-Unedited-
Chapter 13
“Ooh,” Chun Cao exclaimed: “a cash cow."
The last wave of autumn heat scorched the asphalt pavement; on the road ahead a few zombies were wandering aimlessly. Zhou Rong slammed on the accelerator, they drove for quite a bit before stopping by the roadside.
A container truck laid in front of them, still in the same rollover position as last night. The door was open, showing the black blood covered interior.
Yan Hao narrowed his eyes: “Isn"t this Feng"s car from last night?”
“They came to me early this morning and asked me to borrow a car so they could do their duties as Alphas to sweep the zombies around the area.” Zhou Rong picked up a crowbar and jumped off the car, the sun reflected on his short-trimmed hair and sungla.s.ses, his expression was somehow malicious: “I know something was strange when I heard it. How could those stupid alphas suddenly become so diligent?"
Si Nan took a rare initiative to express his opinion: "Yes."
Then Chun Cao and Yan Hao followed Zhou Rong and get off the car, their expressions twisted.
"…… Rong Ge is too shameless,” said Chun Cao softly.
Yan Hao nodded with a complicated expression.
“The Feng family is a local tyc.o.o.n. This master Feng escaped with a bunch of men and women, how could he not bring anything but cash?” Zhou Rong locked the steel crowbar to the already distorted container, grabbed it with both hands, then propped his foot against the container door, a cold smile gracing his face. “Want to lie and use Laozi"s car to move goods,… Nope … No can do–”
Zhou Rong issued a loud growl, the muscles on his arms bulged, and the container door was abruptly pried open!
“All right! Don"t take them all, there are people lining." Yan Hao joked.
Zhou Rong casually threw the crowbar away, then opened the container door empty-handed, immediately stepping back when, with a loud bang, it finally opened wide:
"It is the duty of the Public Security Department to collect illegal firearms." Zhou Rong justified, “I"m performing this duty in the name of friendship for the B City"s Public Security Department , no need to thank me.”
The container was packed with rice noodles, biscuits, canned foods, and all kinds of goods. By the wall, there was also a box filled with a few firearms. There were the type 64 rifles, the type 56, three micro-guns, and shockingly, they also had a type 89 konica machine gun.
Yan Hao"s jaw dropped: “…”
“Holy cow… this is amazing…” Chun Cao jumped into the container and found more than 10 boxes of bullets inside. With a trembling voice she said, "What"s there to be afraid of if you had these ah, you could just directly shot and killed the zombies, why would those guys run away yesterday??"
“Because it was too late.” Zhou Rong answered her,”Yesterday night they were swarmed by hundreds of zombies, their mental collapsed, so when the chaos approached, they only knew how to run. This is an issue of their combat skills."
Yan Hao carefully observed the type 89 machine gun. Half-squatting and touching the barrel with an awed expression, he muttered, “I have never seen it since I was selected to join Unit 118, so apparently it is still used by the lower forces ah. I thought all of it had been stored in the history museums… ”
His voice had yet to fall, Zhou Rong already kicked him, “These things won"t move themselves, go and load them into the car!”
Ten minutes later, they could be seen carrying guns and bullets back and forth, sweating under the glare of the sun.
“I wonder, could it be that Master Fang got all of this from robbing the police department? I heard that City B has completely fallen now, it wouldn"t be surprising if that group really did it… ”
Zhou Rong interrupted the breathless Chun Cao, “No, it should be a private collection. See here, the 89 machine gun and the micro-guns have been significantly modified. These guns might have been purchased through a private deal in the black market."
Chun Cao nodded in understanding. At the other side, Yan Hao dropped a 30kg bullet box on the armored car, saying: “The bullets are all in various types. People who simply collect guns as hobby will not have so much ammunition. These should be sc.r.a.pped from the military vehicles along the way… Didn"t you say that they wanted to come back to move these things? How are we to explain the firearms disappearance then?"
Zhou Rong said coldly, “What firearms, do you see firearms here? How could there be any firearms in the evacuation car of Mr. Feng Wentai, one of the top ten outstanding young men in the country?
Standing with a string of heavy machine gun bullets wrapped around him, Zhou Rong looked like an Asian version of Sylvester Stallone. After staggering back to the armored car, he dropped the bullets on board and sighed; the back and forth activities had put pressure on his neck.
“Don"t move the rice noodles. I"ll bring back Feng Wentai here later to personally confirm our people"s integrity. As for Feng"s bodyguards, they will be useful for when we sett off to the B Military District in a few days… ”
Zhou Rong pushed his sungla.s.ses up, his sweaty face glistened under the sunlight, showing off a tough silhouette.
“Temporary shelters will be given to them, otherwise with only 30 or so betas, we may not be able to hold on for even a week.”
Yan Hao asked, “You are finally willing to take everyone together, Captain?”
Zhou Rong said: “What can I say, you lot are so dependent on me and my love.”
“……” Yan Hao replied with silence for a few seconds, before saying, “We can"t leave the fertilizer factory to Feng Wentai. What if when there are troubles, they sacrifice someone else again?"
