Cao Lei and Wang Xuebing did not say much. Since it was their comrade’s choice, they could only respect it. In any case, they would just take better care of each other in the future.
After a while, the food was all sent over. They hadn’t had food like this for a long time, so the group of men wolfed it down and talked while eating. The atmosphere was unexpectedly relaxed.
After having had enough food and drink, Zhang Baoqiang finally asked, “What are you planning to do? If you need anything, just speak out.”
Xiao Sa nodded and didn’t hold back. “At present, there are too few people in the base. I hope you can join the patrol team. It’s eight hours a day, and counts as 20 points.”
“Points?” Zhang Baoqiang was puzzled.
Wang Xuebing smiled and explained, “It’s part of the base’s rules and regulations. The points are the base’s currency and can be exchanged for housing, food, and extra time for water and electricity. If you want to eat in restaurants or go to bars, you can use points too. As long as it is something that belongs to the base, you can use points to exchange for it.”
Zhang Baoqiang’s expression showed his understanding, and he felt grateful in his heart, believing that this was Xiao Sa showing him some special concern. They had only just arrived and naturally did not have many supplies in their hands. Now, they already had a way to find work for their people. He hurriedly agreed, “Okay. Boss Xiao can rest assured. My subordinates are all at your disposal.”
Xiao Sa was a little taken aback, but did not try to explain, allowing him to keep this misunderstanding. He calmly continued, “After you’ve settled in, go to the office tomorrow to register. I will be leaving the base for a while in the next few days and am worried about the base. A lot of newcomers have come from outside today, and we must take strict precautions. I heard that C City was attacked by zombies, and I’m afraid there might be some infected people here too. You guys should also be more careful.”
“Don’t worry, Boss Xiao. I understand.” Zhang Baoqiang’s expression turned sombre, and a look of pain flashed by. It seemed that he had also recalled some bad memories.
Xiao Sa didn’t ask much. It was a common thing for people around them to turn into zombies. There was nobody here who hadn’t seen a few sad things.
Wang Xuebing was slightly surprised and turned to Xiao Sa. “You’re going out?”
“Not me, it’s us.” Xiao Sa embraced Bai Jing and his lips curved slightly.
“Behave.” Bai Jing glared at him fiercely. There were strangers here – he should act appropriately.
Xiao Sa laughed quietly. He knew Little Jing was thin-skinned, so he simply grabbed his hand and refused to let it go as he spoke to Cao Lei, “You’re coming with us.”
Even before Cao Lei could speak up, Wang Xuebing butted in, “What about me?”
Bai Jing pouted. He had no way to deal with Xiao Sa, but his reactions were quick when it came to Wang Xuebing. “You’re staying at home to look after the base. I’m leaving the warehouse to you and Xu Lei to look after together.”
“Why?” Wang Xuebing was dissatisfied. He hadn’t taken action in a long time. In fact, he also wanted to go out on a mission.
Bai Jing looked askance at him and then mercilessly used words to attack. “Can you promise that you won’t randomly turn into a nice guy? I’m worried we’ll get dragged down.”
Wang Xuebing’s head was covered with black lines. Was he so unworthy of the young master’s trust? He swore he really wouldn’t be so merciful ever again. One lesson had been enough! Only, he helplessly listened as Bai Jing continued, “If you go, I’m worried that Cao Lei will be distracted. It’s better for you to stay at home.”
Wang Xuebing shut up as his face turned red. He saw Cao Lei nodding in agreement and pinched him hard on the waist. Cao Lei grimaced in pain, but a grin still covered his face as though he found the whole matter very amusing.
Bai Jing was too lazy to bother himself with them. The questions they needed to ask had already been asked, and after a while, they left first.
That evening, Xiao Sa drew up a plan and quickly called everyone together for a meeting. He shared all the details, and after their discussion, the final decision was for Xiao Sa, Bai Jing, Cao Lei, Qin Yi and Yu Yue to go out to the military’s temporary camp while the rest stayed behind.
Zhou Ji and Xie Minhang did not feel assured and had opposed it at the time. Zhou Ji insisted on following them, but was finally silenced by Xiao Sa’s cold gaze. If too many people went, it might have the opposite effect and become too cumbersome.
They did not delay for too long, and the group left in the middle of the night. According to Zhang Baoqiang’s words, the army should already be on the way now.
After getting into the car, Xiao Sa flipped open the map as though he had already made up his mind. “Here and here. These are the places that they must travel through.”
“What are your plans?” Bai Jing finally raised his head and asked the question that even Cao Lei and Yu Yue were curious about. They knew that he must be planning a sneak attack, but people were different from zombies, and the army was also better equipped compared to ordinary troops. Their opponents had enough ammunition to create bullet rain, and they were also well-trained soldiers. They were not certain that they would be able to retreat intact, unless…
Cao Lei knew that their Young Master had weapons of mass destruction in his hands, but expressionlessly going in to completely destroy the army would make them no different from tyrants. In his heart, he did not want their Young Master to do this, and it was also because he had guessed this possibility that he did not want his lover to come along and see the scenes of bloodshed.
“I plan to take in the army.” Xiao Sa did not try to hide his ambition. His voice was steady and powerful. With these 5,000 people, he would not be afraid even if he had to fight against the country. He did not believe that the country would really be able to unite. Moreover, he really coveted the military’s weapons.
Cao Lei was stunned, and then relieved, “How?”
Xiao Sa turned his head and looked at the Bai Jing. His lips curved slightly as he joked, “This will depend on how much support Young Master Bai has.” Other than their core group, nobody else knew of Bai Jing’s identity, which would come in useful at this point.
