Early in the morning, just after the sun rose, people in the base came out of their houses one after another. This was a rare time of the day when they could go out, but even so, they did not dare to go far and could only walk around.
The people in the slums are not so leisurely. They have been busy all night and now it is time to deal with the "dirt".
The man, who was barely considered strong, dragged the "commodity" that was no longer usable out of the base, dug a hole at random, and left without looking back with the "commodity"'s hands still exposed.
Inside the tin house, a young boy crawled up from the ground. His hair was disheveled and his clothes could not cover his entire body.
His face was covered in black dust, and no one could see his face clearly. But the first thing he did when he got up was not to wipe his face, but to smear another layer of dust on his face. There was no mirror here, so he could only try his best to smear the dust all over his face without revealing an inch of clean skin.
The boy pushed open the rickety wooden door of the tin house and bent down carefully, trying not to be noticed by anyone.
The people who were in a hurry did not pay any attention to this skinny kid with a dirty face. They were busy cleaning up this "den of brothel" for the night.
The goods that were released from the cage yesterday were locked back. The boy walked past the cage without even looking at the goods in the cage, and the goods didn't look at him either. Although he could hear the sound of footsteps, it seemed quiet.
It was so quiet that you could almost hear other people breathing.
The boy walked into a small room, his hands clenched into fists. He walked to the cabinet, then stood on tiptoe, raised his hands high, and then spread his palms out.
He had a broken watch in his hand. The glass cover on the outside had spider-web-like cracks, but the hands inside were still turning tenaciously.
The man sitting behind the counter took the watch from him, looked at it carefully, and without asking where the watch came from, he picked up a water bottle from under the counter with an expressionless face. The boy's eyes brightened a lot, and he stared at the water bottle without blinking.
As usual, the man unscrewed the bottle cap, poured a bottle cap of water, and then handed it to the boy impatiently.
The boy drank it all in one gulp without hesitation, returned the bottle cap and went out.
After solving the water problem, he also needs to solve the food problem.
He went to another room. This time he had nothing to exchange. As soon as he entered the room, someone gave him a wooden box. Inside the box was a milky white paste. Without anyone's instructions, the boy walked out of the room as if he was familiar with the place and went to the cage.
After dipping his hands in the ointment, the boy put his arm through the gap in the iron cage and applied the ointment on the wounds of the "cargo".
Only a child of his age could put his hand into such a narrow gap.
The owners of these "goods" have never released them during the day.
He had let them go before, but two of them ran away. Although he knew that the two would die if they ran away, the owner felt that he had been at a disadvantage, so he never let them go again. He would rather see the goods die under his nose than let them die where he couldn't see.
When the boy was applying medicine to the sixth item, he was suddenly grabbed by the wrist by a skeleton-like hand.
"Kill me..." The "Cargo" looked at him with lifeless eyes, "Kill me..."
The boy withdrew his hand expressionlessly. The other person had long since run out of strength, and he could pull it back with just a slight pull.
Even after the boy pulled his hand away, the "cargo" continued to murmur until the sound became smaller and smaller.
After finishing his work, the boy returned to the house, and this time he got a potato as big as a child's fist.
It was raw, but the boy had no choice. He wiped the potatoes on his clothes without peeling them. The potatoes were still covered with mud and sand, and he just put them to his mouth and ate them voraciously.
Just as the boy was about to walk out of the house, there was a sudden noise in the base.
Some people were shouting, some were cheering, and the sound was deafening in the quiet base.
The boy lowered his head. He was not curious about what was happening, but still subconsciously looked towards the exit of the base.
The slums are located at the outermost part of the base, closest to the exit. Once danger comes, the slums will be the first line of human defense.
The boy remembered that this had happened before. The slum managers released the "cargo" as soon as possible. Those people who thought they were finally free and no longer had to suffer ran outside, blocking the invaders and using their lives to buy time for the people behind them.
Living in such an environment, he lost all compassion and empathy, and the only thing he was obsessed with was to survive.
The boy watched the car that only the boss of the base could ride in slowly drive out. He could only see a figure, but that did not prevent his dark eyes from staring at the person in the car.
Only by sitting in that seat can he survive.
Live like a human being.
Otherwise, he would be no different from those goods and would always be at the mercy of others. The cages were used to hold the "goods", but this base was also a cage, holding those of them who were not in shackles.
The boy stared at the car and the convoy as they drove out of the base.
"What are you looking at?" A woman wearing a rag staggered out of the alley. She rubbed her messy hair and took out a piece of chewing gum from her chest. After putting it in her mouth, she said with a smile, "Did you earn anything to eat?"
The boy nodded, and the woman squatted down. Her neck and arms were covered with purple bruises, but she seemed to have no feeling for them. Her limbs were thin, and her outstretched arms seemed to have a layer of skin attached to the bones. She touched the boy's head and asked, "Did you get anything last night?"
"Yours is yours," the boy said warily.
The woman stood up again and pounded her waist: "I'm not asking you for anything."
She squinted her eyes, suddenly thought of something, and said calmly: "Living like this doesn't feel like living."
