Chapter Ninety-Three: Let's All Talk It Over

More and more people gathered behind Di Qiang. Their expressions were all the same, and the sight of them was deeply oppressive. Many of their eyes were bloodshot and dull. Though they were numerous, what Zhao Nan felt was not pressure, but sorrow.

This was the most common form of servility in a fallen region.

"Lin Yu, you'd better stay out of this," Di Qiang said with a cold smile, licking his dry lips. "Otherwise, I can't guarantee your supplies anymore!"

"Di Qiang, don't push your luck," Lin Yu said emotionlessly. "I've already turned a blind eye to what you've been doing here. But don't think you can bully my friends!"

"Then I'm bullying you!" Di Qiang let out a strange cry and hurled something with all his strength.

Only then did it become clear that he was holding a bottle of liquor. The thrown bottle spilled a trail of alcohol through the air before shattering on the ground. "What are you standing there for? Seize them! Especially these two women... ha!"

"Who dares!"

Two sword rings rang out almost at once. Lin Yu stepped forward before the crowd, twin blades in his hands fanning apart and pointing ahead as he said in a low voice, "Have you grown tired of living?"

The people who had been ordered into motion, who had in an instant changed from puppets into wolves, suddenly came to a halt.

"How many can you kill?" Di Qiang narrowed his eyes and extended a finger with a vicious sneer. "However many you kill, however many more will gladly come over to my side. It's only a matter of time! Move! If I’m happy, I might even give you better food!"

Seeing that some were still tempted to step forward, Lin Yu frowned and took a step back. "Looks like we won't be reaching an agreement today... You should leave first. I'll come find you afterward."

"Brother Yu, you—"

"Don't worry. Di Qiang doesn't dare really do anything to me. He talks tough, but if the two sides really start fighting, he won't come away with anything good either!"

"But—" Xiong You said anxiously.

At that moment, a figure suddenly shot out from beside Lin Yu. Startled, Lin Yu turned his head and saw that the blonde woman who had been following Zhao Nan had already leaped into the crowd ahead, her sword still sheathed, using the scabbard to sweep and smash. In an instant, three or five people could not get close. One second, two seconds, three seconds—cries of pain rang out one after another.

"Zhao Nan..." Lin Yu's expression changed again, but Zhao Nan was already nowhere to be seen.

"Up front!"

Xiong You inhaled sharply and pointed ahead. Zhao Nan, following close behind Fei Nina, had charged into the melee and was simply smashing people with the staff in his hand.

The two of them moved with astonishing speed, showing no sign of difficulty even under the crowd's assault. The passage in front of the kindergarten building was already packed shoulder to shoulder, and people were being violently thrown out from the crush from time to time.

"What are you standing around for? Seize them!" Di Qiang showed no fear at all, his ferocity only growing.

So what if some of them had high attributes? Could one or two people really harm him under the assault of a hundred or two hundred?

"You've got some nerve!" Di Qiang sneered repeatedly, waiting to see the terrified expressions on their faces after they were captured alive.

Facing the tide of people, mad as rabid dogs, Zhao Nan frowned. Roughly a month had passed since the fall, and the people here had probably already been enslaved to the point of losing normal capacity for thought.

Fei Nina pressed against Zhao Nan's back. Zhao Nan pointed ahead, and the two of them understood each other perfectly without needing many words. Fei Nina placed one hand on Zhao Nan's shoulder, borrowing the force to leap up, even stepping on his shoulder as she launched herself straight forward.

At last the long sword left its scabbard, carving out streak after streak of silver light in midair. Fei Nina's swordsmanship was not one of those automatic skills granted to players. It had been truly learned through her own training. Zhao Nan remembered clearly that when they first met, Fei Nina's two basic skills had already reached the level of mastery, and at that time she had only been level zero.

Now, in the air above Di Qiang, silver flashes swept through the sky. Only a few screams were heard before several people around him had already fallen. Di Qiang instinctively dodged back at that moment, but he still could not escape the pursuit of the long sword.

The sword pierced his shoulder. Fei Nina's wrist trembled, and the blade sliced out from Di Qiang's shoulder, spraying a line of blood. She then thrust out a leg, bringing it crashing from above onto the other shoulder. The tremendous impact sent Di Qiang crashing to his knees on the ground.

At that instant the long sword stabbed hard into the earth, right beside his cheek. Fei Nina stood on Di Qiang's back and shouted in a clear voice, "No one move!"

At her cry, everyone stopped, watching the scene with tension and unease. Zhao Nan gave a cold smile and stepped out from the crowd. Clearly, these people were not worried about Di Qiang's safety, but only about whether their own food supply would be secured.

"Damn it!" Di Qiang spat out the dirt from his mouth and roared, "Why aren't you rescuing me? Do you all want to starve to death?"

At his shout, the people around him began to hesitate and slowly moved closer.

Bang!