Zhou Yizhen eagerly picked up the 89 heavy machine gun, holding it as if it was his own son. Even the tone of his voice had become extraordinarily gentle, “I am not afraid, as long as they still want to hold the government"s thigh, they will not dare to do too much before we return from the military district. Moreover, they will have to partic.i.p.ate in the protection of the fertilizer factory for their own safety. When the time comes, I"ll distribute all the goods and give the car"s key to Dr. Zheng.”
Zhou Rong suddenly raised his head: “Why are the both of us the only ones working?!”
On the other side, Si Nan and Chun Cao stopped their chewing at the same time, but it was too late.
Zhou Rong quickly and easily pried open the container, only to see his cheap daughter and the outsider comrade squatting in the innermost part of the container, a half-full can on the man"s hand; they clearly had been eating the food inside.
“…” Zhou Rong took a deep breath, and suddenly caught sight of the label on the can, his mood turned sour:
“You are both too much! Do you have any idea what time it is? What are you doing eating caviar here?!"
Chun Cao pointed to Si Nan with a trembling hand, “I- I don"t know anything, he only told me that it"s valuable and delicious…”
Si Nan raised the spoon and explained: “I am not in the military, I don"t have to listen to your command.”
Zhou Rong climbed up and wordlessly s.n.a.t.c.hed the can from them. He shooed Chun Cao to move things, and poked Si Nan between his eyebrows, “Canned food can"t be eaten without first being fried, compressed biscuits have to be stuffed. Are you planning to stay in the chicken shed all day long? Or should we milked some cow for you to drink? Who"s going to indulge such spoiled antics?"
Si Nan glared coldly at him.
“In half an hour, make sure all the goods in the container truck are accounted for, otherwise the cans will be handed over to the country.” Zhou Rong patted his head and ordered, “Go! "
Half an hour later, Yan Hao slammed the mineral water box back to the ground, wiping the sweat off his sweat, “216."
“500 kilograms,” Crouching unsteadily, Zhou Rong recorded the total weight of the rice back on his side.
Not far from them, Si Nan sat in the back of the armored car, still eating from a bottle by his feet. This time he was munching on strawberry syrup while feeding Chun Cao occasionally.
Zhou Rong was exhausted, he clapped his hands and said, “All right, let"s go back to the factory!” Then he jumped down the container and walked back to the armored car. As he pa.s.sed by Si Nan, he threw the canned caviar back into his hand.
Back at the fertilizer factory, Feng Wentai was waiting on the front yard. He immediately stood still as he saw the armored car approaching. Despite his best effort to calm himself, a hint of anxiety was brewing inside his heart.
“Yo, Master Feng, how are you doing?” Zhou Rong exited the car and laughed.
Feng Wentai trotted forward with a smile, however just as he opened his mouth to speak, Zhou Rong interrupted him: “Oh right, I have something to tell you. We found your rolled over truck on the roadside, and there was a lot of stuff in it, I"m just wondering if you are going to move them… ”
The thing Feng Wentai most worried about had happened, his face instantly turned pale.
“Rest a.s.sured, we didn"t move anything, those rice noodles, oil, medicine, blankets and so on are all still there.” Zhou Rong smiled, “We can"t take even one needle from civilians, but may be you want to take the initiative to hand them over to the country."
“…” Feng Wentai immediately said, “If it"s not too troublesome, may be the captain can help me hand them over.”
Zhou Rong of course immediately refused. As a disciplined soldier, he shouldn"t deal with the victims"s personal properties. The two of them argued back and forth for a while until in the end, Feng Wentai finally came out as the victor. However, Zhou Rong actually conceded on purpose. He was still reluctant to be the one distributing the goods to the 30-ish survivors in the refuge though.
Feng Wentai rubbed his hands and smiled: “There is one more thing. Truthfully, I was an army fan, so there are some personal collections of mine inside that container. They have been modified and not really destructive… ”
Zhou Rong was confused, “What?”
“Yeah,” Feng Wentai seemed to be a little reluctant to admit it, “When I was studying abroad, my army friends sent them to me… A few mini guns and so on… ”
“Oh, we didn"t see them!” Zhou Rong patted him on the thigh, “Are you sure they"re in the car? "
Feng Wentai nodded.
Zhou Rong said regretfully, “That is too bad, it must have been taken by other people. Why didn"t you tell me last night? If I had known, I would have taken it back for you last night."
Despite his earlier foreboding, seeing the innocent expression Zhou Rong was currently supporting still made Feng Wentai chock on a mouthful of blood.
“—Brother,” Zhou Rong, ignorant of Feng Wentai"s face, hooked his arm around the man"s neck and forcibly guided him toward the courtyard.
“In two days we are planning to go to the military district in B City to find Xiangzi"s family. You know, they have a special refuge camp there, and Minister Guo certainly will not want his grandson to take risks venturing outside… ”
Feng Wentai said: “Yes, of course.”
“The plan is to return in three days at the earliest and up to one week at the latest. During this time we may have to trouble you and your staffs to help take care of the fertilizer plant, along with the 36 survivors that we rescued from T City.” Zhou Rong paused, squeezed Feng Wentai"s shoulder, then solemnly said:” When we come out from the B Military District, we will personally accompany everyone in here to take refuge there."
