CHAPTER 842: CHAPTER 842: HASTE MAKES WASTE

The airport of the military base.

The Alliance’s Foreign Minister Cheng Yan is having a friendly conversation with the high-ups from Jinjaron Harbor, while the players of the Burning Corps stand afar watching the commotion.

Unlike the onlookers from Jinjaron Harbor.

These players aren’t curious to know what Cheng Yan looks like, after all, they can occasionally see him on the streets of the City of Dawn.

They just want to know whether this battle is still on and when it will start.

"Achoo!"

{"No Family," who was squatting on the stone block, suddenly sneezed without any warning, almost falling off the stone block.

This was already his tenth sneeze today.

{"By Some Mistake," who was squatting beside him, glanced at him with a strange expression and said.

"Did you catch a cold?"

Reasonably speaking, this situation is very rare.

Even though this guy is from the Intelligence System, after two awakenings, his constitution attribute should be at least twice that of an ordinary person.

No Family rubbed his reddened nose and muttered with a curse.

"I don’t know... Damn, can you even catch a cold in the Game?"

He didn’t actually feel unwell, it’s just that he’s been sneezing a lot recently.

{"Half Step Detour" patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"Young man, take care of your health, if it really doesn’t work... consider restarting?"

{"Step Into the Sky" immediately interrupted.

"If you pass by the City of Dawn, bring me something."

"Get lost." No Family rolled his eyes with annoyance, but he couldn’t help but sneeze again with an "achoo."

{By Some Mistake smiled.

"Perhaps someone is missing you, be honest, have you been hooking up with an NPC like Zero Rush?"

Zero Rush: "???"

No Family answered him with a roll of the eyes and gestured a middle finger.

Seeing these noisy guys, Two Ounces of Moonlight sighed.

"This Game is way too damn realistic."

...

"Family, one chopstick breaks easily, but ten chopsticks bundled together, it’s not easy to break us then!"

The slum of West Sail Port.

On the land plowed by artillery, low shacks grew again.

People who are too smart are mostly forgetful, most of the people in Poluo Province are like this.

Even though the Army killed quite a number of people here more than a month ago, it doesn’t stop those who weren’t killed from working for the Army.

This matter has already been laid to rest.

Almost everyone thinks this way in their hearts, and even people have run over from the neighboring Lion State — which is the territory of Poluo Country.

No matter how alluring the promises Absek made, they couldn’t change their impoverished reality.

Even though the army doesn’t give much, at least they pay, and a week adds up to over a hundred dinar.

This generous salary is almost unimaginable for the locals.

Bear in mind, buying a slave only costs a thousand dinar.

If you save three or four months’ wages, it’s enough to buy a wife from a poor village!

Even if most of what they’re moving ashore during this time is munitions intended for attacking Poluo Province...

In the crooked, low shacks, there’s not a hint of light, and the laborers obviously don’t consider this place as their home, just cobbled together at random.

However, within one of those low shacks, bursts of uplifting sound occasionally drift out.

It’s like a ray of light in the darkness.

Inside stands a family member wrapped in green gauze, passionately preaching.

And in front of him, pairs of glimmering eyes shine brightly in the dark.

At this moment, a hand was raised, and a skinny young lad cautiously spoke.

"Boss..."

"Call me family, we’re all family here, there’s no one above or below," the green family member looked at him kindly, as if looking at his own family, "You seem to have something on your mind, speak up, let me hear it, see if I can help you out."

Having never been treated with such kindness, the Mouse Tribe youngster’s eyes turned slightly red.

He had been alone for a long time, only remembering his name was Ah Ming.

He was like a piece of duckweed, drifting wherever the current took him, but didn’t expect to find fatherly warmth from someone now.

Actually, it’s more than money that drives him, this is the real reason he joined the Family Meeting.

For other gangs, he has to call the foremen lord, but here, the foremen call him family, and truly treat him as such.

He yearns to have a family.

More so, he yearns to be treated as family!

Afraid of being laughed at, Ah Ming hesitated for a long time, then shyly opened his mouth.

"May I ask... what are chopsticks?"

Upon hearing his question, the green family member didn’t laugh at him, just smiled kindly and explained.

"Chopsticks are a tool for eating, much more sanitary than eating with hands, and they were introduced to us by our friends from the Alliance."

"What, what is sanitary?" Another curious young lad quickly asked, eyes glimmering with longing for the Alliance.

Eating tools!

Then there must be lots of food to eat?

The green family member smiled kindly.

"Sanitary... means clean. According to scientific explanation, most diseases come from eating unclean things. For example, hands that have touched dirty things are unclean, using chopsticks can prevent many diseases."

