The First Order

Ren Xiaosu was a little surprised by this gift of Li Shentan’s. When he previously asked Xiaoyu whether they had any trouble, she said no. But he knew well that she must have been lying to him. How could there be no one in town getting any ideas on a house with over a dozen women in it?

This was also the reason why Ren Xiaosu was worried about Jiang Wu exposing her identity as a supernatural being. If someone started getting ideas about them, it was very likely that Jiang Wu would be forced to use her superpower. It would be a major crisis if she attracted the attention of the Pyro Company.

Ren Xiaosu looked at Li Shentan. “I’m grateful for your gift.”

Li Shentan dismissed it with a smile. “You don’t have to be so polite. There’s one more thing, though. The Li Consortium is planning to send their elite nanosoldiers to eliminate the wolves. They’re also considering it a training exercise using the wolves as opponents. You should have your wolf buddies lie low. Some of the nanosoldiers can be… really strong.”

Ren Xiaosu was startled. He could collect more nanomachines!

Suddenly, Li Shentan was unsure of if he had seen a look of anticipation in Ren Xiaosu’s eyes.

“Do you know where the Pyro Company’s members around here are hiding?” Ren Xiaosu switched the topic.

Li Shentan said, “They just left this afternoon, but I don’t know where they were heading. Maybe they went off somewhere to try their luck at catching supernatural beings? Don’t worry, they don’t know about you.” He then walked out the door.

This demon was about to head for the front lines with the Li Consortium’s combat troops. Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt that if there were more people like Li Shentan in this world, war really might not be too far off.

There was always a state of balance between the organizations as everyone slowly plundered resources to strengthen themselves. This was a process of gaining power as part of a larger group. But if a crack suddenly appeared in one organization, the others would definitely be more than happy to get a greater share of the spoils, right?

After Li Shentan left, Xiaoyu came out of the house and said in curiosity, “That’s Li Shentan, right? I saw him at the shop back in Stronghold 109.”

“Mhm.” Ren Xiaosu frowned as he thought about something else. He suddenly said, “I might have to go back now. I feel like there’s a hidden meaning to Li Shentan’s words.”

Initially, Ren Xiaosu had planned to stay in town for the night. After all, they hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and many things still needed to be discussed. But when he asked for news of the Pyro Company, Li Shentan told him that they had left that afternoon. This made Ren Xiaosu a little uneasy.

Yan Liuyuan asked in a stunned manner next to him, “You’re leaving already?”

“Yes,” Ren Xiaosu sighed. “Since there’s still a month before the Lunar New Year, I’ll definitely have a chance to come back again. Or… I can take y’all to the outpost to celebrate the New Year?”

“Really?” Yan Liuyuan’s eyes lit up as he wanted to have a look at what the place Ren Xiaosu went to be a sentry looked like.

With that, Ren Xiaosu went outside. By this time, Wang Fugui and Li Qingzheng were just about wrapped up with handing over the money and goods to each other. Looking at their expressions, they both seemed happy with the deal.

“Lord of Wolves, we have to leave now. Something urgent came up, so we have to go back immediately,” Ren Xiaosu said to Li Qingzheng.

Li Qingzheng wondered, “We have to leave now? Aren’t we gonna stay a little longer? I still haven’t-“

“We have to go now,” Ren Xiaosu said in a serious tone.

Li Qingzheng thought for a moment and said, “Alright then, let’s head back

now.”

When Li Qingzheng and Ren Xiaosu got into the truck, Wang Fugui said, “Xiaosu, you must take care of yourself. The whole family is depending on you now, so nothing must happen to you.”

“Don’t worry.” Ren Xiaosu said in a low voice, “Nothing has happened to me even after two strongholds were destroyed. I’m hardy.”

Wang Fugui said with a smile, “That’s true. As long as you’re here, our days will definitely get better and better.”

After that exchange, Li Qingzheng started the truck and drove out of town.

There were two grocery stores near the gate. One of them belonged to a woman, and the other was recently opened by Wang Fugui. Ever since Wang Fugui arrived, business at the grocery store next door plummeted and caused the neighbor to despise him.

While Wang Fugui was seeing Ren Xiaosu off, the fat woman next door leaned against the doorframe of her shop and munched on sunflower seeds while looking at Wang Fugui scornfully. After Ren Xiaosu left, she suddenly shouted at Old Wang, “Why? Is that one of your family members?”

Wang Fugui smiled and said, “That’s our boss! He’s the greatest!”

The woman spat out the sunflower seed hull at the entrance of her shop with disdain. “What’s the big deal about a crappy soldier from the private army?”

In the eyes of the town’s refugees, the private troops were no longer worth much in the present day. It was still the organization’s own soldiers who were more powerful. It wasn’t only this woman who thought this way. Some people also used to believe there was an influential man in Wang Fugui’s family backing him. But now they were a little disappointed when they found out he was just a private soldier.

Wang Fugui just smiled without saying a word. They were from two different worlds, and it was impossible to speak with someone who had limited experience.

As Li Qingzheng drove on the road, he did not ask Ren Xiaosu why he wanted to return to the outpost so urgently. Ren Xiaosu also discovered at this moment that Li Qingzheng might have realized something based on his attitude.

Ren Xiaosu looked at Li Qingzheng and said, “You—”

“I don’t know anything,” interrupted Li Qingzheng.

Ren Xiaosu did not know whether to laugh or cry. Thinking back to the time the wolves attacked the military transport truck, Li Qingzheng took the initiative to get everyone to go back into their houses. At that time, Li Qingzheng might have realized something.

He heard Li Qingzheng say, “When I was still a child, my father took me to a fortune teller in town. When he said that my entire life would be a tough one, my father almost beat him up. But he also added that I had one chance to turn things around in this life.”

“What was the chance?” Ren Xiaosu asked curiously.

“He said I would meet my benefactor at the age of 29, and I turned 29 on the day I met you.”

Ren Xiaosu sighed. “Superstitions can be really harmful.”

The journey back only took three hours since Li Qingzheng drove a little faster as Ren Xiaosu said it was urgent. When they arrived at the beginning of the mountain road leading to the outpost, Ren Xiaosu noticed some tire tracks on the ground. His face turned to one of alarm. “Hurry up! Trespassers have gone up!”

This dirt road was the only path to the outpost. The snow had just melted and the ground had become muddy. If a vehicle drove on it, its tires would definitely leave marks on the ground. This sight set off alarm bells in Ren Xiaosu’s head.

Based on what Li Shentan had said, the Pyro Company was only coming out to try their luck. Perhaps they thought the disappearance of the two officers might have something to do with a supernatural being when they learned about it. So they came to the nearby outpost to see if they could find any supernatural beings hiding here.

The truck drove all the way up to the outpost. But when Ren Xiaosu, who was initially extremely anxious, was greeted by the sight of the open space in front of the outpost, he froze.

He saw Hu Shuo sitting in a relaxed position next to the campfire and eating barbecue with the others. Five strangers knelt next in a row to them with injuries covering their bodies. One of them was even coughing up blood as he knelt there.

The moment Hu Shuo saw Ren Xiaosu, his expression shifted. “Why are you back so soon?!”