NOVEL NEXT Chapter 398 Zombies Freeze
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The New Year's Eve party didn't last long, starting at six in the afternoon and ending by nine at night.
The main purpose of the party was to demonstrate the base's current strength to the residents and to depict a bright future, giving them confidence for the coming year.
After the party ended, the live broadcast did too. Residents in front of their screens could have their New Year's Eve dinner, and those who finished early might go to bed since it had been too cold these days and the warmth of a blanket was more inviting. Those who didn't want to sleep so early could stay up until midnight to welcome the new year.
Fireworks and firecrackers... were naturally absent.
It wasn't because there was fear of attracting zombies; Changhe Base was large enough that even if firecrackers were set off inside, the sound would not travel outside, to say nothing of the high walls. The main reason was that gunpowder was a strategic resource, better saved and used appropriately.
However, when midnight came, the base's loudspeakers would make noise, counting down to the new year, adding at least a bit of festive atmosphere.
Meanwhile, in the grand hall where the evening party took place, the live broadcast party had ended, but the event had not entirely finished.
The attendees evidently all received the message, so none of them left.
Wang Tao looked at Qu Shilin with curiosity.
"Do you know what the next activity is?"
Yao Guodong had told Wang Tao not to leave, mentioning there was an activity to come but then left before Wang Tao could ask for details.
Qu Shilin shook her head.
"I don't know either."
Wang Tao turned to Cheng Yiyi on the other side.
Cheng Yiyi seemed to know something. She explained softly,
"It's likely a trading meeting... because I received a notice earlier that there would be a trading meeting for the Six Major Legions after the party. But looking at the situation now, the meeting seems to have changed, no longer limited to just the Six Major Legions..."
"A trading meeting, huh..."
Wang Tao mused.
In this grand hall, all the mid-level and above forces from the base seemed to be present. If a trading meeting were held at this time, the scale would be considerable. However, it seemed quite sudden, and they were unprepared...
"What were you all preparing to trade?"
Wang Tao leaned in and whispered.
"Mostly things like weapons and equipment, I suppose. Anyway, I don't have much to trade here..." Cheng Yiyi shrugged, then added, "But wouldn't the items to be traded be unusable to others? After all, like tanks, missiles and such, these could only be traded internally within the Six Major Legions, it wouldn't involve outsiders, right...?"
Cheng Yiyi was also puzzled; it didn't feel like a trading meeting to her.
"Let's just wait and see then..."
Wang Tao didn't ask any further.
It wasn't long before Gu Yun, holding a microphone, stepped onto the stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry for the delay. The next activity is a last-minute addition, so we didn't notify everyone in advance... But it's a very important matter, so please don't rush to leave... There are two things in total; let's start with the first one—trading meeting..."
"It really is a trading meeting!"
Wang Tao raised an eyebrow.
However, after listening to Gu Yun's explanation, Wang Tao realized this trading meeting was different from what he had imagined. In addition to buying items with money in the traditional sense, there were also various collaborations.
For example, one could pay the Six Major Legions to handle certain tasks; the more difficult the task, the higher the cost.
Alternatively, one could pay for assistance in Awakening, which was probably very expensive, but if successful, it would be a huge gain.
One could even "sell oneself"—which actually just meant finding a boss to work under...
In short, this trading meeting had a variety of trade forms and seemed quite interesting.
"As for the second matter... The committee plans to send a team outside the city tomorrow, led by the Six Major Legions. Registration is open for everyone..."
Whoosh—
The moment these words came out, they immediately caused a buzz.
With such heavy snow and cold weather outside, heading out at this time was akin to seeking death!
Although the snow had lessened that afternoon, it was not as terrible as the previous blizzard, but who knew if it would start up again!
Wang Tao frowned as well.
Going out of the city at this time was clearly unwise and too dangerous. Unless it was for substantial gain that outweighed the risks...
Would it be a trip to the caves? But that wasn't the previously mentioned timing, was it?
Just then, Cheng Yiyi seemed to receive some information and promptly stood up to go to the committee's side.
Gu Yun waited for everyone to discuss for a while before continuing,
"We just received news that it's practically an icy wasteland outside the base. I know it's not appropriate to go out at this time, but we discovered that the zombies... seem to be frozen!"
"..."
Zombies frozen?
After a moment of stunned silence, the crowd instantly became excited.
The City Hall had previously estimated the number of zombies outside the base at a conservative count of over 500,000, mostly Level 3 and 4 zombies, with a significant proportion of Elite Zombies. As for Zombie Lords, there were few, but there were a couple of Level 5, and it seemed there was even one Level 6.
Leaving Zombie Lords out of the equation, just these Ordinary and Elite Zombies represented a vast quantity of Crystal Cores!
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