alive.

However, he also said that he and his father had flown by helicopter to the nearest town, but unfortunately, they didn't find any survivors. The next step was to go to the nearest city and use a loudspeaker to broadcast from above to see if they could find any survivors.

The most discussed topic was how to deal with zombies. Humans are really imaginative. There are ways to shoot them with guns, mow them with lawnmowers, dig traps and burn them with gasoline, crush them with mechanical arms on agricultural machinery, and shoot them from above with automatic rifles mounted on forest helicopters...

The most creative method was suggested by a farmer from South Africa. He rode horses to drive herds of cattle and horses to trample on the zombies. He once cleared three adjacent farms in a single day and rescued two survivors.

Hong Tao didn't have guns, helicopters, or so much space to maneuver, nor did he have agricultural machinery and hundreds of livestock, so he couldn't boast about it. However, he discovered a way for zombies to absorb energy, which no one had mentioned yet. It could be considered a contribution.

"Thank you for saving me. Please let me join your team as a way of repaying you. I know where to get weapons, very close to here, very powerful weapons, a lot of them!" Tired of crying, Kanninghan quickly regained his composure and made a decision.

"In fact, we have obtained some handguns, but they are not very effective against zombies. You don't need to be so nervous, and we don't discriminate against people from any country. As long as they are human and still have a moral bottom line, and are willing to contribute to their own and the team's survival, we welcome them."

Was this like a pledge? Hong Tao didn't know if Americans had a similar saying. He wasn't very interested in Kanninghan's proposal. Sun Dacheng had told him about a training base for the armed police that he hadn't explored yet. Currently, there was no urgent need for guns, and it was not worth taking such a risk to go so far.

As for saying it was close, that was a joke. An American who had only arrived in the capital last year actually said that there were many guns in the city center, and they were very powerful. Did he really think this was America?

"Not handguns, but military equipment! In the embassy, there is a platoon of Marines, with automatic rifles, machine guns, and ammunition. There is enough supply to arm all the embassy personnel and hold out for five hours!"

Seeing that Hong Tao was not very interested in his proposal, Kanninghan couldn't help but become anxious. Just now, he only treated these people as lifesavers and temporary sources of support, so there was no need to say everything.

But now it was different. He had lost his home, his unit, and his country. He would have to live with these Chinese people for a long time in the future. How could he make the team stronger? He couldn't hold anything back.

"Nonsense! This is Chinese territory. How could foreign troops be allowed to stay here with so many weapons? Do you think it's still the Eight-Nation Alliance!" Everyone who heard this statement was stunned. Sun Jianshe was the first to react and immediately refuted Kanninghan's claim."Hong Brother, don't believe his nonsense. Foreigners are even less reliable. He definitely wants to trick us into taking him to the embassy!" Jiao San didn't have much interest in history, he just felt that Carnahan's motives were impure and suspected him of manipulating naive people.

"Right, we can't trust the American devils!" With Jiao San's words, many people present looked at Carnahan with more disgust and hostility. Zhang Ke even waved his little fists and started chanting slogans.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, are we still talking about ideologies at this time? Do we need to capture the zombies and criticize them too? ... We've been tired all day, let's rest early. We have to get up early tomorrow!"

Seeing that Carnahan was still trying to defend himself, Hong Tao quickly stood up and dispersed the crowd. This guy spoke decent Chinese, but he didn't know much about China. It seemed that he hadn't been here long enough to understand the nuances.

If they weren't busy bathing the rescued people, distributing clothes and personal items, everyone would have gone to rest earlier. Seeing the leader speak, it was indeed late, and those who didn't live in the courtyard scattered like birds. Only Liu Quanyou and the bewildered Carnahan were left.

"Master Hong, how should we arrange him?" Liu Quanyou was in charge of logistics, which naturally included arranging food and lodging for newcomers. But with the sudden appearance of a foreign devil, there seemed to be no plan for this. He had to ask for Hong Tao's opinion.

"There's a vacant room in the south house, and the furniture is ready. Let him stay there for now, he can be neighbors with Jiao San!" Hong Tao glanced at Jiao San unhappily. This guy was too quick to speak, more likely to cause trouble than to help. Looking at the bewildered Carnahan, this foreigner deserved it. Showing off, huh? Now he's learned his lesson!

"...What about the weapons he mentioned?" Seeing that there were no other idle people around except for Jiao San, Liu Quanyou leaned in again.

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Looking at Liu Quanyou's cautious manner, Hong Tao wanted to laugh. Some things were indeed ingrained and had become a mindset. As for the issue of weapons, if it weren't for the hostile atmosphere just now, it would have been fine to discuss it openly. Now, having guns is not illegal, there's no need to be wary of anything. On the contrary, the more guns, the safer and more honorable.

"Hey, do you smoke?" He waved at Carnahan to come over and light up, took out a pack of cigarettes and distributed them. Jiao San shamelessly joined in, and the four of them sat around the stone table.

"Mr. Carnahan's situation is basically true, but I really don't know how many troops and weapons there are, and I have no way to find out." Hong Tao didn't speak until everyone had lit up.

"Ah! There really are troops? I often pass by the embassy area, aren't the guards at the gate all PLA?" Jiao San started again. This kind of person had actually been to the American embassy visa office, more than once!

"Listen well, those are armed police, not the PLA. You can't even distinguish between your own country's police and army, and you have the nerve to speak up. Isn't that embarrassing?"

Hong Tao kicked Jiao San in the shin, just talking wasn't enough, he needed to leave a deep impression so he wouldn't just say whatever came to mind. He could ignore it, but he had to consider others' feelings.

"What the hell, just because you know more, you can hit people? I have shin guards, it doesn't hurt!" Unfortunately, this guy couldn't be woken up even with a kick, mainly because it didn't hurt enough.