Welcome to the Wasteland - Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Can Uncle Zhou Simply Be Provoked?

Upon hearing Zhou Qingfeng’s analysis, Leila Fox fell into a daze for a long time before she finally smiled bitterly and said, “I’m sorry, it’s very difficult for me to accept the news that I was supposed to die.” She lowered her head and fell silent for a moment before changing the topic by saying, “I don’t think the person who sent you here is God.”

“Oh?” Zhou Qingfeng was surprised by her point of view. He had never thought of it that way.

“God does not have a conscious existence, he’s kind and generous, he’s everywhere. Nevertheless, he’s not one person in particular. If what you said is true, I think an extremely powerful being might have used the name of God to dump you here.” As a Westerner, Leila Fox had a deeper understanding of God.

“No matter what or who God is, it’s not something I can defeat right now,” Zhou Qingfeng said with a shrug. “Oh right, I wonder why you didn’t disappear. You should have died, but I saved you, so you got a second life.”

“You’re right, I got another chance at life.” This cheered up Miss Fox who was slightly upset. She smiled and let out a sullen sigh before saying heartily, “Alright, I should feel fortunate. Let’s figure out how to deal with the upcoming situation.”

“Even though David Lawrence saved New York, he failed in the end. I think his failure was inevitable because he thinks like the typical individualistic American; independent and impulsive, and even a little selfish.

“David Lawrence can only be a hero, not a leader. If you want to survive the end of the world, you have to establish a large community. Only with the division of labor and cooperation, as well as mutual assistance, can you survive.”

Leila Fox fell silent for a moment. “Even though I have the experience of controlling a large finance group and am capable of doing so, I still lack subordinates. All the experienced senior managers and business assistants under me have disappeared, so I have no way of expressing my will to others.”

Zhou Qingfeng added on by saying, “The situation is worse than you think. Everyone has lost their sense of security, and they will start hoarding all kinds of resources madly. Without the government, our nation’s currency will lose value, businesses will collapse, and the chains of the society’s labor divisions will start to break.

“All the systems will begin to collapse slowly in three days. Those include banking, communications, transportation, energy, and water supply. Even street sweepers will start worrying about their next meal.

“In the original three months I saw, after a large number of deaths, various crude power systems appeared in the city. Then, the community will re-establish the government, police, army, and finance group through self-recovery.

“However, in the hellish ending in my memory, nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons will completely wipe out mankind’s efforts with their attacks. The loss of a huge portion of the population will result in the destruction of social structure. ”

After listening to Zhou Qingfeng’s description of the tragic future, Leila Fox grasped the crux of the issue. “So we have to lead a large group of people out of New York within these three months and hide in a place where it won’t be affected by the nuclear bombs.”

“There can’t be too many people, otherwise, it’ll be very difficult for us to manage and care for them. There can’t be too few people either, otherwise, it will be difficult for us to defend ourselves from attacks launched by other groups. I think that around three to five hundred people would be suitable. Among those in the group, at least 80% of them should be youngsters, and at least one-fifth of them should be armed personnel. Moreover, there needs to be an appropriate ratio of men and women.”

It was the result of Zhou Qingfeng’s overthinking. He turned around and said cheerfully, “I think I can recruit enough people from Columbia University. There are many young people here, and they’re very capable.”

When Leila Fox heard that, she laughed and said, “Hahaha… so that’s why you came in to encourage those college students. However, I have to tell you that your plan has already failed. Do you know why I came to find you? That’s because your mobile command vehicle was snatched away.”

What?

Zhou Qingfeng jumped up from his seat, that mobile command vehicle was extremely important to him. It was a piece of special equipment that the New York police had bought at a high price. Ordinary people could not even think about getting their hands on it. He asked with an angry scowl, “Who took my car?”

“You think that the people in this university are smart, well, they are smart indeed. After you left, a few law students stood up and questioned your identity. They started to build their influence. I tried to warn them, but they chased me away.”

Leila Fox shrugged, indicating that she had tried her best.

Zhou Qingfeng’s expression turned grim and he waved at ‘Dog Meat’ who was beside him. “Let’s go, dumb dog! We’ll go clean up that trash.”

“Their numbers aren’t small, and they also took the guns from the vehicle. With you alone…” Leila Fox started, but her warning fell on deaf ears. That was because, judging by the murderous look on Zhou Qingfeng’s face, there was no way he would listen to her.

Columbia University’s campus was really small. The mobile command vehicle was parked on the road in the middle of the school. Within a few steps from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Zhou Qingfeng could hear a speech propagating the students’ philosophy and development plan.

There were one to two thousand people crowded in front of the mobile command vehicle. On the roof of the vehicle was a young man with a loudspeaker who was shouting hoarsely to the university students underneath him. Near the car, more than a dozen students armed with guns could be seen greeting the other students proudly, urging the others to join their group.

Zhou Qingfeng’s attire was different from theirs. Consequently, his appearance caused a commotion among the crowd who was listening to the speech. Some of them voluntarily gave way and allowed him to walk up to the mobile command vehicle.

Zhou Qingfeng’s appearance naturally attracted the attention of the speaker on the roof of the vehicle. The young man started shouting, “Look, the fake policeman has appeared again! I, as a professional lawyer from Shearman & Sterling, must expose the ugly face of this hypocrite.

“Everyone, please believe in my professional standards. I will discuss this issue from an impartial perspective. There are more than ten loopholes on him such as the uniform he’s wearing, the badge he’s wearing, and even the weapon he’s wielding. They’re all evidence that his identity is fake.

“Mr. Fake Policeman, you have no tricks left. Your ridiculous words won’t fool me. If you leave our school quietly, I can give up prosecuting your crime. Otherwise, you could remove your hood and let us see who you are. Then perhaps I might be kind enough to let you join our group.”

The guy on the roof of the vehicle had a smart mouth, he was a witty and eloquent speaker. He managed to make the thousands of people in the audience turn to look at Zhou Qingfeng.

As Zhou Qingfeng walked closer to the student, he took off his helmet and mask, revealing his real face. When he revealed his identity, the entire crowd fell silent. Everyone breathed in a sharp breath of cold air. Some of the more timid girls even covered their mouths in fear of disturbing the murderer before them.

Victor Hugo. At that moment, the name did not refer to the French writer who had died more than 100 years ago but instead a young man.

After three consecutive days of publicity from the media, Zhou Qingfeng’s Asian face had been imprinted in the minds of many New Yorkers. His cruelty, his violence, his brutality. He was a demon, especially when he killed the chief of the New York Police Department. It was something that had never happened before.

That was what ‘the man’s name, the tree’s shadow’ meant. (TM: This is a Mandarin proverb used to describe the influence of a person’s reputation.) After Zhou Qingfeng removed his mask, the man on the roof of the vehicle started stammering, unsure of what to do. After a long time, he compromised and said, “Okay, you took off the hood. I recognize your ability, you are now a member of my team.”

Zhou Qingfeng did not appreciate it one bit and only glared at him coldly. With a wave of his hand, he said to ‘Dog Meat’ that beside him, “Go, dumb dog! Kill everyone armed with a weapon.”