Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 318 - 16: Deterrence and Crossing the Lake_2

Chapter 318: Chapter 16: Deterrence and Crossing the Lake_2

"If you disagree, either you go ahead or you change the location of lake crossing." Tang Zheng ignored them, his icy gaze sweeping over them, nobody was daring enough to meet his eyes.

"You..." David grabbed Danny’s arm, restraining him from provoking Tang Zheng. It was not worth turning against each other.

After ten minutes, everyone’s wooden rafts were prepared, but no one entered the water. They would occasionally glance at Brant who was standing behind, and the unspoken meaning was clear: cannon fodder always went first.

Brant and Defoe buried their heads between their knees, acting as if they hadn’t noticed, playing innocent.

"Brant, you’re up." Looking at the darkening skies, Leonard decided not to wait any longer.

Brant lowered his head even more, pretending not to hear.

Klatch. A clouded expression on his face, Leonard chambered his rifle and took aim. Brant and Defoe, when they sneakily looked his way, instantly scrambled out like monkeys whose tail was on fire.

Thud thud thud, a burst of bullets hit near them, splashing up a pit of mud.

"Are you trying to kill us?" A shaken Brant roared loudly, but was choked off by a single sentence from Leonard.

"If you don’t go across the lake now, you will be shot dead for real." Leonard stood up, other conquerors also got up in unison, their muzzles aimed at Brant and Defoe, "cross the river."

"Uncle, if we didn’t have the strength, we’d be the ones being forced to cross now." Lu Fan, sucking on a lollipop, happily watched the cruel scene before him. It was Brant who had opposed Tang Zheng before, he deserved it.

"You shouldn’t do this!" Jack could not stand to watch any longer.

"You want to help this coward? Then why don’t you cross the lake for him." Leonard made a circle with his finger, "See, everyone remained silent. I played the villain on your behalf; should I still be blamed? So you should persuade Brant to take responsibility."

Jack could not accept this, but Nicole held him back before he could speak any further.

"I can go first, but you have to give me the inflatable boat." Brant overstepped his bounds, he wanted to monopolize the better boat, and even if he didn’t make it, he was determined to cause discord among them.

"Are you stupid?" Lu Fan laughed, his expression suddenly turned ferocious. He pulled out his silver revolver from his waist, fired a shot, "Believe it or not, I can kill you right now."

The ferocity displayed by the little lolita stunned everyone, making them realize she wasn’t merely a lamb to the slaughter; she was a young wolf.

Naturally, Tang Zheng needed to back up Lu Fan. He also cocked his M4A1 rifle, putting the bullet into the chamber, then placed three hand grenades and three ammo clips in the inflatable boat. The newbies averted their gazes in panic as he calmly carried out these actions.

"Defoe, let’s go." Brant had no choice but to bite the bullet and proceed. But after taking a few steps, he found that his partner, Defoe, wasn’t following him, "What’s the matter?"

"I’m with her, I’ll protect her." Defoe proposed himself as the raft of the limping high school student, putting it rather superbly.

"You..." Brant was itching to smash Defoe’s hypocritical face on the spot. However, looking at the muzzles pointed at him, he could only give up and obediently moved towards the lake’s edge.

The sky was a bit dim, the light diminished, the large trees added to the shade. Entire lake surface appeared motionless, the light could only penetrate a meter into the lake water, making it look dim and muddled, like a death pool. It added to a sense of panic as it seemed as if a great danger was lurking beneath.

Brant pushed the wooden raft and walked into the water. The chill instantly climbed from his legs to his spine, making him shudder uncontrollably.

"Idiot, aren’t you taking the oar?" Leonard cursed, throwing the shaped wooden oar, hitting him on his head, "If you drop it I’ll blow your head up."

Brant, disregarding the bump on his head, hurriedly grabbed the oar that was sinking into the lake. His action was so violent that he almost fell into the water. It took a great effort to stabilize himself again.

"Paddle." Leonard and the rest gathered at the lakeside, watching Brant as he drifted further away.

"This guy can actually row a boat, quite impressive!" Danny had been waiting to see Brant make a fool of himself, instead, the raft didn’t circle around on the lake surface, he was handling it quite well.

"Quiet. From now on, everyone speaks softly. If there’s no need to talk, then shut up." Tang Zheng glared at them, focusing his attention on the lake and listening for any sound.

