The Slums

As the convoy continued to drive, Huan Chu's face gradually darkened. Although he knew that the living conditions of the oppressed locals must be very difficult, coming from a privileged background, he could not imagine that such a place could exist in the world.

On both sides of the road, dilapidated temporary shelters are densely distributed, and garbage scattered everywhere continuously emits a rotten stench, attracting swarms of flies that are always present in human life — clearly resembling a scene from a slum in a movie.

Due to the restrictions of the Republic's household registration system, no one had seen the sight of a slum in the city, and now it was becoming more and more shocking as they looked at it.

Among the scattered houses, a small shack made of a few pieces of tattered boards is considered a high-class residence, while many others are simply makeshift shelters constructed by propping up a few frames and draping a piece of canvas over them to provide minimal protection from the wind and rain.

Huan Chu originally thought that his journey so far had been quite difficult, but compared to the people here, who have a bed to sleep in every day, it is already a great blessing.

He simply couldn't imagine how his parents could survive in such an environment.

Song Jianjun is a military man and doesn't rely on Huan Chu for a living, so naturally he speaks without any reservations: "In this world, just being able to survive is already something to be thankful for." To have a place to stand and a meal to eat every day is already quite good for these locals. "

Although Huan Chu knew that what Song Jianjun said was true, he couldn't bring himself to agree with the current situation in front of him. He could only remain silent.

As the convoy advanced further, people began to emerge from these rudimentary houses. From the angry and envious looks in their eyes, Huan Chu knew without much thought that they were treating him and his group as outsiders who had come to protest.

If it weren't for Lin Tianhao standing on the armored vehicle at the front of the convoy, holding a machine gun and scanning the surroundings, the angry crowd would have probably overwhelmed Huan Chu and his group.

However, there were faint shouts from the crowd: "Outsiders, get out of here!" "

"You are not welcome here!" "

Get out! "

The clamor grew louder, and a few impulsive young people even picked up stones and fiercely smashed them on the armored vehicle.

Although this level of attack cannot cause harm to the convoy, the feeling of being 'against the people' is ultimately not good.

Looking at those skinny young people, Huan Chu couldn't muster any anger, and only ordered everyone not to fight back, letting Zheng Zhi continue to lead the way.

The car drove a short distance, and Zheng Zhi, who obeyed the order, had to stop.

Because the main road ahead was blocked by a group of people holding sticks and knives, making it impassable. The young man who was clearly the leader of the group held a kitchen knife in his hand, walked directly to the front of the armored vehicle, and shouted loudly, "You bastard!" You bunch of bastards from out of town, are you not satisfied with driving us here? Are you trying to wipe us out completely? Let me tell you, we people from county W are not easy to bully! There is a kind of person who would just run over me with their car! "

"Huang Yao! "

Just as the young man in the lead was about to continue his tirade, a very familiar voice sounded in his ear. Hearing this voice, he couldn't help but stiffen all over, and stood still in place.

Why are you blocking my way, you jerk?! Ignoring Chen Wenwen's obstruction, Huan Chu jumped directly from the Hummer without a gun, and walked straight to the young man blocking the convoy.

The young man known as Huang Yao looked at the figure in front of him, just like in the past, and asked incredulously, 'Huan... Huan Chu?' "

Ye Hongbo from the business car behind also came over, pointing at the young man's nose and scolded, "You damn bastard, what the hell are you doing blocking our convoy!" "

Ye Hongbo? The young man couldn't help but rub his eyes and looked carefully at the two familiar figures in front of him, as if he still couldn't believe it: "You... you are still alive." "

Huan Chu couldn't help but kick him in the knee, making him stagger, and said to Ye Hongbo with a smile, "Look at this beast, dare to curse us to die?" "

Several locals behind the young man saw that these outsiders dared to bully their leader, and were about to step forward to help. However, they were surprised to see that their leader, instead of caring, just hugged the person who was kicking and hitting him, and started crying loudly.

"You're back...you're back!" "

The man, who used to be so tough, actually cried in public. Although there was the factor of a long-awaited reunion, Huan Chu and Ye Hongbo still immediately realized that something was wrong, fearing that there was probably some mishap with their brother.

Ye Hongbo was about to speak up and inquire, but was stopped by a gesture from Huan Chu. He patted Huang Yao's back hard and said, "A grown man, why are you crying!" Stand up straight, and if you have something to say, wait until we get to the place! "

It seems that Huan Chu had quite a reputation among his brothers back then. His loud shout actually stopped Huang Yao from crying.

