Saving Unpermitted

Chapter 71: Quarrel

The corridor was wide, and more and more people gathered. Instead of trying to stop them, Shu Jun secretly had someone open the communication devices and broadcast the argument to various rooms. The players knew to make space for them, and their position offered a good view, allowing them to hear the conversation clearly. The broadcast quality was quite good.

There weren’t many people that Yu Jin called for help—just over a hundred at most. On the players’ side, many were watching the commotion, and they overwhelmingly outnumbered Yu Jin’s group.

Hu Yan was also squeezed among the players. When he saw Shu Jun approaching, he struggled to swim through the crowd until he separated from the group.

“What’s going on?” Shu Jun asked him in a low voice.

“I don’t know how it started exactly. But Yu Ge, cough, Yu Jin said that the ‘Crooked Head’ guy has been mouthing off. He’s arguing with Chai Xuyang from Groundwater. They’re worried since they haven’t seen Luo Duan…”

“Get to the point,” Shu Jun said patiently.

“Well, they started arguing, and Chai Xuyang made the first move. Yu Jin has been trying to calm things down, but both sides were getting worked up, and he couldn’t stop them.” Hu Yan’s voice became softer.

“He must apologize today so we don’t have to see these people causing trouble daily. Yu Ge, this matter is something you really can’t intervene in,” the Crooked Head guy said with a cold voice, carrying a gloominess that didn’t match his age.

Yu Jin was caught in the middle, unable to do much. Even his vibrant golden hair appeared somewhat dull.

“Damn it, I should twist your cabbage head off first.” Chai Xuyang’s voice became hoarse. “It’s already good enough that we’re not killing you. You don’t even have a shred of dignity. Who are you showing off to? Who?”

“What? Do I have to kneel down and present something to you? Do I owe you?” The Crooked Head guy sneered, making his deformed upper body appear even more terrifying.

“You hit the nail on the head.” Chai Xuyang’s eyes turned bloodshot with anger, and he clenched his fist tightly. “You people here, all of you know about the player system, right?”

“I fucking know,” the Crooked Head guy replied nonchalantly. “For those who hang around in the settlement all the time, who wouldn’t know? We understand much more than that bunch of idiots in the city.”

The atmosphere among the players became restless, and tension increased. Several impulsive individuals wanted to rush forward, but they were held back by members of the Blackbirds.

Chai Xuyang raised his voice. “You all know very well that you’re stepping on our corpses to live comfortably. And now you dare to claim righteousness? They say ignorance is bliss, but you all clearly knew we existed—”

The Blackbirds who were blocking the way, became less resolute, and the players surged forward a few steps. The young humans on Yu Jin’s side had serious expressions and showed no signs of backing down.

Shu Jun put his hand on Zhu Yanchen’s shoulder, gestured for him not to act, and continued to watch.

Seeing that no one was stopping him, Chai Xuyang poured out his panic-fueled grievances. “You all live peacefully while we are destined to die for you? We’re supposed to be your tools, unable to live past thirty? Ah? Even if you give little respect to us, you shouldn’t have such a nonchalant attitude.”

He paused for a few seconds, seeing the Crooked Head guy staring at him with twisted eyes, not responding. Chai Xuyang believed he had rendered the other side speechless and raised his voice to continue.

“Indeed, you wouldn’t understand—what it feels like to realize you’ve been deceived when death is at your doorstep, what it feels like to have friends and family die without any explanation. To humans, we are nothing more than chickens or ducks waiting to be slaughtered. How dare you people get offended—”

“Wow, you really understand, don’t you?” the Crooked Head guy responded sarcastically. The crowd surged again. Many instinctively wanted to use their abilities, and the air was filled with the restlessness of erosion, but Shu Jun suppressed it.

“Even if I die, I’ll drag a few more down with me. You, who have knowledge, are all worthless!”

“So self-righteous?” The Crooked Head guy laughed. His laughter was terrifying. He extended his deformed legs and stumbled forward. “What? How about we switch places? If you don’t cause trouble for us, you can enjoy good food and drinks until you die, supplied by the stronghold? As for ‘the other side’, we know a little bit too. That place is like a paradise with blue skies, birds chirping, and fragrant flowers. You can have whatever you want there. It’s like heaven on Earth.”

His voice was shrill and unpleasant, but in the midst of the chaos, it carried even farther.

“No sickly parents to take care of, no siblings born with missing noses and eyes, and you get to be healthy—yes, your lives may be short, but am I living any longer? Let me tell you today, my heart, liver, spleen, and lungs are already twisted, and they’ve been soaked in erosion. I won’t live past thirty either.”

