Seeing that Duane seemed genuine, Hagan believed him to a great extent. He smiled at Duane and said, "Brother, since he's your nephew, go ahead and tell us."
Hagan's smile then faded, and he continued, "If this doesn't work out, don't blame your brother for not helping you."
With that said, Duane suddenly shivered. The self-satisfaction he had felt a moment ago quickly vanished. He immediately realized that Hagan wasn't a kind-hearted person. However, it was too late now, and to save his own life, he had no choice but to accept his fate.
Thinking about this, Duane took a deep drag on the imaginary cigarette between his fingers and crushed it against the nearby wall. Then, he leaned in close to Clark and whispered in a hushed voice, "Fuko, would you mind listening to something your brother-in-law wants to discuss?"
Still angered, Clark had no intention of entertaining Duane, the snake in the grass. He simply turned his head away.
Undeterred, Duane continued to approach, putting on a thick skin. "Currently, the survivor base still needs more people. You have a friend who's also running a survivor base, right? Tell your brother-in-law about it. Where is your friend? Brother Hagan just said that once they merge your friend's base with theirs, they'll agree to let our whole family go."
"Let us go?!" Clark scoffed and cursed, "You damn beast! You already screwed over my family, and now you want to screw over my friend? Do you even have any humanity left?"
"Clark, don't you see? It's just a friend. Sacrificing him to save our whole family, what's the big deal?" Duane tried to persuade earnestly.
Then, he turned to Nicola and said, "Wife, why don't you try to talk to Clark? Convince him to reveal his friend's location. You might also think that I'm ungrateful, but I'm doing this for you all, for our son."
"Well, um... It doesn't sound right. After all, they did give us food," Nicola was conflicted.
"What do you mean, they gave us food? It's for Clark, not us. Besides, Clark gave us the food, what does it have to do with his friend?" Duane urged.
"I... " Nicola looked torn. Despite her inner struggle, she was also starting to feel swayed. She looked at Clark with hope in her eyes and said, "Clark, how about we just tell them?"
Clark retorted with frustration, "Sis, how can you say that? Anthony gave us food. We can't be ungrateful. Besides, when I was repeating a grade, his dad helped us out. I can't turn my back on my friend like a heartless person."
Nicola pleaded, "Just this once, please, for your sister. You're the only child in our family. We can't do without you. Our nephew is still young, and Duane is unreliable. Our family can only rely on you."
With that, she dropped to her knees with a thud. Nicola knelt in front of Clark and kowtowed, saying, "Please, brother, just this once. Let's play the role of the villains. Besides, what harm can they do to him? It's just a merger."
Hearing this, Clark felt even more helpless. On one hand, it was his sister's family, and on the other hand, it was his best friend. He couldn't bring himself to do something against his own conscience. It was truly a difficult situation!
While the discussion was ongoing, Hagan, who had been waiting impatiently on the side, walked over with a smile and asked, "Duane, how did your family discussion go? Can you give me a definite answer?"
"My nephew agreed," Duane said eagerly and then gestured towards Clark, winking at him.
"Don't you disgust me!" Clark cursed in anger. He shook his head firmly and declared, "I will never betray Anthony, no matter what!"
"Oh? Duane, is this the answer your family has given me?" Hagan sneered.
"No... no, it's not like that," Duane stammered, shaking his head hurriedly. He then begged Clark, "My nephew, come on, please. I admit, I've been lazy, gluttonous, and had a bad temper before. I've offended you in many ways. But now I'm also doing it for our Shen family. Please give me a way out!"
"Duane, are you even human? You realize you're apologizing now? But what about before? Weren't they led here by you? If not for you, our family would still be fine!" Clark's anger grew as he spoke, and he concluded with a strong expletive, "I'll tell you this, no one today can make me betray my brother. I, Clark, can't do something heartless like this!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Duane became desperate. In a sudden move, he grabbed the baby from Nicola's arms and pressed his hand against the baby's throat, saying to Clark, "Clark, I've given you face, right? Let me tell you one more time. You tell me your friend's location right now, or I'll choke your sister to death!"
"Are you daring to?" Clark exclaimed angrily.
"What do I have to fear? In any case, if you don't speak up, I'll die too. I'd rather take you all down with me!" Duane yelled hysterically, his features contorted in desperation.
Nicola was shocked by Duane's insane actions. He didn't even spare her son. She quickly knelt in front of Clark, tears streaming down her face as she pleaded, "Clark, I have only one child. I beg you, do it, or else if the child dies, I won't be able to live either."
"Sis... but I can't do something that betrays someone else," Clark struggled to say.
"Then are you willing to watch our family fall apart?" Nicola continued to cry, her voice filled with despair.
Seeing Clark's internal struggle, Duane added at the right moment, "Clark, I'll give you one last chance. Say it or not, you only have three seconds to decide! 3! 2! 1!"
"I'll say it!"
YangHe Residential Area. Anthony walked along the YangHe levee, still thinking about what Lynn had said earlier.
"Trust, delegation of authority... Could it be that I really have too narrow a perspective?" Anthony murmured to himself. Unconsciously, he arrived at the back entrance of YangHe School. He pressed against the wall, secretly observing the movements of the zombies inside.
Ever since he was severely injured by the giant zombie two days ago, Anthony had been thinking about how to deal with that creature. Now that he possessed the skill to escape, he couldn't resist coming over to investigate. He peered through a crack in the wall to look inside.
In the next moment, Anthony's brow furrowed tightly.
"Human?" In the middle of the high school teaching building, surrounded by a group of zombies, ten men and women trembled in fear.
"Mom... what should we do?"
"I... I don't know either."
Just as the humans were panicking and clueless, the ground suddenly shook violently. The sound of the vibrations grew closer, and a giant zombie standing about seven meters tall was slowly approaching. Its body was massive, with powerful muscles. Its eyes were as black as ink. Apart from the bone spikes protruding from its joints, the rest of its features were similar to a Tier 1 mutant. As it emerged, the surrounding zombies prostrated themselves on the ground, as if welcoming their king.
"Is it...?" Anthony's pupils contracted suddenly. He would never forget the creature before him. If it hadn't been for him using the giant zombie inside YangHe to obstruct its pursuit, he would probably be a rotting corpse by now.
However, this giant zombie seemed even stronger. The idea of testing his skills against it was completely dismissed the moment it appeared. "Let's observe for a while before deciding," Anthony thought.