Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 391 - 26: Robbing the Mutant Tribe

Chapter 391: Chapter 26: Robbing the Mutant Tribe

"What are your rules of engagement?" Tang Zheng countered, shaking his head, "I don’t kill women and children."

"You’re joking with your life. Not to mention women can fight, even children can pull the trigger, one wrong move and you’re dead." Before Luo Xiji could speak, his men had already raised their voices.

"Mutants don’t have enough firearms to arm the children, right?" Upon hearing about killing children, Gao Wei gritted his teeth. In contrast, Dantai Zongqi and Gao Yu showed no emotion.

"You don’t really regard mutants as Stone Age natives, do you?" A well-informed adventurer scoffed, "They just couldn’t take shelter in time after the nuclear war and have been living on the surface ever since. The intellect of mutants is not impaired in any way, and due to some beneficial mutations, they are even stronger and smarter than us."

"Tang Zheng, you can’t think of mutants as weaklings. They, too, can use weapons." Old Pavel tugged at Tang Zheng’s arm, urging him to drop the matter, "In this world, if you don’t rob and kill, you basically won’t survive."

"Aren’t the mutants just farming?" Old Gao was disgusted by such sophistry and spat as some adventurers lost face and subtly pointed their muzzles at him.

Without batting an eyelid at them, Tang Zheng stared at Luo Xiji, waiting for his response.

"Wanna die? Put down your guns." Luo Xiji stopped his reckless men from acting foolishly. He should take into account their formidable strength. He was standing so close that if a conflict erupted, he would be the first to suffer.

"We only kill the young and strong, seeking food and slaves. Women and children are spared. Of course, I won’t lie, if they resist, we will kill them before the combat alert is lifted." Luo Xiji admitted, somewhat begrudgingly. "We will reach the mutant tribe by noon. If you don’t want to join the fight, leave early."

"Old Pavel, help me sell the guns and bullets. Each will be three bottle caps cheaper than the market price." Tang Zheng handed over the seized firearms to him and walked quietly by himself.

"No problem." Old Pavel patted his chest to assure him. Adventurers with money immediately gathered to buy the gun for resale. They had spent a lifetime haggling; thus, they weren’t used to such generosity.

"Tang Zheng, what are you thinking?" Old Gao and the others caught up with Tang Zheng, "Truth be told, I also don’t want to kill children."

"Why are you being so empathetic? Their own kind don’t even worry, why should we? Anyway, I’m definitely going to rob. I’m thinking about taking some Russian slave girls." The thought of it excited Gao Yu, and he tried again to persuade Tang Zheng, "We’re in the apocalypse, surviving is the most important thing."

"You’re right, the world is that brutal." Old Gao sighed, slightly compromising, "Besides robbery, are there other ways to save bottle caps? Should we farm? I feel like I will grow old here!"

"Tang Zheng, are you thinking of taking them out?" Dantai lowered his voice. "Sell off the firearms; no matter what, this trip has already paid off. It will add to their burdens, drain their energy, and in the end, we can pick them up from the corpses and sell them again."

"Hey, hey, is Tang Zheng really that cunning?" Gao Yu was startled but soon figured that given Tang Zheng’s kindness, it was indeed possible to take these scum out.

"That’s why he’s hesitating. By the way, I’ll join the fight." Dantai Zongqi looked at Tang Zheng and the others, but had a different plan in his mind. He wanted to lie low, like a dark horse, waiting for the adventurers and mutants to fight it out before coming out to take a grab.

Tang Zheng was indeed wavering, because he was not familiar with Luo Xiji, he had to be cautious. Apart from not wanting to kill children, he also thought of an excuse for playing the dark horse, and there was nothing better than benevolence and righteousness.

Now the adventurers knew about Tang Zheng giving away ammo clips to his men, this incident made them feel he was an oddball, but their hostility towards him had much reduced. Anyone would subconsciously think that a kind person posed no threat.

"Let’s stand on the sidelines for now!" Tang Zheng sighed, unable to see these guys as NPCs and rob them to clear the stage. It was a mental block.

At noon, the adventure group climbed a hill with a gentle slope. Without the need for a telescope, they could clearly see a vast tract of crisscrossed farmland. Despite the heavy snowfall a few days ago, it was evident that spring had arrived. Several adults and children were turning the soil with iron shovels and ploughing bulls, preparing for the sowing of oats.

Looking at the dark soil being turned over, no one found it dirty. Instead, they seem to smell the fragrance of the soil. Everyone had a look of intoxication on their faces because they knew, it symbolized harvest and hope.

Watching the children frolicking and running along the field ridge, hearing their cheerful laughter, Old Gao’s grip on his rifle loosened and tightened again. Even Gao Yu who surehandidly wanted to join the robbery began to flinch, showing signs of struggle. After all, there was still some goodness left in their hearts.