The Crooked Head guy twisted his deformed body, growing more confident. “I count the days one by one, feeling uneasy everywhere, working hard every day just to get some food, unable to sleep properly. If it weren’t for Yu Ge being a good person, I probably wouldn’t have survived until today. You’re worried and fearful before you die, but I’ve been worried and fearful since I can remember. So, Mr. Synthetic, are you willing to switch places with me?”

“I wasn’t talking about you as an individual, I—” Chai Xuyang retorted with a strained voice.

The Crooked Head guy let out a string of sharp laughter, followed by a cough. “Why should I reason with you? I have my own problems just trying to survive. Can I even control others?”

“You hate humans; fine, it’s understandable. Let me ask you one thing today—do I deserve to die as a person who knew but didn’t seek justice for you? Do my brothers, who are in the same situation as me, deserve to die?”

He pointed in the direction of the settlement. “Should those children who can’t even wipe their own snot also deserve to die?”

Chai Xuyang was stunned and couldn’t come up with a response for a moment.

“Should they die?” The Crooked Head guy stared closely at Chai Xuyang. “Can’t you say something?”

“Are you implying that not only should we not resist, but we should also be grateful?” After holding back for a while, Chai Xuyang couldn’t come up with a response, so he changed the topic. Although he said that, the hostility on his face had indeed lessened.

The Crooked Head guy laughed even more happily. “Growing up in the settlement, I understand quite a bit about being a bad person. When you can’t make it through, you do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means looking a bit unsightly.”

“Nowadays, resources are scarce everywhere, and legitimate work is hard to find. I’m not a good worker, and I require more medication than the average person. I understand if others want to give up on me. But do I deserve to die? Why should I? Others have their reasons, and I have mine. If I want to live, I’ll give it my all—that’s why I’m supporting you synthetics, hoping that you can make some progress and at least break this deadlock.”

Chai Xuyang pursed his lips tightly and his face tensed up. The radicals behind him gradually came to their senses and stopped struggling.

“So in the end, you shouted at a useless person like me for half a day but couldn’t come up with a solution yourself. Have you considered that when you revealed your heavenly life to the city, many people probably thought that humans had done everything they could and had settled everything from the beginning?”

The Crooked Head guy became more spirited as he spoke.

“Why argue about wiping us out or feeling grateful? To put it plainly, if you can live your life, then live it. If you can’t, raise your voice and let it be known. Everyone wants to live well. It’s that simple. Given the situation, it’s not necessary to focus on someone’s faults and make a fuss about it.”

Shu Jun slowly hooked the corners of his mouth as the signal broadcast continued uninterrupted.

Chai Xuyang was quite angry but realized that he wasn’t entirely justified. After hesitating for a while, he picked up the Crooked Head guy’s crutch that had fallen to the ground.

“…I shouldn’t have acted impulsively earlier. I apologize,” he muttered meekly.

“That’s good. At least you’re still human, not one of those idiots who either prosper under my rule or perish miserably—idiots who just want to kill people as soon as they appear.”

The Crooked Head guy’s mouth still stunk, but it didn’t sound like he intended to continue the argument.

Then the two of them exchanged a few more words, and the tense atmosphere from before had completely disappeared. The players gradually dispersed, many of them wore thoughtful expressions on their faces.

Yu Jin wiped his sweat and felt relieved. He patted the Crooked Head guy’s back and took out a can of meat from his bag, handing it to him. The dinner bell rang, and the corridor completely cleared out, returning to its previous desolate appearance.

Only then did Zhu Yanchen turn his head and ask, “Did you know they wouldn’t escalate the conflict?”

“In Luo Duan’s team, there are no overly impulsive individuals. After spending a long time on the battlefield, everyone knows when to listen to others. Yu Jin also knows how to distinguish between important and trivial matters. He won’t bring people who don’t understand social customs.”

Casually leaning against a supply box, Shu Jun relaxed his posture.

“Moreover, just now, when I saw those two, their gestures and movements showed no killing intent. At worst, they will part ways without hostility. Maybe they can even have a productive conversation—that’s what I thought.”

Marshal Zhu excelled in overall planning, but he mostly dealt with astute individuals and rarely encountered people who were rough around the edges, making it easy for him to overlook details. Seeing Zhu Yanchen’s serious and inquisitive expression, it took him a while to suppress his playful thoughts.

“Whether they part ways or have a productive conversation, it will let the players know the thoughts of some humans. In fact, there’s a saying among unconventional thinkers—we’re not afraid of arguments; we’re afraid of two-eyed creatures who only recognize ‘categories’ and believe only in themselves. In other words, it’s actually a good thing if they can argue normally.”

At this point, A’Yan would surely understand.

