The First Order

When Wang Fugui heard the name Zhang Xiaoman mentioned, he was dumbfounded. “Come again?”

“Ren Xiaosu.” Zhang Xiaoman asked again, “You haven’t heard of this name before?”

Zhang Xiaoman was previously the commander of the Razor Sharp Company. After the war with the Zong Consortium, he was promoted three ranks and appointed the commander of Stronghold 144’s infantry regiment due to his outstanding combat achievements and the fact that Fortress 178 was in urgent need of manpower after occupying more territory.

Zhang Xiaoman had thought of boasting about his promotion to his ex-battalion commander, Zhou Yinglong. However, Zhou Yinglong had been promoted to a brigade commander.

Now that he was stationed at Stronghold 144, he did not have much to do every day. He was only responsible for protecting the stronghold and ensuring its safety. At the same time, he also had to work with the stronghold administration team from Fortress 178 to reorganize the governance system of Stronghold 144 as they carried out new post assignments.

In the end, Fortress 178 was really trying to turn Stronghold 144 into the largest distribution center of goods in the entire Northwest just as Wang Fugui had anticipated. With Zhang Xiaoman put in charge of overseeing the place, the rear lines could finally rest easy.

However, Zhang Xiaoman recently kept having the feeling that something was missing in life. Although he had been promoted to the position of regimental commander, the most exemplary soldier in the war was no longer with them.

Based on a discussion that Zhang Xiaoman, Jiao Xiaochen, and the others had, they felt that Ren Xiaosu must have definitely headed to the Central Plains. So when Zhang Xiaoman encountered Wang Fugui, who was a businessman from the Central Plains, he casually asked to see if he could get some information from him and find out how Ren Xiaosu was doing recently.

However, Wang Fugui was shocked when he heard Ren Xiaosu’s name being mentioned. There weren’t that many people that went by this name, so he probed, “Why are you looking for this Ren Xiaosu?”

Wang Fugui was afraid Ren Xiaosu might have gotten himself into some trouble over here that caused him to be wanted by Fortress 178.

But on second thought, Wang Fugui felt that something was not right. Since Ren Xiaosu had a great relationship with Zhang Jinglin, Zhang Jinglin would never arrest Ren Xiaosu over some trivial matter.

Due to the confidentiality law that Fortress 178 had passed, the rest of the world had no idea of how much Ren Xiaosu had contributed in the war with the Zong Consortium. They only knew that a supernatural being had rendered great service and defeated an entire brigade from Stronghold 146 all by himself. However, no one knew who that supernatural being was.

Zhang Xiaoman looked at Wang Fugui and said with a smile, “Bro, don’t ask why I’m looking for him. Never mind, there’s no point in telling you too much.”

Zhang Xiaoman suddenly remembered there was a confidentiality law in place. He could not reveal too much information about Ren Xiaosu in case the outside world’s suspicions were aroused. As such, he got ready to head back inside the military base.

However, Wang Fugui looked at Zhang Xiaoman and said, “I know Ren Xiaosu!”

Wang Fugui felt that with Zhang Jinglin and Xu Xianchu at Fortress 178, there was a high chance they would not make things difficult for Ren Xiaosu. He decided to take a gamble!

By observing Zhang Xiaoman’s expression, he felt he made the right bet this time!

Zhang Xiaoman was getting very excited. He asked, “You said that you know Ren Xiaosu? Where’s he now then?”

Wang Fugui shook his head. “I don’t know where he is either, but he was the one who had been taking care of us. We were separated later on because the Zong Consortium attacked us, and he got ambushed by them. We saw him get pierced by a spear through his stomach with our own eyes!”

With that, Zhang Xiaoman got even more excited since this account of events matched precisely with what Ren Xiaosu had shared with him before.

Back when Ren Xiaosu first arrived at Fortress 178, wasn’t he nursing an injury after being saved by Wang Shengzhi and Wang Shengyin? Ren Xiaosu said he had become enemies with the Zong Consortium because he wanted revenge.

Ren Xiaosu also told them that after the war was over, he would have to go and look for his friends and family who had been separated from him.

However, Zhang Xiaoman did not expect to encounter Wang Fugui here.

