Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 396 - 31 This is the Cruel Wasteland

Chapter 396: Chapter 31 This is the Cruel Wasteland

"Uncle, should we keep the matter about the war chariot a secret? Who else knows besides you?" Lu Fan was worried about other issues, she originally wanted to understand the operation process in detail, but the female models were too noisy, focusing completely in the wrong direction.

Helpless, the female models also feared being left behind by Tang Zheng. Now that they heard they could get hundreds of thousands of bottle caps at once, it was only natural for them to be excited.

"Those five people from Old Pavel are accomplices, don’t worry." Gao Yu comforted Lu Fan, while urged Tang Zheng, "So what’s the plan?"

"I won’t go into the plan specifics, just follow along. First of all, we need to establish a child army, there’re so many cannon fodder orphans on one floor, it’d be a waste not to use them." With the existence of the Chinese District, Tang Zheng’s target options have increased, "We need half of the children from the Chinese District."

"Won’t the combat power of children be too low? As long as food is provided, recruiting youths wouldn’t be a problem, right?" Li Meilian tried to integrate herself into the core team, spinning her brain every second, showing herself.

"Youths aren’t as easy to control as children. Besides, they’re just cannon fodder, there aren’t any particular requirements." Qin Yan eyed this woman who could score eighty points, preparing to be more vigilant, to prevent Tang Zheng from being tempted by her.

"Just replace as many as die." Dantai Zongqi’s words were equally ruthless. He asked, "Do you want to overthrow the power of the Steel Council? We have plenty of soldiers, but where will the weapons come from? From those captured guns?"

"The military camp must have been ransacked long ago, the wasteland people won’t leave a single hair for you." Gao Yu thought of the poverty-stricken look of Little Pavel picking up even shell casings, and had no hope for this.

"We find it ourselves, every country must have secret armories hidden away in case of sudden warfare, only high-ranking military officers would know about them. If we find it, all problems will be solved." Tang Zheng shared his thoughts.

"A pre-war ammunition depot, huh? This idea is good. We just have to fear that the council folks have thought of this too." Dantai Zongqi, with his right index finger against his brow, approved this proposal, "As for the hiding place, the Ministry of Defense in the Kremlin is completely open to us. Let’s hope those documents are still there."

"With the child army, do we still have to go to the battlefield?" A female model carefully asked, hoping for a negative response.

"Newcomers need to get 200 base points, or they will be eradicated by the Trojan Eradication even if they manage to return alive. You decide." Lu Fan took out a G36C assault rifle. She skillfully disassembled and assembled it, finally added an ammo clip, pulled the bolt, jumped off the stool, and fired a few short bursts at the ceiling.

"Uncle, how was it?" The bullet holes were very densely scattered, and the little lolita hummed arrogantly. She obviously hadn’t wasted the past few days.

"Not bad." Tang Zheng patted the little lolita’s head, the G36C is a compact assault rifle, very suitable for children like Lu Fan to use. Moreover, with the quadrupled increase from Firefly’s protective clothing, the little lolita’s strength and stamina were actually not weaker than an adult’s, it was just that due to her size, she couldn’t fully utilize them in combat.

Knowing that Yin Shangwu’s three people had moved into the third floor and would not return, Gao Yu was envious and wanted to follow suit to be a platoon leader. Tang Zheng rushed everyone to rest while he alone busied himself making various plans.

In the middle of the night, Lu Fan climbed next to Tang Zheng again, sleeping next to him.

The next day, Tang Zheng took the female models to the surface. After finding a building near the subway station, he distributed guns and ammo clips for them to practice with.

"You newcomers are really lucky, we had to go through it ourselves." Gao Yu sat on the side, thinking that Tang Zheng was being too good to these people, "Now, a single ammo clip can be exchanged for seven or eight days worth of food, it’s a waste to just shoot them."

The female models glared at him, apart from their gratitude for Tang Zheng, they also tried their best to fire bullets. They knew the better their shooting skills, the greater their chances of survival.

A girl named Liu Yue was very talented in shooting, she quickly stood out and received a SVD sniper rifle and ten pieces of chocolate from Tang Zheng, the other girls were jealous as they knew that Liu Yue might receive extra care from Tang Zheng for this talent.

Leaving Dantai and Gao Yu to teach and protect them during practice, Tang Zheng returned to the subway station with Lu Fan. He wanted to fully explore and familiarize himself with the environment.

In the sewer, Tang Zheng encountered Chu Baichuan. This good husband greeted him with a smiling face and a rifle in his arms, obviously having a good time these days.

By his side were seven people of Chinese descent, all of whom nodded in a friendly manner. Now Tang Zheng was the biggest topic of conversation after meals on the second floor. Apart from some who harbored jealousy and thought he was foolish, most wanted to follow him. After all, it was more comfortable to follow a capable and good-tempered group leader. According to Lu Fan, many people had expressed their desire to join his team.

"Tang Zheng, I’ve saved up 23 bottle caps these days, not bad right?" Chu Baichuan thumped his chest and laughed, "Cheer up, we can definitely go back."

