Chapter 70: Chapter 70: The Commander-in-Chief Arrives
When Xing Hai and Liu Long were discussing how to deal with Ye Fan, a commotion suddenly came from outside the mansion.
Among the survivors who came to Si River, not everyone was qualified to trade inside the mansion.
Only those whom Liu Long and Xing Hai deemed qualified to become a boss, or worthy of being called a leader, were invited inside the mansion.
In the entire Coal City region, there were no more than ten such people.
Ordinary small survivor groups could only trade outside the mansion.
A commotion among the survivor groups surely meant the arrival of a bigwig figure.
The two of them looked down through the window and saw a convoy arriving below.
More than a dozen vehicles!
At the front were four modified SUVs, followed by as many as ten heavy trucks loaded with various supplies: drums of gasoline, piles of rice and flour, brand new bedding and clothes, it all looked quite impressive.
More than twenty people got out of the SUVs, each carrying a gun. In the middle stood a skinny man with two pistols at his waist, wearing sunglasses in mid-September, looking rather cold.
"Who is this? He looks so pretentious. Could this be Ye Fan?" Liu Long asked.
Xing Hai shook his head: "Probably not. The guy in the broadcast from the Dawn Army touted Ye Fan to high heaven, saying he’s young and promising, approachable, gentle and amiable, doesn’t play with women or abuse survivors. In the past, he could’ve been one of Coal City’s top ten outstanding youths."
Liu Long was stunned: "Could it be? Yet he’s repeatedly taken out your people."
"That’s why I don’t believe what the broadcast said, but I reckon Ye Fan is very good at putting on a facade, wouldn’t put up a pointless front like this. He’s probably a mild-mannered young type."
At that moment, Liu Long received a message from the intercom from the guard at the front door: "Boss, Leader Dai Yu from the Hot Spring Base has arrived."
Xing Hai snorted: "I guessed right, it’s not Ye Fan. This is Dai Yu from the Hot Spring Base, who claims their hot spring base is number one in Mei City. Damn, if Ye Fan hadn’t come out against me, Dai Yu would’ve been the first I’d take down."
Liu Long looked at Dai Yu below: "This guy seems to be someone capable."
"Yeah, he does have some skills. This kid, nicknamed Dace, is slick with dual guns and runs fast."
Liu Long picked up the intercom and instructed his people below: "Escort Leader Dai Yu to the reception room."
The guard, upon receiving the instruction, led Dai Yu to the reception room.
Just as Dai Yu arrived, another convoy rolled in.
This convoy wasn’t as large as that of the Hot Spring Base, but it was still quite substantial with five heavy trucks and three off-road vehicles.
The lead man had a cigar in his mouth, wearing a purple-red suit, a gold chain around his neck, a jade ring on his finger, a large gold watch on his wrist, accompanied by a coquettishly dressed woman, a typical nouveau riche style before the apocalypse.
A group of sturdy men in camouflage got out of the vehicles, some holding pistols, some rifles, and a few holding five-shot hunting rifles.
"Who the hell is this? Why do they all look so pretentious? Is this one Ye Fan?"
Xing Hai shook his head: "Trust my judgment, Ye Fan wouldn’t be so showy; he’s definitely a smiling tiger type. This one isn’t him."
The guard sent the message again: "Boss, Leader Wu Xiao from Baihua County has arrived."
"So it’s Wu Xiao, this guy’s doing well in Baihua County with more than 3,000 men under him, but he’s no good guy either."
Liu Long snorted: "How many good guys do you see these days? Those who are alive have probably gotten their hands dirty. Better to know your place."
He instructed the guards to escort Wu Xiao to the reception room as well.
Checking the time, they scheduled the trade meeting to start at 10 o’clock, less than an hour to go.
Suddenly, there was another commotion outside, louder this time.
"A plane, there’s a plane!"
The two rushed to look up at the sky, indeed seeing a civilian helicopter flying slowly over. Below it, a convoy was moving, led by a flatbed trailer. When the plane landed, the trailer stopped just right, and it landed directly on the vehicle.
A metal suspension ladder was lowered, and down came a beautiful woman dressed scantily.
Wearing a black military vest, hot denim shorts, and a holster with a small pistol on her snow-white thigh, lightly made up with a delicate face, slender limbs, but a rather average bust size.
