Wasteland Commander-Chapter 385 - 76: Battle for Power

Su Jing’s villa was exceptionally large, with a big hall in front capable of accommodating a hundred tables for dining together.

Today, the occasion was to welcome Su Qiao back, and it was organized with great pomp. All the distinguished guests in the city had come.

After all, the guests were aware of Su Jing and Su Qiao’s rivalry, but this was a royal internal affair that outsiders generally had no right to participate in. Many chose to watch from the sidelines, waiting for them to fight it out and then pledge allegiance to the victor.

As for their character, Su Qiao was indeed better. This young girl had been quite kind since childhood.

However, being an emperor requires more than kindness, and males have a natural advantage, so even if Su Jing’s actions were often displeasing, he still had the majority support.

Before the banquet began, Su Jing’s guards had discreetly positioned themselves within the villa.

Their role wouldn’t be used for the actual assassination of Su Qiao and Ye Fan; they were to ensure Su Qiao’s subordinates didn’t breach the location.

As long as the assassination was successful at the banquet, everything would be settled.

Time swiftly reached 8 PM, right before the banquet began.

A series of car horns could be heard at the villa entrance; Su Qiao and Ye Fan had arrived.

Su Qiao’s entourage consisted of over a dozen bulletproof cars; she brought many trusted individuals, and Ye Fan also brought some elites along.

Yuri, Tanya, Zhuge Yunxue, Shen Ruihui, and even the hero-level war dog Xiaotian accompanied Ye Fan.

Su Qiao was dressed in full princess regalia, a shoulder-revealing evening gown adorned with dazzling jewels, making her look elegant, noble, and breathtakingly beautiful.

Ye Fan wore his commander’s formal attire, clad in a commander’s cloak, and sported a flashy set of gloves in his hand.

After getting out of the car, Su Qiao took the initiative to link her arm with his, making him appear like the protagonist.

Led by the doorman, a group of more than twenty people moved toward the banquet hall entrance.

Seeing Su Qiao approaching, Su Jing immediately smiled and came to greet her.

"Hahaha! Little sister, you’ve been frightened this time. Second brother has been worried about you ever since hearing the news, and now seeing you safe and sound, a weight has finally lifted off my heart."

Su Qiao smiled and nodded: "Thank you, second brother, for your concern. Little sister has good fortune and will surely have more in the future."

"Hahaha! Great, then second brother will look forward to your fortune; this is Ye Fan, the Leader who saved you, right?"

Looking at Ye Fan, Su Jing’s eyes were filled with deep hatred.

This bastard ruined his plans; had it not been for his meddling, Su Jing would have already controlled the entire Yuanjing City.

Faced with Ye Fan, he felt a strong psychological advantage.

He was the prince, the future emperor, what was Ye Fan considered?

He was only fit to battle Zheng Jinnan fiercely in Jiangzhou, seemingly not gaining the upper hand.

If he were in a bad mood, he could order Zheng Jinnan to kill him.

This was sadly a misunderstanding; due to Yuanjing City’s far distance to the east, information flow wasn’t very smooth, so their perception of Ye Fan still remained as it was over a month ago.

They were unaware of the later zombie siege, Jiangzhou’s heavy losses, and Ye Fan’s rapid expansion in the Loose Province.

Hence, facing Ye Fan, Su Jing crossed his arms, with a princely demeanor, waiting for Ye Fan to come and pay respects.

Unexpectedly, Ye Fan showed no courtesy and instead said to him: "Your Highness, it’s inconvenient for me to take off my gloves right now, so I won’t shake hands with you. I’ll take the initiative to approach next time."

Upon hearing this, Su Jing’s nose almost went awry with anger. What was this kid saying? Did he think Su Jing was going to take the initiative to shake hands with him?

This kid must be daydreaming, what does he think he is!

He intended to explode, but he was worried that if Su Qiao got angry and turned away, his arrangements for the day would be in vain, so he could only endure it.

"Haha! Leader Ye jests; this prince never takes the initiative to shake hands with anyone. Little sister, come inside quickly; I’ve prepared many things you love."

Su Jing tried to have his little sister link arms with him, but Su Qiao did not respond to him at all, continuing to link arms with Ye Fan while walking inside.

Su Jing secretly fueled his temper, inwardly cursing open-mouthed.

With Su Qiao’s presence, the guests were now all in attendance, and the banquet officially began.

Su Jing proactively addressed the attending guests, stating that his sister went on vacation and faced danger but thankfully returned safely; everyone should drink heartily and celebrate together.

The guests were very obliging, continuously flattering with kind words, and the atmosphere was quite lively.

Su Jing also arranged for several companions, inviting everyone to drink together, which added to the lively drinking atmosphere; it wasn’t long before everyone was somewhat intoxicated.

Then came the staged performances.

Despite many survivors outside still struggling to eat, places like these royal-like banquets were incredibly lavish and opulent, offering everything imaginable.

Singing, dancing, acrobatics, comedic skits—all performances the people haven’t seen for a long time took the stage one by one, and the level of the performances was quite high.

