Opposition

"Um... Boss, you can stay here for now, how does that sound? Please let me know if you need anything else."

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

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

It's clear that this room was converted from an indoor ping-pong court. It's not very big, but it's fully equipped with a bed, table, chairs, and other furniture.

By the standards of living of the people in this settlement, it is already considered to be the best environment.

After all, the vast majority of people can only live in the shacks they build themselves.

Lu Bai wasn't worried about any traps in the room. He walked straight to the bed, sat down, and said to Brother Biao, who was standing at the door, "Remember to let me know when you leave tomorrow."

Brother Biao nodded frantically, like a chicken pecking at rice, afraid that if he displeased Lu Bai, he would lose his life.

"Then I won't bother you any longer. Please rest first. If you need anything, just let me know. We're all across the hall."

Seeing that Lu Bai had no objections, Brother Biao quietly closed the door.

The room fell silent immediately.

Lu Bai leaned back and lay down on the bed, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"Are the Replicant in the Deathmatch Arena made from these people as raw materials?"

According to Brother Biao, the so-called "masters" provide a fixed amount of food each month, but their management of the various settlements is not strict.

The key requirements are twofold: one is that they are not allowed to grow their own food, and the other is that they must provide population within a specified period.

With these two restrictions in place, it is basically guaranteed that the settlement will not be able to grow larger no matter what.

The purpose of unlimited population repatriation is self-evident.

The main problem is being misled by the term "Replicant".

When Lu Bai first learned about Replicant, he thought that the Replicant in the Deathmatch Arena were actually cloned using some kind of genetic engineering method, but now it seems that this is not the case.

However, as we approached the truth, while some doubts were answered, even more questions arose.

"I hope I'll get the answer after meeting the so-called Lord tomorrow."

Lu Bai closed his eyes and sorted out his thoughts for a while, only to find that he was actually more energetic.

Since I can't sleep right now, I might as well go out for a walk.

He quietly pushed open the door and left, heading towards the audience area, where more than 90% of the residents lived.

In addition, it was evening, and fires were being lit and people were cooking everywhere in the settlement.

Wisps of smoke rose from various parts of the stands, drifting into the air above the football field and dissipating.

In fact, if you don't consider that some people disappear every now and then, life in the settlement is not bad.

The essence of desire is not scarcity but inequality. When everyone has roughly the same level of basic needs in terms of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, and has never seen anything better, it is naturally easier to be satisfied.

The so-called Lord will provide food on time, and if the population doesn't become too large, they won't starve even if they lie down all day.

In this way, the people in the settlement, if not completely devoid of work and becoming lazy parasites, are not far off.

Lu Bai walked through an inner passageway about three meters wide to the second-floor audience seats.

Inside the newly rebuilt fence, a group of children were chasing and playing.

They were all around seven or eight years old and had no adults to look after them.

"I am a true warrior! You cowardly traitors, just wait to die! I can take on ten of you by myself!"

The little boy with a handprint on his face ran at the very back, extremely excited.

A child quickly turned around, wiped his nose, and said urgently, "You're cheating! I'm the warrior, you're the traitor this time!"

"Who cares about you? I'm just a warrior! Ah! Prepare to die!"

The group of children started fighting as they talked. Compared to the lifeless adults in the settlement, the little brats were clearly much more energetic.

Lu Bai paused to observe for a while, then suppressed the smile on his face. He even suspected that this was also the work of the Lord.

He had been wondering why the boy named Huo Yao had such a bad first impression of the people who came out of the shelter, even though he had never met them before, and was so eager to kill them.

If Lu Bai hadn't been more restrained, the two would have fought to the death.

This hostile attitude was undoubtedly solidified from childhood.

From the games these kids play, we can get a general idea of their views on underground shelters.

Lu Bai didn't linger in the inner area for long before quietly returning the way he came.

The younger ones were fine, but the older ones, upon hearing that he was from a shelter, immediately changed their attitude, and some even started swearing.

Lu Bai could have easily killed him with a single finger, but he didn't.

He didn't want to expect these poor people, who had never received systematic education, to possess any complete critical thinking skills.

The perceptions formed from childhood through constant exposure cannot be easily changed by words.

He stood at the entrance of the passageway, looking back listlessly at the makeshift shacks erected on the stands, and suddenly felt an indescribable sadness.

"Since things have come to this, let's eat first."

Nothing more was said that night.

It seems that Brother Biao were taught a lesson too harshly, which is why they didn't even try to ambush the sleeping Lu Bai in the middle of the night.

"Boss, it's time to go."

A Zang knocked on the door, and only after receiving a response from Lu Bai did he muster the courage to push the door open.

Lu Bai got up and looked out the door, where he could see that Brother Biao and another henchman were already waiting.

Since it wasn't time to offer sacrifices to the population yet, Brother Biao and the others went to see the Lord mainly to report on the situation in their settlement as usual, and didn't need to prepare much.

It's worth mentioning that Brother Biao is nominally the Spokesperson of this settlement. If he brings Lu Bai to see the Lord and Lu Bai survives, they will lose their food supply. If Lu Bai dies at the Lord's hands, they will also have to pay the price for their betrayal.

Regardless of the outcome, this settlement will not fare well.

However, Brother Biao and his two henchmen did not seem too resistant to this, clearly intending to abandon the territory and run away.

Lu Bai got out of bed, stretched his wrists, and said, "Let's set off then."

The group of four arrived at the open space outside the stadium, where an aircraft was parked.

To be precise, it's more like an enlarged drone.

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

The flying car had four seats, just enough to carry the four of them.

Undoubtedly, this is also a gift from the Lord, mainly to facilitate the audience of the Spokesperson of various settlements.

After all, the master they were going to meet controlled nine settlements, a vast territory that couldn't be explored on foot.