Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
It was already February 27th and it was drawing closer and closer to the Month of Disaster.
The Mud Crabs near the beach had begun to rattle, and some even ended their hibernation early and began to move ashore. After discovering the situation, Li Wang immediately organized troops to attack Mud Crabs and finish them before they could land.
However, unlike the expeditionary forces who had seen stormy weather, the survivors working at the wall immediately collapsed emotionally.
On the evening of the same day, under the instigation of moles of Town No. 79 in the labor force, all the survivors dropped their tools and gathered in the open space in front of Desperate Beach. A large crowd gathered of more than two thousand people.
“Give us our wages! If you don’t give us crystals, we won’t work!”
“Yes! We won’t work!”
“We’re not free labor!”
“Give me my hard-earned crystals!”
“…”
NAC soldiers temporarily surrounded the demonstrators, but there was no order and nobody knew what to do at the moment. After the deputy commander ordered his troops to control the situation, he immediately ran back to the command post and looked for Li Wang. The General wasn’t there, so at the moment, he was the one with the decision-making power.
“How many people are there after the strike?” After listening to the situation, Li Wang only asked one question.
“Almost all,” The deputy commander said while sweating profusely.
Li Wang didn’t say anything. He nodded and headed straight for the door.
…
It had been ten days since construction on the wall started. For all laborers involved in the project, NAC had generously provided food and shelter, so for these survivors, all the crystals they earned were theirs to keep.
One day’s wages were five crystals, so ten days would be fifty! The entrance to the fallout shelter was also exactly fifty crystals!
With these fifty crystals, everyone had the opportunity to pay for admission to the fallout shelter. There was no need to join NAC’s people in betting on this impossible-to-finish wall.
It was precisely because of this that the survivors protested so loudly.
Standing in front of these survivors and looking at the countless faces, Li Wang was lost in thought.
If they gave them the crystals now, they would, without a doubt, run to the fallout shelter. Everyone knew the fallout shelter couldn’t possibly hold everyone and would hold 1,000 more at maximum.
Whoever ran the fastest could live.
The rest could only die.
Interestingly, Li Wang could detect the desire for survival from each of his pupils. When a person had a strong desire for survival, it would undoubtedly become a force to help him. However, when everyone collectively had a strong desire for survival, it would only speed up their collective destruction.
“The project is only 75% completed, according to the order of the General…” The deputy commander whispered.
If they failed to complete 80% of the project before March 1st, they would temporarily evacuate from the island. However, the deputy commander didn’t finish his sentence because he wasn’t sure what the captain meant.
“The general hasn’t returned yet,” Li Wang said, “And there are eight hours before March 1st.”
The deputy commander smiled bitterly and said nothing. He just turned to look at those protesting.
Only eight hours. Even if they were given two more days, he was afraid the wall still wouldn’t be completed.
“Your crystals are here!”
Li Wang’s roar interrupted the survivors’ protests.
Or rather, the keywords of his sentence attracted the attention of all survivors.
The voices of the protest ceased. Li Wang gestured the deputy commander next to him and whispered two sentences.
After listening to Li Wang, the deputy commander had somewhat of a bizarre expression, but he still nodded and left.
Soon, a full, tall box half-person in height was carried up by two soldiers.
The box fell heavily on the ground and a hole was formed in the sand. Li Wang only glanced at it before he said emotionlessly.
“Open it.”
“Roger that!”
The soldiers who brought the box saluted. In front of everyone, they opened the box.
For a brief moment, the dark green light made all the survivors hold their breaths. A pair of black pupils were painted green!
A box full of crystals!
They had never seen so many crystals!
Looking at the greedy sight, Li Wang sneered and said emotionlessly, “I heard… Someone doubted our ability to pay?”
The protesting survivors looked at each other blankly and didn’t know what to say.
Seeing that the situation was about to be controlled, those with ulterior motives naturally couldn’t stand it. At this time, someone hid in the crowd and shrieked.
“Since you have money, why don’t you pay us!?”
Soon, people in the crowd began to echo the same sentiment.
“That’s right! Since you actually have the crystals, why don’t you give us our wages?!”
The momentum of the protest once again heated up.
Li Wang stood there and looked indifferently at the furious faces. From the crowd, he suddenly saw a gloating face. In a flash, he seemed to understand something, and he sneered.
Quietly waiting for all the frustrations to be unloaded, he raised his pistol and pressed the trigger at the sky.
“Boom—”
When the gun was shot, the crowd was instantly silenced.
Li Wang glanced at these survivors and slowly said:
“The first person who started the commotion, the second person to agree with him, and the third person to respond, please come out.”
No one moved; obviously, no one would move.
Li Wang sneered then said:
“The whistleblower will be rewarded with ten crystals per person.”
After that, Li Wang didn’t waste a word. He grabbed a handful of crystals and tossed them on the ground.
“No need to wait for a few days.”
In an instant, everyone held their breaths then their gazes focused on the crystals of the ground and involuntarily flitted to the one who shrieked. Their eyes were like swords, pointing out the mole causing a mess.
As he was stared at by the people around him, the short man shook his head in a panic.
“You – why are you looking at me? No, I didn’t shout first…”
“Ten crystals.” Li repeated emotionlessly then added another sentence: “Only ten whistleblowers will be chosen. If you push him up, you get the crystals.”
When that was said, no one hesitated anymore.
Many pairs of hands were pressed against the little man. It wasn’t the will of a certain person, but the greed of a group who pushed him out of the crowd.
“No, not me. Fu*k, don’t push me!”
Nobody cared how he screamed. Along with him, the first two people to agree were immediately shoved to the front of the crowd. People rushed to the crystals on the ground and even started fighting. Li Wang ignored them but looked at the short man.
With a chill down his spine, the short man gritted his teeth and met Li Wang’s eyes as he said wickedly:
“What’s wrong with that? You owe people crystals, and you don’t want anyone to say it?”
He was betting that if NAC still wanted this project to go on, they wouldn’t do anything to him. As long as he escaped this, he could return to Fallout Shelter 79 and claim his reward. Although he firmly believed that NAC wouldn’t do anything to him, Li Wang’s stare made him feel nervous.
His stare was just like staring at a dead person.
“I don’t know who the master is behind you, and I’m not interested in finding out,” said Li Wang in a voice everyone could hear.
He wasn’t speaking to a certain person but to the moles still hidden in the crowd who hadn’t yet been caught.
“What do you want?” the short man asked anxiously.
Li Wang grinned.
“What’s your name?”
“Lin-Lin Zhengyang,” the short man said in a trembling voice.
“Excellent. I will write that on the grave for you.”
As soon as his voice faded, before anyone could respond, Li Wang pointed the pistol at Lin Zhengyang’s forehead and pressed the trigger.
