As they drove down the mountain, Ren Xiaosu realized Chen Wudi was a little sullen. Actually, whenever such betrayals happened in the past, Chen Wudi’s inner world would always be rocked to the core.
He was like a naïve, kind, and innocent child who was more than happy to help others. But slowly, he discovered that the kindness he had for this world was just like a triangle within his heart. Whenever this triangle turned, it would hurt his heart and cause him a lot of anguish.
Until the triangle’s edges were milled round.
Ren Xiaosu did not try to enlighten Chen Wudi anymore. He had to experience for himself his inner demons and think it through before he would be able to step out of his predicament.
The military transport truck did not head straight for town after it arrived at the bottom of the mountain. The journey to town would only take three hours, or even two and a half hours if they drove a little faster. They still had about two hours or so now to burn.
Ren Xiaosu took them by another route, to which Li Qingzheng wondered, “What are we doing?”
Ren Xiaosu gave him a look. “You’ll know when we get there.”
On the side of the road, Ren Xiaosu had Li Qingzheng set up an ambush. He also requested that Li Qingzheng change into his Li Consortium military uniform and have his Office of Special Investigations identification with him.
At this moment, a military transport truck drove over from afar. Ren Xiaosu calmly walked to the middle of the road and blocked the path of the vehicle.
When the people in it saw Ren Xiaosu in his Li Consortium military uniform, they came to a stop. This truck was filled with the full platoon of another outpost. Their platoon commander jumped out and said with a fawning smile, “Sir, what is the matter?”
Ren Xiaosu flashed his ID and said, “The Office of Special Investigations is conducting an investigation. I suspect that there’s a spy in the truck. Get everyone out.”
The platoon commander was startled. He hurriedly claimed innocence and cried out, “Sir, could there be a misunderstanding? We’re only soldiers of the private army.”
“Don’t fucking bullshit me!” Ren Xiaosu said with a cold expression, “Don’t tell me you’re the spy?”
The platoon commander immediately shut his mouth and beckoned for the other soldiers to get out of the truck. “Hurry up and get out. Cooperate with this officer’s investigation.”
After the group of soldiers stepped out of the vehicle, Ren Xiaosu asked, “Who still has family back in town?”
A man raised his hand weakly. “Sir, my family is still in town.”
Ren Xiaosu said to that platoon commander, “It’s him, come with me!”
Li Qingzheng led a group of soldiers over and tied that man up before taking him back to their own truck.
Li Qingzheng was startled when he realized that Ren Xiaosu’s so-called plan was to actually kidnap someone into their group!
Actually, the Li Consortium was only worried that there would be deserters. As long as they showed up with a full-strength platoon of 30 soldiers, they would definitely not say anything about it. However, Li Qingzheng never expected that Ren Xiaosu would come up with something like that!
How ruthless!
But better you than me! As if Li Qingzheng and the others cared about the life and death of another platoon. In these times, it was already great to survive. It didn’t matter how they did it!
When the platoon commander saw the uniforms of the soldiers beside Li Qingzheng, he felt that something was wrong. Why were some of them dressed in casual wear and others dressed in the uniform of the private army?
The platoon commander asked suspiciously, “Sir, are your men in the private army?”
Ren Xiaosu hesitated for a moment. “That’s right, I’ve been hiding with the private troops for a very long time to find the spy!”
The platoon commander did not dare say anything. After all, the Office of Special Investigations had a reputation. Without any blood relations to the Li Consortium, no one would dare to offend the Office of Special Investigations.
Ren Xiaosu cast him a glance before saying to Li Qingzheng, “Set off!”
After he said that, their military transport truck turned around in the direction of town and drove off. Ren Xiaosu was looking at that man who had been tied up. He said to Chen Wudi, “Untie him”
The man nearly cried from fear. “Sir, I’m really not a spy.”
“Mhm.” Ren Xiaosu nodded. “Starting from today, you’re now a part of this platoon.”
That man was stunned. “But, sir, I’m not from your platoon.”
All the private soldiers next to him pointed their guns at him. Ren Xiaosu said, “You are now!”
It was also at this moment that the dazed platoon commander behind them managed to react. “Fuck, they were here to steal our people! What fucking Office of Special Investigations? How despicable!”
The soldiers beside him were panicking a little. “Platoon Commander, what do we do now?”
That platoon commander clenched his teeth. “I doubt we’ll be able to chase after them. Besides, I also can’t be sure whether his Office of Special Investigations identity is real or not. Let’s… go and steal someone from the other platoons!”
There were several dozen outposts around the area, which meant there were several dozen platoons as well.
Ren Xiaosu was still unaware of what he had sparked. All of these platoons were about to tussle trying to steal soldiers from each other to fill up their rosters.
Some of the platoons were at full strength and did not consider the possibility of something like this happening. But there were a lot more platoons that had a person missing just like Ren Xiaosu’s platoon. All of them were still wondering what they should do, but with Ren Xiaosu doing what he just did, it was as though a new world had opened up for them.
After the platoons from the outposts got out of the mountains and headed for town, there were only two or three major roads that they could take. As such, this scenario would probably be best described with the saying, “The brave win when rivals cross paths.”
As Ren Xiaosu’s group sped towards town, the sun was rising. Then they were surprised to see several military transport trucks of the Li Consortium driving in the direction they had come from.
When those vehicles saw Ren Xiaosu’s group, they stopped. One of the drivers in the Li Consortium group rolled down his window and shouted, “Are you all the private troops that came from the outposts?”
Li Qingzheng was taken aback. “That’s right.”
“Did you see any groups fighting on your way here?” the driver asked.
“No, we set off very early,” Li Qingzheng said calmly.
The driver cursed as he rolled the window back up, “Fuck, I heard a riot broke out over there! It’s so troublesome to have to go out there to look at what’s happening!”
Ren Xiaosu and Li Qingzheng sat in the front of the truck without saying a word. However, they could guess what had happened.
Li Qingzheng asked softly, “It should be fine,
right?”
Ren Xiaosu also felt a little guilty. “I guess it won’t really be much of a problem….”
Ren Xiaosu sent Yan Liuyuan and the others back to town and instructed them to be cautious of the circumstances before heading to the assembly point to report in.
In the morning, Hu Shuo had just finished a short meeting at the Office of Special Investigations when he received a satellite call from a deputy of his. “Lieutenant General, the commanding officer of the private army forces is looking for you.”
Hu Shuo was taken aback for a moment. “Why’s he looking for me?”
Hu Shuo then answered the phone. “This is Hu Shuo speaking.”
As a result, he was met with a barrage of complaints on the other end of the call. Although the private troops were made up of refugees, their commanding officer was still a family member of the Li Consortium. The person on the other end of the line was complaining so much that it made Hu Shuo unhappy. “Why the fuck would I want to meddle in the affairs of your private troops? Even if you gave those lousy troops of yours to me for free, I wouldn’t take them in. Stop trying to accuse me of something!” And with that, Hu Shuo hung up.
However, he immediately got a headache over this matter. He was quite certain Ren Xiaosu caused trouble for him again!
