Uncle Wei's prestige in the camp was formidable. Despite the ordeal last night, with women being raped and eight men killed, the families of the surrendered henchmen remained restrained, and Uncle Wei managed to maintain order smoothly.
During dinner, everyone was enthusiastic and spirited. This time, everyone was happy because they had finally turned the tables and started singing songs of liberation.
As Tom and Bozi chatted while walking, Tom learned the whole story.
It turned out that Bozi's main purpose in going out to explore that day was to see if they could encounter survivors. If they did, he planned to bring them to a secret campsite for shelter because he knew Uncle Qi couldn't contain Zeng Shisan anymore.
Unfortunately, they missed the survivors, who had left earlier. On their way back, however, the survivors returned and accused Zeng Shisan, causing a complete rift between Uncle Qi and Zeng Shisan.
When Zeng Shisan pulled out a gun, Bozi immediately chose to flee. His subordinates had all been vaccinated beforehand, so when they saw his signal, they naturally followed suit and left.
Bozi wasn't foolish when going out for exploration multiple times. He had long discovered a hidden place in the adjacent room, where he slowly stocked supplies in case of emergency for his group. This was intended to serve as their final refuge when Zeng Shisan replaced Uncle Qi.
So these past few days, Bozi had been hiding with his subordinates in his secret camp. During the day, Skinny would sneak to the clinic's window to spy secretly. As a result, he witnessed the scene where Tom unleashed his power and quickly informed the others to call Bozi.
Bozi realized that the opportunity to strike back had come, so he hid outside the door, waiting for the right moment. When the henchmen escaped, Bozi intercepted them outside, leading to the scene just now.
After searching around, they didn't find more gems. After interrogating the henchmen, they confirmed that Zeng Shisan had almost exchanged all the gems for weapons.
With their testimonies confirmed, they, along with Uncle Wei, went to wake up the unconscious Zeng Shisan.
Once domineering Zeng Shisan now looked utterly defeated, like a defeated rooster.
Tom's vigorous beating had inflicted severe injuries on him. Uncle Wei suspected his spine might be damaged, and his legs were numb.
"Feeling smug, Uncle Wei? I helped you clear the obstacle, Uncle Qi, and now the whole camp is under your control," Zeng Shisan's first words upon waking up were defiant and deserving of a beating.
Bozi immediately went up and punched him, causing his face to bloom with bruises.
"I don't want to waste time with you. Tell me, who did you exchange your weapons with?" Uncle Wei asked.
Zeng Shisan insolently spat at Uncle Wei, but Uncle Wei dodged it.
"I spit on you. Come on, kill me if you dare. Haha, I'll frown and you'll be my grandson."
Seeing Zeng Shisan's arrogant attitude, Tom wanted to beat him up. So Bozi and Uncle Wei watched as Tom, who had always been polite, swung his fists, one after another, mercilessly pounding Zeng Shisan's face.
Tom was a very restrained person. Most of the time, he tried not to let his anger control him. But remembering Zeng Shisan's actions over the past few days, he recalled the collapsed long-haired man in that dim room, who spoke indifferently about memories of each person being eaten by ants.
"People..."
"Bang!"
"...are not animals."
"Bang!"
"...are not the fodder for your gem farming."
"Bang!"
"You worthless scum."
"Bang!"
"You... despicable..."
"Bang!"
"Ahh, I'll curse your..."
Zeng Shisan was in extreme pain and couldn't help but curse back.
"Bang!"
But Tom didn't give him a chance to speak. He just kept punching.
He treated Zeng Shisan like Zhang Meng, the jerk who pushed the lizard biscuits down the stairs, causing others to be discovered by ants.
He treated Zeng Shisan like Zheng Shiyi, who, despite the difficulty of survival when everyone was united, always calculated for himself and incited discord among others for his own selfish desires.
He even treated Zeng Shisan like a fanatic follower of Darwin, who blamed humanity for becoming tiny figures through some special means.
He wasn't angry; he was just using his fists to settle every sin.
It was such people who were the most terrifying.
Tom's right hand pummeled Zeng Shisan's face, swelling it up and covering it in blood. His own fist was also bloody.
It hurt, so he switched to his left hand, grabbing Zeng Shisan and continuing to pound him.
Uncle Wei wanted to stop him, but Bozi gently held him back.
"He's going to confess... to... Autumn Mud..." Bozi smiled knowingly. Zeng Shisan, who had just acted like a tough guy, was now scared after being beaten by Tom. So Bozi immediately grabbed Tom's hand. "Alright, he's softened up."
Just as Tom was about to raise his fist again, he stopped upon hearing this. "He's willing to talk?" He looked like he wasn't done beating him up yet.
Zeng Shisan hurriedly nodded, afraid that if he delayed any longer, another fist would land on his face.
They say the soft fear the hard, the hard fear the cunning, and the cunning fear those who don't value life.