Sure enough, Zhu Yanchen nodded. “Those two just now were able to express their own views. They saw the other party as someone they could have an ‘equal exchange’ with.”

Instead of viewing them as the “other race” that should be killed on sight.

“What else?” Shu Jun smiled, squinting his eyes.

Zhu Yanchen didn’t answer, but his black gem-like eyes focused on Shu Jun. Shu Jun enjoyed breaking this sense of calmness and couldn’t resist extending his claw tip to lift Zhu Yanchen’s mask, lightly tapping the other’s soft lower lip. “One more kiss, and I’ll explain further.”

The two squeezed into a dark corner, and Zhu Yanchen pressed Shu Jun against the crate, kissing passionately. Shu Jun allowed Zhu Yanchen to lightly bite his lower lip, squinting his eyes while enjoying the warmth of the other’s body. His claw tip mischievously pricked and teased Zhu Yanchen’s back.

“I know what you want to say.” After the long kiss ended, Zhu Yanchen smoothed out Shu Jun’s tousled hair. “You want the people in the settlement to speak their minds, so you can identify the point of instigation for Zhu Sheng, right?”

To resist the synths, Zhu Sheng would inevitably incite the people in the settlements to take action first. The settlements were already filled with a group of lawless individuals, and if their emotions were truly stirred up, colliding with vengeful synths would only add fuel to the fire.

Today, it seemed that these people truly held grudges against the synths.

Marshal Zhu clearly understood this in his heart but deliberately chose not to mention it. Shu Jun licked his tingling lips and looked at Zhu Yanchen’s curved mouth, starting to suspect that a certain fox surnamed Zhu was doing it on purpose.

“Yes, now that the vaccine has been administered, we can relax for now.” Shu Jun stretched his body as he spoke with a tone filled with amusement. “There shouldn’t be any major conflicts anymore, and Hu Yan can handle it. I can now go out with peace of mind.”

After saying that, his fingers reached Zhu Yanchen’s neck and slowly trailed from the Adam’s apple to the chin. “Stay at home and behave yourself. Don’t wander around. If you can develop a suppression weapon early, I’ll let you kiss me for three hours straight.”

Zhu Yanchen looked at him with amusement and firmly grasped that mischievous hand, speaking sincerely. “…Be careful on your journey.”

Indeed, they didn’t have much leisure time.

The disruption of Luo Duan in Y City could only buy them a little time. The number of exploration teams searching for synthetics was increasing. The situation was tense, and they had to stay ahead of Zhu Sheng.

For example, they needed to arrange the children who were still in the stronghold in advance.

The children weren’t regular players and naturally didn’t participate in the festivities. Most of the time, they stayed on the “other side” and only entered the real world for training purposes.

As soon as the rebellion in Luo Duan occurred, Zhu Yanchen immediately proposed a possible way to handle Zhu Sheng—suspending the <Erosion> practical class on the “other side” and keeping the children inside the hibernation pods.

Zhu Sheng wouldn’t easily destroy them until the attack strategy of the synthetics was confirmed. For the synthetics wandering outside, these children were valuable… or rather, bait.

The current situation was chaotic, and the United Government hadn’t yet found the main force of the synthetics. The defense of these special strongholds wasn’t particularly strong. When they officially clashed, these strongholds would become impenetrable. It was necessary to strike early.

Zhu Yanchen had research tasks to attend to, so Shu Jun decided to lead a small team himself for a swift and decisive assault. He waited for two days until the impact of the conflict had escalated sufficiently, and then he started calling the names.

Upon seeing the members of the small team, Hu Yan almost gasped for breath. “Captain Shu, why didn’t you pick people from the Blackbirds?”

The list had about thirty names, all the most extreme “Luo Duan-style” players, without a relatively calm individual among them.

“I can handle them. You go borrow people. If someone explicitly refuses and can’t be convinced no matter what, put them on the backup list for the next round.”

“Alright…” Hu Yan rubbed his temples. He didn’t quite understand this approach, but looking at it from another perspective, Captain Shu wouldn’t joke about the safety of the children. Although the people on the list had poor moods, they were still capable soldiers—after all, less experienced soldiers rarely experienced life-and-death separations.

Before setting off, Zhu Yanchen prepared almost a dozen emergency tactics, only leaving out the blueprint for the stronghold’s restroom.

Although Shu Jun was mentally prepared, the separation was more difficult than he had anticipated. Zhu Yanchen had to cover his entire face in front of others, so he couldn’t bite the mask. He could only bid farewell honestly. “That’s enough, A’Yan. If you keep preparing, we’ll have to bring a whole cart for our boxed meals.”

