"I suddenly feel stronger than before." Murmured an old man in disbelief as he looked at the now empty bowl in his hands.
"Mom, I don't feel as bad as I did a moment ago. Can I have more of that delicious soup?" a boy who had been suffering from fever for two days straight looked at his mother with pleading eyes.
"Awesome!"
"What kind of meat is that!"
"It's the tigers! The evolved tigers!"
…
Wu Yijun and Nangong Yi calmly observed as the 7000+ survivors became agitated after eating a taste of the food they had received.
Not only was the soup made mainly from the meat of evolved beasts whose levels ranged from 15 to 21 extremely delicious, but to these survivors who were only level 0 existences, it was a divine treasure sent from the heavens.
The meat of the evolved tigers not only served to improve to amazing degrees the weakened bodies of these survivors who had been going through poor nutrition for several weeks but also served to lay the foundation and raise their natural stats to new heights once their bodies were fully recovered!
How could they not be shaken after tasting such a high-quality delicacy? They all couldn't wait to try more!
"Give me more!"
"I want more!"
"Please!
"I'll do anything!"
…
However, as the saying goes; 'in a big forest, there are all kinds of birds'. Among the little more than 7000 survivors, there were some who were desperate to regain their strength so they could do their best for themselves. Now that the medicine for a speedy and complete recovery had appeared before their eyes, many of them would naturally not be willing to let the opportunity slip through their fingers.
Like a seemingly unstoppable tsunami, more than two hundred survivors suddenly charged toward the forty food stands as they stared at the giant pots with greed-filled eyes that seemed to glow with green light similar to that of a wolf that had only the meat of its prey in its eyes.
The expressions on the faces of the forty armed men changed tremendously as they saw the wave of humans running desperately toward them. They subconsciously raised their guns but just as they were about to open fire, a soft voice caused their movements to stop automatically:
"I'll take care of this for now."
Wu Yijun took a step forward and frowned slightly at the sight of the charging crowd. Although she had expected something similar, she hoped it wouldn't happen. However, since trouble had appeared it was better to deal with it as soon as possible. Besides, since she already expected that something like this might happen, it wasn't as if Wu Yijun was too surprised to act on it.
"Whip them all." She whispered as she pointed her impeccable finger straight ahead.
The few surrounding plants suddenly glowed with a faint emerald green radiance and came to life.
The little over two hundred survivors had only one target in mind so they didn't even notice that over three hundred branches elongated tens of meters in an instant like tentacles and crawled at lightning speed behind each of them.
"Ah!!!"
The first one's cry of pain was the bell that announced disaster for each of these two hundred plus out-of-control survivors.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!….
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!….
…
The sound of flesh being torn by the fierce lashes and flesh being mercilessly whipped resounded in sync with the cries of pain as well as the pleas and wails of those who after being beaten finally began to wake up.
However, Wu Yijun shook her head.
"Continue to whip them." She said, this time without mercy and without allowing her kindness to win over her logic.
The plants heard her soft voice and became even more ferocious in their attacks. Regardless of whether it was teenagers, women, men, elders, or even children; they were all whipped until their skins split and blood began to flow.
Although Wu Yijun did not feel comfortable punishing so many people this mercilessly, Shangguan Bing Xue had made one thing clear to her before leaving towards Hope Square; something Wu Yijun could not deny.
If Wu Yijun did not do her job well, then she would be causing Bai Zemin more trouble; more than he already had on his back. This was something she definitely did not want to happen. What Wu Yijun aspired to become was a woman who would be able to help him, and unfortunately for her, her combat ability would probably never be enough to stand up alongside him as an equal.
Therefore, she could only do what she could to the best of her ability. Helping him build the kingdom he aspired to build was, for now, the wisest way.
Moreover, Wu Yijun had also realized something else and that was that if it had not been for her stepping forward just in time, forty machine guns would have mercilessly opened fire on the two hundred or so survivors. At this point, the place would have turned into a slaughterhouse and it was only thanks to her that this could have been avoided.
Precisely because she wanted everyone to learn the consequences of trying to make more trouble than humanity already had, Wu Yijun showed no mercy and whipped everyone to the brink of fainting.
As the other survivors in Hope Square and those who were just passing by were shocked and frightened to see the terrifying behavior of the plants that previously only swayed gently in the natural wind, Wu Yijun ordered the plants to stop.
Groans and cries of pain were the only sounds that could be heard before she said in a voice clear enough for all to hear:
"The people who just disobeyed my previous instruction are out of the system that will soon be opened. Also, as a consequence of the fault made by a few, everyone present will also not be able to have a second bowl of food today."
Immediately, an even bigger wave rose up as Wu Yijun's words clicked in the minds of each of the survivors.
"What?!"
"Why?!"
"We haven't done anything wrong!
"You bastards! Because of these bastards now we all have to suffer!"
"Kill them!"
"Kill them!"
"Kill them!
…
No one knew who started it but suddenly everyone looked at the two hundred or so survivors who had created trouble with red eyes as if they wanted to devour their flesh and sending shivers down their spines that served to awaken them from the pain that consumed them.
However, no one stepped forward.
They had all learned their lesson this time.
"Silence!" Wu Yijun ordered in a loud voice. Once everyone calmed down, she ignored the death glares that the nearly 7000 were giving to the little over 200 and said slowly, "I have no idea how things worked before, but now that the former leaders of this base were overthrown, things will change and since this is a base, that is, a unit, everyone here will have to function as one. If you are aware that any of you wish to commit an act that will surely be punished, then to avoid trouble yourself stop that person or warn in advance."
