Episode 3: The Bloody Road to Growth, Chapter 66: Borrowing a Chicken to Lay an Egg (Part 2)
"Damn it, so annoying!" Zhang Lei cursed and swatted at the mosquitoes on his body. His skin had been specially reinforced so that ordinary mosquitoes couldn't bite him, but there were so many insects. He chased them away, but they kept coming back. He chased them away again, and they just kept crawling on his body. It was annoying, wasn't it?
Although it's unknown how much damage the bio-missile caused to the camp, it should have had some effect, because Zhang Lei has clearly felt that their pursuit has slowed down considerably in the past two days.
However, once you get out of this forest, it won't be so easy. The forest isn't actually that big, and Zimbabwe doesn't have the strength to maintain air security on the other side of the forest, nor does it dare to easily offend the Americans. On the vast grasslands where trees are scarcer than hairs, it's not too hard to spot a person running in the air.
Zhang Lei didn't know if the water contained the legendary piranhas. Anyway, he just scooped some water to wash his hands, and the sleeves on his arms were bitten to shreds by those wrecked fish. Moreover, there were two fish hanging on his arms. His skin, which had been reinforced, was like a thin sheet of paper under their mouths.
However, it does have an impact; otherwise, instead of hanging on it, people would bite the meat directly off.
These two fish, of course, became a delicacy in Zhang Lei's mouth. Zhang Lei didn't know how the Japanese cut their sashimi, or how it could be so tender; perhaps they had a unique method. Anyway, when he cut it and bit into it, the fish meat was both chewy and tender, but compared to the fat worms glistening with clear broth or even tree leaves, the taste and texture were much better.
To be honest, the insects tasted pretty good, but for psychological reasons, Zhang Lei still felt that the fish was better. If he hadn't had to use himself as bait first, Zhang Lei might have caught a couple more fish here.
Starting a fire is not an option. Although Zhang Lei has the ability to ignite dry leaves with his internal energy, the rising smoke will become the best navigational tool on the plane.
However, Zhang Lei was at least safe in the forest. The abundance of green plants meant he didn't have to worry about vitamins, and he also carried a small jar of salt with him, so he wouldn't have to worry about salt intake for at least a month or two.
Zhang Lei hesitated, wondering if he should stay in the forest a little longer until they relaxed before going out.
There are at least two helicopters hovering in the air right now. It's been like this ever since Zhang Lei took out Wright. Americans have a strong desire for revenge. This world is so beautiful, the air is so fresh, yet they have such a strong desire for revenge. This is not good, not good at all!
As for the crowd behind him, Zhang Lei hadn't felt anyone chasing him for a long time. At night, he had even walked back, hoping to find one or two more to ambush, but no one caught up with him even after walking for a long time.
Zhang Lei had also set up a trap behind him, which would have caused a loud noise if anyone touched it. In theory, vehicles should have no chance of avoiding such a trap, but Zhang Lei slept on the mountain in front of him for a day and a night and still did not hear the expected loud noise.
This means that they either withdrew their ground tracking personnel because they perceived danger, or they lost track of Zhang Lei because they were left too far behind, or they may have transferred their main force to Linghu and his group.
"If everything goes smoothly for them, they might be able to board the plane by now!" Zhang Lei sighed inwardly, estimating that their chances of escaping were still quite high. Of course, his hatred for Li Yang had also intensified.
Judging from the planes in the sky, they definitely haven't given up on capturing Zhang Lei. After all this effort, they should have gained something, right?
Therefore, Zhang Lei dared not easily expose himself. Even without the biological missile, ordinary missiles would not be able to withstand it.
Just as Zhang Lei was preparing to find a place to settle down temporarily in the forest, he saw a different place.
The forest there is still very dense. You might not be able to see it from the sky, but once inside the forest, you can immediately tell that there are heavy traces of human intervention.
"Halt! Who goes there!"
Zhang Lei couldn't understand the sounds coming from the bushes, but he could guess what they meant from their tone.
"Don't be nervous, I'm just an ordinary outsider!" Zhang Lei spread his hands, trying to be as friendly and calm as possible. He knew that when there was a language barrier, tone of voice was crucial; being too enthusiastic wouldn't work, because an overly enthusiastic tone could easily be misinterpreted as something else entirely.
"Oh? A Chinese?" The reply was not in standard Mandarin, but at least Zhang Lei could understand that it was Chinese. "Wait a moment, I'll go get someone!" As he spoke, a thin, dark-skinned young man emerged from the bushes. He wasn't tall, and the small tube dangling from his neck was probably their blowgun; Zhang Lei had heard of them before. The young man was very agile, and in the blink of an eye, he had disappeared from sight.
Zhang Lei knew that these people were not with those who were hunting him; they were mostly natives from South Africa or Zimbabwe, and his relationship with them would likely depend on his attitude upon first meeting them. Therefore, Zhang Lei obediently stood still.
"How come you speak Chinese?" Zhang Lei tried to communicate with the two people who remained in the bushes.
"%￥#***" That was their reply, at least to Zhang Lei. It seems that only that young man knew Chinese. I really don't know why he didn't stay and let one of the two go and report the news first. If he had kept Zhang Lei, at least they could have had some communication beforehand.