"Let’s encourage each other!" Tang Zheng also thumped his chest and glanced at his shabby AK47 wrapped in fraying tape. He took out three ammo clips from his backpack, gave it to him, and said with a frown, "I did get something from this trip out. If you have time tonight, come over and exchange it for a better gun."

"No need, this gun works just fine." Chu Baichuan looked at the three ammo clips, bit his teeth, and did not take them. "Thanks anyway, it’s getting late now, I have to go hunting."

The seven Chinese descendants’ eyes nearly popped out when they saw Tang Zheng hand out the ammo clips. They stared at him stupefied, thinking he indeed was a ridiculously nice guy. They admired and envied Chu Baichuan’s luck but were shocked when they heard him refuse the offer.

After nodding to Tang Zheng, the seven Chinese descendants hurried to catch up.

"This guy is really optimistic, and very principled too." Lu Fan, watching their departing figures, shook his head and said, "Suddenly I feel like seeing him cry."

"Let’s not." Tang Zheng replied, fiddling with two ammo clips, "Was my performance earlier too artificial?"

"No, you were just like a good group leader who cares for his subordinates. Once you go to the Chinese District to recruit child soldiers, many should respond." Lu Fan knocked on his rifle and asked, "Shall we go check on that urban management officer?"

"Baichuan, why didn’t you take it? Three ammo clips!" A young Chinese descendant asked Chu Baichuan, who hadn’t caught up with him yet.

"The favor would be too big, I couldn’t repay it." Chu Baichuan walked lightly. Although he had walked this route many times, he was still very cautious.

"Fool, what favor are you talking about? If he’s willing to give, just accept it. He’s not asking you to pay back." The same Chinese descendant of envy on his face continued, "If I had such a good group leader, I wouldn’t leave him for anything. I just don’t get how you think. Did he exploit your spoils of war?"

"No."

"Did he molest your wife?"

"No." Chu Baichuan shook his head again.

"Ha, a bunch of weirdos, they’re full but have no survival instincts, all righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith are wasted." A middle-aged Chinese descendant sneered, "Only when the stomach is full, people would spare some time to talk about morality."

"Right, giving away hard-earned equipment. Isn’t that group leader a fool?" A young man had just finished speaking when Chu Baichuan grabbed his collar and slammed him against the sewer wall.

"Baichuan, what are you doing?" The Chinese descendants were startled and rushed over to mediate.

"You can scold me, but you cannot insult Tang Zheng." Chu Baichuan warned fiercely, let go of him, then turned to the middle-aged Chinese descendant. His lips moved but he swallowed down the ’question’ he wanted to ask. He was a bit impulsive, but he wasn’t stupid enough to offend everyone.

Chu Baichuan walked ahead, his fists clenched tight, and the smile on his face disappeared. He felt that it was all because he had been a bastard for over twenty years, so he was being punished, causing his wife to share his misfortune. At this moment, he felt guilty towards his wife, especially when he heard her consolation every time, it pained Chu Baichuan deeply.

"Chuchu, don’t worry, I will definitely take you back." Chu Baichuan gripped his rifle, determined to hunt valuable mutated beasts today, "I heard that the council is acquiring radiation scorpions, it’s set."

"Are you insane? It’s a team annihilation weapon, we are not even enough for it to clean its teeth." The other Chinese descendants didn’t want to risk their lives.

As Chu Baichuan’s group was arguing, Tang Zheng saw the already disabled urban management officer. He was lying in a garbage dump that had been looted countless times, licking a moldy, empty canned box with his tongue.

Because of the cold weather, his hands and feet were not pus-filled, but his clothes had been stripped off by the vagrants, leaving not even a pair of underwear. At this moment, his body was frozen to an unrecognizable state, shivering ceaselessly.

The officer wasn’t aware of Tang Zheng’s arrival. He found a grain of wind-dried rice on the bottom of the can and tried his best to eat it.

"Give him a few pieces of chocolate, let’s go." Tang Zheng, frowning, decided to go make trouble at Duangang Bar. He had originally planned to do so after the child soldier group was formed, but the miserable condition of the urban management officer made him unable to bear it any longer.

Little Lolita sighed, the officer was beyond help, frozen to such an extent, he was making his last struggle.

Finding a few pieces of chocolate landing in front of him, the consciousness of the officer, already blurred by the freezing cold, stiffened. Then without any hesitation, he took a bite. Even too strongly, chewing on soil and garbage as well. The taste was the most delicious thing he had in his life. He wanted to swallow but his tongue and trachea didn’t obey, his eyelids drooped, sinking his vision into darkness.

That bite, using all his strength, had drained him of his last bit of energy.

A dozen adults and children who had been lurking nearby for a long time finally couldn’t wait and rushed out, holding homemade weapons, to fight over the chocolate. In the melee, screams and wails instantly echoed over the garbage dump. A moment later, there were three more bodies and several pools of blood, the chocolate was nowhere to be found, and a few minutes later, the tattered clothes on the bodies were taken away. Half a day later, the bodies also disappeared. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendations, monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)