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墨書 Inktalez
Liu Tao looked at the strong young men around him, and it was clear they were capable workers. After all, they were born as special forces soldiers. Although they lacked farming experience, the village had plenty of skilled farmers who could teach them quickly.
Li Yan sought out Dr. Qiu and handed her some special medicines he had on hand. In these times, the value of such items could not be measured in terms of money, and expiration dates were irrelevant; what mattered was their effectiveness in life-or-death situations.
The villagers were quite pleased to move away from a life dominated by the threat of violence. The safety level had significantly increased, and with Liu Tao's group being so physically imposing, the current situation in the village seemed promising. There were plenty of women left behind by the men who had gone missing, which could potentially meet internal needs—this was a good thing! The women in the village nodded in satisfaction.
The Safe Zone indeed began to take action. After losing so many weapons, even Li Jingfeng could no longer sit idle. Such a large cache of physical equipment would make anyone envious, especially now that Jiang Yuan was dead; this equipment was now up for grabs. Li Jingfeng looked at the empty armory, feeling a chill in his heart. How many enemies had come that day? It must have taken at least twenty or thirty people to clear out that much military hardware in such a short time.
"Wu Shu, now that my father has passed away, I won't say much more. You know the situation; we can't afford to be chaotic," Li Jingfeng said, his eyes red as he held back tears. He patted Jiang Yuan's most trusted aide on the shoulder and continued, "Wu Shu, you have always been my most respected elder and my father's trusted brother. Jiang Yuejiao and I have always regarded you as family. My father once said that having you as a subordinate was his blessing and urged us to listen to your advice more often. With my father gone, Jiang Yuejiao is struggling to cope... For now, we must focus on stabilizing the Safe Zone. Wu Shu, I consider you one of my own."
A flash of mockery crossed Wu Lin's eyes; how dare this man who lived off others try to intimidate him? Wu Lin truly respected Jiang Yuan; after all, he had brought his entire family here during the apocalypse without leaving anyone behind. Moreover, Jiang Yuan's support had been the reason he stayed with the Jiang family. However, that respect was limited solely to Jiang Yuan; he couldn't be bothered to look at anyone else.
As for Li Jingfeng, Wu Lin had investigated his background while helping Jiang Yuan and knew it well. He had accepted being second-in-command as long as Jiang Yuan was alive; now it was a matter of each person's capabilities.
"District Chief Li, don't worry. Although Old Jiang has passed away, I will never forget his kindness," Wu Lin said with an air of integrity on his seemingly simple face. His military demeanor finally brought a smile to Li Jingfeng's face.
"We should keep the theft of arms under wraps," Li Jingfeng said more relaxed but unconsciously became somewhat dismissive in tone. "As for those who are restless, Wu Lin, don't hold back—do what needs to be done. Though my father is gone, the Safe Zone remains; everything we do is for its development."
"Of course, I'll go make some arrangements," Wu Lin replied as he left just as Li Zhi and Jin Yu walked in. Wu Lin squinted at Jin Yu while she glanced back at him with her big watery eyes; it all happened too quickly for anyone else to notice.
Without Jiang Yuan's support, Jiang Yuejiao felt like a frightened bird. No, she couldn't let Li Jingfeng take charge; her son—yes, Xiao Zhi —was her only hope for survival as District Chief... Jiang Yuejiao glared out the window at the soldiers walking back and forth outside; indeed, her son was her hope for survival. She would live better than anyone else. She believed that Li Jingfeng would understand her; after all, they were both parents of Zhi Er and their status wouldn't be shaken.
Liu Tao and his group were assigned around Dr. Qiu while Yu Tian brought bags of cornmeal and potatoes for everyone with Li Ming's help. The food was delivered secretly; Liu Tao didn't ask about its source. He noticed something strange about Li Yan but chose not to dwell on it.
Yin Le felt embarrassed but came over with several soldiers saying they were available if needed before leaving. These men were tough and resilient; both Li Yan and Zhou Miao admired them deeply.
As the weather grew hotter, attacks became more frequent. With crops growing in the fields, more people resorted to stealing them. Potatoes were easier to come by; even sweet potato leaves could be eaten—some people preferred risking sunburn just to steal a few.
With half the villagers being elderly or children, the men would turn a blind eye as long as things didn’t go too far. However, there were those who went too far—uprooting crops entirely—and in such cases, no matter who it was, they would be met with force!
One day Zhang Yi returned injured from an altercation, prompting Li Yan to call for a family meeting. Some items from Jade Bottle could be selected for ordinary people to practice with; while they wouldn’t cultivate their dantian, they could still strengthen their bodies. Given how unpredictable the weather was becoming, no one knew what might happen next.
Of course, these people must be elected and trustworthy. Otherwise, if we fail to catch the tiger and end up getting hurt by it, it wouldn't be worth it.
"I think this is feasible; health is the foundation of revolution," Zhou Miao said, raising both hands in agreement. After all, a good soldier needs a good weapon, right?
Li Xiaoming was very serious... Here, three thousand six hundred words are omitted as he pondered for a full minute before finally making up his mind and saying, "Brother, this time I want to be the squad leader." The child still held a grudge about how their family was retaliated against in Area A when those little friends resisted letting him join the squad.
"I believe we shouldn't learn everything from above. First, doing so would expose our space. Second, we've been drinking water from this space for a long time, so our physical constitution is different from theirs. Third, the cultivation methods from above take a long time; I think..." Yu Tian said as he glanced at Li Yan, after all, the space belonged to the Li Family.
"Yes, Yu Tian is right. Here's what we'll do: Miaozi and I will select personnel. Yu Tian, you should look into ways to improve physical resistance and functionality in a short period over these next few days; I see that the weather is still hot," Li Yan said with a sigh in his voice. It was still spring, but the temperature was rising sharply like a thermometer plunged into boiling water.
