Chapter 450: Chapter 288: What You Say Doesn’t Count (Part 2)

The issue of abuse against subordinates can be big or small, but once it escalates, it cannot be stopped.

Moreover, this is the apocalypse; who knows what the train conductor’s standard for punishment is?

“Who can tell me exactly what happened?”

Su Huan asked, looking at everyone.

The officers and soldiers remained silent, a few new soldiers moved their eyes, but their feet were firmly nailed to the ground.

The mongoose stepped out and said, “I have personally witnessed him beating new soldiers on four occasions.”

Old Wu’s face twitched, angrily said, “Conductor, I admit there were times I acted, but who hasn’t been impatient while training soldiers? Moreover, I haven’t injured anyone, how can it be considered abuse?”

The mongoose countered aggressively, “At the very least, I’ve seen choking and slapping.”

“Who is responsible for training the new soldiers?”

Su Huan asked coldly.

Mountain Goat walked over, weakly said, “After Captain He was wounded, I took over training the new soldiers. Veterans like Old Wu were each responsible for training a group of new recruits since they were transferred here before the big battle.”

Su Huan nodded thoughtfully.

Intense footsteps came from the back of the team, and a battle group of scavenger exoskeletons led by Lao San came running in dust.

They stopped three or four meters in front of Su Huan.

“Conductor, we have already searched the surrounding area and confirmed with the train’s surveillance that the two deserters were picked up by a small convoy after leaving the temporary base. There are six vehicles and thirteen motorcycles, presumably survivors from the Storm Zone.”

Shu Wei stepped out of the car, adding next to Su Huan, “I retrieved the train’s surveillance; within the monitored range, Old Wu indeed exhibited signs of corporal punishment towards the new soldiers, but it wasn’t severe.”

Su Huan glanced around, directly pointing out seven soldiers, including two female soldiers.

“You are the new recruits under his command, right?”

This familiar attitude made Old Wu shiver inwardly.

The seven soldiers glanced sideways at others, too afraid to answer.

Suspicion flashed in Mountain Goat’s eyes, “It is indeed them.”

“Then why bother with the investigation, you all can speak for yourselves, did Old Wu abuse you?”

The plaza with hundreds of people went silent.

In the gaze of the crowd, the faces of several new soldiers turned pale.

“No, he didn’t abuse us,”

A female soldier stepped forward and said.

When she stepped forward, many recognized the woman. The first conflict between the mongoose and Old Wu was because of this woman, unexpectedly she had become a new recruit for the Armed Corps.

Dressed in a green uniform, the woman appeared much more assertive and strong.

“What about the others?”

Su Huan noncommittally continued to ask.

The woman glanced at another female soldier, who hesitated for a moment and then also stood up to testify for Old Wu.

Seeing that Su Huan showed no sign of anger, the remaining soldiers fell silent.

The mongoose’s eyebrows knit tightly, wanting to speak but suddenly feeling a hand pulling hers, turned back to see Yu Yue gently shaking her head.

“So it was a false accusation.”

Su Huan’s voice carried a faint sigh.

“Right, it’s a false accusation. That woman couldn’t bring Old Wu down last time and was unwilling to give up, so she repeatedly accused him falsely!”

The woman’s heart swelled infinitely, feeling proud as even the most authoritative person on the train listened to her.

Recovering her senses, she realized Su Huan had already approached her, eyes filled with doubt, “Conductor, everything I said is true…”

Su Huan grabbed the collars of the two women with a smile, “It’s good if it’s true.”

Then he tore forcefully with both hands.

In the women’s screams of horror, in the dazed eyes of the crowd, a patch of white flashed out.

“Ahhhh—”

In the screams, Su Huan’s eyes held no lust, only a chilling cold glare.

At first, He Jie was somewhat astonished, but upon seeing the marks on the two women’s bodies, a deep resentment flashed in his eyes.

The woman who spoke had only some normal intimate marks on her body.

But behind her, the female soldier’s scars were much more complex—pinches, burns, beatings…the bruises and purples still hadn’t faded.

These were Evolvers; injuries that would take an ordinary person two or three days to heal couldn’t last half a day on them.

No one present was foolish, what had happened to these women was self-evident.

Bai Lu stuffed the gun’s muzzle into the woman’s mouth.

