Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

“Do you still want to eat some green powder?”

Zhang Su noticed the other party not answering honestly, took out the plastic bag from his pocket and shook it, expressionless yet with an undeniable pressure.

Su Xiaoya’s face turned green, and she clutched her stomach bitterly, saying, “I really don’t know, it must be some uncle in the village who went out to scout and saw you guys… Do you have any other questions? Swap it, if I know, I’ll definitely tell you!”

For the rest of her life, she would have a shadow over anything green.

“Okay, then let me ask you, how did you come to be around here? Don’t say you walked here yourself, or I’ll break your legs!”

Zhang Su slammed the table.

The bang startled Su Xiaoya, making her body tremble.

“No, I uh… A village uncle drove me over here. He took the small roads, didn’t use the main road.”

Everyone nodded continuously, looking at Zhang Su with admiration; his judgment was spot on.

Security and prestige aren’t built overnight, but are gradually established through each matter.

“So you’re being honest!” Zhang Su was not surprised; that was the only way it made sense. He continued, “Explain why you’re here in our camp trying to drug the Cyan Dragon Corps.”

This matter, if simplified, was a frame-up, but he felt it shouldn’t be as simple as that.

Su Xiaoya rolled her eyes towards the ceiling, thought for a moment, and said, “I heard them talk about it… The idea seemed to be… um, driving something, driving the tiger…”

“Driving the tiger to swallow the wolf strategy!”

Yuwen, sitting in the corner, suddenly spoke.

“Yes, driving the tiger to swallow the wolf.”

Su Xiaoya saw a kind-faced old man speak and nodded repeatedly.

“What is this?”

Zhao Dezhu asked in confusion.

Yuwen glanced dispassionately at Zhao Dezhu and said, “It’s a strategy, originating from Xun Yu of the Three Kingdoms. Generally, it means guiding two groups to kill each other, allowing a third party to reap the benefits. Similar to one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, ’borrowed knife to kill,’ but slightly different in detail, ahem…”

Yuwen coughed and continued, “If we apply this strategy to the current situation, it’s something like this: Kuanzhuang wants to create irreconcilable differences between us and the Cyan Dragon Corps. Whether they win, we win, or both sides suffer losses, Kuanzhuang can benefit as the third party. At worst, they can form an alliance to tackle the Cyan Dragon Corps together!”

Everyone looked at each other; these devious minds, just straight-up attack isn’t enough, they’re even using military tactics?

Zhang Su secretly sighed, noticing how people’s hearts were becoming more treacherous, feeling a bit like open gunfire is easy to dodge but hidden arrows are hard to guard against. If he hadn’t seen through Su Xiaoya, it would be highly likely they would fall into the counterpart’s plot.

“Girl, is your village chief named Lei Changhe?”

Wang Longzhong recalled something and asked.

Su Xiaoya shook her head, feeling down, “Grandpa Lei died a long time ago. Now the one in charge is Uncle Lei, who is Grandpa Lei’s son.”

“How’s that, Old Wang, do you know him?”

Zhang Su looked at Wang Longzhong.

“I know Lei Changhe, dealt with him before, but I don’t know his son.”

Wang Longzhong helplessly spread his hands.

“No matter who this person is, they’re sinister enough. To utilize our strength against the Cyan Dragon Corps, use spies to frame us, gather intelligence, and incite battles — they’ve employed all sorts of underhanded tactics, Brother Su, this person is truly vile!”

Wang Xin spoke through gritted teeth.

Zhang Su slightly nodded, not commenting, as his thoughts differed from Wang Xin’s.

Village Chief Lei of Kuanzhuang was indeed cunning, but the enemy’s enemy is a friend. Though the process was a bit unkind, the goal was to strike the Cyan Dragon Corps. If they could cooperate well, they’d be a strong ally.

As for whether they’d become enemies after achieving their goal, that’s uncertain, but before that, they could certainly leverage their strength!

This is a complex game.

“Miss, you’ve failed in gathering our intelligence, now tell us about your situation over there; I’ll see if you qualify to discuss an alliance with us!”

