203 Exemption from military service (1/2)

As the military transport truck rumbled along noisily, a cold, piercing wind blew through the exposed cargo bed, the knife wind cutting the passengers' faces.

At the beginning, what worried Ren Xiaosu the most was that these military transport trucks would transport the men and women to separate places, with the women being directly transported to the factory to work as female workers. However, that situation did not happen, and it allowed him to let out a temporary sigh of relief.

Wang Fugui said with a frown, ”We couldn't bring our bicycles with us.”

The moment he said that, Ren Xiaosu's face turned gloomy.

This was probably the first time their group had suffered such a significant loss since leaving Stronghold 113.

This was the wasteland. All belongings were but worldly possessions, where things got discarded at a whim. If that saying applied to human lives, it was even more so for bicycles!

In the current situation, even though Ren Xiaosu and Chen Wudi were both supernatural beings, it would still be extremely difficult for them to take on an entire unit.

Watching the Li Consortium's troops heading towards Stronghold 109, Ren Xiaosu felt that he might not see them anymore in the future. That was because he did not think those troops were a match for over a 1,000 Experimentals in urban warfare. Unless, of course, the Li Consortium resorted to using heavy weaponry to flatten the stronghold.

But a stronghold was built precisely for the resources around it. Would the Li Consortium be willing to completely give up on an entire stronghold just like that? They definitely would not. The price to pay was simply too great if they had to blow up an entire stronghold and rebuild it from scratch.

The trucks drove through the snow for seven to eight hours straight. During this period, some of the trucks in the convoy broke down several times. It was only at such times that the people in the trucks were allowed to get out to stretch and relieve themselves.

The private troops kept an eye on the escapees as though they were supervising prisoners. Ren Xiaosu exchanged glances with Xiaoyu and Jiang Wu from a distance, but they had no idea what the other party was trying to say.

After the trucks were repaired, the convoy continued on with its journey. During this time, Wang Fugui was striking up conversations with the soldiers, which was what he was best at. In just a short while, he was on very familiar terms with the soldiers who were assigned to watch over them.

When they got back into the truck, Wang Fugui whispered to Ren Xiaosu, ”It seems that we're heading straight for the town outside Stronghold 108. I'm sure we all know what these soldiers are like. Once we get there, I'll see if I can get them to secretly exempt us from military and manual labor by offering them some money and antibiotics.”

The ”manual labor” was referring to the female escapees getting recruited to work in the factories.

With someone like Wang Fugui in the group, any news would not become too inaccessible for them. Ren Xiaosu and the others were not good at dealing with people, so Wang Fugui had to be the one to do it.

Ren Xiaosu asked in a whisper, ”Did you ask them what the situation at the other Li Consortium strongholds is right now?”

”I asked, and everything is fine for now,” Wang Fugui replied. ”However, they're on full alert now. The Li Consortium has announced to the world that they're on wartime alert. It seems like war will be breaking out soon.”

”It looks like they're not only gonna be dealing with the Experimentals this time.” Ren Xiaosu sighed. If it were only about handling the problem of the Experimentals, there wouldn't be a need to raise the alert across a dozen-odd strongholds at once.

But where did the Li Consortium find the confidence to start a war? Surely they didn't intend to rely on their nanomachines, right?

Yang Xiaojin had mentioned that even though the research results that everyone had been trying to get their hands on did not get destroyed in time by the Li Consortium, they must have already transferred the research data through their own satellite network. So the Li Consortium's research was definitely not for nothing.

At the time, Ren Xiaosu even raised some doubts regarding the matter. If that were the case, the portable hard drive was probably left behind on purpose. If the Yang Consortium decided to use it, it would be better for them to inspect it first. Otherwise, it might turn out to be a trap.