The Crowd 017

The cursing behind her made Wang Qian turn her head in bewilderment, only to see a face full of hatred. Bai Haomin directly tackled her to the ground, swinging his fists and smashing them into her face.

The vicious criminals finally found an outlet for their pent-up anger, and the protesting crowd instantly descended into chaos.

Screams and curses intertwined.

Two criminals tried to take the opportunity to escape, but just as they took a step toward the sides of the road, both of their calves were simultaneously struck by arrows. Zhao Hu held his crossbow, his face full of murderous intent: "Get back!"

And when the protesters tried to run back, they found that the guards who had previously let them pass smoothly had now blocked their retreat.

"Because a prison break has occurred, no one is allowed to leave!" the team leader shouted.

"You are violating our rights..." someone was still shouting slogans, until an arrow pierced straight into his shoulder. These people finally stopped in their tracks. Looking at the murderous guards opposite them, they realized something was wrong.

They were now in the apocalypse, and in front of them were dozens, if not hundreds, of guards armed with lethal weapons.

"I'll say it again. Because a prison break has occurred, no one can leave, to prevent the criminals from blending in with you and escaping!" After shouting, the captain muttered to himself, "You like to protest and shout slogans, go on then. Rely on your rights to help you."

The conflict lasted for two hours.

The guards finally made their move. In fact, many people had been beaten and injured. They were facing murderers filled with immense resentment, and even with a numerical advantage, the protesters couldn't gain the upper hand. This made the guards' cleanup work much easier.

"Is it over?" Fang Zhiyi looked at Chen Rui, who pushed the door open and walked in.

Chen Rui looked at the booklet in his hand and nodded: "Yes, those prison cells we built earlier came in handy." He looked up at Fang Zhiyi and truthfully reported the data in his hands, "Two hundred and thirty-eight escaped criminals, fifty-eight dead. Fortunately, they were all caught. A total of five hundred and seventy-three criminals were captured."

"Perfect. We need to repair the walls and reclaim the wasteland soon. Now it seems we barely have enough manpower."

Chen Rui continued, "Zhao Hu and the others are already conducting urgent interrogations. According to the confessions, some have fled into the homes of ordinary residents. We expect to catch them very soon."

The incident was announced to the entire base the next day. The human rights organization had attempted to release the criminals, resulting in a large-scale conflict, and they were now being punished according to base regulations.

Those who supported Fang Zhiyi cheered with joy, and former victims clenched their fists and waved them. Although the neutral public didn't know much about Fang Zhiyi, they knew those criminals got what they deserved, and they also cursed those who had a good life but insisted on causing trouble.

During the base's population registration period, some of those who had slipped through the net were also caught and brought back.

The benefits of this also became apparent. Construction began on the outer walls of the base, and some woodlands halfway up the mountain were reclaimed and leveled, then reasonably distributed to residents who did not yet have stable jobs.

At the same time, the laws of the base gradually took shape and were notified to everyone by posting notices.

These actions caused Fang Zhiyi's reputation to rise time and time again.

And Fang Zhiyi did not reject the base name submitted by the residents: "Hope Base... Not bad."

He was quite satisfied now. Relying on the supplies in Bai Haomin's spatial ability, they could steadily hold out until the first crop harvest. Moreover, not long ago, he personally led a team to snatch back a few technical personnel from another group. If they could make the spiritual spring form a larger stream, they might be able to restore the power supply in the near future. Even if it was a temporary supply, they could do many things.

There were no longer any dissenting voices within the base. People who were teachers before the apocalypse now worked as teachers in the base, teaching basic knowledge to the children. Doctors also had clinics, and even some basic equipment. Fang Zhiyi promised to bring them more resources. There were also craftsmen, technicians, and so on. However, to Fang Zhiyi's surprise, the number of people who liked farming was actually the highest.

With more people joining, Fang Zhiyi chose to expand time and time again. The roaming bandit gangs in the surrounding area also faced unprecedented pressure. The Hope Base's guard team not only had a large number of people and a complete array of weapons, but their intelligence-gathering abilities were also terrifying. The bandits were chased all over the place.

In just two and a half years, there were no other factions left in the entire area centered around the base.

And the expansion of Hope Base continued. Other branch bases were constantly established, receiving support in all aspects from the headquarters, allowing the branch bases to better receive other survivors.

However, the next piece of news sent everyone into an uproar.

The military's Northern Shelter came to negotiate, wanting to merge with Fang Zhiyi's Hope Base in preparation for the subsequent human reconstruction plan, and Fang Zhiyi actually agreed without hesitation??

This caught everyone in Hope Base off guard. No, such a large enterprise, he just gave it away like that?

The protest marches, which had not been seen for years, started up again. This time, there were more people than the last time, and the subject of their protest was to have Fang Zhiyi continue to govern Hope Base.

"This... Brother Fang, you see, I told you it wasn't appropriate, right?" A young man rubbed his hands awkwardly. Behind him, several soldiers stood straight, looking straight ahead. Gu Ran was also a bit puzzled. He was just representing the old man to come to Hope Base to discuss cooperation. After all, he heard that Hope Base actually had a water source, and he wanted to see if they could trade for it. But as soon as he arrived, the base chief in front of him directly said he would give it to them, even giving away the entire base?

No, doesn't this guy like power?

Fang Zhiyi waved his hand indifferently: "Forget it. If you guys can do it, just take over. Don't push it back and forth. I know you, young man, you're doing a good job. I'll leave it to you from now on."

"You... when did you pack your bag?" Gu Ran was dumbfounded again. Fang Zhiyi pulled a bundle directly from under the bed and put it on his back, looking like he was ready to run at any moment. Could there be something wrong with this base?

"Alright, alright, I'm not playing with you guys anymore. As soon as I open my eyes every day, I have to think about the food, drink, and daily needs of so many people. Do you think it's easy? Today, the Wang family's vegetables are stolen, and they come to complain to me. Tomorrow, the Li family's child is beaten, and they come to tattle. I'm not a professional after all. Although we have laws here, they are very rudimentary, and we don't have that many law enforcement agencies or anything. So it's best if you can take over. That's it!"

Gu Ran watched helplessly as he leaped out the window.

"This is the second floor..." He ran to the window in shock, watching Fang Zhiyi scurry into the woods with that somewhat ridiculous bundle on his back.