In the month after the Prosperous Northwest plan was upgraded to 2.0, Ren Xiaosu led the Great Hoodwinker on 15 trips to the Central Plains. On average, they made one trip every two days to abduct almost 90,000 refugees from the Zhou Consortium to join the Prosperous Northwest.
During this one month, the name of the Prosperous Northwest Express had shaken up the entire Alliance of Strongholds. Even Wang Congyang’s name, the person said to be operating the Prosperous Northwest Express, became famous.
What made Ren Xiaosu curious was where Wang Congyang had gone. He did not even come out to clarify he was not the one operating the steam locomotive, and this made Ren Xiaosu even more fearless when using the steam locomotive power.
The Prosperous Northwest 2.0 plan was still ongoing. Wang Yuexi expressed that the number of residents in Stronghold 144 had reached its limit. If more refugees came, it would cause a negative effect.
The Great Hoodwinker immediately went to Fortress 178 to report this matter to Zhang Jinglin. The good news was that Stronghold 145 was also starting to introduce an expanded pilot project for the contract responsibility system to complement the Prosperous Northwest 2.0 plan.
Actually, the Great Hoodwinker already knew from the beginning. The expansion of Stronghold 144 was in full swing now, and it proved the future commander, Ren Xiaosu, was capable of overseeing such a large reform. The fortress commander had always been doing his best to support Ren Xiaosu as his successor, so he would definitely be very willing to give him the green light to introduce his reforms.
But just as Ren Xiaosu was about to continue abducting more refugees to the Prosperous Northwest, something unexpected happened.
The steam locomotive slowly came to a stop in the wilderness. Ren Xiaosu looked at the Wang Consortium troops standing in front of the train in silence.
Not many soldiers were in the group, and it looked like they were only the size of a regiment. Since the other party had appeared here, Wang Shengzhi must have figured out Ren Xiaosu’s travel pattern through Zero and ordered his men to stop them here.
Ren Xiaosu waited quietly in the train as someone familiar-looking from the Wang Consortium troops stepped forward and slowly approached the steam locomotive.
“Future Commander, long time no see,” Wang Run greeted with a smile.
Wang Run could be considered an old acquaintance of Ren Xiaosu’s. When he went to the Kong Consortium with the Trinity Institute to carry out the decapitation strike mission, it was Wang Run who was responsible for providing Ren Xiaosu with intel.
Later, on Mt. Zuoyun, it was Wang Run who led his men to transport the first batch of weapons and equipment to them, and they even fought alongside each other for half a month there.
As the saying went, slap not a smiling face. Ren Xiaosu dispelled the steam locomotive and went up to Wang Run with the Great Hoodwinker. “Is the Wang Consortium going to attack the Zhou Consortium? Y’all’re getting impatient, huh?”
“It’s not that we’re impatient, but that we can’t miss the opportunity.” Wang Run explained with a smile, “The Zhou Consortium’s at its weakest right now, and our Wang Consortium soldiers are also at the peak of our morale. If we don’t make a move at this time, it’ll only make things more troublesome later on.”
Ren Xiaosu nodded. He had no intention of participating in the war with the Central Plains. Anything that had nothing to do with the Prosperous Northwest was not his particular concern.
Honestly, if he were to view things from the interests of the Northwest alone, he would rather see both the Wang Consortium and the Zhou Consortium suffer heavy losses. That way, the Northwest would have more time to complete their own development.
Ren Xiaosu asked, “What’re y’all doing here?”
“To block your path, of course, Future Commander.” Wang Run said frankly, “On one hand, our Wang Consortium’s main forces have already arrived at the Zhou Consortium’s border. If Future Commander were to appear within the Zhou Consortium’s territory at this time, you could accidentally injure our troops. On the other hand, the homes of those Central Plains refugees are in the Central Plains. They only chose to go to the Northwest as they had no other choice. Our Wang Consortium will definitely take care of them after the war is over. Therefore, Future Commander, you don’t have to worry too much about their safety. Just let them remain in their hometown.”
