Donti stood there quietly.
They currently had six people who were wounded, so it would be an extremely terrifying amount of work if favonovel.com had to complete it for the six of them all by himself.
When the reinforced troops assigned the tasks to everyone, they would definitely set it after accounting for the maximum workload a person could perform.
That would mean it was already not going to be easy to complete one’s own task, so how could they possibly complete the tasks for the others as well?
At this moment, Old Bane and Michael came over to favonovel.com and said, “Don’t worry, we’ll share the burden with you. Let’s work together to overcome this difficult situation.”
The three other male students who were not injured also stood up. “There’s us as well.”
Even the female students raised their hands. “We can share some of the workload too.”
The injured Magnus also stood up while struggling. “I’ve almost recovered from my injuries, so I can start working as well.”
Donti smiled. “Sit down. I don’t want you to end up becoming disabled. You don’t have to make it sound so noble. It’s only a bit of work, that’s all.”
Donti felt rather warm inside. The people around favonovel.com had gone through the test of time and were comrades who would go through thick and thin for each other. They had built a foundation of trust.
Looking at the other escapees around them, they did not even have anyone they could mutually depend on.
In the past, Donti and Milo had always been on their own. But now, Donti felt a sense of unity.
Adella took a handful of mud and smeared it onto the faces of the female students and Linda. “In this wilderness, we have to guard against others who might be eyeing us since Milo isn’t around. All of you have such beautiful and fair skin, so there will definitely be some people with dirty thoughts. Find an empty spot later to change clothes. Put on some loose-fitting clothes so that you won’t have to show your figures.”
The female students were caught in a dilemma.
Wouldn’t smearing mud on their faces make them look really ugly?
But the female students who’d survived until now were not stupid either, so they let Adella apply the mud on them.
After being smeared with mud, they all looked at each other and giggled upon realizing that they looked equally ugly.
Then Adella said, “Remember to carry a rock in your pockets. If someone is truly up to no good, you can hit them with it. Remember to hit them on the back of their head one inch below the eyebrows. If you use enough strength, you can even kill them. That’s what Milo taught me.”
This was the philosophy of survival that Adella had learned from Milo. They would lay low and only kill if they could not keep a low profile anymore.
Building a refugee camp was no small task. The process involved tamping the ground, excavating the earth, cutting down trees, and building the barracks. All of these processes required plenty of manpower to complete. If a group of well-trained troops built the refugee camp, they could probably finish it in just a few days. But it was clear that the reinforced troops were only planning on supervising the escapees and did not intend to build it themselves.
When they found someone slacking off, they would even mercilessly hit them with the butt of their rifles. An old man was hit in the waist by a soldier until favonovel.com couldn’t stand anymore. Some of the Stronghold 108 residents who wanted to protest ended up getting beaten to the ground by the soldiers as soon as they tried.
All of the escapees were performing their tasks in a trance. They realized that when war broke out, their fates would change.
In a war, no one was unaffected.
In reality, the Radianz Consortium had another purpose for building the refugee camp. They wanted the escapees to expend all of their energy in the process of building it so they would be too exhausted to cause any trouble.
This was their usual way of dealing with their veterans. When a batch of veterans were close to retiring, the officers would have them plant trees to prevent them from causing trouble. They would have to dig countless planting holes for trees and then cover them again every day until they worked themselves to the bone. Afterwards, no one had the energy to make trouble.
Donti and his group were assigned to carry logs. Their daily task was to transport ten wooden logs each. Two people had to carry a log that was as thick as a thigh.
The logs were extremely dense and heavy, especially for Donti who was a little short. Whenever the log tilted down on his side, it felt like most of the log’s weight was pressing down on him.
At first, they thought it would not be a big deal to carry ten logs every day. But when they actually started carrying them, they discovered the logs were way heavier than they imagined.
Fortunately, Donti could use the nanomachines. He concentrated them at his shoulders, arms, and legs, which made it easier for him. Not only did favonovel.com have to carry ten logs, but favonovel.com also had to complete the task for Milo and the wounded members. Gradually, the nanomachines started running out of power. The area around his shoulders was hurting from abrasions, and blisters also formed on his hands.
Other people could take a short break after transporting a log back, but Donti’s group could not.
The Radianz Consortium’s troops had created a register in which the refugees had to write their names on whenever they carried a log back. Only by doing so could they avoid getting punished, and there were no shortcuts around it. Moreover, these troops did not care if they were men, women, the elderly, or children. Everyone was assigned the same heavy workload and would get beaten up if they failed to meet their quota.
Donti once told Milo that favonovel.com hated the strongholds, the organizations, and the stronghold residents. He even told Milo that if Miriam did not come and look for them, they should not go to Stronghold 88.
When Miriam had come to Stronghold 108, Donti felt a little happy on the inside. He always felt that Miriam was different from the others who came from the strongholds. Furthermore, Donti hoped that the Radianz Consortium that Miriam was from would be different from the others and not treat human lives lightly. But it turned out the organizations in this world were all the same. There was essentially no difference between them.
The only difference was Miriam.
In the afternoon, Adella and the girls were exhausted after completing their workload. However, Donti, Old Bane, and the other guys still had to continue carrying logs.
Poor Old Bane, who was already an old man, felt like half his life had been taken away after working all day.
Adella and the girls took a short break before standing up to help Donti and the men with their remaining workload. However, Donti persuaded them to go back since the girls were more limited in physical strength.
When Donti came back again in the evening, Adella said anxiously, “Donti, get some rest! You don’t look too good!”
Donti’s face was pale, and his lips had turned slightly purple. He put the log down. Adella quickly pulled aside his clothes at the shoulder and saw it was badly bruised.
Adella said softly with heartache, “Why didn’t you make use of the nanomachines to help?”
“They’re dead,” Donti said with a sigh.
He would have liked to use them too, but the workload for an entire day was simply too much. Other people only had to carry ten logs, but he, Old Bane, and the rest of the guys had to carry more than 20 logs daily.
“Go back and get some rest.” Adella said, “How many more logs do you have left to transport? Let me carry them instead.”
Donti tugged on Adella’s arm and said with a smile, “It’s fine, I can still endure it. Comparing my minor injuries to my brother’s injuries, it’s no big deal at all.”