Zhang Lei not only didn't fear any danger, but their main weapon seemed to be blowguns, which posed a great threat to ordinary people, and even to those with superpowers. The poison coated on them could kill an elephant within minutes. However, this was useless against Zhang Lei. Once Xiao Bailang's method was mastered, any poison component, regardless of how it entered, could be stored in a specific place. Zhang Lei had used this method in his previous battles.
However, he didn't have a teleportation medium like Xiao Bailang, and by the time he hit someone, it was basically unnecessary. Zhang Lei's self-inspection attack power was already extremely deadly, and even the strongest poison wasn't instantly fatal; it needed some time to travel. This amount of time was already quite long in battle, so Zhang Lei wouldn't deliberately reduce his internal energy output just because he could release poison.
"Friend, may I ask where you're from?" Following behind the dark-skinned, thin young man was a lean Asian man. Judging from his accent, he was probably from the south, as his Mandarin had a very heavy accent.
Episode 3: The Bloody Path to Adulthood, Chapter 67: Sawing a Living Person (Part 1)
Chinese people are often perceived as being attached to their homes, but when they have no home to cling to, they can often do things that leave adventurers speechless.
Just as people say that Chinese people are conservative, once Chinese people stop being conservative, the things they can do are also unbelievable. This is what is meant by "I am not a casual person, but when I am casual, I will kill people", or as the saying goes, even a dog that bites does not bark.
The person who came to greet Zhang Lei was originally from Lingnan, but now he can only be called Chinese. His surname is Wang, and he is one of the shareholders of this diamond mine.
This diamond mine on the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe is a joint venture between a few Chinese people. Of course, the authorities are unaware of this mine, and even if they were, it would be difficult to determine its ownership for decades. You see, the border between the two countries is not so clear to begin with, and the nearby boundary markers have long been thrown away somewhere by them.
Why are they called "blood diamonds"? Why is it said that every penny of a capitalist is stained with blood? Zhang Lei has seen it all here. Compared to this, Zhang Lei feels that the books in China that slander capitalists are still being too polite.
However, this has nothing to do with Zhang Lei, and Zhang Lei does not have the idea of liberating all mankind.
"Brother Zhang, what do you think of this place? Why don't you stay and help us manage it, just do some inspections? I'll give you a 30% share of the profits!"
The more dangerous the environment, the better it can train people. To be able to control a mine in such a precarious situation, these shareholders are no pushovers. Even if they were originally virtuous people for ten lifetimes, they would probably have been tempered here.
Zhang Lei, alone with only a gun, managed to reach this location in what was once a forest, and he also exuded a faint, bloody aura. How could they not see that Zhang Lei was extraordinary? So, despite the slim chances, they still extended an invitation to Zhang Lei to join their group.
“We’re all brothers from the same family, so I won’t mince words with you. Don’t underestimate this three-tenths share; it’s at least several million US dollars a year!” The speaker was a chubby middle-aged man, a relative of Zhang Lei. He always had a warm smile on his face, but if you spent any time with him, you could always see the bloodshed behind it.
This mine is jointly owned by four people, with two others responsible for external transactions and transportation. They rotate every six months. Although they are local tyrants in this mine, they enjoy less than they do outside.
Regardless of ethnicity, most people feel a sense of kinship when they meet someone from their own ethnic group while away from home. This is how people from the same hometown meet. Compared to the local Black people, they are more likely to trust their own ethnic group. So when they saw Zhang Lei and his group, they thought of asking Zhang Lei to help patrol the mine. This would also give them a break, as no one wants to stay in this godforsaken place any longer.
Of course, if Zhang Lei really agrees to join, there will be all sorts of tests to be done.
"Hehe, brothers, it's not that I'm being pretentious, it's just that I have other important matters to attend to! In the future, if I ever find myself in dire straits, I will definitely come to you for help. I hope you won't look down on me then!" Zhang Lei said with a smile. If there were no superhumans in this mine, their blowguns and those old guns wouldn't pose much of a threat to him. However, they had always treated him with courtesy, and Zhang Lei wasn't a mad dog who would bite anyone he saw. There was no need to fight unless absolutely necessary.
Although Zhang Lei's words conveyed a sense of refusal, he didn't completely rule it out, which could be considered as giving them a way out.
“Well, since you’re not interested, brother, I won’t force you!” The one surnamed Wang rubbed his hands together.
Just as he was about to say something, a man rushed in from outside, kneeling on one knee like someone in an ancient Chinese army, and said rapidly in broken Chinese, "It's terrible, sir! Those miners have rioted again!"
His Chinese was not standard to begin with, and he spoke very fast. It took Zhang Lei a while to understand what he was saying. In the short time that followed, the two mining shareholders who were sitting with Zhang Lei had already stood up and were about to walk to the door.
Perhaps because Zhang Lei had been living in danger all this time, he suddenly sensed something unusual, or rather, a murderous aura.
The killing intent wasn't directed at him, since Zhang Lei himself didn't feel any danger. Since he could sense it, the target shouldn't be too far away; the most likely candidate was his two newly recognized so-called brothers.