Me? I was transported into a book? And I became a vicious villain?

Chu Mengmeng gently placed Ling'er in Xiao Yichen's arms and whispered, "Please take care of Ling'er for me. I'll be back soon."

Before Xiao Yichen had time to ask in detail, Chu Mengmeng turned around and walked towards the carriage where the supplies were piled up and started searching. She remembered that before leaving, she specially prepared some specialties from her hometown, hoping that they would come in handy.

"Where are you going?" Xiao Yichen looked at Chu Mengmeng's busy figure, feeling a little uneasy. He knew that Chu Mengmeng wanted to appease the emotional team members, but he was more worried that she would be hurt. After all, in such a chaotic world, human hearts are the most difficult to guess.

"I'll be back soon, don't worry." Chu Mengmeng found a few packages of beautifully packaged tea and snacks and stuffed them into Xiao Yichen's hands, "Please keep these things for me, I'll be back soon."

Before Xiao Yichen could speak again, Chu Mengmeng was already holding a small package and walking quickly towards the captain of the Self-Defense Force. She knew that if she wanted to gain a foothold in this strange place, it was far from enough to rely on force alone, and she also needed to establish good relations with local forces. And these gifts in her hand were her stepping stones to express her goodwill.

Watching Chu Mengmeng's back as she walked away, Xiao Yichen felt mixed emotions. Although he was worried about Chu Mengmeng's safety, he also knew that this was a challenge they had to face. He held Ling'er tightly in his arms, looking into the distance with a firm gaze, silently praying in his heart that Chu Mengmeng would be fine.

At the same time, the Self-Defense Force members were also trying to adapt to the new environment. They chose a relatively flat wasteland and tried to cultivate a piece of land to grow food. However, their hard work attracted the expulsion of local residents.

"Why do you outsiders occupy our territory?" A burly man holding a wooden stick walked towards the Self-Defense Force members aggressively, followed by a group of equally angry residents.

"We just want to grow something to eat. We have no ill intentions," the Self-Defense Force captain patiently explained. "We are willing to exchange our supplies for the right to use this land."

"Exchange? What qualifications do you have to talk to us about exchange?" The man sneered, "This piece of land has been passed down from generation to generation. How can you outsiders get your hands on it?"

"That's right. If you know what's good for you, get out of here and don't force us to take action!" There was a burst of echoes from the crowd, mixed with a few curses, which made people feel creepy.

Just when the two sides were on the verge of a fight, Ling'er suddenly broke free from Xiao Yichen's arms and staggered towards the crowd.

"Ling'er, come back!" Xiao Yichen was shocked and hurriedly chased after her.

However, it was too late. Ling'er ran to the front of the crowd, looking at the strangers in front of her curiously, holding a tattered rag doll picked up from the ground in her hand.

"Ah ah..." Ling'er waved the rag doll in her hand happily, completely unaware that danger was approaching.

Suddenly, a child rushed out, snatched the doll from Ling'er's hand, and said viciously: "This is my toy, you are not allowed to touch it!"

Ling'er was frightened by this sudden action and burst into tears.

"How can you treat a child like this?" Xiao Yichen hurried over, picked up Ling'er, and coaxed her with heartache.

"Hmph, who told her to touch my things?" The child held the rag doll and glared at Ling'er arrogantly, not realizing his mistake at all.

"You..." Xiao Yichen wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by a woman's voice.

"What's going on? Xiaobao, why are you crying?" A fat woman squeezed through the crowd, walked to the child and asked with concern.

"Mom, this wild kid stole my toy!" The child pointed at Ling'er and cried loudly.

"What? How dare you bully my precious son?" The woman was furious when she heard this. She pointed at Xiao Yichen's nose and cursed, "You outsiders not only robbed our territory, but also dared to bully our child. This is really too much!"

"It's not like that, it's..." Xiao Yichen tried to explain, but was drowned out by the woman's roar.

Seeing that a new conflict was about to break out, an old voice suddenly sounded...

"Everyone, be quiet!" The old voice was full of energy, and the crowd automatically parted to make way. An old woman with a cane walked slowly with the support of a young woman. Although the old woman was old, she was vigorous and her eyes were sharp. It was obvious that she was not an ordinary person when she was young.

"Chief!" Everyone bowed their heads and saluted. Even the burly man who had been aggressive before restrained himself a little.

The old woman ignored everyone and walked straight to Ling'er. Her cloudy eyes showed a hint of shrewdness as she looked up and down at the crying little girl. Ling'er was a little scared by the old woman's look, and her crying gradually became smaller, and she just sobbed softly.

"Child, don't be afraid. Tell grandma what happened?" The old woman's voice was surprisingly gentle, completely different from before.

Ling'er hid timidly behind Xiao Yichen, pointed her little finger at the child who had snatched the doll, and said intermittently: "He...he stole my...toy..."

"Xiaobao, what's going on?" The old woman turned to look at her grandson. Although her tone was gentle, it carried an aura of majesty without even being angry.

Xiaobao didn't dare to lie, and hesitantly said: "I... I just want to play with her..."

"Play together? Then why did you steal her toy?" The old woman's tone became stern.

Xiaobao was so frightened that he trembled and lowered his head, not daring to speak.

"Child, a broken toy can be repaired, but if you lose your integrity, it will be hard to get it back." The old woman said earnestly, "Go, return the toy to your sister and apologize to her."

Although Xiaobao was reluctant, he still did as the old woman said under her authority.

Seeing this scene, Xiao Yichen felt a little relieved. He knew that as long as the old woman was reasonable, things would be much easier.

