Chapter 403: The Four Tigers of the North City

"President Li, it's been over half a month since we last parted. Haha, come, come, sit!"

The furnishings inside the luxurious private room were no different from before the disaster broke out. Seeing his subordinate usher Li Zongkai through the door, Liao Youzhi greeted him with a loud laugh.

"Good evening, President Li."

As the second-in-command of the Survivor Alliance, Gong Chengming logically shouldn't have appeared at the banquet, but Liao Youzhi was accustomed to bringing him along. In Liao Youzhi's mind, this meant that the second-in-command of their Survivor Alliance held a status equal to the leaders of other factions.

Gong Chengming was very self-aware; he followed closely behind Liao Youzhi to greet the guest, appearing very restrained and humble.

"Leader Liao is as vigorous as ever. Haha, Vice Leader Gong, good evening."

As Li Zongkai exchanged pleasantries, his gaze swept around the private room. He didn't spot a single guard, only two female servers in cheongsams standing with their heads bowed. Additionally, there was one person standing in front of a seat who hadn't greeted him immediately—this was none other than Liu Yao, the boss of the Little Eagle Society.

The massive rosewood dining table was laid with fruit, teacups, teapots, and some dried nuts—all very decent items.

"Ha, this place is still the same as before. The last time I came here to eat must have been four or five months ago. You lot wait at the door."

Instructing his men, Li Zongkai closed the private room door and walked toward his seat.

"Old Li, you're not late. Unlike a certain guy surnamed Yang—he's not even proactive when it comes to eating meat!"

Once Li Zongkai had finished exchanging pleasantries with the host, Liu Yao spoke up. He looked like a very rugged guy, yet he still grasped these details quite well. Furthermore, from the tone of his conversation, it was clear that his relationship with Li Zongkai was decent.

The Little Eagle Society was located in the northwest of Qincheng, over ten kilometers away from Civilization Guardian, with no overlap in their radiation zones. However, they were not very friendly toward the yet-to-arrive Apocalypse Group, as both factions were in the northwest and had more or less friction on a daily basis.

Looking at the prepared tableware on the table, Li Zongkai felt a pang of emotion. While taking a hot towel from a server to wipe his hands, he looked at Liu Yao and said, "Officer Liu, I trust you've been well? But... how did you accidentally get that?"

As he spoke, Li Zongkai pointed curiously at the spot below his right ear, displaying a normal, unpretentious attitude of concern.

Liu Yao touched the scar, smiled indifferently, and said, "Damn it, a turncoat ambushed me. I've already killed him, it's not important!"

Upon hearing this, a subtle look flashed in the depths of Gong Chengming's eyes, and a half-smile appeared on his face.

"In this world now, the most important thing is trust!" Liao Youzhi took off his mask, revealing the grim scar on his face, and said, "Officer Liu, I've had the same experience as you. Damn it, back when the disaster first broke out..."

Once the conversation started, the four people at the table cracked melon seeds and talked about old times one after another. The atmosphere was relatively harmonious, and half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Liao Youzhi raised his wrist to check the time, frowned slightly, and said, "It seems Old Yang hasn't returned from the Beihe District yet. Shall we..."

"Apocalypse Group Leader Yang has arrived."

Before Liao Youzhi could finish his sentence, a voice sounded over the walkie-talkie.

The group exchanged glances, their expressions varied.

Soon, the door to the private room was pushed open again.

"Aiya, I ran into a zombie horde on the way back from the Beihe District—I almost didn't make it to see Leader Liao! Yo, Old Li, good evening!"

Yang Xinqi's rambling voice drifted into the room along with a gust of wind. A middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties walked in, dusty and travel-worn. He was very tall and appeared much thinner compared to the others present.

"As long as you returned safely, haha!"

"Nice to meet you, nice to meet you."

Liao Youzhi and Gong Chengming, as the hosts, stood up to welcome the guest, while Li Zongkai merely stood up and exchanged a smiling greeting.

"Hey, Liu Yao, you damn bastard, you're still not dead?"

Yang Xinqi caught sight of Liu Yao sitting in the corner with his legs crossed.

"If a moron like you can run into a zombie horde and not die, would I die? Pfft, even if your entire Apocalypse Group died out, I'd still be living just fine!"

Liu Yao deliberately emphasized the word "Apocalypse" (using the homophone 'abandoned'). He had no intention of greeting Yang Xinqi at all and spat a mouthful of melon seed shells at him. Unfortunately, he lacked the strength, and they fell onto the carpet. "My god, what kind of upbringing does this bird-man have? Leader Liao, if I'd known you were inviting him, I wouldn't have rushed back!"

