Chapter 154: Set Too High

"Where did he come from?"

Zhang Su walked over to Tan Huajun and asked.

Tan Huajun pointed diagonally across the street and said, "From over there. I didn't see exactly which shop he came out of."

Zhang Su looked in the direction Tan Huajun indicated. Others couldn't see it, but he could clearly see several pairs of eyes hiding behind the glass on the third floor of a beauty and wellness center.

The eyes weren't important; what was important was the pitch-black gun barrel!

Woof!

The Corgi, Haoyun, also sensed the danger. After a low bark, it tugged gently on Zhang Su's pant leg.

Zhang Su nodded at Haoyun and retreated a few steps behind the RV without drawing attention. He believed that as long as the opponent wasn't using something on the level of a Barrett, they definitely couldn't penetrate the RV's multiple layers of steel plating!

"Hello! I'm alone, I have no weapons, no need to be nervous. I'm here to talk business with you!"

The man looked to be about forty years old. His face carried a sense of composure and calmness; he didn't seem aggressive, but he possessed an air of natural authority.

"Since you're here to talk business, then walk a bit closer. Everyone, come to my side."

Zhang Su waved at the scattered group, telling everyone to stand on the inner side of the RV.

The group had never seen Zhang Su make such a request, but when things are abnormal, there must be a demon afoot. They became alert instantly and moved quickly to the side of the RV.

Seeing this, the newcomer raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He walked to a position level with the inner side of the RV and said, "You're very cautious, brother. My surname is Li. May I ask your surname?"

"No need for formalities, my surname is Zhang. In this day and age, there are too many people who like to shoot from the shadows. One has to be on guard."

Seeing that the other party wasn't bringing it up, Zhang Su decided to mention it himself.

"Shoot from the shadows?"

Hearing this term, everyone immediately understood. Tan Huajun raised her crossbow to aim at the man surnamed Li, Chen Hanzhou reached his hand into his jacket, and everyone watched the man vigilantly.

"Brother Zhang, please don't misunderstand. My companions were just afraid I might meet with an accident. I hope you understand... To be honest, this street was cleared by me and a few brothers. You can have whatever you want, no problem, but you need to trade supplies for it."

The man surnamed Li didn't know why Zhang Su had suddenly become so vigilant, but the other party had indeed taken effective precautions. That was impressive!

Standing behind the cover, Zhang Su felt slightly more relaxed and said, "Old Li, is it? This street is indeed quite clean, but how can you expect me to believe that you cleared all the zombies?"

Old Li pointed to the end of the street to the north and said, "There's a dump over there. We lured most of the zombies there, and the corpses of the ones we killed were piled up there too. You can send someone to check. If they were just passing survivors, they wouldn't go to all that trouble, right?"

Zhang Su walked to the back of the vehicle and took a look. He could indeed see the kind of gantry crane specific to a dump in the distance. He tentatively believed what the other party said, looked back at Old Li, and said, "I admire you. You dared to come and talk about trading supplies alone. Even with gunmen protecting you from the shadows, aren't you afraid of an accident?"

Old Li shook his head and said, "The social system has collapsed, but we are survivors from the civilized world. I believe the vast majority of people are still willing to follow order, even if it's an incomplete order. Don't you agree, Brother Zhang?"

Everyone nodded silently. This statement indeed made some sense. To survive, one inevitably has to interact with various survivor groups, and trading supplies will happen. No one wants to be on edge every time they trade.

Order in the apocalypse will be established slowly, but this process will be very slow. Regardless, there must be order.

Zhang Su took the crossbow off his shoulder and, while aiming, said, "I am willing to follow order, but who should set this order? Why you? Because you have guns? I have them too. If I don't agree to the trade, what will you do?"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense!

Seeing the weapon in Zhang Su's hand, Old Li's expression turned serious. The two were only about twenty meters apart, and he could clearly see that the other party's two crossbows were extremely refined; he didn't doubt their power at all.

"You're right, order is set by the strong. From the current situation, you are indeed stronger than us. If you take the things away, I have no way to stop you..."

The group was confused. If you have no way to stop them, why come out to stop them? Are you hoping for others to show kindness?

However, Old Li's next sentence made Zhang Su frown.

"If Brother Zhang insists on not trading, then I can only say it's a pity. You will miss an opportunity, a very important cooperation opportunity."

Old Li's calm tone made it hard for people to get angry. He must have had some status before the disaster broke out; it's hard for a low-level worker to cultivate such a temperament.

"Oh? Can you reveal a little?"

Zhang Su became interested. In these times when communication is basically dead, any piece of news is very important. Plus, the fact that the other party could remain calm while being pointed at by two crossbows gave him the feeling that there was more to this.

Old Li smiled, with a hint of mystery, and said, "Earlier, our sentry brothers saw you heading east."

This sentence in itself was nothing, just that their movements were being watched. But Zhang Su saw the flash of cunning in Old Li's eyes and his heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself that what the other party wanted to express definitely wasn't as simple as just knowing their whereabouts!