Once the performances reached a certain heightened stage, two officers from Su Qiao’s side unexpectedly proposed inviting two people from Su Jing’s side to cooperate in performing martial arts.

In the post-apocalyptic world, martial arts performances were very popular, often featuring mutants performing because they could accomplish feats ordinary people couldn’t.

Inviting one side to the other carried hints of comparison and challenge.

The two officers from Su Qiao’s side were Peak Level 2 mutants, quite skilled.

Their invitation to challenge, coupled with Su Qiao and Su Jing’s relationship, added a lot of intrigue.

Since this duel was proposed by Su Qiao’s side, it means she was the one provoking.

The problem is that Su Qiao did not arrange this at all, these two voluntarily stepped forward, their intentions are hard to pinpoint.

Upon seeing this scene, Su Jing also called over Li Mo and Zheng Gang.

"You two go over, play with my sister’s subordinates, remember to hold back, don’t hurt the peace."

"Don’t worry, Your Highness, we will complete the task!"

Li Mo and Zheng Gang stepped forward, ordered to demonstrate their martial arts against Su Qiao’s people.

The four walked to the center of the stage, and the performance began.

The performance mostly involved cold weapons combat since hot weapons are not suitable for indoor use.

At the beginning, the performance was quite normal, you strike and I counter, quite lively but mostly routine.

But as they continued fighting, for unknown reasons, whether the two from Su Qiao’s side drank too much or what, they suddenly brandished their weapons and started attacking aggressively, the dazzling flashes of the blades made one shudder all over.

"Little sister! What do your people mean by this!"

Su Jing directly stood up and reprimanded, began accusing Su Qiao.

Su Qiao remained calm: "It’s just a performance, why are you making a fuss, second brother."

"Fine! Fine! They fight so fiercely yet you still think it’s a performance, should anything happen, don’t blame me for not warning you!"

With the cautionary words spoken, Su Jing sat down.

The fight on stage intensified, the participants were all experts, under the slash of blade energy they actually shattered the stage!

Yet the four had no intention to stop, starting to fight fiercely in the hall, seeming to ignite real anger, clangs of weapons causing others to continuously retreat.

Crash~~!

A table flipped over, people screamed and ran away.

At this moment, Li Mo and Zheng Gang gained the advantage, after all, their skills were stronger, the two peak Level 2 Mutants opposite couldn’t hold out.

Seeing them faltering, unexpectedly, someone from behind Su Qiao rushed up to help.

"Li Mo! Zheng Gang! You two better not act arrogant, let us experience the pseudo-Level 3 now!"

Instantly, five or six more people joined in, preparing to gang up on Li Mo and Zheng Gang.

While the people on Su Jing’s side were no pushovers either, immediately a group joined in to assist, the one-on-one fight instantly turned into a brawl.

The battlefield expanded suddenly, others nearby got swept in too, the duel turned directly into actual combat, inevitably with some getting injured.

Seeing blood drawn, even people getting killed on the spot, guests began screaming and running outside.

The chaos quickly extended to Su Qiao and Ye Fan’s table.

Entrenched in a murderous rage, Li Mo no longer held back, each wielding a blade, killing the two officers they were fighting against.

These two were arranged by Su Jing to stir conflict and ultimately shift blame onto Su Qiao.

Seeing their goal achieved, they no longer held back, charging straight at Su Qiao and Ye Fan.

Despite Su Qiao and Ye Fan having quite a few Level 2 Mutants around, once the pseudo-Level 3 Mutants erupted, the Level 2 Mutants’ effectiveness was greatly reduced.

Just as they charged, Tanya suddenly drew her gun!

Bam bam bam bam~~~!

The fierce shooting resembled firecrackers, forcefully pushing back the two pseudo-Level 3 Mutants.

With a swift flick and discard of the magazine, Tanya replaced bullets and continued shooting.

Even the seemingly impervious individual had to cautiously protect their eyes at this moment as each of the woman’s shots targeted his eyes.

Just as the two struggled to launch an attack, Yuri intervened.

Silently and effortlessly, two spiritual control lines, only visible to Ye Fan, invaded their minds between Yuri’s blinks.

In their focus on withstanding Tanya’s attacks, they failed to guard against suddenly falling under control.

Approximately two seconds later, their thoughts shifted.

Why kill Su Qiao?

Obviously, Su Jing is the real scoundrel, what were they doing?

The two felt deep guilt and, to show their repentance, suddenly turned and charged at Su Jing.

Li Mo swung with sweeping strikes, chopping down several beside Su Jing like vegetables, Zheng Gang dashed within an instant to Su Jing’s side.

"Your Highness, be careful! It’s dangerous here, let us take you away!"

Grabbing forcefully with huge arms, he directly seized and locked Su Jing’s neck, forcibly taking him away.

Being a pseudo-Level 3 Mutant, a Strength Type, his grip was overwhelmingly strong.

Even though Su Jing was a Level 1 Mutant, he was rendered powerless, with a snap, his neck broke!