"We agree to your conditions!"

A few minutes later, after a "secret conversation" with Jameson, Jack Sparrow, exhaling smoke rings, strode confidently towards the leaders of the underground lizard people.

He pointed to the collapsed location of the shelter behind him and said to the lizard people, who were staring at him with sinister eyes as if they were looking at "food":

"That collapsed place is yours, the people from the shelter will leave, and everything they can't take with them is yours. I've already talked to Mayor Jameson, and they will be moving in a few days. You can even help."

"Hmm?"

The lizard people, divided into several tribes, looked at each other with suspicion and coldness in their eyes, covered by scales of different colors.

One of the big, black lizard people rolled his forked tongue in his mouth and, with his eyes strangely rotating at different angles, stared at Captain Jack and said:

"You, an outsider, are just talking nonsense. We don't dare to believe you. Don't look at us like this now, like wild beasts. Back in the day, we were all part of the high-end circle in Manhattan, making millions in a second, with countless schemes in mind.

Your little tricks won't fool us."

"You can go talk to them."

Jack exhaled smoke and pointed to the leaders of the shelter behind him, saying:

"I'm just a middleman responsible for passing on the message, understand? Of course, I understand what you mean. Such a big shelter is given to you just like that, and without any conditions, who would trust it?

So listen up, their condition is that several of your tribes must send people! All the lizard people who can still move must come with us to attack Osborn Tower!

Don't be afraid.

We've already sent out our elite soldiers and our heroes to make a big move there. If you have observers, you can see that the tower is already on fire."

"What a terrible condition."

Several lizard leaders made a hissing noise and shouted loudly:

"You want us to fight against those invaders! Those foreign mad dogs who destroyed the world! We don't want this shelter, and we can move in after you're dead.

We are just ordinary, helpless people."

"You are no longer ordinary people!"

Dr. Conners, who had been sitting silently like a log since the negotiations began, spoke up in a deep voice:

"You voluntarily injected my lizard serum to survive the apocalypse. From that moment on, you are no longer ordinary humans.

The changes are not only in appearance, but also in your life form.

Wearing scales, not afraid of bullets, with super healing powers to regenerate limbs, night vision to track life signals with heat, and super endurance to survive in complex environments of high and low temperatures and even chemical substances.

You can even drink unpurified water without getting infected to a certain extent.

You may still feel weak, but you cannot insult my serum!"

The biologist who created the "race" of underground people shook his tail, which was two sizes larger than that of an ordinary lizard person, and, with his jagged teeth opening and closing, wearing a white coat and oversized glasses, he said in a cold tone:

"It's not that you can't fight, it's that you're afraid.

You'd rather use your new powers to fight and snatch leftovers, rather than aim your claws at the culprits who destroyed your past lives.

You are the most failed experiment I have created.

I ask you!"

Dr. Conners stood up.

His huge size made several lizard leaders step back in fear, and he scolded them like a lizard boss disciplining his underlings:

"Are your teeth not sharp enough? Or are your claws not sharp enough? I gave you the power of cold-blooded beasts, but didn't give you the heart of a beast?"

The underground people were created by Dr. Conners' serum. Although they did not consider the doctor as a "god" or "belief," these half-baked lizard people usually had to go to Dr. Conners for treatment when they had headaches or fevers. So, although the doctor did not participate in the politics of the underground people, his reputation in this new community was absolutely high.

Faced with his scolding, the group of lizard people lowered their heads and dared not argue. The black female lizard person who spoke to Jack first whispered in defense:

"But this is different, Doctor. This scheming outsider wants to deceive us into fighting the terrifying Cleaners, but we have no need to do so.

They don't come underground, and we can pretend they don't exist."

"Don't be foolish!"

Captain Jack finally found an opportunity.

He screamed, not only attracting the attention of the lizard people, but also the attention of some members of the shelter around him. The legendary pirate agilely jumped onto a nearby box, waving his hands and shouting to the people around him like a street speaker:

"You bury your heads in the dark, pretending not to see the bullets passing underground, deceiving yourselves that everything is peaceful and nothing is happening.You can continue to hypnotize yourself and let the sweet dreams continue, but the earthquake just now was something you experienced firsthand! At this point, does anyone still think it was just a normal geological hazard?

