Chapter 290 Give Them a Little Shock
Gavin was all stiff and tense, not sure how to react to Charles' words.
Charles grinned and said, "See, we can't leave. We gotta stay here to protect you."
"Starting tomorrow, we need to double the food rations! We gotta keep our strength up to fight the enemy!"
Gavin looked shocked. "What? Double the rations? If we do that, our villagers won't have enough to eat. They'll starve!"
Charles stared right into his eyes, his pupils cold and indifferent like stainless steel.
"If the villagers die, the Cox family can still live here. But if we soldiers die, the whole Cox Town won't survive! So, my request is reasonable, right?"
Gavin opened his mouth but couldn't say a word for a long time.
These days, he was the mayor of Cox Town in name only, but in reality, he was just a puppet backed by West Mountain Base.
He had no power to negotiate with West Mountain Base.
That night, Gavin struggled to break the news to the villagers as gently as he could.
That night was filled with curses; everyone wished they could torture the special forces!
But after all the cursing, no one did anything.
The next day, they obediently handed over the food as Charles had demanded.
Even if the food was plundered, it didn't matter; at least they could still eat a little and not starve to death. Even if they were forced to work in the extreme cold, facing the threat of death, it didn't matter, because they weren't certain to die!
As long as they weren't pushed to the brink, they would at most curse inwardly, rarely daring to stand up and resist.
And those who dared to resist had already been publicly executed, leaving the living without dignity or courage, forced to endure all injustices.
Time slowly passed, and the surroundings of the shelter were the same every day.
To avoid arousing Steven's suspicion, Charles still came to attack the shelter on time every day.
And Steven?
He occasionally came out, pretending to be furious, cursing loudly, and then randomly firing his gun.
But he never left the shelter.
Most of the time, he and Nora, Elinor, and others lived very leisurely in the shelter.
Food was plentiful, and there was no lack of entertainment.
In fact, as long as there were enough people, they wouldn't be bored.
They played various games.
Sometimes, they even went to the underground sports arena on the third floor to play badminton.
The underground space was large enough that they could engage in activities with many people if they wanted to.
Slowly, more than half a month went by.
According to the monitoring, the tunnel excavation had reached 2230 feet outside the shelter.
And the number of people sacrificed in Cox Town for this had already exceeded a hundred.
The villagers were numb; they had even forgotten why they were digging the tunnel in the first place, just being forced to work at gunpoint by the special forces every day.
Day after day, they worked in shifts 24/7, without a moment's rest.
As for Steven?
Charles and the others had pretty much concluded that Steven was too scared to leave the shelter.
An overly comfortable environment inevitably made people complacent.
So the only outcome waiting for him was destruction.
One morning, Steven got up super early.
He lifted the blanket, and Fluffy lazily stretched, opened his eyes slightly to look at him, and then yawned.
"You're up! How about I take you out for a walk?" Steven said, patting Fluffy's head.
Fluffy was a bit reluctant but slowly got up, stretching his body like a stick.
Steven sat on the edge of the bed and started changing his clothes methodically.
He wasn't wearing his usual casual clothes but took out a complete set of pure white clothing from the extradimensional space.
Two sets, inside and out.
The inner layer was a form-fitting garment like those worn by Brittany, entirely white, with zippers and decorative buttons made of pure gold, and a golden sword emblem on the chest, looking simple and noble.
After putting on the inner layer, he then put on the combat suit.
The combat suit matched the inner layer in both color and style.
The difference was that the outer combat suit focused on defense, while the inner layer was mainly for insulation.
The clothes had a built-in temperature control system and batteries, with heating modules all over the body, which was the key to maintaining body temperature.
This style was entirely modeled after the special forces combat suits of West Mountain Base, but the craftsmanship and materials were far superior to the original.
The suit wasn't complicated to wear, as combat suits needed to consider various complex combat situations, and complicated wear would be detrimental to executing urgent tasks at night.
Steven finished putting on the suit and then put on white combat boots, along with a matching combat helmet that was not only bulletproof but also equipped with a communicator, tactical goggles, and anti-fog features.
Then, he checked all his guns and ammo.
This whole process took more than half an hour.
