Rain began to drizzle from the sky once more, accompanied by distant rumbles of thunder.
Under the gnawing cold and damp, the crowd gathered in the mire grew increasingly frantic. Those at the very front rattled the chain-link fence with all their might, their begrimed faces twisted in desperation, features warped beyond recognition.
"Brother, have a heart! Do us a favor!"
"I was just here yesterday!"
"We're visiting relatives, really! If you don't believe me, I can call him out..."
"What the hell are you doing? I came to place an order!"
Shouts, roars, and even muffled sobs and pleas coalesced into an infuriating roar of noise. In the gaps between the barricades and the wire fence, the municipal management crew were shoved and pulled about. They shouted back furiously, slapping away grabbing hands again and again, barely holding the line.
The moment they saw Old Gou finally appear, a collective sigh of relief seemed to pass through them.
Right in front of the checkpoint, Old Gou directed a few men to stack several crates into a makeshift platform. He climbed onto it, but said nothing at first.
He merely hefted the megaphone in his hand, waiting in silence. Only when row upon row of eyes finally settled on him and the bubbling din subsided slightly did he switch on the microphone. Pasting on an honest, simple smile, he yelled, "Folks! Friends! We are Xinquan's Municipal Management Team—"
"Out of the way! Clear the road!"
Before he could finish, an enraged shout rang out from the crowd. The mob surged anew, clamoring and yelling:
"Give us a way to live!"
"Old Gou, it's me, Old Gou! We're old acquaintances..."
"What do you dog bastards want to do!"
"Doctor! I need a doctor!"
"You can't just leave us to die..."
*BZZZZT—!* An ear-splitting screech erupted as Gou Er cranked the megaphone's volume to the absolute maximum. The piercing shriek stung countless eardrums, bringing the roar of voices to an abrupt halt for an instant.
"Please cooperate with our work and maintain order."
Still wearing that simple, folksy smile, Gou Er soothed the crowd. "Don't panic, everyone. The rainy season came early, and we're only conducting an emergency drill to prevent disorder. The lockdown is strictly temporary! This afternoon—it'll reopen this afternoon! Please bear with us and wait a little while. Friends holding transit permits, please head to the right. If you're here to apply for work, please wait over on the left. Xinquan will definitely—"
"Liars! Swindlers!"
Several shrill voices suddenly piped up from deep within the mob, egging everyone on from unseen positions. "Don't believe him! Haian wants to capture us and turn us into slaves! Don't trust them!"
In an instant, furious bellows and screams swelled to a fresh crescendo.
Even more people were instantly incited, raising an uproar. Taking advantage of the crowd, someone hurled stones across the barrier. A clump of mud smacked Gou Er squarely in the face, instantly covering him in grime.
"You dog bastards, don't you fucking—"
Gou Er erupted in rage, roaring, but his expression abruptly shifted. He instinctively pressed a hand to his ear, as if listening to orders from the other end. His face twitched.
Before everyone's eyes, his posture gradually hunched. He began bowing and scraping obsequiously.
His voice carried over the still-open megaphone.
"Right, understood, yes, right away."
After the brief transmission cut off, his face twitched once more. He glared at the crowd, and his muttered instructions to his subordinates were picked up by the microphone.
"Move the barricades. Let them in."
At once, looks of sheer delight spread across the faces of those in the front row, and cheers broke out.
Yet among them, several individuals froze. Caught entirely off guard by this turn of events, they instinctively turned their heads to glance behind them...
Deep in the crowd, one face stiffened as well.
An instant later, that face drained of color.
Because from the raised platform, Gou Er was staring straight at him.
The hunched man was no longer smiling.
Across his mud-splattered, wrinkle-creased face, all warmth had vanished. His dark pupils flickered with feral malice.
"A'nao! The one in the grey cap!" Gou Er roared. "That's the bastard!"
Where the fuck was there an earpiece? Earwax was more like it!
If he had to disturb the boss over petty shit like this, what the hell was he being paid for? Besides, the two men he had spoken to earlier were from Security, not Management—why would they ever take orders from him?!
In that single, sudden reversal, he had pinpointed the ringleader hiding in the crowd. Beside him, A'nao drew his pistol from his pocket without hesitation and aimed it straight at that panic-stricken face.
His finger curled, about to squeeze the trigger...
Yet no gunshot followed.
Before he could fire, someone who had been waiting there for who knew how long booted him aside.
