Chapter 258 - 239: Yu Dong’s Mercy

Chapter 258: Chapter 239: Yu Dong’s Mercy

The cruise ship base, A Port.

The bristling tension was shattered by a single sentence from Wang Dingbei.

Qiao Yunliang watched the look that passed between Wang Dingbei and Yu Dong, and suddenly felt like he was missing a crucial piece of information.

"What’s wrong?"

"There’s a second mutated being in the lab—an intelligent Zombie Man! Whatever you do, don’t let it out!" Wang Dingbei warned.

"My men... why would they let a mutated being out?! I tasked them with bringing Meng Dongqing here, and to rescue those three if they’re still alive."

Qiao Yunliang hadn’t told them to release any mutated beings. In fact, he’d sent them with sniper grenade launchers, worried Meng Dongqing might make a desperate move and unleash the creature in retaliation. In that case, his men were to eliminate it on the spot.

"Good. In any case... let’s wrap this up quickly, then deal with the research institute. Yu Dong, put down your weapons. Don’t drag all these people into your little game of dictatorship. You’re out of cards..."

"Are you still waiting for Zhao Youcai and the others to come back and save you? They don’t have the power to do that!"

"You’d better call him right now and tell him to come back, hand things over peacefully, and take responsibility. Don’t choose a dead end. Things... didn’t have to go this far."

Although Officer Wang had practically stumbled into a win, he didn’t want to completely annihilate Yu Dong. It was just... Yu Dong was no longer fit to be a leader, but he was still clinging to power, unwilling to let go.

The situation was already so clear. What was there left to fight against?

A real man knows when to admit defeat.

Qiao Yunliang said, "Yu Dong, stop this. What’s done is done. Just admit your mistakes. You’ve all made great contributions, and the military will take that into full consideration when passing judgment... Lower your weapons now. Let’s find a place to talk this over properly. Everything can still be resolved..."

"You don’t want all these people to see you in such a pathetic state, do you? We should be sitting in a conference room, not squared off like this."

"If this truly erupts into armed conflict, the nature of the situation will change entirely."

Hearing Qiao Yunliang lecture Yu Dong from his moral high ground, even threatening Yu Dong and their lives, Sun Yu flew into a rage!

"Qiao Yunliang, fuck your mother!"

"You fucking military leader! In your last life, you were the kind of piece of shit who got himself blown up by a zombie horde! What gives you the right to act all high and mighty in front of Brother Dong?!"

"In this life, you only got anywhere by leeching off my Brother Dong’s information! We even led you to the armory, and now you’re putting on airs with us?"

"You want to pass judgment? Let me tell you something! In all of Yanhai City, you’re the last person qualified to judge Brother Dong! You and your people were all saved by my Brother Dong! Your niece and grand-nephew were saved by my Brother Dong too!"

"Still don’t believe in reincarnation? You’re the motherfucking biggest beneficiary of Brother Dong’s reincarnation!"

"You want to fight? Come on! Kill me! My life was given to me by the boss anyway!"

"In this life, I was just a fucking street punk. Following the boss, I’ve lived a good life!"

"If you don’t kill me today, I’ll fucking kill you sooner or later! Then I’ll dig up your ancestors’ graves! Just you wait!"

Sun Yu’s talent for street-style cursing was top-notch. Punks like him wouldn’t survive on the streets without skills like that.

Yu Dong let out a long sigh. ’To think... even now, these people would stand by me through thick and thin. Hardship really does reveal a person’s true character.’ He had given Sun Yu so many chances to change his ways.

And Sun Yu... he knew.

Wang Dingbei was stunned. He never expected to hear such words from Sun Yu... A societal loose cannon like him, one of the "flexibly employed," was actually this loyal to Yu Dong.

He couldn’t help but remember the morning Sun Yu and his two friends had asked to join the combat team. All the three of them had wanted at first was a pack of cigarettes to smoke...

He was the one who had made the decision for Yu Dong.

"Alright, alright, just consider it a perk for the soldiers. A pack of cigarettes for each of them won’t make us poor. How can you accomplish anything big if you get hung up on such trivial details?"

In that instant... the memory hit his present self like a bullet.

’It was that pack of cigarettes that changed the nature of Yu Dong’s team... They were no longer fighting for humanity, but for special privileges. The more Yu Dong gave them, the harder they fought.’

’It gradually evolved to this... now, they’ll kill anyone who tries to take down Yu Dong!’

This deep-rooted interest group, mixed with brotherly loyalty, had become the foundation of Yu Dong’s dictatorship.

The path that led Yu Dong here... that pack of cigarettes from that morning...

Having been cursed out, Qiao Yunliang’s face had turned black. Even with his masterful self-discipline, his lips trembled as he listened, and he couldn’t stop himself from clenching his fists.

Because some of what was said... was true.

Qiao Yunliang was about to erupt and end this farce once and for all.

On the cruise ship, a large group of people started coming down, only to be stopped by soldiers.

"Everyone, please go back! Don’t come down! It’s dangerous down here!"

"Brother Jun, we’re representatives from the cruise ship. We just want to say a few words to the leaders... We’ll leave right after."

"You can’t. Everyone, back to your cabins!"

A group of ordinary ship residents was barked back by the soldiers.

These representatives, who had just been spontaneously chosen by the people on the cruise ship, were pushed right back. This was a surprise operation; it was no time for unnecessary complications. They just needed to finish this quickly and announce the results later.

"So you won’t even listen... to the voice of the people anymore?" Yu Dong scoffed.

"People can only judge after we’ve reported the full context. Otherwise, they’re just clinging to outdated views."

Once they seized the high ground of public opinion, they could then guide everyone to say what they "truly" wanted to say.

"TESTING, TESTING! TESTING, TESTING!"

On the fifth-level deck, one of the people who had just been pushed back was testing a megaphone. The powerful sound echoed across A Port below.