Don't be silly!

The truth is right in front of you, you just don't want to believe it.

Take this opportunity to speak our minds."

Jack roared and publicized the matter of Osborn Tower and the Gravity Hammer here, adding a little "exaggeration" besides the facts.

For example, he threatened the Lizard People, saying that the Purifier's plan was to create a major earthquake to bury them underground, and also threatened the shelter residents, saying that the scumbags from the other world took away their heroes just to force them into a desperate situation and then conduct terrible biological experiments on them.

"Now it's to the point where we can't survive without fighting! It's no longer the era where you could hide underground to avoid danger a few years ago."

As Jack spoke, he became excited and pulled out a bottle of wine, took a big gulp, and shouted:

"The butcher's knife is in their hands, and they can do whatever they want to you at any time. You, and the Lizard People, don't think that your pitiful days at rock bottom will continue like this forever.

You might think, if things are already this bad, are you afraid of them getting worse?

But I'm laying it out here today!

If you want to seek some kind of change, tonight is your best chance. We outsiders are seen as mad dogs in your eyes, I admit that the hounds of the Star Alliance have done disgusting things, but we are different!

We don't just talk big. My brothers and sisters have already ignited Osborn Tower, and I think that's enough to prove our ability and sincerity.

We are your vanguard!

We'll handle the toughest part, and you just need to pick up your weapons, charge in, make a show of strength, and shoot every bullet at those mongrels who destroyed your world.

All the bad things can end tonight!

Come on!

Let's burn Osborn Tower to the ground!"

Jack's shouting and incitement caused a stir in the crowd.

Especially some young people who had experienced the prosperity of the old days were particularly affected. The elderly might be willing to live underground for survival, but for them, yearning for the sunlight was a human instinct.

Some excited individuals had already raised their hands along with Jack's shouting.

But the legendary pirate keenly felt that most of the people in the crowd were still hesitating, which was normal, because he only talked about risks and battles, but didn't tell them about the rewards they could get from taking risks.

In this damn era, who would do something without benefits?

Captain Jack, who was well aware of this, cleared his throat, opened his arms, and said to the silent crowd:

"Your shelter has collapsed. My poor people of the apocalypse, of course, you can try to clean it up, but I just told you that in the Purifier's need for the Gravity Hammer, living underground will only become more and more unsafe for you.

So why not change places?

How about Osborn Tower?

To read the uncut version, go to pawread dot com.

A beautiful seaside town with a wall over fifty meters high, you don't have to worry about zombies at all. Everyone has a few hours a day to bask in the sun on the surface.

People with special skills can even have a capsule house in the surface residential area.

It's a bit smaller, but it has everything you need.

After all, everyone can live where they should. You can eat synthetic meat twice a week, although I don't know what that is, it sounds good.

You can have clean water, and even buy a cola-flavored drink for a little money, and have a finger cake on your birthday every year.

Think about the children, think about the young people. Is this the way to live, hiding in this underground place and having to consider your roommates just to watch a movie?

I know there are risks.

But there are risks in everything! You could even be electrocuted by a bread machine in the shelter. If it's fate, why bother thinking about it?"

The legendary pirate paused, and in the silence, he pulled out the pistol from his waist, clicked open the chamber, and shouted to the people in front of him:

"Do you want to hide in the dark cave underground and live to a ripe old age, letting your children blame you for losing the world that should have belonged to them, living a life of mediocrity until you're eighty?

Or do you want to step onto the battlefield with me tonight?

Even if you don't survive the first ten minutes of the battle, or even more tragically, get knocked down by the first bullet.

I can't promise you anything.

I can only say that if you survive tonight, when you have children, you can boast about doing something for this crappy world.

Even if it's just a little bit.

Then you can brag as much as you want, and no one will dare to question you."

