Chapter 144: Rage (3,000 Votes Bonus!!)

"OK, I accept your resignation." Taylor’s eyes turned sharp, a cold smile on her lips. "Since you’re no longer employees of the Lianbangzheng Prefecture, I can now classify you all as terrorists stealing federal assets—perhaps that’s exactly what you wanted?"

"Terrorists? I don’t think so." Lin Xian looked at the dozens of guns aimed at him, his face utterly fearless. He raised his hands, his gaze fierce and voice loud: "Do you really think only you have guns?!"

Click-click-click.

In an instant, a sharp sound rang out—a black barrel of a Remington M96 suddenly pressed against Taylor’s forehead.

Shu Qin!

At the same time, Shu Qin, Xu Jin, Lao Mo, and over a hundred armed personnel from the convoy all raised their weapons, standing behind Lin Xian and pointing them at Taylor and the guards behind her. Even Shasha pulled out a grenade launcher, her small frame standing beside Lin Xian, her eyes locked defiantly on the blonde woman before her.

"Hah! This bitch still thinks she’s the official government, robbing survivors?" Shi Di of Longshan No. 1 spotted the situation and sneered, snapping his fingers. His men quickly drew their weapons and aimed at Taylor and her group. "Good—I’ve had it with you damn hounds. Try shooting us if you dare!"

War was about to break out!

"You’re insane! Daring to defy the Lianbangzheng Prefecture!!" Taylor’s face turned pale with rage. "Zhan Wei! I order you to execute these rioters on the spot!"

Zhan Wei was the commander of the guard unit, a thirty-something man with a buzz cut. The tension was unbearable, and he was visibly uncertain.

"Commander?" One of Zhan Wei’s subordinates gave him a worried glance. "What do we do?"

"Stay calm. Don’t fire on civilians!" Zhan Wei whispered low.

If the guard unit clashed with the Survivor Alliance here, chaos would erupt—and right now, with the horde surrounding the city, no one wanted internal bloodshed.

"Lianbangzheng Prefecture? Pfft!"

Xu Jin spat fiercely onto the ground, his rifle held tight: "When the disaster hit, you abandoned the people first. Now you dare call yourselves the government?"

Xu Jin’s words ignited fury in many present. Though the catastrophe wasn’t caused by the Lianbangzheng Prefecture, as leaders, they’d abandoned the common folk outright—and now, at this moment of life or death, their top priority wasn’t defending the airport, but protecting those “first-class citizens.” Seeing this, many bystanders surged forward, their faces filled with anger, and more kept coming.

"Exactly. All rescue operations are run by Fenghuanghui now. What the hell are you?"

"Where were you during Jiyè?!"

"Cowards!"

"Fucking Lianbangzheng Prefecture!"

"Go crawl back underground and eat shit!"

The crowd’s rage swelled. More and more people gathered, the tension ready to explode.

The dozen or so guard unit members looked around, their faces pale, shifting their weapons frantically—but they couldn’t stop the crowd closing in.

Lin Xian watched this scene and sneered inwardly. It wasn’t just him who despised this damn Lianbangzheng Prefecture—everyone here carried a fire in their hearts. Every survivor at the airport had endured shattered families, separation, death. This anger, if turned against the Lianbangzheng Prefecture, was far beyond what a lowly senior official like her could bear.

Taylor’s face turned white with rage. Her chest heaved as she shouted: "You! You all!! Are you trying to rebel?!"

"Rebellion? That word doesn’t belong to you, Taylor."

At that moment, a firm, resonant voice rang out clearly.

Clank-clank-clank!

Outside the crowd, a large group of Taitiewei soldiers marched forward rapidly. These soldiers, armed with heavy weapons and clad in powered exoskeleton armor, radiated an aura no armed survivors could match.

Seeing the Taitiewei arrive, many survivors automatically parted to form a path. Lin Xian’s gaze fixed on the lead figure—a middle-aged woman in uniform, bearing a crimson phoenix emblem on her chest.

Fenghuanghui!

What surprised Lin Xian was that among them was someone he recognized: Jiang Yun.

Taylor’s expression changed at their arrival, yet she still lifted her chin haughtily: "White Group Leader, I’m here on official duty to investigate regional affairs. Are you also going to interfere?"

The middle-aged woman called White Group Leader swept her with a sharp glance, utterly dismissing her: "There are no regional affairs here. The airport platform is now under the control of Fenghuanghui and Taitiewei 52nd Brigade. Do not disrupt airport order."

