Chapter 520 - 44: Melee Conflict (Part 3)
But the incident had already occurred, and as the instigators, there was no way for them to escape.
At this point, they could only wait to see how the Leader would judge right from wrong. Judging by past punishments, merely preserving their lives might be the best outcome.
...
Upon reaching Rock Beach and taking over affairs from Fu, Lu, Shou, and Sunday, the first thing Chen Zhou did was to further treat the injuries of the wounded.
The supply of medicine on the island had reached a relatively considerable quantity.
Previously, as a reward, there was a "big antiparasitic medicine package". Thanks to this package, all the islanders had undergone a round of internal and external deworming.
As for wound medicine, hemostatics, and medicines for bruises and sprains, the stock in the warehouse was almost enough to open a small drugstore.
Medicines have a shelf life, and they had been properly stored for just such a day.
...
After having compiled the list of those seriously wounded, lightly wounded, and those with only mild superficial injuries, Chen Zhou directed Saturday, Chen Fu, and Chen Lu to treat them in turn, distributing medicines.
By the time this matter was dealt with, it was already four in the afternoon.
The effects of adrenaline had long faded; the severely injured islanders were attacked by pain, wanting to groan aloud, but thinking of the grave mistakes made today, they forcibly restrained their impulses, enduring the pain in silence.
The islanders were not sent home yet; after roughly treating their injuries, Chen Zhou had Saturday set up a long table and then questioned each participant of the incident one by one, recording each person’s statement—
He wanted to know how the conflict had genuinely begun.
Logically, all the islanders came from the same tribe; some were even old friends. With such relations, it shouldn’t have come to mutual hostility, let alone deadly encounters.
...
A large-scale brawl involving dozens of people; even if the participants had colluded in advance, the detailed process of the event couldn’t easily be distorted.
What’s more, the islanders didn’t even have time to collude.
Faced with Sunday’s threatening expression, the Leader’s extremely imposing figure, and Saturday’s writing materials, none of the interrogated individuals concealed the cause or process of the incident, narrating the events truthfully.
After verification, Chen Zhou finally organized the entire before-and-after sequence of the event clearly.
...
On the surface, this was just a conflict triggered by a lemon.
Fundamentally, however, it was a dispute between new and old forces.
As the leader of the old forces, Zebra and Wang Lin were at odds, leading to long-accumulated tensions, eventually igniting the gunpowder barrel midday during a hot afternoon, resulting in a fierce brawl.
From the perspective of an observer in hindsight, Wang Lin’s action of using someone else’s lemon was clearly provocative.
But Zebra was the first to act, putting him at a disadvantage both emotionally and logically.
Considering the islanders’ emotions, Chen Zhou ultimately decided to punish both sides equally.
Wang Lin, Zebra, and the instigators of the clash would all face punishment.
Among them, the punishment for Wang Lin and Zebra was particularly severe.
Their prized standalone huts would be confiscated, and their privileges would plummet drastically.
Once their injuries healed, the two of them would move into old, four-person rooms.
In the subsequent period, they would also repay their punishment through labor.
Every day, the two would start work an hour earlier than others and finish an hour later.
Regarding their work quality, Chen Zhou would instruct supervisors to keep a close watch.
If they showed any signs of carelessness, their sentences would be aggravated, and their labor period would be further extended.
...
Chen Zhou knew that this method of punishing both sides equally was merely a stopgap measure.
The conflict between the new and old forces would not disappear with his persuasion; it would only deepen over time.
To solve this issue, there was one very simple solution—
Introduce a larger number of new islanders, and simultaneously select promising individuals among them to establish a security system to maintain order.
```