Back to the Apocalypse

Chapter 66

Sister Lian was silent. They had already reached this point in the discussion – what else needed to be said? The intent in their hearts must have been seen by the other party. Smart people did not speak deceitful words. Sister Lian’s eyes darkened slightly and she took on an attitude of negotiation as she said, “Boss Xiao must know what our goal is and why Wenhua and I are making this journey. We are also very interested in that place.”

Leng Han kept his mouth shut and did not speak, only watching their exchange. He was not part of the triad, and did not understand the rules of their world. Businessmen looked at profit first. He had originally wanted to go to B City, but he was now more clear in his heart that the world now was different from before. He was no longer the president of a conglomerate; although he had people and materials, he still would not count for much if he made it there. Since he wanted to find a stable place, if he found a suitable person and saw that there were certain advantages to be had, he would naturally lean in that direction. In his case, he only needed to wait and see.

Bai Jing sneered, and spoke before Xiao Sa could, glancing scornfully at Sister Lian. “Woman, you’re being so pointless. I only told you in advance out of respect for Xiao Sa. If you have the capability, then use your fists to speak. If you have the ability, then come and snatch it. But by then, don’t complain that I’m not showing any mercy. We’re not even familiar with each other.”

Sister Lian felt stifled, and her heart was filled with anger. Bai Jing really had nobody in his eyes, and even if he was a princeling of the ruling party of China, the world was now so chaotic; how long would he be able to stay proud for?

Xiao Sa smiled faintly, and acted as though he had not seen Sister Lian’s expression. “Mrs. Yang should not take it to heart. Little Jing has been spoiled by me, but his meaning is the same as mine. Mrs. Yang should consider it properly. Your group’s strength is not bad, and I don’t want to have conflict at present.”

Sister Lian was extremely angered. The other party had said it all; although they said they did not want conflict, their tone was so unyielding. She and Yang Wenhua were not people who were afraid of such things!

Leng Han saw that the atmosphere had turned stiff. He laughed, and diverted the topic, asking with some surprise, “Communication has already broken down at this point. You can still contact City B?” He remembered just now that Bai Jing had said to find Zhou Ji if they wanted to get in touch with his father.

Sister Lian immediately calmed herself and listened carefully. In the situation where she had not felt out the strength of the other party, she knew very well that she could not get into a conflict with Xiao Sa. There was no need to talk about how they did not know the state of the other party’s weaponry; just the fact that he was a rank one ability user was enough for them to be wary.

Xiao Sa calmly nodded. “Oh, It’s just a telegram. If you need it, then do it as soon as possible today. We will be leaving tomorrow.”

“Telegram?” Leng Han was struck dumb, reassessing Xiao Sa’s forces in his heart. It seemed that he had still underestimated them just now. Their words were not just spoken for show, and they should really have that capability. Although a telegraph machine was not worth much money, that toy was still an antique. In current society, even in peaceful times, let alone considering that the world was chaotic, such a thing would still be difficult to find.

Sister Lian had nothing left to say and could only laugh and praise, “Boss Xiao is really well prepared, not only having snow sledges and generators, now you even have a telegraph machine. Young master Bai should be a space ability user, right? You guys really know how to enjoy life. I’m a little envious looking on from the side.”

Xiao Sa ignored Ma Lian’s sarcasm and only glanced at her lightly. “Those are just little things and won’t take up much space. I can’t let Little Jing feel wronged while following me.”

Bai Jing was dissatisfied, and glared at Xiao Sa. He hated it the most when he acted like the big man. All of these things had been prepared by him, okay? But seeing that there were outsiders, he still opted to save some face for Xiao Sa.

Ma Lian refused to show weakness and asked thoughtfully, “I don’t know how much space Young Master Bai has? If there is surplus ammunition in Boss Xiao’s hands, I’m willing to give five times as much material in exchange.”

Xiao Sa was looking at Bai Jing, and did not reply for him. Bai Jing was contemptuous; listening to this woman, he had long been able to tell that she was satirizing them for only knowing how to enjoy themselves. Since she wanted to feel out their bottom line, Bai Jing did not mind making it clear this once. “It’s not big, only 380 square meters. We have a lot of ammunition in our hands. Two days ago, we even grabbed an entire military base full of arms. Only, you are not one of us, and we don’t have any friendship between us, so there’s no deal…”

Ma Lian’s gaze was dark, and her heart felt stifled once again. She had known about Bai Jing’s poisonous tongue early on. She had already experienced it yesterday, and today she had been choked by it again and again. Even if she owed him a favour, her mood was still inevitably left unstable. Fortunately, she was still rational, and she was secretly surprised by the answer. What kind of concept was 380 meters? As far as she knew, the height of the space that space ability users had also grew along with the area.

