People trickled back one after another, and by late afternoon, Bo Zai had counted 53 individuals returning. Out of the 188 who had set out in the morning, only 53 had returned, leaving 135 still outside. Among them were Zeng Shisan and his 21 subordinates.
Zeng Shisan was Uncle Qi's trusted lieutenant, and his 21 men were the strongest and youngest manpower in the camp. Without half of his subordinates, Uncle Qi felt his position of authority threatened.
Fortunately, Bo Zai remained loyal to him, reassuring him while busy tallying the returnees. As for Uncle Wei, he naturally directed the manpower to treat the injured who managed to escape back.
After encountering the fierce dog, they scattered in panic. Some returned directly along the same path, while others ran to different places, taking a long detour before nervously returning. In unexplored areas, they inevitably encountered other creatures.
Some were chased by flies for "eight streets," terrified out of their wits.
Some were almost carried away by black ants.
Some encountered cockroaches, witnessing their companions being bitten to death while they managed to escape back with severed limbs and internal injuries.
Some saw their companions drained of blood by mosquitoes, fortunate enough to escape after losing too much blood.
After more than ten days of camp life, the convenient modifications by the old iron man, and Bo Zai's tireless collection of resources, they seemed to have returned to life before shrinking, forgetting how dangerous the outside world was for small people.
Now, within just a few hours, they were reminded of the terror and danger they faced after shrinking. Men and women in their forties and fifties huddled in corners, trembling with fear of the unknown, with some even crying like helpless children.
Tom observed all of this, but he was powerless.
He wasn't in charge of this camp, and with his injured ribs and the gemstone crystals not in his possession, the threat lay buried in the future.
Bo Zai and Zeng Shisan's exploration had been smooth, indicating that the distribution of creatures around them had stabilized. If no new small people were being eaten, then there were no mutated creatures.
Now, with over a hundred people missing, those creatures fortunate enough to have tasted human flesh would inevitably mutate. Once they completed their mutation, they would pose an even greater threat. By then, the camp would be even more dangerous.
Tom cautiously approached the restless Uncle Qi, trying to pry out the whereabouts of his confiscated gemstones.
Uncle Qi shrugged, "Zeng Shisan is holding onto the gemstones. I only have two yellow ones."
This guy was actually so generous to a subordinate who threatened his position? Did Zeng Shisan happen to be his illegitimate son?
Tom really had nothing to say to Uncle Qi. Yellow gemstones? Yellow gemstones were useless to Tom, or perhaps he hadn't discovered their utility yet. The only useful thing was Xiao Mei, but she only turned into a big burden.
As time passed, with the sun gradually setting, everyone felt that the chances of those who hadn't returned were slim.
Uncle Wei had mosquito repellent herbs in his clinic, which were lit every night to keep the mosquitoes away, but it was dangerous outside. During the day, you could see the mosquitoes and avoid them, but at night, you never knew when a mosquito would suddenly fly out of the dark corner and pierce your neck with its needle to suck your blood.
By nightfall, three more people had returned, all injured to varying degrees and in poor mental condition.
It wasn't until after eight o'clock in the evening, when Uncle Qi had already given up hope, that Zeng Shisan unexpectedly returned. He brought back 18 of the 21 men he had taken out in the morning, which greatly delighted Uncle Qi.
"It's good that you're back, it's good!" Uncle Qi was very happy. Compared to the deaths and injuries of other survivors, what he cared about more was the power represented by Zeng Shisan. With these 19 people back, it meant he had once again seized control of the camp.
Uncle Wei wanted to inquire about the attack, wanting to understand why Zeng Shisan hadn't commanded an orderly retreat. However, Zeng Shisan claimed that as soon as everyone saw the fierce dog, they panicked and didn't listen to his orders.
But in the testimonies of those who had returned one after another, most mentioned that when the attack occurred, Zeng Shisan's men had disappeared.
The two sides' accounts were completely opposite, and Uncle Wei wanted to get to the bottom of it. However, Uncle Qi loudly reprimanded Uncle Wei, not allowing him to delve deeper into the issue, which left Uncle Wei quite dissatisfied.
Tom noticed that when the two leaders clashed, Bo Zai stood by with his arms crossed, watching Uncle Qi's favoritism with an expressionless face, but his clenched fists betrayed his inner turmoil, indicating that Bo Zai was also somewhat disappointed in Uncle Qi.
In the end, the two leaders of the camp parted ways unhappily, but Uncle Qi's room was left wide open, and they didn't dare to stay there, fearing that the fierce dog would sneak in and eat them in the middle of the night. So they called people over to help them move their belongings from there to here; they were going to stay here.
Well, there were all kinds of snacks, cigarettes, white wine, and handmade chairs and beds, and even more than a dozen women in their thirties. It turned out that these women were the streetwalkers from the alleys and corners of the old market street, with average looks and aged, doing some cheap flesh trade. It was said that they could make a deal for three or five dollars.
