The First Order

Yan Liuyuan stood there quietly. They currently had six people who were wounded, so it would be an extremely terrifying amount of work if he had to complete it for the six of them all by himself.

When the reinforced troops assigned the tasks to everyone, they would definitely set it after accounting for the maximum workload a person could perform. That would mean it was already not going to be easy to complete one’s own task, so how could they possibly complete the tasks for the others as well?

At this moment, Wang Fugui and Li Qingzheng came over to him and said, “Don’t worry, we’ll share the burden with you. Let’s work together to overcome this difficult situation.”

The three other male students who were not injured also stood up. “There’s us as well.”

Even the female students raised their hands. “We can share some of the workload too.”

The injured Wang Yuchi also stood up while struggling. “I’ve almost recovered from my injuries, so I can start working as well.”

Yan Liuyuan smiled. “Sit down. I don’t want you to end up becoming disabled. You don’t have to make it sound so noble. It’s only a bit of work, that’s all.”

Yan Liuyuan felt rather warm inside. The people around him had gone through the test of time and were comrades who would go through thick and thin for each other. They had built a foundation of trust.

Looking at the other escapees around them, they did not even have anyone they could mutually depend on.

In the past, Yan Liuyuan and Ren Xiaosu had always been on their own. But now, Yan Liuyuan felt a sense of unity.

Xiaoyu took a handful of mud and smeared it onto the faces of the female students and Jiang Wu. “In this wilderness, we have to guard against others who might be eyeing us since Xiaosu isn’t around. All of you have such beautiful and fair skin, so there will definitely be some people with dirty thoughts. Find an empty spot later to change clothes. Put on some loose-fitting clothes so that you won’t have to show your figures.”

The female students were caught in a dilemma. Wouldn’t smearing mud on their faces make them look really ugly? But the female students who’d survived until now were not stupid either, so they let Xiaoyu apply the mud on them.

After being smeared with mud, they all looked at each other and giggled upon realizing that they looked equally ugly.

Then Xiaoyu said, “Remember to carry a rock in your pockets. If someone is truly up to no good, you can hit them with it. Remember to hit them on the back of their head one inch below the eyebrows. If you use enough strength, you can even kill them. That’s what Xiaosu taught me.”

This was the philosophy of survival that Xiaoyu had learned from Ren Xiaosu. They would lay low and only kill if they could not keep a low profile anymore.

Building a refugee camp was no small task. The process involved tamping the ground, excavating the earth, cutting down trees, and building the barracks. All of these processes required plenty of manpower to complete.

If a group of well-trained troops built the refugee camp, they could probably finish it in just a few days.

But it was clear that the reinforced troops were only planning on supervising the escapees and did not intend to build it themselves.

When they found someone slacking off, they would even mercilessly hit them with the butt of their rifles. An old man was hit in the waist by a soldier until he couldn’t stand anymore.

Some of the Stronghold 108 residents who wanted to protest ended up getting beaten to the ground by the soldiers as soon as they tried.

All of the escapees were performing their tasks in a trance. They realized that when war broke out, their fates would change.

In a war, no one was unaffected.

In reality, the Yang Consortium had another purpose for building the refugee camp. They wanted the escapees to expend all of their energy in the process of building it so they would be too exhausted to cause any trouble.

This was their usual way of dealing with their veterans. When a batch of veterans were close to retiring, the officers would have them plant trees to prevent them from causing trouble.

They would have to dig countless planting holes for trees and then cover them again every day until they worked themselves to the bone. Afterwards, no one had the energy to make trouble.

Yan Liuyuan and his group were assigned to carry logs. Their daily task was to transport ten wooden logs each. Two people had to carry a log that was as thick as a thigh.

The logs were extremely dense and heavy, especially for Yan Liuyuan who was a little short. Whenever the log tilted down on his side, it felt like most of the log’s weight was pressing down on him.

At first, they thought it would not be a big deal to carry ten logs every day. But when they actually started carrying them, they discovered the logs were way heavier than they imagined.

Fortunately, Yan Liuyuan could use the nanomachines. He concentrated them at his shoulders, arms, and legs, which made it easier for him.

Not only did he have to carry ten logs, but he also had to complete the task for Ren Xiaosu and the wounded members. Gradually, the nanomachines started running out of power. The area around his shoulders was hurting from abrasions, and blisters also formed on his hands.

Other people could take a short break after transporting a log back, but Yan Liuyuan’s group could not. The Yang Consortium’s troops had created a register in which the refugees had to write their names on whenever they carried a log back. Only by doing so could they avoid getting punished, and there were no shortcuts around it.

Moreover, these troops did not care if they were men, women, the elderly, or children. Everyone was assigned the same heavy workload and would get beaten up if they failed to meet their quota.

Yan Liuyuan once told Ren Xiaosu that he hated the strongholds, the organizations, and the stronghold residents.

He even told Ren Xiaosu that if Yang Xiaojin did not come and look for them, they should not go to Stronghold 88.

When Yang Xiaojin had come to Stronghold 108, Yan Liuyuan felt a little happy on the inside. He always felt that Yang Xiaojin was different from the others who came from the strongholds.

Furthermore, Yan Liuyuan hoped that the Yang Consortium that Yang Xiaojin was from would be different from the others and not treat human lives lightly.

But it turned out the organizations in this world were all the same. There was essentially no difference between them.

The only difference was Yang Xiaojin.

In the afternoon, Xiaoyu and the girls were exhausted after completing their workload. However, Yan Liuyuan, Wang Fugui, and the other guys still had to continue carrying logs.

Poor Wang Fugui, who was already an old man, felt like half his life had been taken away after working all day.

Xiaoyu and the girls took a short break before standing up to help Yan Liuyuan and the men with their remaining workload. However, Yan Liuyuan persuaded them to go back since the girls were more limited in physical strength.

When Yan Liuyuan came back again in the evening, Xiaoyu said anxiously, “Liuyuan, get some rest! You don’t look too good!”

Yan Liuyuan’s face was pale, and his lips had turned slightly purple.

Yan Liuyuan put the log down. Xiaoyu quickly pulled aside his clothes at the shoulder and saw it was badly bruised.

Xiaoyu said softly with heartache, “Why didn’t you make use of the nanomachines to help?”

“They’re dead,” Yan Liuyuan said with a sigh. He would have liked to use them too, but the workload for an entire day was simply too much. Other people only had to carry ten logs, but he, Wang Fugui, and the rest of the guys had to carry more than 20 logs daily.

“Go back and get some rest.” Xiaoyu said, “How many more logs do you have left to transport? Let me carry them instead.”

Yan Liuyuan tugged on Xiaoyu’s arm and said with a smile, “It’s fine, I can still endure it. Comparing my minor injuries to my brother’s injuries, it’s no big deal at all.”