Chapter 41: Those who know the times are heroes

  In the distance, someone was moving, and Ying Tianlong saw that it was Luo Guoyong's guard team. He still didn't believe himself, secretly sending people to protect him. Ying Tianlong smiled slightly: "The master doesn't need to be so nervous, I came here today to negotiate with you, my heart is sincere."

  Lu Guoyong's face was a bit red, and he frankly said: "Yingxiong, your martial arts are strong, my second master didn't even last one round in your hands, wasn't he easily defeated by you? I have to be on guard."

  Ying Tianlong's face sank: "The wine of the master is not bad, I appreciate it. 'Mangy dog' has told me a lot about you, and I, Ying Tianlong, admire that you are a man of your word, which is why I came to meet you. If you don't believe me, do we still need to talk?"

  Lu Guoyong saw things were going awry and hastily said: "Brother Ying, don't be angry, I want to hear your views first."

  Ying Tianlong said that's good, since the master of the house wants to hear my opinion, I'll be straightforward.

  "Looking at the terrain, the island of Doom is surrounded by the sea on all sides, in a diamond shape, with an area of approximately 3.6 square kilometers. The average height above the sea surface is more than 3 meters. The middle part of the island is low-lying, and the outer edge is raised, forming a coral block, shell-made sandbar. The climate of Doom Island is summer all year round, with little temperature difference, and the annual rainfall can reach over 1000 mm. Compared to other uninhabited islands, this is indeed a unique treasure land."

  Lu Guoyong nodded in agreement

  "Besides, the island is long and narrow from east to west, with low terrain and a tropical marine climate. It's also close to the equator, with good soil quality and freshwater resources, and the island is covered with dense tropical vegetation such as coconut forests, papaya trees, banana trees, etc. Of course, this only applies to your area. The location of 'Whirlwind Camp' happens to be on the west side of the island, which is mostly barren mountains and rocks, without water sources, and the terrain is treacherous, easy to defend but hard to attack. This is also one of the reasons why the master of the house tolerated Li Jiao's existence."

  Lu Guoyong did not make a sound, and Tianlong's analysis was quite correct. It was precisely because the "Whirlwind Camp" was strategically located and easy to defend but difficult to attack that he had not pursued and killed them all, leaving behind Li Jiao as a hidden danger.

  "The land in the east of the island is mostly flat and fertile, suitable for farming. However, there are not many people from 'Hei Feng Ying' who can cultivate and farm the land. Large tracts of fertile land lie idle and unused, isn't that a waste?"

  Luó Guóyǒng said: You continue speaking.

  "If we can make use of that land, on the one hand, it will solve the problem of food shortage on the island and stabilize people's minds. The island of death will not become a dead place with killings and struggles every day. On the other hand, the government's conspiracy to let us fend for ourselves will be difficult to implement, we don't have to live up to their expectations, why should we make it hard for ourselves?"

  "You're right to some extent, but have you ever thought that the island is limited in size? It's just a small piece of land, how many people can it support? In the past, when the government sent convicts here, most of them went to 'Whirlwind Camp', and nearly half of them ended up in Shark's Mouth. This was the only way to maintain the balance of convicts on the island. If they were well-fed and content, the island would be overcrowded, and it would be difficult to control the situation later on."

  Ying Tianlong said that I have thought of all these things. Is it possible that the master is prepared to spend his whole life on the island of Duoming, and then die?

  "Wrong, who doesn't want to leave this place? But over the years, who can escape? No one can leave alive, even if they're dead, their bodies have to be buried on the island. This is our final destination."

  Ying Tianlong smiled and said: "It's up to people to make it happen. Under the sky, there is nothing that can't be done, unless you don't want to do it at all."

  Luo Guoyong stood up and walked around in a circle, then stopped beside Ying Tianlong: "Young people have courage, but China has an old saying, those who know the times are heroes. You just arrived and want to change everything here, isn't that a bit too hasty?"

  "Doesn't the great leader get anxious? I don't believe it. Of course, everyone has their own ambitions and can't be forced. But since I've become the leader of the Whirlwind Camp, I have to consider the several hundred brothers on the island, as well as my own future path. I'm not yet thirty years old, I don't want to wait for death here. As for the great leader, if he's willing to bury himself on the island, the feng shui of the island is good, it's a good place to bury people."

  "What do you want to do?"

  Ying Tianlong replied: "It's not what I want to do, but what the master of the house wants me to do."

  "Are you threatening me?"

  "How dare I, how would I dare to threaten the master of the house?" Ying Tianlong said calmly.

  Lu Guoyong was speechless.

  "Hyena" Wang Qing hurriedly mediated: "Brother Luo, what Tian Long meant is not difficult to understand. He wants to first stabilize the people's hearts and then find an opportunity to open a way off the island. To be honest, I don't want to leave this old bone here either."

