Chapter 221 Bullied
Devin Ward liked people to call him Warlord Devin, and he enjoyed referring to himself as Warlord Devin too. He thought that title sounded powerful.
He couldn't have done this in the past, during peaceful times. Even if he did, no one would pay attention to him. As a man sentenced to a maximum of twenty years for robbery and causing serious injury, he was just a worm in Accraville City Prison. To become a ruler there, one had to have blood on their hands.
However, the apocalypse had given Devin an opportunity. He earned the appreciation of the boss, Arthur, due to his willingness to fight and kill, and his daring escape from prison. He became an Evolving person, and within a few days, Arthur, also known as Black Dragon, agreed to let him become a professional.
As Devin thought about Arthur's almost supernatural strength, he felt envious and believed that was true power, the mark of a real strongman.
The inmates of Accraville City Prison were all desperados. They had been ruthless sven during peaceful times, and quick to draw blood over minor disagreements. In the apocalypse, they were even more unrestrained, fighting for interests without any scruples. Since Arthur indulged them, these guys never showed mercy, even to their own, which caused significant internal losses in Arthur's team.
But even so, it was still the most powerful force around Cloud Peak Mountain. If Arthur wanted to unify the area, it would just be a matter of time.
At least, that was what Devin thought. The Lowe Family, East Hill Village, Tech City warband—they only existed because Arthur was fattening them up like lambs for the slaughter, planning to devour them later.
Within Accraville City Prison, this wasn't a secret. Each force had already been reserved by Arthur's close subordinates, and everything they had would belong to these people in the future. Others could only get a tiny share of the benefits.
Naturally, many were unwilling to agree to the plan, but there was nothing they could do. After cooperating with Zero Commerce Guild, their strength was overwhelming. Any one of them could easily surpass the leaders of other forces, so others had to keep their dissatisfaction to themselves.
Devin was one of the dissatisfied ones, but like the others, he couldn't do anything about it and had to endure.
However, yesterday, while wandering outside, he had gotten some unexpected news. A group seemed to have taken over Cloud Peak Manor and had started trading food for scrap cars, and had even started recruiting people.
Devin was thrilled.
This seemed like a highly profitable, low-cost deal.
Scrap cars were everywhere now, and apart from transportation costs, it was practically a business with no capital.
Devin was initially skeptical, but he found out after some inquiries that it was true, which delighted him. He gathered his followers and headed straight for Cloud Peak Manor.
For Devin, collecting scrap cars and doing business properly were foreign concepts. He just needed to stay on the only road leading to the manor from Cloud Peak Mountain and intercept those coming to trade.
In less than four hours, he had seized over thirty scrap cars and controlled nearly a hundred survivors coming to join the manor.
While cursing under his breath, Devin scoped out the guards at Cloud Peak Manor's main gate, calculating the possibility of taking it by force.
However, the dozen or so guns at the entrance made him hesitant. It seemed he could only make a profit today and bring more people next time to plan further.
When he saw William approaching him, he rubbed his bald head and remained sitting on the car roof, yet his eyes lit up when he saw Michelle and Natalie.
Devin had indulged himself in the past month since he had been in prison for so long without women, but he still had a strong desire for women, especially beautiful ones. Nowadays, it wasn't rare to see a beautiful woman wasn't rare, but it was still rare to see a clean, beautiful woman.
William glanced at Devin's appearance, confirming he hadn't heard of this man in his previous life, suggesting he wasn't one of Arthur's top men.
"Are you the boss here?" Devin asked, looking down at William and exuding an air of superiority.
Behind him, Natalie and Michelle's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness.
They were now a team with William, sharing honor and defeat. Devin's disdain for William was more serious than disdain for themselves.
"I am," William said calmly.
"That's good," Devin said, jumping down from the car and pointing to the scrap cars behind him. "I have forty scrap cars and one hundred and fifty people. How much will you give me for that?"
William knew this guy was exaggerating at just a glance. Natalie, Michelle and Elijah, along with the guards, frowned. Did he think they were fools?
"I'll give you 220 pounds of flour and 13 gallons of water," William stated.
These were already generous terms. Previously, a scrap car could only be exchanged for one or two loaves of bread, and survivors who joined didn't have to pay anything.
Devin cursed. "Fuck, are you treating me like a beggar?"
His face, full of muscle, started twitching. Pointing at William's nose with a cigar in his hand, he shouted, "I brought all this heavy stuff and all thse people from far away, and you're only offering me that? Go ask around, newbie, and see if anyone would dare to fool me like this!"