Except for Shu Jun, the temporary team had gloomy expressions. Chai Xuyang, who had caused a conflict earlier, was also part of the team, and compared to others, his mood was considered good. This person had a respectable reputation in Groundwater, so Shu Jun decided to make him the temporary team’s vice captain.

The stronghold where the children were located was quite unique. It was situated in the area formed after the merger of two cities and was converted from the old stronghold before the merger. These “nurturing strongholds” had relatively safe geographical locations but were also close to the city.

According to Zhu Yanchen, once the synthetic embryos stabilized, they would rapidly mature to the age of nine. Memories before the age of nine were mostly randomly generated and instilled by the player system. People generally didn’t remember much about their early childhood, so as long as some significant memories and knowledge were instilled, fragmentary memories would suffice.

After the age of nine, the children would enter school for education. During this period, those with poor physical condition or extreme personalities would be screened out, and once the remaining children reached sixteen years old, they could be divided into combat teams. After a year of team evaluations, most synthetics would enter combat teams at the age of seventeen.

As for those who were excluded, they would be used by military schools as teaching squads, allowing young human commanders to “learn from real-world trial and error”.

Under Zhu Yanchen’s coordination, the mortality rate among synthetics had been decreasing in recent years. Marshal Zhu himself disliked the player system, so the cultivation of young synthetics had slowed down. But even so…

“How do we take the children with us? No matter how we think about it, there are thousands of them,” Chai Xuyang asked. “Setting aside those who can become combatants, what about those around ten years old? We have such a small team, we can’t even transport enough protective suits, and we certainly can’t let those kids cross the erosion zone without any protection.”

“Who said we’re taking them with us?” Shu Jun used the wind to push the sled while responding in a cheerful voice.

“If we’re not saving people, then why are we going?” Another person retorted impatiently. “Are we just going there for a stroll?”

“A stroll would be quite nice.” Shu Jun laughed. “Not only are we going for a stroll, but we’re also going to earnestly attempt to kidnap people, although in the end, we’ll have to fail.”

Everyone on the sled stared at Shu Jun; their expressions turning serious.

It’s always amusing to tease his own Grand Marshal. These people simply didn’t understand his words, Shu Jun thought sadly. He sighed, adopting a more serious tone. “We’re already struggling to provide for the adults in terms of supplies, let alone taking care of children. Our energy can’t keep up, and we’re lacking in terms of resources—just providing basic healthcare for children is beyond our capabilities.”

“The reason we’re going to kidnap people boils down to two things.”

Shu Jun cleared his throat and glared at a few people who were eager to argue.

“First, we want Zhu Sheng to know that we intend to kidnap these children, forcing him to bring out the highest level of defense. To cut off our abilities, the only thing they can do is desperately purify the erosion substance, preventing us from utilizing our powers. This way, when we eventually strike against Y City, the children won’t be caught in the crossfire.”

“Secondly, it’s to report our safety to Zhu Sheng’s top leadership. By informing him in advance, we’re indicating that we don’t intend to take the route of mad destruction—to prevent Zhu Sheng from searching for us everywhere and in order to concentrate his forces to protect Y City, he might decide to dispose of the children first.”

If they truly wanted to perish together, they probably wouldn’t rescue those young “burdens” who couldn’t be considered combatants.

Although the players on the sled were radical, they still had some sense. They hated humans, but they wouldn’t hate their young comrades, who were still of a tender age. Once Shu Jun explained their purpose, no one opposed it.

They had accumulated quite a bit of anger and were just waiting for an opportunity to release it.

As if understanding their thoughts, Shu Jun added, “This time, no killing allowed.”

“Why?!” Someone immediately exclaimed. “We can let go of the people in the settlement, but those in the strongholds are all lackeys of the United Government. Why shouldn’t we kill them?”

Shu Jun pinched his brow. “I won’t go into long explanations, but I’ll mention one point. Everyone heard the Crooked Head guy’s words. The civilians in the city don’t really understand the player system. If we engage in mass killings here, we’ll only push them towards Zhu Sheng’s side. If you want to give Zhu Sheng the title of ‘Justice’, then go ahead with the killing.”

There was a collective hum of agreement within the temporary team, and no one continued to oppose.

After being deceived for so many years, these veteran players felt sick to their stomachs. If they were to be falsely accused again, that feeling would increase tenfold. After hearing Shu Jun’s words, they even felt an urge to “tear off the skin of the three major families and let the citizens see the truth with their own eyes”.

Sitting at the front of the sled, Shu Jun turned his face to feel the wind.

Things were going slightly smoother than he had anticipated. He hoped there wouldn’t be any problems on Zhu Yanchen’s side.

However, at critical moments, whatever one feared would come to pass. Just as they quietly crossed the wilderness, Y City fell into chaos once again.