The car door was opened, and Xing Bi threw a set of clothes to Qiu Shi: "Change into it."
"I'll change it after reporting to the dog official." Qiu Shi was wrapped in a thermal blanket, with Li Feng's projection in front of him.
"I'll report first," Xing Bi said, "you go change."
He looked at Li Feng and asked again, "Is it ok? Director Li."
"You have the final say. You are the most powerful now," Li Feng said. "No need to go into too much detail. Just give me a few general words. You can rest for a while and deal with the injuries as needed."
Qiu Shi took the clothes and went to the back of the car.
"249's data storage had no special protection. After it was blown up and then soaked in seawater, it can be considered... shattered to pieces," Xing Bi said. "The only two people who activated the replica were Zheng Ting and Lin Sheng. They have both been cleared."
"Was it blown up directly?" Li Feng asked.
"Yes," Xing Bi said, "there is no direct contact with the storage device."
Li Feng sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair: "Is that replica really exactly the same?"
"It's like a biochemical body living two lives in different environments," Xing Bi said. "The memories, personality, and emotions before leaving the base are the same."
"Are there any traces of related human experiments?" Li Feng asked.
“Except for some… brains,” Xing Bi said, “nothing else was found. They have all been destroyed.”
Li Feng closed his eyes, seeming to be relieved.
"The biochemical bodies that entered the institute, including the enhanced Qiu Shi," Xing Bi looked at him, "are all safe and have not been contaminated by 249's data."
Li Feng looked at him.
"Let Chen Dang's men withdraw," Xing Bi said, "there are other things to do."
Li Feng laughed: "You found out so quickly?"
"I didn't find it. I guessed," Xing Bi said, "and then you admitted it."
"I was careless." Li Feng said.
"You won't be completely unprepared, but if Yuncheng's own secret guards want to kill us, it may be difficult for them to cooperate, and we can only use Chen Dang's side." Xing Bi said.
"Sharp," Li Feng said, "Also, after the dismantling of the institute is complete, someone will be needed to search and clean up. What do you think..."
"Xu Jie will lead the team down, and the biochemical bodies from Donglin will assist," Xing Bi said, "some things still need to be led by Yuncheng."
"Well, as for the subsequent coordination, I will discuss with Lin Sheng after he recovers. These biochemical bodies, some from Donglin, some from Yuncheng, some in the wild..." Li Feng said.
"It's impossible to be completely integrated," Xing Bi can still remember Zheng Ting's last look in the equipment room. "Experience is indelible, and it can only make most people make roughly the same choices."
"That's why it is so important to control the overall number of biochemical bodies," said Li Feng.
"Why are you saying this to me so bluntly?" Xing Bi said.
"I can only be so straightforward with you." Li Feng smiled.
Only after Qiu Shi changed his clothes did he feel relaxed and the coldness in his body slowly disappeared. But it was at this moment that he felt the slight pain brought by the countless small wounds on his body.
When he got out of the car, Li Rui had already changed his clothes and was squatting beside the wheel.
"What's wrong?" Qiu Shi asked.
"I want to ask if you are okay. Sister Fan said that your ribs were broken." Li Rui stood up and frowned.
"It's okay, it's been dealt with," Qiu Shi said, "I'm not the only one with broken ribs."
"Are you talking about Bai Zhan?" Li Rui said, "He is a biological body. Brother Lin Sheng is fine even though his neck is like that."
"You've been waiting here for me for so long, just to remind me that I'm not as tough as a biochemical body?" Qiu Shi said.
"I just care about you," Li Rui looked at him, "You don't know, when the explosion started under the sea, the waves were so high, and there was fire in the waves. They rolled up and were still exploding. The sea water was all red. It was so scary, like the end of the world. I was watching from the shore at the time. Some homeless people said you can't come back..."
"But we are back," Qiu Shi said, "You saved us. Thank you, Third Master."
"What's the point of thanking me?" Li Rui immediately waved his hands and shook his head. "What's our relationship? Let's not talk about this."
Qiu Shi laughed.
"It's OK as long as you're okay. I'll go back to work," Li Rui said. "We're helping the soldiers load the trucks now."
"Go ahead." said Qiu Shi.
Xing Bi opened the car door.
"Have you finished the report?" Qiu Shi turned around and asked.
"Well, I've changed my clothes," Xing Bi got out of the car, "Li Feng waited for you for a while, but you didn't report anything."
"Is there anything I know that you don't know?" Qiu Shi asked.
Xing Bi smiled and looked at the medical vehicle parked not far away.
