Chapter 171 - Working Together
"It's just beyond this building," Geming explained as the group of them walked along.
"Ya. We know." Lu Chen nodded and Alex grumbled something similar under her breath.
In the next few seconds, they reached the facility, and as soon as they neared the main gate of the area, a few armed guards walked out.
Following these men, Generals Zemin and Bailong walked out as well.
Everybody's gaze was directed at the trio who stood with a relaxed stance, not the least bit worried about whatever may happen. Was this arrogance or confidence?
Bailong was the first to speak and he loudly cleared his throat. "Ahem. Where is everyone else? I heard that there were totally about twenty or thirty of you?"
The General's eyes inevitably fell on Guan Ye as he was the oldest in the group and also was a bit taller than the other two. However, Lu Chen was the one who responded instead.
"Everyone is injured and tired after the recent battle. Only we were able to come." This was the answer they had discussed previously and he stuck to the story.
Adding to his words, Fang Yuan quickly stepped forward and hurriedly explained with an urgency in his tone. "General, what we feared turned out to be true!"
"In the midst of peace talks, everyone was attacked by a violent beast that was terrifying and it was Commander who fought the beast on his own."
"Our other troops tried to fight with the beast and they were killed and mauled instantly."
"In the end, both the beast and the Commander disappeared somewhere it seems and these people went back to their hideout in the hospital to stay low."
"This is what happened, Sir." Fang Yuan bowed and then stepped back respectfully, awaiting further instructions.
Both the Generals were visibly shocked and glanced at each other after hearing this. A beast strong enough to take down the Commander?
Something like that could destroy their entire city two times over!
The other guards standing around also had ghastly expressions. They thought that they had somewhat stabilized the dire situation and culled down the dangers around them, but they had clearly not even begun to scratch the surface.
There was something or the other waiting to strike them down every damn day!
"Alright. Let's go inside and talk in more detail. We need to make a lot of preparations. The Commander might have bought us some time, but this beast will surely attack us again." Bailong muttered.
The group then walked inside to discuss further. At least thus far, no one doubted this story and they had also let their guards down, inviting everyone inside the facility.
They gathered in the hall which was previously occupied by the Commander and spoke in length about where the beast could have gone, what might have happened to the Commander, and what they should potentially do next to prepare.
While one party was extremely nervous and talked about things seriously because their life depended on it, the other party only put on an act as if they were on the same page.
After some time, Alex even began to feel guilty. Her gaze shifted to the two men sitting next to her but they seemed perfectly fine with terrorizing these people for no reason at all.
These guys… how are they able to maintain a straight face with no remorse… Alex sighed inwardly and continued to follow their lead to the best that she could.
After a few more minutes, everything that needed to be talked about was finally over. They had made all sorts of plans and speculations and positioned various groups at various places.
It was not like they could actively go after this strong mysterious beast and hunt it down.
All they could do was prepare and wait for it as best as they possibly could and when the beast finally showed up, they could either run away and fight it.
The plan was in fact to do a little bit of both which surprisingly Lu Chen found himself agreeing to. They were going to clear the city completely and then clear the neighboring cities one by one.
This would allow them to gather more information and also strengthen themselves at the same time.
"When the Commander was here, we had actually talked about slowly migrating to one of the main cities in the country closest to us, Chengdu, Chongqing, or Changsha…" Bailong muttered.
"He always stressed that these cities will have the highest chance of stabilizing as they already have military bases with a huge foundation of manpower, weapons, and ammunition."
"Though he is no longer with us. This should still be our best bet."
"Who knows… perhaps the government had intervened and was even successful there in securing livable lands… they might have even established something like we have here, except a bigger and better community."
Zemin patted him and then added. "Hmm… Without any kind of information, we can only hope for the best."
He rolled the strategy map that was spread out on the table by the lighted lamp and then lifted his head to pay attention to the next important matter at hand.
"So… we talked about everything but the main question still remains. What have you decided? Hmmm?" Bailong looked at Lu Chen, his piercing eyes trying to decipher the man in front of him.
Hearing his words, Alex began to once again sweat and became nervous.
On the other hand, Guan Ye's expression was as blank as ever.
He was truly mastering the art of becoming invisible. If he was a bit more translucent, everyone would have forgotten that he was even present in the first place.
However, there were two others who were equally as nervous as Alex, Geming, and Fang Yuan. They knew that this was the most crucial part of their meeting and this had to go smoothly at all costs!
A moment of heavy silence ensued and breaking that, Lu Chen responded with a polite smile. "About this…"
"The thing is we are used to fighting together in a group. So changing that up right now might put us at a disadvantage, especially with the threat of the monstrous beast looming over our heads."
"If possible, we would like to act as an independent unit. We can take care of ourselves and we will provide assistance if and when required. Does this look like a feasible solution?"
The more Lu Chen tried to be polite, friendly and smiled like a buddha, the more nervous Alex, Geming and Fang Yuan became. He even spoke as if he was merely seeking permission from the Generals rather than demanding it.
They could tell that this was the best he would compromise. So Fang Yuan quickly bent down and whispered in the General's ears. "Sir, we already have a shortage of food. Isn't this better?"
"Hmmm?" Bailong gave a quick glance at the man. He had a pensive look on his face as he mulled over this situation.
Following a few minutes of silence, Lu Chen was still smiling and the Generals appeared to be deep in thought. Tik Tok Tik Tok. Even the sound of the wall clock could be heard loudly.
After that, finally, the two Generals looked at each other and nodded. "Alright. For now, let's go along with this."
"I would rather prefer that we are all unified and stand together but like you said, the threat of the beast comes first. We should focus on improving our strength and power in this time."
"We should take care of the beast first and then decide what's a better way to function for the long-term." Both Zemin and Bailong stood up and extended their hands to shake with Lu Chen and Guan Ye.
They ignored Alex altogether, most probably because she was a woman, but she couldn't care less about it right now. All she wanted was to get out of there!
After exchanging a few more words of greetings, everyone dispersed and Lu Chen, Alex, and Guan Ye returned back to the hospital zone.
"Are we really going to trust their words?" Guan Ye who was usually very silent and reserved spoke up, looking towards Lu Chen.
"Oh?" Alex as well looked curiously.
Lu Chen smiled again, letting out a long sigh. "Hell no."
Meanwhile… back at the military camp…
Zemin and Bailong returned back to their empty armory which was located away from the main building. They did not want to be overheard by anyone.
"What do you think about those two? I still don't understand why seemed very insistent on remaining separate from us."
"Hmm… Something definitely doesn't add up. They are strong, no doubt, but some of our men are just as strong as them. So there is definitely something else…"
"Yes, I also think that it is very weird that they don't appreciate the help and support of the government."
"Especially during uncertain times like this, isn't it common for people to hope that government would somehow make everything better?"
"But these people seem to not care so much about it. It is almost as if they have something else to rely on…"