Resurrection Empire

Chapter 763 287: Moral Kidnapping

In modern warfare as remembered by Ren Zhong, due to the astonishing power of firearms, the weight of individual force has been reduced to an extremely low level.

Only by meeting specific conditions and having particular causations could an outstanding elite soldier or agent possibly influence the outcome of a war.

However, due to the unique Professional System, societal background, and the special unfolding of corporate warfare on Source Star, the nature of warfare has undergone a fascinating transformation.

The warriors use highly modernized, even quite sci-fi weapons, making the warfare appear extremely post-modern.

Yet, top-level Professionals possess extremely strong individual combat power, enough to influence the battle, reminiscent of a high-martial fantasy version of the ancient Three Kingdoms war.

This peculiar combination is vividly demonstrated in Ren Zhong's Second Army.

Four hours after departing Starfire Town, a mighty convoy composed of over three thousand modified Qingfeng Heavy Truck combat vehicles appeared by a large river at the border of Starfire Town and Zhaoshan Town.

To the west of the river was Ren Zhong's Second Army, which had gained some insights from several days of exercises.

The troops were in neat formation, with uniform tanks and standardized equipment.

To the east of the river was a ragtag army composed of over twelve thousand Scavengers from Zhaoshan Town.

Unlike the orderly Yangsheng Second Army, the Scavengers from Zhaoshan Town had bizarrely mismatched equipment. Among the twelve thousand people, there were hardly two with the same gear.

This was the normal equipment level for typical Scavengers.

On one side was an army that had received prior notice, ready and equipped.

On the other side was a hastily assembled makeshift army.

Which is superior or inferior was evident at a glance.

Originally, Ma Shu was ordered to inform Ren Zhong of this matter three whole weeks in advance, indeed helping him greatly.

As a side note, as a middleman, Ma Shu was somewhat implicated in the Alien Ore incident. However, he didn't die, just got demoted by one Citizen Level, and was removed from the position of deputy general manager of the Tanggu Group's Yangsheng City branch, becoming a low-level employee.\\

Ren Zhong scanned his own equipment quickly and then selected the C-type Model 3 battle plan that Zheng Tian had devised for him.

Subsequently, Ren Zhong was not afraid. He jumped from his jet ski, floated to the middle of the river, looking down and laughed, "What? You dare to stop me?"

In the enemy's formation, a jet ski also floated up, with a young man in a suit riding on it.

He seemed a bit nervous and said, "Mr. Ren. I'm Liu Xiaotao, the deputy general manager of Zhaoshan Company. My father is Liu Wanxiong, the chairman of Zhaoshan Company. Mr. Ren, this... this is unfair... Your army is too much."

Ren Zhong waved his hand, saying, "Since this is a war, where is the fairness. Since a special bill has already been initiated, and what I am doing is legitimate, where is the unfairness? I previously discussed the merger with your father, but his asking price was irrational. So now I personally came to calm him down. This is not a place for you to speak, bring your father here."

"Mr. Ren, my father... he... he is holding the town and is not here."

Hearing this, Ren Zhong laughed heartily, turned back, and said to the army composed of newly arrived wild people to Starfire Town, "See, this is where I'm different from other bosses. Other bosses would let their men die for them while they are carefree, but not me. I charge into battle with you."

With these words of Ren Zhong.

The warriors of the Yangsheng Army each showed a solemn yet severe expression.

On the other side, the Scavenger contingent from Zhaoshan Town suddenly lost their morale.

Four hours ago, they temporarily received an enlistment contract from Zhaoshan Resources, offering an average reward of two hundred points per person, inviting them to join the legion-grade hunt here.

At that time, all people among the seventy to eighty thousand wild folks in Zhaoshan Town received the notification on their wrist watches, but only these more than ten thousand Scavengers with some combat capability accepted the call.

Once they saw the neat army opposite and found that the "hunt" target was not some Ruined Beast but a well-trained, powerful army from Starfire Town, they already felt inferior.