Splash, splash, the dull and rapid sound of oars hitting the water made Brant jumpy. He swung his arms forcefully, trying to row as quickly as possible, but he slowed down after reaching the halfway point.

"What’s happening? Is something wrong?" David turned to Tang Zheng, waiting for an explanation.

"No, he’s just worn out." Tang Zheng shook his head, noting that things seemed safe enough. He actually wanted to fire a shot to see the effect after injuring and causing Brant to bleed.

Brant felt a deadly fatigue in his arms, but he dared not stop. The lake, covered with a large patch of green algae, terrified him. His entire back was soaked with sweat. He knew that without the protective clothing, he wouldn’t have been able to last this long.

"Nine minutes just to row this far? That’s too long." Tang Zheng checked the time, quite unsatisfied.

When he reached the final few meters, Brant, in his haste, fell into the lake. This misstep startled everyone, who feared he had been attacked. It wasn’t until he swam out of the lake and crawled up onto the shore that everyone was able to relax.

"Let’s get going." Athlete Derek suggested to Miranda as he began pushing the raft into the lake.

"Let’s move, too." Mars also signaled to his team and started to gear up.

"Get on the boat, get on!" Danny couldn’t sit idly any longer. He tried to grab Natalie’s hand and was deftly avoided by her.

"These fools, they should’ve waited. Who knows if there are any carnivorous dinosaurs on the other side?" Tang Zheng didn’t want to move, but he knew that these cannon fodder would only be useful if they all paddled together.

Tang Zheng pulled out two life jackets, tossing one to Julia to put on little Demi, and put the other one on Lu Fan.

Nicole’s impression of Tang Zheng improved greatly because of this gesture.

"Let’s wait a bit more." Jack wanted to push the inflatable boat into the lake, only to be stopped by Tang Zheng.

"Wait for what? Defoe’s raft is already moving." Jack didn’t understand Tang Zheng’s reasoning.

"The rafts move at different speeds and will soon scatter across the lake. We’ll wait a bit and then start. As we gradually overtake them, we will have cannon fodder and bait available every so often." Lu Fan knew Tang Zheng’s intentions, but these weren’t words that could be spoken aloud. "We have an outboard motor and it makes noise. Let’s allow them to go ahead a bit."

"What a kind-hearted little girl." Jack sang praises for her, not knowing what Lu Fan was really thinking. If he did, he would surely be furious.

As expected, David’s team was the fastest, reaching mid-way in just under two minutes. Mars’ team followed, with Arthur and Miranda in the middle, and Defoe trailing. Defoe and the high school student with a sprained ankle clearly did not know how to row a boat, as it took them a good while to go just over ten meters.

"Let’s get going." Tang Zheng pushed the inflatable boat into the lake. Nicole held onto Lu Fan as they got onto the boat, while Julia took care of Demy. "Move to the front. Pay attention to your center of gravity and balance, and don’t move around aimlessly."

Little Demy was so excited that she wiggled around, making Tang Zheng growl at her. Julia quickly comforted her daughter.

Of course, Tang Zheng was at the stern of the boat, operating the outboard motor. As soon as Jack climbed aboard, he grabbed the start rope and yanked it hard.

Chug, chug, chug chug chug. After three pulls, the roaring of the motor echoed across the tranquil lake. Almost instantly, the people in the other rafts began paddling even harder. The guards clutched their firearms and stared intently at the lake.

Whizz. As the propeller churned up a spray of water, the inflatable boat instantly zoomed forward by five or six meters. This startled everyone on the boat, making Tang Zheng immediately slow down and adjust the direction. He had only read the instruction manual, so the boat didn’t move in a straight line. Instead, it marked an S-curve on the lake. But it still moved forward, at a speed far greater than just rowing.

"Won’t all this noise attract monsters?" Seeing Defoe and others fall behind, Jack was worried. "Perhaps we should just use oars."

Tang Zheng ignored him, concentrating on operating the motor, which was becoming as easy as moving his arms.

Watching the rubber boat dash across the lake, some narrow-minded newbies wish they would capsize instantly. However, their curses would eventually fall on another raft instead.

Arthur’s raft had fewer people, but they were rowing too hastily. In failing to control the balance, one of the hooligans and Anthony took a fall into the water. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)