Published: February 12, 2025
The person turned around, his eyes nearly bulging out.
On this young, yet ashen face, there was an abnormal twist of expression.
"What did I say?"
The young man's voice was slightly hoarse, lacking the sharpness it had earlier.
"Which passage will you choose?" The bound man looked at the screen behind the young man, "You can't let any faction gain access to these passages. In the end, what is your goal?"
People in the apocalypse would look for any opportunity to survive. Just moments ago, these individuals thought they would die today, but the young man's actions gave them a glimmer of hope to live.
Perhaps, they could offer some advice to this young man or persuade him to serve him? At the very least, they could provide some intelligence about other factions.
Unfortunately, he still did not understand this young... young madman well enough.
"Which one should I choose?"
The young man walked over, entering the group of captives, and stood beside the speaking man.
"What do you think I should choose?"
The man's face immediately lit up, and his bound hands pressed against the ground as he straightened his back.
"Twenty factions, only seven routes. If we set the one closest to us, the one controlled by the Black Peach Governor, as Passage 1, counting clockwise, the fourth one seems the easiest to seize."
The man's words momentarily stunned the young man.
He did not expect that the person he questioned would provide such a logical response, and he began to form a plan in his mind.
Seeing that the young man said nothing, the man grew even more excited, believing he had touched upon the interests of the evolver controlling his life, and smoothly continued, "Of course, Passage 1, where the Black Peach Governor is located, is not worth mentioning. With him there, other factions find it hard to intervene. If it were you, it could be possible, but when two strong forces meet, there will be damage. We’ve spent so much precious..."
"Mechanical puppets."
The young man did not look at the man's gaze but already knew what he was referring to.
"Yes, wasting our precious mechanical puppets would not be worth it."
"Looking at Passage 2, the situation has been turned upside down by your mechanical puppet bees. However, the remaining two factions are not weak. They will certainly have a fierce battle; they may test each other for a long time, or they might quickly determine the victor after intense fighting. If it's the latter, Passage 2 would actually be the most suitable, but I saw on the screen earlier that another faction is rushing there, and the situation is quite chaotic, making it inappropriate for us to strike."
"Third passage, that is..."
"Just get to the fourth."
The young man interrupted the man without courtesy.
"Uh, okay." The man dared not refuse and immediately spoke about Passage 4: "The forces and evolvers here seem numerous, but if you notice, they are mostly not well-known factions. The only one I recognize is the mottled crusaders from the East; they have numbers but lack any particularly top-notch experts. There’s also a team entirely made up of women, which I know quite well. They are called the women's camp. The two leaders are a white woman named Ella and a black woman named Jiana. The women's camp is decent in combat, but their numbers are small. The other two teams are also not very famous. They’ve been fighting for a while, and we could just go over and mop them all up, so... hey!"
Before he could finish, he realized the young man was walking back.
Hearing his call, the young man turned and said, "I thought you had some insights, but what you said isn't that impressive. Are you sure you want to call out to me?"
The man was momentarily stunned; he hadn't wanted to continue speaking, but his desire for survival made him nod. He still wanted to use his mediocre analysis to make the young man feel he was useful.
The young man walked back and grabbed the man.
"Those who call for me become my mechanical puppets."
The man was bewildered, but upon seeing the dangerous look in the young man's eyes, he instinctively began to struggle.