As Xiao Fan was having breakfast, he chatted with Zhao Dashan.
Zhao Dashan said to Xiao Fan, "Brother Xiao, I don't know if you understand the power distribution in Yan Yun City, but I still have to remind you to be wary of a few people."
"Who are they?"
"Chen Fudong from the prison base, Lu Wang from the wholesale market, and the landlord this time, Li Dahai from the farm supply market. These three have quite notorious reputations in the circle. You need to be careful when you meet them later."
Xiao Fan nodded slightly. "What you said makes sense. We do need to be more careful, but we don't need to underestimate ourselves either. If everyone trades normally, things will be fine. But if someone wants to make trouble and take advantage of this opportunity, my brothers won't agree to it either."
At this moment, Meng Qiang, the captain of the newly organized 3rd Company, happened to be back from drill with his men.
The three platoons marched in formation.
Sturdy military boots stomped the ground in unison, producing orderly and uniform footsteps.
Guns swung, bayonets shimmered coldly under the sunlight.
Even the military dogs sat there exceptionally mighty.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Dashan's heart tightened.
He didn't know Xiao Fan had so many men here.
With such strength, they must rank high in Yan Yun City.
Although he had never seen Chen Fudong or Lu Wang's men, he believed their men couldn't be as elite as Xiao Fan's.
This further strengthened Zhao Dashan's determination to follow Xiao Fan.
After breakfast, the two sides converged and headed towards the farm supply market together.
*******
The farm supply market was located in the north-central part of Yan Yun City, considered a suburb.
Li Dahai was the leader there. Adding all the survivors and armed forces, he had no more than four hundred people under him.
This strength wasn't considered strong, probably on par with Han Dongyang from the repair garage, belonging to the second echelon in Yan Yun City.
With such strength, he wouldn't normally qualify to host a major trade conference. However, he had a good location, and two bosses backing him up. That was why this trade conference was held at the farm supply market.
Li Dahai clearly understood his own limits. He definitely couldn't monopolize the profits from the trade conference. He must offer a share to his two bosses to continue standing in Yan Yun City.
These two bosses had arrived a bit earlier than the others and were meeting at the farm supply market now.
"Hahaha! Leader Chen, Leader Lu, welcome, my humble self has wanted to see you two for days!"
Chen Fudong and Lu Wang each brought their men to the farm supply market, running into each other unexpectedly.
Both Chen Fudong and Lu Wang were in their forties. Chen Fudong was a bit fat with sagging cheeks. Lu Wang was thinner, with shifty triangular eyes, clearly no good man.
Chen Fudong brought fifty men, driving seven to eight vehicles, including an armored riot-control police vehicle. Its sturdy body and thick armor proved the power of this steel chariot.
There were also several SUVs and large trucks. It was quite a fleet.
Lu Wang had even more vehicles, with six large trucks alone. He was from the wholesale market with abundant resources, also aiming to make a fortune at the trade conference. His official vehicle was also impressive, an armored cash transport truck with bulletproof capabilities, although not as outstanding as Chen Fudong's riot vehicle.
These bosses valued their lives and put their own safety first.
Li Dahai warmly welcomed them upstairs. The three tacitly formed an alliance.
Upstairs, Li Dahai served them tea and they started talking.
Chen Fudong asked first, "Has no one else arrived yet?"
"Not yet, but they'll be here soon. I guess everyone will have arrived by noon since we start trading then."
"How many leaders will come in total?"
"Around a dozen. Almost all from Yan Yun City."
Hearing this, Chen Fudong turned to Lu Wang, "Leader Lu, what happened with the men you sent out? They couldn't even handle a kid like Xiao Fan?"
Lu Wang also made a pained expression at this. "Leader Chen, I'm not fooling you. I tried my best. Do you know who I sent? It was Li Nanfeng! He took nearly twenty men but has gone missing ever since. What more could I do?"
Li Dahai interjected, "Could they have been wiped out by the zombie horde?"
"Impossible! They rode motorcycles, extremely mobile. Dealing with less than a hundred zombies would be easy for them. Even running into a huge zombie horde, some should have escaped to report back. It's impossible for them to just vanish. So they must have been killed by Xiao Fan's men."
Chen Fudong agreed with Lu Wang's inference and pondered, "Do we have any way to keep Xiao Fan's group here for good?"
Lu Wang thought for a moment, "That won't be easy. There are many leaders coming. Zhao Dashan from Zhao Village, Guo Mingjie from Hot Spring Villa, An Lan from the airport, their strengths aren't much weaker than ours. If we rashly act, it may do more harm than good by provoking them."
Chen Fudong sneered, "What you said makes sense, but you forgot the most crucial point."
"What is it?"
"Interests!"
Chen Fudong asserted, "Don't be fooled by their usual disagreements with us. That's because the stakes haven't been high enough. But if a huge temptation is dangled in front of them, I believe they'll be moved."
"What do you mean?"
"You should know Xiao Fan is trading gold and silver. As I remember, he even said he would trade mutant beast meat. You know what that represents right? Strategic resources! Something that can enhance human physique. Other than Xiao Fan, no one is willing to trade that away."
"Heh heh, you understand me now right? Xiao Fan dares to say that, meaning he has a lot of mutant beast meat. Such a temptation would make many envious. We can contact like-minded allies and simply rob him outright. As long as we win over half the leaders, even if some oppose, they can't stop us."
Lu Wang and Li Dahai exchanged glances, feeling Chen Fudong's idea could work.
In the apocalypse, you had to follow your desires without inhibitions. Moreover, Xiao Fan had offended both Chen Fudong and Lu Wang, who wished him dead.
"Good, then it's decided. When the other leaders arrive, we'll lobby them separately. As long as half support us, Xiao Fan will have nowhere to go but hell!"