We set off at 2:30 pm.

Originally, I planned to bring Zhong Jianzhou and Zhang Jianzhou with me, but Du Xu was bored at school and wanted to come and see where I live now, so I came along.

Hu Fei followed behind on his Harley-Davidson.

The four of us sat in the car, and I sat in the passenger seat giving directions.

Zhong Jianzhou and Zhang Jianzhou sat in the back.

Zhang Jianzhou seems to know Zhong Jianzhou, but Zhong Jianzhou doesn't know Zhang Jianzhou. This is a bit like a tongue twister!

The two of them had nothing to say to each other, and I didn't point out Zhang Jianzhou's situation. The most important thing now was to get back; nothing else mattered.

Back when we were at school, Zhang Jianzhou told me everything about the town. He claimed it was everything, but I didn't believe him. I felt he was still hiding something from me. This guy wouldn't tell me everything about the town just to survive.

But for now, this is the only way.

He still wants to kill me, so it's impossible to let him go back to Central Town. The only way is to lock him up in the research institute, so that he can't go back and collude with Ye Qian and the others.

I know perfectly well that when he said that the two of us could work together to overthrow the entire central town and take control of it, he was just trying to trick me into joining his scheme.

It was also a test for me.

Now that I've agreed, it's like I've fallen into his trap.

So if I let him go back, and he tells Ye Qian about it, then I'm doomed.

It must be said that Zhang Jianzhou is indeed very shrewd.

But he forgot one thing.

I'm not in a hurry.

The central town is still under development, and it's unclear when it will expand, but it certainly won't be now.

So I'm not in a hurry.

My primary goal right now is to find Pu Weichao. If there is a conflict with Central Town in the future, it will be impossible for the people in our research institute to fight against the people in Central Town.

As long as Pu Weichao is around, I think none of this will be a problem.

Of course, there is another possibility: we can't compete with the central town.

Given my current relationship with Ye Qian, if things progress gradually, we might actually become allies. After all, we don't have any deep-seated conflicts with Central Town, so there's no need for a life-or-death struggle.

As long as Ye Qian doesn't have any designs on me, then we're safe.

As for Zhang Jianzhou, if this guy really wants to fight to the death, then I'll just kill him. Anyway, he's in my hands now, and his life or death is entirely up to me.

Let's leave those digressions aside for now.

Around 11 p.m., we arrived at the research institute outside Mingzhu City.

We should have arrived much earlier, but we encountered two groups of zombies on the way. For safety reasons, we took a detour, so it was quite late when we got here.

However, the research institute is monitored 24 hours a day.

When we returned, Fang Yuan was the one keeping watch. He became very nervous when he saw a car appear, so he immediately called out all the people who were still awake.

So when I got out of the car, Sister Jing and Fei Lichao breathed a sigh of relief the moment they saw me.

The little girl rushed over and threw herself into my arms, saying with a wronged expression, "Brother Xiaonan, you're finally back! You scared me to death these past two days. I thought something had happened to you outside!"

I patted her head and laughed, "Your brother Xiaonan is so powerful, how could anything happen to me outside? Besides, not only did nothing happen to me, I also brought you a surprise."

The little girl's eyes widened, and she asked curiously, "Surprise? What surprise?"

I chuckled and pinched her nose, saying, "You'll find out soon enough."

Jingjie and the others came up to me, smiling, and asked, "Are you alright?"

I shook my head and said, "It's nothing, just a few minor issues along the way, nothing serious. But I brought back a few people, I think you'll be very happy to see them."

"Who is it?" Sister Jing asked curiously.

I smiled, turned my head, and called out to the few people who hadn't gotten out of the car yet, "Alright, everyone get out of the car and come see your old friends."

Du Xu was the first to get off the bus.

When Jingjie and Fei Lichao saw him, they both exclaimed in surprise, "Du Xu, what brings you here?"

Du Xu said, "It's been a long time since I've seen you all, so I came to visit. Aren't you welcome?"

Fei Lichao walked over with a smile and said, "Welcome, welcome, of course you're welcome."

Next was Zhang Jianzhou. When Zhang Jianzhou got off the bus, no one really looked at him, since they weren't very familiar with him. As for Zhong Jianzhou, who was still on the bus, he was a little hesitant to get off.

At this moment, Hu Fei arrived late in his Harley.

Hu Fei's appearance surprised both Sister Jing and Fei Lichao.

Fei Lichao went over and gave him a quick hug, saying, "You really weren't a good guy back then, running off without a word! Was that appropriate?"

Hu Fei laughed and said, "What's the rush! I'm back now!"

Sister Jing hugged him and said with a smile, "Welcome back. You're not leaving this time?"

Hu Fei shook his head and said, "I'm not leaving. I plan to live with you guys. It's so boring being alone out here!"

"Ha ha ha ha."

Seeing them chatting and laughing together made me very happy.

The little girl then asked me, "Brother Xiaonan, where's my surprise? Didn't you say you were going to give me a big surprise?"

I smiled and said, "It'll be here soon, very soon."

I glanced at the car and shouted, "Come out, or we're going inside."

Everyone looked at the car with suspicion, wondering who was inside.

The little girl also stared at the car with curiosity.

Three seconds later, Zhong Jianzhou, with tears streaming down his face and red eyes, stepped out of the car and stood before the crowd.

When the flashlight shone on his face, the little girl saw the middle-aged man in front of her and covered her mouth in disbelief.

"Dad?" the little girl exclaimed in surprise, her voice filled with disbelief. Then she called out again and rushed over decisively.

"dad!"

The little girl ran towards Zhong Jianzhou!

Zhong Jianzhou hugged his daughter tightly, tears welling up in his eyes, and said, "Daddy's here, Daddy's here."

Jingjie, who was standing to the side, covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes, and looked at Zhong Jianzhou, then at me, asking, "This, how is this possible! What happened?"

I said, "Sister Jing, let's talk about this later. Let the father and daughter reunite first, and you should accept it for now. Let's all get a good night's sleep, and I'll tell you about the situation tomorrow."

After giving everyone a heads-up, they all went into the research institute.

(End of this chapter)