The words of Wu Yijun were a great wake-up call that sounded the alarms of all these survivors and even those who were just passing through the place or who were attracted by the aroma of the cooked meat began to pay more attention.
"Until yesterday, many of you might have complaints in your hearts regarding not having the energy to work or feeling resentment towards the higher-ups at the base because no one gave you a chance to prove yourselves." Wu Yijun said indifferently. "However, from this very moment on, none of you will have anything to complain about."
Wu Yijun looked at Nangong Yi and when the latter saw her nod toward him, he realized it was his turn.
Nangong Yi took a step forward, this time with his skill deactivated, and shouted loudly:
"Listen well because I will not repeat myself twice!"
"Our current leader, Bai Zemin, is a kind man who is even willing to invest high-level creature meat that could easily be treated as luxury food in survivors like you who have no power whatsoever. However, every act always has a price and even the kindness of God has its limits let alone the kindness of a human."
The corner of Wu Yijun's mouth twitched several times as she listened to Nangong Yi's speech but since his words seemed to be working she said nothing about it and simply listened from the side in silence.
"As you all have already proven, this kind of meat can bring your bodies back to their respective peak conditions of the past and even lead you to become more powerful people. Now, pay close attention! All those who wish to become a soul evolver and thus gain enough power to never again be humiliated, to never again suffer hunger, to be able to fight alongside me and our brothers on the battlefield shoulder to shoulder with the Leader, I want you to move to the right! Just this time, our elite team will help you all level up by completely incapacitating the zombies so you don't have to fear them!"
At first, many hesitated. But when the last quarter of the speech of Nangong Yi reached everyone, he immediately noticed how many people's eyes lit up brightly.
Having learned from the previous case, this time everyone struggled to contain their emotions and silently began to move to the right side of the large square while keeping their eyes fixed on Nangong Yi and Wu Yijun as if they feared that both of them would suddenly run away.
However, the matter at hand was that something that neither Nangong Yi nor Wu Yijun expected actually did happen.
"This…" Wu Yijun watched in astonishment as nearly half of all the starving and destitute survivors walked towards the right side of Hope Square.
All of them walked with somewhat weak steps, their clothes were dirty, their bodies released foul odor, their hair was a mess, some even fell down several times due to the miserable situation they were in. However, all of them had bright eyes brimming with determination.
Even those who fell to the ground struggled to stand up or simply crawled while digging their nails into the hard earth.
Nangong Yi was dumbfounded before bursting out laughing and saying loudly, "Aren't I amazing? This major here managed to make the largest mass recruitment of future soul evolvers! I think I deserve a promotion and several beautiful women for myself!"
Wu Yijun looked at him with disdain before turning his eyes towards the 3000 or so survivors who had decided to risk their lives to fight. Even and in the unlikely event that half of them regretted their decision when they saw the zombies again, there would still be 1500 future soul evolvers!
1500 soul evolvers in the worst case! This was a number that even now the Transcendent faction was far from reaching!
Then, Wu Yijun remembered something her grandfather had once told her but she had been unable to understand.
"Just as rats when cornered by cats attack, when humans are driven to the brink of insanity they can sometimes make self-destructive decisions…. However, in times of crisis only by having the resolve to die could one have a small chance of changing one's fate."
Stand still and wait for death to embrace you or fight and let death embrace you….. or, perhaps, death will be too tired to fight you at that moment and you can go on living longer than you were supposed to live.
Wu Yijun did not expect that her assignment to improve the survivors' nutrition, explain the new rules, and finally recruit a few workers, would actually end up turning into such a miracle.
However, if Wu Yijun thought about it carefully she would realize that there really wasn't much to be surprised about.
It had been 65 days since everything changed. Two long months during which all these survivors had lived a life worse than death in many ways and barely held on to a weak flame called existence.
At the end of the day, humans were also a kind of animal that went through the cycle of life and death just like all living things.
Humans also grew tired.
Humans could also turn into wild beasts after being beaten hard for so long.
Wu Yijun took a deep breath and at the same time as her chest lowered along with her exaltation, a beautiful smile appeared on her face. This was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise that he would surely be happy to know!
She stepped forward and shouted in delight: "All those with knowledge in biology, botany, electricity, mechanics, construction, medicine, chemistry, music, cooking…. Please step to the left! All those who have no particular knowledge about a field but have the willingness to work on building defenses for the base such as digging a ditch around the settlement, please stay in your places!"
Wu Yijun announced the mass recruitment of survivors with knowledge in over twenty different fields and soon things began to move. There were approximately 10 of the just over 3000 who previously wanted to be soul evolvers who announced they were experts in biology or chemistry so they were also recruited immediately.
She and a new group assigned by Shanggguan Bing Xue to assist her began to record the data of the survivors. Even after hours of work, Wu Yijun did not complain and the smile on her face did not waver.
None of the survivors who arrived at Hope Square today other than the two hundred who broke the rules earlier were out of work! All of them would soon join the system created by Bai Zemin and his trusted subordinates to give even more life to the ever larger and firmer faction!
While all these changes, big or small, were taking place, the man in question was away from home while observing one of the largest bridges in all of China.
* * * * * * *
Chapter +2400 words… So short chapters >.<
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
