My Ability Pool is Superior - Chapter 395: Confrontation

“Uh… Big Boss, you can stay here first. What do you think? If there’s anything you need, just order it.”

A Zang covered his red and swollen eyes and carefully opened the house door of the room directly opposite the office.

Lu Bai stood at the entrance and looked around, then smiled noncommittally.

It could be seen that this room was modified from an indoor ping-pong court, not very large in area, but with bedding, table and chairs, and everything else provided.

By the living standards of people in this settlement, it was already the top-tier environment.

After all, the vast majority of people could only live in the huts they built themselves.

Lu Bai wasn’t worried about any traps in this room either. He walked straight to the side of the bedding and sat down, saying to Big Biao Ge standing at the entrance, “When it’s time to depart tomorrow, remember to tell me.”

Big Biao Ge nodded frantically like a chicken pecking at rice, afraid that if he made Lu Bai unsatisfied, his own life wouldn’t be spared.

“Then we won’t disturb you. You rest first. If there’s anything, just speak up; we’re right across the hall.”

Seeing that Lu Bai had no opinion, Big Biao Ge then gently and quietly closed the house door.

The room suddenly became quiet.

Lu Bai leaned back and lay directly on the bedding, letting out a long breath.

“Are the replicants in the deathmatch arena made using these people as raw materials?”

According to what Big Biao Ge said, those so-called masters would provide fixed food each month, but they didn’t manage the various settlements strictly.

The key requirements were just two: one was not allowing self-planting of grain, and the other was providing population within the deadline.

With these two restrictions, it was basically guaranteed that the settlement could not grow no matter what.

The unlimited retrieval of population was for what went without saying.

It was mainly the term replicant that had been misleading.

When Lu Bai first learned about replicants, he thought those in the deathmatch arena were really cloned using some genetic engineering means, but now it seemed not to be the case.

However, in the process of approaching the truth, although some doubts were answered, more problems arose immediately after.

“Hopefully, after seeing the so-called master tomorrow, I can get answers.”

Lu Bai closed his eyes and organized his thoughts in his mind for a while, but found himself even more awake instead.

Since he couldn’t sleep for the time being, he might as well go out for a stroll.

He quietly pushed the door open and left, heading toward the audience seats, where more than ninety percent of the settlement’s personnel lived.

Plus, it was dusk now, with fires being lit everywhere in the settlement for cooking.

Wisps of kitchen smoke rose from various places in the audience seats and drifted to dissipate above the football field.

In fact, if not considering that some people would disappear every once in a while, life in the settlement was actually not bad.

Desire, put plainly, is not about scarcity but inequality. Everyone was similar in aspects of clothing, food, housing, and transport; not having seen better naturally made them easier to satisfy.

The so-called master would also provide food on time. If the population didn’t reach a certain degree, one could lie down all day without starving to death.

As such, the people in the settlement, if not turned into good-for-nothing parasites who didn’t work for a living, weren’t far off.

Lu Bai passed through an interior passage about three meters wide and arrived at the second floor audience seats.

On the inner side of the rebuilt railing, a group of children were chasing and playing.

Their ages were probably around seven or eight, with no adults watching over them.

“I’m the real warrior; you cowardly betrayers wait to die! I alone can beat ten of you!”

A boy with a handprint on his face ran at the back, especially excited.

One child hurriedly turned around, wiped his nose, and said urgently, “Playing dirty! I’m the warrior; you’re the betrayer this time.”

“Who cares about you? I only play warrior. Ah! Die!”

This group of children started fighting while talking. Compared to the listless adults in the settlement, the little kids were obviously much more energetic.

Lu Bai stopped to observe for a while, then restrained the smile on his face. He even suspected this was also the master’s doing.

He had wondered before why, having never met, the youth called Huo Yao had such a bad first impression of people from the shelter and shouted to fight and kill upon meeting.

If Lu Bai weren’t quite restrained, the two would have had to fight to the death.

This state of hostility was undoubtedly solidified from childhood.

From the games these little kids played, it was somewhat possible to judge their overall view of the underground shelter.

Lu Bai didn’t wander in the interior for long before silently returning the way he came.

The younger ones were okay, but for those older, as soon as they heard he was from the shelter, they immediately changed their attitude; even the rude ones directly started cursing.

Lu Bai could of course crush them with one finger, but he didn’t do so.

He didn’t want to demand that these pitiful people, who had never undergone systematic learning, possess any complete critical thinking ability.

Cognition formed from constant exposure since childhood couldn’t be easily changed by words.

He stood at the passage entrance, disinterestedly looking back at the huts built on the audience seats, suddenly feeling an indescribable sadness.

“Things have come to this; might as well eat first.”

……

The night passed without incident.

It seemed he had taught Big Biao Ge and the others too harsh a lesson, so much so that none of them tried to sneak attack the sleeping Lu Bai in the middle of the night.

“Big Boss, it’s time to depart.”

A Zang knocked on the door and, after getting Lu Bai’s response, mustered the courage to push open the house door.

Lu Bai got up and looked out the door, seeing Big Biao Ge and another henchman already waiting at the entrance.

Since it wasn’t yet time to offer up population, this time Big Biao Ge and the others were going to pay respects to the master mainly to report the settlement’s situation as per routine, without needing much preparation.

It was worth mentioning that Big Biao Ge was nominally the speaker of this settlement. Once he brought Lu Bai to see the master and Lu Bai survived, they would lose food supplies; if Lu Bai died at the master’s hand, they would similarly pay the price for betrayal.

No matter the result, the fate of this settlement wouldn’t be good.

However, Big Biao Ge and his two henchmen didn’t show too much resistance to this, clearly planning to abandon the territory and run away.

Lu Bai got off the bed, moved his wrists a bit, and said, “Then let’s depart.”

The four of them came to the open space outside the stadium, where an aircraft was parked.

More accurately, it was like an enlarged drone.

The main body was square, with a propeller mounted at each of the four corners.

The four seats inside the flying car could just accommodate their group of four.

Undoubtedly, this was also the master’s grace, mainly to facilitate the speakers of various settlements coming to pay respects.

After all, the master they were going to see this time had under him a total of nine settlements; with such a large territory, it was impossible to get there on foot.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com