Chapter 541: Secret of Leprosy Village
Wild Wolf stared at the smoke pillars and flames not far from them for a long time.
His gaze slowly turned cold and sharp before he said to Zhang Tie, “Have everyone gather the villagers. Split the strong to one group and the elderly and sick to another group. Distribute weapons and food to them based on different standards.
“Remember this. We don’t have a lot of cans and drinkable water left. Make sure to watch closely as to whether the villagers are hiding any food on them. You must ensure fairness. Don’t let anyone have too much food so that others wouldn’t become jealous and start a conflict.”
Zhang Tie was delighted. He shouted, “Got it!”
He gathered the Wild Wolves and hurried away.
Meng Chao panicked and asked, “Wild Wolf, what are you doing?”
“You heard very clearly,” Wild Wolf said coldly. “I’m going to lead the villagers out.”
“This is a plot by the abnormal beast! You mustn’t fall for it!” Meng Chao quickly said. “Remember what Bai Shan said? Don’t you understand that the enemy’s goal is to make you lead the villagers out and spread the chaos further?
“In the beginning, the enemy wanted to kill the old village chief and Ms. Mulian to make you angry and used the fake secret police to spread rumors to anger all the villagers. The enemy wanted you to be overcome by rage and turn into a rampaging wave that will charge out of the village.
“But they didn’t expect that I and Ms. Mulian would survive. The abnormal beast’s scheme has now been revealed.
“Once it blasted the food and drinkable water storage, it’s clear that it wants to destroy your means of survival and force you to rush out so that both you and the gangs will end up severely wounded! You can’t fall for it!”
“You’re right. I also believe in where you stand in this, Meng Chao. This is indeed the abnormal beast’s scheme. I’m very calm now. I don’t have any anger or hatred in me to interfere with my judgment,” Wild Wolf said calmly.
“Even so, it doesn’t matter. Are we supposed to stay here obediently and wait for our deaths while we watch the smog and flames devour the village? Or are we supposed to die of starvation and thirst because we don’t have any food and water?
“No, before we die of starvation, the villagers might start attacking and killing each other for a single can or a single bottle of drinkable water.”
“They won’t, Wild Wolf. As long as we can persevere, reinforcements will arrive!” Meng Chao hissed.
“And when is that?” Wild Wolf retorted. “After the pitched battle at the borders ends? Do you know when it will end? Three days? Five? Seven to eight? Half a month? Even longer?
“If this pitched battle is going to decide Dragon City’s fate and it really drags out to half a month, how are we going to ‘persevere’ through this period?
“I know that we should tighten our belts, endure hunger, not fear the flames, not be afraid of sacrifice, and overcome this ‘temporary difficulty’ regardless of the cost.
“But this ‘temporary difficulty’ is something that we have been overcoming for over a friggin’ half a century!
“Perhaps to you outsiders, we should defend Leprosy Village to the death and quietly endure all our suffering, chaos, pain, and destruction. It would be best if we ended up badly injured together with the abnormal beast so that Dragon City’s peace and order remained intact.
“But I’m sorry, the current order in Dragon City is just unfair toward the villagers.
“I might not be as extreme as Bai Shan and would not become the monsters’ puppet just to destroy this order, but I just can’t find any reason to defend this order to the death. I can’t find even a single reason for us to do so. I’m sorry.”
Meng Chao started speaking rapidly. “Wild Wolf, that’s not the case, listen to me! I admit that the current order in Dragon City is not perfect, and a lot of problems have indeed popped up because of the nine great mega corporations getting stronger on a daily basis. Leprosy Village isn’t the only one affected, even the division between the strong and the weak outside is getting stronger day by day, and the promotional channel is slowly shutting down. The social stratum is solidifying as time goes by, and cultivation is getting tied together with money and power as well. There are plenty of problems.
“But while some of the problems appeared during the dark and bloody era of the zombie crisis, the others inevitably rose up while we were going through rapid development.
“The Survival Committee and all the citizens have already noticed these problems. We’re already changing. The Broken Star Club and Blue Home have risen to power. The Home Party and the Colonization Party share equal power in the Survival Committee. They’re all parts of the transformation, but we need time if we’re going to change. Hope is right in front of us!
“The mega corporations themselves aren’t completely evil either! They’re the ones who ended the chaotic era of lawlessness and collapse of order. They built the Survival Committee and created as well as defended the current Dragon City!
“I don’t doubt the truth behind what Bai Shan said at all, and all the suffering the villagers faced is definitely real, but you can’t look at the truth from one side alone.
“To create Spirit Snake Venom Blades at the lowest cost and at the highest efficiency, many villagers quietly sacrificed their lives in the production lines of the illegal forgeries, just like Bai Shan’s mother. This is part of the truth.