There was no need to worry about Liu Tao's group’s physical constitution; however, adhering to the principle of fair treatment, everyone was gathered together.
The men in the village were more than willing to practice martial arts. With Li Yan and his brothers' skills, even if they only learned thirty percent of it, that would be enough to protect their families. Initially intended for men only, the women collectively protested: "In this apocalypse, why should we still adhere to gender discrimination?"
Thus, Li Yan issued a notice stating that anyone who wanted to practice, including the elderly and children, could go to the communal training ground. The enthusiasm of everyone excited Yu Tian; he felt eager to teach and fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed that night. Zhou Miao was quite frustrated and mischievously bribed little Li Xiaoming with a hidden piece of chocolate: "Xiaoming, look at how everyone admires your brother Tian now. Did you see how Zhaodi looks at him? That’s the gaze reserved for important figures! It's a pity you can't teach them martial arts; otherwise, they could call you 'Master.' Oh, what an impressive thing that would be! What a pity..."
And thus another resentful person was added...
The old man had nothing to do and started cooking for this group. Without a refrigerator at home, half of what Li Yan brought back was leftover food from breakfast. The old man cooked a pot of mung bean porridge and made several multigrain pancakes with soybean flour, cornmeal, and wheat flour, even adding an egg inside and making some crispy snacks. During his time in the army, he may not have learned much else but had mastered making multigrain pancakes.
After smashing some cucumbers for pickling and mixing them with sesame oil, salt, and minced garlic for seasoning, he found it tasted quite good. The old man felt pleased; if the kids were busy in the future, he could also handle cooking.
When four men returned with their little burden Tang Zhaodi, the porridge had cooled just right. Li Yan took out a bottle of bean paste and a jar of red fermented tofu from storage; with several big men plus one old man and one child, they finished off a large pot of porridge and multigrain pancakes.
The old man smirked as he looked at Zhou Miao lounging with his legs crossed; he felt emotional seeing such an energetic person end up like this. Yu Tian was such a good kid but had been delayed by all this.
Just after they finished eating, there was a knock on the door. Zhang Hong rushed in with an angry face. "Li Yan! You need to go check at the village entrance; it's almost chaos out there!"
"What happened?" Li Yan asked as Zhang Hong pulled him toward the village entrance.
There were already quite a few people gathered at the entrance. When Min Liangyu saw Li Yan coming over, he stepped back nervously. If it weren't for desperation, he wouldn't have come here at all. Initially in Eagle Village things went smoothly; many were willing to come over for refuge. He had aimed to expand his influence and naturally wanted capable people to stay. But later on things changed; inviting gods was easy but sending them away was hard. He wanted to drive these people away along with other villagers but unfortunately... they had knives.
"Li Yan! This place originally belongs to everyone; why should you monopolize it alone? I'm telling you today we are going in!" Zhao Shun shouted as he saw Min Liangyu hesitate. He initially thought once they separated they would dominate; things went smoothly at first but later on their village kept getting robbed. If it weren't for him risking his life... they wouldn't even have any food left now while looking at Bright Village where everyone lived comfortably behind walls and designated areas.
"How dare you! This place was originally supposed to be theirs. If it weren't for Li Yan forcibly taking it, they wouldn't have to live in fear now. So he incited that fool Min Liangyu.
"That's right, that's right! This place belongs to everyone. Why do you get to live here?" As they spoke, those people almost forced their way in. At first, they played the family card, so the villagers opened the gate, not expecting these people to turn hostile so quickly.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Zhang Mo could only shout urgently, "Don't let them in! Close the door!" Once inside, they would be like a pack of rabid dogs. Originally, they were all from the same village; some even lived next door. They thought they could manage since they had their own fields, so they didn't use any measures against the refugees. Who knew... who knew... that some women were already crying now, realizing this group of people were once their neighbors.
Until a loud bang echoed, Zhao Shun looked down in disbelief at the bloody hole in his abdomen and reached out to touch the crimson stain. "Murder... murder!!"
Li Yan had long seen that Zhao Shun was a cowardly scoundrel. When the villages were divided, Min Liangyu was just a fool. However, for the sake of his own interests, he went along with him. He also knew about Eagle Village; having expanded so much without the capability to back it up would only lead to being swallowed up or collapsing entirely.
Zhou Miao walked over with a gun raised, causing the surrounding villagers to retreat in fear. They never expected Bright Village would even have guns now. Amidst their fear, many regretted their decisions; had they known Bright Village would become what it is today, they shouldn't have followed that Min guy back then. Now it was too late; the people from Eagle Village were truly desperate and causing a ruckus, even though they knew Li Yan and Zhou Miao were not to be trifled with. But considering they were once fellow villagers, how could they just stand by and watch?
"Who else wants to come in?" Zhou Miao swaggered out, but his gaze was icy enough to make anyone's bones ache. The killing intent was palpable; everyone present could feel that this man was not joking.
Zhao Shun, terrified for his life, cried out, "Li... Li Yan, please let me go! I'm just a lackey... just a lackey! I beg you."
"Let you go? So you can come find trouble for me?" Li Yan had no intention of killing him; he just needed to make an example today.
"No, no, no! I won't dare anymore." Zhao Shun realized how ruthless Li Yan was but never expected that he would be the first to suffer. "I must have been blind! Li Yan, that Min guy never stood up for us at all! We came here because we couldn't survive anymore! Ah, it hurts so much! Please save me!" As he saw more blood flowing out, Zhao Shun felt fear for his life for the first time. He didn't want to die; he didn't want to die!
"Li Yan, you're going too far!"
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