In fact, Wang Run was far too courteous. The other party was even treating Ren Xiaosu with such respect even though he was leading an entire regiment of troops. This was truly diplomacy before violence.
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Actually, no matter what had happened between Ren Xiaosu and the Wang Consortium, and whether they had really stood by and done nothing during Jiang Xu’s death, Wang Shengzhi was still Ren Xiaosu’s savior.
Although he had already repaid the Wang Consortium’s debts by helping them, it was better not to make a move if they could avoid fighting each other.
Meanwhile, Wang Shengzhi also had the same attitude towards Ren Xiaosu. It was as though he did not want to see his former friend become his foe.
Ren Xiaosu sized up the soldiers behind Wang Run. “You brought an entire regiment here just to tell me that?”
Wang Run explained, “I brought along a combat brigade, but I only showed up here with a regiment because I was afraid you would misunderstand.”
“Understood.” Ren Xiaosu nodded. He knew that if Wang Run could not convince him, they would be ready to intercept him. Moreover, the other party knew his strength. The rest of the brigade that did not appear here had to be equipped with weapons specially designed to deal with him.
No matter how powerful he was now, he should not underestimate the technology of human civilization.
Ren Xiaosu smiled. “Alright then, I’ll head back now. I wish y’all the best.”
Wang Run took the initiative to shake hands with Ren Xiaosu. “Thank you, Future Commander. Drop by for a visit in the Wang Consortium when you have time.”
Ren Xiaosu shook hands with him. “We can still talk if you want to visit the Northwest as our guest, but forget it if you’re inviting me to the Wang Consortium. We Northwesterners are all very hospitable. Come and have some fun when you have time.”
“Definitely.” After that, Wang Run turned around and walked back to his soldiers. Ren Xiaosu conjured up the steam locomotive and returned to the Northwest.
Along the way, the Great Hoodwinker sighed and said, “The Wang Consortium’s pace of war is even faster than we expected. I feel that with the current state of the Zhou Consortium, the outcome will probably be decided in two to three months. This will be winner takes all. The Central Plains will soon fly the banner of the Wang Consortium.”
“P5092 will be back soon as well.” Ren Xiaosu said, “A while ago, someone from the Northwest Chamber of Commerce brought news that he’s kidnap—led the Pyro Company’s remnant troops across the Shenmu River in the grasslands and will be arriving in the Northwest soon. After he returns, we have to get him to complete the deployment of our troops along the Wang Consortium’s border as soon as possible. I feel that the Wang Consortium will not stop here. Wang Shengzhi’s target is the entire Alliance of Strongholds.”
“Future Commander.” The Great Hoodwinker suddenly said, “It’s also time for you to make a trip to Fortress 178.”
Ren Xiaosu fell silent. Ever since he came to the Northwest, he did not go to Fortress 178 to see Zhang Jinglin because he did not want to get into the details of becoming the Northwest’s future commander.
But even if he did not want to admit that he was the future commander now, it would be futile. To everyone, Ren Xiaosu was the future owner of the Northwest. There was no doubt about it.
If Ren Xiaosu were to continue refusing, it would only make him unreasonable.
He asked the Great Hoodwinker, “What else do we need to do after we get to Fortress 178 other than meeting Mr. Zhang?”
The Great Hoodwinker smiled. He knew that this was as good as Ren Xiaosu accepting the role, so he explained, “First of all, Commander Zhang will bring you to the copper bell to pay your respects to the pioneers of Fortress 178. After that, you’ll visit all of the outposts outside Fortress 178 on foot and express sympathy to those soldiers who’ve endured a decade of hard living guarding their positions.”
“And after that?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“After that?” The Great Hoodwinker said with a smile, “From the moment you return from the outposts, you’ll become the future of the Northwest.”