"But we don't want to die." The woman looked down at the kid and suddenly asked, "Why don't you move in with me? Zhang Meng has been dead for two years. You recognize me as your mother and we can be a family."
The boy said nothing, he just shook his head.
The woman did not force it. She said nothing more and staggered back to her "home".
She was once protected by someone, so she did not become a commodity. And because she had a pretty face, she owned a small house of her own. She was one of the lucky people in the slums, but she was only lucky in the slums.
The boy didn't look at the woman again. He felt thirsty again, and even a potato couldn't fill his stomach. He continued to bend over, looking for work he could do.
He didn't want to be like those people who were buried in the sand before they had the chance to grow up.
·
Everyone was fully armed. In order to intimidate the other party, Ye Zhou spent a huge amount of money to buy a full set of exoskeleton equipment.
Although heavy, the suit, when paired with a helmet, can not only stop bullets, but also shatter an adult's skull with one punch.
And it's very handsome, with a pitch-black appearance and the sheen of metal. Although it's hot to be wrapped in the exoskeleton, it's bearable as long as you wear a conditioning suit inside.
Ye Zhou also wore a set of clothes. When he walked, he felt like he was walking on clouds. There was no sense of reality under his feet, yet he felt extremely stable.
"Someone is coming." Chen Shu, who was standing at the door, turned around and shouted to the person inside.
Ye Zhou, who was adjusting the exoskeleton, stood up. He chose a light exoskeleton, with only the chest and abdomen completely covered. His forearms and calves were wrapped in the exoskeleton, which made it easier to move, and even if he was injured, it would not be fatal.
With Zhou Yuanhe and the first aid equipment he had gritted his teeth and bought last night, Ye Zhou was not worried about his life except that he might feel pain if he was hit by a bullet.
Seeing that Ye Zhou seemed to want to go out, Chen Shu quickly said, "I'll go out first."
"The boss has to come out last." Chen Shu whispered beside Ye Zhou, "Otherwise they won't take you seriously."
He would not go out and deal with things in person unless he had no one under him.
Ye Zhou: "Then be careful."
Chen Shu smiled and said, "I won't leave the protection range of the shield."
Chen Shu walked out of the supermarket. The reason why Ye Zhou agreed to let her go out first was because Chen Shu was now the most intimidating person in the supermarket. She had a strong military temperament. In addition, after years of fighting in different dimensions, she also had a bit of the fearlessness of a desperado.
If Ye Zhou pointed a gun at someone, 80 percent of people would not believe that Ye Zhou dared to shoot.
But if it were Chen Shu, no one would doubt whether she dared to shoot.
As soon as Chen Shu went out, he saw a lot of cars in front of the supermarket. The sunlight did not hurt people in the protective cover and the temperature was suitable. Perhaps in this world, this was the only place suitable for human survival.
She held the helmet in one hand and walked to within one meter of the edge of the shield.
The crowd was right in front of her, and pairs of sinister and ferocious eyes were staring at her. Chen Shu was not nervous or afraid, but instead smiled and asked in a relaxed tone, "Where is your boss? Where is he?"
A man jumped down from the roof of the car. He walked up to Chen Shu with a defiant look on his face and said in a rough voice, "Here."
Chen Shu knew what the boss here looked like. Although she had never seen him in person, Zou Ming had told her.
So she scanned the crowd and her eyes fell on a man sitting at the front of the car: "Zhao Qing?"
Zhao Qing's expression changed, from watching a play to serious. He stood up and straightened his collar.
He hadn't heard his name from anyone for many years.
Everyone called him Boss, occasionally adding the word Zhao, but no one dared to call him by his real name.
When someone suddenly called out his full name, he was actually confused for a moment - so this was his name.
"How do you know my name?" Zhao Qing walked up to Chen Shu. He rudely pushed away the subordinate who had just "impersonated" him, crossed his arms across his chest, raised his chin, and wanted to look down at Chen Shu.
result--
Chen Shu was too tall, so no matter what posture he made, he had to look up at Chen Shu.
Zhao Qing's face turned pale. He had not looked up at anyone for many years. Those who were taller than him had to bend down and lower their heads in front of him. He could look down on anyone, not because of his height, but because of his status.
But the woman in front of him didn't care about his status.
Chen Shu did not directly answer Zhao Qing's question, but asked in return: "Boss Zhao must be short of a lot of things right now, right? Water? Food? Cloth and clothes? Salt? Condiments?"
Chen Shu said as he observed Zhao Qing's expression.
But she couldn't tell anything. There was no expression on Zhao Qing's face, nor any body movements.
So Chen Shu didn't try again. She said, "We have all these things."
"Now let's see whether you want to make a deal with us, which will benefit both of us. Or whether you don't want to make a deal and just engage in a direct exchange of fire."
Chen Shu knew very well what Ye Zhou wanted.
Ye Zhou wanted to walk into Zhao Qing's base instead of firing directly at Zhao Qing's base.
In this case, they cannot break off relations with Zhao Qing. They must make Zhao Qing understand that keeping them and cooperating with them will bring much greater benefits than going to war with them.
Zhao Qing: "Then you have to tell me first, what is this wall."
"What are you wearing?"