After a moment of thought, a "bright light" flashed in Zhang Su's mind, and he knew what the other party wanted to express.

"How many people do you have? How many guns?"

Zhang Su asked.

Upon hearing the question, Old Li smiled slightly, held up his hand to gesture a six, and then said, "Five people, one gun. Not many people, indeed, but we have an important person among us!"

"An important person?"

Zhang Su muttered softly, and faint murmurs arose around him.

Of the twenty or so people present, only one or two knew what Zhang Su was talking about with the other party. The others were very confused and couldn't connect every sentence together. Perhaps if given some time, they could figure it out, but standing there now, they looked a bit dazed.

"Everyone, be quiet!" Zhang Su waved his hand at those behind him, then said to Old Li, "Fine, tell me, how do we trade?"

The group didn't know why Zhang Su had suddenly compromised, but that wasn't important. They believed Zhang Su definitely wouldn't make a losing deal.

"I can see you're very interested in communication equipment. You can take everything in this shop. I only need food and water for five people for one week. After it's done, if successful, we split all gains fifty-fifty. How about that?"

Old Li held up both palms to indicate a fifty-fifty split.

Zhang Su shook his head without even thinking: "We have twenty people, you have five. Fifty-fifty? Impossible. If we talk like that, the first point is off the table."

The people around who didn't understand were even more confused. What exactly are they talking about? How did they start talking about splitting things?

Old Li was also straightforward; the fifty-fifty gesture changed: "Forty-sixty. We take forty, you take sixty. That's very reasonable!"

"I don't feel that's reasonable. I can accept thirty-seventy at most. You take thirty, we take seventy!"

Zhang Su said firmly.

However, what he didn't expect was that Old Li agreed extremely readily: "Just as you said, I take thirty, you take seventy. Deal!"

??

"Brother Su, you set it too high!"

Zheng Xinyu didn't know what Zhang Su and Old Li were talking about, but that didn't stop her from seeing the problem.

"Ahem... it's alright."

Zhang Su lowered his crossbow a bit awkwardly. The other party's expectations were lower than he had thought. Based on how readily Old Li agreed, a one-nine split might have been risky, but a two-eight split could definitely have been fought for.

"Brother Zhang, what do you say, shall we trade supplies first?"

Old Li raised his hand to indicate the trade could proceed.

Zhang Su shook his head and said, "Call your people out first. That's the most basic trust, right?"

Old Li hesitated for a moment, looked at Zhang Su for a few seconds, scanned the faces of the dozen or so people, finally nodded, turned around, and stretched out his hands to wave at the other side of the street.

"I'm talking to you about trust, and you're playing mind games with me. Should this cooperation continue?"

As Old Li was calling his people over, Zhang Su's cold mockery came from beside him.

This time, no one understood what Zhang Su was talking about, except for Old Li...

"What do you mean by this?"

Zhang Su mimicked the small gesture Old Li made when waving. When normal people wave to call someone over, they wave with their fingers spread towards themselves. Old Li didn't; he curled his thumb!

Under normal circumstances, people tens of meters away definitely wouldn't see clearly, but binoculars aren't exactly rare items, and since the other party had guns, it was very likely they were carrying scopes!

This time, Old Li was truly embarrassed. With over twenty meters of distance and the angle, he thought those people standing behind the Mercedes RV couldn't spot such a subtle detail. As it turned out, bullshit, the other party saw through it at a glance.

He thought to himself, someone who can become the leader of a large team is indeed not an ordinary person...

Old Li switched to a normal gesture and waved again, then explained, "One must always be on guard. Since Brother Zhang has seen through it, I won't hide it anymore. We actually have six people and two guns."

"Damn, you guy isn't honest at all!" Lu Yubo got anxious on the spot.

Old Li rubbed the bridge of his nose and said with a bit of a guilty conscience, "I only did this to protect my own safety. I absolutely have no intention of harming you all. Please don't misunderstand."

"Mr. Li, that is incorrect! Hiding one's strength during cooperation will definitely be detrimental to us!" Yu Wen sternly criticized Old Li's irregular behavior.

Zhang Su said calmly, "Old Li, I think you're quite polite and indeed have the heart to maintain this so-called order. But if you consume my trust again, you will pay a price. Remember, this is the last time!"

The words weren't heavy, but every word struck Old Li's heart. He was good at reading people and could see the murderous aura in the brows of Zhang Su's group. He knew very well what that "price" meant.

"It won't happen again, Brother Zhang. We will definitely cooperate happily!"

"I hope so!" Zhang Su said noncommittally.

During the conversation, five people—four men and one woman—walked over from across the street. Four of them were nothing special, but one of them had a different status. From his attire, it was easy to see he was a soldier. He was wearing combat camouflage, and a standard Type 95 rifle hung on his chest, looking quite imposing.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 155 =====