Chapter 427: Compassion in the Heart

"A heaven-sent opportunity?"

"That's right!"

Lao San's body trembled slightly with excitement; he pointed toward the dense crowd of tens of thousands of people ahead and said in a passionate tone,

"Big Brother, think about it. If it were any other Awakened, letting these ordinary people stay outside the city would already be considered an act of great mercy. But this President Su, he is actually willing to let them move into the city, and free of charge at that. Have you thought about what this implies?"

"What does it imply?" Meng Rang couldn't help but ask, following Lao San's lead.

"It means that President Su is not as high and mighty or unapproachable as we previously thought. In reality, he harbors compassion for the weak; he is an Awakened who truly possesses human warmth."

Lao San looked toward the city wall with a firm gaze and continued, "Big Brother, think about it: what is the biggest difference between humans and Fierce Beasts? It is that humans possess empathy, show sympathy for the weak, and harbor compassion."

"A person, no matter how powerful their strength, if they lose their empathy, even if they stand at the pinnacle of being invincible in the world, they are essentially nothing more than a beast in human skin."

Hearing these words from Lao San, the others fell into silence instantly.

They recalled their experiences over the years; when witnessing those ordinary people dying miserably under the claws and fangs of Fierce Beasts, their hearts had felt no ripples, and they had even vaguely felt it was somewhat laughable.

They had thought to themselves, look, this is the fate of the weak; if they are to blame, they can only blame themselves for being too weak. If their own strength were sufficient, how could they be killed so easily?

Take just now, for instance; hearing those words from Hai Qiong, they had all suspected that these people from the Yong'an City Association had something wrong with their brains. Being so good to these ordinary people—what exactly were they after?

These few sentences from Lao San, however, were like a heavy hammer, waking them up.

They couldn't help but recall ten years ago, when they were no different from these ordinary people, running around and struggling bitterly all day long just to survive in the apocalypse.

It was just that they had slightly better luck and awakened their abilities, which was how they became Awakened and escaped the fate of ordinary people.

Meng Rang took a deep breath and said slowly, "Lao San, you're right. Walking this path over the years, I seem to have forgotten my own origins; I've forgotten my roots."

He shook his head with a bitter smile and continued, "I looked at those ordinary people as if they were ants, but in reality, they are just like us—people of flesh and blood."

"Yes, yes." The bearded man, the woman, and the other companion couldn't help but blush, their hearts filled with guilt.

Seeing this, Lao San smiled and comforted them: "It's okay, Big Brother. It's not too late to realize it now. Moreover, looking at it this way, throwing our lot in with President Su might truly be the wisest choice for us."

The group looked at each other and nodded heavily one after another.

That's right, if that President Su could be so caring and attentive toward ordinary citizens, then if they could prove their loyalty, surely President Su would not treat them unfairly.

"Big Brother, there's no time to lose. Let's hurry up and call that guy Yan Hua to tell him we've arrived," the bearded man urged impatiently.

"That's right. He already spent money to take the land in his hands, which was benevolent enough, yet this guy doesn't know when to be satisfied and still schemes to use us to deal with President Su. He really doesn't know what's good for him. Since he is so tactless, don't blame us for being impolite," the woman also said indignantly.

"Hmph, that guy is purely bringing this on himself; he can't blame anyone else," another companion chimed in.

"Shh." Meng Rang signaled softly while taking out his phone, making a gesture for silence toward the group. The others immediately understood and stopped making noise.

Meng Rang found Yan Hua's number in his phone's contact list and dialed it without hesitation. The phone was answered quickly after just one ring.

"Hello? Big Brother Meng, you've arrived?" Yan Hua's hurried and excited voice came from the other end of the line.

"Mm." Meng Rang responded steadily, saying, "I'm just outside the city. Where are you now?"

"I'm still at the original place. If you don't remember the exact location, Big Brother Meng, I'll come down to pick you up right away," Yan Hua said hurriedly.

"No need, my memory isn't that bad," Meng Rang replied coldly.

"Good, good," Yan Hua's voice trembled with excitement, "Big Brother Meng, you must be careful when you come up. Don't let anyone discover you, or it will be easy for the news to leak. Once you reach the door, send me a message, and I will meet you there."

"Fine." The corners of Meng Rang's mouth lifted slightly, revealing an imperceptible cold smile.

"Then I'll hang up first. We'll discuss the details when we meet."

"Good, good." After saying this, Meng Rang hung up the phone.

"Big Brother, how did it go?" the woman asked hurriedly.

"He will wait for us at the place where he was staying before. The recording equipment is all ready, right?" Meng Rang looked at Lao San.

Lao San confidently made an 'OK' gesture, indicating that everything was ready.

"Good, no time to lose. We'll go in now. We must avoid the crowd; if we get discovered, all our previous efforts will be wasted."

"Understood," the group replied in unison.

Soon, the group skillfully avoided the crowd and successfully arrived at the villa where Yan Hua was, meeting up with him.

The group went up to the second floor together and sat down in the room one by one.

"Yan Hua, long time no see. You've been living quite comfortably these past few years, haven't you?" Meng Rang looked Yan Hua up and down with a mocking smile and spoke.

The bearded man and the others also looked at Yan Hua with playful gazes, their eyes carrying a hint of ridicule.

Yan Hua felt uncomfortable under their gaze and hurriedly stood up to pour tea for them, saying, "It has been a long time. Big Brother Meng looks even more spirited than before."

"Is that so? Then I really should thank your good brother, shouldn't I?" Meng Rang sneered, his words filled with sarcasm.

Thinking of how Yan Luo had blinded one of his eyes, and how this guy in front of him was harboring sinister intentions, trying to reap the benefits, a surge of killing intent welled up in his heart; he wished he could finish Yan Hua off right there and then.

"Big Brother Meng, those are things of the past. My brother... is also gone. Let's not bring up these unpleasant matters anymore, okay?" Yan Hua smiled awkwardly, trying to ease the atmosphere.

"Fine." Meng Rang glanced at him and continued, "Then let's talk about the real business."

"Mm!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Hua immediately perked up. He stood up, walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, and pointed at the people on the street outside who were carrying luggage and preparing to move into the city, saying:

"Big Brother Meng, you should have seen it when you came, right? That guy surnamed Su is really good at buying people's hearts. He's actually using our land to take in those lowlifes from outside the city. He really knows how to play the good guy."

Little did he know that when he said these words, sparks of anger flashed in the eyes of the people behind him.

Their view of these "lowlifes" had already changed because of Lao San's previous words, and hearing Yan Hua refer to these ordinary people so contemptuously, they were naturally very displeased.

"Big Brother Meng," Yan Hua turned around and said with a look of resentment, "As long as you and I join forces to get rid of that guy surnamed Su, along with Hai Qiong and those accomplices of his, this Yongan City will be yours to command in the future! Even if you want to make a move on me later, I will have no complaints!"

"Brother Yan seems to truly hate them to the bone," Meng Rang said slowly while toying with the teacup in front of him. "Good, since we've come all this way, we naturally have to help Brother Yan with this favor; otherwise, wouldn't it be a wasted trip?"

"Big Brother is absolutely right."

"It is only human nature for Brother Yan to feel such resentment after his family business was destroyed."

"It's just that I don't know how Brother Yan plans to deal with that President Su and his accomplices?"

The group looked at each other, understanding without words; everything was contained in this silent exchange of glances.