Chapter 353: Chapter 353: Revolution in the work
"Yo Lianzheng and Tingliao, we\'re about to head out today. Do you two want to come with us?"
"Nah, we\'re good... Wait, it\'s only Wednesday. Quanzi, weren\'t you guys supposed to go out on Friday?" Lianzheng curiously asked.
"Yeah, but you know food had been running low for the entire metro lines. So, they relaxed the limitation regarding going out."
"I see... Actually, I have a job for you all. Food guaranteed——"
"Deal."
The man leading the group instantly accepted Lianzheng\'s offer, showing zero sign of hesitation despite not knowing what the job was.
"You don\'t want to hear what the job is about first, Cheng Zui?"
"Lianzheng, we have been friends for about one or two years now, no? I trust your character."
As Cheng Zui patted him on the shoulder, a surge of emotion rushed over Lianzheng\'s brain.
"Thank you... But I still want to tell you what this job is going to be like. Can we talk in private for a second?"
"Sure. You all, wait for me out here."
As the men outside sat down on the rail line along with Tingliao, the two went inside the room and closed the door.
"What job is it? Do we need to go outside?" Cheng Zui quietly asked.
"No, but we\'re going to overthrow Shi Ming——"
"Overthrow? Are you out of your mind? When did you become a lunatic?"
Cheng Zui\'s face was in disbelief. He couldn\'t understand why Lianzheng had suggested something so drastic.
"But what if I show you this?"
As Lianzheng pulled out his gun, Cheng Zui instantly took a step back, his heart beating faster than ever seeing it pointed at him.
"W-Where did you get that from?" Cheng Zui nervously asked.
"The army from outside. They contacted me and told me that they wanted to end this whole broken system across the metro stations."
"But they are outsiders..."
Seeing the hesitation on Cheng Zui\'s face, Lianzheng knew he just needed to try a little harder to convince him.
"Outsiders? We are all the same people living in the same country. Have you lived under here for so long that you have forgotten it?"
"No, but——"
"There is no but. Think about it: do you think a bunch of police and security guards can defeat the army when they come rolling in?"
The questions finally make Cheng Zui change as he takes Lianzheng\'s word to heart, especially the idea that the army is going to be coming soon.
"Couldn\'t we just wait for them to come over?" Cheng Zui cautiously asked, still not wanting to risk it.
"It\'ll take too long... They are going to clear the zombies outside first. If we want to show our values, we have to take their offer before they pick someone else.
So, are you with me or not? Make your choice, Cheng Zui... Just remember, your brothers out there are never going to get enough food from savaging."
After a short silence, Cheng Zui finally took Lianzheng\'s offer. He knew the outside was drying up in terms of food as he had already gone out several times.
"Fine, but I want the food payment today. I\'m not going to work for free." Cheng Zui demanded.
"Of course, you\'ll get your food——"
Before Lianzheng could finish talking, the sound of a door knock echoed in the room, followed by Tingliao\'s voice from the outside.
"Lianzheng, the Boss is here."
As Lianzheng opened the door, Xiaoyun and Kate were standing right at the door with a sealed crate in her hand.
"Lianzheng, you got a lot more people than I thought." Xiaoyun complimented as he had already seen all the men standing outside.
"No, sir. They follow Cheng Zui. He\'s the leader of those men," Lianzheng clarified, as he didn\'t want to take credit.
"Mr.Cheng Zui, it\'s nice to meet you. My name is Songming," Xiaoyun said as the two shook hands.
"Nice to meet you, Mr.Songming. I heard you\'re from the army?"
"Yes, I\'m from the Southern Theater Command in the 74th Army group, 74th Special Operations Brigade."
Kate looked a little surprised by Xiaoyun\'s answer, but she remained silent and stood behind him.
"You can supply us with food and guns?" Cheng Zui directly asked, not wanting to waste time.
"Yep... Kate, open the crate."
As Kate unsealed the crate, the two were stunned by the number of guns inside—twice the amount Xiaoyun had shown before.
But to Cheng Zui\'s surprise, Xiaoyun took out one of the guns and handed it over to him without even asking if he was going to join his cause.
"I had stored the food in a separate place, but we can go there right now to check if that\'s what you want."
"No need. I trust your words... When do we start?" Cheng Zui curiously asked.
Xiaoyun thought for a second, then replied.
"There is no better day than today. We\'re going to brute force into this station\'s elder and force him to step down.
But I\'m not sure if we have enough people——"
"It\'s enough, Mr.Songming. Those guards at the station won\'t even fight back when they see someone pull out a gun."
Hearing Cheng Zui\'s confidence, Xiaoyun didn\'t doubt it.
"Great, then let\'s go outside and hand the weapons to our comrades."
---
The men were bored out of their minds as Tingliao refused to give any hints about the men who entered the room.
But seeing all of them coming out of the room, they immediately got up from their seats.
"Brothers, I have an announcement to make."
Cheng Zui cleared his throat as he prepared to make his speech.
"I know many of you are sick of living underground and barely scraping by, living like corpses with no purpose."
The group of men didn\'t flinch a single bit as they didn\'t understand the purpose of Cheng Zui\'s bringing up their common struggle.
"It all changes today... I had just made a deal to get all the food we needed... With an outsider.
I know, I know, you guys might be thinking I\'m out of my mind. But this man here is from the army.
Yes, you heard me right. Our country\'s army. The Southern Theater army from, um... Guangzhou."
The man\'s facial emotion finally changed as they were surprised by the news that had just been announced. But more importantly, their brain was hooked to the promise of food.
"Ahem, let me ask you all one question: are you willing to follow me in joining the army and getting rid of the evil, corrupt higher-ups who limit the food for themselves?
Are you willing to risk it to no longer be ruled by a bunch of cronies who look down on us every time they walk past? Even if it means risking your life?"
A short silence was interrupted by a sudden outburst from the crowds, as all of them looked as if they had been waiting for this moment.
"You saved my life. I\'ll always follow you, Brother Cheng!"
"Yes! We\'ll follow you, too!"
"Overthrow the corrupt elders!"
As the men yelled in unison, Cheng Zui knew he had the support and trust of his brothers.
"Very well. We\'ll overthrow those pigs now!——Guess what? We\'re not going alone either! The army has supplied us with weapons!"
Cheng Zui pulled out the gun Xiaoyun had just handed over and threw it into the air, boosting support for the movement to a new high.
"Comrades, you won\'t be going alone. I have guns for everyone!" Xiaoyun added as he signaled Kate to open the crate.
"Single file, please," Kate warned as the crowd of men started to get rowdy before the guns in the crate.
Seeing the crowd still not listening, Tingliao stepped in front of her and raised his gun into the air.
"Single file line or they will be banned from getting one! There\'s enough gun for everyone."
After hearing the threat, the men immediately stopped trying to cut each other and went to the back to wait for their chances.
"Mr.Songming... Can I ask what the next plan is after we take over this station?" Lianzheng quietly asked on the side.
"Mobilize every single person to join in the movement, then crack the stations one by one until all of them are under our control," Xiaoyun explained his plan.
"But what if they shoot back?" Cheng Zui cautiously asked.
"No revolution is done without blood. All we can do is to minimize it... I hope you all are ready to lose some people along the way."
The two nodded in agreement as they knew their wish of having those in power to step down with zero bloodshed was just a pipe dream.
"If we get more people, do we have enough food to afford it?" Lianzheng raised his concern after hearing Xiaoyun\'s plan.