Who Dares

Alice's close relationship with Hurley in the grain convoy was no secret. The man looked at the refined-looking Hurley and sneered, "If you want to stand up for a woman, you need to see if you have the ability."

After saying that, the man's expression suddenly turned fierce, and he threw a punch at Hurley's face. The speed was so fast that the people around couldn't react in time.

Alice was startled in her heart and was about to intervene when Hurley's actions were faster than hers. He flicked the dagger he was playing with, hitting the man's fist squarely.

"Ah~" the man's screams rang out. The crowd looked over to see a dagger sticking out of the man's hand, and thick blood quickly freezing in the extremely cold weather.

People standing near Hurley silently stepped back two steps. Indeed, one cannot judge a book by its cover, and the sea is immeasurable.

Some people, who appeared handsome and refined like gods, could be unexpectedly violent. "Don't just stand there, quickly get medicine to treat him," Craig said coldly, looking at the injured man. "Since you joined the grain convoy, you must follow the rules. Anyone causing trouble next time will be asked to leave directly."

Those with keen eyes could see that Craig was biased towards Hurley. People who joined the convoy halfway through were puzzled and asked in a low voice, "Who is that guy, and why does it seem like Craig is on his side?"

"He's from the Base Research Institute. I advise you to open your eyes, don't provoke him, and definitely don't mess with that woman," the speaker gestured in Alice's direction.

After the morning incident, the convoy continued on its way. Two days later, they finally reached the granary, but the guards did not allow them to enter.

Craig went to negotiate with the guards, "We have the documents from above to transport grain. What is the meaning of this?"

There were sentries around the granary, armed and vigilant, staring at them.

"Who cares about the documents now? Anyway, we've occupied this place. You can go back where you came from," the guard replied.

Craig's face darkened, and just as he was about to speak, Hurley stepped forward and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you guys are villagers from nearby. What you're doing here is illegal occupation."

Craig looked surprised at the revelation. The people at the guard post were wearing military uniforms, and he thought they were military personnel.

The guard looked somewhat uneasy, about to retort when Hurley pointed to a little boy playing with snow in the corner.

Craig glanced over, and his tone became less friendly, "The granary does not belong to you. I suggest you leave quickly and return to your village."

Seeing that they had been discovered, the guard gave up pretending and shouted into the granary, "Someone is trying to steal our food, be on alert!"

The next moment, an alarm sounded in the granary, and a dense sound of footsteps approached. Men, women, and children living in the granary came out with weapons—shovels, hoes, and even iron rods. Even children held stones to throw at them.

"The food belongs to us. Don't even think about taking it."

Our village has had a poor harvest. How do you expect so many of us to survive?"It's you who should leave. Who dares to compete with us?" Anyone who dares to snatch our food, we'll fight them to the death!"

"Get lost! Get lost! Get lost!"

The villagers inside the granary shouted loudly.

Craig furrowed his brows deeply, unable to think of a good way to deal with this situation for a moment. If these people were ruthless bandits, he could have dealt with them decisively. Unfortunately, these were local villagers, including the elderly and children, and he needed to come up with a foolproof plan.

"I understand your difficulties, but the ones suffering now are not just you. How about this, we'll divide the food in the granary equally. We'll take half, and you keep the other half."

"No, at most, we'll give each of you a large bag of rice," the leading village chief refused.

The granary stored a hundred thousand tons of rice, enough for the people of several villages to eat for decades. As long as they held onto the granary, they had nothing to fear. If anyone tried to take the granary from them, everyone would fight together until only the last person remained. If someone wanted the granary, they would have to step over their dead bodies.

More and more people poured out of the granary, instantly surrounding the entire grain convoy, with hundreds of people at the very least.

"Craig, it's impossible to snatch it forcibly. Let's withdraw for now," Hurley whispered.

The villagers also had guns, and engaging in a fight would not be advantageous for anyone. Moreover, the grain convoy had limited bullets, and facing a larger crowd, they would be the ones at a disadvantage in the end.

Craig knew this too, but he couldn't help the unnamed anger boiling inside him. This was the country's granary, and so many people in the base depended on this rice for survival. The villagers were taking some, which was understandable, but wanting to seize several hundred thousand tons of rice was beyond acceptable.

"Let's go," Craig ordered.

The villagers breathed a sigh of relief as they saw the convoy drive away. They knew they were in the wrong, but at a life-and-death moment, their own survival was the most important thing; they couldn't worry about others.The village chief stared at the departing vehicles with a sinister expression. "Keep an eye on them. If there's a chance, eliminate them directly. They are people from the base; we can't let them go back alive and bring reinforcements. Otherwise, the granary is definitely not secure."

"Yes!" a man responded."Also, make them speed up the transfer of the food. It's no longer safe to stay in the granary."

The base had set its sights on the granary, and this group of people was likely the vanguard. Eliminating them would only delay the inevitable, and it didn't mean complete safety.

...

The grain convoy stopped at a basketball court in a village for a rest, and Craig wore a troubled expression.

"Craig, as long as we take care of those with guns, we can charge in," a man suggested.

"They have the numbers advantage. Each of them coming at you with a stick would overwhelm you. Besides, do you think they'll show mercy to your men?" Craig glanced at him. "Once the fighting starts, it's a matter of life and death. They came this time to scout, and their manpower is limited. The base will send more people later."

Without additional support, they wouldn't be able to haul back a hundred thousand tons of rice with their current numbers.Thinking everything would go smoothly, they never expected that the granary would be occupied by villagers from nearby.

"What do we do now?" someone asked.

Craig replied, "Tomorrow, send two people back to the base with a message. Ask them to send more reinforcements, and we'll stay here to guard."

There was no signal outside, making it impossible to contact the base. They had to make a trip backThe others agreed to follow Craig's plan.

Hurley sat in Alice's car, lifted the curtain, and stared at the nearby mountain road. "The enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light. The method of going back to report is not feasible."