The people’s eyes in the shack shone even brighter, as if truly seeing that day.

They would have an abundance of food, no need to eat dirt anymore.

Not only them, their children as well.

And they could sit properly at the dining table like those proper people’s children, using utensils instead of hands.

"...Whether it’s disease or hunger, they are things we have to eradicate."

With a trace of excitement, Ah Ming asked.

"Then how... do we eradicate them?"

"With unity!"

The green family member’s face beamed with a warm smile, responding to all those expectant eyes.

"As long as we are united enough, just like the survivors in the City of Dawn, Giant Stone City... and the millions of Survivor Settlements! From now on, everyone can use chopsticks, everyone can eat their fill, and it’s clean food too!"

Applause thundered in the dim shack.

Although it seems he didn’t answer any specific question, that abstract answer seemed to speak to the heart of everyone.

That was the answer in their hearts.

Someone voiced it for them.

Two workers from Giant Stone City stood at the door, listening to the thunderous applause, one with a satisfied smile on his face, while the other had mixed feelings.

"To get enough food, you have to farm. Unity alone can only lead to starving together. No matter what, theory can’t replace practice. Although they’re doing well, I always worry they’ll go to another extreme."

His name was Eugene, one of the eyewitnesses of the great reform in Giant Stone City and a comrade of Lovett, the president of the Workers’ Association.

During that cold winter, he used his hammer and skills to make a furnace for the workers in the prison.

One day, he heard in a tavern about these survivors who needed help, and he decisively embarked on a journey.

Saving others is also saving oneself.

This was the consensus in every worker’s heart, and it was no different in his own.

Humble and eager to learn, Zayed found the Workers’ Association, and under their introduction, he came here from Jinjaron Harbor.

However, after working at the Family Meeting for a while, he always had an indescribable feeling.

The worker standing next to him wasn’t concerned and jokingly made a remark.

"But you said it yourself, they’re doing well."

Eugene’s Adam’s apple moved, and he spoke with difficulty.

"I admit, they’re developing members rapidly, even faster than us. Spielberg read the newspaper for a month and only gathered a few people in a tavern, but they reached over a thousand in less than a week..."

"Then what are you still worried about?"

The worker beside him patted him on the shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile.

"As we said, theory can’t replace practice. We need to give them some time to explore. Don’t forget the lessons from Jinjaron Harbor: why could the Survivor’s Daily blossom and bear fruit, while we kept hitting walls?"

Eugene stared at him blankly, eventually shaking his head.

"I hope you’re right..."

They indeed repeatedly hit walls in Jinjaron Harbor, but he didn’t think it was due to the failure of localization; it was more because the industrialization there wasn’t complete, and the local workers lacked a sense of unity.

In contrast, their opponents had accumulated rich "struggle experience" within the Alliance and even proactively divided a part of the benefits to win people’s hearts before they arrived at Jinjaron Harbor.

The same was in the Mammoth Nation.

That List even actively helped local workers build dormitories and schools for their children, making those workers live more comfortably than soldiers, so much so that they felt a sense of honor going to work.

Given this, it was inevitable for them to hit walls.

Eugene didn’t see it as a lesson of failure but rather as evidence of their work’s success.

Even if the local workers didn’t agree with them, the result was that they lived better lives than before.

Although others in the Workers’ Association weren’t satisfied, believing the minimum wage in Poluo Province was still too low, he was quite pleased with such a result.

Seeking quick success isn’t a good thing.

Although every place is different, their reform triumphed because of restraint...

"I’m just worried we’re a bit too impatient."

...

On the other side, similarly in a low hut, a candle was lit on the table.

Sitting beside the candle, Zayed was checking the ledger and membership list in his hands, a kindly smile gradually forming on his lips.

Just now, the Family Meeting’s members officially surpassed 10,000!

Although he hadn’t shared this good news with friends from the Workers’ Association yet, he could already imagine the incredulous expressions on those "investors’" faces.

It was indeed a miracle.

Moreover, it’s a miracle that could only be born in Poluo Province.

"Did you know, Sava... the most brilliant business model is actually religion. Compared to religion, all those messy money-making methods aren’t worth mentioning."

There were quite a few labor intermediaries at the port, but not a single intermediary’s workers could match those from the Family Meeting.

Their workers were the most capable, and also the most united, which is why the docks and factories were willing to allocate more positions to them and pay extra for the overachieved efficiency.

0.5 Dinar an hour, 4 for 8 hours.

Each person would contribute 28 Dinars to the Family Meeting weekly, 10,000 people would be 280,000 Dinars!

At this point, it’s already a considerable sum.