  Luó Guóyǒng turned around and said to Xiāntiānlóng, "You guys haven't been to 'Heifēng Yíng' before, how about I invite you over for a small gathering today?"

  Just as Ying Tianlong was about to respond, Cui Dahong hastily walked over and whispered a few words in his ear. Ying Tianlong's expression changed: "Master, I have to go back now. Today the shark-hunting team had an unlucky day at sea, several brothers died, and they're all waiting for me to return and handle the aftermath."

  Lu Guoyong said, "Alright, another day I'll invite you all to 'Heifengying' for a gathering. We can have a good chat."

  Ying Tianlong returned to the "Whirlwind Camp", the camp was already in disarray, Er Qinming saw Ying Tianlong and hurriedly ran over: "Master, something's happened, this time we went out to hunt sharks and suffered heavy losses, seven or eight brothers were killed by shark bites. Even Liu Nian, the small team leader, was bitten to death."

  Ying Tianlong saw a corpse lying on the ground at a glance, with half of its body gone, and it was a terrible sight. He walked over and recognized that it was Liu Nian, who had his eyes wide open in death. Ying Tianlong muttered to himself: "How could this be, how could this be?"

  Yin Tao walked over and said to him, "Master, this time at sea was not smooth sailing. The sharks seemed to have been waiting there early on, in large groups, even the shark repellent lost its effect."

  Ying Tianlong said, "Boss, you're in charge of the aftermath. Bury Liu Nian thickly and engrave the deceased's name on a stone tablet. The shark hunting activity is temporarily suspended. Don't let anyone else go to sea and die in vain."

  Ying Tianlong called over Yin Tao and asked, "Fourth brother, the sharks on Nameless Island have become extremely ferocious. They're used to eating human flesh, and once they smell blood, they'll definitely swarm up and attack fiercely. Human strength is no match for them. Think of a way, how about using explosives?"

  Yin Tao said that using zha medicine might be very difficult, and it's hard to say whether the locally-made zha medicine will work or not.

  Ying Tianlong said: "We've all seen a movie called 'Landmine Warfare', where they use stones to make landmines, isn't that also powerful?"

  Yin Tao replied: "The big shot, even if I manufacture such a powerful explosive, someone has to go underwater, you can't just set off an explosion on the shore, sharks can't swim over here."

  "The method is thought out by humans, I still say this sentence, a living person cannot be called to death by urine. There are all kinds of people in our team, I think about it, why we always lose in the past, is our boat too small, one collision and it will fall apart. The power of the long spear used is not enough, after all, human physical strength is limited. If there is zha medicine, building a slightly larger wooden boat, casualties will be smaller. There is not much food left on the island, relying solely on airdrops cannot solve the problem of hundreds of people eating and drinking, once a famine breaks out, neither you nor I can stop it."

  Yin Tao nodded and said: "Don't worry, master, I will get the medicine."

  Back in the cave, Ying Tianlong and Wang Qing carefully analyzed the results of today's meeting with Luo Guoyong. Wang Qing said that on the surface, Luo Guoyong was righteous and loyal, but in reality, he was more cunning and treacherous than anyone else. Today, he didn't make a move because he was afraid that once we took over his territory, he would be left empty-handed, reenacting Li Jiao's tragic fate.

  Ying Tianlong said: "This is the key to the problem, how to dispel his idea, it seems that we need to go through some twists and turns. Now I'm thinking, where is the breakthrough?"

  Wang Qing said, "Tian Long, don't be impatient. Isn't Luo Guoyong going to invite us to his place for a detailed discussion? A road will always appear before the mountain. Luo Guoyong has great ambitions and is ruthless, I believe he won't stay on this island forever."

  Ying Tianlong returned to his residence, Ah Lan saw that he was in a bad mood and didn't dare to speak. Ying Tianlong thought of Ali's matter and asked: "Have you told Ali about letting her follow Old Three Cui Dahong?"

  A Lan replied: "I've told her, but Ali insists on not doing it. She says she wants to follow you and doesn't want to go anywhere else."

  Ying Tianlong's face sank: "You go and bring her over for me."

  Just then, Ali herself walked over and knelt down at the feet of Ying Tianlong: "Master, please don't drive me away. I'll serve you like a cow or horse, I won't compete with Sister Alan, just let me stay, please."

  "Get up, I'm not a lecher, one woman is enough. Besides, you can't always follow me, the person I've found for you now is relatively good compared to others. You think about it yourself."

  At night before going to bed, Alan hugged him and said: "I heard that you went to negotiate with the 'Black Wind Camp' today, how was it?"

  Ying Tianlong said it's not very ideal, Luo Guoyong has a strong defensive mentality, and I'm now thinking about how to get close to him.

  A Lan said why don't you go find Jiao Feng? She and Luo Guoyong's little wife are as close as sisters, it's worth a try.

  Yīng Tiān Lóng says is it? This is actually good news, I didn't think the breakthrough would be here.