Now they've been attacked psychologically by Ren Zhong in public, and how could they withstand it?

Everyone inevitably began to whisper among themselves.

Seeing this, Liu Xiaotao hurriedly shouted, "Everyone quiet! Don't even think about deserting! The moment you took my family's money, the contract was already formed. If anyone dares to breach it, even if I let you go, the Hunters won't! Your families will also be expelled from Zhaoshan Town!"

One middle-aged man wearing a Third Level Biochemical Combat Suit and holding a Fourth Level firearm stepped forward, "But your contract mentioned a legion-grade hunt, not a war! You tricked us!"

Liu Xiaotao said, "In corporate warfare, having you hunt these foreign-town wild people invading Zhaoshan territory is reasonable and legal!"

The middle-aged man fell silent for a moment.

Hearing this, the other Scavengers no longer struggled, silently closing their mouths and starting to nervously check their gear.

Everyone had the resolve to face death.

They had no choice.

If they did become deserters, the Liu family of Zhaoshan would put their information into a wanted list and submit it to the town government, and they would definitely die.

Just as Ren Zhong had always known, on this planet, Citizens usually control wild people this way.

First, trap people with lies, then use rules biased toward Citizens to force wild people to work for them.

This was the norm.

Ren Zhong sighed, "It seems there's no choice then."

He slowly raised his right hand towards his back, gripping the hilt of the modified Corrosive Blade.

On the other side, Liu Xiaotao quickly said, "Mr. Ren! These wild people have neither feud nor enmity with you, do you really want to kill them all? You know, many of them have families and homes. They are the main workforce of their respective families, if they die here, their children and elderly parents will not survive long! You're so good at stocks, would you really destroy twelve thousand six hundred and twenty-one families in Zhaoshan Town for this bit of profit? Why did you rescue those wild people who should have been taken by Mengdu Group as volunteers, yet treat us so cruelly?"

Ren Zhong's hand holding the blade paused slightly.

Damn, got tricked.

Previously, he was wondering where on earth the other side got the nerve not to defend the town but instead to engage in combat by the river.

Now he understood.

The real killer move of the other side was to exploit his relatively "good" persona to morally coerce him.

Ren Zhong released his hold on the blade, "Liu Xiaotao, does this make sense? Even if I retreat today, I can later break my force into small elements and directly enter Zhaoshan Town to seize Ruined Beast resources. I guarantee within half a month you won't receive a single First Level crystal chip from Zhaoshan Resources. You cannot hold out long."

Liu Xiaotao gritted his teeth, veins bulging at the temples.

"But at least we get several days of preparation time! What is this, you learned about the corporate war three weeks ahead of us, you even formed an army for it! The preparation time my father got was only five minutes!"

"Mr. Ren, if you withdraw now and give us three more days, my father can sign a contract with you. Henceforth, we won't use these wild people's lives to threaten you."

Ren Zhong looked at the wild folks below whose eyes were filled with pleading and expectation.

Although he had vowed to become cold-blooded, it was truly difficult.

"Three days is too long."

Liu Xiaotao: "One day!"

"Fine."

A day later, the Yangsheng Second Army was at the city gates, besieging Zhaoshan Town.

As for Yangsheng's First Army.

Facing a similar moral coercion tactic, Zheng Tian chose to launch a fierce attack, slaughtering eight hundred people.

The remaining thousands fled the roads.

But at this time, the First Army had not yet reached Wangdong Town.

Because the Scavengers of Wangdong Town, forced into a desperate situation by contract, used their knowledge of the terrain and distribution details of the Ruined Beasts to harass along the way, buying time for Wangdong Resources to prepare.

Ren Zhong, being soft-hearted, instead advanced rapidly.

His feelings were somewhat complex upon hearing Zheng Tian's report.

He had somewhat anticipated this scenario with the greatest autonomy he gave to Zheng Tian.

He didn't know whose choice was better in this troubled world; he could only continue forward, seeking answers with time.