Now, Zeng Shisan was both hard and didn't value life. He knew he wouldn't survive, so he didn't care how Bozi and the others would deal with him. He just wouldn't tell them who he exchanged the items with.
But in Tom's hands, the experience was different.
Originally, he wanted to show his fearless heroism, but facing Tom, who was beating him like a punching bag, Zeng Shisan completely collapsed mentally.
"Boss, just give me a quick death... It's too painful."
Tom stopped his fist, and Uncle Wei quickly went to find gauze to bandage him. Bozi then took over the conversation and began questioning Zeng Shisan.
It turned out that many days ago, when Zeng Shisan went out to explore, he proudly carried a large gem confiscated from Tom. Suddenly, at the street corner, a strange figure wearing a hat and sunglasses appeared.
Everyone was curious. Nowadays, with people shrinking, dressing up like a character from a TV show, was he trying to look cool or just stupid?
So Zeng Shisan's four companions at the time went up to snatch the clothes.
Naturally, they couldn't beat the guy. He was strong, and within moments, he had them all on the ground.
Tom and Bozi exchanged a glance upon hearing this. It seemed that the mysterious person also had crystals on him and could activate abilities like Tom.
Zeng Shisan got scared at the time. However, the guy wasn't angry. Instead, he called Zeng Shisan aside and asked if he wanted to make a deal.
What kind of deal?
Naturally, it was exchanging gems for weapons! The mysterious man took out a standard-issue pistol for Zeng Shisan to inspect.
Seeing that it was exactly the same as the one on Tom's body, Zeng Shisan was ecstatic, thinking that the guy was from the Haiwei Group.
Normally, a person with such formidable skills would find it more efficient to collect crystals from mutated creatures than their ragtag group armed only with primitive weapons.
But the man in black revealed another layer of the deal.
The nearby mutated creatures had already been collected, but he wanted more crystals. So, he set his sights on the campsite with over two hundred people.
The old commercial street had already been demolished, with many tenants evicted. Only a few stubborn homeowners and tenants remained. During the day, it was fine, but fewer and fewer people stayed in the area at night. After shrinking, only a few people who stayed in place were eaten by ants, most of whom were old tenants. The first thing they thought of was going to find Uncle Wei.
Therefore, although the environment in the old commercial street was poor and there were many mosquitoes, few people were eaten by mutated creatures.
Zeng Shisan didn't need to collect crystals himself. All he had to do was bring people out in batches and enter the designated location designated by the man in black, who would drive away the creatures before they intercepted them for consumption. As for afterwards, the man in black would collect them himself.
This was such a good deal that Zeng Shisan couldn't miss it. He had long been fed up with so many people wasting food in the camp. He had mentioned it a few times, but Uncle Qi scolded him, saying that these were all people, not animals, and couldn't be abandoned. Although he appeared obedient, deep down, he always thought Uncle Qi's character was too weak.
Now that people had shrunk, it was easy to enter some places. Food reserves that used to be enough for a few people for a month could now last his group for three to five years.
So Zeng Shisan agreed to the deal. As a down payment, he took a large red crystal and four or five large gems out to a corner of the corridor to trade with the man in black, exchanging them for five guns and thirty bullets.
The man in black said this was a down payment, and after he completed the first batch of "flesh trade," he would give him more.
So Zeng Shisan immediately persuaded Uncle Qi to agree to let him lead a team out, unprecedentedly bringing over one hundred and eighty people.
The subsequent events were as described by the survivors who returned. Haba dogs appeared on the streets, and terrified people couldn't find Zeng Shisan who was supposed to lead them out. With no one in command, everyone scattered and fled.
Before reaching the location designated by the man in black, Zeng Shisan took advantage of the lack of attention from the team and quietly led his men to hide, fearing that the creatures would eat them.
One small detail was that he intentionally only took away nineteen people. He had previously seen the four subordinates of the man in black and intentionally left them with the convoy. He had personally witnessed the four leaders being eaten by Haba dogs.
With those four subordinates dead, only he had seen the man in black. This ensured that the others had no idea who the man in black was, what he looked like, or even if he existed. It also ensured that only he could exchange gems for weapons.
He took his nineteen men to a pre-selected hiding place and waited until it was almost dark before bringing them back.
That night, he secretly met with the man in black again.
However, the man in black was dissatisfied with Zeng Shisan taking so many people out on his own initiative. There were too many people, and the Haba dogs couldn't finish them all. As a result, they scattered and fled, benefiting the creatures hiding in various corners and forcing him to spend too much time and effort harvesting.
Therefore, although the promised reward was given, the man in black only gave him six guns and one hundred bullets, instructing him to find an opportunity to bring out people again in a few days. This time, he emphasized that only five to eight people were needed.
And so, Zeng Shisan led the team for the second time, losing another five people.