Chapter 89

On the way back, although the wind was against him, Hein felt as if his body was floating, and the arrow wound on his leg didn't hurt as much anymore.

Due to the plan, he had stayed in the camp of those blue-coated people for a day. It was now the afternoon of the second day, and just a few hours ago, he had shared lunch with the man who had invited him.

That lunch left a deep impression on him. The main dish was steamed cracked-claw crab legs, and the side dish was mushroom soup with horn-shaped mashed potatoes.

The fact that they could take down a cracked-claw crab indicated that this group was even more formidable than he had imagined, at least possessing anti-armor firepower.

The horn-shaped mashed potatoes were sprinkled with soy sauce to enhance the flavor.

Their martial virtue was abundant, and their supplies were plentiful. The Blood Hand Clan had indeed provoked a formidable opponent; it was no wonder they had lost two teams of men.

Hein was a merchant, and merchants are very pragmatic.

He would always stand on the side of the victor... at least the one with the best chance of winning.

Actually, when the man named Chu Guang was trying to persuade him, it was clear that he didn't really understand the rules of the Horseshoe Trading Company.

Even if he performed well in front of the boss, he couldn't escape the life of a man with his head on the line.

Though he was nominally a "salesman" for the trading company, in reality, the nature of his job was more like that of a partner.

They operated in the southern part of the River Valley Province, using the Horseshoe Trading Company's network to conduct business and earning a share from each transaction.

Hein had roughly calculated the numbers.

Even with the loss of two teams, the Blood Hand Clan still had fifty to sixty strong laborers. If you included the cannon fodder and captives, there were nearly a hundred people.

Even if he could bring back a third of them, it would be enough to make him a legend in the Horseshoe Trading Company and the entire Red River Town.

The able-bodied could be sold to the mine owners, the disabled could be sent for organ harvesting, and they could be sold to the Giant Rock City or other large survivor settlements in the northern part of the River Valley Province. It would be a 1000% profit, no matter how you looked at it.

This deal was a sure win.

As for whether these blue-coated people could win?

To be honest, he never considered the possibility that they might lose.

These people could work as diligently as oxen and hunt as fiercely as wolves. Even he, who had been traveling the wasteland for years, had been outsmarted by them.

They had a significant advantage in both tactics and strategy.

And their leader was a man whose depth was hard to fathom.

This group was truly terrifying!

Hein's intuition told him that if he could build a good relationship with these people, his future prospects would be bright, possibly even better than working for the trading company!

...

Following the remains of the elevated road out of the city, and bypassing a few collapsed ruins, Hein soon saw the tire factory occupied by the Blood Hand Clan.

The concrete walls were lined with sharp wooden stakes and rebar as obstacles, and the walls were smeared with blood, creating disturbing and chilling graffiti.

A headless corpse was abandoned in a roadside drain, being gnawed on by several fat rats. It seemed another unlucky slave had failed to satisfy these barbarians.

Hein clicked his tongue, feeling a bit sorry for the poor soul, and continued walking toward the wooden gate, holding a wooden box in his hands.

"I'm Hein, open the gate quickly!"

The bandage on his leg had already been removed, and the wound had stopped bleeding. He pretended to shout and waved at the sentry on the wall.

Recognizing Hein's face, the bald man with a crimson face paint walked to the rebar winch and used his muscular arms to turn it.

With a creaking sound, the wooden gate slowly opened.

Hein didn't hesitate, quickly entering the Blood Hand Clan's stronghold. Led by a raider sentry, he arrived at Bear's tent.

Placing the box on the ground, he pressed his forehead to the floor.

"Respected Leader! Those people are nothing but savages, rats, and maggots in blue coats! They have no sense of honor or morality, and every cell in their bodies is marked with deceit."

"They pretended to accept the surrender of your men, but after they laid down their weapons, they cruelly hanged them at the gate!"

As he spoke, Hein opened the box in his hands, revealing a necklace of finger bones.

Bear's eyes instantly narrowed to a point, and his right fist slammed onto the armrest of his chair.

"I will cut off their four limbs and throw them into the dungeon to feed the cockroaches!"

His rough roar echoed in the tent, and the flames in the brazier flickered. The veteran raiders tightened their grips on their knives and axes, their eyes darting toward Hein.

They were ready to chop him into pieces at the leader's command, to vent the leader's anger.

Sensing Bear's fury, Hein didn't dare to breathe, and continued his emotional plea.

"Respected Leader, you don't know what I endured! I went to their camp with the intention of peace, even surrendering my weapons to their sentries. But as soon as I met their leader, he ordered me to be thrown into the dungeon."

"They had no intention of negotiating! The leader threw this wooden box at me, mocked me, and said that the people you wanted were all here, and told me... told me to burn it and send it to you!"

"Although they didn't hang me immediately, I suspect they were afraid I would reveal their secrets and kept me locked up. I feared for my life, so I used the tokens hidden in my shoe to bribe the guard and escaped with the box in the middle of the night."

"But they reacted quickly, realizing I was gone, and sent hunters to pursue me. I didn't dare go north, so I took a detour through the east gate. Before entering the city, I was shot with an arrow."