"Lin Sheng and Bai Zhan are already in the car," Qiu Shi said, "You should go and take care of it as well."
"Well," Xing Bi walked towards the medical vehicle, "Part of the Yuncheng army will return tomorrow and will take Lin Sheng back first. We will leave later."
"Do we need to check the ruins of the research institute?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Yes, we can't leave any hidden dangers." Xing Bi said.
"From now on..." Qiu Shi asked in a low voice, "Does Yuncheng want to keep anyone here?"
"No," Xing Bi said, "Yuncheng can't expand that much. Besides, this place has been destroyed and it is impossible to restore it. So we give up here, but we must search it thoroughly."
"It's Li Feng's style." Qiu Shi smiled.
"Wait for me here, don't run around. I want to talk to you later." Xing Bi said and got on the medical vehicle.
Qiu Shi could almost guess what Xing wanted to talk to him about.
When Xing Bi threw him into the equipment room, even as a high-end undercover security guard in a suit, he was forced to swear. If he hadn't been seriously injured, he would have punched himself again.
Bai Zhan leaned against the car next to him and looked at him.
"What the hell?" Qiu Shi also looked at him, "Have you treated the injury?"
"It's almost grown." said Bai Zhan.
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded. He actually wanted to ask Bai Zhan about his next plan, but he felt it would be more appropriate to let Xing Bi talk to him.
"I'll go to Yuncheng with Lin Sheng's car tomorrow." Bai Zhan said.
"Huh?" Qiu Shi was stunned.
"My brothers will stay here to help," Bai Zhan said, "I'm going to go to Yuncheng first. I haven't seen a city with so many humans in a long time."
"Yuncheng is not like the cities you had before. It is a mine," said Qiu Shi.
"I know," Bo Zhan said, "I'm talking about people."
"Most of the people are refugees, it's a mess," said Qiu Shi.
"… Are you sick?" Bai Zhan asked, "If you don't want me to go, just tell me directly."
"I'm afraid you will be disappointed." said Qiu Shi.
"No, I've been hanging out with the vagrants for so long and I've never been disappointed," Bo Zhan said, "not to mention there are people like you."
"What kind of person am I?" Qiu Shi asked.
"The one who always challenges me." Bai Zhan turned and walked away.
Xing Bi came out of the medical vehicle, and Qiu Shi took a look inside: "How is it?"
"It's OK," Xing Bi said, "but the system is somewhat damaged. We need to go back to Yuncheng to repair it. It won't have much impact later. It's a good opportunity to bring Bai Zhan back with us tomorrow and repair his system as well."
"Yeah," Qiu Shi nodded. The final killing scene of Lin Sheng seen in the surveillance video was basically an attack method that gave up the chance of survival. "Lin Sheng is indeed ruthless..."
"You're not bad either." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi shut up.
"Let's go to the beach," Xing Bi walked toward the reef, "and take a look at the sea where you almost died."
"Fuck," Qiu Shi whispered, "Why don't you scold Lin Sheng?"
"You know I didn't scold you?" Xing Bi looked back at him, "Why didn't I let you get in the car?"
Qiu Shi sighed and followed him.
There was no fighting on the beach, but it was still very chaotic. Except for the soldiers and convoys from Yuncheng who were moving in an orderly manner, all other people and vehicles were in a mess.
Except for the first batch of wounded who will leave early tomorrow morning, everyone else will have to stay here for a few more days. Many vagrants and refugees want to go to Yuncheng, and there are also some biochemical organisms and a small number of symbiotes, and someone has to be responsible for them all.
However, Xing Bi and Qiu Shi were no longer in charge of these matters. Ji Sui, Feng Zhi and Jiang Liu cleaned up a nearby house and used it as a temporary office.
"It's all over, right?" Qiu Shi asked.
"In theory, yes." Xing Bi said.
"What do you mean in theory?" Qiu Shi asked again.
"The mission of destroying 249 has been completed. As far as this matter is concerned, it is over," Xing Bi said, "but this is the beginning of a new order and a new world."
Qiu Shi sighed.
"Li Feng still can't sleep." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi laughed and said, "That's what I was thinking of."
"If we can really use the human brain to achieve the level of biochemical cloning," Xing Bi said, "Li Feng is the person who needs it the most, and he will most likely die young."
"He won't be able to use it," said Qiu Shi.
"Yes," Xing Bi responded, "If you live, live hard, and if you die, die peacefully."
Qiu Shi smiled.
Xing Bi said nothing more. He walked down the road in silence and jumped onto the rocks by the sea.
