Through the bars of the iron gate, Tang Xiaoquan saw a man walking out from the factory door, surrounded by a group of middle-aged women, who were presumably workers at the factory.

The man walked quickly, his brisk pace revealing a decisive nature.

Before long, he arrived at the gate: "What's going on? Who are these people...?"

Without any nonsense, after raising his eyebrows and glancing at Tang Xiaoquan and the others, the man shifted his gaze to the man next to him.

The man was still angry, his face livid without a hint of expression, and he replied coldly, "These folks say Manager Lin called them here!"

Manager Lin!? Tang Xiaoquan raised an eyebrow, not caring about anything else, but the last words of the man addressing him caught his attention.

Ah~ so this is the person I spoke with on the radio!

Still working on his inference, Tang Xiaoquan discreetly glanced at the person they called "Manager Lin."

As the saying goes, listen to their words, observe their deeds. Although Tang Xiaoquan had little contact with this man in front of him, through their previous radio conversation and the man's current attire and facial expression, Tang Xiaoquan could draw the following preliminary conclusions.

First, dark skin indicated that the man often worked outdoors. His lean physique suggested he might have digestive issues, possibly due to a strenuous daily workload.

Secondly, about his attire, although his blood-stained clothing hadn't been washed or changed for some time, the badge on his chest still revealed his original profession as a "traffic policeman."

Lastly, and most importantly, through the respectful attitude of those around him, Tang Xiaoquan inferred that this man's status in this shelter couldn't be too low, at least someone in a managerial position capable of making decisions.

In summary... Tang Xiaoquan knew he had received the information he wanted because he had been waiting from the start. Waiting for someone reliable to step up, and it was clear that "Manager Lin" was the person who met his criteria.

After all, instead of wasting words explaining to an impulsive farmer with no real authority, Tang Xiaoquan preferred to communicate with someone cultured who lived by their word.

So after briefly adjusting his thoughts, Tang Xiaoquan quickly spoke up: "Haha, I sincerely apologize, Mr. Lin. My companion may have been a bit impulsive and irrational earlier, causing some misunderstanding with this brother. I hereby apologize for his rashness."

Bowing slightly, Tang Xiaoquan showed genuine sincerity, without a hint of pretense in his actions.

To this, Manager Lin merely nodded unconsciously. He didn't offer any reply but waved the man aside.

Yet this small gesture earned him another measure of Tang Xiaoquan's respect.

Clearly, the man didn't respond to his apology immediately because he hadn't yet figured out the full situation.

So, if he hastily expressed his stance at this critical moment, it could lead to misjudgment, causing the actual victims to believe he was biased.

And that could undoubtedly negatively impact the future coexistence of the two teams.

After all, once an ideology forms, it's hard to eradicate.

Moreover, the more terrifying thing is that this mindset would continue to accumulate and breed in people's subconsciousness with any arising conflict, just waiting for that moment to completely explode with a "bang!"

Of course, discarding subjective speculation, judging by the man's cautious attitude, he seemed genuinely hopeful that they would join. Otherwise, he wouldn't care about the real cause of the conflict.

The man kept nodding, occasionally glancing outside the factory, seemingly confirming something.

And after roughly about 5 minutes, he returned to the gate with the man.

"Open the door!" He gestured to the guard to open the gate without any unnecessary words.

The man was rather unhappy about it but restrained his impulse to intervene and moved aside, directing his associates to remove the stacked cardboard boxes at the door.

After much effort, a passage wide enough for one person to pass through was cleared in the factory, and then they opened the iron gate, signaling the survivors to enter.

It wasn't easy! Tang Xiaoquan genuinely sighed the moment he stepped into the factory door, yet before he could settle, Manager Lin's voice followed promptly.

"Everyone, first of all, welcome to surviving this crisis!"

"Secondly, since you're here, we hope you can integrate with us. As for the specifics of our facilities here, the accommodation allocation, and relevant living protocols, I'll have someone explain them to you later."

"Lastly," his voice paused slightly, and Manager Lin's expression suddenly became serious: "I know Dazhuang's actions earlier might have made some of you uncomfortable. For that, I also apologize and hope you don't take it to heart. Dazhuang was just doing his duty, and furthermore..."

"Sigh~" seemed like he remembered something, Manager Lin's face showed a trace of worry, but he quickly returned to normal and continued: "We have a rule here: newcomers must undergo a 24-hour quarantine. Please don't misunderstand, it's not to intentionally make things difficult for you. It's for the safety of the factory because we've had incidents here before where people turned into mutants. So..."

"Mr. Lin, rest assured, we understand, and we are willing to accept the quarantine!" Without hesitation, Tang Xiaoquan answered on behalf of his party.

At this point, Manager Lin had nothing more to say. After instructing someone to bring the Buick GL8 from outside into the factory area, he left, entrusting the remaining matters fully to Dazhuang.

"Follow me!" Given the previous conflict, the man still maintained a guarded stance towards the survivors before him.

Yet, apart from Wang Qiang, the rest of the group didn't mind his alert manner.

After all, for them, the most important thing right now was finding a place of refuge.

Especially the feeling of returning to a group, which truly filled everyone with joy and excitement.

After walking about 10 meters, Dazhuang led the survivors to a low-rise building.

With the chalk-written words on the door, Tang Xiaoquan barely discerned the characters for "Storage."

"This is the quarantine room! From now on, you'll stay in here for 24 hours. Someone will come to get you by noon tomorrow!"

After explaining, Dazhuang opened the door without expression, then gestured inside, saying coldly, "Get in there and stay put!"

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