Apart from the roar and commotion of some young people, no one responded to Jack's incitement, but there was a subtle change in the silence of the crowd.

Everyone was looking at each other, as if waiting for the first person to truly step forward.

The accumulated resentment that had been hidden under the apocalypse for so long, the invisible emotions that burst forth from the pain of longing to return to the past but being forced to face the brutal reality, were brewing.

They were just waiting for a spark to ignite it.

"Well said, too well said! So well said that these words shouldn't have been spoken by an outsider like you!"Mary Jane's voice came from the crowd, and the lady in a denim outfit held a large-caliber shotgun, and many people turned to look at her.

In the shelter, the well-known Mary Jane flicked her hair, raised the weapon in her hand, and said:

"My ex-husband. You all know him, he's under the Osborne Tower right now!

Just now, he and these outsiders killed Osborne's lackeys, and the evil six who escaped the disaster tonight will not escape their judgment and punishment.

Peter Parker is fulfilling his promise to protect the city.

He lost his city, but he stood up for us again!

Brothers and sisters, this time we won't stand by like last time, watching the world being handed over. We only have this little bit left in our hands. Whoever wants to take it from us, we'll fight them to the end!

I'm going there!

For my daughter, for my late husband and son.

I need someone to go with me."

"I will!"

The old man Jameson dropped his cane and also grabbed a revolver, shouting.

Good, this is the fuse!

And it's already lit.

A few seconds later, the silent crowd exploded, roaring and waving their arms, shouting something, perhaps not even knowing what they were shouting.

But that's enough.

The guards who had been arranged in advance delivered the weapons to the crowd, and Captain Jack looked on with satisfaction. He blew a smoke ring and provocatively looked back at the lizard people, saying:

"What do you think, if I tell them now that you don't want to go to the battlefield with us and are still trying to take our shelter, what will they do?

Either come with us!

Or let's fight here first! If we can't survive, you won't have an easy time either!"

"We will."

The black mother lizard wanted to delay for a moment.

But then a muffled sound from the distant cave made all the lizard leaders' faces change drastically, and soon a blood-covered lizard ran over in a panic, shouting:

"Bad news, leaders, our supply warehouse has been blown up! It was Nightcrawler! That bastard who's been paralyzed for years somehow recovered and sneaked in and set it on fire.

Our stored food and water are all gone, and he also took our lizard eggs."

"Damn!"

The black mother lizard was completely enraged.

She raised her claws to strike the smug Captain Jack in front of her, but her raised arm was easily caught by an even stronger claw, and with Dr. Conners' thunderous reprimand, the strongest lizard leader was thrown out like a child and crashed to the ground.

"Gather your warriors!"

Dr. Lizard tore off his white coat and shouted:

"Load up these armed civilians and head to the Osborne Tower through the underground river! I'm tired of your cowardice and endless chatter, you're wasting the second chance at life you've been given, and you're wasting the serum I gave you!

Either follow us into battle!

Or I'll release the antidote and turn you back into weak humans.

You choose!"

"After this battle, the entire underground world of the East Coast will belong to you, and some of the supplies from the Osborne Tower will be given to you, more than enough to compensate for your losses."

Captain Jack blew smoke rings on the side, and said with a smirk:

"But we have to get the spoils first before we can talk about distribution, right?"

In less than ten minutes, led by Mary Jane and personally carried by Dr. Conners in black leather armor, the first batch of armed shelter civilians rode with the lizard warriors who were running on all fours in the underground river towards the Osborne Tower.

Jack was among them.

This flamboyant guy rode on the back of the black mother lizard that had been reprimanded by Dr. Conners, holding onto the lizard's dorsal fin and saying:

"Hey, as a famous captain, I still need a mount. Uh, don't be mad, I mean a partner! Do you want to team up with me in the future?"

"Hey! Lizard knight over there, take this with you!"

As they passed by the cliff where Dr. Otto was hiding, the hippie doctor shouted from above, pointing to a black iron canister beside him and shouting to Jack below:

"Take this to the battlefield and give it to Mason. Although it hasn't been fully repaired, he should be able to use it."