"Fortunately, the arrow didn't hit a vital spot. I hid the remains of your men in a trash can and hid in a ruin. They searched the area, but fortunately, they didn't notice me. I stayed hidden until dawn, and once they left, I immediately brought the box back to report to you!"

Hein spoke with tears and snot, and the seated Bear finally shifted his anger away from him.

His eyes locked onto Hein, and he asked in a deep voice.

"You said they were afraid you would reveal their secrets? What secrets?"

Hein spoke quickly.

"Those people are not actually residents of the shelter. They are just scavengers who wandered in from somewhere. They deceived and took over a shelter hidden in the Wetland Park, stripped the blue coats off the original residents, and pretended to be shelter residents to deceive passing wastelanders."

"They are not as strong as they appear, just a bunch of bullies who are tough on the outside but weak on the inside. They only have about thirty people, and the rest are captives from the shelter. Their favorite activity is to light a bonfire in the center of the camp at midnight and bring out the attractive captives for parties... you know what I mean."

"So if you plan to attack them, it's best to do it at midnight."

Hein lowered his eyebrows, skillfully recounting the story someone had told him.

"That's when their defenses are the weakest. Many of them don't even wear clothes... I escaped during that time."

Captives.

From the shelter.

A greedy look appeared on Bear's face.

The clone from Bet Street had already been played out, and his subordinates had likely disassembled it.

Moreover, a toy with no emotions, no screams, and no tears couldn't interest him.

Without screams, how could he show his bravery?

But the people from the shelter were different. They were always the best quality, no matter where they came from.

"Guns? How many guns do they have?" Bear asked, concerned about his most pressing issue.

Seeing the leader's interest, Hein was delighted and quickly responded.

"Thirty at most! Half of them were taken from your men! And they have very little ammunition. Most of them use bows and arrows, or spears."

"Look at my leg wound, it's from their arrows!"

Hearing about bows and arrows, Bear's expression became even more contemptuous.

Those primitive weapons were the tools of scavengers. Unless they were special "Awakened" individuals or extremely muscular mutants, most people would rather use homemade guns made from black powder than fight with spears and bows.

Bear himself was two meters tall, with immense strength. Four people couldn't budge his arm in an arm-wrestling match. Ordinary people couldn't move with twenty to thirty kilograms of armor, but his armor weighed a hundred kilograms, with a fifty-kilogram steel chest plate!

Arrows and spears were like tickles to him, leaving only scratches.

To him, crushing those scavengers was like stepping on a nest of ants.

"Sir, I think we should be cautious," the man with the horse face bowed and continued.

"Badger and Rat are both strong, and their tribes are fierce. They both lost to those scavengers, and I suspect there's something fishy going on."

Hearing this, Hein became anxious and was about to speak, but Bear waved his hand, cutting off the man's words.

"Badger is brave but foolish, and Rat is clever but cowardly. They are not elite. But a group of scavengers is nothing. I will lead the attack myself, and with all our forces, we will crush them easily."

Bear didn't want to delay.

The longer it took, the heavier the snow, the colder the weather, and the harder the battle would be.

Moreover, the captives from the shelter would be dead by then, and he would have nothing to play with.

Besides, he didn't respect Badger and Rat. The real elites were those who followed him to the north.

Hein felt relieved.

To prevent Bear from hesitating, he decided to add more fuel to the fire.

"Sir, you don't need to worry. We have a significant advantage!"

"When I entered the Wetland Park, I saw them setting up a brick kiln by the river in the northwest. They are probably trying to reinforce their defenses before the snow gets worse, which shows their fear and weakness!"

"Attack them at night, and they will panic. Pursue their fleeing soldiers into their camp, and the wealth and supplies will be yours."

Hein looked angry.

"And I can finally take revenge for this arrow wound!"

"Brick kiln?" Bear stroked his chin, interested. "How many people are there?"

"At least ten! Sixty percent are men from the shelter, and forty percent are their own people!"

Bear was delighted and slapped the armrest of his chair.

"Good!"

Although he didn't fully trust the slave merchant, a brick kiln was easy to verify with a quick look.

He immediately turned to the man with the horse face and ordered him.

"Send a lackey to a high point to observe the Wetland Park. If he sees a campfire or smoke by the river, have him report back immediately!"

The man with the horse face bowed and accepted the order.

"Yes!"

...

Meanwhile, by the river in the northwest of the Wetland Park, Fang Chang and a few others were setting up a makeshift shelter with plastic sheets and wooden poles.

The shelter was leaky and would likely cause arthritis if they stayed in it, but they didn't want to use better materials.

After all, they were going to put explosive barrels and wood tar in it soon...

"I don't think the Administrator ever expected us to actually make bricks," Night Eleven complained as he dug a kiln in the riverbank with a shovel.

Old Bai, a practical worker, didn't say much as he worked.

"Stop complaining and finish your job... the task time is almost up."

"Damn..."

"By the way, Wild Wind, don't you have classes today?"

"The PPT was sent to the teaching assistant."

"Awesome!"

The first exclusive task for the Niu Ma Brick Factory was not to produce a certain number of bricks or build a kiln with a certain daily output, but to set traps in the camp.

Does this sound like something a life player would do??

Well.

They weren't really life players to begin with.