"Out of the way—"
Amidst the shriek of grinding steel, a giant sprinted out. Smashing straight through the chain-link fence, he raised an arm and swung down a heavy rod. Mid-swing, the tip of the rod flared open, unleashing a blinding shower of electric sparks.
A stun baton!
It rammed mercilessly into the face of one of the agitators. Terrifying kinetic force and scorching voltage blasted through him in an instant, and a wisp of blue smoke curled upward amidst violent convulsions.
The agitator collapsed to the ground, life or death unknown.
Meanwhile, the giant had already taken another stride forward, barreling through the mob as he charged step by step toward the ringleader!
That was... that was...
—The Security Department's specially issued exoskeleton system!
Over six hundred jin of terrifying mass, layered bulletproof plating protecting all vital zones, an enclosed helmet sealing the face, a force-feedback operating system, an electromagnetic transmission spine, high-capacity battery packs, and sixteen electric motors driving the entire frame... It was enough to turn any frail consumptive into an indestructible titan of steel.
And at that moment, it was far from just one heavy exoskeleton charging the line!
Sixteen security guards clad in exoskeletons suddenly leaped down from flatbed trucks on either flank. Having lain in wait for who knew how long, they plunged into the crowd like tigers among a flock of sheep.
Riot shields pushed forward like advancing iron walls, while stun batons swung into blinding blurs, smashing through all resistance and shattering the human wave in a heartbeat.
Amidst shrill alarms, high-pressure water cannons were hoisted up in tandem by tanned, burly men, unleashing torrents that blasted the chaotic mob apart.
"Murder! Murder!"
"Haian is killing people!"
"Run, everyone, run...!"
Before the wailing and shrieking could spread, it was drowned out by the roar of high-pressure water. Meanwhile, the lead guard in an exoskeleton had already plunged deep into the throng alone.
Without warning, he brought up his riot shield, catching a sniper round fired from an unseen angle.
Immediately following that, the mechanism in his stun baton twisted on its own. Blinding electric arcs surged forth, ionizing the falling rain into flashes of blue. Raising the baton, he swung his arm in a full arc and hurled it like a javelin toward a cargo truck piled with freight outside the crowd.
Beneath the truck's camouflage tarp, the gunman clutching his rifle had no time to react.
All he saw was a ferocious streak of expanding blue light hurtling toward his face like an artillery shell. Before the voltage could even electrocute him, the solid metal shock baton punched straight through his eye socket, killing him instantly.
The pale-faced ringleader instinctively spun to flee, but it was already too late.
The exoskeleton operator seized him by the back of his collar, hoisted him up, and slammed him mercilessly into the mud. The man instantly vomited blood, convulsing, but the unyielding iron hand seized his leg again, swung him through the air, and smashed him headfirst against a protruding rock on the ground.
*Smack!*
Blood burst outward.
Then came a heavy boot.
Dead beyond all doubt.
The entire seamless ambush had taken less than ten seconds.
It didn't even qualify as a warm-up.
As the panicked crowd scattered in every direction, the operator looked around. Seeing only scavengers fleeing for their lives, he shook his head with mild disappointment and trudged back.
Even now, Gou Er stood frozen on the crates.
Stunned.
His mind had yet to catch up.
As he passed by, the operator removed his helmet, revealing Lu Feng's face.
He glanced at Gou Er, then at A'nao still sprawled in the mud, and at the gun in the boy's hand.
In an instant, he understood.
"Stop pulling this pointless bullshit all day," Lu Feng said. "Follow the rules and do real work. Your boss never mistreats his own people."
"Yes, yes, of course." Gou Er finally snapped out of it, nodding like a woodpecker. The fingers hanging at his sides twitched as he struggled to suppress a tremor.
Then, Lu Feng's gaze settled on A'nao on the ground. "Kid, what's your name?"
"Re-reporting!" A'nao instinctively pushed himself up, snapped to attention, and shouted, "My name is Li Nao!"
Instantly, a burst of laughter erupted from all around.
The security guards holding the high-pressure water cannons grinned broadly, laughing at either his name or his completely lopsided, comical stance.
"Heh, pretty good pair of lungs." Lu Feng's lips curled into a smirk, and he glanced at Old Gou. "Decent kid. Wasted following you. Send him over to Security later, how about it?"
"That would be his blessing!"
Gou Er had been taken aback when Lu Feng asked for the boy's name, but realizing what this meant, he was overcome with joy. Jumping down from the crates, he delivered a sharp kick to the fool's shin. "What are you standing there for? Greet him!"
