BXBX NOVEL Chapter 288: Management Measures
She didn’t even know how to describe him, as Ling Feng had his own unique logic for everything he did. It was a form of pure emotion, so much so that no matter what he did, he never felt he was wrong. He even had a way to justify sacrificing others for his own goals. The key point was, Ling Feng wasn’t trying to argue—he truly believed from the bottom of his heart that he wasn’t wrong.
Such pure goodness or evil could make people feel fear.
Liang Yue kept silent and stopped engaging with him any further.
As night fell, the temperature dropped sharply. Ling Feng said to Liang Yue and the others, “Let’s go back and rest for the night. It’s hard to see anything now, so we don’t need to worry about Zhang Yi noticing anything.”
He led the special forces team back, passing by the tunnel excavation site on their way to inspect the work. The remaining population in Xu Family Town was over a thousand, and they could mobilize nearly a thousand people to work. But, of course, not that many people could dig the tunnel at the same time—it had to be done in batches of twenty people per shift, with a shift change every half hour.
The initial digging was the hardest. The ground beneath the surface had frozen into permafrost, making it extremely difficult to excavate using manual labor alone.
Ling Feng approached, accompanied by the team leaders, and asked Wu, the engineer in charge of the project, “How is it going? Is the first day’s work progressing smoothly?”
Engineer Wu replied, “Everything is going according to plan. If all goes well, with nonstop digging, we’ll break through this 1,500-meter tunnel in about a month.”“And then—boom!” Engineer Wu made an exploding gesture and smiled. “We’ll send Zhang Yi’s shelter flying with 2,000 kilograms of explosives!”
Ling Feng nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the busy scene. Several armed soldiers were standing guard nearby, while a group of workers waited, shovels and bamboo baskets in hand, ready for their shift.
Suddenly, Ling Feng’s brow furrowed. He quickly approached one of the villagers and stopped him. “Hey, you! Lift your head and let me take a look.”
The villager had a scarf wrapped around his face and was quite small in build. Hearing Ling Feng’s command, he pulled down the scarf, revealing a youthful face.
Ling Feng’s eyes widened. “How old are you?”
“I’m thirteen,” the boy replied honestly.
Ling Feng’s sudden burst of anger startled everyone as he shouted at Xu Dongtang and Engineer Wu, “Didn\'t I say no children under sixteen are allowed to work? Don’t you know that children are the future of the nation?”
Xu Dongtang hurriedly explained, “Captain Ling, we’re all farmers. Don’t let his age fool you—he’s just as strong as any adult from the city.”
Ling Feng, still furious, responded, “I said no, and I mean it! Even if the project is urgent, we must have some boundaries!”
He pointed at the boy, “Take him back immediately! This is a battlefield, and we cannot let children get involved!”
Xu Dongtang quickly pulled the boy aside. “Yes, yes, I’ll take him back right away.”
The boy looked at Ling Feng with eyes full of gratitude and admiration.
Not far away, Liang Yue observed the scene and was at a loss for words. She just didn’t know what to think of Ling Feng anymore. Was he a fool?
Xu Dongtang had the boy taken away, while Ling Feng continued, “To speed up the project, the tunnel must operate 24 hours non-stop. Mayor Xu, I hope you’ll lead by example and help everyone push through this.”
Xu Dongtang was dumbfounded. Ling Feng had never mentioned this to him before. No, Ling Feng had never considered the opinions of the Xu Family Town residents at all. Including this excavation, none of these people knew what they were really working for.
Upon hearing that the work would continue around the clock, Xu Dongtang was terrified. “Captain Ling, isn’t that too much? Even if they only work for half an hour at a time, it’s still too much for ordinary people in this weather.”
“What’s more… we don’t even know how long this project will take.”
Xu Dongtang mustered the courage to ask, “Captain Ling, what exactly are you trying to do?”
Ling Feng didn’t bother explaining to him. Instead, he lightly patted Xu Dongtang’s shoulder. “Old Xu, you just need to cooperate with our work. Understand?”
