Cave Refuge-Chapter 343 - 306 Regular Meeting
Zachary Thompson was not very clear about the situation in other cities of China, but in Pengcheng and Saxon County, the Survivor Camps had basically all started using giant timbers to construct walls and erected defense facilities similar to ancient mountain strongholds.
While Zachary Thompson was casually chatting with Finnley Leo on the city wall, he didn’t know whether it was because some special forces members had informed Robinson William.
At this moment, Robinson William came up to the wall to find Zachary Thompson. Before Zachary could even greet him, Robinson opened with, "Where have you been these days? No one could find you. Even though you told your aunt and uncle in advance, you have been away from home for far too long. If you don’t come back soon, who knows, I might really end up at your family’s banquet."
Hearing this, Zachary Thompson rolled his eyes. He had not expected that as soon as he returned, instead of a warm welcome from Robinson William, he would be greeted with an immediate confrontation.
"Stop rolling your eyes. Finnley Leo, you continue scouting the wall. Zachary, come with me to the Conference Room right now," Robinson said.
Zachary Thompson didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to Finnley Leo before Robinson dragged him away from the wall.
After coming down from the wall, Zachary noticed that the makeshift houses previously made from the shells of Giant Scorpions had completely disappeared, replaced by three-story wooden houses.
The camp now closely resembled those tourist holiday resorts with Leisure Manors pre-disaster, with rows of wooden houses that were not only eco-friendly but also increasingly comfortable, getting closer to the pre-disaster living standards.
Zachary followed Robinson straight into the wooden building at the entrance marked ’Comprehensive Office Building,’ which was one of the few five-story structures in the camp.
The two of them arrived at the third floor and just as they opened the door, there were already quite a few people sitting inside waiting for them. Seeing the young and familiar faces, Zachary realized this was definitely a trap.
However, since he was already there, leaving now, although he probably wouldn’t be stopped by others, would be quite embarrassing.
There were exactly two seats left at the round table, and Zachary conveniently took the seat next to Madeline.
Before anyone could react, Zachary sat down and immediately said, "It looks like I’m the main character here. Speak up, everyone, what do you need from me?’
"We weren’t specifically waiting for you. This matter was already scheduled. You haven’t shown your face for two months. If someone hadn’t reported your return just now, we might have already finished here," someone replied.
"Enough with the empty talk. What’s the topic today?" Zachary interrupted.
Seeing Zachary’s domineering attitude, a few people showed displeased expressions.
The one who had just been confrontational with Zachary was from the Jefferson Family. Ever since their eldest died mysteriously in the office, the leading role of the Jefferson Family had diminished, although not to the point of total decline, their status had still significantly fallen.
In the seniors’ group that respected seniority, since Mr. Thompson had joined later, his status in the group was low. The Jefferson Family’s status was unstable due to the death of their exemplary young generation.
Because of this, they were now urgently in need of finding a suitable target to make an example of by killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, letting others know that despite issues, the Jefferson Family was not to be trifled with.
Therefore, the Thompson Family, being at the bottom of the seniors’ group and having fewer family members, became the easiest target to attack.
However, it was only a matter of suppressing them superficially, as no one was foolish enough to really start a physical conflict at this time. Yet, it was still necessary to gain some verbal advantage.
While the older generation could maintain a facade of harmony, the younger ones were ultimately less tolerant, which resulted in confrontations like the one with Zachary Thompson. The Jefferson Family wouldn’t go out of their way to cause trouble for Zachary, but inevitably some words would be exchanged to gain a verbal upper hand when meeting face to face.
But Zachary Thompson was not one to indulge them, and when it was time to fight back, he wouldn’t hold back his words.
The others present had grown accustomed to such confrontations, but Rylan, seated at the head of the table, opened with, "Enough, both of you stop arguing. Zachary, you’ve been away from the camp so long, we indeed had to speak with you, but don’t worry too much. As Elder Jefferson III said, this meeting wasn’t arranged just for you.
I won’t say more than necessary. Let’s get to the main issue. If anyone messes around while I’m talking about serious matters, don’t blame me for being ruthless afterward."
After speaking, Rylan gave a warning glance to both Zachary Thompson and Matias Jefferson.
"Today’s meeting has two topics. Let’s start with the first, the same old issue, whether we should move back to Pengcheng. Even though the West City District Command Post has been reestablished and our return would be unrelated, Pengcheng is now developing infrastructure. If we become involved, we could end up living in houses with electricity.
Moving back now might mean some loss, but as Pengcheng develops, if we wait too long, there might be nothing left for us.
Besides, there’s the matter of clearing prehistoric creatures around the camp. The security zone beyond the city walls is still too small, and because of the giant trees, visibility is obstructed.
So, in my opinion, we should mobilize survivors to keep clearing trees along the walls, ensuring at least a one-kilometer ’safety zone’ between the forest and the walls."