"Old man, we are new here and just want to find a place to settle down. We have no intention of offending the local residents." Xiao Yichen said sincerely, "We are willing to use supplies in exchange for the right to live here. Please be kind enough to help us."

The old woman looked at Xiao Yichen deeply and said slowly: "I have heard about your affairs. Don't worry, as long as you behave yourself, we will not embarrass you."

Hearing the old woman say this, the Self-Defense Force members all breathed a sigh of relief and a long-lost smile appeared on their faces.

However, things are not as simple as imagined.

In order to integrate into the local life as soon as possible, Xiao Yichen decided to find a job first to earn some living supplies. However, he ran all over the town, but encountered obstacles everywhere.

“We have no shortage of manpower here.”

"You are from another place. We can't trust you."

“We only recruit local people.”

……

Rejection after rejection made Xiao Yichen feel powerless and desperate. He knew that in this xenophobic era, it would take time to gain recognition from the locals.

As night fell, Xiao Yichen dragged his tired body back to his temporary residence, but saw Chu Mengmeng sitting alone at the door with a gloomy look on her face.

"How is it? Is everything going well?" Xiao Yichen asked, forcing himself to be alert.

Chu Mengmeng raised her head, forced a smile, shook her head, and hesitated to speak. In the end, she just said softly: "Let's go in and talk..."

Inside the house, the dim oil lamp flickered, illuminating Chu Mengmeng's tired face. She sighed softly and told the story of her visit to the clan leader's home today.

"I took Ling'er and some of our remaining cakes to visit the clan leader, hoping to gain their approval." Chu Mengmeng said in a low voice, "But, I waited in the living room for a long time before the clan leader finally showed up. Moreover, she only asked a few simple questions and said that she had something else to do, so she asked me to go back and wait for news."

"She just sent you away like that?" Xiao Yichen frowned, anger rising in his heart. He knew that in this era, if newcomers wanted to integrate into the local society, they had to be recognized by the local forces, and the clan leader was undoubtedly the key figure.

"Not only that," Chu Mengmeng's eyes were red, "When I left, I accidentally heard the clan leader's grandson say, 'Grandma, those outsiders are so annoying, why do you let them stay here?'"

"It seems that it is much more difficult for us to integrate here than we thought." Xiao Yichen clenched his fists, his heart full of bitterness. He knew that in this era of xenophobia, it would take time to change the views of the locals.

To make matters worse, problems also emerged within the Self-Defense Forces. After a series of setbacks, some members began to waver and wanted to leave this hostile new environment and return to their familiar places.

"Captain, we can't go on like this!" A burly team member stood up suddenly, saying excitedly, "We are unfamiliar with this place, and we run into obstacles everywhere. We can't see any hope at all! I suggest that we go back, at least that's where we are familiar with it!"

"Yes, Captain, we can't joke with our lives!" Another team member echoed, "We came here from thousands of miles away with our family and friends to find a new life, not to suffer here!"

More and more team members began to express their dissatisfaction, and the originally united team was now filled with an atmosphere of depression and despair.

Xiao Yichen looked at the scene in front of him with mixed feelings. He knew that what the team members said was true and the difficulties they faced were real. But should they just give up? Can they go back to the past?

"Dong dong dong..."

A knock on the door interrupted the argument in the room. Xiao Yichen and Chu Mengmeng looked at each other, and an ominous premonition came to their minds.

"Captain, we've thought it through, we've decided..." Outside the door, a team member's voice was low and firm, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Xiao Yichen's door that suddenly opened...

Standing outside the door was the deputy captain of the Self-Defense Force, Zhang Qiang. He looked at Xiao Yichen with a complicated expression, wanting to say something but stopping himself. "Captain..." He opened his mouth, but eventually swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"Come in and talk." Xiao Yichen stepped aside to let Zhang Qiang in. The atmosphere in the room was so oppressive that it seemed to freeze. Zhang Qiang looked around. The brothers who had fought side by side with him were now silent, with confusion and anxiety written all over their faces.

"Captain, we have decided..." Zhang Qiang took a deep breath, as if he had made a huge decision, "We have decided to stay."

Xiao Yichen and Chu Mengmeng exchanged surprised looks. They had thought that there would be a difficult persuasion tonight, but they did not expect Zhang Qiang to bring such news. "Why did you change your mind?" Xiao Yichen asked.

Zhang Qiang smiled bitterly, "We really want to leave, but where can we go? We can't go back anymore." He paused, then continued, "This afternoon, I went to the town to get information and accidentally heard some rumors..."

Zhang Qiang lowered his voice and told Xiao Yichen and Chu Mengmeng the rumors he had heard in the town about the outside world. The outside world was not as safe as they imagined, but was full of more unknown dangers.

"We must unite as one to survive in this challenging new environment." Zhang Qiang said firmly, "We believe in the captain, and we believe in ourselves!"

"Okay!" Xiao Yichen patted Zhang Qiang's shoulder vigorously, "Let's face it together!"

Late at night, Chu Mengmeng and Xiao Yichen were lying in bed, but neither of them could sleep. They knew that the problems of the Self-Defense Forces were only temporarily alleviated, and they still had a long way to go to truly integrate into this new environment.

"What should we do?" Chu Mengmeng looked at the ceiling and asked softly.

Xiao Yichen was silent for a moment. "Tomorrow, I will visit the clan leaders again and get their approval no matter what." He paused and continued, "As for those who are hostile to us, we must also find a way to resolve the conflict and not let them become an obstacle for us to integrate here."

Outside the window, the night was dark, with the occasional chirping of insects, making the surroundings even more silent. Suddenly, a rapid knock on the door broke the tranquility of the night, accompanied by an anxious voice: "Captain! It's bad! Wang Er... he seems to be sick!"