Yang Xinqi pointed at Liu Yao to complain, his face full of disdain.

"Motherfucker, you moron, you dare talk to your grandfather about upbringing? Three days ago, which son of a bitch sent people to steal things from the Xinlong Guangyuan Mall? You're a bastard!"

Hearing the other party's words, Liu Yao's temper flared up, and he countered on the spot.

Yang Xinqi laughed and said indifferently, "That's right, it was a bastard who stole them!"

"I said it was a bastard who sent people to steal them, you damn—!"

"Hahaha, you two, you two, stop arguing!" Liao Youzhi felt a headache coming on. He knew these two would definitely clash if they sat together, but he hadn't expected them to be so unrestrained, so he had to step in to mediate.

"Everyone came here today to participate in this grand event; let's put aside our personal conflicts for now. You probably don't even know, but we're famous now—people from other districts and counties who come to trade call us the Four Tigers of the North City!"

As his voice fell, Liao Youzhi saw a proud smile appear on Liu Yao's face, though the corners of his mouth held a trace of mockery, as if he were about to output more toward Yang Xinqi. He quickly raised a hand. "Quick, Xiao Tao, tell the kitchen to serve the dishes! Come, come, let's talk about business!"

"I'll give Leader Liao face and won't bicker with an animal! President Li, please move over a bit..."

Yang Xinqi glanced at Liu Yao with a bland look and moved a chair to stand between Gong Chengming and Li Zongkai.

Li Zongkai felt a bit helpless, but for the sake of a harmonious conversation, he lifted his butt and shifted...

"Moron, a piece of shit!"

Liu Yao also knew it wouldn't look good to keep making a scene, so he cursed and went back to cracking melon seeds.

Liao Youzhi opened an exquisite small wooden box, took out a cigar, signaled for the server to distribute them to those present, and went straight to the point: "Everyone, right now, the four of us call the shots in the north of Qincheng. If we can work together and unite, no one in the entire Qincheng would dare to oppose us! But in the last month or so, four zombie hordes have inexplicably appeared in our area, with the largest group numbering close to ten thousand! Twice, the hordes were discovered very close to our Alliance. You must all be able to feel the crisis. If something really happens, Qincheng is only so big; none of us can stay out of it. We can't let this evil force continue to run rampant, right?"

Speaking of recent encounters, Liao Youzhi was filled with righteous indignation.

"These sons of bitches, they really aren't human. Leader Liao, since you called us over, does that mean you have news?"

Liu Yao of the Little Eagle Society was the first to slap the table. Their camp had also encountered a zombie horde crisis at the time; fortunately, they were well-prepared and discovered it in time, managing to kill and lure the horde away at the cost of losing one companion.

"Of course! If I didn't have solid information, I wouldn't have called you all. According to news brought back by my subordinates, the ones causing trouble are a survivor faction to the north of that road at Provincial 52. Their headquarters is located at Tianmayu. I haven't heard their exact name; they might just be nobodies!"

When Liao Youzhi announced the news, the people present showed no extra reaction on the surface, but if one observed closely, they could see a strange look flash in the depths of Gong Chengming's eyes.

"Leader Liao, forgive my bluntness, but I wonder how credible your information is?"

This time, it was Li Zongkai's turn to ask.

"Ten out of ten certainty!"

Liao Youzhi crossed his index fingers, his gaze sinister and his voice low. "Today, my search team's third squad was scavenging for supplies in the village next to the North Second Ring Road. They saw with their own eyes several vehicles from the north leading a massive zombie horde across the Chuhai River Bridge, and finally, they just dumped them on the North Second Ring Road and left! How is that any different from taking a shit in our home?"

"Just like some people, damn disgusting, they really deserve to die!"

Liu Yao said, looking at Yang Xinqi with sarcasm.

"Are you sick? If it were me, I wouldn't just shit, I'd smear it all over your face!"

Yang Xinqi first retorted, then, not giving the other party a chance to explode, looked at Liao Youzhi and said, "Leader Liao, since we've figured out the ins and outs, let's go directly to Tianmayu to demand compensation. When the time comes, we'll split the supplies four ways—wouldn't everyone be happy?"

After hearing Yang Xinqi's words, Liao Youzhi rubbed his head, pondered for a moment, and said, "The four of us are allied, and other factions dare not disobey, but we really don't know much about the situation in the north. If they fight back, we'll inevitably suffer losses. Does anyone have any other ideas?"

Having said this, Liao Youzhi's gaze swept across Gong Chengming's face and finally landed on Li Zongkai.

(End of chapter)