Hearing this, Leng Han’s heart jumped, and his scales immediately tipped. He carefully calculated, and decided that rather than waiting for them to distinguish between who came out on top, it would be better to make his choice as soon as possible. Smart people had always known that this would be the best way to benefit themselves. He once again changed the topic. “I currently have no place to go. Boss Xiao, I don’t know if you would mind taking a few more people along with you on the road?”

Xiao Sa had not spoken yet when Bai Jing became excited. He gave Leng Han a gaze that seemed to praise him for being sensible, and said happily, “Okay, no problem. How many people do you have?”

Xiao Sa’s face was black, and a look that could kill swept over.

Leng Han was speechless, suddenly feeling that pulling the hair off a tiger’s head was a high-risk and exciting thing. He answered, “Currently there are sixteen people. There are still another twenty-eight people in other places. Originally we arranged to meet in the safety zone up ahead, but now that I’ve met you, I think that the future base will be much better than the safety zone.”

“You have vision.” Bai Jing was very happy, and gave Leng Han an admiring glance. He was really a businessman through and through; he knew how to speak, and could flatter others well. It was much more refreshing than that scheming and twisted woman.

But while Bai Jing was happy, Xiao Sa’s face had turned completely black. How could his Little Jing appreciate other men? The weather was originally cold; and now Xiao Sa was emitting a chilling aura. Leng Han was suddenly uncertain, and a trace of regret surfaced in his heart. He felt that he was under great pressure right now.

“What are you doing? I’m cold.” Bai Jing slid Xiao Sa a glance that carried a sense of acting spoiled.

Xiao Sa’s heart melted and was instantly healed. The chilly aura immediately dissipated, and he nodded to Leng Han. “There are sledges over there, go learn how to use them yourself. Since you want to come with us, we’ll open up and speak plainly. President Leng is someone whose words I can trust. You can consider whether you want to do things under my command after we get there, or if you want to establish your own mercenary corps. We should decide this in advance, and not regret it after.”

Leng Han turned silent again. Xiao Sa’s meaning was very clear – he wanted to take him in as a subordinate. Having been the person who ruled others before, how could he be willing? But he was even more aware that no matter how good a mercenary group could be, it would still not compare to joining one side’s forces.

“You can slowly think about it and give me your answer after we’ve taken down the base. It is the same for Mrs. Yang.” Xiao Sa spoke calmly as he turned his head towards Sister Lian.

Sister Lian smiled, not finding Leng Han’s choice unexpected. But, she had not thought that Xiao Sa would lay things out so clearly. She pondered for a moment, and said, “I cannot decide on this matter on my own, and I need to discuss it with Wenhua. If Boss Xiao is leaving tomorrow, how about we all leave together? Don’t look down on my hounds, they can run quite fast.” ”

Xiao Sa nodded in a loose semblance of acceptance. Regardless of whether Sister Lian wanted to make early preparations to fight with them to the end, or go back and discuss with Yan Wenhua, he had the means to make her change her mind on the way, either through deterrence, or direct suppression. As long as he could make her feel apprehensive in her heart, Xiao Sa was very confident that since supplies and materials were in short supply, not everyone would be willing to use it up unnecessarily. Based on Yang Wenhua’s cautious nature, he would either choose to compromise or leave, and would definitely not chose conflict.

Immediately after, Leng Han spoke up and said he wanted to borrow the telegraph machine. Sister Lian naturally also wanted to enter their house to take a look. The strength of a team was not only dependent on their ability – it was also necessary to look at their living environment.

Sister Lian vomited blood in her heart as soon as she entered the door, and her eyes turned seriously red from envy. She had originally thought that it was already not bad that they had electricity. Unexpectedly, even the air conditioner was turned on – how much diesel was needed for that? She felt warm just entering the house. Compared with people who had been wandering outside for many days, it was a luxurious enjoyment.