After shrinking and arriving at Uncle Wei's camp, they naturally knew how to use their skilled seduction experience to please Uncle Qi, becoming his playthings and avoiding doing rough work, spending their days playing in Uncle Qi's room.
Due to fear of threats, Uncle Qi occupied the area of the clinic closest to where the medicinal alcohol was placed. The smell of medicine there was stronger, and insects were less likely to approach. Moreover, being in a corner made it naturally safer.
That night, everyone was on edge, afraid of the mutated creatures that could come at any moment. Fortunately, nothing happened that night, but Uncle Qi and the others all had dark circles under their eyes the next day.
By noon the next day, another 5 people had escaped back. They had hidden in a corner overnight and unexpectedly hadn't been attacked. At dawn, they hurriedly took a detour before returning to the camp.
So far, out of the 183 people who went out to search for alcohol, only 80 had returned. 108 people hadn't made it back alive; they became food for various insects, inevitably leading to their mutation.
Losing almost half of the people in a camp with over two hundred individuals was a serious blow. However, for Uncle Qi, the deaths of these over a hundred people were not as important as the 19 people under Zeng Shisan's command, which left Uncle Wei quite dissatisfied.
But numbers speak louder than words. Even with so many people before, they couldn't compete with Uncle Qi's over forty men. Now, with over a hundred fewer people, they couldn't challenge Uncle Qi at all.
It was clear to everyone that even if the fierce dog was ferocious, it wouldn't have scattered over 180 people in one go. It was obvious that Zeng Shisan, as the leader, had abandoned everyone and fled with his own men during the attack, which prevented an orderly retreat, resulting in so many losses.
However, Uncle Qi's favoritism infuriated everyone, but who could stand up and accuse him? Uncle Wei had no power to confront them, although Tom could see that Uncle Wei's dissatisfaction with Uncle Qi had reached its peak.
At this time, it was even more impossible to ask Zeng Shisan for the gemstones. Being able to rely on the gemstones to enhance his strength was Tom's hidden card. He had to quietly obtain the gemstones and wait for the camp's problems to erupt before he could have a chance to protect himself.
After the failed expedition to the liquor store, a pessimistic atmosphere pervaded the camp, and external exploration came to a halt. Everyone huddled in Uncle Wei's clinic, living off the stored supplies.
After a few more days, everyone felt that there were temporarily no threats outside. Zeng Shisan volunteered to go out again, but this time he chose to search for supplies in the surrounding buildings and dared not go to the old market street.
At first, Uncle Qi didn't allow it, after all, there were enough supplies in the camp to support them for three to five months. But last night, the power went out, which was precisely the time Tom judged the collapse of the power grid.
Helpless, Uncle Qi reluctantly agreed to Zeng Shisan's request, but fearing losses, he rearranged the personnel structure of those going out.
Zeng Shisan only took his 6 men with him, while the others were made up of ordinary survivors. Due to the previous attack by the fierce dog, the survivors were reluctant to go out for exploration. However, under Uncle Qi's threat, they had to resort to drawing lots to select 5 people to follow. Then, Zeng Shisan asked Uncle Qi to bring over Bo Zai's 4 men to form a team of 15, heading to the third floor of the northern building for exploration.
When Zeng Shisan went out, Bo Zai also wanted to go, but Uncle Qi didn't allow it. Bo Zai insisted for a while before Uncle Qi finally agreed to let him go out the next day.
By nightfall, Zeng Shisan only brought back some firewood and paper, but the 5 survivors he took out were all gone. None of his men were lost. When asked what happened, he said those 5 people didn't listen to his commands and ran around by themselves, ending up being carried away by ants. They searched for a long time, killed several ordinary ants, and came back when it got dark.
When asked about Bo Zai's 4 men, their account was the same as Zeng Shisan's men. They all said the survivors complained that Zeng Shisan insisted on taking them out, they didn't want to continue searching, and wanted to go back to the camp themselves, so they ran away collectively. When Zeng Shisan and his men caught up, they saw one of them being carried away by an ant. After killing the ant and retrieving the body, they burned it on the spot.
Others couldn't accept this explanation. As survivors, they were already terrified of Uncle Qi's men and wouldn't dare to throw tantrums and leave on their own after going outside. Uncle Wei couldn't accept this explanation either.
"I intentionally allowed Bo Zai to oppose Zeng Shisan, letting them compete with each other. By sending Bo Zai's men to follow, I had the intention of supervision. You can't say that Bo Zai's men colluded with Zeng Shisan, right? Bo Zai, you know your brothers the best. Tell us, do you believe your brothers are on the same side as Zeng Shisan, conspiring to kill those people together?"
Bo Zai hesitated before stepping forward. He first looked at his four men, then at Uncle Qi with a businesslike demeanor, and nodded after a while, "Uncle Qi, I brought my brothers with me, and they all listen to me. Naturally, it's impossible for them to be on the same side as Zeng Shisan..."
Before he could finish, Uncle Qi clapped excitedly, "See that? See that? You all know Bo Zai's character. He said so himself. What else do you have to doubt?"