The upper levels of the base were in chaos. Almost all the internal guards who used to maintain order had left their posts, making the scene noisy. Li Mingfeng and Lin Chuan ran out of the room and saw Zeng Yu leading three or four internal guards dragging a person over. "It's not me! It's not me!" The man struggled desperately, but was pinned to the ground by Zeng Yu and the others. He looked about thirty years old, his body was as thin as a bamboo pole, his face and body were covered with fresh footprints, and one of his eyes was black and blue. "Everyone go back to their posts!" Li Mingfeng first shouted to the inner guards. More and more people were squeezing this way. If not handled carefully, it is likely to cause a stampede. His first thought was not to figure things out. reason, but to restore order. Lin Chuan also helped persuade people to leave. After a few minutes, although there were still people around, the enthusiasm of the people calmed down more or less. "What happened?" Li Mingfeng asked with a frown. He became increasingly helpless with Zeng Yu's personality of always making things worse. "He is a thief!" Zeng Yu finally calmed down a little and said to Lin Chuan and Li Mingfeng. "It's not me! It's not mine!" The man started struggling again, and Zeng Yu kicked him without hesitation. His body arched up like a shrimp, and he no longer had the ability to argue. "This person came to the base four days ago and was arranged to live in the east corridor." Zeng Yu introduced. "We just started organizing people to adjust the residence according to Brother Li's request. He wrapped six or seven cans in a quilt to fish in troubled waters, but we found out!" He lifted an old quilt from behind and placed it in front of the man. The quilt was covered One corner was torn open, revealing the unique metallic luster of the tin can. Zeng Yu lifted up the quilt and shook it vigorously, and rolled out seven sardine cans from the quilt cover. The crowd of onlookers suddenly became noisy. Most of the people living in the upper floors were old people. They had almost never experienced hunger, but such supplies were also a luxury that was out of reach for them, which made them angry immediately. "The new ones are all thieves!" someone soon shouted. "They have stolen all our things!" "Beat him to death!" "Drive them out!" Someone immediately began to echo and shouted even more outrageous words. It wasn¡¯t just one or two people shouting, the sound came from almost every direction, and the crowd that had finally calmed down began to push and push again. Lin Chuan frowned. He knew that there was serious opposition in the base, but he didn't know that the situation was already so serious. ¡°Lock them up first and persuade them to go back!¡± He immediately said to Li Mingfeng. Zeng Yu was still looking complacently at the crowd around him when Li Mingfeng slapped him from behind. "Look what trouble you've caused again! Lock them up quickly!" he said angrily. "Where?" Zeng Yu asked, rubbing the back of his head aggrievedly. "Go to my room first, close the door, and find someone to guard him." Lin Chuan replied. "Persuade everyone to go back, and then invite the management for a meeting!" The chaos gradually subsided after half an hour. Several more fights broke out between the newcomers and the elderly. This was the first time Lin Chuan saw the base. There was such a serious conflict that he angrily separated the fighting men and threw them heavily to the floor. "Want to fight?" he said to them. "Come at me! Come on!" People cowered. Even the most impulsive person would not be able to challenge Lin Chuan. They slowly separated. But when Lin Chuan walked back to the conference room full of anger, there were still many people waiting there, hoping to see a "just" verdict. "You can't protect them anymore! Look what they are!" Someone shouted to Lin Chuan. He walked into the conference room without saying a word with a livid face. "Everyone knows what happened, right?" Li Mingfeng asked straight to the point. Most people nodded, but some people like Lu Guangping and Chen Jian, who had been busy at the lower level, shook their heads blankly, so Li Mingfeng asked Zeng Yu to tell the story again. Liu Bin and several other newcomer representatives bit their lips and said nothing, while Leng Suan and others sat in the corner expressionlessly as usual. No one doubts the authenticity of the matter. Although Zeng Yu sometimes does things very confusingly, he is not the kind of person who would frame others. More importantly, food thefts happen all the time, and internal guards can often find empty cans or packaging bags that have been secretly discarded. Zeng Yu has been trying to catch a typical example to scare others, and today it finally happened. What happened has long been expected by everyone. "Does anyone have any opinion on this person's guilt?" Li Mingfeng asked.?. No one answered. Being convicted of stealing seven cans may seem unthinkable before the end of the world. The owner of such a stolen amount is unlikely to even call the police, and the police will never open a case for investigation. But in the end of the world, such a number can even be said to be "huge" and "a particularly huge number", and it cannot be ignored in any case. There are countless stories told by newcomers about being robbed and killed because they were carrying an object that looked like a can. Someone looked at Lin Chuan. His face was ugly, but he had no obvious tendency. This made those who were ready to speculate can only continue to wait and see for the time being. "Then we can discuss the next issue directly, how to deal with him?" Li Mingfeng asked. There was still silence. "Are there many such things?" Lin Chuan asked for the first time after entering the conference room. "Why do people outside react so strongly?" Lu Guangping looked at Li Mingfeng and nodded. "It is true that a lot of food was stolen during this period, but there is no evidence that it was all done by newcomers." "Who else besides them?" Zeng Yu asked. "Before they came in, things like this rarely happened." "You only caught this one, so you can't draw conclusions so easily." Liu Bin said immediately. "The places where thefts occur are not just populated by new people. Many old people also live in those places. Unless you find evidence, everyone is equally suspicious." "Of course you would say that." Zeng Yu snorted, He could still control himself in front of Lin Chuan. "You are a newcomer yourself." "Stop arguing!" Li Mingfeng slammed the table. He felt embarrassed that such a thing happened in front of Lin Chuan, which made him feel that everything was no longer under his control. "Which department does this person belong to? Who is his team leader?" One of the newcomers to the management raised his hand. The man who was caught was called Xiang Chun, a survivor under his charge, because there was no one His useful skills