A few guards, both men and women, followed behind her, looking anything but simple.
"This hottie should be Qin Yumo, right? Apart from her Airport Base, nowhere else has planes."
Liu Long complained indignantly: "Each one’s showier than the last; they’re all flexing their muscles, showing off to me, Liu Long."
Xing Hai snorted: "I’ll make this woman pay sooner or later, but before dealing with them, Ye Fan is key; let’s not get side-tracked."
"I know."
Liu Long again instructed his people to invite Leader Qin Yumo into the reception room.
After Qin Yumo, two more leaders came one after another. Possibly not wanting to be looked down upon, they made grand entrances, tiring Liu Long and Xing Hai greatly.
"Dammit! These guys are here to perform, really makes me want to riddle them with bullets!" Liu Long said through gritted teeth.
Xing Hai consoled: "Don’t get angry, the more shallow the facade, the more worry; guard dogs don’t bark, we should focus on Ye Fan."
Having suffered repeatedly at Ye Fan’s hand, Xing Hai considered him a major threat.
Hearing what Xing Hai said, even Liu Long began to look forward to Ye Fan’s appearance.
In his mind, he already outlined Ye Fan’s image.
The appearance of an ordinary college student, gentle and refined, pretending to be harmless, but likely a ruthless guy at heart.
As it approached ten o’clock, finally another convoy appeared.
When the helicopter appeared just now, there was a commotion among the survivors below; this time, they let out screams!
"The army!"
"My God! Am I seeing this right? There’s still an army!"
"These really are military vehicles, look at those machine guns, my God, they shoot blue flames, right?"
"Don’t be silly, what you’re talking about is a Gatling gun; that’s an anti-aircraft machine gun. If it’s truly the army, I’m ready to surrender."
When Liu Long and Xing Hai saw the armored dragons and ironclads, especially the assault armored truck appear, their hearts leapt in their chests.
If a real army came, it could mean the end of the good days for these leaders.
But thankfully, there didn’t seem to be many military vehicles, and they were sure there wasn’t an army for thousands of miles around, so these people shouldn’t be military.
If not an army, then who could command such a presence?
Quickly, the convoy stopped in front of the Hardware Mansion.
A group of soldiers holding light machine guns came down in a flash from the armored car. They moved in synchrony, forming two lines on either side of the ironclad with military precision.
Gun muzzles turned outward, forming a passageway straight to the front of the Hardware Mansion.
Even the guards at the entrance were pushed aside at gunpoint as if clearing the way for a big shot.
Then the ironclad’s door opened, and down came two stunning women in military uniforms.
One was glamorous, the other pure, and the uniforms only added to their dashing charm, immediately overshadowing the female survivors around.
The beauties opened the door, and two dogs came down from the vehicle.
Covered in blue cloth, similar to the others, displaying an image of dark clouds obscuring the day, with rays of light breaking through.
These two dogs, along with a few others, sniffed the way forward, their eyes glinting fiercely, as if searching for some bad elements.
Actually, Ye Fan didn’t like this kind of display, but there was nothing he could do. He knew someone here wanted to take him down, and the first mission of the Red Alert Units was his safety as the Commander-in-Chief, so caution couldn’t be overdone.
After Xiaotian and the others confirmed safety, Ye Fan was ready to get out of the car, but Chen Hao suddenly rushed over.
Chen Hao, perhaps to bolster his image or to prove he had Ye Fan’s backing, brought along a roll of red carpet of all things.
"Leader Ye, this is left over from our village’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, please use it."
Saying so, two people quickly spread the red carpet, all the way to the entrance of the Hardware Mansion.
Finding himself in a spot, Ye Fan walked along.
Disembarking from the ironclad, Shen Ruihui and Qiao Sanyou, two scouts, led the way, Zhao Minglin Qing, two snipers, protected the rear, while Xiao Jing and He Xiaoting carefully held Ye Fan’s arm to prevent him from tripping on the red carpet.
The people of the Hardware Mansion guarding the entrance were cornered by the Army Soldiers, holding their intercoms and meekly reporting to Liu Long.
"Boss, Lingshui Dawn Army Commander Ye Fan has arrived."
Upstairs, the news left Xing Hai and Liu Long staring at each other, speechless.
Liu Long looked at Xing Hai for a long time: "Is this the gentle, approachable Ye Fan you were talking about?"