At this age, Zhao Qing is no fool. He can see that the other party does not want to fight with him. Although he doesn't know why, he subconsciously thinks that the other party is afraid of his fighting ability, or really wants to do business with them.
He made this trip in person only because he knew that the other party would not go to war with him.
Chen Shu smiled and said, "You don't need to know. You just need to know that I can crush your skull with my open hands right now."
Zhao Qing's expression remained unchanged, making it hard to tell whether he believed it or not, but he quickly asked, "How can you guarantee the safety of the things you provide?"
Poisoning has occurred in various bases before.
The big base supports the small base, this is the tacit understanding of everyone.
The only way for small bases to survive is to be incorporated into large bases, and then eat grass and be milked like cows. However, they are even worse than cows because what they eat is sand instead of grass.
But there have been cases where small bases have resisted. If they couldn’t defeat them head-on or out-consume resources, they would just poison them.
The strategy of using small to gain big has been successful before. Now the only large base with a well in this area was occupied by the small base after the poisoning was successful.
The 20,000 people in the large base were reduced to less than 2,000 people overnight, most of whom were old, weak and sick and unable to carry weapons.
The advance of the small base was not hindered at all.
When Zhao Qing learned about this, he was as shocked as the leaders of all the large bases, but he soon realized that the small bases he had encroached on did not poison them, not because the people in the small bases were all kind-hearted people, but because they did not have the ability to find huge amounts of poison.
They are just lucky, not that the other party is easy to bully.
It is not difficult for the other party to poison them. Most of the large bases are very arrogant. They have guns, people and resources. They will not take the small bases that don’t even have many weapons seriously. To them, the small bases are just dogs that can be whipped at any time. How could they bite back?
So Zhao Qing responded quickly. He took his men to attack all the small bases belonging to him.
The young women were brought back to the base, and the young men were killed on the spot. As for the old, weak and sick, they were left in the small base. Anyway, after they took away the supplies and food, this group of people would soon die of thirst.
Looking at the strange woman in front of him, Zhao Qing waited for her answer calmly.
But Chen Shu did not let Zhao Qing lead her by the nose. She sneered and said, "Boss Zhao, just because I call you Boss does not mean I am your subordinate. We are only responsible for providing the goods. As for whether there is poison or not and how to test for poison, that is your business."
"You can either not trust me or not make a deal with us. It's up to you."
Chen Shu: "You can discuss it carefully. When you have reached a conclusion, let me come out."
After saying that, Chen Shu didn't give Zhao Qing time to respond. He walked up the stairs and entered the gate wearing an exoskeleton and looked very relaxed.
It was the first time that Zhao Qing was thrown to the ground like this and he was stunned for several seconds. It was not until the glass door closed in front of him that he suddenly kicked the yellow sand on the ground.
"Boss." Zhao Qing's left and right hands surrounded him, and the three of them stood at the front.
The man with a mole on the tip of his nose lowered his head and said, "Boss, I think we can change it."
Another person also said: "We don't know their details yet, and we are indeed short of supplies."
Zhao Qing said nothing.
The left and right hands looked at each other. They chose not to persuade him any further, but waited quietly for Zhao Qing to make a decision.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Qing pursed his lips and said, "Something is wrong."
Zhao Qing paced slowly and no one dared to disturb him. He walked for more than ten minutes before returning to his previous seat.
"Why do they want to do business with us?" Zhao Qing asked.
"We are short of what they can sell, and they are short of what we can sell," said the man with the mole.
Zhao Qing slapped him on the head: "What nonsense are you talking about!"
The mole man shut up. Zhao Qing said, "They have water, food, cloth and salt. What can we give them?"
They simply don't have enough "goods" to exchange for these things, and even people are scarce now.
It is impossible to exchange these things for ugly things, not to mention that even the women in this place are so tall, which shows that they have never been hungry since childhood.
"We have what they want." Zhao Qing finally figured it out.
The other two people looked confused. Isn't this the same as what the mole man said before?
Zhao Qing was a little annoyed with these two idiots. In order to consolidate his power, he chose his right-hand men as fools who were only concerned with violent invasion and maintaining stability. But sometimes, he also wanted to pry open their skulls to see if they had any brains.
"The transaction is a cover," Zhao Qing said. "What they want is someone or some goods in our base."
"But they know we won't give it to them, or they just know there is such a thing but don't know what it is."
Zhao Qing looked at the two men, both of whom had dazed expressions on their faces.
"Boss, do we agree or not?"
Zhao Qing took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it and took a deep breath: "Agree, why not agree?"
"As long as that thing is in our hands, they will have to keep bowing to us."
Zhao Qing smiled and said, "Of course we want the stuff. We'll bring a few people to test for poison when the time comes."
"As for the payment..."
Zhao Qing blew out a smoke ring: "If we don't give it to them, what can they do?"
After Zhao Qing finished speaking, he raised his eyebrows and looked at his two subordinates.
After talking for so long, the two subordinates still had idiotic looks on their faces.
Zhao Qing turned his head away, wishing he could kick them both to death.
He looked towards the supermarket not far away and subconsciously licked his back teeth.
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