He added arrogantly, "You know Yves, the boss of the Black-clad Convoy? Even he has to respectfully call me Warlord Devin!"
William reached out and pushed Devin's hand away. Their arms clashed in mid-air, and William overpowered Devin.
Devin, a one-star Evolving person, had clearly overestimated himself trying to compete with a two-star Evolving person in strength.
Devin's expression changed slightly, reassessing William's strength.
However, he didn't take it to heart. He had a dozen or so men behind him, with just as many guns as these people. More importantly, he was from Accraville City Prison and backed by Arthur, who was nearly invincible. Even if he couldn't take over this place, he wasn't afraid of anything.
If he didn't get something today, he would be letting Arthur down .
"So, how much do you want?" William asked slowly.
Devin's face lit up with a "smart move" expression and he named his price, "330 pounds of flour, no water. But I've heard you have plenty of canned food here. I want a hundred cans of meat, and half a truckload of oil, salt, and vinegar."
"Do you think we're idiots? Do you know how many people that can feed?" Elijah said angrily.
During the apocalypse, everyone's daily rations couldn't compare to that of peaceful times. Cloud Peak Manor provided two meals a day, one of which was some bread, which was just enough to make you half-full. That was already pretty good. Other places only had one meal a day. At this rate, 330 pounds of flour could feed a hundred people for half a month!
And cans of meat h had become a luxury. No wonder even Elijah couldn't help but speak out against it; this guy was being excessive.
"Watch your mouth, or I'll shoot you," Devin said, glaring at Elijah arrogantly, looking like he was ready to kill.
The guards raised their guns.
In the apocalypse, killing over a disagreement was the norm.
William waved his hand and smiled. "Since you asked, let's do it. Michelle, get someone to bring out the food."
Michelle and Natalie, who were ready to fight, were stunned. This wasn't William's style. When had he ever been extorted?
But William's authority was unquestionable. Though they were unhappy, they didn't say anything and called for people to get the supplies from the storage area.
Devin laughed heartily and said to William, "Smart move."
Soon, three bags of flour, each weighing 110 pounds, were brought out, along with several boxes of canned food and a lot of condiments. Devin had his men load everything onto the cars, pushed the scrap cars to the gate of Cloud Peak Manor, and left with a parting shot. "I'll be back."
"William, why didn't you kill that guy?" Natalie asked, on the verge of exploding. Michelle, along with Candice and others who had rushed over after hearing the news, were also furious.
"It's fine," William said to them. "Our main focus now is to lay a solid foundation for the base, not to start a war with the surrounding forces when we have nothing."
David nodded, saying, "Yeah, we're not like we were before. We can't just fight and leave. We have a base now, we're settling here. We have to consider the consequences of our actions and not ruin everything in an impulsive moment."
David was one of the few core members who knew about the seven roulette wheels here. He understood William's approach. Arthur was said to be one of the strongest forces around, with over five hundred people. In comparison, the manor had only a few dozen fighters. The disparity in strength was significant. If a conflict broke out, even if William's miraculous skills won the day, their side would suffer heavy losses, and they would possibly lose many core members. That was clearly not worth it.
William didn't explain further, telling everyone to disperse and get back to work. He instructed them to use the scrap cars to temporarily block the damaged parts of the wall and took the survivors to the meeting area.
As William watched the convoy disappear into the distance, hjs eyes flashed with undisguised killing intent.
Some things were like this: not killing you today didn't mean you could live well. William had chosen to back down today to ensure his plans could proceed smoothly. When he had the time, he would show Devin what real arrogance based on strength looked like. He wouldn't just rely on someone else's power.
He was also very interested in testing himself against the nine-star powerhouse from his previous life, Arthur, to see just how strong he really was.
After Devin left and returned to Accraville City Prison, he boasted about his prowess and William's fear of him to other forces he encountered, causing some of them to underestimate the new owners of Cloud Peak Manor.
Amidst this underestimation, the new base quietly attacked two places without weapons or food, acquiring a large amount of materials needed for construction and expanding their population to eight hundred.
A week after the self-satisfied Devin left, the scouts mapping the area returned, bringing William a very detailed map.
William spent an hour studying the map, which marked the locations of various forces. His eyes never left the map even as he took a sip of water.
"It seems tomorrow is the day they plan to attack the Demonic monster. So, here..." William mumbled, staring at a small icon, his mind racing.
