Rotting Land: Survive

"Ah, brother, don’t misunderstand us. We met young Derek by chance on the road. We mean no harm. Young Derek mentioned there’s a survivor base here, so we thought we’d come by to ask for a place to stay. Please, brother, do us a favor as fellow humans... We don’t ask for much, just a safe place to live. As for food and drink, we’ll handle that ourselves."

Having previously learned about the situation at the school, Xu Renjie knew what the Japanese students lacked most.

So he took the opportunity to guide them in this direction, ensuring they develop a reliance on him.

Sure enough, upon hearing that Xu Renjie could handle food and drink issues himself, the guards’ eyes flashed with interest.

Although it was brief, it did not escape Xu Renjie’s keen, eagle-like eyes.

"Hand over all weapons!" The lean guy pointed at Xu Renjie, gesturing to Lei Tong’s steel blade.

Upon hearing this, Xu Renjie immediately nodded affirmatively, "Yes, yes! Absolutely! Absolutely!"

As he spoke, he took the blade from Lei Tong and passed it through the door gap to the lean guy.

After receiving it, the lean guy continued to instruct, "Now take off your clothes, sleeves, pant legs, shoes, and lift them for me to see."

Damn it! If it weren’t for the door blocking him, with Lei Tong’s temper, he would’ve beaten the lean guy into incapacity by now.

Following the lean guy’s instructions, Xu Renjie carefully lifted his clothes, exposed his legs, removed his shoes, and showed his wrists.

He had anticipated this before taking action, so apart from the blade given to the lean guy for passage, he had already left all other weapons in the accompanying vehicle.

But Xu Renjie never expected the lean guy to keep pushing his limits.

Even after this round of checks, he still didn’t open the door, instead instructing Derek, "You, come here and check their bodies. Remember, check carefully. Don’t let us find any problems inside, hmm!"

The lean guy left his sentence unfinished, but even a fool could hear the threat in his words.

Surprised by how crafty students are these days, Xu Renjie marvelled and gave some respect to the lean guy’s approach.

This seemingly ordinary search hides his real intentions.

First, he asked Xu Renjie and Lei Tong to voluntarily hand over their weapons.

The first step aimed to test Xu Renjie and Lei Tong’s intentions.

If their intentions were malicious, they would surely hide weapons and not surrender them.

The second step of asking Xu Renjie and Lei Tong to lift their clothes would expose any weapons hidden therein.

Thus, their intentions in coming here could be judged.

As for the third step, besides further checking if Xu Renjie and Lei Tong carried weapons,

the key was testing Derek’s loyalty.

After all, his return took longer than planned, and he also broke protocol by bringing back two people.

If he intended to conspire with them to seize the school, he might help them hide weapons.

This would be revealed once the group was inside and checked.

Conversely, if Derek had no ulterior motives or feared exposure, he would surrender Xu Renjie and Lei Tong’s weapons.

In summary, with a simple weapon search, the lean guy could roughly decipher Xu Renjie and Lei Tong’s intentions.

Furthermore, regardless of Xu Renjie and Lei Tong’s intentions, one thing was certain.

If they carried weapons, they would be found out due to the four search orders; escape was impossible.

And once inside, without weapons, Xu Renjie and Lei Tong, in the lean guy’s view, were like toothless tigers, regardless of their skills, unable to cause trouble.

Moreover, the team of thirteen on their side were all trained fighters, and whether in solo or team combat, the lean guy didn’t fear facing the pair.

Derek already knew Xu Renjie and Lei Tong had disarmed before arrival, so he was quite calm when executing the lean guy’s third order.

The lean guy observed this, and after the check, Derek confirmed, "I’ve checked, they don’t have weapons on them."

Nodding, the lean guy glanced at the young man beside him.

The young man looked at Derek, then began fiddling with the gate.

A few seconds later, accompanied by the sound of unlocking, the tightly shut gate opened.

"Come in! Slow down, hands on your heads, no sudden moves, or my knife won’t be forgiving!"

As if issuing a threat, the lean guy waved his long knife intimidatingly.

Had it not been for the task at hand, given the distance between them, Xu Renjie knew ten ways to subdue the lean guy on the spot.

But as a qualified special operations scout, enduring humiliation is a fundamental trait.

Because some rescue missions require special ops scouts to pose as captives to infiltrate enemy lines, gather intelligence, pinpoint hostages, and coordinate with external team members for rescue.

At this moment, Xu Renjie and Lei Tong were executing such a scenario.

Hands raised, heads held, Xu Renjie smiled obsequiously, reminiscent of a traitor to Japan in Chinese ’patriotic dramas’.

Perhaps Xu Renjie’s ’cooperation’ satisfied the lean guy, as he couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Stand against the wall!"

Xu Renjie and Lei Tong obeyed without a word, prepared to play the ’obedient little grandson’ upon arrival.

"You? Idiot!! Didn’t you hear me say stand properly?" With a kick, the lean guy struck Derek, knocking him against the wall.

Xu Renjie clearly heard Derek’s heavy breathing as he was kicked against the wall, instinctively glancing at him. Though brief, a fire of anger in the young man’s eyes was visible to Xu Renjie.

Seems he underestimated this guy before; he does have some courage and backbone. Not bad!

Derek’s behavior earned Xu Renjie’s admiration, not because of the anger in his eyes.

After all, being bullied tends to lead to resistance; some choose to fight back, others succumb.

But neither of those types impressed Xu Renjie; the former is too reckless, the latter too weak, both extremes.

Truly smart people assess the situation, seeking revenge when timely. Transforming rage into motivation under hardship, biding time and strategizing for a suitable moment to exact lethal revenge is the approach of a true strongman. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)