Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1128 - 13: Bad Start

Chapter 1128: Chapter 13: Bad Start

"Wait, Tang Zheng, who do you think you are acting all high and mighty? This reunion was funded by Rong Xuan, so why should we follow your orders?" Zhou Peng was defending his friend, and since he now worked at Cao Rongxuan’s factory, he naturally wanted to suck up to him.

"Peng, how can you talk like that?" Zhao Dongtao also got annoyed, his tone harsh. Though he was only 1.6 meters tall and small in stature, he was well-built with a strong voice and was very loyal, standing up for Tang Zheng.

During their junior high school era, both Cao Rongxuan and Tang Zheng had been prominent figures in their class. However, because Song Xin had chased after Tang Zheng and Cao Rongxuan had pursued Song Xin, Cao felt inferior and had held a grudge ever since, always wanting to put Tang Zheng in his place.

The other classmates didn’t speak up. They understood that Cao Rongxuan’s intention behind the reunion wasn’t just to gather with classmates but to pursue Song Xin. Now that the two were coming into conflict, they felt it wasn’t their place to comment. There was also another reason: a dozen of them leaned toward supporting Cao Rongxuan, who was rich and well-connected, all from the same hometown. In any trouble, they might seek his help in the future. As for Tang Zheng, he was just an ordinary university student. After graduation, he might even end up worse off than them.

"That’s what I said. What are you going to do about it? Tang Zheng is so arrogant. Rong Xuan told him about the reunion, but he didn’t plan to come. He never considered us as friends," Zhou Peng didn’t miss any chance to strike at Tang Zheng, acting as his friend’s loyal supporter.

"Nonsense, wasn’t it said that Tang Zheng wasn’t notified?" Zhao Dongtao was at a loss for words and looked towards Tang Zheng, seeking an answer.

"I received no such notification," Tang Zheng shook his head, telling the truth.

"Bullshit, are you saying you didn’t know? Yingjie told me that you just pretended not to know," Zhou Peng knew about this because he was good friends with Xiu Yingjie, who had disclosed what happened during his business trip.

"Peng, are you trying to trap me?" Xiu Yingjie gave a wry smile, feeling pressured to pick sides. After hesitating, he chose Cao Rongxuan who had influence back in their hometown. Who knew where Tang Zheng might end up after graduation? Besides, the 50,000 Yuan wasn’t Tang Zheng’s money.

"I did tell Tang Zheng about it," Xiu Yingjie said, not daring to look at Tang Zheng. "Forget it. I’ll buy him a drink next time. I’m sure he’ll forgive me."

Most classmates looked at Tang Zheng, and emotionally, they grew distant quickly. After more than five years apart and Zhou Peng stirring things up, the atmosphere became tense. As everyone got more experienced, they developed their own ulterior motives, no longer as naïve as before.

"Tang Zheng, just explain yourself. I believe there must be a reason," Zhao Dongtao was desperate. He believed in his friend unconditionally. "What’s wrong with you all? Is Tang Zheng the type to look down on others?"

"He wasn’t before, now who knows," Huang Shan accused him sarcastically, leaning towards Cao Rongxuan.

"Tang Zheng isn’t that kind of person," Song Xin still sided with Tang Zheng. Her words made Cao Rongxuan beside her very annoyed, as if he wanted to beat Tang Zheng up.

Tang Zheng glanced at Xiu Yingjie and sighed, then spoke seriously, "Enough, we’ll talk about this later. Now, all of you listen to me. This concerns your lives."

"Have you no shame? Who do you think you are? We’re not listening to you!" Zhou Peng was completely against Tang Zheng now.

"Shut up." Dong Zixuan couldn’t stand it anymore, stepped forward, and glared at Xiu Yingjie, "Can you be any more shameless?"

"How am I shameless?" Xiu Yingjie argued, "What I said was the truth."

"Ha, you probably don’t know then, those 50,000 Yuan you lost couldn’t possibly be recovered in three days. We are not gods. It was Tang Zheng who saw your urgency and covered the money himself, and he was worried you wouldn’t accept it, so he asked me to stage this act," Dong Zixuan, holding a strong sense of justice, wanted to blame Xiu for being ungrateful.

"Impossible, is he stupid?" Huang Shan didn’t believe it, and others were also skeptical. 50,000 Yuan was not a small amount for a university student to come up with.

"Infighting, great!" Li Wenbo saw that Tang Zheng had many classmates and worried that Tang Zheng might use the number advantage to take over team command power. Now it seemed these were not united. But Dong Zixuan was really a nuisance, deserving a serious lesson.

"You’re actually right, there are real fools!" As Dong Zixuan had been angered by Tang Zheng several times, she felt happy seeing him at a disadvantage. Yet, she also felt sad, "You regard him as a friend, but he treats you like nothing. Feels pretty sad, doesn’t it?"

The classmates couldn’t help but recall how Tang Zheng used to be during junior high—a genuinely nice guy.

"Enough, he is still my classmate." Tang Zheng waved his hand to stop Dong Zixuan from saying more. "We don’t have time now. Cao Rongxuan, let’s resolve any issues privately. Don’t joke with everyone’s lives. In a few minutes, the survival game is going to start, and when choosing equipment, make sure to grab protective clothing first."

