Wen Biao’s hair stood on end, his expression subtle, "We generally don’t sell people..."

"Don’t give me that crap. If you don’t sell people, where did those five hundred in the convoy come from, including women and children? Don’t tell me they’re all yours!"

He Jie glared and cursed.

Before he got in the car, his lieutenant Mountain Goat had already investigated the entire convoy.

Pretending to be naive in front of the conductor? You want to die!

Sweat appeared on Wen Biao’s forehead, "They wanted a better life. Our Xinma Gang delivers them to Zhijin for free, and we don’t bother after that, no human trafficking involved..."

Seeing He Jie’s increasingly gloomy face, Wen Biao got a flash of understanding, "But it’s not that we can’t sell. They’re just a bunch of Scavengers; they can live anywhere. If you need them, we’ll give them to you, and it would be doing me a great favor."

"My train won’t stop at Zhijin; taking people to an unfamiliar place, isn’t that inappropriate?"

Su Huan said with a faint smile.

He wanted people, but he wouldn’t be the bad guy.

These people were meant to fill the crew and Armed Corps, and if they didn’t stay willingly, they’d just waste resources and time.

Wen Biao caught on to the hint, "Anything transported away from home is expensive, except for people who are cheap. They are Scavengers taken in near Xiaohe, fleeing far for survival, so they don’t care about that. Each one is dying to stay on the train and enjoy life."

Saying "compatriots" or not, if it was a pure transaction, he might hesitate, but with lives at stake, forget about five hundred Scavengers; he could hand over the whole convoy.

Besides, staying on such a safe train during the apocalypse.

Wen Biao thought he had peace of mind!

"Tell Nonsense to take some people and filter them out. Bring in those we need. Take young ones, not old ones. Even younger ones are better."

Su Huan instructed.

Behind him, Shu Wei immediately noted the order and then distributed it to various departments through the command platform.

However, these five hundred people were not the focus. How many talents could be among them? He needed experts; he didn’t even expect academicians. Those big shots would be taken by the military in any rush, and those who couldn’t be taken, like Director Xu, would be snatched by major forces.

However, Zhijin is a new first-tier city with forty-eight universities. This many people can’t be taken all at once.

Getting second-tier talents would be enough to alleviate the train’s talent shortage.

"Does Zhijin have any talents, like some university scholars... in the sciences?"

Su Huan asked.

He Jie gave a prior warning, "Don’t beat around the bush; say whatever you know!"

Su Huan glanced at He Jie with satisfaction, the two becoming increasingly coordinated.

With him playing the bad cop, there was no need for killing.

...

Through Wen Biao’s narration, Su Huan gained a clear understanding of the talent flow in Zhijin.

Since the apocalypse broke out in December, universities usually have holidays from mid-January to late February, so it didn’t affect December much.

So students and teachers were trapped in the schools.

Several universities united, organizing the students with teachers and veterans as the backbone, waiting for rescue.

But after half a month, under the ravages of natural disasters, zombies, and Evolutionary Beasts, the first breakup occurred between the universities, and the university town split into individual schools.

After another half month, the internal decomposing of the universities started.

Amid the impact of societal members outside, natural disasters and man-made disasters played out simultaneously.

The first to lend a hand to these universities was the Jinfeng Chamber of Commerce, the largest local force at the time. Still, not reaching a significant power level, they only sheltered around ten thousand teachers and students.

But a comprehensive university has over twenty thousand people.

Technical colleges also have over five thousand people each.

Only the branch campuses and smaller colleges have fewer people.

These ten thousand were just a drop in the bucket for the universities in dire straits.

With the Jinfeng Chamber of Commerce taking the lead, other forces also reacted, collectively sheltering about ten thousand more until, a month later, when Black Kite cleaned out Xinma County and took over twenty thousand people at once.

The rest remaining around Zhijin had already formed into various forces, unwilling to follow Black Kite anymore.

In Xinma County, three convoys and two gathering points have one made up of these students.

Even the Fuyuan Convoy has some, but they’ve integrated local forces, so they are one of the equal "Four Great forces" with the Jinfeng Chamber of Commerce outside.

Additionally, within the Weinan District, an area south of Zhijin City near Xinma County, there’s a large force formed by universities.

The Weinan District and the eastern Zhixing District are also the gates for major forces entering and exiting Zhijin City.

These two places have the most survivors.

Other places are mostly occupied by zombies or have small survivor havens, but the outside is unknown.

Su Huan lightly tapped the sofa armrest with his index finger, "They only come out when the Scavenger Market opens?"

Wen Biao nodded, "Yes, other times they hide, hard to locate their exact positions. Tiejian City might know; after all, they’re forces within Zhijin City, but I’m not sure about this..."

"Time?"

"Once a month, the next one is in ten days. It usually lasts three to five days; if Black Kite participates, it’ll extend to five days; if not, then three days... Oh, also, there’s a mechanical repair shop in the market set up by a small gathering point, and if you need talents, you might find some information there as well."

"Ten days later..." Su Huan squinted his eyes, "I need a guide, you’re free in these ten days, right?"

"No, no, I’m just waiting for the market to open."