In Hanhai Province, a vast inland lake known as Hanhai Lake sprawls extensively, ranking as one of the largest inland lakes of the Han Country. To its east lies the vast East Sea. The province boasts highly developed water transportation, with a long history of large fleets ranging from small boats to massive coast guard ships.
After the zombie outbreak, those who made their living from fishing and living on boats mostly survived. These survivors gradually gathered under various superhumans, eventually forming several factions.
The leaders of these factions came together to establish the Ship Gang, an alliance without a traditional leader. Instead, it is governed by a council of superhumans known as the Supernatural Council.
The Ship Gang's influence stretches across the entire Hanhai Province. Many members find it difficult to reach the Supernatural Council meetings held in Yuhai City due to the vastness of the province and the dispersed nature of their locations.
Superhumans also maintain their individual territories, and some have rivalries or old grudges, making full attendance at council meetings rare. Often, small matters are resolved by two or three superhumans without convening a full meeting.
The Supernatural Council is based in a large shipyard in Yuhai City, once the premier shipbuilding facility of the area that built six ironclad ships and received personal praise from the Emperor of Han Country.
However, post-outbreak, the shipyard has been taken over by the Ship Gang and converted into their headquarters.
At this moment, in the highest conference room of the shipyard, two superhumans are sorting through documents sent from various parts of the province. These documents invariably report on high-level zombies and supernatural creatures in Hanhai Province.
The evolution rate of zombies and supernatural creatures rivals that of humans, with powerful zombies capable of rallying large numbers of their kind to dominate territories and occasionally raid human settlements.
One of the superhumans is unusually short and appears youthful, almost like a small boy, but his face bears the marks of age not fitting a child. The other is a tall, curvaceous woman. She holds a wine bottle in her left hand and a document in her right, clearly bored with the routine.
Taking a swig of her drink, she casually mentions, "…in Golden Mountain City, a high-level zombie has appeared with the ability to launch ice spikes. It has already destroyed three small settlements. It's suspected to be a second-level zombie, commanding over a thousand regular zombies and about twenty first-level zombies."
As the woman's voice trailed off, the young boy immediately responded, "Ding Peng is closest to that location. Send a message to him to lead a team to clear out the zombie horde."
The woman continued to list several affected areas within Hanhai Province. The boy was able to rapidly provide decisions for each situation in less than a second. It was as if he had an entire map of Hanhai Province in his mind, with all the superhumans and settlements under the Ship Gang's rule appearing like stars in the sky, some bright, some dim.
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A particular document caught the woman's interest. Without even looking at it, the boy remarked, "Sister Yu, that's the first time today you've shown interest."
The woman chuckled behind her hand, "There's news from within Linjiang Province. The two-headed python that broke through Ye Nantian's encirclement has appeared in East Lake City."
"Ye Nantian sent Xiong Xing, Lin Qiao, and Li Tiemu, three commanders, to East Lake City to besiege and kill the injured two-headed python," she said with a smile. "Liang, it's the same two-headed python we once encountered."
The boy nodded, "That python is cunning and has powerful Psionic abilities. It's not easily killed. Xiong Xing, Lin Qiao, and Li Tiemu are all experienced second-level superhumans. I've calculated that with a maximum casualty limit of two dead and more than ten first-level superhumans, there's only a 72% chance of stopping the python."
The woman laughed, covering her mouth, "Xiao Liang, your calculations are off this time."
The boy frowned, "Impossible, all variables were constant, the result should be definitive."
The woman pushed the document towards him with a light laugh, "Take a look, there's been an unexpected factor."
The boy read the document in a flash, showing surprise for the first time. "Sword flying? Soul extraction? Immortal techniques?"
He was incredulous. He thought he had a comprehensive understanding of Psionic powers, but this was beyond his expectations and had effortlessly changed the outcome.
The boy stated seriously, "He didn't even act, and the two zombies he controlled easily inflicted heavy damage on the python."
"This so-called immortal has a 52% chance of being a fourth-level superhuman and a 22% chance of being a fifth-level," he continued. "Given his ability to control zombies, there's a 55% probability his awakened talent is related to the brain."
The woman's eyes sparkled, "A fifth-level superhuman? Brain enhancement? That high of a rating?"
The boy nodded seriously.
The woman laughed softly, "Shall we go meet him then? We might find the memories we lost."
The boy seriously added, "From his actions, he does not seem like someone easy to befriend. Are you sure you want to go?"
She nodded, "Yes, even if he isn't easy to get along with, if we bring gifts, he surely won't refuse, right?"
The boy stood up, "Alright, then let's go."
"Do we need to inform the ship's captain?" the woman joked.
The boy shook his head, "No need. When we stayed with the Ship Gang, we agreed to help for a year, and after that, we could leave whenever we wanted."
The woman whispered, "Alright, let's go... Oh, before we leave, I'll grab a few more bottles of wine. The Ship Gang's brew is too delicious."
The boy, "I guessed as much."
He pointed to the ground beneath their feet, "The wine storage is on the second sublevel, east side. There are two guards, but this is their nap time."
The woman chuckled lightly, playfully flicking his nose, "Rescuing you from that hospital was indeed the right decision."
The boy instinctively stepped back.
The woman's laughter lightened as she grabbed the boy's hand and strode confidently out of the shipyard. They seemed to be enveloped in a veil of invisibility, undetected by the busy crowd around them as they made their escape.
It was over an hour later when someone bringing new dispatch documents knocked and entered the room, only to find that the pair had long since departed.
Soon after, the news of their departure reached the Ship Gang's leader. Known as the Old Captain to most, his real name had long been forgotten. Commonly referred to as the head of the East Sea fishermen, he was nearing seventy yet still ventured out to fish every so often.
Before the zombie outbreak, he was already highly respected. When the outbreak hit, he happened to be at sea, avoiding the most dangerous early days. His awakening talents naturally positioned him as the leader of the fishermen, and he was eventually elected as the head of the Supernatural Council.
The Old Captain, with his temples graying and face marked by age, still maintained a vigorous and robust demeanor. Each deep wrinkle on his face seemed to carry the briny scent of the sea breeze, a testament to his years weathering the ocean's moods.