Chapter 1068 Conflict

“Why…why…” Ma Lao San whispered nervously, his fists clenched tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms:

"I worked so hard to conquer this territory... I established these rules... and just because they're in the military... they can just take it away with a single word? These untouchables can just turn their backs on me?!"

A strong sense of unwillingness and resentment almost swallowed him up.

He wished he could give the order right now, have his men shoot all these ungrateful pariahs! Or open the gate, let the zombies in, and die together!

嗏

Outside the gathering place's gate, the cold outline of the armored convoy and the glaring light of the searchlights were like a basin of ice water, extinguishing his crazy and dangerous idea.

He had no doubt that if he dared to make any unusual movement, the thick barrel would spew out flames of destruction in the next second, blowing him and everything he had worked so hard for into the sky.

Fear, like an icy poisonous snake, coiled around his heart, cooling his raging blood bit by bit.

He stared intently at the cheering survivors downstairs, his eyes changing in complex ways, and in the end, only an extreme, cold resentment remained.

He remembered, remembered every ecstatic face of these people at that moment.

"Good...very good..."

Ma Laosan slowly loosened his clenched fists, and the distorted expression on his face gradually smoothed out, replaced by a deep, chilling gloom.

He took a deep breath, turned around, and stopped looking at the disturbing scene outside the window. He squeezed out a hoarse command from his throat to his men who were silent as a cicada behind him: "What the hell are you still standing there for? Why don't you pack up and run!?"

Ma Laosan's growl was like the roar of a wounded beast, which was particularly harsh in the silent management building. His bloodshot eyes fiercely glared at several of his confidants who were stunned.

"Can't you see the faces of those untouchables outside? When the army comes in, they'll settle all our scores, one by one, and drag them all out to be shot at! If you want to live, follow me!"

This sentence was like cold water poured onto boiling oil, instantly waking everyone up. The fear of liquidation overwhelmed the fear of the steel torrent outside the door.

Several core subordinates woke up as if from a dream, the blood drained from their faces, and they immediately rushed to the emergency backpacks that had been prepared long ago.

These backpacks were filled with loaded magazines, military-grade compressed rations, water purification tablets, and first aid kits. Ma Laosan himself quickly opened a heavy weapons cabinet, revealing several well-maintained Type 79 submachine guns and Type 54 pistols—hard goods he had scavenged from police stations and disbanded armed police during the chaos of the early apocalypse.

"Grab it! Quick!" He tossed the submachine gun to his two most trusted men, then tucked a Type 54 pistol behind his waist and grabbed another submachine gun, slinging it across his chest. The heavy weapons brought a false sense of security.

Like stray dogs, the group stumbled out of the back door of the management building, trying to use the shadows at the edge of the shantytown to make a detour to the abandoned maintenance workshop in the northwest corner of the gathering place.

There were two "tanks" they had meticulously modified in anticipation of a rainy day: an off-road vehicle reinforced with steel plates and welded with spiked horns, and a similarly modified pickup truck capable of carrying more people and cargo. The fuel tank was always full, prepared for just such a moment.

However, they underestimated the countless pairs of eyes in the darkness that were now ignited with hope. Their stealthy movements, fully armed and obviously intended to escape, were almost immediately discovered by several survivors who were crowded at the entrance of the shack and looking excitedly towards the gate.

"Huh? Isn't that... isn't that Ma Lao San and his lackeys?" A thin man with sharp eyes subconsciously exclaimed, "They're holding guns... and trying to escape!"

After a brief moment of astonishment, a long-suppressed, almost instinctive anger and a sense of pleasure in seeing the enemy's end suddenly overwhelmed the fear!

If the army comes, the good days of these bastards who ride on their heads and bully others will be over! How can we let them get away?!

I don't know who started it, but a hoarse but hateful cry broke the brief silence:

"Ma Lao San wants to run! Don't let these beasts get away!!"

This cry was like a spark thrown into boiling oil, instantly igniting the long-suppressed resentment!

"Right! Don't let them get away! Wait for the army to come in and take care of them!"

"Stop them!!"

More and more people came out of the shacks. They had no decent weapons in their hands, only sticks, bricks, or even empty hands. However, hatred and a courage to fight to the death burned in their eyes. They spontaneously formed a fragile but firm human wall, blocking the way of Ma Laosan and his gang to the maintenance workshop.

The faces that were once numb but now distorted with excitement looked particularly terrifying in the dim light.

Ma Laosan's heart sank suddenly. The worst situation had happened!

He looked at these "untouchables" who had once dared not even to breathe in front of him, and now dared to stop him. The huge sense of humiliation and the panic of being at the end of the road instantly swallowed him up!

"Fuck you! Get out of my way!" An anxious thug subconsciously raised the submachine gun in his hand, pointed the black muzzle at the crowd, and roared fiercely.

But this threat seemed so pale at this moment. The crowd was not scared away, but became even more angry at this arrogance.

"You dare to use guns?! The army is outside!!" An old man said in a trembling voice, but he refused to give in.

"Yes! You can't run away!"

Ma Laosan looked at the growing crowd and listened to the heart-pounding roar of engines outside the distant gate. He knew that with every second of delay, the chance of survival would become slimmer.

The muscles on his face twitched violently, and the last trace of rationality was replaced by crazy murderous intent.

"court death!!"

He suddenly leveled the Type 79 submachine gun in his hand and pulled the trigger almost without hesitation.

Da da da da da!!!

A burst of rapid, piercing gunfire, like popcorn, exploded above the gathering place, instantly drowning out all the shouting and clamor! The flames from the submachine guns were particularly dazzling in the darkness.

The thin man who was rushing in the front and shouting the loudest had several balls of blood burst out of his body in an instant. He didn't even have time to scream. His body was thrown backwards like a rag bag, fell heavily to the ground, twitched twice, and then stopped moving.

After him, a large number of survivors who tried to stop them fell in rows like wheat being cut. In an instant, the thick smell of blood filled the entire scene.

The cheers and shouts stopped abruptly, and time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden, violent burst of automatic weapons fire and death, and warm blood splattered on the faces of nearby people, bringing with it screams of terror.

They looked up at Ma Laosan again. Smoke was still coming out of the muzzle of the submachine gun in his hand, and his face was completely stripped of its disguise, with a ferocious and vicious look on its face.

"Whoever dares to stand in my way again! This is what will happen!!" Ma Lao San's roar became distorted due to madness:

"Go ahead! Get in the car!!"

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