have not been assigned to any department yet, but have been assigned to the corridor where he lives. An old man is responsible for leading them as the team leader. The team leader was quickly found. According to his account, Xiang Chun's hands and feet were indeed unclean. Within one day of being assigned to this team, he stole towels, soap and razors from another team. For this reason, he He was also slapped several times. "I scolded him severely, and he promised not to steal again. I really don't know when he stole the can, and I didn't see him eating it." The team leader said with a frown. "He has hands and feet, and I can't keep an eye on him 24 hours a day!" The team leader was sent back, and the people in the conference room had to continue discussing how to deal with him. Kill him? Not to mention that this will definitely arouse opposition from Lin Chuan, no one here will really decide to let a living person die for the sake of seven cans. It was a fact that he was nervous about food, but Lin Chuan could bring back at least hundreds of these cans at one time, which made everyone's sentencing standards somewhat loose. But it is impossible not to take the matter seriously. Even Liu Bin, as a newcomer, does not expect that this matter can be let go lightly. As the first thief to be caught, everyone is watching the outcome of this matter. If a severe punishment cannot be given, this kind of thing will be uncontrollable. "Have you discovered any other similar incidents?" Wang Qinian asked. "I found a lot of hidden food, but it was all abandoned. I think I did it after learning about him." Zhou Tao replied. "That will at least scare them temporarily." Wang Qinian whispered. The exchange between him and Zhou Tao made everyone understand that the current trial has become more important. If handled properly, the number of thefts may be greatly reduced from today on. "Should we be whipped?" Liu Bin was the first to suggest it in embarrassment. "Whip him in public." "No." Liang Jin immediately objected. People thought she would give humanitarian reasons, but the reasons she gave were more convincing. "If the blow is too small, it won't work at all. If the blow is too heavy, should our medical department save him? If infection or complications occur, should we rescue him? If not, what is the difference between giving him a death sentence? The workload of medical staff is already very heavy. "You're old, don't cause trouble for us anymore." "Then tie him up to the stairs so everyone can see him," Liu Bin suggested again. "How many days will they be tied up? How? Should they be gagged? Will they be given food? Will they be allowed to go to the toilet?" Wang Qinian objected. "You can't send people to torture him every day. This sentence is too light." "Forced labor?" "Too light, there is no heavy work to do now." "Confinement." "Where is the empty room? Even if there is an empty room, it will not be his turn to enjoy it." In the conference room It became quiet again. In a narrow underground space, the measures that can be taken are really limited. In such a world, killing someone is easy, but killing someone seriously becomes a difficult problem. "Exiled?" Leng Su'an said suddenly. People are looking at him. Everyone has been used to him being the mascot for a long time. No one thought that he would suddenly make suggestions at this time. And he looked at Lin Chuan. Li Mingfeng would not give him any chance. All he could count on was Lin Chuan. ? Could this be an opportunity to regain control of the situation? He looked at Lin Chuan's expression and said carefully but firmly: "The rules of the base are publicized to everyone when they come in, and everyone knows it. We have clearly told them what will happen to those who violate the rules. Punishment - fined meals, confinement, or expulsion from the base. The current situation is that due to the chaotic management some time ago, the base has begun to lose control. We must set a benchmark and re-establish the authority of the internal guards. People respect the rules. To achieve such a goal, the punishment is too light and the confinement is unconditional and not shocking enough. Only expelling him can achieve this effect. "What's the difference between this and letting him die?" Liu Bin immediately objected. "Everyone knows that a person can't survive outside. What's the difference between driving him out and killing him?" "He will probably die, but there is still hope of survival. It is better than killing him directly." Leng Su'an looked at Lin Chuan and said. "Troubled times require heavy discipline. Only by letting everyone know the price of doing something wrong can such a chaotic situation be ended. Being soft-hearted will only make more and more people make mistakes, and eventually the entire base will be destroyed by chaos. ." Lin Chuan raised his head. Leng Suan nodded to him and retreated into his corner. His goal has been achieved, he doesn't care how this person will be dealt with, he only cares about Lin Chuan's attitude, and it is obvious that Lin Chuan is not satisfied with the status quo. He has successfully said that the root of the problem is management chaos, and has also put forward his own suggestions. It does not matter how Lin Chuan decides, what is important is to let Lin Chuan know that he is the person who can solve the problem. Li Mingfeng looked at him angrily, but Leng Suan never looked at him from beginning to end. "I agree." Zeng Yu said. Leng Su'an's words were very to his liking. It was indeed time to establish the authority of the inner guard. "Agree." "This is the only way." More and more people whispered. Only Liu Bin was still whispering. "This is no different from killing him" Among the people here, no one knows better than him that when a person faces the horror of the end of the world, he will pay any price to escape that kind of loneliness and despair. ¡°Then expel him.¡± Lin Chuan finally nodded. He saw that most people relaxed after he said these words, only Liu Bin's eyes showed the sadness of a rabbit dying of a fox. Lin Chuan rescued more than 800 people from the ruins of the city. He knew very well what the outside world meant to these people. Such punishment frightened them more than any other method. But that person will not die, Lin Chuan said to himself in his heart. As long as he can hold on for a few hours near the cave entrance, and when the situation subsides, Lin Chuan will take the opportunity to go out to look for supplies and send him to the Zhoushan Islands. It is not very difficult for him to carry a person with him. He can at least send him to the other side of the broken bridge and let him face the unknown life and destiny of Zhoushan Islands by himself. He will never come back here, and he is as good as dead to the rest of us. ¡°Give him food and water for ten days and then evict him,¡± he said again, pleased that he had found a solution that had both ends.