“Everything we’re doing is for the good of Xu Family Town. If we don’t eliminate Zhang Yi, that demon, all of you will die!”
“Be smart. Don’t think I’m harming your people!”
After saying this, Ling Feng turned and left, not giving Xu Dongtang any chance to negotiate. Or rather, in Ling Feng’s eyes, Xu Dongtang wasn’t qualified to negotiate.
“Let’s head back and rest. We’ll return tomorrow,” Ling Feng smiled as he spoke to Liang Yue and the others. As the main force for the diversionary attack, their superhuman abilities were drained from the constant use.
Liang Yue had seen through Ling Feng by now, so she said nothing and followed him back to Xu Family Town.
Once back, the town’s women were immediately instructed to prepare food for them. Before long, a table full of food was brought out, mainly consisting of steamed buns and grilled fish—two of the most abundant food supplies left.
Ling Feng tore into the food, biting down on the buns like he hadn’t eaten in days.
In the following days, life became monotonous. Ling Feng continued leading a few superhumans in their diversionary attacks on Zhang Yi’s shelter, while the villagers of Xu Family Town toiled as laborers, digging the tunnel.
Fatty Xu, as a superhuman destined to be taken to West Hill Base, wasn’t required to work. But after losing contact with Zhang Yi, he was completely cut off from him.
On the third day, the tunnel had reached over 100 meters deep, and the challenges became more apparent. The deeper they went, the more oxygen-deprived it became. Without oxygen supply equipment, they had to resort to the most basic method—pumping air in through rubber hoses, much like an old-fashioned diving setup, using manpower to push air into the tunnel.
But this method was far less effective than modern equipment. Coupled with the cold and the intense labor, the first worker finally collapsed. Amidst shouts and panic, the others carried the man out of the tunnel.
A military doctor from the special forces team checked him over and shook his head. “Acute myocardial infarction. He’s gone.”
The man was Xu Youzhi, 52 years old, a construction worker. Older people were more prone to heart attacks and strokes in such extreme cold conditions. While these conditions could be treated with a timely bypass operation at West Hill Base, it wasn’t worth the trouble for an ordinary villager.
Xu Youzhi was thus declared dead on the spot.
Seeing Xu Youzhi’s still-warm body, the villagers of Xu Family Town felt a deep sense of grief and anger.
A young man shouted at the special operations soldiers nearby, “This is inhumane! You’re treating us like slaves! I’m done with this!”
He angrily threw down his shovel. Seeing this, the other villagers followed suit, throwing down their tools and demanding answers.
Supervisor Shen Hong frowned and said coldly, “Orders from the organization must not be disobeyed! Everything we’re doing is for your revenge.”
“We’re this far along now—anyone who tries to back out will be treated as a deserter!”
Shen Hong emphasized the word “deserter,” gripping his assault rifle and subtly pointing it toward the crowd of villagers.
That simple gesture was like a bucket of cold water, instantly cooling the villagers’ tempers.
Xu Dongtang sighed. “Take the body away. We need to replace him.”
With sorrow in their eyes, the villagers carried Xu Youzhi’s body back to town for burial.
However, as the deaths mounted, things spiraled out of control. The deeper the tunnel, the harsher the conditions. The second person, the third, and eventually the fourth villager collapsed…
One by one, the villagers died, either collapsing during the day or passing away quietly at home, never to wake up again.
Human bodies are fragile. Already, they were struggling just to survive the extreme cold, but now, forced to work in such harsh conditions, it was the final straw that broke them.
By this point, a few bodies were being carried out of the tunnel every day.
The growing death toll stirred anger among the villagers. Though they didn’t dare confront the armed special forces team directly, verbal disputes and secret acts of resistance increased.
When Ling Feng heard about this, he remained calm. It was all within their expectations.
“Pick a few ringleaders and execute them. Some people won’t understand fear until they see blood.”
“We only care about the progress of the project. Let their mayor and village chief manage them. Their own people manage each other better than we ever could.”
Author\'s Note