Li Nao opened his mouth, hesitated over what title was appropriate, and simply copied his second uncle: "Greetings, Lord Lu!"
Lu Feng nodded and turned to walk back. Hearing footsteps behind him, he glanced back to see Gou Er scurrying over with a fawning grin, and couldn't help but shake his head. "Way too many fucking schemes in that head of yours."
"You're entirely right to lecture me, sir." Gou Er rubbed his hands, bowing and scraping. "I'll change, I'll definitely change!"
"Using your head is a good thing; just don't get cute with it." Lu Feng looked away coolly and asked suddenly, "Is your surname really Gou?"
"Truly!" Gou Er nodded vigorously.
Whether it was before or not, from now on, his surname was Gou.
Lu Feng didn't look back at him again, merely waving a hand dismissively. After shedding his exoskeleton, he returned to the breakroom to pick his toes and scroll through short videos.
The mess at the scene was naturally left to Gou Er, who was eager to prove his worth.
With no one left to incite trouble, order was naturally restored. Both the crowd that had scattered and the latecomers arriving along the road were stopped outside Xinquan, settled on the spot to await word.
It was not until the afternoon that Ji Jue finally showed his face.
He looked as if he hadn't rested in days, his eyes ringed with dark circles, yawning as he entered.
"Sorry I'm late. Thank you for your hard work, everyone."
He took a seat in the conference room and flipped through the reports before him. "I have the general gist of the situation. Anything critical?"
Lu Feng shook his head indifferently. "A bunch of useless scrubs. No challenge at all. I didn't even get to swing the baton with any real force."
"This morning's commotion wasn't normal; someone was definitely stirring the pot from behind the scenes," Gou Er reported cautiously after checking Yan Jian's expression, having fought hard to secure a seat at the table. "They might try to make trouble again later."
"I know." Ji Jue nodded placidly.
Fame inevitably brought trouble. The amount of wealth in the world was finite; every dollar you earned was a dollar someone else lost. Haian had blocked the financial avenues of countless people, to say nothing of the numerous settlements eyeing Xinquan with envy.
Monopolizing the ruins and relics of Quancheng—just thinking about the scale of such a salvage operation suggested untold wealth. Yet Haian only partnered with Yulou Trading in Yacheng and Tianchi Construction in Chaocheng. Anyone else wishing to turn a profit had to wait for Chen Yubo and the Lou family of Chaocheng to gorge themselves before picking over the scraps.
Not to mention the insane production volume Haian Industries had churned out over the past few months. They made money off everything and sold anything, driving several settlements to the brink of bankruptcy through sheer competition.
Every easy revenue stream they once enjoyed had been choked off by Ji Jue. It would be stranger if they didn't grind their teeth in hatred.
At present, the blazing-hot Haian Industries was already a target for all.
The only reason those factions had appeared restrained before was that they had been terrified by the slaughter Ji Jue carried out when purging Diaomao Town. They had been forced to draw in their claws and bide their time, waiting for an opportunity to dye the estuary of Quancheng with blood...
Ji Jue was waiting too.
He was very curious to see whose blood would end up staining the estuary of Quancheng when the time came.
Skimming through the reports on the table, his gaze settled on the bottom document.
A proposal submitted by Gou Er.
It was riddled with typos and inverted phrasing, yet curiously easy to read, with direct, blunt wording.
It was hard to explain: writing a good report was difficult, and writing a crude one was simple. The tricky part was writing one that was both crude and crystal clear without impeding comprehension.
It had a certain charm—the beauty of calculating cunning with nowhere else to be spent.
*Or maybe he just has too much free time...*
*Workload not saturated enough, is that it?*
Ji Jue glanced at him. Gou Er instantly straightened his back, standing at rigid attention.
However, Ji Jue didn't write any critique, merely telling him, "The measures and resettlement plan you proposed are quite good. Let's proceed with that."
Gou Er's plan was simple.
Seize the opportunity presented by the early rainy season to kick them while they were down—screen out a batch of able-bodied laborers from the scavengers, drive down their pay, and sign them to long-term contracts to work like pack mules.
It was unquestionably ruthless, but oddly enough, such practices were virtually standard rule in the wilderness.
Moreover, the terms Ji Jue offered were vastly more generous than anywhere else—practically charity by comparison.
In the larger settlements, offering oneself up for refuge took far more than parting with a bit of blood.
