The interior of the military transport truck rattled as the cold wind blew in through the open back of the truck. It felt like a knife was slicing at their faces.
At first, Ren Xiaosu was most worried that the military transport truck would transport the men and women to different places. For example, the women might be directly sent to the factories to work as female workers. However, that did not happen, so he was temporarily relieved.
Wang Fugui said with a frown, "We didn't manage to bring our bicycles along."
When he said that, Ren Xiaosu's expression darkened.
This was probably the first time the group had suffered a major loss since leaving Stronghold 113.
That was how it was in the wastelands. Possessions were just worldly possessions that could be discarded at will. If even human lives were like that, what more bicycles?
In the current situation, even though Ren Xiaosu and Chen Wudi were both supernatural beings, it would still be very difficult for them to go up against a complete military unit.
Seeing the Li Consortium's troops continuing to advance towards Stronghold 109, Ren Xiaosu felt it was very likely that he would never see them again. That was because he did not think they could take on a 1,000 Experimentals in a street battle.
Unless the Li Consortium used heavy firepower to flatten the stronghold.
But a stronghold was built for the sake of the nearby resources. Would the Li Consortium be willing to abandon such a complete stronghold? Of course not.
After all, the cost of rebuilding a stronghold after blowing it up would be too great.
The vehicles drove in the snow for a full eight hours. During this time, some of the vehicles in the convoy broke down several times. It was only during these times that the people in the vehicles were allowed to get out of the vehicles for a breather.
The private troops watched over them like they were watching over prisoners. Ren Xiaosu exchanged glances with his Sister Xiaoyu and Jiang Wu from afar, but none of them understood what the other party was looking at.
After the vehicles were repaired, they continued on their way. During this time, Wang Fugui kept chatting up the private soldiers. He was still the best at this. Soon, Wang Fugui even became familiar with the soldiers watching over their vehicles.
After getting back into the vehicles, Wang Fugui whispered to Ren Xiaosu, "It looks like we're heading straight to Stronghold 108's town. But we all know what these private troops are like. When we get there, I'll see if we can get them to secretly exempt us from military service and manual labor with money and antibiotics."
The so-called manual labor referred to the conscription of female refugees to work in the factories.
It had to be said that with someone like Wang Fugui in the group, at least they would not be too cut off from information. Ren Xiaosu and the others were not good at dealing with people, so Wang Fugui had to be the one to handle this matter.
Ren Xiaosu asked in a low voice, "Did you ask them what the situation is like in the other strongholds of the Li Consortium?"
"I did, but they're fine." Wang Fugui replied, "But they're on full alert now. The Li Consortium has announced to the public that they're on wartime alert. It's like a war is about to break out."
"It looks like we're not just dealing with the Experimentals." Ren Xiaosu sighed. If they were only dealing with the Experimentals, there would be no need to put over a dozen strongholds on lockdown at the same time.
But what gave the Li Consortium the confidence to start a war? They couldn't possibly be relying on nanomachines, could they?
Yang Xiaojin had said that although everyone had seized the research results that could not be destroyed in time, the Li Consortium must have already transferred the data through the satellites under their control. As such, the Li Consortium's research had not been in vain.
At that time, Ren Xiaosu even raised a question. If that was the case, then the portable hard drive seemed to have been deliberately left behind. If the Yang Clan wanted to use it, it would be best for them to inspect it. Otherwise, it might very well be a trap.
Ren Xiaosu was such a person. Others might not think too much about it, but in his eyes, as long as there was something out of the ordinary, he would be on guard.
The best solution right now was to use money to clear the way for them to be exempted from military service. The soldiers of the private army were cursing and swearing in the vehicle. It was as though they were very dissatisfied with having to come out to work in such cold weather. This was similar to what Ren Xiaosu remembered about all the private troops.
Such troops were also very greedy at the sight of money. While in the vehicle, Ren Xiaosu and Wang Fugui secretly exchanged the most valuable items they had and stuffed them all into Ren Xiaosu's storage space. This was to prevent the other party from getting any nefarious ideas when they saw the valuable items.
The escapees in the vehicles all had ashen faces. They thought they would be saved once the Li Consortium's troops arrived, but they did not expect to be greeted with such bad news.
They could not accept the contrast of going from stronghold residents to refugees.
When they were about to reach the stronghold, the convoy of private troops suddenly came to a stop. An officer who was not even wearing his military cap properly was tugging at his belt with his thumbs and lecturing them, "Hey, we don't want you all to work so hard as soldiers either. But we've received orders from the higher-ups, and we really have no other choice."
Some of the escapees pleaded, "Sir, my knees aren't good. I really can't be a soldier."
A woman also pleaded, "We really don't know how to sew. We've never done it before."
The officer of the private army smiled amiably and said, "You'll get it if you learn a little. But I have an idea. I'm very familiar with Director Li, who's in charge of the recruitment. If any of you have any ideas, I can help you put in a good word for it. But it's definitely not going to work just by talking. Let me say this first: I won't get anything out of this.
Ren Xiaosu understood now. She was asking for something in return.
Someone immediately took off the watch on his wrist and said, "Sir, this is a Flying Bird watch. I just bought it last year."
The officer immediately beamed. "Register him … Is there anyone else who wants to be exempted from military service?"
Wang Fugui immediately went up to the officer and pulled him aside. "Hello, sir. My name is Wang Fugui. I have 100 antibiotics here, and I also have five of the best watches here. It's just that there are a lot of us who want to be exempted from military service."
When the officer heard about the 100 antibiotics, his eyes almost popped out of his head. When he heard about the five watches, his eyes lit up!
Wang Fugui whispered, "We mainly have over 20 students here. Think about it, what can students do? They can't do anything at all. Besides, students are the foundation of our future. Wouldn't it be a pity for them to become soldiers or female workers now? "
The officer glanced at Wang Fugui. "Female students can be exempted, but male students can't. To tell you the truth, males of appropriate age must enlist. That's the bottom line. If I dare to cross that line, I'll be shot tomorrow."
Wang Fugui panicked when he heard that. He could ignore the others, but Ren Xiaosu could not become a soldier. He pointed at Ren Xiaosu and said, "Didn't you just exempt someone from military service?"
"To tell you the truth, the one who was exempted from military service is old and not within the scope of conscription," the officer said with a smile.
Lao Wang completely understood. Manual labor could be exempted, but military service was definitely unavoidable. As for the middle-aged man who handed over the watch just now, he was just a sucker. Lao Wang changed his approach and said, "Look at that person. Don't be fooled by his youthful appearance. It's just that he takes good care of himself. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but he's my uncle …"
"Fuck." The officer was amused. "Old Wang, how shameless can you be? Just because you said no means no means no means no. These antibiotics and watches of yours can only exempt girls from military service. They're of the right age, so they can't be exempted from military service."
Wang Fugui sighed. Wang Dalong and Yan Liuyuan did not have to serve because they were not of age yet. But from the looks of it, it was a foregone conclusion that Ren Xiaosu, Chen Wudi, and the others would join the army, as well as Jiang Wu's eight male students.
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