Chapter 404

Seeing Ma Yu looking at him, Li Zongkai was just about to speak when a knock sounded at the private room door; the food had arrived.

A waiter opened the door, and a waiter along with a chef each pushed a small cart specifically used for serving dishes in the restaurant, with quite a few exquisite bowls and plates arranged on the top, middle, and bottom tiers.

In no time at all, dish after dish of steaming, fragrant food was laid out on the dining table: four cold appetizers and eight hot main courses, including braised lion's head meatballs, pig stomach and hen soup, stir-fried pork, and stewed chicken with mushrooms...

In terms of ingredients and the exquisite nature of the dishes, they naturally couldn't compare to banquets before the disaster broke out, but in the present day, they were absolutely explosive. How many people were struggling to survive in hunger and cold, while the leaders of survivor factions had already returned to their previous dietary standards, or even exceeded them! Equality had never existed. In the early stages of the disaster, basically everyone was stripped back to their original form; some died in panic and unease, some erupted in fury in desperate straits, and others rose up to lead more people to survive. The stronger one was, the more resources one could obtain.

"Come, come, everyone, have a taste. To pull together this table of food, I emptied out my warehouse, hahaha. However, we'll skip the alcohol; I assume none of you will drink. President Li, you seemed to have something to say just now; please continue."

Liao Youzhi instructed everyone to pick up their chopsticks, then looked at Li Zongkai again, attempting to pick up the previous topic.

Li Zongkai symbolically picked up a piece of white-cut chicken and said slowly, "Rather than charging directly into the opponent's headquarters, why don't we try to lure them into a trap? Once their leader is captured, they will surely fall into chaos, and then they will collapse without us even attacking. Wouldn't that be better?"

Gong Chengming, who had had little presence the whole time, gave Li Zongkai a subtle look, then continued eating in a calm and unhurried manner, as if this trip to accompany them had nothing to do with him and he was purely here for the free meal.

"Lure them into a trap, hmm... can you explain in detail?" Liao Youzhi asked curiously.

"We are currently assuming the zombie horde was lured by that group from Tianmayu. We don't know what their intentions are. I think we can send people to talk to them, show humility and friendliness, and invite their people into the city for a talk. Then, how we deal with them will be up to us. The safety factor is extremely high!"

Li Zongkai's entire image was very steady, and the ideas he proposed were inclined toward being conservative; he wanted to get things done, but he cared more about his own safety.

Logically, such a prudent plan should have received approval, at least from some people, but the dining table was strangely quiet. It was evident that everyone was lost in thought, and as for what was going on in their heads, only they themselves knew!

"Old Li, your method sounds like it doesn't have any danger, but the difficulty of executing it is not small. Nowadays, everyone is as sharp as a monkey; who would dare to just run into someone else's territory?"

Liu Yao shook his head, feeling that the plan proposed by Li Zongkai did not conform to reality.

Under normal circumstances, Yang Xin would definitely have angrily retorted to Liu Yao, but this time he was very quiet. Taking advantage of others talking, he spun the round table and kept picking up food to eat; those who didn't know better would have thought he was a starving ghost reincarnated.

"Officer Liu's words also make sense, but not everyone has as close a relationship as our few families..."

Liao Youzhi struck a contemplative pose, then suddenly looked at Gong Chengming, who was chewing slowly beside him, and said, "Brother Gong, don't just eat like Old Yang. This Survivor Alliance has half of your share; hurry up and offer some ideas for everyone!"

"Leader Liao, the way you say that makes it sound like all I know how to do is eat!"

Yang Xin put down his chopsticks quite awkwardly, picked his teeth with his tongue, and said, "Commander Gong, don't be in such a hurry to express your profound opinions; let me speak first, otherwise Leader Liao will think I'm just a glutton!"

"First of all, I don't really agree with President Li's plan, because I really can't think of any reason that could lure the snake out of its hole. Even if we take a step back and say we really invited them to Qincheng and took the opportunity to wipe out Tianmayu, once the matter gets out, our reputation will be hard to listen to..."

"At that time, it would be a small matter that no one dares to trade with us, but I'm afraid we few families will become the target of public criticism! Alright, I'm done speaking, Commander Gong, please."

The expression on Gong Chengming's face was somewhat similar to Li Zongkai's, light and breezy with a faint smile, and he said, "The Alliance only needs one person in charge. Old Brother Liao, you can make the decisions on these matters."

"That won't do!" Liao Youzhi waved his hand with displeasure and said, "Today you must come up with some kind of plan. You even investigated toward the north before, so you should know that side quite well. Hurry, I know you have plenty of ideas; don't hide them."

Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Gong Chengming put down his chopsticks, picked up his extinguished cigar and relit it, saying, "Actually, I quite agree with President Li's plan, for three reasons. One, our current living environment seems safe, but it is actually very fragile; we have to guard against zombies at all times and also guard against outside forces taking advantage of the situation."

"Two, going north from the urban area to Tianmayu isn't far, but it isn't close either. The closest should be the Tianqi Regiment, about thirty-some kilometers away, while the further Civilization Guardian is over fifty kilometers away. You all surely know the risks of long-distance combat better than I do."

"Three is the issue of information. We certainly know ourselves, but we know very little about the situation at Tianmayu. I believe that gathering the forces of all four families to attack one place won't be a problem, but the final losses are hard to estimate."

"As for the problem Commander Yang mentioned just now, I don't think we need to care too much. In the apocalypse, what everyone cares about more is their fists. Whoever has the bigger fist has the right to speak, and whoever has the qualification to set the rules. Becoming a target of public criticism is even more of an over-worry; there are no eternal enemies or friends, only eternal interests!"

Compared to Li Zongkai's general plan, Gong Chengming directly laid out three points and also analyzed Yang Xin's view, which was very persuasive. The scene fell into silence again, with only the sound of chewing.

A moment later, Liao Youzhi let out a long breath and said, "In this world today, it's not easy to gather once. Tonight we must come up with a plan, and don't be reserved anymore; let's decide directly by voting! Come, those who support attacking directly to reason with them, raise your hands."

This "reasoning" was not that "reasoning"; everyone knew the power of convincing people with "reason," and soon two people slowly raised their hands.

"Damn, I didn't expect that we two could actually pee in the same pot; heaven is truly blind!"

Liu Yao turned his head with a strange expression, not looking at Yang Xin, who had raised his hand with him.

Yang Xin rolled his eyes at Liu Yao, gave a contemptuous snort, and couldn't be bothered to argue with him, just saying, "There are many villages in the north, and there is a large area of arable land. Let's none of us pretend to be saints; wiping out the forces in the north and dividing the resources early is the serious business!"

Liao Youzhi nodded, without commenting, and then said, "Then those who feel that attacking directly is too radical and that we should use strategy to solve the problem, raise your hands."

Gong Chengming and Li Zongkai looked at each other and slowly raised their hands.

"This vote, heh heh, two to two, still don't know what to do!"

Liao Youzhi pursed his lips and spread his hands.

"Leader Liao, how did you forget yourself? What's your attitude?" Liu Yao asked with a strange expression.

"Ah, right, right, right, haha, look at my brain, I was so busy thinking of ways that I missed my own vote."

Liao Youzhi patted his head in great annoyance, then pretended to be lost in thought; he hadn't forgotten at all, he was just putting on a show.

The atmosphere at the scene was quite subtle, with a kind of indescribable eeriness.

Gong Chengming closed his eyes slightly, seemingly confident in Liao Youzhi's choice. Liu Yao and Yang Xin also looked very confident, puffing on their cigars, while Li Zongkai, who had barely eaten anything before, actually started to feast.

After about two or three minutes, Liao Youzhi tapped his fingers on the table and said, "I think we should strike while the iron is hot, go directly to their doorstep to reason with them, after all, a long night brings many dreams!"

With Liao Youzhi speaking, the voting result became three to two, and the matter was settled! After hearing Liao Youzhi's words, Gong Chengming's body stiffened noticeably, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes. Liao Youzhi's decision made him very surprised. Although he was the second-in-command, whether it was the first or second-in-command outside, as long as one person clearly stated their position, how could the other sing a different tune?

Thinking from another perspective, if Liao Youzhi had stated his position first, no matter what the idea was, Gong Chengming would not have opposed it!

Compared to Gong Chengming's surprise, Li Zongkai just stopped his chopsticks and made a regretful expression; he didn't seem to care too much. For him, whether it was taking the initiative to attack or luring the enemy into a trap, it was all the same; the point was to get the job done.

"Good, I knew Leader Liao was wise, hahaha."

Liu Yao got the result he wanted and was naturally very happy, giving Liao Youzhi a continuous thumbs-up.

"Heh heh, you flatter me, you flatter me. Although I think we should go directly to their doorstep, we still need some strategy; we can't really act like reckless men and just charge over with the brothers. Heaven knows what tricks the other side has!"

Liao Youzhi waved his hand with a smile, then said seriously, "My subordinates have had a clash with the other side, and Brother Gong has even gone deep into the north, but the information we understand is also very limited. The investigation that should be done cannot be missing at all."

"I propose that our four families each send five excellent brothers to form a special investigation team to go north to investigate the situation. It would be best if we could directly capture a few people from Tianmayu. Do you have any objections?"

(End of chapter)