Chapter 194: They will come back running

"Treasure? What the hell are you talking about?" Alex looked at the giggling guy with a confused expression. "Ah! Did little white forget to take a mana ore?"

"Ha Ha ha"

"Ha Ha Ha No way" Luo Zu continued laughing without explaining properly.

"Are you going to tell me or what?" Alex raised her voice a little and the other party immediately calmed down. "Ha Ha. Sorry, sis! Don't get angry! I did a good thing, alright."

"Let me tell you..ha ha ha."

"So do you think those guys would have raided our base? To see what secrets we were hiding and such?"

Hmmm? Alex nodded. "Ya probably.." She paused and then added. "No, definitely. I bet they went in and looked around to see what we were all up to."

"But why are you asking about that? What did you do?"

Luo Zu grinned. He explained what he had done and the next second everyone started laughing even the two elders, kids, and Guan Ye.

…

…

…

Inside the water purification facility which had now been renamed as headquarters, the two Generals, Bailong and Zemin were currently standing in front of a group of men dressed in military attire.

Weirdly, most of these men were bruised, some more heavily injured than the others.

It looked as if they were about to talk about something important, but before they could someone else rushed in. Yahe panted loudly as he barged into the meeting hall.

For an evolved human being like him to be out of breath, it was clear that he had run all the way here from a distant place.

"Bailong! Zemin!"

"Ah! There you are. You are just in time, Yahe. We were just about to send out a word for you." The two Generals looked at each other and then at Yahe.

"What happened at the border?" Zemin asked. "You openly ignored the rules? What is this I am hearing about?"

"Ah. What? Yes, never mind that. Zemin. First, tell me what is happening? Did you say the other day that you were going to ignore that group and leave them be?"

"Hmm… I guess I did. So?"

"So? What are you saying? Did you change your mind?"

"That's exactly what I am saying. Why do we have to give concessions to people who are simply occupying land and not contributing anything? Do you know how many resources they are using?"

Bailong as well agreed with this and added. "This is also creating unrest among other people." 

"When a group is allowed to simply take all the benefits without actually contributing anything, others also want to do the same thing. This just simply won't fly."

"No. No. You both don't understand. You are gravely mistaken. They are not sitting around. They are strong." Yahe sighed.

"Yes, we are just hearing about it. Wait." Zemin looked at one of the men who were standing on the side. 

This was the leader of the group and also the one who was bruised the most after crossing paths with Alex, but he, of course, neglected to talk about that detail.

"General, just as we discussed, we were setting fire to various areas, especially those that were completely overrun by trees and wild plants."

"Then we met some members of their group and without any rhyme or reason, they started attacking us, out of nowhere."

"We were completely taken aback and caught off guard. Otherwise, it would have gone differently." The leader explained.

As he finished talking, another person immediately added. This was the leader of the group who had come back from the shopping mall.

"They also attacked our supply group and drove away with a truck, stealing supplies and also kidnapping some refugees with them."

Both Zemin and Bailong pensively nodded while patiently listening to all the reports. Yahe, on the other hand, had a weird expression on his face.

He almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. And moreover, no one here seems to care about something very obvious.

These guys were all still alive to tell the tale! 

If their stories indeed held up, then would it take an additional 2 minutes for the people who attacked them irrationally to actually kill them and finish them off?

Dead men tell no tale. So if they had done that, now this discussion wouldn't even be happening and everything would have been chalked up to mutated beasts or zombies.

"Are you all really telling the truth?" He harrumphed loudly, his demeanor stressing that he was also a General just like the other two.

The two leaders' faces slightly changed but they nodded and stuck to their stories. Yahe could only sneer at their behavior.

It was not long ago that he was also in the same boat and behaved in a similar idiotic manner. When someone stronger than you shows kindness, it was foolish to mistake it for fear.

Yahe let out a long sigh and was about to say something when Zemin interrupted him. "One second, Yahe." He then turned to look at the last leader who hadn't said much yet.

"Did you guys search their base?"

The person who was silently standing all this time, flinched as if he did not want this attention like a student who forgot his homework.

"About that…" he hesitated a bit and then answered. "We didn't find anything."

"Hmmm? Alright then." Zemin nodded and turned away but he once again looked at the guy as he could feel that something was not right.

"Why do you look like that? Did something happen?"

The leader quickly shook his head. "No General, nothing noteworthy."

Hmmm? Somehow his words were not believable. So Zemin was not convinced. 

"What happened when you reached there? Tell me everything. Something that you might think is not significant might actually be important."

"There has to be a reason as to why they didn't leave that place for so long and now suddenly moved away."

The leader looked back at his men who had equally shameful expressions and then with a bitter smile explained. "Sir… we really did not see anything inside those tunnels."

"The tunnels were very well made but we already know that it was the hideout of the mutated centipedes. So other than that, there was nothing there. But..."

He gritted his teeth as if he was recollecting something extremely shameful and then continued. "In one of the small cave-like spaces, there was something scribbled on the wall."

"When looked closer, it seemed to spell the word 'treasure' and there were signs that the ground in front of that mud wall had been dug out and refilled as if something was buried inside."

Simultaneously, all three Generals looked anxious and Zemin hurriedly asked. "So did you guys find anything inside? Quick! Tell me everything!"

"Ah…" The leader bit his lips further and then slowly muttered with an awkward smile on his face. "Sir, we dug that spot thoroughly and looked inside, but there was nothing."

"What do you mean? There has to be something! You guys might have missed it." Zemin was exasperated.

The man, however, bitterly smiled and mumbled in a low voice. "Sir, it was a compost pit. There really was nothing."

"Huh? Compost pit? What is that?"

"Sir… it was a pit filled with excretions and other human wastes…"

Zemin's face instantly darkened and his eyes twitched. "Human wastes? You mean?"

"Yes, sir. We even dug through the huge pile of feces but there was nothing whatsoever. It looked like someone had purposely done this, fully expecting us to inspect their base."

Unable to believe the man's words, everyone looked at each other's blank faces, completely speechless. An awkward silence filled the room.

But breaking this silence, a loud burst of laughter echoed. Yahe couldn't hold it in any longer. Idiots! Such idiots! He ended up laughing heartily. 

He didn't know why but he was definitely rooting for the other party. These people definitely deserved this!

"Stop it! YAhe!" Zemin stood up from his chair. Bailong also did the same. "Why are you laughing?" 

"They are treating us like fools and they have clearly been hiding something all this time! Perhaps they know more about what happened and led us on."

"Find them and bring them back here! At all costs!" His voice boomed.

Once again, unexpectedly, an awkward silence prevailed. "Sir, I don't think that is a good idea." One of the men who had returned back from the mall replied. 

"The last time I saw them, they were headed to Boxun city."

Zemin listened to the man, his eyes widening in realization. "Boxun City. That is the one we were avoiding right?"

"Yes, Sir"

"Ha Ha Ha Ha! Ha Ha Ha Ha! Good Good. They deserve it!" This time, it was Zemin who loudly laughed.

Yahe did not understand what was happening and asked curiously. "Why are you laughing?"

"Heh. Don't you know what is there in Boxun city? The biggest zoo in the south! Do I still need to spell it out to you?"

"Ha Ha Ha! That whole place is a minefield. Those idiots won't survive there. They are simply walking to their deaths!

"Ah ha ha! Mark my words. They will come back running to us in no time like little bitches."