Zhu Yujue looked at her somewhat inexplicably.
Bai Peijin quickly said, "Although our team only has a few hundred people, everyone can protect themselves, and there are no so-called burdens. Your abilities are even more powerful, and you have the supplies left by the Zhu Group. If you join us, Mr. Lu can promise to share management power with you."
Zhu Yujue looked at the ambition in her eyes and her overly fawning attitude, feeling annoyed. His tone was also very cold: "Sorry, I'm not interested."
At this point, having the so-called "power" she mentioned held no meaning. He just wanted to protect his parents and family. From this perspective alone, this place was much safer than their team.
Bai Peijin, who was originally confident, was dashed to the ground by his words. She couldn't understand: "Why? Here you will only enjoy the power of an ordinary ability user. If you join us, you will have countless people at your beck and call, and you can become a strong person, a overlord. Are you willing to be controlled by others?"
Zhu Yujue found her descriptions increasingly uncomfortable: "Why should I command others? Why should I become an overlord? What meaning does that have for me? It's the apocalypse now, and what I most hope for is the return of peace and safety to the whole world. Can your team achieve that?"
Bai Peijin was choked by his words and couldn't speak.
"If there's nothing else, please move aside."
She asked with some unwillingness, "We can't do it, can they? Why did you choose them?"
Zhu Yujue sneered, "Since neither of us can do it, why should I choose you?"
He thought to himself: What if they actually could?
He looked at the stunned Bai Peijin, bypassed her, and walked straight into the crowd.
Zhu Xingchen followed closely behind. Only when they were far away did he say, "I've seen the company's employee files. There is indeed such a person. I wouldn't forget her. She's lying."
"I could tell."
"But brother, do you really plan to stay here?"
Zhu Yujue frowned, "What do you want to say?"
"I thought you would organize your own team, like them. Heroes emerge in troubled times. What she said is quite appealing. Aren't you even a little tempted?"
Zhu Yujue really wanted to slap him: "Are you brain-damaged from acting? Do you really think you're a grassroots emperor? What troubled times? This is the apocalypse. We are dealing with alien races and monsters, not our own kind. It's not something that can be solved by just shouting and killing. Take those snakes and strange birds we encountered. If no one had helped, we would have been eaten by them long ago. It's good to have a big tree to rely on for shade. Is there any bigger or taller tree in this world than the national army?"
Zhu Xingchen was stunned by his scolding.
"Go back and ask Dad and Grandpa. They ran such a big company and made so much money, when did they ever think of confronting the country and its people? They couldn't even do it when they had money and power. Now you're a lone wolf and you want to claim territory?"
Zhu Xingchen: "..."
"Brother, I was wrong. I was just saying. Don't take it to heart."
Zhu Yujue's attitude was very cold: "And talking about Xue Wei, I see you're not thinking clearly either."
After speaking, he quickly walked into the RV.
The rest of the Zhu family were all inside. Seeing them return, they naturally had to ask about the banquet.
Zhu Yujue recounted the entire incident to his elders, especially emphasizing that the group claimed to surrender but actually wanted weapons and intended to put Zhen Jie in his place, but ended up embarrassing themselves instead.
His father sighed, "It's true that might makes right in this world, but justice always prevails over evil. Miss Zhao is so formidable, and she proactively lowered her stance to stand with General Zhen. She has broad vision. It's a pity..."
"Dad, what's a pity?"
"It's a pity she's so close to that young man. Otherwise, if one of you pursued her, you'd have a backing no matter what you did in the future."
The two of them were speechless for a moment.
Zhu Xuewei said somewhat sourly, "With the two of them like that, they'll probably be buried in the same coffin even if they die. You still want my eldest and second brother to poach her? They'll probably get beaten back."
The others found it amusing.
Born into a family like theirs, their views on marriage since childhood were very different from ordinary people. They didn't value love too much. If they liked each other, they could live in harmony; otherwise, they would go their separate ways, and they didn't have much of a rebellious mentality about it.
Zhu Yujue even thought to himself that it was unlikely to break up the two of them, but he could try to establish a connection from other angles.
—
Lu Huaqing decided to stay with his people.
He was clearly unwilling to be ordered around and take instructions. In the end, it was all for the weapons and energy warehouse that Zhen Jie had opened. He had a bit of a "lying on thorns to sleep" mentality.
Zhen Jie couldn't be bothered to manage him.
Taking advantage of the contact between the two sides, he sent someone to pick up the leader of that group to find out the attitude of these hundreds of people: whether they were more inclined to stay with their team or follow Lu Huaqing away. If Lu Huaqing still intended to leave, they would try their best to keep the people.
Meanwhile, due to the shortage of food and water, they decided to stop in a city. Initially, it was only meant to be a temporary rest stop, but some people proposed to stop directly and establish a safe zone.
Among them were people who had recently joined Lu Huaqing.
Moreover, their attitude was firm, vaguely hinting that they didn't want to leave and would not follow if the main force departed.
Zhen Jie did not want to stop in this not-so-safe city, but there were more people who agreed than disagreed, especially a few representatives of ordinary people who pointed out that they not only lacked food and water but also daily necessities and medicine. Moreover, it was already late autumn, and if they continued north, the temperature would continue to drop, and it was very likely that someone would freeze to death. At that time, the entire team would have problems.
Zhen Jie's gaze fell on Zhu Yao.
Zhu Yao nodded calmly.
He immediately gained a bit more confidence: "Then let's stop. Which of these cities do you all think is the most suitable?"
A group of people chattered for a long time and finally selected three, including city H, which Zhu Yao had previously suggested to Zhen Jie.
The other two cities: one was characterized by being larger with more abundant resources and more production equipment, making it easier to resume production later. The drawback was a large natural lake in the city, where monsters were more likely to appear in watery areas. Previously, there was information that there were also holes above the lake, releasing more monsters.
The other was safer.
Bai Peijin even made a PPT to show everyone: "Here, here, and here are large food processing plants. If we choose City C, the pressure regarding food will be relatively small. At the same time, this area is a commercial district, with well-preserved office buildings, which will be easier to gather a population and require less reconstruction."