"The combined strength of our five families is undeniably the strongest in Qin City!"

Yang Xinqi was the first to respond to the call. He could already anticipate the bewildered reaction of the Absolute Justice faction upon hearing this news!

Previously, he was constantly guarding against any trouble from Absolute Justice in the north, and now this issue could finally be alleviated.

"That’s right, whether in terms of the number of combat personnel or weaponry, we are undoubtedly the strongest, even surpassing those guys in Beihai District!"

Zhang Xin clenched his fist heavily.

"More than a hundred combat personnel and over six hundred logistics people—a formidable force indeed..."

Li Zongkai couldn’t help but sigh. Previously, half a neighborhood had more than seven or eight hundred people, but now half a city district has only this many—a remarkable difference.

"Tsk..."

Upon hearing Li Zongkai’s words, Zhang Su clicked his tongue and shook his head, saying: "The military-to-civilian ratio is too low. I had set a standard before: the military-to-civilian ratio should be three to one, meaning the number of combat personnel needs to be three times that of the support staff!

Even as the population base becomes larger, we should strive to maintain a two-to-one ratio, or have strong defensive structures; otherwise, the more people there are, the larger the attracting zombie hoard will be, and defending will be very difficult!"

The term ’logistics personnel’ sounds nice, but within this group, there are several situations. The best are people with special talents, like Fu Weijun, Xie Yanshan, Ma Changshou, and even Yi Xiaoling is considered a half-special talent.

Aside from a small group of talented individuals, the rest are mostly ordinary laborers, consisting mainly of the elderly, women, and children, as well as some who are physically disabled but mentally resilient. They lack the ability to protect themselves but can undertake camp chores and laborious tasks.

Then there are those that are the most frustrating, people who not only lack self-defense capabilities but even the ability to care for themselves. Generally, this situation isn’t due to their subjective will, but mostly for objective reasons. No matter what the reason, it will burden others.

In the early days of the disaster, such people would inevitably be abandoned by the team. After all, back then, everyone was worried about themselves. But now it’s different...

Human civilization is in its difficult budding phase on the apocalyptic wasteland, and no normal force would abandon its companions unless they had absolutely no choice.

"Two-to-one... meaning, if there are six hundred people, ensuring at least four hundred combat personnel? That’s too difficult; not to mention anything else, just within my group, excluding those over sixty years old, children under twelve, and disabled individuals, there aren’t many left!"

Yang Xinqi shook his hands, looking embarrassed.

Liu Yao rolled his eyes and calculated, saying: "In my group, there aren’t many elderly or children, except for a few with missing limbs, most can be gathered for training. But some women have very low awareness; they are skilled at pleasing men, but tremble at the thought of wielding weapons to kill zombies. Still, haphazardly gathering people, the ratio can barely reach one-to-one!"

The Little Eagle Association has over seventy people, and due to Liu Yao’s standards in recruiting survivors, there are basically no elderly or children. Gathering over thirty people for combat training isn’t too difficult.

Li Zongkai saw Liu Yao and Yang Xinqi discussing their camps, and after some thought, he awkwardly said: "My situation is somewhat similar to the Apocalypse Corps; we’ve taken in some elderly and children, roughly calculated, I estimate only a third can be trained, but in that case, logistics will be slightly thin."

"Wow, if you guys are struggling, then we’re even worse off. Don’t even mention a third; if we can muster a quarter of the people, that’s a blessing!"

Zhang Xin spread his hands, looking helpless. He was unclear about core information, but he knew well enough about the camp’s conditions.

"Ahem..."

Yuwen coughed and softly said to Zhang Su: "If we choose to disperse and station or develop Satellite Villages, the military-to-civilian ratio can be considered for appropriate reduction. If the city’s defensive construction enhances later and concentrated living becomes possible, with solid defensive structures, fewer combat personnel would be needed, making other areas of development more important."

Zhang Su didn’t reject Yuwen’s viewpoint. The military-to-civilian ratio shouldn’t be rigidly fixed; it’s a floating value. Thinking positively about a two-to-one ratio suggests that two combat personnel can protect themselves while also caring for one logistics person. However, reversing the perspective, one logistics person would handle camp chores for three people, including themselves, or possibly agricultural production.

For Celestial Horse Island core members, it was almost universal militarization. Aside from Fu Weijun, Yi Xiaoling was slightly clumsy facing zombies, but if Satellite Villages were included, the military-to-civilian ratio was essentially three-to-two.

Given the current circumstances, this is a very comfortable ratio, but as the population grows, maintaining it becomes difficult.

"It’s somewhat like the ratio of people paying Social Security versus those receiving pensions; fine, we’ll adjust it flexibly, keeping it between seventy-three and thirty-seven. Once we return, after gathering everyone’s decisions on stay or departure, we’ll immediately proceed."