3~5 Dinars for one Silver Coin, averaging to 70,000 Silver Coins!

A gun costs only a hundred or two Silver Coins, and this money could arm a whole company!

With a lowered standard, they could even make two or three companies!

Though it was still far from realizing his ambitions, it was undoubtedly a good start.

Standing beside Zayed, his little assistant Sava whispered.

"But, sir... the gangs at the port seem dissatisfied with our approach."

Zayed chuckled, dismissively curling his mouth.

"Why bother with them? They’re just sewer rats."

Sava still seemed a bit worried.

He wasn’t really afraid of those big noses, but he couldn’t help feeling uneasy about those fierce gang members.

Those people looked like desperadoes.

And the Weilante people wouldn’t interfere with their infighting,

"But... those guys are ultimately violent groups, we’ve cut off their financial paths, they’re bound to retaliate..."

Looking at Sava’s worried face, Zayed just smiled lightly.

"My dear Sava, you’re still too young. Even those violent groups wouldn’t underestimate us, why do you have the illusion that we’re not a violent group?"

Sava was somewhat confused.

He clearly remembered Mr. Zayed telling him their purpose for returning to Poluo Province.

How did he suddenly become a gangster now?

Zayed gently closed the roster in his hand, speaking in a very soft voice.

"If the nobles of the Inner City hadn’t thrown Spielberg into prison, the prisons in Giant Stone City wouldn’t have been filled with people in just a few days... Do you understand what I mean, Sava?"

Sava shook his head blankly, then nodded after a while.

"You mean... to emulate Mr. Spielberg?"

Zayed suddenly laughed heartily, after about half a minute, he stopped laughing and gently shook his head.

"That’s why I say you’re too young, you only see the surface of the problem, not the essence."

"The essence?" Sava looked at him in a daze.

Zayed nodded slightly.

"Exactly."

That smart girl thought he didn’t understand the history of Giant Stone City, but the truth was quite the opposite.

While everyone else was still chasing after Pol, he had already passed through to the core of the story and found that bloody heart.

That which lay beneath the white snow of Giant Stone City, that which could kill anything.

Even ideals that couldn’t be killed.

"...Reform is a blood change, and how can blood change not involve bleeding? Following me to do great things, lacking this bit of awareness won’t do."

As soon as his voice fell, a commotion suddenly came from outside the window,

along with cursing and shouting.

"It’s here!"

"The place where those cult members have their classes!"

Vaguely, he heard the roar of his friend from Giant Stone City.

Sava remembered that gentleman named Eugene, who seemed to be a blacksmith.

But the gentleman was skilled in more than just blacksmithing; he was learned enough to know a bit about carpentry and chemistry, and even knew some culinary skills, with his stews being praised even by professional chefs.

According to the gentleman, he acquired his skills in prison from a worker at a canning factory.

"What are you doing—"

A voice full of banditry interrupted the gentleman’s roar.

"What are we doing? We’re dealing with things like you who are cutting off our livelihood!"

"Brothers! Attack!"

Realizing things were going wrong, Sava quickly rushed to the window, only to witness a horrifying scene.

A group of men carrying clubs and forks stormed through the alleyways of the slums and charged into where they were having class.

It’s Black Rat Gang!

In West Sail Port, they were the only large gang second to the Asasin Gang!

The fear in Sava’s eyes intensified, his shoulders trembling at the brutal scene he’d never seen before.

Through the cracks in the window, he watched helplessly as the teacher of the class was dragged out.

The green bandage wrapped around the person’s arm was stained red with blood, each of the thugs showed no mercy, beating him to make an example.

Seeing the green family member being beaten severely, everyone in the shack was terrified, hugging their heads and fleeing in chaos, while the other workers in the slum gathered around to watch.

Someone pinned to the ground and beaten, let out a feeble cry for help.

Eugene widened his eyes, wanting to rush forward, but was pinned to the ground by several guys with rat tattoos on their arms.

"You bandits!" another worker exclaimed, glaring with rage-filled red eyes.

At that moment, a young man named Ah Ming suddenly erupted.

"Ahhh! I’ll fight you all!!!"

The skinny and frail him at this moment seemed like an enraged young bull, clutching a dagger found from somewhere, he slashed at the thigh of the nearest thug.

The blade just happened to cut open an artery, blood spurted out like a crossbow arrow.

"Ahhh! My leg! Damn it! Get that little bastard, beat him—"

The thug cursed in agony, his face growing paler, his voice growing smaller.

Seeing the miserable state of their companion, the thugs nearby did not feel fear but were instead enraged by the spraying blood, charging at the teen with their weapons.

But this time it was different from before.

