Li Liguo and his group of Fire Seed warriors walked along, violently pushing open the doors on both sides and carefully inspecting each room, their intentions now completely undisguised.
They initially thought the villagers had all fled, but they were relieved to see Chen Yu and the others standing at the entrance of the cave canteen.
Although they could still seize village resources even if the villagers fled, the difficulty was different, and the rewards they received were naturally different as well.
However, their path was blocked by an iron gate, which Xu Anbang had just remotely closed.
To prevent foreign invasion, they had installed iron gates every 100 meters along the passage long ago. This served two purposes: first, to block the enemy and buy themselves some buffer time; and second, to trap the invaders in the narrow passage if the gates at both ends were closed, like turtles in a jar, with nowhere to escape.
At this moment, the iron gate behind the Fire Seed warriors was also closed. If the intruders were ordinary people, they might have truly become sitting ducks for the villagers.
But today they've encountered fully armed Fireseed warriors from the Fireseed Base. How could such a simple trick possibly stump them?
Seeing the iron gates at the front and back of the passage, Li Liguo smiled instead. In his opinion, if the villagers of Wenshui Village had truly welcomed them in politely and accepted the incorporation of the Fire Seed Base with a proper attitude, it would have been more difficult for them to make a move.
After all, there were so many Fireborn warriors present. If anyone were to let something slip after they got back, it could cause unnecessary trouble.
It's not that the base would blame them for killing innocent people and claiming credit, but rather that the base views every healthy person outside as a resource.
Since the apocalypse, Wenshui Village has never lacked food and drink, and there are many strong and healthy people. If the higher-ups of the base find out that these high-quality resources have been killed by them as mobs, they might blame them.
Now, the villagers have taken action before them, which proves that the other side is undoubtedly a "mob." When the news gets back to the base, no one will be able to find fault with them.
Thinking of this, Li Liguo and the leading Fire Seed warrior exchanged a meaningful glance.
Chen Yu recognized the leading soldier; his name was Qian Peng, the company commander of this Fire Seed Warrior Company. He was a high-ranking member of the Fire Seed Base, far surpassing the status of Li Liguo, a mere transport squad leader.
Qian Peng is a cruel and cunning man by nature. Although he is very polite to Li Liguo at this time, in their team, it seems that he is on equal footing with Li Liguo. Even his Fire Seed warriors have to obey Li Liguo's orders.
In reality, this was a strategic retreat; he knew that Li Liguo was not telling the truth and that their massacre of Wenshui Village was not justified.
But with his achievements already made, he didn't want to give up. After all, if Wenshui Village were to peacefully submit to the Fire Seed Base, what role would they, the Fire Seed warriors, play?
So he voluntarily relinquished the command of the operation to Li Liguo. In this way, if things went wrong, Li Liguo could take the blame, and if things went smoothly, he could also reap the credit.
Just as Li Liguo was about to issue the order to massacre the village after exchanging glances with Qian Peng, Xu Anbang quickly spoke up.
"Welcome, friends from the Fire Seed Base! My Wenshui Village has long admired the Fire Seed Base, and today, we are willing to submit to it!" Xu Anbang cupped his hands to Li Liguo and the others, speaking with a sincere expression.
His words were indeed sincere. At this moment, after seeing the weapons in the hands of Li Liguo and the others, he had completely lost the will to resist.
It's not over yet; if the other side actually agrees to their surrender, the villagers can be spared from slaughter.
"Heh, surrender?" Li Liguo sneered. "After you attacked our transport team and robbed our Fireseed Base of supplies, now that you see the base's troops overwhelming the village, you're thinking of surrendering? Let me tell you, it's too late!"
"This..." Xu Anbang was dumbfounded.
He didn't expect Li Liguo to turn the tables and accuse him of attacking the transport team. When did the people from their village attack the transport team? They were the ones who rescued the transport team from the blizzard.
As for looting supplies, that's utter nonsense. He admitted that after rescuing Li Liguo and the others, he did instruct the villagers to move the supplies transported by the transport team into the village, but wasn't that to prevent the village from being exposed?
The village didn't touch a single penny of those supplies; they handed them all over to Li Liguo's transport team, for fear that the team would think they were only rescuing people because they coveted the supplies.
Now, Li Liguo has completely turned black into white, falsely claiming that their village attacked the transport team and stole their supplies!
If you're going to rob me, just rob me! Why make up these excuses? This is practically killing me by undermining my moral character!
The other villagers also showed expressions of anger and confusion after hearing Li Liguo's words.
They never expected that their act of kindness in saving people would lead to them being accused of assault and robbery.
Originally, many people opposed the idea of them submitting to the Fire Seed Base. After all, their village had a hot spring nearby and they had no worries about food or drink, so why should they go to the Fire Seed Base to suffer and live a life that was neither human nor ghost?
But given the vast disparity in military strength between the two sides, they had no choice but to compromise and agree to submit to the Fireseed Base.
They were also thinking of securing some reasonable benefits for the villagers in exchange for their voluntary submission, such as retaining some right to use the hot springs or obtaining some relatively free living space in the fire-starting base.
But now, Li Liguo not only refuses to accept their surrender, but also groundlessly accuses them of attacking and robbing. What is he trying to do?
Thinking of this, a chill ran through the villagers.
Several villagers who already knew the inside story that morning turned pale.
Yin Wende was right; Li Liguo really intended to take the entire village to the tinder base to claim credit!
"Captain Li, then tell me, how do you want to resolve this matter?" Chen Yu asked in a deep voice.
Upon hearing this, Li Liguo revealed a cruel smile: "In this world, no one has ever managed to steal the resources from the Fireseed Base and escape unscathed. Once you're dealt with, this matter will naturally be resolved!"
As he spoke, he looked at Qian Peng, the company commander of the Fire Seed warriors, and said, "Company Commander Qian, you've seen it yourself. These 'mobs' are truly stubborn and incorrigible. Even now, they still want to resist, constantly claiming they want to surrender, yet they're trying to trap us in the passage. Who knows what kind of conspiracy they're plotting? We don't need to hold back any longer. Give the order! Let the soldiers demonstrate the power of the Fire Seed base and show these ignorant 'mobs' what happens when they defy us!"
Upon hearing this, Qian Peng nodded slightly, a hint of ruthlessness and cunning flashing in his eyes. He understood Li Liguo's intentions and was happy to go along with it.
After all, personally slaughtering a village would not only greatly satisfy his twisted psychology, but also add a mark to his personal record of merits, so why not?
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