Chapter 167 - 166: A Deviation in Judgment

Chapter 167: Chapter 166: A Deviation in Judgment

"He’s right here."

Hearing Lin Fan’s question, Ye Qingzhou smiled and nodded before turning to give Wang Zhong and the others a look.

Hu Chen, standing beside Wang Zhong, understood at once. He immediately shouted toward the quiet military tent:

"Zhang! Jiang! Come on out."

The words had barely faded when a large hand pulled back the tent flap. Two veteran soldiers in close-fitting combat uniforms walked out, each dragging a person.

"Whoa, what was all that noise just now? I thought you guys were having a shootout out here..."

Zhang Wenyuan muttered as he came out and looked around, nodding in acknowledgment at his old acquaintance, Lin Fan.

At that moment, Tan Wei stood beside Ye Qingzhou and Lin Fan, his neck shrunk down in fear. The men surrounding them were all silent as cicadas in winter, their hands trembling so much they could barely hold their guns.

He thought about how these same men had looked ready to tear him apart before Lin Fan arrived. He couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. True to form, he immediately fell into his role as the sycophant.

But the men around them exploded into an uproar. They recognized the two on the ground: Zhao Cheng, the convoy’s newly appointed commander-in-chief from last night, and Xu Wei, the leader of the second team.

Both men were bound hand and foot with gags stuffed in their mouths. Tears and snot streamed down their faces as they writhed on the ground. When they saw the crowd, they squirmed even more frantically.

"Colonel Lin, Colonel Ye, report! The separatists, Zhao Cheng and Xu Wei, have been apprehended. Awaiting your orders!"

Zhang Wenyuan and the other soldier tossed the men they were dragging in front of Tan Wei, then snapped to attention and gave a crisp military salute, shouting in a disciplined, earnest tone.

"This... Colonel Ye, what are they doing?"

The breath Tan Wei had just let out in relief caught in his throat again.

’Since the new Colonel Lin chose to display his power, my life should be safe,’ he thought. ’But I never expected Colonel Ye to keep these two alive and drag them out in public. What is she planning?’

’If it were me, and I had the chance to assassinate them, I’d do it without hesitation. After all, physical elimination is the only way to guarantee a stable outcome.’

Yet here she was, bringing them out in front of everyone.

"Last night, Zhao Cheng sent men to lure zombies to surround Major Wang Zhong and Captain Zhang Wenyuan, who were on a reconnaissance mission. As a result, Major Wang Zhong was injured..."

Ye Qingzhou lowered her head, her gaze cold as she looked at Zhao Cheng, who was writhing at her feet and staring up at her with panic-stricken eyes. She then raised her head and continued speaking to the crowd,

"Sowing division in the ranks and plotting against comrades-in-arms... according to wartime military law, the punishment is summary execution by firing squad..."

"MMH! MMH!"

Zhao Cheng and Xu Wei, at her feet, immediately cried out. But with their mouths gagged and their bodies bound, they could do nothing but whimper and squirm.

Tan Wei quietly took a step to the side, drawing a clear line between himself and the two captives. ’Whether this is killing the chicken to scare the monkey or a simple show of force, my best bet is to just listen quietly and keep my head down,’ he thought.

Lin Fan, however, was confused again. His gaze swept over the two men on the ground, then to Ye Qingzhou’s back and the veteran soldiers standing nearby. He frowned.

’What is she up to now?’

’At first, I thought Ye Qingzhou wanted to use me to get rid of Zhao Cheng, and then cooperate with me under the military’s banner.’

’But after she parachuted me into this position, I thought she was content to pledge allegiance to me with her veterans, wanting to borrow my strength to eliminate Zhao Cheng and consolidate the group.’

’But since they already captured Zhao Cheng, why not just kill him and be done with it? Why drag him out in front of me?’

’It can’t be that she’s afraid of a backlash and wants to use my authority to suppress everyone else, can it? No, that makes no sense. These guys aren’t Zhao Cheng’s loving parents.’

Lin Fan couldn’t help but put himself in her shoes. ’If I were her and had this kind of power, I would’ve cleaned house before inviting the guest. By the time I arrived, Zhao Cheng and his cronies would already be cold, just to avoid any unexpected complications.’

’Then, when I get here, she could just announce that Zhao Cheng committed treason and has been executed, throw his body down, stand behind me—Colonel Lin—kick down the wall Tan Wei is sitting on, pledge loyalty to me, and be done with it. So what’s with this whole performance?’

But he could tell Ye Qingzhou wasn’t finished, so he said nothing and didn’t move. He just watched her back quietly, waiting for her performance to continue.

"However, considering Zhao Cheng’s merits in breaking through the encirclement and his skills in management, and given that I have already handed over full command authority of everyone, including myself, to Colonel Lin..."

As she spoke, Ye Qingzhou turned around. Those bottomless, cyan-black eyes looked at him again. She gave a slight nod and continued,

"The authority to punish and deal with these two men is now Colonel Lin’s. I have no objections whatsoever..."

Now he understood. This Ye Qingzhou... she was truly ruthless.

’She had to wait for me to arrive to hand these two over. Her sole purpose wasn’t to decide how they should die, but how they should *live*...’

