The man being lifted trembled violently, realizing that if he didn't cherish the suggestion from the female captain who had spoken so kindly to him, he might be facing a bunch of lunatics!

So his attitude quickly changed, from refusing to cooperate to telling the whole truth. But then he realized that his behavior was very unwise, because those "madmen" were still interrogating him with a threatening attitude, but he really had told them everything he knew!

He was drenched in sweat until the young female captain said, "That's enough, he shouldn't have anything to hide anymore."

Only then did the male team members calm down.

He didn't know what happened after that, because they tied him and the others to a tree nearby and then went to discuss things a short distance away.

*

Ye Nianzhen was discussing the next steps with his teammates.

The intelligence gathered from the captured people was almost identical to her initial calculations; it was indeed the people from the Eastern Base who took away the survivors from that small base.

However, what puzzled her was that since they had already solved the zombie siege problem for the people in the small base, why did they have to forcibly take these people away?

Although the Eastern Base was not as famous as the Northern Base, it was still quite impressive in terms of both scale and internal management, and had accumulated a reputation second only to the Northern Base.

The former Eastern Base adhered to the principle of allocating resources based on strength, with a group of powerful superhumans serving as supervisors. Internal discipline was well-maintained. Although it had a somewhat dog-eat-dog feel to it, it did not abandon the weak. Instead, it allocated a minimum amount of necessary resources to them and assigned them positions that ordinary people could also handle.

However, their current actions make one suspect that the internal management has undergone a major reshuffle, after all, the sudden outbreak of the zombie horde a few years ago must have also impacted the Eastern Base.

Based on the information extracted from the captured people, those who were taken away are probably at the very bottom of the labor force in the Eastern Base, and their situation must be very bad. Except for a few people whose superpowers are relatively useful, the others are living a life that can almost be described as slavery.

This speculation reminded Ye Nianzhen of the central base that Su Yue and the others had established in previous cycles, giving her an uncomfortable feeling.

After analyzing the general situation with the team members, they devised a simple infiltration plan. The plan was simple because, apart from disguising themselves as caravan members, everything else was up to them.

There was no other way, after all, Ye Nianzhen's team was full of unruly troublemakers, and even the few who were relatively obedient to orders had their own ideas, making it difficult to dictate that they should act according to a strict plan.

Furthermore, the specific situation inside the Eastern Base is still unclear, and for now, we can only take it one step at a time.

"Okay then, everyone, please disguise yourselves. Mingyuan, you will play the role of the second-in-command of the caravan, and Qinqiu, you will play the role of the caravan leader."

Qin Qiu tilted her head, not quite understanding.

Hongxiao, who had always been at odds with him, sneered: "Him? Besides being good at fighting, he's just a blockhead. Who can he fool?"

Qin Qiu didn't react much, only glancing at Hong Xiao indifferently. Ye Nianzhen didn't like them fighting, so he never bothered with Hong Xiao. But if this leopard really didn't know his limits, he wouldn't mind killing him during a hunting trip.

Ye Nianzhen ignored Hong Xiao: "Qin Qiu, you just need to keep a cold face and not say anything. Let Mingyuan handle all the negotiations."

A powerful, cold-faced caravan captain, who is also a member of the beast race, probably no one with a sound mind would want to offend him, right?

As for Ye Nianzhen himself, he covered his face with a simple burlap cloth, intending to play the role of a little brother with little presence from beginning to end.

With everyone ready, they headed towards the location of the Eastern Base.

*

Upon arriving at the entrance of the Eastern Base, they found the security extremely tight. A group of people immediately stopped them, shouting, "What are you doing here? Where did you come from?"

Mingyuan, who was at the front of the group, immediately went up to them and handed each of the guards a homemade tobacco stick: "We are a caravan that came from the back, specializing in selling orc specialties. This is our captain, the chief of the largest tribe of our orcs. He is very powerful, but he doesn't like to talk much, so I, the vice captain, will speak for him."

Although it was homemade, tobacco has become especially precious in the apocalypse, particularly after the disasters of the past few years. The fact that this self-proclaimed vice-captain of the caravan has produced so much suggests that the caravan is indeed quite powerful.

So their attitude changed, and they led Mingyuan and the others toward the base gate: "Before you enter the base, we will conduct some checks. Your team members and the things you are carrying will be checked. If there are no problems, you can go into the city to do business on your own. How much you sell and how much money you make is up to you. But before you leave the city, you will have to pay one-tenth of your total turnover as a channel fee."

Mingyuan nodded: "Understood, I will definitely follow the rules."

Upon arriving at the entrance, as expected, several people came forward to inspect the items. The group then returned to patrol outside. Among those inspecting the items, some began to pick and choose: "These things won't do. We don't know if they're dangerous. We can't just let you bring them in."

This implication was practically blatant, since the fake goods they were carrying were actually just some animal meat, dried goods, cloth, magic crystals, and the like—nothing they couldn't bring into the city.

At this moment, Mingyuan stepped forward again and secretly slipped some things from the goods to them, saying, "These are just some cheap things for you. I hope you can be lenient with me."

It was truly tough on Mingyuan. Although he was usually good-tempered and polite, this somewhat obsequious demeanor was too much of a disservice to him. As a proud beastman, he was determined to complete the task assigned to him by Ye Nianzhen.

After this bribe, the people changed their tune: "Oh dear, we can't accept this, but now we understand that these are all qualified goods, there's no problem."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and pushed their carts loaded with goods into the city, but they were stopped again. A few troublemakers in the group got angry and glared at the people.

That glare was quite menacing, but luckily they weren't perceptive enough to notice. They remained arrogant, saying, "What are you looking at? The goods have been inspected, but the people haven't!"