The piercing scream was abruptly cut short.

Old Wu looked at the two women, anxious, “Conductor, even if she has marks on her body, it can’t prove I did it, can it?”

Su Huan tilted his head towards a few male soldiers, “Do you need my help too?”

The soldiers straightforwardly took off their clothes, revealing shocking scars that caused a commotion among the crowd.

The soldier cried out in anger,

“Conductor, it’s not that we wanted to deceive you, we didn’t dare to speak, we were too afraid of being beaten, after all, times are different now, we fear he might kill us…”

“And he also has people watching us. Last time I complained a bit, and he punished me by hanging me from a tree for over an hour.”

“He messes with us whether there’s a reason or not, sometimes even coming to bother us at night when we’re not training.”

“We all know about what happened to Wang Ling, but we didn’t dare speak up… ”

“…”

The soldiers, one after another, pieced together Old Wu’s usual behavior.

This time, all the soldiers looked at Old Wu with a completely changed expression.

Disgust, hatred, anger…

Everyone’s eyes seemed to hold a flame, wishing to burn him to death.

Old Wu might not care about those ordinary soldiers, but Yu Jing, Liang Kuan, Lin Jin, Xiaoba, He Jie, Mountain Goat… even the conductor, every single one of them could easily crush him!

He couldn’t ignore them!

“Don’t you go saying they accidentally hit each other while playing games.”

Su Huan said with a smile.

Old Wu’s dark face turned deathly pale, his pupils trembling.

Under the conductor’s increasingly sinister gaze, he fell to his knees with a thud.

“Conductor, please spare me this time. I was just momentarily confused, but I wasn’t… I just wanted them to improve faster, that’s it, really…”

Looking into Su Huan’s calm eyes, Old Wu seemed to foresee something.

His whole body trembled with fear.

Like a beast driven to the brink, a string in his mind snapped from pure terror.

He lifted his head and shouted hysterically at Su Huan.

“This is the apocalypse, the apocalypse! I just slept with two women, why treat me like this?!”

“Who do you think you are?”

“You just evolved a bit faster than us, took control of the train, who gave you the right to decide our lives and deaths?!”

“Who do you think you are?!”

“Are you the organization? Are you the military?!”

“Why?”

“And I’m not the only one who hits soldiers, He Jie hits and scolds people right in front of you every day, have you ever done anything to him?”

“You’re nothing but a goddamn hypocrite, a bastard!”

Upon hearing this, everyone’s faces changed multiple times.

He Jie might hit people, but he never abuses them. Even if someone makes a mistake, he just pushes them harder during training.

Whether male or female soldiers, officers or enlisted, he treats them pretty equally.

Even the mongoose, who he disciplines the most, has never been tormented to the point of wanting to desert.

Instead, the repeated challenges fueled the mongoose’s determination to compete with him.

Seeing the conductor’s face growing increasingly calm, He Jie realized something bad was about to happen. He Jie shouted out and kicked at Old Wu.

“Boom!”

Amidst the flashing lightning, a sinewy hand grasped He Jie’s tactical boot.

The terrifying force was compressed in that small space by this hand.

The lightning illuminated Su Huan’s stern profile, flickering light and shadow.

Su Huan patted Old Wu’s shoulder, smiling gently.

“Let me add something for you, people often curse me as a beast, I find it much more fitting than ’bastard’, don’t you think?”

Feeling the electric sparks hitting his face, Old Wu’s bravado and resentment vanished completely.

“No no no… Conductor, listen to my explanation…”

“I… I…”

“Conductor, I beg you, don’t kill me, give me one more chance…”

This burly man seemed to lose his ability to speak and burst into tears.

One moment he was furiously cursing, the next he was clinging to the conductor’s leg, wailing.

What was interesting.

Even when he was furiously berating Su Huan earlier, he never got up.

His knees firmly nailed to the ground.

“Do you know where you went wrong?”

Su Huan withdrew his smile, asking gently.

Old Wu quickly said, “I’m not human, I shouldn’t have abused the recruits, I shouldn’t have forced Wang Ling, I shouldn’t have disrupted the train’s order…”

“Eh…”

Su Huan sighed softly, interrupting his confession.

“You have to realize, on this train, only when I say someone dies, can they die… what you say doesn’t count.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep