Chapter 358 – xcx
Translated by: Kun
Edited by: Ulamog, Dedition, Vaticious, kun
[Book 3: The South] Chapter 358: Individual Ideals! Zhang Zhi’s Decision!
“Congratulations on gaining 1 point in Spirit!” Yue Zhong opened his eyes, as the sweet sound of a System notification rang out in his mind.
After conquering Long Teng Town, Yue Zhong had a chance for a true breather, and he ingested the Pearl Fruit under the protection of White Bones. Yue Zhong gobbled 5 of them in one shot, and his Spirit gained 20 points of enhancement.
“Is this the limit?” Yue Zhong proceeded to pop in one more fruit, and he swallowed it, yet he found that while there was a cool stream of energy within his body, it could not help enhance his stats anymore.
“Get Chen Jianguang in to see me!” Yue Zhong told Ming Jiajia.
Ming Jiajia nodded and dismissed herself, saying: “Yes! Master!”
Not long after, Chen Jianguang was brought by Ming Jiajia.
Yue Zhong looked at Chen Jianguang with a piercing gaze: “Chen Jianguang! A month has passed, what is your decision? Are you all staying, or leaving? If you choose to leave, on account that you guys have helped to train my men, I can let you guys have 5 days worth of rations each, as well as 5 Type 81 rifles, and 100 bullets.
Currently, it has been a month since Yue Zhong had conquered Long Teng Town, and in this month, he had used a harsh training regime to train up his 2 battalions. Those 2 battalions were made up of the survivors who had suffered greatly, and could tolerate the harsh training. At the same time, Yue Zhong fed them with the Type 2 Mutant Beast meat to help them recover their vigor and boost their constitutions. Under that intense training, the 2 battalions were starting to show signs of a proper army, at the same time, while they were still far from an actual military, they could match against an army which had been training for a year.
These 2 battalions had trained hard, but they still lacked the battle experience. As long as they were forged through the flames of war, they would become an elite troop. Since his troops were trained, Yue Zhong’s mood was good as well, and naturally was willing to let those previous troops leave.
A forcefully picked melon was not sweet and if Yue Zhong kept them against their will, it would only breed contempt and dissatisfaction. And in time, if they were to backstab him internally, it would be a problem. It had been the case with the Freemasons previously.
Chen Jianguang responded with a straight look at Yue Zhong: “Yue Zhong! I want to ask you, what’s the deal with the slaves?”
Amongst Yue Zhong’s troops, there were the Scum battalion and Women Battalion, which didn’t exist prior to the apocalypse. Other than those, there were even slaves. Many of these slaves were the family members of those Vietnamese who had engaged in a crazy slaughter of the Chinese.
Yue Zhong looked at Chen Jianguang and responded: “They are the family members of the traitors and Vietnamese who slaughtered the Chinese. You should be clear on this.”
Chen Jianguang stared at Yue Zhong and asked in a righteous tone: “Those traitors and Vietnamese that engaged in slaughter were guilty beyond doubt. You can kill them or send them to the Scum Battalion, I have no issues with that. However, their family members are innocent! Aren’t your measures too much?!”
Chen Jianguang had always been an upright soldier, even though Yue Zhong was the ruler of the town now, and could easily order his death, he did not hesitate to berate Yue Zhong according to his principles.
Yue Zhong looked at Chen Jianguang coldly and unmoving: “Innocent? When those traitors wanted to betray, why didn’t their families advise against it? When those Vietnamese wanted to engage in slaughter, why didn’t their families discourage them? If they were to succeed in a revolt, everything of mine would fall into their hands, and their family members would get to enjoy their success as well. As for those Vietnamese, didn’t the families enjoy whatever they stole from us Chinese?”
Yue Zhong eyed Chen Jianguang and continued indifferently: “If you’re that righteous, go bring your brothers and take a tour around Vietnam! There are countless numbers of Chinese awaiting your saving.”
If these soldiers could integrate into his troops, it would be the best case scenario. However, as they had helped train up a new batch of soldiers, even if they wanted to leave, Yue Zhong would not force them to stay.
Chen Jianguang was also a quick-tempered man, without saying anymore, he turned around and said: “Fine! I’ll bring my men away!
Yue Zhong watched Chen Jianguang’s retreating figure, and sighed as he shook his head lightly. He truly was a righteous and moral man, however, it was not the right era for his ideals, and furthermore, it was in conflict with Yue Zhong.
Ming Jiajia who was standing beside Yue Zhong flashed a cold glare as she asked: “Shall I take care of him?”
With Ming Jiajia’s current power, as long as she summoned her Shadow Wolf out, she could easily kill a normal person like Chen Jianguang silently.
Yue Zhong lightly sighed ” No, it’s not necessary! As long as he isn’t an enemy, we don’t have to silence him. Such a righteous man, the more such characters exist, the better it is for the world. It’s just that he has differing views from us.”
