Yama Reborn-Chapter 586 - 583: It’s Fine, Just Taking a Stroll

Chen Nuo was actually quite looking forward to meeting the guy called [Heaven's Punishment].

Oh right, almost forgot, that guy's name is Pengpeng.

This town had already fallen under the control, or rather, the rule of Enke.

Enke had a force of three hundred, and had received basic training from the Mercenary Army.

Under the guise of his deceased former brother-in-law the mayor, Enke became his successor.

Then this guy began to handle the refugee issue.

The approach was the same as before, collecting food, repatriating one tribe and one village at a time.

At the same time, he set the recruitment point next to the refugee camp: those willing to join the military could donate their allotted repatriation rations to others, and upon entering the barracks, they would be provided with food, accommodation, clothes, and equipment.

Enke's two tasks were carried out simultaneously.

To Enke's surprise, both tasks were progressing rather unsmoothly.

Few among the refugees were willing to enlist — these youths from different tribes preferred returning to their homes to care for their families.

Meanwhile, some ambitious individuals approached Enke for negotiation.

For instance, people from certain small tribes, even though having lost their armed forces (defeated by the Mercenary Army of the Octopus Monster), still retained an archaic power structure. Often, a tribal chief or some kind of shaman held the power of speech within the tribe, especially after losing military strength, becoming leaders among the refugees instead.

Some even fancifully or ambitiously sought out Enke, seeking some kind of cooperation.

"Aren't you in need of people to enlist?"

"I can offer dozens or even hundreds of young men to join your army."

"But... in the future, I also want a share of the ruling interests in this town."

Enke was not foolish, of course.

He rejected such cooperation.

With his army's size limited to a few hundred, allowing an independent group of "dozens to hundreds of people" to form within could mean unimaginable consequences.

He didn't want to make wedding clothes for others.

Then the repatriation of refugees started becoming difficult.

Due to some intentionally spreading and instigating, the difficulty of the repatriation work began to increase.

These guys, upon realizing that cooperation with Enke was not possible, proposed another demand.

They demanded higher prices and more repatriation food.

"Otherwise, we won't leave!"

The bottom-level refugees were the most pitiful.

On one hand, they endured hunger and food shortages in the refugee camps; on the other hand, out of ignorance, they mindlessly obeyed the orders of tribal and village leaders, the elders.

They were waiting for the greedy demands of the elders to be met, forcing them to continue enduring in the camps.

The predicament Enke faced was evidently beyond what his small wit could resolve.

Enke was somewhat clever, but clearly the conditions and his insight limited him from solving such problems.

Enke actually thought about solving it with force.

"Not leaving? Then I'll use guns to force you to leave?"

But he really didn't have the guts.

With only a few hundred armed men under him, he didn't dare point the guns at the refugee camp.

If a shooting, a bloodshed incident occurred...

Frankly, he dared not execute a massacre.

Enke sought an audience with Chen Nuo twice, explaining his predicament to him, trying to seek some help from Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo listened seriously, then waved his hand indicating he wouldn't participate.

However, out of goodwill, Chen Nuo reminded Enke.

If the refugees are unwilling to leave, it can be used as external pressure to leverage the town.

If the refugees don't want to leave, yet you need more soldiers...

Then...

Enke immediately got the point, and the next day, he moved the recruitment point from the refugee camp outside the town to the busiest intersection within the town.

The more refugees that stayed, unwilling to be repatriated, the more the townspeople would feel fearful and insecure.

Thus, the need for more military protection increased.

In three days, Enke recruited over a hundred young men from the town and threw them into the barracks for training.

At this point, Enke's army was sufficient — anymore and he couldn't sustain it.

Enke's current military strength totaled five hundred, which was just right for a battalion-level military unit.

The weapons purchased from the Mercenary Army were only enough for such a number — and these were all light weapons seized from the recent military conflicts, with no chance of buying heavy weapons, nor would the Mercenary Army sell them.

In Chen Nuo's view, what Enke needed more now was a legitimate title — after all, his role as mayor was self-proclaimed.

To firmly secure this position, it depended on the situation at the President's Mansion in the Capital City.

