307 Arriving at Stronghold 88! (1/2)

A civil war had erupted within the dozen or so strongholds controlled by the Qing Consortium. It had come without any warning, and there were no precautions against it.

At this moment, the Qing Consortium's combat troops and soldiers were all thinking that war would only be happening externally. They never expected that in just one night, there would be a changing of the guard and the Board would get taken down entirely.

Qing Zhen's supporters, who had been scattered across the various fighting forces, had either successfully rebelled against the leaders of their troops or carried out decapitation strikes against them. This left the military without any leaders and created a situation of chaos.

Many people sacrificed themselves that night. They were all willing to die for Qing Zhen's glory. Meanwhile, Qing Zhen had sent out a large number of people to take control of the strongholds, as well as amalgamate the fighting forces.

New political orders were starting to be issued from Stronghold 111. It took Qing Zhen a fortnight to complete the cleaning up and purging of the previous regime's elements.

Many of the Qing Consortium's supporters had no choice but to escape out into the wilderness, but what awaited them was a harsh winter and extreme hunger.

Inside the manor on the mountainside of Mt. Ginkgo, Zhou Qi asked, \”Where's the money you promised me? Pay up! Pay up! Pay up!\”

Qing Zhen looked at him in amusement and wrote him a check. \”Go cash it at the Qing Consortium's bank. It's enough to last you a lifetime.\”

Zhou Qi happily held the check in his hand. \”Look, you just don't trust me. And see what happened? Luo Lan has been locked up in Stronghold 88 as a bargaining chip as a result. Let's see how you're gonna deal with that!\”

\”You want me to trust you?\” Qing Zhen snapped, \”You're already asking for your payment as soon as this episode ended, so how can I trust someone like you?\”

Zhou Qi was unhappy to hear that. \”Although I like money a lot, I could have gotten some from the Board too. So why did I choose to accept your money instead of taking it from the Board? It's all down to our relationship!\”

\”Like hell I'd believe you.\” Qing Zhen sat calmly in his seat. The reason for his worries was because he was afraid that Zhou Qi would turn against him at the last minute.

Outsiders would only think that this was Qing Zhen's planned move, but Qing Zhen himself was also sweating over it.

In reality, it was still unknown whether he or the Board would end up as the victor that night. It was indeed a very risky decision to place a portion of the bet on Zhou Qi because Zhou Qi loved money way too much ever since childhood.

Qing Zhen understood very well that a portion of the reason Zhou Qi was on his side was that his money was easier to earn and safer as well.

If he accepted any money from the Board, it might be possible that they would get even with him at a later time.

Of course, a portion of it also involved some complicated relationships. This group of people who had known each other since childhood would still consider the friendship they had.

Zhou Qi said, \”Then what do we do about Luo Lan now? Why don't you pay me some money and I'll go rescue him?\”

Qing Zhen looked up at him. \”There's no need to. I have my own plans.\”

…

At this moment, a military transport truck was speeding towards Stronghold 88. Suddenly, Yang Xiaojin said, \”We're here!\”

Ren Xiaosu looked up ahead through the windshield and saw a towering stronghold located in the wilderness. This stronghold was extremely large. It was way larger than Stronghold 108, 109, and 113.

Stronghold 88's location was very special. To the north were the Zong Consortium and Stronghold 178, while the Qing Consortium was to its west, and the Li Consortium was to the south. Some years ago when it was still possible for independent merchants to freely come to the stronghold, this place was a very important distribution center of goods. This was also how the Yang Consortium started.

While in the vehicle, Ren Xiaosu could already see the town of Stronghold 88 from afar. At this moment, a group of refugees were returning home from work. Some of them had cigarettes dangling from their mouths and looked extremely satisfied.

Just as Yan Liuyuan had said, the Yang Consortium was no different from the other organizations. It was only Yang Xiaojin who was different.