Perhaps encouraged by the teen’s bravery, the surrounding family members were no longer afraid but instead picked up handy objects and charged at the tattooed thugs.

"Damn, do you think you can bully us!"

"Brothers, beat him!"

"For the family!!!"

"Fight them!!"

The workers around surged forward.

Whether they were family members of the Family Meeting or workers from other gangs, they all gathered around the young man.

They had long been discontent with the rules of the dock.

They exchanged their sweat and toil for money from the Weilante people, and still, had to let someone take a cut, what logic was that?!

Now a Family Meeting without an intermediary fee finally appeared, giving them hope for a better life, yet someone wanted to extinguish that hope.

At this moment, these angry workers all vented their dissatisfaction towards these gangs.

Even workers registered under the Black Rat Gang pretended not to see as their gang’s henchmen were beaten, and some even secretly spat at them.

Seeing the burst of rage from the workers, the henchmen with tattoos on their arms were immediately stunned, beaten with random rods and fleeing in panic, some even kneeling on the ground begging for mercy.

Standing by the window watching, Sava swallowed a mouthful, turned wanting to rush outside, only to be stopped by Zayed.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to talk to them! If this continues, someone might die!"

Sava’s face was filled with urgency, but Zayed made no move to release him, just expressionlessly looking outside the window.

After about five or six minutes, a gunshot rang out at the end of the street, and several Weilante soldiers walked into the slums.

Hearing that thunderous gunshot, the fighting crowd immediately stopped, all shrinking their heads and looking at the big-nosed men.

People on the edge of the crowd began quietly leaving, the once crowded alley suddenly cleared out, leaving only a dozen or so standing in the middle of the alley, trembling and not daring to move.

Peter bit a toothpick at the corner of his mouth, coldly glancing at the beaten gang members, paying special attention to the youth holding the dagger.

"What are you all shouting and fighting for! If you have this energy to fight, you might as well be working at the dock!"

The fierce voice echoed through the alley; no one dared to meet his eyes.

Peter’s eyes were filled with disdain.

He utterly looked down on these fellows.

Either bullies within their circle or bullying the weak.

Spitting out the toothpick from his mouth, he shouted at the ones lying pitifully on the ground.

"Those who can move, get up, are your legs broken? Waiting for me to fix it for you?"

"Yes, yes—oh no! No, no!"

Hearing the impatience in his voice, the henchmen, who were lying on the ground wailing, hurriedly climbed to their feet.

Nodding and bowing, they thanked those few Weilante soldiers and then slunk towards the alley’s exit. Before leaving, they glared fiercely at the workers.

Watching those people leave, Peter stepped forward, lifting Eugene sitting by the wall from the ground.

Eugene, with a bleeding lip, looked defiantly at the big nose, smirking coldly.

The people here feared this guy, but he did not.

After all, he was a citizen of the Alliance, and he entered with an electronic passport.

Peter did not hit him, just shoved him a bit, then heavily patted his collar.

As if he were straightening his clothes.

However, anyone with a keen eye could see how hard the Centurion was hitting.

"... We’re watching you," getting close to Eugene’s ear, Peter squeezed out the words through gritted teeth, "If you dare cause trouble on our territory, I’ll throw you into the sea to feed the fish."

The threatening voice was no joke.

But Eugene simply grinned, spitting out a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva.

"Causing trouble? Teaching the poor to read on Weilante land is also causing trouble? Then declare it openly at the Sticky Community meeting! And don’t try scaring me, if I fear death, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place!"

"... I hope that when a knife is at your throat, you’re still as brave today."

Peter sneered without looking back, stalking away.

After watching the Weilante soldiers leave, the workers standing still finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to clean up and console each other, while a man with an expression of compassion on his face walked through the despondent crowd.

He first went to comfort the teacher who had been beaten, then he checked on the young man named Ah Ming.

Feeling the time was right, he cleared his throat and addressed the injured family members.

"You worry about the attitude of the Weilante people, you fear the revenge of those gang members...but I must say, we should stand strong. Even against our fears and their threats, we must hold onto hope."

One by one, their drooping shoulders and bowed heads began to rise.

They all turned their gaze toward the man, their eyes filled with trepidation, confusion, yet not lacking in a tinge of hope.

Especially the green family lying on the ground, and the young man named Ah Ming.

They knew the identity of the young man in front of them.

His name is Zayed!

He is their golden family!

Basking in those adoring gazes, Zayed mimicked the man’s demeanor and slowly began to speak, completing his words before repeating them in a powerful and firm voice.

"What they should fear are those vampires perched on our necks and the henchmen of the vampires, not us who have already united!"

His voice was filled with power.

