Chapter 333 – Break Through!
Translated by: Kun
Edited by: Ulamog, Dedition
[Book 3: The South]
A somewhat skinny middle-aged man, with hands full of calluses, and a face with a huge scar was speaking to Peng Lingbo. He was precisely the vice-head of the Freemasons, Zheng Minghe. “Leader, the Chinese Association has sent people once again to invite us, They want us to join them, and resist Wuyan Hong’s attacks.”
Peng Lingbo, whose features were well-defined, good-looking, and had a respectable look, snorted coldly: “Ignore them! We’re currently having the time of our lives here, if we go over there, we would just become cannon fodder. They only have a few hundred guns, how are they going to fight against Wuyan Hong who has over a thousand troops. Isn’t that just throwing an egg against a stone?”
A hint of apprehension appeared in Zheng Minghe’s eyes as he continued to advise: “But leader! If the Chinese Association were to fall, Wuyan Hong’s next target will most likely be us! He’s such a vicious and cruel person, and has killed so many Chinese. If this beast really sets his sights on us, we’ll be in trouble.”
Peng Lingbo laughed shamelessly and said: “Minghe! You’re over-thinking this!! True, Wuyan Hong’s strength isn’t a joke.”
“Even if all the Chinese joined hands to deal with him, we would not be a match for him. However, this is the forests of Vietnam! There are so many! As long as we make for the forests, regardless of his strength, he wouldn’t be able to do anything at all!
After Wuyan Hong establishes some form of order, he won’t necessarily kill anymore Chinese. Look at the case with Indonesia, didn’t they kill so many, but after a certain point, they stopped? Once we wait till the rest are killed, we can come out of hiding and offer help to him.”
Peng Lingbo knew he wasn’t Wuyan Hong’s opponent, and hence decided to take another route. Instead of facing him head on, he would wait till the slaughter was over, before trying to gain favour with Wuyan Hong.
The Chinese in Southeast Asia had strong economic sense, but in the eyes of the leaders of those factions, they were like pigs and dogs. If they wanted to kill them, that would be it. At most, they would be condemned verbally for their actions, like that was going to help or something. Furthermore, after slaughtering the Chinese, they would gain the help of some heavenly assistance, there was no pressure in killing the Chinese. In each slaughter, all the wealth and possessions would be taken away and split between the other leaders and factions. As for the dead, no one gave a damn.*1
Under these circumstances, whenever the Chinese met such events, they could only run. Those with the capabilities would escape to America or other western countries, those who couldn’t could only hide in the mountains or wait for death.
Peng Lingbo’s intention to hide it out and wait for things to blow over before coming out was shared by many other similarly smaller factions. Most groups primary motivation was just that they had the opportunity to take over all of the goodies and positions of the other Chinese that would die.
Zheng Minghe gripped his fists tightly, his veins bulging out, and the scar on his face seemed twisted. He lowered his head, and suppressed the fury in his heart with great difficulty. Even though he had great hatred for the Vietnamese, within the Freemasons, he was only the vice-leader, and therefore, could not commandeer the entire faction to fight against Wuyan Hong.
Right at this time, one of the warriors walked over and reported to Peng Lingbo: “Leader! The people from the Chinese Association are here again! They would like to meet you! They say it’s to discuss a deal, that they would like to use a batch of firepower to exchange for those Vietnamese under us to be used as coolies.”
Peng Lingbo eyes lit up as he quickly asked: “Firepower? What firepower?”
In this post-apocalyptic world, nothing was as precious as firepower. Peng Lingbo had already set his mind on selling himself to Wuyan Hong. However, in order to do that, he needed to have capital, and for that, he needed to ensure that his capital was decent enough.
The warrior spoke a little excitedly: “It’s rifles!! They’re intending to use rifles to buy over the few hundred Vietnamese as coolies!!”
Peng Lingbo only had a few rifles, the rest of his arsenal consisted of various other handguns. Hearing that the Chinese Association were going to use rifles to exchange for Vietnamese, Peng Lingbo grew a little excited: “Great! Let’s go have a meeting with them.”
The Vietnamese within these parts were plenty, as long as one was to attack a town, they would find a few hundred Vietnamese survivors. Peng Lingbo felt that exchanging the Vietnamese survivors for these weapons was a great deal.
Peng Lingbo and Zheng Minghe strode towards their main meeting hall, where there were 5 other elders of the Freemasons seated. Other than them, there were 6 others, 5 matured men and a young lady who was extremely beautiful. *2
The moment Peng Lingbo entered the meeting hall, his expression had switched to that of a smiling visage, as he welcomed the visitors: “Esteemed friends from the Chinese Association! I am the leader of the Freemasons, Peng Lingbo. How should I address you guys?”
Yue Zhong eyed Peng Lingbo and spoke out indifferently: “I’m called Yue Zhong! Leader Peng, are you willing to work with us to fight against Wuyan Hong?”