Bai Jing raised his eyebrows. Everyone here was intelligent. Sneak attack? No way. That was too low of a blow, and the risk was too high. If they were going to go in, they would make their move out in the open, and use logic to take in the army. As long as the army did not have a leader…
“Remember, we are direct subordinates that General Yang sent over to protect Young Master Bai. We were temporarily separated from our team, and will meet up with them soon.”
Yu Yue clicked his tongue. This lie was really quite big.
Bai Jing glanced at him coldly; those who had not seen the world would find everything strange. In the last life, his father had also tried to pave the way for him, but had finally given up on him in exchange for other benefits. In this life, Bai Jingchen had the support of his own people. Although he could not compete with Zhou family, it would be difficult for them with no food. In B City, Zhou family could only take shelter, but it was not a long term plan. Once Bai Jingchen’s grain and food were used up, his forces would collapse. He did not want to see that happen, as he thought that there might be opportunities for them to cooperate in the future, but at present when their own base was not stable, they would need City B’s backing to become stronger as quickly as possible.
Bai Jing’s eyes dimmed. Wasn’t the Yan family wearing General Yang’s sign? So what if he went in to cause confusion? He believed that his father would never be stingy, and refuse to help him ask General Yang for a transfer document. In any case, the world was now in chaos. As long as the army was in his hands, who would have the energy to worry about it later on? They would simply become private soldiers that belonged to Jing Sa City.
They travelled along the highways, and with Xiao Sa’s metal powers, the team arrived at the military’s temporary camp before dawn. The army had settled in a small town near City C. Because they were driving military Hummers and their license plates were army plates, the soldiers’ attitudes were strict and nobody dared to be too unrestrained when they came forward to stop them.
“Please stop for inspection.” Twenty soldiers approached slowly.
Qin Yi stopped the car, opened the door and pulled out his identification from his pocket. Thanks to old man Bai who had been worried about his son, the identification really marked him as a special officer for the military. Although he had no official rank, the emphasis was placed on the word ‘special’, and because he had originally been worried about Zhou family, that piece of identification had actually been issued from General Yang’s office. Qin Yi let them inspect it as they liked. Communication was so difficult now that nobody would doubt it.
“You are troops from General Yang’s division?” Qin Yi asked his question very indifferently, his posture was very aloof as he gave the soldiers pressure. He was high up, but he did not come across as arrogant.
“Yes. You are…”
“I’m General Yang’s direct subordinate. State Councillor Bai’s son is in the car. Do you have any telegraph machines here? I need to communicate with the capital.”
The soldiers saluted quickly and one of them spoke up to answer. He opened his mouth, but realized he did not know how to address him. “Qin… Just a moment, please. I’ll send someone in to report first. Does Master Bai have an identification card?”
Qin Yi did not take it seriously and murmured a few words inside the Hummer. After a while, he brought out several documents and said, “Who’s in charge here? Where is Yan Gang? Why isn’t he here? General Yang is very dissatisfied with his recent actions.”
After leaving such misleading remarks, Yan Liang emerged not long after. As it turned out, he really lived up to his arrogant and domineering reputation. He was completely unconcerned by Qin Yi’s appearance, and his attitude was still extremely arrogant. He had heard long ago that Bai family had an illegitimate son. Zhou family would deal with him sooner or later. Perhaps they would even ask him to do them a favour.
“Oh, I don’t know how Young Master Bai came to be here. It’s quite out of the way. How did you end up here?” Yan Liang pretended to be surprised as he looked directly into the car.
Bai Jing glanced at him, then opened the door and got out on his own. His attitude was even more arrogant than Yan Liang’s as he simply looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “Where is Yan Gang? I heard that he was nearby. Why isn’t he here now? General Yang handed down orders, and it is best if we can meet him.”
Yan Liang’s face was gloomy, and he suppressed the anger in his heart. He murmured, “I won’t hide this from Young Master Bai. Our base was attacked two nights ago, and my cousin brought people to City B, leaving me in charge here.”
“You abandoned the local people?” Bai Jing spoke harshly and righteously, and became angry on the spot. “What is a soldier’s duty? How dare you run away?”
The scene was quiet. Even the crows nearby went silent. Yan Liang’s face was already as black as the bottom of a pot. This young man was really ignorant, or he was pretending. If he had known it would be like this, he would not have tried to explore whether or not this person’s identity was real, and simply dealt with him as soon as possible. In any case, as long as he did not admit to it, nobody would know whether the person in front of them was the real Bai Jing or not. The army’s mood was unstable now, which was the worst possible thing for the superiors. They had also just split up from the main army, and it was the perfect time for unrest.
Bai Jing sneered. Today’s act was actually something that they had planned out. They first needed to plan the seeds of dissatisfaction in the soldier’s minds, and then after that, as long as they watered it, the result they wanted would naturally follow. Although Yan Liang was arrogant, it was impossible for him to have reached his current position without intelligence. Caution had already become habit for him, and what they had to do was to drill a hole into his façade.
Nobody would ever imagine that a group of five people would plan to attack an army. And it was this element of surprise that would give them the opportunity to win.
Yan Liang had no way to argue with him out in the open – at least until he discovered what kind of trump cards they were holding. Even if Yan Gang has already joined with Zhou family, Bai Jingcheng was currently still in power. If Yan Liang wanted to make a move against him, he would still have to consider how make it happen. Other than making it appear like an accident, Yan Liang would not have the courage to kill him out in the open. If he was really smart, he would have denied his identity as soon as he showed up. But now, it was too late for regret.
