Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 460 - 18 Decimation

Chapter 460: Chapter 18 Decimation

The steamed bun was cold and not fully cooked, the dough inside was still somewhat hard. Gao Yu bit into it and then spat it out immediately. He frowned and stared at the soup for several seconds before sticking out his tongue to give a taste. Immediately, a bitter and extremely salty taste spread across his tastebuds. Gao Yu quickly turned away coughing and spitting.

"Pig food." It was indeed hard to swallow, Gao Yu cursed, initially intending to toss away the soup. But upon seeing Chu Baichuan and the An Ping brothers eating with gusto, even Tang Zheng and Dantai were stuffing their faces impassively. He didn’t want to admit defeat, so he took another bite and forced down the nauseating mixture.

Ha ha, the nearby civilians burst into laughter when they saw Gao Yu’s miserable look. Everyday work was tiring, so whenever they could mock someone, it brought a level of amusement.

"What are you all laughing at? Hurry up and finish your meals so you can start working." About twenty overseers happened to be passing by for their meals when they saw these newbies. They wore wicked grins and approached, "Do you know? Every time we welcome newbies, we always prepare a ceremony."

An Ning shrank into her brother, clutching his clothing and looking to Tang Zheng for help. Even a fool could now tell that these guys were going to bully them.

Chu Baichuan paid no attention to these bastards. He was busy eating. He never bothered with idle chatter. He’d rather simply start a fight.

Gao Yu, very defiant, was just about to retort when the overseers cleared their throats and spat into Tang Zheng and the others’ meal bowls. They then burst out laughing as if they had achieved a great victory.

"Come on everyone, spit here." One of the overseers was good at stirring up the crowd. He called out to the civilian workers. Another mas was stirring the phlegm into An Ping’s soup, "Aren’t you going to thank me for adding some nutrition?"

"Why aren’t you drinking? Ha ha, no one is spared if they are a newbie. Just so you know, once you are on-site, you have to follow our rules. If you don’t, you won’t even get a chance to run away." An overseer got up close to Tang Zheng’s face, threatening him with a distorted grin, "Not eating is the least of your problems. You might even end up in an accident, losing your lives."

"You need to brush your teeth." Tang Zheng set aside his meal tray and stood up.

The overseer shrugged indifferently. He had seen too many of these rebels. It didn’t matter. They will fall into line soon enough with a daily beating.

"Guys." With the successive calls from the overseers, everyone eating dinner ran over. Even those who hadn’t finished their meals quickly stuffed the remaining food into their mouths and headed their way.

Chu Baichuan was still chewing on the little half of the steamed bun he had left, Gao Wei stood up. Dantai was looking at the soup, a speculative smile on his face. An Ping was protecting his brother. He was nervous. Almost three thousand people had surrounded them and the crowd was so densely packed there was no way out.

Gao Yu’s face also changed. His seed ability was not suitable for combat, so he did not believe that he had the strength to take on hundred men by himself. Now he regretted leaving his rifle in the barracks. But there was no way around it. The patrolling soldiers would not allow them to carry weapons.

"It’s not too late to beg for mercy now, how about you perform a monkey dance for us? Oh yeah, monkeys don’t wear clothes do they, so strip." The overseers taunted, crying out, "Make way. Let them see what the other newbies are doing."

The crowd was noisy. After a while, a small passage opened up in the crowd surrounding Tang Zheng and the others. They saw newbies from wooden buildings. They were squatting on the side eating their meals without any resistance. Almost everyone had a bruise or a bloody nose. Sun Bowen, Dong Bai, and around a dozen others who resisted the most were the ones with the most bruises. Now, they were barely able to breathe, lying on the ground, wearing only their underwear. They were covered in blood and dust. The other newcomers dared not help them. Whoever helped would get beaten up.

"Why aren’t they mentioning our names?" Gao Yu was confused. Then, a chill ran down his spine. Was he going to be humiliated like this too? If Tang Zheng couldn’t handle this, he would rather make a run for it.

"I guess they did, but they need to be believed, right?" What happened yesterday would need some time to spread throughout the base of nearly a million people. Dantai was very calm. It had been a long time since he had beaten up someone. He was feeling somewhat nostalgic.

Looking at this group of overseers of varying skin colors, Tang Zheng felt that it would be strange if the newcomers were not ostracized, especially considering the shortage of supplies. After all, every new person meant more food consumption.

"Are you done talking?" At Tang Zheng’s words, everyone, except for Gao Yu, who was still considering escaping, gathered around.

"Who allowed you to speak? Strip." The overseers led the shouts, and the surrounding civilians also started shouting abuses, pressuring Tang Zheng and others. The imposing pressure from thousands of person was indeed intimidating.

With more than twenty overseers feeling very proud, they looked at Tang Zheng and others with a triumphant expressions. This was their power.

Tang Zheng’s response was simple. He delivered a hook punch to the chin of the overseer in front of him. With a crisp crack of bones, the overseer’s body flew into the air as if he was a fish being pulled out from a river. Then, he was hit in the chest by Tang Zheng’s roundhouse kick. By the time he hit the ground with a thud, he had already lost consciousness.