’What I need most isn’t something as superficial as a show of force, but a "counterbalance" within the team.’

The question circled back to the scenario Lin Fan had just considered. If he were in Ye Qingzhou’s shoes, when he showed up, she’d pledge loyalty—but what if he didn’t believe her?

’A powerful outsider like that wouldn’t easily trust someone else.’

’So, he’d definitely need a familiar face who knows the team to act as his guide. An old fox and fence-sitter like Tan Wei would be completely useless for that role.’

’And that’s where Zhao Cheng—who holds a deep-seated grudge against Ye Qingzhou and has lost all his old subordinates—becomes the perfect choice.’

’Not only that, but Zhao Cheng, who didn’t dare to breathe a word when Zhou Chaoxian was around, would automatically become Lin Fan’s most loyal hound dog when faced with someone even stronger and more ruthless. He’d remain so until the day this team ceased to exist, or the day Ye Qingzhou died.’

It seemed the plan was to release Zhao Cheng in Colonel Lin’s name and then place him in the armed forces to act as a counterbalance to Ye Qingzhou and her veterans. His life was a gift Ye Qingzhou was leaving for Lin Fan!

It wasn’t just Lin Fan; even Zhao Cheng on the ground understood.

Ye Qingzhou’s words had made him despair, thinking he was about to be publicly executed as an example to the others. But now, a spark of hope for survival ignited within him!

’My only conflict with Lin Fan was over that little matter of requisitioning supplies! I can just push the blame down—it was all the squad leaders acting on their own initiative!’

He raised his head and looked at Lin Fan, his face full of desperate hope. He began to shuffle toward him, knocking his head hard on the ground, begging Lin Fan to save his life!

"I have an objection..."

Lin Fan said coolly, raising a hand to stop her.

From the very beginning, Lin Fan had held a genuinely good impression of Ye Qingzhou and her veterans. At the very least, they were all sharp people who got things done.

But with this latest development, he caught a whiff of something that wasn’t quite right.

"Colonel Ye, we’re old friends now. You don’t trust me..."

A slight smile touched his lips as he looked at the face opposite him—which seemed to grow more beautiful the longer he looked—and those deep, pool-like eyes.

For a split second, the smile on Ye Qingzhou’s face stiffened almost imperceptibly, and a flicker of unnatural awkwardness passed through her bottomless-well eyes.

’Trust,’ Lin Fan thought. ’What a luxurious word.’

Even as Lin Fan said it, he knew in his heart that he didn’t trust this Ye Qingzhou either. Otherwise, he would have just gone along with her plan. Why bother thinking so hard about it?

He had to admit, this woman... or rather, she and the group of veterans behind her, who all looked like they had a story to tell, were genuinely intelligent people.

Smart, forbearing, capable, decisive, and ruthless.

Together, they were arguably the most intelligent people Lin Fan had met in years.

’I don’t know how they judged my personality to come up with this series of moves, but on this one thing, they judged wrong.’

"Everything Zhao Cheng and his accomplices did happened before I arrived. Since you’ve already captured him, you have the right to deal with them. You don’t need to ask me..."

Lin Fan looked at Ye Qingzhou, his voice low. He then turned his head toward the main hall and said in a voice that wasn’t loud, but that everyone could hear,

"Zhao Cheng ordered his squad leaders to forcibly seize survivors’ supplies. When that failed, he intended to massacre the populace. I have already carried out military justice on several of the perpetrators and executed them on the spot..."

With just a few sentences, he sealed the matter. He then retracted his gaze and looked back at Ye Qingzhou. ℴℴ𝘮

"As for them sowing division and plotting against comrades..."

...

’Damn it, we misjudged!’

Hu Chen had been watching the situation unfold according to their plan, feeling a bit smug. But when Lin Fan had thrown that ice ball, a sense of dread washed over him.

’Zhang Wenyuan’s experience only showed that Lin Fan was powerful, but it wasn’t until he threw that ice ball that we realized just how powerful he was.’

’And in my profile of him, my assessment of his need for security in interpersonal relationships was too conservative. I concluded that he wouldn’t easily trust others, including Ye Qingzhou.’

’That’s why we came up with the plan to leave Zhao Cheng alive—to intentionally leave an unstable element in the group and place that element in Lin Fan’s hands as a way to counterbalance Ye Qingzhou and the rest of us.’

’But now, it’s clear my judgment was flawed.’

’Our lack of imagination led to a severe miscalculation of the strength of a generation-gap Awakened One like Lin Fan. In turn, we overestimated the threat that we posed to him.’

’We’ve been thinking about this team as being split into two factions: Ye Qingzhou’s faction and the militia faction. But in Lin Fan’s eyes, is that really how it is...?’

’Counterbalance? Counterbalance my ass! Does he even need a counterbalance?’

’Talking about counterbalances in the face of such absolute confidence in one’s own power is just plain disrespectful!’

Even from a distance, he could clearly feel Lin Fan’s favorability toward them starting to drop. He couldn’t help but grow anxious.

’I have to find a way to warn Qingzhou,’ he thought. ’But as a mere soldier, interrupting now would just make me look guilty. I can’t just run over and slide on my knees again, can I?’