Chapter 435

"Fine, if you insist on going, then go. Since you're taking action yourself, you'll definitely take out Liao Youzhi smoothly. You're even more formidable than that woman!"

Zheng Xin clenched her fists, revealing her small canine teeth, a dangerous glint flashing in her eyes. She loathed this guy she had never met and whose name she hadn't even heard twice. Why did he have to set his sights on the north when he had nothing better to do? Why couldn't he just develop properly in the city? Zhang Su was very happy after hearing Zheng Xin's words. Since the lucky star said so, it was a sure thing!

He ruffled Zheng Xin's hair, pushed the door open, got out of the car, and walked toward the back.

Less than five minutes had passed since ending the call with Liao Youzhi when vehicle after vehicle flashed out from behind the buildings in the distance. There were over thirty of them in total, of various makes and models. By the time the vehicles stopped on the south side of the potholed road, they stretched for a full hundred meters.

More than thirty vehicles of various sizes were all puffing white exhaust from their tailpipes; the scene was quite spectacular.

Even before the disaster broke out, Beidong Town was only this lively during market days...

"The little thing is quite clever!"

When Liao Youzhi saw the vehicles parked over two hundred meters away, the expression on his face turned somewhat gloomy.

He thought he had been fast enough, as he was only a few kilometers away from Beidong Town when he ended the call, but he hadn't expected the other side to be even faster. Logically, if they had set out from their camp, they would have needed to prepare, which would have taken at least ten minutes. Looking at it this way, there was only one possibility! The other side had set out the moment he gave them the fifteen-minute window, and they had been fully prepared beforehand; otherwise, they couldn't have achieved this level of speed.

He thought he had overestimated the mobility of Tianmayu, but in reality, he had underestimated Zhang Su's caution. Liao Youzhi would never have imagined that he was already standing outside the gates of hell, and the amulet protecting him was none other than Li Zongkai, who was sitting in the back.

The scene quieted down. The potholed section was about two hundred meters long, and the two sides stood facing each other across that distance. A cold wind blew through the street, filled with a murderous atmosphere.

"Let's go, let's get out of the car and meet this guy named Zhang Su to see what kind of thing he is!"

After saying this, Liao Youzhi pulled up his mask, put on a hat, pushed the door open, and stepped out of the car.

"Chairman Li, come on down!"

The members of the Guard were relatively polite to Li Zongkai; after all, they had received benefits from him before. Now that he was an opposing force, it wasn't good to make things too difficult for him. Even if they were going to take his life in the end, they would give him a final shred of dignity.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. As soon as Liao Youzhi got out of the car, everyone else followed suit, including those from the Guardians of Civilization who were tied up, all standing in a row.

Along the way, they had already roughly understood the situation. Some were completely bewildered—how did they end up on Tianmayu's side? This made no sense; they were completely confused and clamored to confront Li Zongkai face-to-face.

But there were also those who had sworn to die for Li Zongkai and firmly trusted him, maintaining silence along the way.

"I want to see what kind of dog-brained idiot Zhang Su is. Damn it, daring to kill my men!"

Liu Yao cursed as he got out of the car. Among everyone, he was the only one holding a gun, appearing so out of place.

Liao Youzhi stood on the bed of a pickup truck equipped with special loudspeaker equipment—a utility vehicle usually used to lure zombies, which happened to be perfect for talking to the other side. Who would have thought that before he could even start speaking, a commotion broke out behind him! "We want to talk to Chairman Li!"

"That's right, Chairman Li, how did we become allies with Tianmayu?"

"When did this happen? Chairman Li, you must explain this clearly to us!"

Seven or eight combat personnel from the Guardians of Civilization shouted at Li Zongkai with indignant expressions.

Li Zongkai had already stood on the truck bed with Liao Youzhi. Hearing the voices of his subordinates, he turned to look at his brothers and sighed helplessly.

"Chairman Li, it seems your men aren't of one mind!"

Liao Youzhi looked at the rowdy guys with a half-smile, then continued to say to Li Zongkai: "Should I handle them, or will you solve it yourself?" "Let me say a few words to them first, how about that?"

Li Zongkai asked.

"Be my guest!"

Liao Youzhi spread his hands generously, then picked up his binoculars to look at the opposite side. One by one, fully armed men and women appeared beside the vehicles, their standing posture nowhere near as uniform as theirs, but he wouldn't deny the other side's combat effectiveness because of these details; underestimating the enemy was a major taboo! Most conspicuous were the ten hostages standing behind the motorcade with burlap sacks over their heads and their hands bound. He was very familiar with the figures of those from the Guard; they were among them!

Just as he was observing the opposite side, Li Zongkai spoke up behind him.

"Brothers, the Guardians of Civilization have always valued faith and righteousness. Tianmayu's leader, Zhang Su, is my close friend. Wu Daqiang, Xiao Tiao, and Da Naodai all know about this. If I had known earlier that Tianmayu was Zhang Su's place, I would never have joined the northern expansion plan!"

"There are personal reasons for this, and I don't force all brothers to understand. If you don't want to stay with the Guardians of Civilization, you can choose to leave now and join other factions. I believe Leader Liao, Officer Liu, and Commander Yang will welcome you. This isn't betrayal; it's just that everyone has different choices!"

Liao Youzhi and the others didn't deny it after hearing Li Zongkai's words. The combat personnel of the Guardians of Civilization were well-trained; picking them up was a profit. As for betrayal, in this day and age, which faction could claim their subordinates were all completely loyal? They were just a community bound by interests. Besides, every family had certain defensive mechanisms.

"Me!" A young man raised his hand first: "I don't want to stay in the Guardians of Civilization anymore; I want to join the Survivor Alliance."

"Me too. The change was too sudden; I can't accept it."

"I want to join the Apocalypse Group..."

"And me..."

One after another, the eight people who had been making a fuss raised their hands to indicate their stance.

The events happening on Liao Youzhi's side were not hidden and fell into the eyes of everyone at Tianmayu. Everyone was curious about what they were doing.

Zhang Su was hiding behind a van, looking forward through the car window. His wrists were tied with ropes, and a burlap sack identical to the ones on the hostages' heads was tucked into his pocket.

Beside him was a row of neatly standing hostages. He had his reasons for not disguising himself as a hostage right away.

He saw the situation on Li Zongkai's side clearly. The fact that some people were quitting the Guardians of Civilization was beyond his expectations, but upon reflection, it was perfectly normal. If given the chance, everyone hoped to secure a better path for themselves.

Wu Daqiang, Xiao Tiao, and the others naturally saw the change among their own brothers and were filled with mixed emotions, but what they were more anxious about right now was rescuing Li Zongkai!

Dealing with the Guardians of Civilization took about five minutes. No procedures were needed, let alone stamping; everything was simplified. The eight people willing to leave the Guardians of Civilization were not untied but were taken to the vehicles in the back and placed under house arrest.

Liao Youzhi glanced at the remaining twelve people and smacked his lips: "Damn it, the bargaining chips have decreased quite a bit. That guy surnamed Zhang won't go back on his word, will he?"

"He has ten hostages in his hands, we have thirteen here, and there are so many people eyeing them covetously. If he dares to mess around, we'll just flatten Tianmayu!"

Liu Yao watched the opposite side with cold eyes.

Liao Youzhi waved his hand and retorted: "Where are there thirteen? Chairman Li doesn't count!"

From beginning to end, he never intended to let Li Zongkai go. He understood the weight of a leader very well. Unless he could secure greater benefits, he would either keep Li Zongkai under house arrest or kill him outright to have peace and quiet.

(End of chapter)