Like a hand with bulging veins, it tightly gripped those wide-open eyes, inscribing his own symbol within them.

"... Out of fear, the flies and mosquitoes colluded together. They don’t want us to take what’s rightfully ours. What we have fought for through unity, they seize with force. They don’t lack a little money! But only when we live in suffering and hunger can they build their evil empire!"

"The Weilante people aren’t convenient for themselves to break their own rules, so they incite those gang elements to do the dirty work they don’t want to do... And those violent means are the proof of their fear! They try to make us submit through force, try to dismantle our unity! That is what they fear!"

The eyes were filled with hatred.

Zayed looked at their eyes, or rather looked at himself reflected in those pupils.

He was very satisfied with their expressions.

And very satisfied with himself.

The hatred and fury that had no outlet finally found a direction to vent.

At this moment, they were no longer a crowd of rabble.

They found something to hate with a passion!

"... However, they’re wrong! And they’re terribly wrong! Because we will not surrender, much less because of a few crackling whips! We’ll never break our spine! Absolutely not!"

The resonant sound reverberated in the alley, Ah Ming leaning against the cold wall felt his blood surging, and couldn’t help but respond.

"Absolutely not!"

Soon, he realized he wasn’t the only one who made a sound; there were countless others like him.

His eyes shone brightly.

In the darkness, he was not alone; there were people with the same thoughts standing beside him.

Those people were exactly his family!

Looking at the boiling atmosphere in the alley, a satisfied smile appeared on Zayed’s face.

He gently raised his hand, quieting the voices for a moment, then continued in that unwavering voice.

"That’s right!"

"We will never surrender because of this little setback; the fear on the enemy’s face just proves our correctness!"

"On this road full of hope, we will be more united than ever!"

"We, are family!"

...

The alley behind was noisy, the rats seemed to be squeaking something again.

But they probably hadn’t started fighting.

Walking next to Peter, a soldier pouted and said in an unwilling tone.

"Why do we care about those rats? Why not let them keep fighting."

Peter glanced at him, then shifted his gaze, pulled out a toothpick from his collar pocket, and put it in his mouth.

He’s been smoking a bit too much lately, trying to quit with this method.

"... Then watch them burn the port?"

He was just a Centurion, didn’t understand many big principles, did whatever the superior told him to do.

But lately, he’s been a little perplexed because more and more things aren’t what he thought.

For example...

What exactly are they here to do?

Weren’t they here for revenge?

But every time he thought of this, that honest face would flash in his mind.

The person’s name seemed to be Gowenda, hastily reporting a long list of names before dying, but in the end, couldn’t escape death.

Calming down and thinking about it, that cowardly individual might not have killed his compatriot.

Not just Gowenda, but also several women who couldn’t even bind a chicken.

Rather than being perpetrators, they seemed more like victims.

After all, the scars on their bodies couldn’t possibly have been left by the Vellante people’s resistance.

Every time he thought of this, he would get annoyed and stop himself from delving further.

The brothers behind him didn’t think much, just laughed as if hearing a funny joke.

"Burn the port? Just that bunch?"

"Haha, they dare?"

"I wish those wimps would toughen up, not surrender the moment they hear gunfire."

Peter didn’t join in their laughter, just took down the communicator hanging on his shoulder and made a simple report.

"...Risk has been eliminated, the gathered crowd has been dispersed... Roger that..."

He was about to hang up the communication when suddenly a voice came through the channel.

And it was precisely the following voice that stunned him.

"...Survivors?! Silver Moon Sect Church? The parents of these kids are still alive?"

His head buzzed, unable to process the massive information for a moment.

Still alive?

How is that possible?

The surrounding soldiers gradually stopped laughing, and seeing their captain halt in his tracks, they also stopped, exchanging the surprise on each other’s faces.

They knew the Silver Moon Sect Church; it was the first to find the group of children.

Whether it was the bullet marks on the ground, the bloodstains that couldn’t be wiped away, or the old nun’s words, they all spoke of the grim end of those brave people.

It’s no exaggeration to say that at least half of their hatred towards the survivors of Poluo Province was because of those children who lost their parents and the tragic condition of that church.

And now someone tells them that those people are actually still alive?

They were stunned for a moment.

"...The northern checkpoint, is it? Got it! I’ll take people over now!"

After listening to the superior’s command, Peter’s expression immediately turned serious. After responding, he hung up the communication.

Looking at his subordinates, he said crisply.

"There are survivors! Follow me!"

The soldiers didn’t hesitate, immediately responding.

"Yes!"

——

(Thanks to the alliance leader "X Ren Cai Yin Hai Da X" for the reward!!!)