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Chapter 346 - 346: Mission Completed (3)
Chapter 346 - 346: Mission Completed (3)
Chapter 346: Mission Completed (3)
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Zhao Yu was astonished. He hadn’t expected that, just a few years into this apocalyptic world, slavery would re-emerge in these places.
According to Hu Bo, these people were all slaves of Li Da Zhuang.
After all, they came from a modern society; how could they just accept being enslaved?
“Those who resisted are all dead. Li Da Zhuang used to take pleasure in torturing people, and he liked to make everyone watch…”
“Seeing it so often, hearing the screams, nobody dared to resist anymore…”
Zhao Yu didn’t linger on this topic and directly asked Hu Bo about the genetic elixir.
Hu Bo thought for a moment and said, “When Li Da Zhuang escaped, he carried a box with him, about this size. I don’t know if what you’re looking for is in that box…”
Although not one of Li Da Zhuang’s confidants, he was not far from Li Da Zhuang and his men during the battle.
He was also the first to see Li Da Zhuang and others escaping and thus surrendered first.
“It’s taken away…”
Zhao Yu glanced at the mission panel, which indicated the mission was still incomplete.
It seemed that this mission was quite complicated. It wasn’t enough to just break into the stronghold; he also needed to chase after Li Da Zhuang and his men.
But where would these people go?
Zhao Yu found himself in a dilemma.
Hu Bo, who had been observing Zhao Yu’s expressions, quickly stated:
“Commander, don’t you know where Li Da Zhuang has gone?”
“Do you know?” Zhao Yu turned to glance at him.
“I don’t know…”
Hu Bo hurriedly said, “But that woman knows!”
Following the direction of his finger, Zhao Yu looked over. Among those twenty-odd women, one was surrounded by the others.
She was a naturally seductive woman, every movement filled with allure, particularly eye-catching. Especially when she saw Zhao Yu looking over, she turned away as she was shy about it.
“She is the stronghold’s lady, Li Da Zhuang’s women have all been shared with his men, but this woman, only she was special…”
“Right!”
Zhao Yu nodded and walked over.
The group of women became agitated. Many instinctively stepped back, not daring to look at Zhao Yu and his men.
Only the stronghold’s lady, instead of retreating, stepped forward. “Gentlemen, has our stronghold changed its master?”
“What about changing the master?”
“I want to be the lady of the stronghold, no matter who it is…” The woman smiled, a rare hint of melancholy in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
Zhao Yu didn’t care about her inner thoughts and directly asked, “I’m asking you, where is Li Da Zhuang most likely to have run off to?!”
“Black Stone City!”
The stronghold’s lady said without hesitation: “He has been there many times.
Each time he returned, he was always thinking about it that he wanted to become a resident of Black Stone City…”
“This stronghold seems fine. Why would he want to run to Black Stone City to be a resident?”
“The mine is empty. If he doesn’t run, he won’t be able to support so many people. When the slaves have nothing to eat, what else can they do but revolt?!” “Empty?”
It was all for nothing; the mine was empty.
“Yes, empty!”
The stronghold’s lady smiled: “If you search this stronghold, there’s not much of value left. Every time he went to Black Stone City to trade, he stored most of the money there…”
“I knew he wanted to run, but 1 didn’t expect he wouldn’t take me with him!”
Zhao Yu didn’t have time for her ramblings. He turned to Hu Bo, asking if he knew the route from the back of the stronghold to Black Stone City.
“I know. I’ve been with the teams transporting iron ore to Black Stone City several times…”
Zhao Yu immediately dispatched twenty men and had Hu Bo lead them to chase after Li Da Zhuang.
He asked the stronghold’s lady where all the supplies were.
After getting a positive response, he sent people to take inventory of the supplies.
There was a lot of food, more than twenty tons, over a hundred various firearms, and plenty of ammunition, around forty to fifty thousand
There were 9 intact vehicles left; the other five were barely usable but could break down at any time.
Zhao Yu ordered his people to take away over 30,000 rounds of ammunition, leaving 10,000 behind. Due to limited transportation capacity, only a small portion of the food, about two or three tons, could be taken.
The rest was left for the people of the stronghold.
Zhao Yu received a mission completion notification in his mind.
This has indicating that Hu Bo had successfully caught up with Li Da Zhuang.
About ten minutes later, the tracking team returned. Three soldiers had died but the enemy was completely annihilated.
“Commander, look what I’ve brought back…”
Hu Bo quietly found Zhao Yu and handed him a card.
Zhao Yu saw it was a bank card, similar to pre-apocalyptic ones but obviously newly made, with logos and bank names related to Black Stone City.
“This is Li Da Zhuang’s bank card from Black Stone City. There must be quite a bit of money in it…”
Zhao Yu pocketed the bank card and nodded in approval. “Well done!”
Hu Bo wanted to skim off the top, but he didn’t dare especially with twenty soldiers accompanying him.
“Commander, are you leaving?”
Hu Bo noticed two vehicles loaded with food and ammunition and asked.
“Yes!”
“What about our stronghold…”
Zhao Yu turned and looked at the remaining 300 people like cattle and sheep and awaiting their slaughter.
“What are your thoughts?”
Hu Bo scratched his head, “If 1 could follow you, Commander…”
“Impossible!”
What use would he have for these people? They were less loyal than his soldiers and would require money and effort to maintain.
Hu Bo realized his wishful thinking; Zhao Yu was a soldier of the Reed Group, with a completed mission and ready to return.
“I plan to rebuild this place into a harmonious survivor settlement…”
“I haven’t been here long, previously lived in another survivor settlement where everyone got along well…”
“Fine, handle it yourself!”
Zhao Yu didn’t want to linger.
Just as he was about to leave, the stronghold’s lady hastily blocked his way.
“Commander, take me with you!”
Tears streaked her face, a pitiful look on her face, “If you just leave like this, I might…”
“Get lost!”
Had she not been a woman, Zhao Yu might have killed her.
She had lived comfortably with Li Da Zhuang, exploiting others and now she had to face the consequences.
As for whether the others would forgive her, he didn’t care; that was their own business.
Indeed, as Zhao Yu was about to leave, he heard some lively characters discussing how to deal with these women.
“They all enjoyed luxury with Li Da Zhuang, they should be killed…”
“It’d be a waste to kill them…”
“We can reform them; they might become our good sisters…”
“Right, let’s do as Brother Bo says, let’s become a harmonious and friendly tribe…”
Clearly, Hu Bo had ambition but lacked the strength to be a dictator, so he had to find a way to create a communal pot, positioning himself as the one who distributed the food.
The voices gradually faded with the wind as Zhao Yu led his army out the base.
They had set out with 71 people, but only 57 returned.
Fourteen soldiers were left behind. Zhao Yu couldn’t take them all back this time. Before leaving, he arranged for Hu Bo to throw the bodies of these men and the stronghold’s dead outside, letting nature reclaim them.
This expedition had been very beneficial for Zhao Yu, especially in terms of leading troops and warfare. He felt the need for more types of soldiers and weapons.
“Once 1 get back, I should organize various types of troops. Facing a situation like this again might be easier….”