The thousands-strong crowd was quiet as if someone had choked off their voice. The word they had been shouting faltered and the entirety of the square suddenly entered a deathly silence.

The workers simply couldn’t believe it. These newbies were surrounded by over three thousand people, but they still had the audacity to act defiantly.

With thousands of eyes watching, Tang Zheng fiercely showed a middle finger, then swung a punch at a foreman who was about to swear. The unfortunate guy was immediately sent spinning out like a top.

"Attack!" The rest of the foremen roared. They were men with a backbone, so several hundred men roared and rushed toward Tang Zheng and the others.

"Maintain formation. Don’t get disarrayed. Charge to the left." Standing still would only result in being swallowed by the crowd. Tang Zheng growled in a low voice. After making sure that everyone heard him, like an ancient general, he took the lead and charged out. His fists swung continuously, like two sharp spears piercing into the attacking workers and sending them flying.

Gao Yu was half a beat slower. By the time he caught up, he was already swallowed by the crowd. He couldn’t even make a groan before he was knocked to the ground and could only protect his head, enduring the hard punches and kicks he received.

Chu Baichuan took the right. Dantai held the rear, and the two young An brothers were protected in the middle. They were both tall, one in high school and the other in third grade, but because of malnutrition, both of them were thin as dry firewood.

"Slow down. You’re too fast," Gao Wei complained, unable to keep up with Tang Zheng. It was clear that the "pioneer" workers chasing them were experienced in fighting, especially when their eyes were bloodshot. Each of their attacks aimed for vital parts of the body—they would exploit any weakness or vulnerability just to quickly take down their adversaries.

Dantai was familiar with human anatomy, had knowledge of martial arts, and had a heavy hand. Hence, no one under his hand lasted a round against him. Anyone he targeted—the lungs, heart, throat, and frail jaws—would all end up lying on the ground, curling up in pain, not daring to breathe.

Chu Baichuan had been in many fights but this was his first time dealing with so many people. After being punched a few times, his adrenaline spiked, prompting him to abandon all resistance, devoting all his strength to bringing his adversaries down instead.

In a matter of seconds, Tang Zheng and the others had barged more than thirty meters into the crowd, and they were still advancing.

"Look at the construction site, what are they doing?"

"Are they really having a several thousand-man brawl?"

Such conversations were ringing nonstop around the defense posts. The soldiers on the watch were constantly jostling to have a look through the binoculars, trying to witness the spectacular scene.

From a bird’s-eye view, the thousands of workers in the construction site formed a black cloud, rushing towards the left defense post. Concurrently, people in the middle would be flinged out like rag dolls or be cut down, making way for the mob behind to fill up space immediately.

"Damn, they’re fierce!" A minute later, an increasing number of soldiers were paying attention to the situation at the construction site. They even started to place bets on how many more minutes they could last.

The chaotic fight was still on as the accumulated fury clouded the workers’ minds. Gradually, they could no longer control the force behind their punches. Although Tang Zheng only had his hands, he took quite a few hits. Thankfully, Firefly was a remarkable ability, allowing him to maintain his full combat power. However, Gao Wei and Chu Baichuan were having a harder time.

Tang Zheng and the others had taken the advantage of striking first, knocking down many people in an instant. However, their opponents were too numerous, and under the urging of the foremen, they all lunged toward them. As time wore on, the situation descended into a stalemate.

"Idiots, don’t swarm. Break them apart." Not everyone was a fool. Soon, one of the foremen came up with a tactic. Several tall workers with long arms rushed to the front, starting to grapple with Tang Zheng and others’ arms and clothes, engaging them in a brawl.

Despite being cautious, Gao Wei got pulled out. Chu Baichuan tried to pull him back but was hit in the head with a wooden stick that a shovel’s ironhead had fallen out from. Blood immediately streamed down his temples, staining his clothes.

"I’d really like to use my Seed Ability," Chu Baichuan furiously exclaimed, hitting harder. Everyone he struck ended up with fractured bones, blood spurted out, and they were flung away. If it weren’t for remembering his pregnant wife not being by his side, he would certainly kill someone, completely without considering the consequences.

The abilities of Tang Zheng were lethal. The Warrior and the Female Musketeer didn’t know the meaning of holding back punches. Not to mention Gravity Suppression—it was an indiscriminate attack which would also cost Dantai and the others.

"Don’t. Let me do it." Dantai stopped him, before releasing a Mental Impact Storm during a gap between his swings. The several hundred workers surrounding them suddenly hit an invisible wall, halting in their movements before falling straight down.

This sudden shift of events scared the soldiers watching from the watchtower for entertainment, compelling them to grip their Chainsaw Guns tightly. The other workers also didn’t dare to attack anymore, they could only look at them in shock and disbelief.

Tang Zheng didn’t stop. He picked out a foreman and charged ahead. Workers within his reach were like terrified rabbits, immediately retreating in fear, revealing the foreman. He tried to escape but was immediately caught by Tang Zheng by the collar and then was flipped over shoulder, crashing into the ground. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to give recommendations and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)