Chapter 228 - From Heaven To Hell
"After clearing most of the road, Zhong De stayed stationed with a small armed team in the south." Wu Yijun calmly explained as she looked at Bai Zemin and told him the situation of everything that had happened during the seven days he was not present.
Bai Zemin immediately understood what Wu Yijun meant by those words.
With all the zombies and most of the surrounding beasts being wiped out as well as most of the vehicles or other obstacles out of the way, the passage between Camp Baiquan and Beginning Village was now technically clear in its entirety. This meant that if Camp Baiquan began to extend their search operations in a northerly direction, it was very likely that they would encounter with them at some point.
With Zhong De and several other men there as guards, even if they could not defeat the other party they would definitely be able to stop their footsteps for quite a while and even cause them great headaches and losses in case an inevitable clash broke out.
"Are they well armed?" Bai Zemin asked a little worried about this matter.
Even if Zhong De and several other men were evolvers with some skills, they were still too weak to stand against humanity's heavy weaponry. Humans were not like the wild beasts that had mutated and evolved, mankind had retained their intelligence but their physical bodies were much softer.
"Don't worry." Wu Yijun nodded with a serious expression before looking at Shangguan Bing Xue and saying, "Bing Xue mobilized one of the M3 and five heavy weapons mounted on military vehicles. In addition, each man has two grenades with them. Even if a thousand-man army wants to get through they will have to pay the price unless they have advanced and heavy weapons with them."
"I see." Bai Zemin nodded and looked at Shangguan Bing Xue, "You both did a good job."
Shangguan Bing Xue merely nodded slightly while Wu Yijun smiled sweetly in return.
Forget about a normal soldier, even Bai Zemin himself would be in danger if he was bombarded by an M3. Of course, this was possible only if the M3 driver and the machine could follow Bai Zemin's Agility and movements; otherwise it was just a weapon with great power but in the end useless.
What good was a powerful attack if it didn't hit its target?
"What will you two do?" Bai Zemin looked at Nangong Lingxin and Nangong Yi when he asked this question. He directly ignored the five or six who did not stand up earlier and had not said anything yet. He would settle it after settling the matter of the two Nangong siblings.
Nangong Yi looked hesitant when he heard Bai Zemin's question.
If Bai Zemin wanted his support to form a new government chamber and give himself the highest rank, then Nangong Yi would not hesitate to accept. But to be a King and even implement a slavery system similar to that of the Medieval Era... The amount of challenges that would be encountered on that path would be too much to even count.
Nangong Lingxin noticed her brother's hesitation. However, she had her own thoughts. As she looked Bai Zemin in the eyes, she asked in a soft and melodious voice, "If I may ask... May I know how strong you are?"
Nangong Lingxin's feminine intuition told her that this might be the greatest opportunity of her entire life. She didn't know why this was like this, and she was even scared since she knew the consequences of failure. However, her intuition was practically screaming at her that if she passed up this opportunity today. she would probably end up regretting it for the rest of her life.
It was precisely because of that female intuition that she hesitantly asked the question she did... And sometimes, a woman's intuition could be frightening to the point of being the most powerful skill... Because little did Nangong Lingxin know that thanks to a simple question, she had won a future she would never have dared to dream of.
"You want to know how strong I am?" Bai Zemin chuckled and looked at the beautiful woman sitting three or four meters ahead of him.
Nangong Lingxin hesitated a little before nodding, "Y-Yes... As you yourself know, what you are trying to achieve could be my family's doom. Besides, I don't know you either... But I don't want to reject your offer just like that either. Therefore, before I make a decision about serving you in your path or not, I would like to know what you are capable of."
"... Alright." Bai Zemin nodded and his eyes glittered. He couldn't help but have a good impression of this woman who was about six or seven years older than him; she wasn't too hasty but she wasn't dumb either. He liked working with smart people. With a glance at Nangong Lingxin, he said calmly, "Give me a second. Let me finish some stuff and after a few questions I'll show you how strong I am."
Nangong Lingxin looked at him in confusion but nodded. She kept her eyes on him, waiting to see what he was going to do next.