As for the adventurers nearby, they had already begun to argue in low voices, dividing up the spoils of war.

"That cow is mine. My little son is five years old and he doesn’t even know what milk tastes like." An adventurer who is also a father said, with a glint in his eyes and a snarl on his face.

"Bullshit, my wife is pregnant. I need to find her some nutritious food." A young man beside him retorted, and the others join the wordy dispute. After all, cows feed on grass and having a milk-producing cow for making cheese is a perfect business opportunity.

"It’s too far away, can’t even see what the women look like." Said a bachelor, they were more interested in looting and venting their frustrations, rather than anything else.

Dressed in a grim face, Luo Xiji took out an old telescope and observed the environment. A few seconds later, he noticed that the group members had stopped the dispute. Glancing aside, he found that all three wanderers were holding a brand new high-powered telescope, which was quite enviable.

The Mutant Tribe settlement was on the other side of the hill, comprising mainly of dozens of acres of cultivated farmland. It was surrounded by sparse firwoods that effectively concealed it from greedy eyes and shielded it from wild winds and snowstorms, creating a natural gathering place.

About one kilometer to the right was a large three-story wooden building, enough for five hundred people to live. It was surrounded by a three-meter-high wall made of logs and mud. There were also towers for lookout purposes. Upon discovering this, Luo Xiji quickly asked the group members to squat down and remain silent.

"What are you afraid of? There’s no one on the tower!" Gao Yu mocked, "They seem to be quite comfortable these past few years, their vigilance has waned a lot."

"Does that mean we can rob more food?" The group members started to get excited, itching to raid the place immediately.

"But our military strength is not negligible, right? If our opponents defend from the wall, we would have to sustain heavy casualties." Gao Yu would’ve continued, but the laughter from the adventure group cut him off.

"It’s just a shabby three-meter-high wall and you call that defense? Did you see the east side? The range between the building and firwoods is just three hundred meters and can be rushed in less than a minute." Luo Xiji smirked and then said, "Have some food, we’ll attack at two in the afternoon."

Following the group leader’s command, they descended the slope to find a safer place, taking out foods which they would not usually eat, and gorged themselves. After all, this could be their last meal and no one wants to die hungry.

"Old Pavel." Grigory and Pavel moved closer. They had robbed Tang Zheng a few days ago and were afraid of being recognized, so they found it safer to be with familiar comrades when the battle started.

After bidding Tang Zheng a friendly greeting, Sholokhov settled down next to Little Pavel and started to nibble on a treasured can of food, which made the others quite envious.

Tang Zheng offered Old Gao a can of beef and a few pieces of chocolate. The latter quickly expressed his thanks while the others in the adventure team peeked at Tang Zheng in amazement.

"This guy is indeed a strange one." Honestly, they all had the impulse to rob Tang Zheng.

"He might be too ostentatious." Old Gao chewed his beef with no flavor weighing on his mind. He was too worried, not realizing that Tang Zheng was doing this on purpose. If the adventure group moved first, he would have an excuse to wipe them out. The Iron Hellfire had not tasted blood yet.

When the gathering place started to billow with smoke, Luo Xiji ended the lunch break and directed everyone to quickly move towards the east side while the defenses were lax.

The group of 209 individuals moved rapidly. Their years of hunting had endowed them with exceptional physical strength. In just a few minutes, they arrived at their battle positions.

"Same rule as always, the first batch to rush into the wall gets 30% of the spoils. Pick any woman and children at will. Snipers will suppress from the wall and will be rewarded with 10% based on their kill count. And another 30% is our information gathering fee, the remaining 30% will be shared evenly amongst the rest." Luo Xiji reiterated the rules of distribution.

Gao Yu had been contemplating what to do if someone tried to cheat the distribution, but now that he heard about the substantial reward for the ’first to enter’ group, he felt relieved. If they succeed, they could live a comfortable life for a few years. Besides, the ragged wall posed no challenge to the adventure group.

"You all have seen the affluence of this Mutant Tribe. After we rob them, get married, have children, and enjoy a few good years, it won’t be any problem at all. So, fight for it!" While Luo Xiji was trying to boost morale, he assigned the assignments to the adventure team. The eight snipers, including Sholokhov, who had good shooting skills, had already begun to hide and find their shooting positions.

"If the four of you do not participate in the battle, you should leave now; otherwise, we’ll label you as enemies." Luo Xiji suddenly exploded with a line, and without any surprise, the other group members aimed their muzzles at them.

"What the fuck." Relying on his protective clothing, Gao Yu wanted to rebel.

"Don’t misunderstand and don’t rush, this is just a routine pre-war rule." Luo Xiji glanced at Tang Zheng and his three companions, "Apart from snipers, no one can stay in place, not even the group leader." (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)