The better ones would pick out useful laborers to work to the bone; the worse ones turned newcomers straight into slaves. Quite a few settlements even ran human trafficking as a sideline, trading in the living and the dead alike. Once inside, a person was little better than livestock waiting for slaughter.
Ji Jue, on the other hand, guaranteed their personal safety, allowed them to bring two dependents into Xinquan, and even provided food and lodging... All he required was their labor, and he would even teach them how to repair televisions and refrigerators...
He was practically a saint.
By rights, those scavengers ought to have kowtowed twice at the door just to square their consciences.
Unfortunately, "the gentle are bullied" was a universal rule of the wilderness, just as building bridges and repairing roads left one without a corpse to bury.
*Since you're already so benevolent, why can't you just help me for free? You're so wealthy, with such a massive business—surely a titan like Haian can spare enough to feed one useless bum like me?*
Among the crowd that had tried to breach the checkpoint that morning, who knew how many had harbored precisely that mindset, just like the deadbeats Gou Er had previously purged from the shantytown.
Otherwise, what effect could a few instigators shouting from behind the scenes really have had?
In addition to recruiting able-bodied workers, Gou Er also suggested selecting the relatively clean and honest "good citizens" for resettlement, offering them loans so they could rent rooms in Xinquan and secure temporary shelter.
For those without skills who were willing to work, Haian also offered a loan-based training program—commonly known as paying to work. Haian would train them for six months, followed by ten years of hard labor, not a single day less.
As for those who truly had no money, no skills, and refused to provide manual labor...
Why didn't they just go die?
To put it bluntly, even if such people starved to death on the doorstep of the Church of Chongguang, the church wouldn't lift a finger.
And at the very end of the proposal was one more clause.
For the orphaned children with no kin who were temporarily unable to work, if Ji Jue truly wanted to take care of them, that was fine too—hadn't the marketplace just been expanded?
There were sheds to keep out the wind and rain, weren't there? A mattress spread over wooden planks made a bed. One small mouth couldn't eat much anyway; expired ration biscuits boiled into mush and served with a couple of pickles would keep them from starving. If they couldn't handle heavy labor, they could clear sewers, sweep streets, and shovel mud.
There was no labor law in the wilderness, nor any protection for minors. While Haian's terms were cold and harsh, they at least offered a path to survival, sparing them from selling their bodies or being ground up as expendable materials...
"Your method is sound. We'll do as you suggested," Ji Jue said with a nod. "Draft the formal regulations later and report to Engineer Yan to see where coordination is needed. If there isn't enough housing, bring in a few Desolate Ruins Celestial Chosen to handle an expansion."
It was easy to foresee that after this wave, Haian Industries would expand even further. Productivity UP! UP! UP!
Yet the problem was... productivity was already in surplus!
After all, their current market was limited to the wilderness, and the settlements were mostly dirt-poor folk who couldn't be squeezed for much coin. It wasn't enough to satisfy Director Ji's ambitions; there was simply no helping it.
He needed to open up new sales channels as soon as possible.
Perhaps he should make a push toward Longyuan or neighboring Shanzhou?
As Ji Jue pondered in silence, Isis's voice rang out.
"Data synthesis complete. High-threat target location confirmed—"
The screen snapped on, surveillance feeds appearing one after another. Atop the drone's overhead map of Xinquan, a red dot blinked into view.
The morning's near-riot had already triggered Isis's warning system. With such an unusual situation, there had to be a Heart Pivot pulling strings behind the scenes.
After hours of analysis, retrieval, and continuous tracking, the target's probable hiding place had finally been located.
Ji Jue glanced at it and burst into laughter.
Laughter born of sheer exasperation.
After pulling that stunt, instead of fleeing immediately, the bastard had actually gone to ground on the spot...
And right inside Xinquan, no less?!
Fascinating.
"It's getting dark."
Ji Jue turned his head, glancing out the window at the encroaching twilight, then looked toward Lu Feng with a meaningful gaze. "Brother Feng, interested in a warm-up?"
"You need me for some minor fry like that?" Lu Feng instinctively shook his head, but then caught Ji Jue's drift.
Their eyes met, and both broke into silent grins.
During the day, with so many eyes watching, certain toys naturally couldn't be brought out into the open. But once the lights went out, who could tell the difference between power armor and an exoskeleton?
The new gear had been sitting in the armory for long enough. It was high time to give it a proper debut!
Chapter 402