However, Zhang Xiaoman was also very cautious. He immediately called the intelligence director, Wang Fengyuan, to confirm some things. After all, everything concerning Ren Xiaosu was classified as top secret in Fortress 178. What if this person were here to pry for information from them? Zhang Xiaoman had to be extra cautious about this.

As soon as the call went through, Zhang Xiaoman mentioned the names of Wang Fugui, Wang Yuchi, Jiang Wu, and the others to Wang Fengyuan. As Jiang Wu was a supernatural being with a unique superpower, Wang Fengyuan immediately replied, “There’s no need to investigate further. They’re the ones that Ren Xiaosu is looking for.”

Zhang Xiaoman excitedly pulled Wang Fugui and the others into the base. “Bro, I finally got to meet Ren Xiaosu’s kin! Did you know that Ren Xiaosu and I were comrades when we were fighting the Zong Consortium? He was part of my Razor Sharp Company and I was his company commander…”

Zhang Xiaoman was rambling incoherently due to excitement. But as he spoke, he realized that Wang Fugui’s and the others’ eyes had reddened.

For a while now, Wang Fugui had been comforting everyone by telling them that Ren Xiaosu was definitely still alive.

But even he did not quite believe his own words sometimes. After all, they had seen a spear pierce Ren Xiaosu with their own eyes. Would a normal person survive after getting hit by something like that? Moreover, Ren Xiaosu was caught in the flood after he got injured, so there was no reason he could survive that. Therefore, he had been saying that Ren Xiaosu was still alive so he and everyone else would have a pillar of support for them to continue living.

But now, they suddenly learned that Ren Xiaosu was really still alive, and he had even personally avenged everyone by destroying the Zong Consortium.

This swirl of emotions everyone was feeling could be compared to eating a whole onion—it left them both agitated and wanting to cry.

Furthermore, when Zhang Xiaoman said Ren Xiaosu had fought really hard in the war, Wang Fugui and the others immediately understood it was because Ren Xiaosu thought they had been killed by the Zong Consortium. Therefore, he wanted to take revenge to nurse his hatred.

The harder Ren Xiaosu fought in the war, the more it represented how much he hated the Zong Consortium. The more he hated the Zong Consortium, the more it showed how important Wang Fugui and the others were to Ren Xiaosu.

“Then do y’all know where he is right now?” Wang Fugui asked, “We’ll go look for him right away.”

“No.” Zhang Xiaoman shook his head. “He disappeared immediately after the war, so I guessed he must have gone to the Central Plains to look for y’all.”

When he said that, Wang Fugui turned around and walked out of the base. He muttered to Jiang Wu as they made their way out, “Let’s head back to the Central Plains…. Let’s head back to the Central Plains right now. He must already be in the Central Plains. Let’s go look for him immediately!”

Jiang Wu nodded. “Mhm, let’s go.”

But before they could even take two steps, Zhang Xiaoman stopped Wang Fugui. He did not know whether to laugh or cry as he said, “We haven’t even found him yet, so how will you find him? Don’t worry, since you’ve come to the Northwest, you’ll be treated as distinguished guests of Fortress 178. We’ll also help to look for him. At least, y’all will feel at ease if you know that he’s fine, right? Oh yes, what’re y’all doing here in the Northwest?”

“Oh, erm…” Wang Fugui wiped the corners of his eyes. “We came here to do business. After all, I have to take care of our big family while Ren Xiaosu is not around.”

Zhang Xiaoman thumped his own chest. “Just tell me what kind of business you wish to conduct here in Stronghold 144 in the future. You can bring your goods from the Central Plains to sell over here, then haul our Fortress 178’s minerals back to the Central Plains. As long as it’s a business dealing with Stronghold 144, there’s nothing you can’t do. If anyone asks about it, you can just mention my name, Zhang Xiaoman!”

Wang Fugui was stunned for quite a while before saying, “Those minerals are too expensive. We can’t afford them at all.”

Zhang Xiaoman thumped his chest again. “You can buy them on credit. You have my word!”

Wang Fugui stood in the base on this afternoon as the sun shone down from above. He thought it felt exceptionally pleasant today.