Steven casually grabbed a few premium cat cans and placed them by the bed. Fluffy used his sharp claws to open the cans and enjoyed the food alone.
After checking his weapons and gear, Steven pulled out a beef and cheese burger from the extradimensional space and went to the kitchen to heat up a cup of milk.
He ate his breakfast unhurriedly, then placed Fluffy on his shoulder and headed to the third underground level.
Most shelters prepared for emergencies have an emergency exit.
This emergency exit was very hidden, designed to avoid unexpected situations—like an enemy invasion.
This shelter also had an emergency exit, and only Steven knew of its existence, located on the third underground level, beneath the floor in the front left corner of the sports arena.
It was a 1.5-mile-long underground tunnel that led directly to the back of a low hill north of Emerald Estate. The exit was in a very concealed forest.
After figuring out the special forces' routine, Steven decided to take the initiative and give them a little shock.
Psychics in the special forces came every day to feign an attack, a necessary charade to keep Steven from suspecting anything.
So the soldiers left in Cox Town were just ordinary soldiers, at most a few modified ones.
But these people posed no threat to the current Steven.
After all, Steven was not only powerful himself, but he also brought Fluffy along for added security.
To be honest, in close combat, Fluffy was at least ten times better at clearing out ordinary soldiers than he was.
Steven arrived at the corner of the sports arena and lifted the floorboard in the third row, fourth column on the left.
It still used a primitive mechanical lock.
He took out a yellow key and inserted it into the lock. After opening one door, there was a second, and then a third.
The process was complex, but the security level was extremely high.
After opening the three doors, a white staircase appeared before Steven.
The internal sensor lights had already turned on automatically.
Steven walked down the stairs.
Blocking the exit was a very heavy silver-gray metal door, made of the same material as the main entrance, with extremely strong defensive capabilities.
It could even withstand fierce artillery attacks.
Next to the door was a black motorcycle, as such a long tunnel required a means of transportation for a quick exit.
Moreover, leaving from here was usually for escape. A vehicle was essential.
The shelter's designers had thought of everything.
Steven walked over, scanned his iris and palm print, and the door slowly rotated open.
Beyond the door, soft pale yellow lights on both sides of the walls lit up one by one, illuminating the long tunnel.
Steven got on the motorcycle and noticed it was electric.
After all, electric vehicles were quieter, and with the advancement of new energy technology, their range and speed were not much worse than fuel vehicles.
The bike had no key; it started by scanning the iris.
Steven rode the bike and sped towards the end of the tunnel.
The tunnel gradually sloped upward, just enough to reach the ground at the exit.
Soon, he reached the end of the tunnel.
In front of him was an alloy door that opened outward. Steven opened it in the same way.
The door opened inward, and a large amount of snow rushed in.
Steven was prepared and quickly dodged to the side.
The cold air rushed in, and even though he was wearing a combat suit, he could still feel a slight chill.
Fluffy, on his shoulder, let out a very unhappy cry.
Steven patted its head, then stepped on the snow and pushed the door open.
This spot was on a half-covered hillside forest, with snow about 16 feet deep.
The trees were all bare, with only some branches exposed.
Steven climbed up the snow, reached back, and closed the tunnel door.
But when he saw the door, he was stunned.
From the outside, it looked like a tall tombstone!
"That's really hidden!"
Steven was speechless, thinking he might be standing in a graveyard.
He looked around; it was dead silent, with no one in sight.
Steven put Fluffy down and whispered a few words to it.
Fluffy let out a reluctant cry, then grew larger and used its big paws to cover the tombstone, which was the tunnel door, with snow.
After finishing, Fluffy returned to its normal size.
Steven nodded at it, and it walked over to him. One man and one cat braved the wind and snow, walking unhurriedly into the distance.
An hour later, around 8:30 in the morning.
Charles and the others finished their meal and, as usual, came outside the shelter to start their daily harassment.
A production line had formed on the riverbank, with people inside passing out baskets of dirt, and those outside clearing it away and using hand-cranked machines to pump air inside.
The only ones left in Cox Town were the elderly and children who couldn't work, and some women who cooked.
Besides them, the rest were the special forces members from West Mountain Base.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
