Chapter 390: 390. Chapter 390 Grudges

390. Chapter 390 Grudges

On one hand, he really wanted to win Jiang Cheng over to his side.

The Rebel Army's population is not large, and over these years it has been decreasing year after year, and talent is even scarcer.

On the other hand, he also worried that after Jiang Cheng entered the Inner City District, his inner thoughts had changed.

This worry of his is not baseless; it has happened many times before—people originally sent to the Inner City District to gather information ended up betraying them, causing them considerable losses.

"Qin Lao, you've misunderstood; I'm just curious."

Jiang Cheng said seriously, "Moreover, given my character, even if I knew, I wouldn't do something like informing on them."

Hearing Jiang Cheng say that, Qin Lao relaxed a little and laughed, "Hahaha, I was just joking with you; actually, this isn't really a secret—you could find out by asking a few more people in the Inner City District."

He paused, seeming to sink into memories, his voice turning low and weathered:

"The Rebel Army is indeed a general term, or rather, an alliance formed by several rebel forces; we are one of them, code-named Hope, and besides us there are two other organizations, namely Dawn and Revenge,

our three organizations share the same goal: to drive out the Jiao Tribe and reclaim our land—although this seems difficult, even impossible."

Jiang Cheng nodded.

That does sound difficult indeed.

After all, even at the Rebel Army's peak strength, they couldn't achieve it.

"But some things always need someone to do them, just like when the Jiao Tribe arrived a hundred years ago—if nobody rose up in resistance and everyone just hoped others would, do we Yan Nation people even have a future?"

Qin Lao sighed and continued:

"Our principles are the same, but our styles of action are worlds apart."

"Qin Lao, you're the moderate faction, while the Revenge Organization is more bloody, right?"

"Yes."

Qin Lao nodded.

"You've dealt with us in the Poor District before, so you should have some understanding of us; for ordinary people, we feel sympathy, because we know that under these circumstances they can't do much either."

"Including many clan forces in the Inner and Outer Cities, we also take an understanding stance, after all not everyone can abandon home and business to rise up against the Jiao Tribe's oppression; the true culprits are the Jiao Tribe and some of their lackeys."

"Like the Wu Family Fortress?"

"Looks like you've heard a bit about it."

Qin Lao's smile was full of bitterness, and his eyes flashed with anger: "Yeah, just like them—honestly, these years we've also been fighting the Wu Family Fortress people; both sides have suffered losses, but ultimately these are just petty skirmishes; if we don't completely exterminate the Wu family, the hatred won't fade for a day—but now, the positions of the two sides have reversed."

He sighed.

"During the Rebel Army's heyday, that old ancestor of the Wu family, even among our several Supremes, was only mid‑rank; but because of his betrayal, we suffered heavy losses—even the Supremes who survived were gravely wounded and their strength retreated."

"Yet the Wu family's old ancestor not only escaped injury, he even gained the Jiao Tribe's favor, established the Wu Family Fortress, and his strength grew instead of declining; even if our two Supremes in the Rebel Army moved against him, they might not be able to kill him."

Jiang Cheng, hearing this, also felt a pang of sorrow.

"We were just talking about us being the moderate faction; now let's talk about the Revenge Organization."

Qin Lao sighed and didn't want to dwell on that topic any further.

"The Revenge Organization believes that not only city dwellers, but also those in the Inner City District and the Outer City District deserve to die—even the people in the Poor District should die."

"Do they think those people didn't choose to resist but instead just sought to get by?"

"Exactly, so their modus operandi tends to be extreme; they often launch revenge actions without regard, and during them they don't care about the safety of those around, frequently causing innocent casualties."

Qin Lao sighed again.

"What about the Dawn Organization's style—is it somewhere between the two?"

"Pretty much." Qin Lao gave a slight nod.

"But if we're being honest, they lean a bit toward the Revenge Organization, and over the years they've gotten even closer to that side."

Jiang Cheng wasn't surprised at all.

After all, in this high‑pressure environment human nature easily turns extreme, and if I'm not mistaken, among these three groups the Revenge Organization is definitely the strongest.

Otherwise, it would be utterly impossible to launch any resistance activity in the Inner City District.

Whereas Qin Lao's Hope is the weakest, able to keep only a few people as eyes and ears.

However, thinking about what the Revenge Organization does, an idea occurred to him.

"Qin Lao, does the Revenge Organization really completely disregard casualties among those around them?"

"Well…"

Qin Lao hesitated a bit, but after a moment he nodded and said, "Yes, this is also why the original Rebel Alliance split into three—of course, this is just one of the reasons."

He added, "The main reason, though, is to preserve the Fire Seed, so that if the Jiao Tribe ever finds our base, we won't be wiped out entirely."

"Understood."

Jiang Cheng nodded.

A few days ago he also heard Ding Lei and the others mention that among the major powers in the Inner City District there is a Shadow Church that shares an irreconcilable hatred with the Yan Nation, taking pleasure in killing Yan people—the more they kill, the greater the destruction, the happier they are.

In that light, it's somewhat like the Rebel Army's Revenge Organization.

Both are stirring things up in the Inner City District.

Both carry out indiscriminate slaughter.

Of course, these are merely his own suspicions; voicing them would seem to be sowing discord.

All in all, just keep it in mind; if you ever actually run into Revenge Organization people, keeping an extra eye out can't hurt.

"How about it? Any more questions?"

Qin Lao's voice rang out, carrying laughter, though not as loud as at the start.

"Nothing for now."

Jiang Cheng hurriedly said.

"That's fine; if you have any, feel free to ask me anytime. By the way, little brother, how have you been staying at the Gu Family lately? With your alchemy skill, your status and treatment shouldn't be low, right?"

Qin Lao asked tentatively.

"It's not low, but it's also not as good as initially said."

"Oh?"

Qin Lao instantly became interested, urging Jiang Cheng to continue.

Jiang Cheng then recounted the whole story.

His heart actually also wanted to join the Rebel Army.

Because only by joining the Rebel Army could he completely let loose and do what he had long wanted to do, such as killing Bing Li, the chief of the City North Enforcement Bureau, Gu Zhangjun of the Gu Family, and even the Jiao Tribe people who caused all this, as well as many accomplices.

He differs from Gu Zhangkong and them; he came from the Poor District and has seen the misery of ordinary people.

But staying here, he couldn't do these things; once exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable. (End of chapter)