Five or six hundred kilometers from Li Yu and the others' base, there was a huge base.
At this moment, outside the base, a man stood a hundred meters from the entrance, watching some people enter from afar.
However, when some people entered, they always had to hand over some items.
At the entrance of this large base, six or seven fully armed men were searching a convoy.
The convoy looked like it had just returned from outside.
"Captain Tao, we didn't find much this trip. Can we have a little less deducted here?" A middle-aged man pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his inner pocket, flicked one out, and offered it to the fully armed man.
Captain Tao took the cigarette and was about to put it to his lips when the weathered middle-aged man, with keen eyesight, scurried over like a Tui Zi to light Captain Tao's cigarette.
Hiss~ Whoosh~ Captain Tao took a puff of his cigarette. White smoke billowed out, dissipating into the air.
The weathered middle-aged man looked at the newly opened pack of cigarettes in his hand, frowned slightly, and seemingly with a determined resolve, stuffed the entire pack into Captain Tao's pocket.
Captain Tao did not stop the man's actions, taking another slow puff of his cigarette, and said with an air of authority, "Old Liu, you know these are our regulations here. If I make an exception for you, what will others think? Don't you agree?"
"You're absolutely right, Captain Tao. Please be accommodating. I also got two bottles of wine to show my respect to you," the man said fawningly.
"It's all regulations. There's nothing I can do," Captain Tao said calmly, seeing the two extra bottles of wine in his bag.
A hint of gloom flashed in the weathered man's eyes. They couldn't even be appeased by this; their appetite was too big.
Captain Tao seemed to sense the man's emotions and sighed, saying, "We're just following the rules and doing things officially. You have to understand our difficulties here, Old Liu."
His tone carried a sense of earnest persuasion, as if the middle-aged man was being unreasonable and trying to cut corners, while Captain Tao was a fair official strictly adhering to regulations!
The weathered man's face also showed some displeasure, but he still said fawningly:
"It's just, it's just that we were told a third would be deducted... Look, look, you've already taken half..."
"Hey. I thought you, Old Liu, were sensible. Are you still talking about this with me? Do you want us, who protect the base, to drink Northwest wind?" Captain Tao said impatiently.
"This..." Old Liu still wanted to say something.
"Alright, that's enough. Don't make me angry, Old Liu. You need to be grateful. If you keep arguing with me like this, you won't be allowed in today," Captain Tao said angrily.
After hearing Captain Tao's words, the man's expression suddenly changed. He had family waiting for him inside. He had been out for a long time; he had to, he had to go back as soon as possible.
"Captain Tao, Captain Tao, no, no, we know we were wrong. This is for you," the weathered man offered another pack of cigarettes, stuffing it into Captain Tao's pocket.
Captain Tao's face instantly softened when he saw the pack of cigarettes, and he patted Old Liu on the shoulder.
He looked at the supplies, which had already been divided into two piles, and smiled.
Then he said to the fully armed men in front, "Alright, that's enough. Let them in."
The weathered man's heart rejoiced upon hearing Captain Tao's words, and he quickly urged his brothers driving the vehicles behind them to drive inside.
After driving for a while, the weathered man asked the person beside him, "How much did they take?"
"Three-fifths!"
"Damn it, those sons of bitches!" The weathered man couldn't help but curse.
It was too much!
It's normal to give some benefits when asking for help.
However, people who take benefits but don't do their job, and even cause more trouble in the end, are extremely disgusting!
Yet, such people existed both before and during the apocalypse, and there were many of them.
"So what do we do?" the young man beside him asked.
"Next time, everyone hide some. I saw Old Sun next door, they can hide some in their cars. This time, everyone worked hard. Sigh, everyone will get a little less, just to last two days. After a few days, we'll go out and get more supplies," the weathered man said with a difficult expression.
"Okay."
The person standing a hundred meters outside the base entrance was Mr. Wang.
Mr. Wang had actually been here for several days. When he fled here, he didn't know there was such a large base.
He just happened to see it, so he stayed here and observed for a few days.
During these few days, he saw people continuously entering the base.
Just as he was lost in thought, a voice came from beside Mr. Wang: "I've been inside. Actually, there's nothing much to it, it's just safer; other than that, nothing much."
As soon as Mr. Wang heard the voice, he instantly moved two steps to the side. He hadn't heard the person next to him approach at all.
"Don't be afraid, hahaha, we're all friends." This was a Toothless Man with freckles on his face and two missing teeth, causing him to lisp slightly when he spoke.
His hair was gray, but his skin was taut, making it impossible to determine his true age.
"You've been inside?" Mr. Wang looked at the Toothless Man, half-skeptical.
"Yes, indeed," the Toothless Man said.
"Then why did you come out? Didn't you say it was safer inside?" Mr. Wang asked.
"Hmm, I had no choice. They don't give you anything inside. All your food needs to be acquired by yourself. Inside, you just don't have to worry about zombies," the Toothless Man said.
Immediately after, the man added, "And every time you go in, you have to pay them protection money. I don't think it's worth it. Buddy, I've told you so much, give me some benefits."
The Toothless Man looked at Mr. Wang, a smile on his face.
Mr. Wang's heart tightened. Damn, they can even force sales.
At that time, he had seen that there were also some people living outside this base, many people.
To avoid becoming lambs in their eyes, he hadn't brought any of the supplies driven from He Park. Of course, he hadn't driven the car either.
He only had a pack of cigarettes and two packs of soda crackers on him.
After thinking for a moment, Mr. Wang pulled out a pack of soda crackers.
Then he tore open the packaging, pulled out one cracker, then another, and another.
Immediately, he seemed a bit reluctant and put one back.
"Hey, hey, hey~ At least three, right?" the Toothless Man quickly said when he saw Mr. Wang's actions.
"Sigh, I only have this last pack. You really..." Mr. Wang's expression was very troubled.
But in the end, he still pulled out three crackers and handed them over, saying, "You really are... Alright, I'll give you three. You can tell me all about this base properly."
Taking the three soda crackers, the Toothless Man swallowed hard, but he didn't put them directly into his mouth to eat!
Instead, he carefully, very carefully, placed them in his pocket and patted it lightly.
