All of a sudden, Ren Xiaosu realized he had misunderstood. Before the war, he was wondering why the Saboteurs did not come forward to stop the war or sabotage it. However, he now realized the Saboteurs were merely targeting the nuclear test sites and did not involve themselves with other matters.
It was probably just as Yang Xiaojin had said. The apocalypse had struck the world because of nuclear technology, so humans should not be trying to control it again.
Curious, Ren Xiaosu said, “But I think what Qing Zhen said makes sense. It’s the fault of humanity, not the fault of nuclear technology.”
Yang Xiaojin said, “That’s what I thought at the beginning too, but the 17 nuclear test sites that were destroyed had all been performing military research. And then gradually, people stopped questioning the motivation behind such research.”
“But the Qing Consortium was the one who started the war this time. If Qing Zhen really had such a weapon in his arsenal, the Li Consortium would probably have already been decimated, right?” Ren Xiaosu said.
“I don’t know.” Yang Xiaojin shook her head.
In reality, Ren Xiaosu did not take any side on this matter. This “important” issue just did not seem to have anything to do with him since he was only a refugee trying to survive.
Qing Zhen had his reasons, while the Saboteurs also made their judgment based on facts. Until the very end, who was to decide who was right or wrong?
Ren Xiaosu asked, “17 nuclear test sites? Where are they? Do they all belong to the Qing Consortium?”
“No.” Yang Xiaojin shook her head again. “Actually, the main focus of the Saboteurs’ activities has already shifted to the Central Plains in recent years. The 17 nuclear test sites were also destroyed there. Very few members of the Saboteurs are still in the Southwest. It’s a much bigger world over there in the Central Plains.”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. This was the second time he heard others mention the term “Central Plains.” After The Cataclysm, human society was kept within the strongholds while information and traffic flow got shut down.
So ever since Ren Xiaosu was young, he had always thought that the world was only this big. In the northeast was the Qing Consortium, while the Yang Consortium was in the north, Stronghold 178 was in the northwest, and the Li Consortium was in the south.
This used to be the entire world map that existed in Ren Xiaosu’s mind. However, he later realized this was not the case. Zhang Jinglin had mentioned it before but did not get into a deep discussion about it. He only said that it would not be easy to get from the Southwest to the Central Plains. After tectonic activity destroyed the roads and mountain paths and elevated entire territories, the events had formed into natural barriers for the Southwest.
Ren Xiaosu asked curiously, “What do the Central Plains look like?”
Yang Xiaojin shook her head. “I’ve never been there either. I heard from my aunt before that it’s much more prosperous and glorious over there. There are even roads connecting the strongholds that allow residents to travel freely between them while some people drive to faraway places for vacation. The stronghold gates are kept open during the day and only close at night. She once said that Stronghold 1 is like a miracle of human civilization. When night falls, that place becomes a permanently lit galaxy.”
“Do you want to go to the Central Plains?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
Yang Xiaojin looked at him and said, “No.”
Ren Xiaosu was surprised. Based on what Yang Xiaojin had said earlier, the Saboteurs’ activities were localized to the Central Plains. Logically speaking, Yang Xiaojin would have to be there as well, so why didn’t she go?
“Oh, right,” Yang Xiaojin said, “Luo Lan should be leaving Stronghold 88 soon. If everything goes well on our way there, you should still be in time to meet him.”
“Luo Lan is leaving Stronghold 88 already?” Ren Xiaosu was taken aback when he heard that. He knew from Tang Zhou that Luo Lan had been sent to Stronghold 88 by Qing Zhen and that this arrangement was due to the cooperation between the two organizations. As such, Luo Lan headed there as a representative of the Qing Consortium.
But now that Luo Lan was leaving, it meant that the cooperation between the two consortiums was about to end.
After these two consortiums had weakened the Li Consortium to a certain extent, the alliance between them would start losing meaning.
…
At this moment, Luo Lan was instructing his subordinates to pack up their things in Stronghold 88. “Be gentler, take good care when moving the items onto the vehicle. These are all souvenirs that I spent a lot of money on. If they break, you won’t be able to compensate for them!”
The subordinate chuckled and said, “Boss, are we going back now? Did Mr. Qing Zhen win?”
“Listen to what you’re saying!” Luo Lan said with a smile, “How can there be any battles that Qing Zhen can’t win? Those old fogeys from the Li Consortium are doomed for sure!”
In this war, other than negotiating with the Yang Consortium, Luo Lan had basically done nothing else. All he did was stay at the Yang Consortium to eat and drink, and eat and drink some more.
Now that he was going back, he might even be able to make it in time for the final round of battles with the Li Consortium. When he thought of this, Luo Lan became excited. For some reason, he liked fighting in battle a lot. Although fighting in battle meant hard days, and he would not get to eat or sleep well, he still liked it very much.
But right at this moment, the sound of a car engine came from the streets of the stronghold. The soldiers beside Luo Lan wanted to pick up their weapons. However, Luo Lan waved his hand and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, who would dare to touch us here in Stronghold 88? They’re probably here to send us off.”
Then they saw three military transport trucks approaching them. When the convoy stopped in front of Luo Lan and the others, a large group of soldiers jumped out of the vehicle. Luo Lan mumbled, “This doesn’t look like a fucking send-off….”
As he said that, an officer came up to Luo Lan and calmly said, “No one is to leave yet.”
“Why’s that?” Luo Lan was taken aback. “Has your Yang Consortium gone crazy?”
“It’s not us who’s crazy.” The officer sneered and said, “It’s your Qing Consortium that has gone crazy. Or, to be precise, Qing Zhen is the one who’s gone crazy!”
“What happened?” Luo Lan frowned.
“We were supposed to attack the front line at Mount Guangying last night based on the agreement made between both us and the Qing Consortium. However, when our Yang Consortium arrived at the battlefield, the Qing Consortium’s troops suddenly retreated and left us to face the Li Consortium’s firepower alone. We suffered heavy casualties as a result!” The officer sneered. “Since you all can back out of an alliance, there won’t be a need for you all to leave this place. Men, place them under house arrest and guard them 24/7!”
Luo Lan was taken aback. “Is that news true?”
The officer said, “It seems that your brother doesn’t really care about your life.”
A group of soldiers raised their guns and forced Luo Lan and his men back into the house. Luo Lan raised his hands and said, “Don’t push, don’t push. We’ll go in by ourselves. Everything can be talked about calmly.”
When he retreated into the house, his large body even crashed into the door as he stepped back inside.
A soldier whispered to Luo Lan, “Boss, has Mr. Qing Zhen given up on us?”
“What a fucking load of bullshit.” Luo Lan snapped, “Qing Zhen would never do something like that!”
“Then this is…” the soldier said hesitantly.
Luo Lan sighed and said, “I’m afraid Qing Zhen is no longer the person with the final say in our military.”
Luo Lan understood Qing Zhen the best. He knew Qing Zhen would never walk out on him. In that case, there was only one possibility left: The person who made the decision to withdraw the troops was not Qing Zhen.
Previously, the Qing Consortium had not done anything to Qing Zhen because they were unwilling to accommodate any last-minute change in the military leadership so as not to delay their war opportunities.
But now that the Li Consortium had been defeated, Qing Zhen naturally was of no use anymore. He had served his purpose and was cast aside.
