CHAPTER 364: CHAPTER 14: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (2)

After a month of widespread arrests, the number of white slaves in the "Holy Light" camp exceeded three hundred, and the number of black overseers increased to more than forty, with one overseer for every ten white slaves.

The selection criteria for white slaves were physically strong and skilled in labor, not useless; whereas the selection criteria for black overseers were the exact opposite—preference was given to those who were weak and small, even disabled, and not too smart.

To appease the black overseers’ emotions, and because black women were not welcome in the camp, the "Holy Light" team even provided black women as "companions" for these overseers.

Of course, the prerequisite was to adopt contraceptive measures, otherwise, little black devils would be crawling everywhere.

The sweltering heat made the black overseers reluctant to work in the fields themselves, opting instead to hide in the shade and conduct surveillance via drones.

This efficient and easy method undoubtedly intensified the white slaves’ hatred for these "black dogs."

Sani watched the patrolling electric cart gradually go away and spat angrily on the dry ground.

He grabbed the canteen at his waist and gulped down the cheap salty soda. The cool liquid slipped down his throat, and he was able to catch his breath a little.

After cautiously looking around, he whispered to the other white slaves beside him, "We have to find a way to escape, or we won’t gain freedom even in a year."

Another white slave responded in a tone of despair, "Of course, we want to escape, but how? If I could, I would have done it long ago."

The difficulty of escaping was beyond imagination.

The "Holy Light" team initially attempted to use electronic shackles to restrain the captives, but soon found that this severely affected their labor efficiency.

As a result, the shackles were replaced with electronic collars, placed around each captive’s neck.

These electronic collars send a signal every minute, and once the "camp’s" receiver performs triangulation, it can determine whether a captive is escaping and quickly dispatch personnel to capture them.

Without vehicles, traveling on foot would not get far; without food and supplies, hiding alone is tantamount to a slow death; without external assistance, even if one manages to escape, one would likely meet a grim end.

In the past month, the captured white slaves have attempted to escape a dozen times, but each attempt ended in failure, greatly undermining their confidence and bringing a deep sense of helplessness.

Sani looked left and right, then whispered, "A few days ago, while scavenging, I found a car radio and car battery and successfully contacted external forces."

This statement immediately attracted the attention of several white slaves, who immediately wanted to know what happened next.

One of the white slaves reminded, "Don’t... don’t gather together, or the black dogs will notice."

Just then, a small quadcopter drone flew down from the sky, with a speaker hanging from it, and Omar’s obnoxious, irritable voice came through the speaker.

"What are you slaves doing gathered together? Thinking about escaping, are you? Don’t forget, Master Omar is watching you."

"You should feel grateful. Over two hundred years ago, when my ancestors worked in the fields, they were not only whipped but also lacked such good agricultural machinery."

"Now all you have to do is operate machines and sing songs while farming, what’s there to be dissatisfied with?! I warn you, don’t let me discover any rebellious thoughts, or you’ll all ’take a sauna.’"

"Taking a sauna" is a summer torture, where a person is locked in a sealed box and exposed to the sun until they are sunstroke in less than ten minutes.

Several white slaves had no choice but to disperse, but they exchanged glances and finally focused on Sani.

Sani whispered, "Don’t worry, I really made contact with the outside world. I told them that Avoni Town has restored order, there’s electricity, farming is possible, and someone must be interested."

The white slaves were instantly excited—yes, farming is a wonderful thing! It means being able to sustain a population and gradually overcome the crisis of the apocalypse.

They also realized that Sani had played a strategy—he surely didn’t mention the bad aspects of this town, which would inevitably attract desperate survivors from the apocalypse or make some powerful organizations covet it.

In any case, whatever the situation, the "Holy Light" team controlling the town would face trouble, and only when the yellow-skinned monkeys were in trouble would the white slaves have a chance to escape.

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Sani indeed secretly obtained a car radio, but its power was limited, with a communication range of less than two hundred kilometers, just enough to cover the distance from Avoni Town to Richmond, the capital of Virginia.

Richmond, a city with a population of two hundred thousand, had a metropolitan area that once gathered over a million people. After the virus outbreak, over a hundred thousand survivors struggled to survive.

These survivors each formed their own factions, creating hundreds of different forces, occupying areas between cities and towns, forming a complex network of relationships.

Some forces controlled power stations, others seized control of waterway traffic on the James River;

Some forces cultivated farmland and orchards outside the city, ensuring the food supply, while others controlled the city’s remaining mechanical processing and refining industries.

These forces varied in size, with the largest having thousands of soldiers and the smallest having hundreds, each occupying their own area, independent and conflicting with each other.

The information sent by Sani was received by at least a dozen forces.

However, in the apocalypse, recruiting personnel and expanding forces via radio was not uncommon. Such information was often not credible and could carry hidden dangers, becoming a norm.

A force named the "Richmond Guard Team" noticed Sani’s message.

This was a paramilitary organization composed mainly of surviving officials and soldiers, controlling over three thousand people.

Over the past year, the food that could be collected in the city had long been depleted, and simply consuming without producing was not sustainable.

The leader of the Guard Team, Major General Borg (who was a major before the outbreak) did everything possible to seek self-rescue, but the food shortage problem remained severe.

If they can’t secure more supplies, the Guard of over three thousand people might be swallowed by other forces, and by then, the Major General’s title might be downgraded to Lieutenant.

Sani’s intelligence mentioned that Avoni Town had the technology for "crude oil refining," equipped with photovoltaic power facilities, and could self-sustain with farming.

Major General Borg was not particularly concerned about the first two points, as there were forces refining crude oil in Richmond, and some controlled Virginia’s power plants, so energy wasn’t scarce.

Only the point about "self-sustaining farming" surprised the Major General: "Able to farm? Where did the survivors in that town get seeds? Could they be last year’s leftover hybrid varieties?"

If they were hybrid seeds, their value would be greatly reduced, as these seeds, when planted after one generation, would lose their original excellent characteristics, or even fail to germinate.

If they were native seeds, the significance would be extraordinary.

Major General Borg found the location of Avoni Town on the map, discovering it was less than two hundred kilometers from Richmond. He immediately called for a subordinate and ordered:

"Major Fleming, take your company, drive a few armored vehicles, and make a trip to conquer a small town."

Major Fleming took a glance at the map and shook his head in difficulty, "Major General, that town is two hundred kilometers away from us, sending a company that far is a tough expedition!"

The term ’expedition’ hurt Major General Borg’s heart—since when did ’two hundred kilometers’ count as an expedition? Isn’t it just a step on the gas pedal?

But the Major General also knew that times had changed; two hundred kilometers was indeed a long distance, even along the highway there were multiple territories of hostile forces.

It was uncertain if they would let them pass, especially if there were spoils, the ’wolves’ along the way would certainly jump out to rob them.

"Then take fewer people, just a platoon, conduct a reconnaissance mission, and find out the details of this force. If it’s strong enough, we might even join forces with them to attack the rebels along Highway 80."

The ’Richmond Guard Team’ evolved from the former Virginia National Guard, characterized by abundant weapons, ammunition, and strong combat abilities of professional soldiers.

Over the past year, this unit had maintained cohesion through raiding, never considering engaging in production, which caused surrounding forces to hate them deeply.

While Major General Borg was ready to probe the details of Avoni Town, Zhou Qingfeng was also preparing to lead a small team to conduct armed reconnaissance toward Richmond.