The confrontation between both sides was delicate.
Chen Mu didn't want to initiate a fight, and the other side seemed to have their concerns as well.
Apart from Wei Dalei's visibly different body, the flatbed truck, and the exquisitely crafted Wolf Tooth Club, all of these far exceeded their expectations.
"How about this, we won't take much, just a few leaves at most. What do you think?" Chen Mu proposed in a negotiating tone.
"No, it's already generous enough to let you go. Don't push your luck," the person insisted.
Seeing this, Chen Mu didn't waste any time. He suddenly took out a stone from his pocket and threw it forward with force.
"Boom!"
Although the weapon was made by Dong Junwei herself and its power was far from that of a real hand grenade, the explosion effect was still quite astonishing.
Chen Mu's throw hit the ground right in front of the person, and the explosion scared them away in an instant.
The reason for not directly attacking the person was also to avoid them taking desperate measures. Four hand grenades might not eliminate all of them, but scaring them away would be ideal.
Sure enough.
The dozen or so people across were all startled. Even though the blast's power wasn't enough to harm all of them, the situation was completely beyond their expectations.
Hand grenades!
At this moment, this person actually had explosives?!
At the same time, Chen Mu held another stone in his hand.
Wei Dalei reacted quickly and took out his two stones, handing one to Zhao Xiaoyan.
All three of them raised their hands as if they were about to throw them.
Seeing this formation, everyone on the opposite side immediately took several steps back, and the encirclement immediately loosened.
My goodness.
They agreed to a knife fight, and now they're using freaking nuclear weapons!
They couldn't fathom that Chen Mu's side had only these three hand grenades left.
"Let me make one thing clear. I wanted to negotiate peacefully because I don't think it's worth risking everyone's lives over these vegetables. But if you insist on starting a fight and some people end up dead, I have no objections," Chen Mu said.
In truth, Chen Mu wasn't really concerned about those vegetables. The reason he refused to back down was because of the circumstances he was in. He knew well that even a slight show of fear or agreeing to leave empty-handed might make the other side think they were easy to bully, and they might rush in the next moment.
Of course, it was also a gamble.
If the other side turned out to be a bunch of fools, this move might backfire.
Fortunately, his bet paid off.
The group from "Yi Zhong" looked at each other for a while, and finally, their leader spoke, "Alright, you can only take a few leaves."
Chen Mu shrugged indifferently, "Who cares about it? We don't lack food at all; we just wanted to try something different."
After saying that, he turned to Wei Dalei and said, "Lao Wei, go and pick a few fresh celery leaves."
These vegetables had been here for at least five days. Fortunately, the temperature inside the cafeteria was relatively low, so they hadn't completely rotted, but most of them were withered.
Wei Dalei agreed and deliberately slammed the Wolf Tooth Club into the ground, creating a pit, and then left the weapon standing there. He then walked towards the pile of vegetables empty-handed.
Chen Mu was almost applauding him. This move not only demonstrated his strength but also the confidence he had by casually leaving the weapon behind.
As expected, the last trace of fighting spirit from the other side was also extinguished by the Wolf Tooth Club.
Seizing this opportunity, Chen Mu casually asked the leader, "What's your name?"
"Li Hewei." This time, the person finally answered properly.
"Do you have any other people with you?"
"Yes, many. Everyone from Yi Zhong is doing well," Li Hewei straightened his chest as if he had gained some confidence.
Chen Mu didn't know how many people came from Yi Zhong, nor could he verify if Li Hewei was lying. He didn't probe further and asked, "Are all of you gathered together? Where are you staying?"
Li Hewei hesitated and seemed reluctant to answer, fearing that he might offend Chen Mu.
Chen Mu finally understood. With the abilities of these people, it was impossible for them to survive until now. Obviously, they had a team behind them, and these dozen people were probably just a small squad sent out to search for food or, to put it more bluntly, they were cannon fodder.
Not everyone would be as harmonious as Class 4 of the 12th Grade, where relatively stronger individuals came out to search for food.
In the post-apocalyptic world, it wasn't hard to understand how the strong would force the weak to do dangerous tasks.
But from this, it was evident that there was indeed a team behind them, and the team was not small in number.
It's very likely that, as Li Hewei said, all the people from "Yi Zhong" managed to survive through some fortunate circumstances.
Since that's the case, at least half of the people on the playground back then were students from Zi Wei High School. Chen Mu wondered about their current situation.
He kept a cautious approach and didn't directly ask that question, fearing that he might ruin the tall and imposing image he had just established. Clearly, the other side now thought that the three of them belonged to a larger group, considering that Zi Wei High School was a local power with a larger number of people than "Yi Zhong."
"If you don't want to tell, then forget it. I'm not interested. Even if one of you 'Yi Zhong' people doesn't die, so what? I doubt your words will have any impact. But pass on a message to the ones in charge: No matter what, this place belongs to Zi Wei High School. In the future, just stay here quietly, and we won't trouble you."
Chen Mu bluffed, and indeed, the other side was bewildered, thinking that Zi Wei High School had already gathered a large number of forces.
By this time, Wei Dalei had finished picking the celery leaves and returned to the flatbed truck, carrying more than a dozen tender green leaves. It would be enough for them to eat for quite a while.
"Alright, you can have the rest."
Chen Mu waved his hand as if he was generously giving away the remaining pile of vegetables to the other side.
Then, he signaled Wei Dalei and the others, "Let's go and check the cold storage."
"Yeah."
Wei Dalei agreed.
He then lifted the Wolf Tooth Club, swept his gaze over the dozen or so people on the other side, snorted from his nose, shouldered the weapon, and single-handedly dragged the flatbed truck, leisurely following behind Chen Mu.
After walking a long way, Zhao Xiaoyan, who had been maintaining a serious expression all this time, finally relaxed and chuckled, "You guys are really good at acting."
Chen Mu shrugged, feigning a world-weary expression, "Life is like a play."
Wei Dalei chuckled, "It's not entirely acting. If we really had to fight, I might have taken care of them all by myself."
"But I'm afraid some of them might have peculiar abilities, catching us off guard. Otherwise, I wouldn't be worried. But now, it seems most of them are probably not capable, which is why they were sent for such a dangerous task," Chen Mu said.
"Shouldn't capable individuals be the ones sent out?" Zhao Xiaoyan didn't understand.
Chen Mu wasn't sure how to explain it for a moment.
Thankfully, Wei Dalei didn't pay much attention to that statement and suddenly asked, "I wonder if what he said is true. Are all the people from 'Yi Zhong' gathered together?"
"It's very possible."
Chen Mu's mood was complicated.
In theory, the more people survived, the better.
But sometimes, humans could be more dangerous than rats.