Tang Zheng hesitated, the room being different. What if the Trojan didn’t provide starting equipment? If he misspoke, his credibility would drop and everyone would start questioning him. But seeing the confusion and panic on his classmates’ faces, he still spoke up, just in case someone quickly grabbed firearms, which would be tragic.

"What protective clothing?" Dong Zixuan was puzzled but suddenly remembered the tight clothing she had seen in the hotel bathroom. At that moment, she almost believed Tang Zheng.

The tension among the tourists was high, being in this unknown territory, leading to quarrels, and some short-tempered fellows even started fighting. However, a piercing, sharp noise soon erupted, like cat claws on glass, covering everything, hitting everyone’s eardrums, making one’s teeth clench and brows furrow.

"Toys, the survival game will start in two minutes. Please prepare to log in," a voice unlike any Tang Zheng had heard from the three Trojans rang out, deep and resonant, sounding like an old man at the end of his days, devoid of any vitality, like dry leaves, like a dried-up lakebed.

The countdown began, and the newbies panicked.

"Please pick up the equipment!"

Bang, small cabinets suddenly popped out on the wall, resembling a honeycomb, inside which there was a handgun, an ammo clip, and a wristwatch terminal.

"Use the handgun for self-defense, and the wristwatch to receive communications from the Trojan."

"Nobody move, illegal possession of firearms is a serious crime!" Ding Jian shouted, his head covered in cold sweat. Allowing civilians to have guns would be too terrifying.

"Nobody move." Li Wenbo spoke up, if they had guns, how could they guarantee the authority of the police? He signaled his colleagues with a look, urging them to go get them.

The newbies were stunned, after all, they had all been law-abiding citizens, who dared to carry guns.

"Don’t listen to him, go get the guns, or you’ll regret it." Tang Zheng, pulling Tao Ran and Dong Zixuan, ran to the wall, "Hurry and choose, it seems the equipment is different this time."

Tao Ran hesitated for a moment but decided to trust Tang Zheng, grabbing the handgun and the wristwatch.

"Stop, what if that wristwatch is a bomb that can’t be removed once put on?" Li Wenbo tried to persuade again, he just didn’t want the newbies to have firearms.

"Song Xin, Dong Tao, stop dazing, hurry, time is about to run out." Tang Zheng picked a Glock pistol with a nineteen-bullet magazine, which should last until they found new weapons.

"Everyone, Tang Zheng would never harm us." Song Xin ran to Tang Zheng’s side, not knowing how to choose, just randomly selecting.

"No, take the Glock, it has less recoil and more bullets, it’s suitable for newbies who are not used to guns." Tang Zheng grabbed Song Xin’s wrist and shouted again.

Most people have a herd mentality; seeing others grab one, they naturally didn’t want to fall behind, whether there were problems or not, they’d just take it first.

"Damn it, what is this?" Li Wenbo saw that he couldn’t control the situation, furious but utterly helpless.

"Who are you? What is this place? I want to go home!" a miner yelled out.

"Group leaders, I’m sure you have many questions, but I can only say, this is a battle for the Holy Land tickets. Only group leaders are qualified to participate. If you fail, half of your original team members will be randomly selected for execution as punishment, so fight for your life."

"Who are you?" Li Wenbo tried to assert himself, wanting to negotiate with the mastermind behind the scenes.

"Warning, only the group leaders are allowed one chance to ask questions, newbies are not allowed to ask any questions, or they will be punished." The Trojan didn’t answer.

"You’re illegally detaining us... ah!" Xiao Hu hadn’t finished speaking when a blue electric arc shot towards him, causing him to fall to the ground, foaming at the mouth, convulsing non-stop.

There were always some defiant newbies who wanted to challenge the Trojan’s authority, so this scene was replicated in many rooms.

"Are your instructions really correct?" Tang Zheng wouldn’t ask what type of game it was or how to clear it, those were the least valuable questions since they would soon experience it, and other group leaders might ask. He looked at the wristwatch in his hand, recalling the deceptive instructions of the Silver Trojan.

"Young man, you are quite impressive." The Trojan spoke and then went silent. It couldn’t answer the question as it involved game content. Aside from Tang Zheng, ten other group leaders had thought of this, none of whom got a response.

Tang Zheng frowned, what kind of answer was that? Plus, each group leader’s response was inaudible to the others, really troublesome.

Thirty-two, thirty-one... the countdown continued, but the room fell silent, the group leaders were thinking, and the newbies didn’t dare to answer.

"To motivate you to fight, there will be SSS-level equipment drops in this game. Also, let me tell you a little secret, if you can conquer the Holy Land, you will be able to grant any one wish."

"Could it even reverse aging?" one group leader sneered, but in the next moment, he got an affirmative response.

The newbies all looked unsure.

"Hey, I’m talking to you, don’t take extra ammo clips." Tang Zheng saw a few people were anxious and wanted to take more ammo clips and handguns. He immediately intervened.

"What’s it to you?" the speaker was Zhou Peng, who had completely sided with Cao Rongxuan and opposed Tang Zheng.

Three, two, one, time’s up, teleportation begins!

The Trojan didn’t care about their conflicts; as its words ended, an explosion happened, executing the punishment; some newbies had violated the rules.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)