Ren Xiaosu felt he could not be blamed for thinking that Stronghold 178 was very poor. After all, a place with barren mountains and dangerous rivers did not look like it was rich.
But Yang Xiaojin's explanation made him understand why so many people were eyeing Stronghold 178 even though it was located at the border.
It was no wonder Stronghold 178 wanted to clear the bandits and open up trade routes. The ore had to be shipped out to the Central Plains!
More importantly, why wouldn't that old punk, Zhang Jinglin, want to be the commander of Stronghold 178 when he was already so rich? How pretentious!
Ren Xiaosu despised Zhang Jinglin in his heart.
When they arrived at the second stronghold for repairs, Yang Xiaojin disappeared again. Meanwhile, Ren Xiaosu exchanged some gold and returned to their rendezvous point ahead of time. Yang Xiaojin had not returned yet, but Zong Cheng was chatting and joking with the Yang Clan's nanosoldiers.
His soldiers brought folding chairs for the nanosoldiers and even brought them some local specialties from the North for them to snack on.
It seemed like Zong Cheng was very interested in these nanosoldiers and was willing to interact with them. No matter how arrogant the nanosoldiers were, they would not put on airs with this big shot from the Soong Clan. They even chatted happily with him.
When Ren Xiaosu returned, he did not approach Zong Cheng immediately. Instead, he watched from afar. He saw Zong Cheng looking like he was performing a magic trick. Then he saw Zong Cheng holding a water bottle and asking the nanosoldiers, "What do you usually like to drink?"
The nanosoldier smiled and said, "You're too polite. I'll just drink water."
"Okay," Zong Cheng said as he tilted the bottle in his hand slightly and poured out the clear water.
Zong Cheng turned to look at another soldier. "What do you like to drink? Say something different. "
"I like grape juice," the nanosoldier said.
"Sure." Zong Cheng was still holding the same bottle, but the clear water was gone. This time, it was purple grape juice instead.
The nanosoldiers exclaimed, "There's a mechanism in your bottle, right?"
"Here, check it." Zong Cheng handed the bottle over. The nanosoldier looked into the opening of the bottle but did not find any mechanism inside.
At this moment, Zong Cheng turned around and saw Ren Xiaosu. "Brother Xiaosu! Why are you just watching? Come and sit with me for a while. We'll set off when Yang Xiaojin comes back. "
Ren Xiaosu walked over and smiled. "Do you know how to do poker tricks?"
"This is a must-learn skill for every magician." Zong Cheng took out a deck of cards from his chest pocket. "What kind do you want me to do?"
Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt that something was amiss. Why would a core figure of an organization be obsessed with a toy like magic? He had heard that Zong Cheng was a supernatural being, so could his superpower be related to magic?
Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, "Why don't you make four fours for me?"
"That's easy," Zong Cheng said confidently. "Draw four cards at will."
He spread the cards like a fan facing down, so that no one could see what the cards were.
Ren Xiaosu reached out and drew the cards. This was a special magic poker card. He also had such cards.
"It really is four fours." Ren Xiaosu looked at the cards in his hand and said in surprise, "Brother Zong Cheng, you're really amazing."
After that, Ren Xiaosu returned the cards to him. Zong Cheng was stunned. He had a feeling that something was not right, but he could not figure out what it was.
"You flatter me, it's just a small trick." Zong Cheng smiled and put the cards back into the box. Then he stuffed them into the lining of his shirt around his chest.
Zong Cheng said with a warm smile, "By the way, Brother Xiaosu, I heard something just now. I heard that you have a particularly good relationship with Xu Xianchu?"
Ren Xiaosu looked at him and said with a smile, "It's not that bad. I'm mainly trying to recommend some talented people to my teacher."
Of course he knew what Zong Cheng wanted to ask. Furthermore, Ren Xiaosu had never turned down an opportunity to put on a protective charm for himself.
Zong Cheng's smile did not change. "I'm also very close to Brother Xu. It looks like we're really fated. But may I ask, who is your teacher?"
"Zhang Jinglin." Ren Xiaosu said in a low voice, "I won't tell most people about such a secret. You have to keep a low profile."
The corners of Zong Cheng's eyes twitched. 'You call this a secret? The entire Yang Clan knows about it, alright?! '
Even he had received the news. At first, he was still a little hesitant and repeatedly confirmed with the other party if it was true. In the end, the other party said everyone in Stronghold 88 knew about it. Even the director of the Public Order Division had to suffer in silence because of Ren Xiaosu's younger brother.
When they set off, Zong Cheng realized Yang Yu 'an's attitude was a little off. So this was the crux of the matter.
After confirming this matter, Zong Cheng's smile toward Ren Xiaosu became even more sincere. At first, he would still occasionally talk to Yang Xiaojin. But now, it was as though he did not know Yang Xiaojin at all. He did not say a word to her anymore, and he even changed the way he addressed her from Xiaojin to Yang Xiaojin.
This was completely different from his original plan. In his original plan, he was supposed to be the protagonist of this bandit extermination mission.
It was not that he was afraid of Ren Xiaosu. Just like how the Yang Clan dared to detain Luo Lan, the Yang Clan was not necessarily afraid of the Kyung Clan even though both sides were very powerful.
It was the same for the Soong Clan towards Stronghold 178. The Soong Clan had been operating in the North for so many years, and they were not pushovers either.
However, he felt that as a man, he should be more ambitious and not complicate matters over such trivial matters.
The Soong Clan had endured in the barren North for so long. Everyone called them hyenas and did not even acknowledge them as a consortium.
Now that the South was at war, it was the best time for the Soong Clan to rise again. He could not allow things to go south because of him.
…
When they set off again, Ren Xiaosu sat in the passenger seat of the off-road vehicle and asked, "Can you let me drive for a while?"
Yang Xiaojin looked at him in surprise. "Why do you want to drive all of a sudden? Do you know how to drive?"
"Of course." Ren Xiaosu said confidently, "How can a man not know how to drive?"
"Alright then." Yang Xiaojin stopped the car and switched seats with him.
Ren Xiaosu excitedly stepped on the accelerator. But ten minutes after he started driving, Yang Xiaojin took out a pistol and pointed it at Ren Xiaosu. "Stop the car, I'll drive."
Ren Xiaosu stopped the car resentfully. "We can talk this through. Why are you always using a gun?"
Yang Xiaojin massaged her temples and changed the subject. "When we get out of the stronghold, we'll reach the valley to the north. At that time, I'll shake off Zong Cheng and the nanosoldiers and act on my own."
"Huh?" Ren Xiaosu was stunned. "Aren't we going to exterminate the bandits? How are we going to exterminate the bandits with just the two of us?"
"You probably don't know how serious the problem of banditry is in the North." Yang Xiaojin explained, "There are over a hundred bandit organizations that have reached a certain scale, and the smallest of them number in the double digits. These are all hidden dangers that the Soong Clan planted in the past."
"That many?" Ren Xiaosu was shocked. There were actually over a hundred bandit organizations?
"So with just a hundred of us, we won't be able to defeat the slightly larger bandit organizations," Yang Xiaojin said.
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