Feng Wentai wanted to speak, but Zhou Rong suddenly whispered, “Of course, it"s not the kind of "concentration camp" refuge that will accept such a ma.s.s of people… You know what I mean, brother."
This Feng Wentai of course understood his meaning. He nodded, although he still felt a bit of hesitation, “Captain, if you return here from the military district just to pick us up, won"t it be too risky? Let us go together, in any case that minibus has enough seats for all of us… ”
Although his words were nice, but Master Feng"s real concern was very obvious-who knows whether you"ll really return from the B Military District to pick us up?
The firearms have been taken away by you, then you yourselves will also be going to the Military Refuge, letting everyone left in this fertilizer plant to fend for themselves. What a bad situation.
Under Feng Wentai"s suspicious gaze, Zhou Rong sighed deeply, “I"m also reluctant ah, Brother Feng! But the main ground of B City has already fallen, we"ll have to rush to get in…” He pointed in the direction of the factory dormitory, “Did you see the pregnant woman?"
Feng Wentai"s heart was filled with suspicion.
“Why do you think we brought a pregnant woman with us? That"s Xiangzi"s ah… That one! "
Zhou Rong shook his head sadly, as if unable to express his emotions, “If it weren"t for my respect to the Guo name, we would have gone to the military district long ago, not staying in this fertilizer plant!"
Feng Wentai finally realized that there was an explanation for every incomprehensible feeling he had been having.
“You understand, we can"t do anything. But fortunately, the minister can send helicopters over. As long as we insist on coming back here from the military district, they will launch the helicopter and everyone will be safe." Zhou Rong patted Feng Wentai"s arm, smiling, “Feng Brother, your hard work will naturally be repaid by the Gao family…”
“I understand, everyone is on the same side, you don"t have to be polite with me.” Feng Wentai pondered for a moment, then said sincerely, “Last night, thanks to Brother Zhou"s action we were rescued, yet your little brother was wronged. My humble servant is at fault."
He rushed to his bodyguards who were waiting by the door and waved, “Call Lu Hui here.”
Lu Hui was that gla.s.ses man, his neck supporting an obvious big bruise, the result of Zhou Rong"s elbow chocking him to the wall last night. His face stiffened from being called out in front of everyone.
“I"ll make sure that this dissapointing man apologize to the little brother,” Feng Wentai"s earnest expression matched the sincere words he said. “This matter is very ugly. As a warning to others, please Brother Zhou show an understanding to this piece of trouble…”
The two men fidgeted for a while. This turn of event was out of Zhou Rong"s expectation. Reluctantly, he turned back and shouted: “Si Nan!”
Si Nan walked out of the armored car.
Zhou Rong was afraid that he might still be eating that bottle of strawberry syrup. He looked at the man carefully, but felt pretty sure that he did not carry anything with him, so he waved, “Come here!”
Si Nan was more obedient in the presence of other people. Swallowing slowly, he looked up at Zhou Ring, the corner of his lips impressively stained with small traces of dried pink syrup.
“…” Without any explanation, Zhou Rong hurriedly grabbed him, then used his thumb to wipe at those smeared stains.
Si Nan turned his head to avoid it, his eyes glaring coldly at him.
–The cold murderous glint in his eyes roused the memory of their first meeting in T City to the forefront of Zhou Rong"s mind. The look in his eyes at the moment was the same as that time, when this person was riding a motorcycle to get through a sea of zombies.
Zhou Rong"s inner bully immediately surrendered.
“This is the one that pulled you last night.” Zhou Rong hugged Si Nan around his shoulders, then whispered, “He wants to apologize to you in person, that"s why I called you here."
Lu Hui"s tall appearance looked gloomy,seemingly unwilling to move. Feng Wentai gave him a sharp look, prompting him to finally, reluctantly, fall down on his knees.
“Last night was the result of a careless hand-slip.” His throat was sore, so his voice came out a bit unclear. He continued, “I"m sorry, brother please don"t take offense.”
Si Nan stood in silent with no expression on his face.
The black slim vest he was wearing outlined his silhouette quite sharply. Because his legs were very long, he had to wear camouflage pants one size larger, the waistband was hanging loosely just above his crotch, and on his feet, he was wearing a pair of high-top military boots that Zhou Rong had personally given to him.
The midday sun shone its light on his icy white cheeks, giving a transparent glow on his face.
Feng Wentai gave him a meaningful glance, coughing awkwardly: “Captain Zhou this little brother is really… His extraordinary skills and very handsome appearance, I can"t find words to describe him… ”
Zhou Rong turned and scolded him, “You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Who are you staring at?"
Back at the main scene, Lu Hui swallowed, bowed his head, and was about to lean over when his shoulder was suddenly trampled on by a sole.
Si Nan had one foot lifted.
-His movements were very light, but the force behind them knocked the alpha away and made him roll backwards!
He retracted his foot, then, under Feng Wentai"s inexplicable gaze, wiped the sugar stains on the corners of his mouth, for their own safety leaving without a word.
T/N:
From top to bottom: mini-guns, type 89 machine gun, type 56 riffle, and type 64 riffle
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