“But countless Dragon Citizens also swung the Spirit Snake Venom Blades to kill monsters and defend home as well as expand our living space. Because of that, there will come a day when we will dominate the Other World. This is another side of the truth!”
Wild Wolf scoffed. “So? Are the villagers supposed to eternally suffer and be oppressed to help the mega corporations rule over the Other World? Are we not allowed to struggle and say anything about it?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Meng Chao said. “I’m saying that Dragon City is pushing forward nonstop, and all our ugly problems will be solved. But the prerequisite is that we must be united and maintain order.
“I believe that the citizens outside and the mega corporations do not know what is going on in Leprosy Village. Once they understand all the pain the villagers are going through clearly and learn just how many of the unique weapons, including Spirit Snake Venom Blades, were created by you, they will definitely support the idea of investing a large amount of resources to change the lair and the village so that the villagers and the lair citizens can have better protection and benefits!
“Trust me, Wild Wolf, I may not be able to represent other people, but I can represent myself. Once we get through this and I go out, I will deploy all the power of the Broken Star Club and Blue Home to speak for the villagers so that Dragon City will know what is going on here. At that time, every problem will be solved and everything will change!”
Wild Wolf cast Meng Chao a deep glance. Then, he turned and looked at Su Mulian, who had remained silent since the beginning.
“Ms. Mulian, your thoughts? Do you believe in the boy’s big talk?”
Su Mulian hesitated for a moment before she nodded slowly. There was a bit of hesitation on her face, but she spoke firmly. “I trust Meng Chao.”
Wild Wolf was a little stunned.
Even Meng Chao himself found it a little strange. He had never met Su Mulian before and when she had learned that he was Meng Chao, she had looked terrified. So why was it that she trusted him completely?
Su Mulian did not just represent herself. As the Goddess of the village born to save the people from their suffering, she had a lot of swaying power.
Wild Wolf could not overlook her views, and he just started laughing strangely.
“Fine, Meng Chao, half of what you said convinced me. I do believe that the citizens outside might not know what exactly the villagers are going through.”
Then, he smiled coldly, revealing sharp canine teeth. “But it’s a joke if you say that the mega corporations might not know everything that is going on in Leprosy Village.
“Bai Shan was right. Not knowing is one thing, but ignoring it despite knowing about it is another. However, even worse is knowing everything about it and not wanting to change anything but using our harsh conditions to get profit. It’s an entirely different story.
“The nine mega corporations’ stance toward Leprosy Village is the third situation.”
As he spoke, he took out a fang-shaped pendant from his chest. He opened the fang gently, and a data chip was revealed inside.
Wild Wolf tossed the chip gently to Su Mulian.
“What is this, Uncle Wolf?”
Su Mulian and Meng Chao exchanged a glance. They could see the puzzlement in each other’s eyes.
Wild Wolf said calmly, “Ms. Mulian, this is Leprosy Village’s greatest secret. The old village chief handed this to me a year ago. We intended to never share it with you, but right now, Leprosy Village is in chaos, and I don’t know how long I’m going to stay alive. If I die an untimely death, someone must learn about this thing.”
The tactical watch Meng Chao wore had the ability to read and manage data.
He removed his watch and handed it to Su Mulian.
She slotted the data chip inside and opened a few password-locked documents. A large wave of data and symbols instantly poured down the screen like a waterfall.
“This is… an account book?” Su Mulian asked hesitantly. “Uncle Wolf, is this the account book for the unique weapons Leprosy Village created for the mega corporations?”
“It’s indeed an account book, but it’s not the one for the unique weapons,” Wild Wolf said faintly. “More than 95% of the villagers have all sorts of innate deformities and illnesses because of their gene mutations. Many of them don’t have a lot of stamina to do hard labor, but they need a lot of money for medicine.
“Even if the healthy villagers worked day and night and did the most dangerous and tough jobs, the entire village’s income would still not be able to cover all the villagers’ expenditure.
“So, you might not be able to imagine, but Leprosy Village’s largest source of income isn’t our work with highly polluted, radioactive, and corrosive lethal weapons to help those outside.
“It’s the testing of gene medicine and cultivation methods.”
Su Mulian’s eyes went wide. “Wh-What?”
“Every year, Dragon City develops hundreds of new gene medicines and high-calorie nutritional fluids. The old gene medicine and high-calorie nutritional fluids are also constantly revised and improved upon while the smart superhumans continue creating brand new spirit energy magnetic fields to make powerful meditation techniques or killing moves.
“All of the gene medicines, high-calorie nutritional fluids, meditation methods, and killing moves must go through a large number of repeated tests,” Wild Wolf said. “The villagers are born with a lot of illnesses, and our genes are really unstable. We have all sorts of problems and can mutate at any time. Many people are also unable to live long because they’re tortured by illnesses. Instead of just waiting for their deaths, isn’t it better for them to use desperate measures and try to get better? That makes them best test subjects, no?”