Although tears kept streaming down her face, she no longer made a sound. She turned her head, gesturing for the local young people gathered around to disperse, and followed Huan Chu back to the middle of the bus fleet.

Lin Tianhao's wife, Zhang Xin, handed some food and water to Huang Yao, waiting quietly for him to finish eating before Huan Chu asked, "Huang Yao, what's going on?" How did you end up like this? "

Huang Yao took a few big sips of water and was about to speak, but didn't know where to start. He could only slap his thigh and sigh.

"Stop dilly-dallying, just spit it out already!" Ye Hongbo also lost his usual military strategist demeanor in front of his brothers, not even bothering to fan his folding fan, and directly scolded Huang Yao.

Huan Chu still remained calm, knowing that Huang Yao was momentarily confused, so he directly reminded him, "Start from the time when the base was just formed." "

Huang Yao nodded and said, "As you know, W County is a small county with a small population." Such a large county town, with a permanent population of less than fifty thousand. So when the zombie outbreak happened, only a dozen or so people were infected and turned into zombies. My dad and the others just threw these monsters into the prison cell, so the whole county of W didn't suffer much impact. "

Huan Chu nodded, knowing that Huang Yao's father was the director of the W County Public Security Bureau, and Huang Yao followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a criminal police officer right after graduation.

In a couple of days, General Tang Zihao arrived with his army and took over the defense of County W, organizing us to build the current city wall. Huang paused for a moment and continued, "Actually, this is also good, at least we don't need to worry about the safety of W County anymore." Before long, people from other places started to come to this base for shelter, and we are all survivors of the apocalypse, so of course we wouldn't turn them away. "

But you also know, not to mention now, even in the past during peacetime, everyone was just taking care of their own business. No one offered any help to those who were homeless and suffering. Huang Yao, with a hint of embarrassment, continued, "Later on, more and more people from other places came, and their appetites grew bigger. They asked the military for housing, but the military said we had to negotiate among ourselves." They started negotiating with us in a friendly manner...

Huang Yao stopped talking at this point.

Huan Chu didn't even think about it, and added directly, "So you didn't even pluck a single hair for them, and even drove away the representatives who came to negotiate, right?" "

Huang Yao nodded shyly. The unfortunate must have their own shortcomings. It seems that the local people's current plight is not unrelated to their own selfishness.

Huan Chu knows his buddy's temper very well, and he probably was one of the people who drove away the negotiator at that time.

Without bothering to talk to him, Huan Chu directly asked, "And then what?" "

Then they simply started to rob. They had guns in their hands and drove us out of our homes directly, almost taking everything away. At this point, a deep hatred suddenly appeared in Huang Yao's eyes: "My father went to negotiate with them with a few people, and they ended up killing him directly!" "

Huan Chu's heart was filled with grief, finally understanding the reason why Huang Yao couldn't control his emotions in front of everyone before, and asked coldly, "Who did it?" "

Huang Yao gritted his teeth and spat out a few words from his mouth: "Gu Chengyi!" "

It seems that our group has added another vivid stroke to the already intense feud with the bounty hunters.

Huan Chu's mouth curled up in a cold smile, he took out a cigarette, lit it, and handed it to Huang Yao, saying, "Don't worry, since I'm back." Gu Chengyi, that kid, won't be able to jump around for long. "

Huang Yao was taken aback when he took the cigarette, but Ye Hongbo immediately leaned in and whispered the details of the conflict between Huan Chu and Gu Chengyi in his ear, while also explaining his subordinate relationship with Huan Chu.

Huang Yao is quite sensible. Since childhood, Huan Chu has always been the leader among his group of brothers, so he doesn't feel any psychological burden. The enmity of killing the father is irreconcilable. For him now, as long as he can avenge his father, he will not hesitate to sell himself to the devil, let alone follow his brothers.

Huang Yao immediately stood up, bowed to Huan Chu, and following Ye Hongbo's address, called out, "Boss!" "

Although Huan Chu and Ye Hongbo are said to be locals, they both left home early to study, and now it has been several years since they left their hometown. The people they used to be familiar with are gradually becoming strangers. It may not be that simple for the two of them to rebuild the once close relationship network.

With the help of Huang Yao, a local big shot who had always stayed in W County, all these problems were easily solved.

Seeing that he had gained even more confidence in dealing with Gu Chengyi, Huan Chu felt a slight sense of joy in his heart, but he did not forget the ultimate purpose of his trip: "Huang Yao, where are my parents?" Do you know where they are? "