Disturbed and confused, Chen Yu intended to take a short nap, but he dreamed of that scene from years ago once again.
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"No! I disagree!" Chen Yu said resolutely, "You are repaying kindness with enmity!"
"Disagree? Chen Yu, what right do you have to disagree? Who is the captain doing this for? Isn't it for all of us!" Xiang Shaogang said coldly, "You can play the saint if you want, but don't drag the other brothers down with you!"
“Brother Gang, I think Chen Yu is right. If the village chief and the others hadn’t risked their lives to save us, we would have died in that blizzard long ago. If we had actually done that, how would we be any different from beasts?” Liu Long said in a deep voice.
“Yes, isn’t there any other way to solve this problem?” Another team member named Zhou Yu raised a question.
The remaining three team members looked at each other, their faces showing hesitation.
"Are you finished?" Li Liguo's voice rang out in the silence, carrying an unquestionable authority.
"Now that you've finished speaking, it's my turn."
Li Liguo's eyes were sharp as he scanned everyone.
“Ah Long, the last person who should oppose this is you!” Li Liguo said in a deep voice. “What is the first rule of our transport team? The goods are our people, the goods are lost and the people die! It’s one thing if you die recklessly as a hero, but have you thought about Old Liu and Lingling who are left at the base? The Fire Seed Base has joint punishment! If they don’t return for 10 days, they will be treated as traitors, and Old Liu and Lingling will be implicated. You know their fate better than I do.” Li Liguo’s words were like a sharp knife, piercing directly into Liu Long’s heart.
Liu Long's face turned deathly pale instantly. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.
"I...I..." Liu Long choked up, tears welling up in his eyes.
He knew he couldn't refute Li Liguo's words, nor could he face his relatives who might suffer misfortune because of him.
Li Liguo shook his head, then looked at Chen Yu: "Chen Yu, I understand your gratitude. Wenshui Village is indeed very good; compared to the Fire Seed Base, it's practically paradise. Although you, me, and the other brothers don't have families left at the base to hold us back, we could easily go it alone. But don't forget, we are the Fire Seed Base's transport team. We came out this time to transport supplies to the base. A whole truckload of supplies wasn't brought back; it was left outside. Do you think the base will let this go?"
"The people from the base will find this place sooner or later. You all know what we will face then, right? With the base's methods, not only will we defectors die, but every single villager in Wenshui Village will perish! In this apocalyptic world, human life is worthless, and survival is the only law." Li Liguo's voice was deep and powerful, each word striking the hearts of everyone like a heavy hammer.
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room froze, and everyone fell into deep thought.
Chen Yu's face was pale. He knew that what Li Liguo said was true. They had all personally experienced the harshness and ruthlessness of the Fire Seed Base.
Chen Yu clenched his fists so tightly that his nails almost dug into his palms. He tried to calm himself down and think about this unsolvable dilemma.
He looked at Li Liguo and frowned, saying, "Even so, we don't have to expose Wenshui Village. At worst, we can just pretend nothing happened and return to base with the mission supplies."
"Heh." Li Liguo shook his head with a wry smile. "Chen Yu, Chen Yu, you're still too naive. Putting aside whether the people of Wenshui Village will let us go, how are we going to explain these six days of disappearance to the base?"
Li Liguo's words were like a sharp blade, precisely dissecting the core of the problem.
"Didn't we get caught in a blizzard? We told them we were recuperating in a cave?" Zhou Yu's eyes lit up as he interjected.
Li Liguo sneered upon hearing this, saying, "Ignorant! Do you really think the base's administrators are useless? They will definitely send out enforcement teams to thoroughly investigate this matter. You said you've been recuperating these past few days, but where did you recuperate? How did you manage to eat and drink in the wild? How did you keep warm? And what a coincidence! We're all seriously injured? Not a single one of us was able to return to the base to report? Our routes are fixed. Once they thoroughly investigate, can you guarantee that Wenshui Village won't be discovered? Okay, even if we weave everything flawlessly, leaving no room for doubt, and Wenshui Village is lucky enough not to be discovered, you know the base's modus operandi: better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free. We still only have one path: death!"
Li Liguo's words were like needles, piercing everyone's hearts and making the atmosphere in the room even heavier.
Chen Yu lowered his head, covering his face with his hands, as if he were under immense psychological pressure. He knew that Li Liguo was right; no matter how they tried to deny it, the Fire Seed Base would not let them off easily.
Moreover, if the matter is exposed, the villagers of Wenshui Village will face annihilation.
"Is there really no way out for us?" Chen Yu's voice was low and desperate, and he felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.
"Sigh!" Li Liguo sighed heavily and patted Chen Yu on the shoulder. "Now, we have no choice but to follow my method. That way, we can all survive!"
Li Liguo's eyes hardened, as if he had made a firm decision. He spoke slowly, his voice resolute and unwavering: "Tonight, in the latter half of the night, you will create chaos at the village entrance as planned to attract the attention of the villagers on duty! I will then use the chaos to escape the village and return to the Fire Seed Base to deliver the news of Wenshui Village's surrender. Only in this way can we survive, and the villagers of Wenshui Village can also save their lives!"
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