After the President's death, Enke needed an appointment from the new government to make his position legitimate, otherwise, there would be trouble next.

However, Enke understood this more clearly than Chen Nuo.

"Sir, you don't understand our situation here. This current government is already finished. After the President died, the President's Mansion is now a scene of wolves fighting.

Those idiots will tear each other apart until they exhaust the little strength they have left, leaving everyone badly injured.

Then, among a group of wounded wolves, one only slightly less harmed will barely stand up. The others, too heavily injured, will be forced to submit.

Ultimately stabilizing the situation.

But that's merely the beginning of their end!

Because the country still has other warlords and local forces.

And the military heads of this government, bleeding too much from internal strife, will, after begrudgingly coming to power, face endless challenges from new forces.

Finally, they will fall with a crash and be torn apart.

Everything is like a cycle — the force to which my brother-in-law belonged ascended by such a process.

So, I don't intend to rely on whoever is now at the President's Mansion in the Capital City — they're bound to perish, it's only a matter of time.

I just want to guard this city, amass strength, and develop power.

Then, when some new force occupies the capital and becomes the new government,

I'll have sufficient self-preserving forces, not to be annexed.

Then, I can become a local armed force, a regional warlord.

So, I'm in no hurry to show goodwill or pledge loyalty to the President's Mansion in the Capital.

Because that guy is not far from death, I'm waiting for the new king — the real new king to ascend."

Alright then, Chen Nuo thought the guy made some sense too.

Most importantly, Chen Nuo was also reluctant to get too involved in this matter.

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In the next two or three days, Chen Nuo uncharacteristically stopped lounging in the Mayor Mansion.

Nor did he continue carrying a bucket to go fishing every day.

He suddenly had a new interest.

He went for a stroll outside the town.

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After the previous violent incident attacking medical personnel, the International Hospital in the town halted their medical team's entry into the refugee camp.

But over time, the refugee camp couldn't hold out — in such hot weather, coupled with the lack of food and fresh water.

The emergence of disease was an inevitable issue.

The director of the International Hospital was the local municipal government — now replaced by one of Enke's men.

The deputy director, however, was from the International Medical Organization.

The deputy dean, in name, had halted the hospital's medical group's actions to enter the refugee camp.

But it must be said, the doctors engaged in international medical aid, are those filled with great love.

You could call them saints.

Perhaps they truly are.

After learning that many people in the refugee camp were falling ill due to lack of medical resources, the situation moved many of the aid doctors.

Though officially no longer organized, some spontaneous medical aid actions began to occur gradually.

Entering the refugee camp had become unsafe.

However, they still managed to organize and collect several batches of medical supplies, some common drugs.

Then after negotiating with Enke, these were delivered to the refugee camp daily through the convoy transporting fresh water and food.

The water and food convoy was protected by soldiers under Enke's command.

And some brave and kind-hearted doctors would take this opportunity, occasionally bringing along a box or two of medicine, to follow the convoy into the refugee camp.

Some would even take advantage of the short two-hour window the convoy spent in the refugee camp to conduct consultations in the vehicle.

Chen Nuo suddenly became interested in these people.

He began wandering outside the town and even joined the convoy, entering the refugee camp with these people to distribute food and water.

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The first impression upon entering the refugee camp was one of disorder and chaos.

And the first more direct feeling was...

Stench!

Walking in the refugee camp, Chen Nuo felt the air all around was filled with that kind of smell.

It's that rancid odor.

Water is scarce here, and hygiene conditions are even more lacking.

Maintaining drinking water every day is already extremely difficult.

Naturally, there are no conditions for bathing.

You could say that for as many days as the refugees have stayed here, that's how many days they haven't bathed.

Laundry is even more out of the question.

By the roadside behind him, the water delivery truck and a battered truck transporting food were parked.

There was also a rusty van where two doctors from the hospital were seeing patients.

Sick refugees would come over to seek help.

This bit of medical aid was just a drop in the bucket.

Chen Nuo stood by the roadside for a while.

Then he realized that he was observing the convoy situation.

And many refugees around were observing him.

Standing in the refugee camp, Chen Nuo was very conspicuous.

First, he was an Asian with yellow skin—which made him stand out in a crowd of black refugees.