It was easy to see that other than the people skiing outside, the living room still had a few people sitting there in twos and threes. Some were practicing their abilities, some were cleaning their weaponry, and there were some submachine guns placed casually in the corner along with grenade guns. In addition, the aroma of food being cooked drifted out from the kitchen.

Sister Lian’s pupils constricted as she maintained a superficial calmness. They travelled in the same circles, and normally everyone kept their arms to themselves and would never casually leave them around like this unless there were not enough weapons for everyone to use. But, it was obvious that Boss Xiao was not in this situation as the guns were placed too casually, as though they were things that could easily be seen on the roadside. This could only mean that these people really were not overly concerned, and still had a lot of arms in stock.

Bai Jing was secretly surprised as he saw the situation in the room. His gaze swept around. When he left just now, the living room had not been like this.

Xiao Sa understood in a flash when he noticed winking at him, and very calmly expressed his praise. Not bad, he liked this kind of means of cowing everyone into submission.

Bai Jing pulled a face. In reality, he had not shown off his wealth like this in a long time.

Yeah, right. He had been showing off just now, okay? He had no self-awareness at all.

Xu Lei came out of the kitchen and faltered for a moment when she saw them. Her eyes shifted slightly before she smiled and greeted, “Hey, we have guests.”

Bai Jing raised his eyebrows, understanding in his heart what kind of thing they were trying to stir up. He calmly asked, “What’s the matter?”

Xu Lei chuckled and said, “I just stewed chicken soup, and was about to go out and call you guys over. Now that we have guests, let’s drink it together.”

Xiao Sa nodded. “Bring the soup to the private room and stir-fry a few more dishes. By the way, call Zhou Ji over. They want to send telegrams later.”

Xu Lei’s intelligent eyes flashed. “Yes, I’ll go right now.” She then looked towards the people to the side, “If you want to have soup, come and help out. Bring your own bowls over and get it yourselves.”

Several people called out ‘okay!’ and swarmed into the kitchen. Looking at this happy atmosphere, Sister Lian’s heart was very complicated. She had not eaten hot food for several days, and even her son could only chew on bread. Even if she could not agree with their luxurious ways in her heart, she still had to admit that they were passing their days very comfortably here.

Not long after they entered the private room, the chicken soup was served, followed by several stir-fried dishes. Although the cooking was not as good as restaurants, in this kind of environment, to be able to eat this kind of food, Leng Han had to reluctantly admit that he had already been bribed over by the other side.

That afternoon, after sending his telegram, Leng Han gave Xiao Sa his answer almost without having to think about it. He promised to join them on the condition that his group of subordinates would be taken care of. In addition, while they were not afraid of danger, they were not stupid enough to go out and become cannon fodder.

Xiao Sa nodded and agreed. Although they had joined the team right now, they all knew in their hearts that it was only a trial period. While they were testing out others, others were also assessing them. Only after a period of time where they worked things out, when they had mutual trust, would they really integrate together to form a true group.

Bai Jing’s heart was full of contempt, feeling that the businessman was a cunning person, measuring the stature of great men by the yardstick of small men, and completely forgetting that he had thought highly of Leng Han just a while ago.

Bai Jing’s emotions were naturally written on his face. His dissatisfaction with Leng Han made Xiao Sa very happy, and unexpectedly, his attitude towards Leng Han turned much more pleasant.

Leng Han felt even more speechless and entangled, and only felt that it was impossible to reason with people who were in love. He was really very innocent, but Xiao Sa’s change in attitude could be considered a good thing for him.

In the afternoon, Xiao Sa asked everyone to practice together with the sledges. Bai Jing took out another ten from his inventory, and Sister Lian was surprised once again. Leng Han was calm, and felt that he had really made the right choice. Perhaps he would really make a big profit this time.

That night, Sister Lian and Leng Han’s group stayed with them in their courtyard. Leng Han could temporarily be considered one of their own, and Sister Lian had a child and may possibly become a comrade. They could not go wrong by providing some goodwill.

Leng Han’s heart was full of praise. They had chicken soup for lunch, ribs for dinner, and they even had bathing water before bed. To tell the truth, with this kind of team environment, it was fine to just be a subordinate – he would not want to leave even if he was being chased away. He had a feeling that he had almost returned back to his past life…

Everyone slept comfortably that night, and early the next morning, everyone set forth on Xiao Sa’s orders, the sledges arranged in tidy rows, creating a beautiful scene as they set off quickly towards Pingyuan County…

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