Zhang Su took out a cigarette and lit it, looking leisurely at Su Xiaoya.

“What situation?” Su Xiaoya was somewhat unsure how to answer.

“Population and its composition, like how many men, women, elderly, and children there are, food and weapon reserves, any special talents, etc.” Zhang Su explained.

“Oh, oh, currently Kuanzhuang has a total of thirty-seven people, males… twelve men, yes, twelve men, twenty-five women. Elderly… how old counts as elderly? I call grandpa or grandma, there are two, one grandma and one grandpa. As for children, there are three younger than me, two boys and one girl.”

Hearing this population composition, Zhang Su frowned but could understand, as United Village had a similar situation previously.

In this crisis-filled end, the number of men fighting outside was definitely less than women working on the rear side; the risk levels were not comparable.

“Fine, excluding children and elders, do the rest have the capability to kill zombies and humans?”

Zhang Su asked — black cats, white cats, as long as they can catch mice are good cats. He never underestimated women, but many women would underestimate themselves, thinking they can’t do men’s work.

“How could that be? I… haven’t killed a zombie, but those uncles and elders can kill zombies, and there are also a few skilled aunts and big aunts who dare to kill zombies; um, they’re very capable!”

“Effective combat personnel are less than twenty.” Zhang Su expressionlessly summed up, falling below expectations. He urged, “What about weapons?”

“As for weapons… there are guns! And this kind of weapon.”

As she spoke, Su Xiaoya mimed carrying a wooden stick on her shoulder.

!!??

“A handheld rocket launcher?”

Guo Dachao exclaimed in surprise.

This kind of weapon exceeded conventional weapon rugs; its destructive power was immense!

“Yes, yes, they call it something six-nine.”

“Six-nine rocket launcher!” Guo Dachao was even more surprised, urgently asking, “That’s an army’s anti-tank weapon!”

“Wasn’t this model of rocket launcher discontinued a long time ago?”

Yuwen also knew something related and curiously asked.

Guo Dachao said, “Yes, it was discontinued, about thirty to forty years ago. But the production volume was huge, retirement was slow, and recently they’ve been exported, equipped by standard infantry brigades!”

“Damn! Back when we were at the regiment camp on Wenhua Road, why didn’t we get this thing?”

Zhao Dezhu immediately recalled the past at the Wenhua Road regiment, fuming, “That Old Li wasn’t a straightforward person! Damn!”

As Zhang Su thought of Old Li, an image of his face came to mind, with a golden imprint shining vividly…

Whether he’s straightforward or not doesn’t matter, as long as he’s one of our own.

He looked at Su Xiaoya, “Where did you guys get the army weapons from?”

If they can pull out handheld rocket launchers, other weapons are certainly not to be underestimated; no wonder their ambition is as big — their strength is impressive!

Su Xiaoya shook her head, “A long time ago, one day, several uncles drove out and brought them back; other than that, I don’t know!”

“Alright, do you have anything you haven’t disclosed? Think carefully, say more, and I’ll get you something tasty or else you’ll starve!”

Zhang Su touched his stomach, saying, “Purge everything clean, then go hungry; not feeling good — think clearly.”

Su Xiaoya pursed her lips, saying, “Always bullying a little girl like me, really no conscience.”

“Cut it out, girl; my buddy is already merciful to you. If it were a big guy, you’d probably be missing parts by now!”

Zhao Dezhu showed an expression as if Su Xiaoya should be content.

“Ahem, in war, messengers should not be harmed. Mr. Zhang, I think the little girl has done quite well; after all, there’s no old feud between us and Kuanzhuang. A recently developed minor disagreement can be resolved amidst dealing with the Cyan Dragon Corps, perhaps give her some food and drink?”

Yuwen spoke formally, occasionally glancing at Su Xiaoya, offering her a friendly look.

Understanding clearly that such times require someone to play the red face and someone the white face. Since Zhang Su chose the white face, naturally he took the role of the red face.

“Fine, take your time and think — say whatever comes to mind. Wang Xin, Wu Lue, you both take her back, have her clean up the room, and also give her some food and drink.”