Secondly, he was clean.

He bathed every day at the Mayor Mansion—occasionally more than once a day.

His clothes were also clean.

And the people here... most of the refugees were bald, having shaved their heads.

And the few black people with hair had curly hair matted together.

Everyone was the same: thin and haggard, with lackluster spirits.

But being surrounded and observed by these people, Chen Nuo instead felt a creepy sensation.

It was like being stared at by a pack of wolves.

Chen Nuo's heart sank.

He suddenly realized... that the issues these refugees were facing needed to be resolved soon, or else problems would arise.

These people had been hungry for too long.

Chen Nuo thought for a moment, then casually walked toward a gathering place for refugees.

As he walked over, the crowd watching him dispersed as if they had a bit of fear towards Chen Nuo.

With a calm demeanor, Chen Nuo walked into this area of tents—but calling them tents was a bit of an exaggeration.

Most of them weren't genuine tents. They were makeshift shelters the refugees made with local resources.

The simplest ones were just some leaves refugees collected from the forest, propped up with sticks to form a frame, with leaves covered on top to block wind and rain.

Entering this area of tents, Chen Nuo casually pulled out some compressed biscuits and candies from his pocket.

At first, no one dared to come forward, but they all stared intently at what Chen Nuo held.

Finally, when a young black boy mustered up the courage to come over and took a packet of compressed biscuits from Chen Nuo's hand...

Quickly, a group of people flocked over.

With a smile, Chen Nuo took out the things and put them on the ground in front of him, then quickly left.

Watching the crowd scramble for the things on the ground, Chen Nuo swiftly squeezed out of the crowd.

This process made Chen Nuo somewhat uncomfortable—being jostled by the crowd with such awful odors was not pleasant.

·

For three or four consecutive days, Chen Nuo roamed around the refugee camp every day.

He acted like a living Bodhisattva, carrying a bag of compressed biscuits and candies each day as he followed the convoy into the refugee camp.

Wandering around, then randomly finding a place to distribute the food he brought.

By the fourth day, the refugees had begun to get used to Chen Nuo's arrival.

When he appeared, the refugees no longer looked at him with fear but with anticipation.

Through four days of observation, Chen Nuo had already found his target.

On this day, just like before, after entering with the convoy, he walked deep into the refugee camp, found a place, and put the food he brought on the ground.

The surrounding refugees who followed him rushed up.

As Chen Nuo extricated himself from the crowd and stood outside, he saw a figure standing about ten meters to his left, inside what seemed like a relatively decent tent.

It was an old black man, wearing what appeared to be a relatively complete robe—looking more like a bedsheet draped over him.

Chen Nuo had already noticed that this old man was actually secretly directing, commanding some people to squeeze into the crowd and grab the food he brought.

Over several days, Chen Nuo had discovered that the refugee camp was also clearly divided, with different tribes occupying different positions.

The more powerful and numerous tribes occupied better positions.

Some tribal leaders were secretly competing, using negotiations to allocate resources entering the refugee camp.

For instance, which tribe gets to receive the daily distributed food and fresh water first, and so on.

As an "unexpected" presence, the food Chen Nuo brought into the refugee camp, although not much, was "unplanned." So, over four consecutive days, this unexpected act began to be "scheduled and distributed."

Today it was clear the refugees following him belonged to a relatively strong and populous tribe.

When Chen Nuo saw the old black man, the latter also clearly noticed Chen Nuo eyeing him.

The old black man seemed to frown, wanting to retreat into the tent, but Chen Nuo smiled slightly and ran over in a few steps.

Surrounding the tent, two strong black men immediately tried to block him, but Chen Nuo easily slipped past them.

Chen Nuo had already grabbed hold of the old man's clothing.

"You took my food, and didn't even have the basic courtesy? At least say thank you!"

Chen Nuo spoke, with very fluent local dialect.

The old black man seemed a little surprised but quickly said coldly, "The chaos was brought by you outsiders, why should we say thank you."

Chen Nuo released his grip on the old man's clothing: "I want to see Pengpeng."

The old black man frowned.

Chen Nuo smiled and said, "He has another name, called 'Heaven's Punishment.'"

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