A Deal at the Gate Tower

One of the men lowered his binoculars and turned toward the man standing among them, whose expression was unusually grave.

"Brother Long, fifteen people in all. Fourteen have automatic rifles, and one has a heavy rocket launcher!"

The man called Brother Long nodded expressionlessly. He reached down and drew the pistol tucked at his waist.

Bang!

A sharp gunshot rang out. A zombie crowding the city wall took a bullet straight through the head, scattering dark green fluid and pale brain matter across the ground.

The three pickups stopped, and a smiling man opened a door.

"Brother, don't be so quick to shoot! We're here to trade supplies with you."

The speaker was Han Bing. He had deliberately left his gun in the truck to show his sincerity.

"We don't need to trade for anything. Go back!"

With that, the expressionless Brother Long turned to leave. Just then, Liu Feng suddenly called out, "Prime Civet Beast hide and organs. Are you sure you don't need them?"

At the words "Civet Beast," Brother Long felt an involuntary jolt. He spun around and leaned eagerly over the wall.

"You really have a Mutant Beast?"

A wicked, cold smirk curled across Liu Feng's thin lips, lending his languid demeanor a chilling allure. In the blink of an eye, he had regained the upper hand.

"Open the gate and let us in. Then you can inspect the goods yourselves."

Brother Long paused. Then a meaningful smile appeared on his usually expressionless face.

"Young man, we can trade. But only the truck carrying the Mutant Beast can enter. Everyone else has to wait outside. Those are the rules!"

Liu Feng's brows drew together slightly.

If only one truck could enter, he could bring no more than two or three men with him. If anything went wrong, they could very well be swallowed alive in there.

Han Bing, standing beside him, had thought of the same thing. He looked at Liu Feng.

"Brother Feng, this could easily be a trap. You should wait outside. I'll take a few of the guys in."

Understanding Han Bing's good intentions, Liu Feng shook his head solemnly.

"No need. Get out and wait here. I'll take a few of the guys inside."

"Brother Feng, it's dangerous in there!"

Liu Feng's clear, dark eyes suddenly fixed on Han Bing, as though they could see straight through his soul.

"We're doing this my way. If something really does go wrong, I can still get out in one piece. But if you go, you won't make it out alive!"

"Brother Feng, I..."

With a smile, Liu Feng signaled to the man driving, and the pickup's engine started again. Still wavering, Han Bing saw the resolve in Liu Feng's eyes and could only give in.

The gate opened, and Liu Feng's pickup entered the city.

After getting out, Liu Feng looked at the scene inside and felt an involuntary jolt.

Life inside the city was completely different from life outside. Everyone lived and worked in peace, and every household was decorated with lanterns and streamers. There was even a market, where the people coming and going wore happy smiles, without a trace of the panic of the Apocalypse World.

"What do you think, young man? The conditions here aren't bad, are they?"

As he spoke, a rough, heavily callused hand settled on Liu Feng's shoulder.

Liu Feng turned his head. It was the man who had spoken from the gate tower.

Liu Feng shrugged off the hand as though it were nothing and turned to face Brother Long. He politely extended his own hand, a practiced, professional smile on his face.

"Hello, I'm Liu Feng."

Brother Long was visibly taken aback, but quickly recovered. He clasped Liu Feng's hand tightly and said with a squinting smile, "Oh, hello, young Liu. I'm Yin Ganlong, captain of this little city's self-defense force."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Yin Ganlong turned his attention to the pickup.

"Young Liu, didn't you say you had a Mutant Beast? Where is it?"

Seeing Yin Ganlong's eagerness, Liu Feng gave a casual smile.

"No rush, Brother Long. This is an important matter. I need to discuss it in detail with your immediate superior."

Yin Ganlong's smile froze instantly. He eyed Liu Feng warily and asked in a low voice, "Young Liu, not just anyone gets to meet our boss. Besides, for one little Mutant Beast, dealing with me is enough. Why insist on seeing our boss?"

Clearly, there was quite a bit of profit to be made from trading Mutant Beasts.

A mere self-defense captain was willing to take such a big risk to pocket the Mutant Beast for himself.

Heh, this really was getting interesting.

For Liu Feng, as long as he could sell the Mutant Beast, it was a guaranteed profit. Whether he actually met the person in charge did not matter.

But since someone wanted to exploit a loophole, he could take the opportunity to squeeze a little more out of the deal.

"Brother Long, it's not that I can't deal with you. It's just that I don't know whether you can provide the supplies we need..."

Delight appeared on Yin Ganlong's face. He grabbed Liu Feng's wrist, his greasy smile returning.

"Young Liu, don't you worry about that. As long as your goods are good, I'll make sure you get what you want!"

At that answer, Liu Feng smiled in satisfaction.

"All right. Let's take a look at the goods first!"

"Great! I've been dying to see them!"

A little over ten minutes later, a satisfied smile spread across Yin Ganlong's face.

"Tsk, tsk. A prime Civet Beast, no less. And the hide was removed so intact, with the organs preserved so well." Yin Ganlong looked up at Liu Feng. "Young Liu, I'll take it. Name your price!"

Liu Feng smiled and held up three fingers.

"I want three well-modified jeeps!"

At those words, Yin Ganlong leaned against the city wall and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Only after a long while did he raise his head and look at Liu Feng.

"How about this, young Liu? I'll give you those three well-modified jeeps, plus a crate of fragmentation grenades." Yin Ganlong paused, then continued with a greasy smile plastered across his face. "From now on, whenever you have goods this good, don't bother going anywhere else. Bring them straight to me, and I'll take them off your hands. How does that sound?"

The offer was simply too tempting, and Liu Feng had to admit he was swayed. In truth, Yin Ganlong would not lose out by offering those terms either. Trading a crate of fragmentation grenades for a steady supply of goods was sure to be profitable.

An upright man, Liu Feng had not intended to travel so far every time just for such a paltry gain.

But getting an extra crate of fragmentation grenades for nothing was simply too good to resist.

(End of chapter)