As for Nangong Yi, he did not refuse at what his sister said. He also believed that not accepting but also not refusing in haste was the right thing to do.
Bai Zemin looked at the few people who did not say anything so far and said indifferently, "Gu Zhi, Lei Jianhong, Wang Qiang, Yan Bao, Gao Yu, Peng Bai. You six are dismissed. From today onwards, all the firearms you controlled will be taken away in their entirety. Furthermore, to avoid involving you in the event that my plan of conquest fails, your positions within the army will be revoked. As a consequence, from this exact moment on, you lose all rights and privileges of high rank. The social status of the six of you is currently the equivalent of Low Citizens since you have no employment. If you wish to become Normal Citizens you are welcome to report to the office tables that are set up every day in the central square."
The faces of the six men mentioned paled when they heard Bai Zemin's words.
In the previous social system, they were part of royalty. In fact, their statuses were so high that they were even allowed to participate in this kind of assembly and while they did not have the qualifications to speak, just being able to enter this hall was a sign of status and power.
They ate the finest meals, slept in the most luxurious homes and in the softest beds, they even had a beautiful woman or two waiting for them daily in their homes. But now, with just a few words from the 20-year-old in front of them, all these privileges had been revoked in their totality.
From eating the best meals they would have to make do with rice diluted in water or work like mules to eat three bowls of rice a day with some bread: from sleeping in the most luxurious homes and in the most softest beds from now on they would have to live in small houses through which moisture entered and on hard beds. Even the women who were waiting in their homes would leave them without hesitation and go to other men!
What beautiful woman would want to stay with a couple of useless men who couldn't even feed them properly? But in fact, even if these women wanted to stay, the problem was that the men no longer had a big enough salary to feed their mouths!
It was only after they lost everything that all they had lost, they realized what had been lost. They had foolishly assumed that their positions were secure. But only now did they awaken from their dreams and realize that by not agreeing to join and help Bai Zemin in his conquests to become the King of China, they would naturally lose the privileges they had previously had when they did help him!
"L-Leader!" Yan Bao wanted to say something but before he could utter another word he was interrupted.
"Fu Xuefeng. Escort them out. Then go to the command center and inform each soldier that they were removed from their positions and the soldiers under their command should wait as they will be reinstated soon by other groups. Also, if they wish to leave the village, have Qin Ming give them three days' worth of rations." Bai Zemin said indifferently and did not even give the six men a second glance.
"Understood!" Fu Xuefeng stood up and looked at the six people with an indifferent expression, "Gentlemen, please."
The six men were robust and even the ones who were thin were tall and fit. It was in stark contrast to Fu Xuefeng, who even now was as thin as a matchstick. However, appearances were often misleading. These six men knew that they could not defeat the thin young man before them even if they had twice the strength, and even if they defeated him, there were even more terrifying monsters behind him waiting.
With Fu Xuefeng exerting pressure and with Bai Zemin unwilling to listen or give second chances, the six men had no choice but to stand up with ashen faces.
Under everyone's gaze, the six walked out of the hall like lifeless bodies that had lost their souls and the double wooden door was closed with a slight bang that awakened everyone inside the room.
Those who had hesitated about joining Bai Zemin's crazy idea earlier looked at each other and saw fear, terror, as well as relief and joy hidden in each other's eyes... Fortunately they had decided to bet everything here or else they would become the lowest caste in one step.
They all looked at the young man smiling slightly in the main seat and finally realized that the smile was not as friendly as it seemed!
This young man barely 20 years old had the power to send them from Heaven to Hell with a single command. He could keep them alive but still make them experience what despair was like!
Lilith in her human form observed everyone's expressions and scoffed inwardly.
Some people were truly despicable. They wanted to enjoy high treatment but didn't want to work for it. They wanted honors and luxuries but were unwilling to risk themselves to obtain them.
Did they think life was simple? Too bad, when they woke up from their fantasies they had already lost everything and would probably never be able to get up again.
"Now that the cowards are gone, let's move on." Bai Zemin kept the same smile on his face and looked at Nanong Lingxin and Nangong Yi, "Can you tell me what kind of skills you have? Also, I would like to know what level each of you is at the moment."
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