Chapter 22 - Fair

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Lin Qing was 18 meters tall, making him almost as tall as a six-story building. The boys gulped as they looked at his sandbag-sized fist. “Y-y-you can’t ruin our ball for no reason.”

“I just don’t like you guys. What can you do to me?”

After Lin Qing teased them, the boys’ faces turned red as they clenched their fists before relaxing them. They were angry, but they didn’t dare to say anything as they glared at Lin Qing.

If looks could kill, Lin Qing would have died hundreds of times by now.

Lin Qing waved his hand as if he was shooing flies. “A good dog doesn’t block the way. Make way. I want to walk over.”

“Who are you calling a dog?”

“I’m scolding you guys! Oh, that’s not right. It’s already an honor to call you dogs. At least dogs can take care of their homes. You dogs are worse.”

Seeing that the university students were angry, Ye Daying was afraid that they would suffer and stopped them. He then turned around to say to Lin Qing, “Big Boss, don’t mind them. Let’s go somewhere else first.”

Lin Qing snorted. He walked toward the dormitories and said calmly, “Actually, you didn’t have to stop them. If they had the courage to hit me, they wouldn’t be fed like pigs every day.”

Upon hearing this, the boys gritted their teeth. If it weren’t for their lack of strength, they would have killed Lin Qing.

Seeing Lin Qing walk away, one of the boys pushed Ye Daying away and said angrily, “Is this how you help outsiders bully us?”

“I…” Ye Daying almost vomited blood. This brother obviously didn’t understand the current situation. If Ye Daying hadn’t stopped them, they would have died long ago if they dared to talk to Lin Qing like this.

“You? You what? Move aside!”

With that, the students left while cursing and swearing. Ye Daying could vaguely hear them saying things like ‘What’s the big deal about Motorbots’.

Huang Quan laughed as he walked beside Lin Qing. “What’s wrong with you today? Why are you teasing them when everything is alright?”

“It’s nothing. I just can’t stand it.” He mourned for their misfortune and was enraged at their incompetence. This was how Lin Qing felt when he saw those boys.

In his previous life, he had been around for ten years and had seen too much cruelty. All the major safety bases didn’t raise trash, and people like this would’ve died a long time ago.

On the other hand, those who could live for more than three years, regardless of whether they were old or young, had their own value.

Since they didn’t have any skills, they would go all out. Every day, they would sweep streets, carry food behind Motorbots, or build fortifications, carry cement, and pick rocks with Motorbots.

Although they were not efficient, those who worked had different attitudes from those who did not.

If they believed that they could do nothing and would be excused because they were weak, they wouldn’t be able to survive for more than a month.

“Jiang Cheng and the others are fighting for their lives outside, but the people here are playing soccer. It’s really not very appropriate.” Huang Quan sighed as he recalled the few Motorbots who had died in today’s battle.

“That’s right. They threw their lives away just to raise this bunch of trash. I guess those brothers died discontent.”

“What can we do? As Ye Daying said, these people can’t do any work and can’t fight. They can’t be armed with machetes to fight steel beasts, right?”

“Are you sure that they can’t do anything?” Lin Qing questioned him before sighing. “Forget it. This is their business, so I can’t be bothered. At any rate, we’ll be leaving soon.”

They stopped talking about this topic. As they walked in the dormitory area, Huang Quan observed the female dormitory. His face was full of envy when he saw that it was a mixed-gender dormitory.

With 100,000 people living in a university, it was unrealistic for everyone to have their own room. The original six-people rooms were now being used to accommodate those with families.

Meanwhile, classrooms had also been transformed into sleeping quarters and were filled with bunk beds. There were dozens of people living in each classroom, mostly students and single men and women.

They had only taken a few steps when Jiang Cheng appeared and ran over to greet them. “I’m sorry, I was in a meeting just now. I’ve arranged a place for you to stay. How long do you plan to stay here?”

Jiang Cheng’s heart tightened as he stared at Lin Qing. He really wanted the two of them to stay.

Most of the Motorbots in the city had gone to the empire’s base, and the combat power of the Motorbots here was not high. So people were dying every day, and their lives here were just too tough.

“Judging from the situation, we might stay here two or three days, or even three to five days,” Lin Qing said indifferently.

Disappointment flashed across Jiang Cheng’s eyes, but he quickly returned to normal. He refused to give up. “The world is so chaotic. Where are you planning to go?”

“We’re going to Qingzhou!”

“You’re going so far away? Actually, I feel that with your strength, you two can shine wherever you go. Why don’t you stay behind and fight side by side with us?”

“I can give you the position of the base leader, and I’ll listen to you from now on.”

“I’m not interested.” Lin Qing shrugged and calmly said, “I don’t want to be a nanny and work hard while others enjoy the fruits of my labor.”

“We’re all miserable people, so we should help out wherever we can. After all, it’s not easy for everyone.”

Lin Qing looked at a dormitory. In the dormitory, a family of five was joyous and harmonious, a couple was leaning on each other, and an old man was playing with a child.

“Who has it easy in this world? Why should I risk my life to protect these people? How have you helped settle the families of the Motorbots from your team who died today?”

“Settle? Does being well-fed count?”

“What else?”

“That’s it.” Jiang Cheng shook his head slowly. “Money is useless now, so we can only compensate them with food.”

“Ha!” Lin Qing sneered. “You eat at the cafeteria here, right? They’ll only get a few more pieces of meat. Do you consider that as compensation?

“Do you know why most Motorbots want to go to bigger bases that are more competitive? Although the rules there are cold, they are fair! The stronger you are, the better you’ll be treated. And the amount of benefits you receive depends on how much you work.

“Typical Motorbots with wives and children can be assigned separate apartments. They can receive a large amount of food every day, and their children can enroll in school.

“If the Motorbots die in battle, the base will raise their children and provide them with an allowance.

“Now take a look at what you guys are doing. Everyone gets the same treatment and is compensated with no regard for their performance. What right do you have to get them to sell their lives to you?

“Some families can enjoy a separate room, while others have to live in classrooms with many other people. Why should they be treated this way?”

Jiang Cheng didn’t expect Lin Qing to be so agitated. “What can I do? I can’t split people into different levels like those people, right?”

“It seems like you still don’t understand the current situation.” Lin Qing gave him a look. “This is the bloody end of the world. Do you understand what that means?

“There’s no savior here. Only you can save yourself. If they want to eat food, you can get them to search for food on the streets, sew, cook, cut bricks, or carry cement, right?

“Repairing circuits, building new houses, restoring factory assembly lines, making and processing food, planting crops… You need people to do all these things.”

After taking a deep breath, Lin Qing continued, “You should know how much food 100,000 people eat a day. How many days do you think you can last? If they don’t provide for themselves, these 100,000 people will die sooner or later.

“With such a huge population, you can’t possibly support them with several hundred Motorbots using a few lousy guns to gather food every day.”