Chapter 161 Order Born of Violence (1/2)

Han Xiao smiled and said, ”Time will tell you the answer.”

Lu Cheng nodded, and he decided to suppress his questions regarding the refugees for now. He would get his subordinates to find some information regarding it.

He invited Han Xiao to his territory—the Black Pine Base—for a tour. Han Xiao said that there was no need to pay him back, but Lu Cheng did not dare take his word for it and insisted on offering his services.

Han Xiao did not resist further. His intention was to get to know Lu Cheng better anyway.

Before this, Han Xiao checked on the Dark Net. Lu Cheng was the one of the strongest vagrant warlords in the Southern Continent. Black Pine territory was so huge that small towns like Green Valley Ville would be insignificant placed next to it. Black Pine sat amid the ruins of a small city left from the Old Ages. It had been transformed into a settlement that tens of thousands of civilians resided in. There was a plethora of facilities, including even biological and weaponry research laboratories. Everything was really high end.

Territory owned by vagrant warlord and territory owned by vagrants were completely different concepts. The latter was formed with vagrants who band together against threats from the wild, with a responsible leader chosen democratically. There would rarely be hierarchies.

With vagrant warlords, they would be the leader who would use their resources to build a residential area. The area would be built such that it could take in some vagrants from the outside world, and the leaders could collect protection fees from them. The fees could be paid in the form of tax or labor. There would be purposeful usage of military power, for example to attack other warlords. Most of the soldiers were employed, but there were some who signed on voluntarily.

There were many warlords, and their territories, coming in all sizes, were distributed across every continent. Bennett's shelter plan was aimed at unifying all the warlords and creating a new mega city that stood apart from the Six Nations and provided shelter for all refugees. Naturally, this would clash with the goals of the warlords. Moreover, it would be a very large and tedious project.

Bennett's plan would provide help and shelter for all vagrants out there, not just from war but from other natural and wild dangers. It was nothing but ambitious.

Lu Cheng invited Han Xiao into his car and drove toward the Black Pine.

Green Valley Ville's players could still get quests from the town, and those who chose to defend the base were surprised and relieved to find out that their access to the town did not get revoked. They watched Black Phantom as he left.

…

There was one more person with them now that Bun-hit-dog had joined the team.

The scenery outside the window flew past. Han Xiao made a call and instructed the Dark Net helicopter pilot to wait for him at Black Pine. He told Lu Cheng about this, who acknowledged and ordered for a landing site to be prepared.

They were chatting casually while Han Xiao suddenly asked, ”With your military strength, you could have attacked immediately when you came to the town, and the refugees could not have stopped you. Why did you give Balsas time to prepare?”

Lu Cheng shook his head. He had not known that players could revive at that time. He said, ”Only people without faith would think that violence is the solution to every problem.”

”Your soldiers' lives are lives too though.” Han Xiao smiled.

”The strong ought to protect the weak.” Lu Cheng paused and said, ”I won't kill unarmed refugees; no warlord want to see the Tragedy of La Potter repeat itself.

”Tragedy of La Potter? What happened?” Bun-hit-dog questioned, still recording.

Lu Cheng thought Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog were Han Xiao's followers, so out of respect, he explained, ”La Potter was once a huge Vagrant settlement in the West Continent. It was invaded by a Vagrant Warlord and his troops. Even though the military troops were supported by the locals, the enemies were too strong, and they were defeated. The warlord was upset that the vagrants dared fight against him, so he initiated a massacre of the helpless and unarmed civilians, raiding all their supplies and burning everything, killing countless innocent souls.