Zhao Nan struck the ground hard with the Staff of Sighs. The sound of the blow was thunderous, startling everyone. He walked up in front of Di Qiang and swung the staff to smash his mouth. Di Qiang immediately spat blood, several of his teeth shattered and broken out.

"Don't kill him!"

A sudden cry rang out.

Zhao Nan frowned and looked over. It was an unfamiliar woman pleading, "Please, don't kill him! If you kill him, we'll all starve to death!"

"That's right! Please, let him go!"

One plea after another rose up. Looking at them, Zhao Nan felt fury surging in his chest and shouted, "So you’re willing to let this bastard treat you like cattle and horses, and bully you however he likes?"

"I don't want to die. I only want to live! How I live is my own business. But if you kill him, I won't be able to live, and I won't let you off either! At most, we'll all die together!"

It was still that woman, her emotions so intense she could hardly hold herself back.

She was the same woman Zhao Nan had just seen being handled at will by Di Qiang. Zhao Nan could not understand her mental state at all, nor did he want to.

"See that? You dare kill me?" Di Qiang's mouth was full of blood and shattered teeth. His face, pressed against the ground, twisted with anger and then became even more savage with triumph.

"I understand now," Zhao Nan said with a quiet breath. Looking at the people closing in around him, he said indifferently, "I won't kill him... Of course, I won't let him go either."

He brought the staff down on the back of Di Qiang's neck. Because of the force, the end of the staff had already depressed the skin at the nape of his neck. Zhao Nan glanced around coldly. "All of you back off. Do you want me to kill him and then die with you, or back off?"

"You dare?"

Di Qiang somehow found the confidence to shout back. His cheeks were flaming red, and the smell of alcohol on him was especially strong now.

"I dare."

Zhao Nan swiftly snatched the sword from Fei Nina's hands. With a flick of his arm, he severed Di Qiang's right arm cleanly at the root without changing expression. Blood gushed forth at once, as did cold sweat, and Di Qiang let out a stifled cry of agony before fainting outright.

Blood dripped from the blade as it swung sharply, tracing a red arc little by little before his eyes.

...

"You were a little too impulsive," Lin Yu sighed.

This was a classroom somewhere inside the kindergarten. After Di Qiang's wound had been hastily bandaged, he had been tied up at the side, still unconscious.

The doorway was packed with people, and many more were inside the room as well. They sat silently in the corners, staring over with uneasy shock.

Zhao Nan frowned. "Even if he can communicate with the outside and get food, there are plenty of ways to make him provide supplies unconditionally. You could even keep him penned up. Why willingly let him torment you?"

Lin Yu gave a bitter smile. "He's a ruthless man. We've already tried what you suggested. But he's vicious enough; he isn't afraid of death or torture. If his demands aren't met, he'll even kill himself... Under those circumstances, as long as one person gives in, he wins."

Lin Yu sighed and shook his head. "In fact, he already has. He sees human weakness very clearly. To be honest, I have to admire him for that alone."

"Hmph. If it weren't for the situation we're in now, that beast could be as vicious as he likes and he'd still be nothing but trash! Forget his level—back before, he was already doing shady tricks like extortion and fraud!" Xiong You kicked Di Qiang hard twice.

"Don't kill him," Lin Yu frowned. "Take this chance to leave. This man simply cannot be killed."

"If one day you are no longer able to fight to obtain food, would you choose to submit to him?" Zhao Nan asked, looking directly at Lin Yu.

"If it were only me, no," Lin Yu said, shaking his head. "If there were still people behind me, I would."

"And if despair came? Whether or not you were the last one left. Would you live, or hold to your principles?" Zhao Nan asked again.

Lin Yu fell silent, pressed his lips together, and lowered his head. After a moment, he looked up at Zhao Nan and said aloud, "Live. As long as there is life, there is hope."

"Then let's begin talking now," Zhao Nan said calmly. "Xiong You, aside from Di Qiang, there should be someone among his people with some authority. Bring a few of them over. We'll talk together."

A short while later, only Lin Yu remained on Lin Yu's side. He later learned that this was because the former guild leader of Xiong You's original guild had already died in the monster siege. With the city system crippled, there was no way to replace the guild leader.

As for the other side, three people came, all looking tense.

The two sides stood apart. Zhao Nan woke Di Qiang in front of them.

Upon waking, Di Qiang was momentarily dazed. Then the pain in his arm fully roused him, and he immediately burst out swearing, "You sons of bitches, you want to die? Are you rebelling?"

What greeted him was a fierce knee strike. The tremendous force instantly bent his nose and sent blood spilling out. Zhao Nan grabbed Di Qiang by the hair and hauled him up hard. "I'm very curious—where does your confidence come from?"

As he spoke, Zhao Nan extended his left hand, and small pouches suddenly dropped to the ground, one after another. In just a moment, the floor was covered in a small spread of them.

"Elven biscuits!"

Several sharp intakes of breath sounded at once, and even Di Qiang was a little stunned.

"If your only confidence is that you can have food mailed in from the outside city... then unfortunately for you, I can do that too."