Yue Zhong was someone who did not mind any means to achieve his goals, and lived by “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. However, he didn’t dislike those with righteousness nor morals. As long as they did not hinder his goals of course. Otherwise, he wouldn’t treat them any better than others.
Ming Jiajia looked at Yue Zhong with a somewhat understanding expression, as she pouted and kneeled in front of Yue Zhong, and started massaging his legs carefully.
When Chen Jianguang reached his camp, he immediately gathered the rest and said: “Let’s leave!”
Upon hearing Chen Jianguang’s words, the entire group of military personnel went into uproar, as a whole load of chattering and voices resounded.
One of the platoon commanders Zhang Zhi looked to Chen Jianguang and questioned: “Old Chen, what happened? Did Yue Zhong chase us out?”
Chen Jianguang replied extremely honestly:” No, he didn’t! He asked me over today, and it was to ask if we wanted to stay or leave. The moment we stay, we will have to listen and obey his orders, and become his troops! If we want to leave, he would not stop us, and he would give each and every one of us 5 days worth of rations, 5 Type 81 rifles, and 100 bullets.”
One of the soldiers immediately quipped: “Commander! Then why are we leaving? Yue Zhong is not like Chen Liang that bastard, and he has not mistreated the people of Long Teng Town. Here, as long as people are willing to work, they get a decent meal. We ourselves get to eat our fill and there’s even meat and vegetables. If we have to leave, where will we go?”
“Yea!!”
Some of the other soldiers also called out disgruntledly. Under Yue Zhong’s command, while training was in fact tougher than before, they got their fair share of meat and rations, of which the meat was even from a Type 2 Mutant Beast, which nourished their bodies. They had an incomparable physique now, and many were unwilling to leave.
Chen Jianguang’s face turned ugly as he hollered: “What’s the noise for? Just a little bit of meat and rations can buy you guys over? You must remember, you are soldiers of this country. Did you not see those slaves? He actually reintroduced the slave system, which is immoral! He would be tarnished in history as a warmonger, and are you guys going to join him in his offence?”
When Chen Jianguang lost his temper, all the soldiers quietened down. Chen Jianguang was an upright and moral man, and had decent standing amongst his fellow men here.
Zhang Zhi kept silent for a while, before lifting his head and said: “Old Chen! If you want to leave, then leave by yourself! I will not leave! I want to stay here. The purpose of the army, is to protect the citizens. As the citizens are here, the army should be here. I want to stay on to protect the people of Long Teng Town. As long as Yue Zhong does not harm the interests of the inhabitants of Long Teng Town, I will listen to his commands.”
Chen Jianguang stared at Zhang Zhi for quite a while, before sighing and said: “Fine! Those who wants to leave with me come! Those who would like to stay go over to Commander Zhang’s side!”
Many of the soldiers hesitated and contemplated for a long while, before finally coming to a decision. A good number of them went over to Zhang Zhi’s side, while only 6 started towards Chen Jianguang. In the middle of their walk, 2 of them faltered, and came over to Zhang Zhi’s side.
In this new world, there were still countless ordinary people. And these soldiers also wanted to live ordinary and peaceful days. Compared to going with Chen Jianguang on an unknown journey to an unknown destination, many of them would rather stay here. After all, Yue Zhong was Chinese, and these soldiers had no issues working for him.
Chen Jianguang swept his gaze around the camp, and let out a slow sigh, as he brought the 4 soldiers and left without turning back.
Zhang Zhi looked at the back of Chen Jianguang silently, and executed a military salute.
Not long after Chen Jianguang left, Yue Zhong walked into the camp with big strides, and gazed at the 100 odd soldiers still standing there, as he chuckled and said: “So you guys have decided to stay?”
Zhang Zhi looked at Yue Zhong, his eyes flashed with a resolute gaze as he said: “Yes! Leader! We’re willing to work hard for you!”
“We’re willing to work hard for leader!!”
In the camp, their uniform voices rang loud and clear, those who had decided to stay had steeled their hearts in preparation to serve Yue Zhong.
Yue Zhong smiled at Zhang Zhi: “Good! Zhang Zhi! From now on, you’re the Vice-Commander of my 1st Battalion! Work hard!”
Zhang Zhi’s heart leapt with joy: “Yes Leader!”
Yue Zhong had established 2 battalions of soldiers, one of which labelled as the 1st Battalion, directly under his control. All sorts of equipment, manpower, and resources would be prioritized on the 1st Battalion as well.
The commander of the 1st Battalion was currently Wei Ningguo, and although he was a poor commander, he had followed Yue Zhong the earliest, and was loyal to a fault, other than his combat prowess, everything was basically a mess. However, he listened to everybody, and that was a superb quality. With such a person as the commander, the vice-commander would be the person truly calling the shots, hence Zhang Zhi was extremely happy. He had risen to become an official, and fulfilled his dream that was impossible before the apocalypse!