"Laughable! Yubei Airport is federal property! You just seize it like this?!"

Taylor’s eyes darted to the Taitiewei soldiers behind her, teeth clenched. "So, you 52nd Brigade, having lost every battle from Fengcheng, Chong’an, and Xinglong all the way to Yubei—other than daring to point guns at the Lianbangzheng Prefecture, what else can you do?"

Her words ignited fury in every Taitiewei soldier.

"If you can’t understand my words, I have no objection to expelling you from the airport on the spot." Bai Shuang’s tone was sharp, a clear order of dismissal. Shhh-shhh-shhh-shhh!

As soon as she finished speaking, the heavy-armed Taitiewei soldiers behind her all tensed, shaking their weapons visibly—a clear show of intimidation.

Though Bai Shuang’s words were calm, their weight was crushing. Taylor’s expression shifted slightly.

Taylor’s side had only a guard unit of less than a hundred. Behind Bai Shuang stood the entire Taitiewei 52nd Brigade. After the collapse of the Lianbangzheng Prefecture, the Interstellar Army and Taitiewei had all sided with Fenghuanghui. Her Dawn Project had no leverage to challenge them.

Taylor’s face flushed crimson and pale with rage. Facing the guns pointed at her from all sides, she dared not fight Fenghuanghui or the survivors. She forced a stiff expression, then scanned Lin Xian and Bai Shuang, threatening:

"Don’t think this is over. I’ll report this. Federal assets will be reclaimed!"

"We’ll be waiting." Lin Xian replied with disdain.

He didn’t care if he angered this damn Lianbangzheng Prefecture. The loot his team had fought for wouldn’t be handed over for free.

The more they resisted, the more important this Blood Plague Plant must be!

With that, Taylor turned and left, her group retreating in disgrace. Zhao Yan and Xu Wen cast complex glances at Lin Xian and Ding Junyi, then hurried after her.

"Get lost!"

"Fucking government!!"

!

"Useless bastards who can’t even feed their own horses."

As Taylor and her group withdrew, the watching survivors erupted in angry curses, finally feeling some relief.

At that moment, the woman named Bai Shuang led her group toward Lin Xian. Jiang Yun stepped forward first to introduce:

"Group Leader Bai, this is Lin Xian, commander of the Infinite convoy."

"Lin Xian, this is Bai Shuang, head of the airport emergency response team dispatched by Fenghuanghui. She’s the one who arranged your quick passage through the platform."

"So that’s how it was," Lin Xian nodded, looking at Bai Shuang with gratitude. "Thank you very much."

"No need to thank me. Jiang Yun told me about your convoy’s identity, so we skipped the temporary inspection."

Hearing this, Lin Xian realized Jiang Yun had helped them get priority access. He wondered how the guy had suddenly become close to the emergency team’s leader.

Bai Shuang finished speaking, then scanned the crowd and announced loudly: "Good. Since all the major convoy leaders are here, the airport is now in an emergency. Our emergency team is short-staffed, and the 52nd Brigade suffered heavy losses earlier. To ensure everyone’s safe evacuation, we need your support."

"Emergency? What does that mean?" Shi Di asked directly.

Bai Shuang pointed to the massive ascending elevator behind her.

"The ascending elevator has malfunctioned."

At this, many convoy commanders’ faces changed instantly. The atmosphere grew tense.

"Huh? The elevator’s broken?"

"No wonder the sequence stopped..."

"What now? Can it be fixed? Or are we stuck here?"

"Don’t panic. It’s not a major failure. Our engineers estimate repair will take three to five hours." Bai Shuang quickly explained, sensing the rising unease.

Hearing it could be fixed, everyone finally breathed easier.

Everyone here had already burned their bridges. The entire Yubei City was surrounded by zombies. Nightfall meant deadly strange creatures everywhere. If the ascending elevator failed, they were truly trapped.

"So your ‘support’ means asking us to help guard the perimeter?" Shi Di said bluntly. "You don’t have to ask—I was planning to send my men up anyway."

Bai Shuang nodded, her expression grim.

"Correct. Tonight’s assault is far worse than the past two nights. We suspect it’s linked to the Jiyè corpse-herders."

Thank you for the 3,000 monthly votes! Extra chapter added today. More will be added on the 15th, mid-month—begging in advance for your mid-month votes tomorrow!! Every additional 1,000 votes will trigger another bonus chapter!

(End of Chapter)