These 5 men were Yue Zhong, Zheng Qiang, Hu Yan, Zhang Shuwen and Wei Ningguo and the young lady was Gu Feifei. *3
Peng Lingbo’s eyes flashed with a strange glint, as he guffawed loudly: “This matter, let’s discuss another time! Wuyan Hong’s forces are large, we’ll need a lot more planning! I heard this time, you guys are here to exchange rifles for our Vietnamese survivors. Let’s talk about that first. How many guns and ammunition are you guys proposing for a Vietnamese?”
Peng Lingbo did not want to go against Wuyan Hong, but he did not want to fall out with the Chinese Association as well. After all, while the Chinese Association could not contend against Wuyan Hong, wiping out the Freemasons wasn’t an issue.
An elder by the name of Chen Libang called out loudly: “Leader!! This time, you must distribute some to us, brothers of the Zhuque Hall (Vermillion Phoenix – not to be mixed up with the Vermillion Phoenix gang in SY County). Currently, our brothers are only using handguns. You can’t be too biased this time.”
Another elder called Yi Shuixiong also called out: “I agree! Leader!! Our Baihu Hall brothers are also only using handguns, some are even using blades. This time, you must definitely distribute some to us fairly as well. Otherwise, we brothers will cease working!!”
The Freemasons had a number of halls under its banner, boasting the integration of people from Zhuque Hall, Baihu Hall, Xuanwu Hall, Ursa, Sirius, many such awe-inspiring names. In truth, they were just a motley crew. Even before the rifles had been exchanged, there was already squabbling over the distribution. As long as they possessed the rifles, the halls would make use of the chance to suppress the other halls, which would in turn, lead to better resource distribution.
Peng Lingbo shouted out loudly: “Shut up, the whole lot of you!!”
Under Peng Lingbo’s furious shout, the elders ceased their squabbling.
When he quelled their arguments, Peng Lingbo then turned to Yue Zhong and smiled apologetically: “I’ve let you seen our shameful side!! Brother Yue Zhong, how many guns and bullets will you be exchanging for a Vietnamese survivor?”
“None!” Yue Zhong laughed and pulled out his Stinger, pointing it at Peng Lingbo’s head and pulled the trigger: “I’m here to subdue you all!”
With a ‘peng’, Peng Lingbo’s brains were immediately blasted into pieces. Pulpy bits, red blood and white bone chips splattered all over the place, even Zheng Qian, Hu Yan, Zhang Shuwen and Wei Ningguo had not expected Yue Zhong would suddenly kill!
“Leader!!” Chen Libang was a loyal supporter of Peng Lingbo, and once he saw that his leader was killed, his eyes turned red as he activated his [High Speed Movement], and charged at Yue Zhong.
“Shut up and don’t move, whoever does, will die!” Yue Zhong casually aimed the Stinger at Chen Libang and fired, having already caught sight of his actions.
Another gunshot rang out, and Chen Libang’s brains were neatly left to dry on the wall, as his lifeless body crumpled to the floor.
Yue Zhong had killed 2 people just like that within a short span of time. Wei Ningguo, Hu Yan, Zhang Shuwen and Zheng Qiang had also taken action by then, as they swiftly pulled out their handguns and pointed it at the remaining people in the room. Their bodies were tense, and were on high alert to activate their skills if need be, to deal with them. They were currently in a hostile situation, and no matter how unwilling they were, since Yue Zhong had already acted, they had to stand with him.
Seeing such a cruel scene, Zheng Minghe and the remaining 4 elders froze, not daring to move. When Peng Lingbo died to Yue Zhong’s sudden attack, no one could gauge his strength, but Chen Libang was a Agility-focused Enhancer, and he was just killed in one shot, they could roughly guess that Yue Zhong’s capabilities were far beyond them. Furthermore, there were the other 4 experts of the Chinese Association currently monitoring them, if they were to make a sudden move, there would only be death.
The current atmosphere had turned extremely strange, as the 4 elders felt cold sweat down their back, and their gazes landed on Zheng Minghe. Now that the leader was dead, the vice-leader had become their backbone. Even with their differences, at such a crucial time, they had to stick together anyway.
Zheng Minghe took a deep breath before looking at Yue Zhong, pointing to Peng Lingbo’s headless corpse and asked: “Brother Yue Zhong! I am Zheng Minghe, the vice-leader of the Freemasons, what is the meaning of this?”
Zheng Minghe’s question was also the question weighing on Yue Zhong’s companions, who had not received any notification about what he was going to do beforehand. Yue Zhong had actually suddenly murdered someone without warning; and not just anybody, but the leader of the Freemasons!
Yue Zhong looked at Zheng Minghe and smiled gently: “Peng Lingbo did not want to resist against Wuyan Hong! Hence, I’ve killed him! I want to take over his faction! It’s that simple! Zheng Minghe, you have a decision to make! You will join me to eradicate Wuyan Hong, or shall die here today. Your choice. I’ll give you 10 seconds to consider. 10, 9….”
Zheng Minghe turned pale, he never would have expected Yue Zhong had just blatantly revealed his motive just like that. *4