Zhang Su chose not to dwell on this for the moment because there were more urgent matters at hand.

"No one will disagree, as I see it, seeking opinions is entirely redundant."

Liu Yao spoke very straightforwardly.

"That’s what I’m saying, what else would they want?"

Yang Xinqi and Zhang Xin also felt that the survivors living at the bottom level of the power structure had no choice but to follow orders.

"It’s better to follow Mr. Zhang’s requirement and go through the motions; their choice is their affair, but whether they can choose is our stance. Let’s give everyone a chance and avoid hidden dangers."

Li Zongkai knew Zhang Su’s thoughts and explained for him.

"Old Li is very right. Although I’m aware that those survivors at the bottom level hardly have any choice, it doesn’t prevent us from giving them a chance to choose. When we need to be tough, we’ll be tough; when it’s possible to be generous, let’s be a bit more generous."

Zhang Su generously shared some leadership experiences with the people present. In the future, these individuals would need to manage some people, and if they were allowed to operate according to previous methods, it probably wouldn’t work.

"There’s another task that needs to be advanced while we’re handling these matters, which is to establish a communication network. I’m sure through this experience, you’ve all seen the importance of real-time communication; it’s of immediate urgency! Old Li, are there enough devices on your side to connect our five families?"

Zhang Su proposed another matter.

"Oh dear..." Li Zongkai frowned and said: "We have some devices, but I don’t understand this area. I’ll find a professional to ask later; we’ll have to rely on knowledgeable people for operations."

"Alright, I have a person specializing in electronic communication equipment. I’ll let him assist... For now, that’s all; rest for the night, and tomorrow morning we’ll head out. It’s been a while since I’ve been to the city; I’m actually looking forward to it."

Zhang Su lay back in the chair, eyes filled with reminiscence. He suddenly noticed Ju Mumio observing him and sat back up, saying: "Oh, do you know anything about the seaside situation? Can we venture out to sea?"

"The seaside? Haven’t been there..."

"I’m not too sure, but we might be able to ask people from those safe camps on the other side."

"In this cold, low-salinity coastal areas are surely frozen over. Yama King, why do you want to go to the sea?"

Liu Yao inquired, curious.

Zhang Su pursed his lips, saying: "There’s something that requires a sea journey. But since we don’t know, let’s leave it at that for now. When there’s a chance, I’ll check it out myself. Okay, you’re free to entertain yourselves; I don’t have many leisure activities here. If you wish to play cards, go ahead; just don’t head into the dark valleys, or risk dying by zombies or falling into a ditch. That’d be unfortunate..."

"Haha, don’t worry."

"I’m just about to summon my subordinates for a meeting to plan tomorrow’s agenda."

"Honestly, Yama King, your place is quite suitable for retirement; life’s so laid-back here."

People got off one after another, leaving only Yuwen and Ju Mumio in the vehicle.

"Sakura, anything to report?"

Once the car door was shut, Zhang Su straightforwardly asked.

"Liu Yao and Yang Xinqi have mutual hostility toward each other. Their attitudes toward you are normal, but Li Zongkai’s attitude toward you..."

At this point, Ju Mumio frowned slightly.

Zhang Su felt a shiver down his spine. He hadn’t expected Ju Mumio to detect the unique connection between Li Zongkai and himself. This was unexpectedly insightful, quickly interrupting: "Alright, I understand. I’ve already told Xiaoshan, go get two bottles of good wine from her as a reward for escorting the hostages today."

Seeing this situation, Yuwen couldn’t help but twitch his mouth, surrounded by a strange look in his eyes as he glanced at Zhang Su, then peeked through the car window to see Li Zongkai’s distant silhouette. He secretly speculated about the unspoken relationship between the two, pondering, was it...

"Cough, cough, cough, cough..."

For whatever reason Yuwen thought, he began coughing.

"Old Yu, are you alright?"

Zhang Su sat up, concerned and asked, hoping the old strategist wasn’t getting sick.

"Just choked, swallowed the wrong way..." Yuwen awkwardly wiped the corner of his mouth.

Ju Mumio’s eyes flickered faintly, calmly saying: "Don’t rush me away; I’ve not finished talking yet."

"I’m not rushing you away; if you’ve got something to finish, say it..."

Zhang Su gestured for her to continue.

"Li Zongkai..."

"Didn’t I say not to talk about him?"

"It’s not about you; it’s Li Zongkai, who harbors faint hostility towards Mr. Yu." Ju Mumio calmly revealed.

"Huh?"

"Ah?"

This revelation not only surprised Zhang Su but also puzzled Yuwen. Did someone harbor jealousy?