1216 Earth Pistil (1/2)
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
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A group of people wearing blue military jackets had gathered in a valley, some of them guarding the entrance.
”Tong Li, why are you doing this!? We trusted you!” Zhang Xiaohou yelled, glaring at Tong Li.
”It's what I had to do in order to achieve our goals. Unfortunately, Lin Feili isn't aware of the situation he's in. Is he seriously going to keep the secret until we bury his bones under the sand? How stubborn, just like Squadron Leader Zhou,” Tong Li smiled.
”HAHAHA, they are pretty stupid too, thinking we are risking our lives to go an expedition for the sake of the others? Risking our lives for mere glory and reputation? Unfortunately, you guys had to poke your nose into other people's business. You have seen what you're not supposed to, so bad luck!” Zheng Tong burst out laughing.
”Zheng Tong, are you seriously doing this to your leader!?” Ge Ming snapped furiously.
”I'm sorry, leader. We were thinking of doing it silently, but we can't help it since Lin Feili somehow recognized me,” Tong Zhuang said.
”You were the soldiers that were stationed here?” Ge Ming looked at the betrayers, his heart sinking to the bottom.
The Golden Battle Hunters had suffered a great loss after the incident related to the Black Vatican. Ge Ming was thinking of using this expedition to earn their reputation back. He had asked Tong Zhuang, whom he trusted, to find some reliable men, yet it turned out that he had been used all along!
Ge Ming looked at the soldiers and the scar-faced general. He was immediately overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness.
”Lin Feili, I will give you one more chance. Where is the Earth Pistil!?” Tong Li tightened his grip on Lin Feili's throat. His eyes were almost poking out of the sockets, filled with greed and anger.
Zhang Xiaohou looked at Tong Li, who was like a completely different person and felt extremely guilty.
He always thought things were as simple as they looked. He was so naive to believe Tong Li's words.
The man did not come for his sister's remains. He did not even care about his sister's death. He was here for the Earth Pistil, an important resource that would allow them to build a city in the desert!
”It was you that destroyed the relay station, right?” Jiang Shaoxu asked coldly.
Jiang Shaoxu had seen fragments of Lin Feili's memory when she was helping him to recover. Lin Feili was unwilling to face the past, so even when he had recovered the ability to speak and his memory, his subconscious still chose to forget about the past.
No one would have thought that the team going on an expedition would be followed by a group of soldiers. They had long been planning to return to the desert...
Tong Li did not leave because he was bringing his sister's remains back. He had gone to contact the soldiers. By the time the team realized what was going on, they were already surrounded by the soldiers.
”It was me that destroyed the relay station!” the general leading the soldiers, Shi Qianshou, declared without any expression.
”Aren't you worried that you're going to be sentenced to death by the military courts?” Zhang Xiaohou said.
As a soldier, Zhang Xiaohou found General Shi Qianshou's actions intolerable.
A soldier's job was to defend the relay stations, the towns, and the cities, yet not only did the scumbag fail to do his job, he even wiped out a relay station that once was the size of a little village.
To make things worse, the man abused his power and told his superiors that the relay station was buried by a huge sandstorm. The people simply forgot about the relay station together, with the crimes the general had committed. If Li Sichong had not discovered Tong Zhuang and Zheng Tong's secret, they would never have realized they were being used.
”That relay station is nothing compared to a city. Don't even bother saying that I'm being inhumane. There's only one rule in this desert: whoever is alive has the right to speak! What I'm asking is very simple... hand over the Earth Pistil! If you hand it to the useless government, its energy is going to deplete in no time. The relay station will forever be a relay station, worse than a little village… If you give me the Earth Pistil, I can turn this place into a city, the only city that can survive in the desert. To our north is an endless supply of ores, and further away is a natural furnace. To our west is an endless supply of mutated seeds from the demon insects. This city is going to surpass everything!” Shi Qianshou proclaimed.
”As a soldier, you're meant to hand in every resource you find, but you're misappropriating the Earth Pistil just so you can become a local tyrant here. Stop trying to justify your act of destroying the relay station. You are no different than the demon insects and maggots here!” Zhang Xiaohou retorted.
”Lin Feili, I know the captain told you where the Earth Pistil is, and I believe it's still here, but you know I don't have the patience to dig up every place just to find it. You have one last chance. If you don't hand it over, I will kill a person every minute until you're the only one left. If you insist on holding on and watching these people die because of you, be my guest!” Shi Qianshou said.
Shi Qianshou soon set his eyes on Zhang Xiaohou.