Qiu Shi jumped up with him and moved over the rocks towards the direction away from the battlefield of the research institute.
There are a lot of debris among the reefs, which are things from the research institute that were washed up by the sea. In addition to construction debris, there are many things that are very attractive to Qiu Shi.
A pen, a picture book, a whole map, a metal vase, a ball...
"I should have brought a bag with me," Qiu Shi kept picking up and down among the rocks, "These are all good stuff. I couldn't find a thing of this quality even if I went out ten times before."
Xing Bi said nothing.
"Fuck, my ribs hurt a little. Maybe the painkillers are wearing off..." Qiu Shi put his legs on two rocks, bent down and picked up a carved handle on something he didn't know, then looked up and saw Xing Bi.
Xing Bi looked at him expressionlessly. He remembered that the two of them had come out to denounce and reflect on their previous suicidal behavior.
"Come up!" Xing Bi said in a calm voice.
"Hey." Qiu Shi jumped back onto the reef holding his things, "I'm used to it..."
Xing Bi looked at him, and after a while he took out a waterproof bag from his pocket, opened the bag and handed it to him.
Qiu Shi was unsure of his intention for a moment, whether it was as he understood. After hesitating for two seconds, he put everything in his hands into the bag.
Xing Bi tightened the bag and hung it on his shoulder: "Carry it yourself."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi couldn't help laughing, "You scared me to death."
"You've scared me to death so many times!" Xing Bi raised his voice a little.
Qiu Shi didn't dare to say anything else.
The rocky beach ends, and there is a vast expanse of sea in front. The afternoon sun has already set, slanting across the sea. In a few hours, we will be able to see the sunset.
Here it should be called falling into the sea...
I don’t know if it’s because there had just been an explosion, but the sea looked very turbulent. Large patches of sunlight were broken up by the waves, and the eyes were filled with twinkling, tiny lights, which was very beautiful.
Xing Bi stood on the largest reef and looked at the sea.
Qiu Shi put down the waterproof bag, jumped onto his rock, and squatted beside him.
"It's really beautiful," Qiu Shi said softly, "I only have time to take a closer look at the sea now."
"There are some beaches on the coast. I'll take you to see them when I have time." Xing Bi said.
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
"Just now I said that Li Feng doesn't know how to use that brain technology." Xing Bi said.
"Well, although he wants to live, he doesn't want to live like that," said Qiu Shi.
"What about you?" Xing Bi asked.
"Me?" Qiu Shi was stunned. "Of course I don't want to have my brain dug out and then replaced with a new body..."
He stopped halfway through his words and suddenly realized why Xing Bi asked him that.
"I'm very scared." said Xing Bi.
“I’m sorry,” Qiu said. “I didn’t… I didn’t know what to do. I was scared.”
"I wouldn't be so scared before," Xing Bi lowered his arms, picked up a lock of hair on the top of his head with his fingers, and gently twisted it, "because I knew that as long as I was here, no matter what happened, I would save you."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything.
"But today, whether you will die depends on that thunder," Xing Bi said, "not on me. If that thunder exploded at a normal time, you would be dead."
"I know." Qiu Shi said softly.
“I was so scared when I rushed over,” Xing Bi said. “I was afraid you would die.”
Qiu Shi raised his hand and grabbed Xing Bi's hand.
"I've lived for so many years, and never experienced such a fast death," Xing Bi squatted down and sat beside him, "I just went to the medical vehicle to treat the ligament in my leg."
"Hmm?" Qiu Shi turned and looked at him, "What's wrong?"
"It's all torn apart." Xing Bi said.
"Ah?" Qiu Shi quickly reached out and touched his leg, "Then can you still walk?"
"It's torn, not broken," Xing Bi said, "I can still walk even if it's broken."
"Why are you suddenly showing off again?" Qiu Shi said.
Xing Bi smiled and said, "I'll be more careful next time."
"Since you interrupted me, I can't continue what I was about to say," said Qiu Shi.
"You don't have to say it. You just said you won't do this anymore," Xing Bi said. "What else can you say?"
"Then... what should I do?" Qiu Shi said, "In that situation, if I didn't blow up, I felt that Lin Sheng wouldn't wait any longer. He would shoot. If we waste one more minute, the variables will increase a little bit."
"Well," Xing Bi put his arm around his shoulders, "I'm afraid because there's nothing I can do."
"Then I'm not dead," Qiu Shi said, "You still saved me."
"You will die eventually." Xing Bi said.
"It sounds like you're scolding me." Qiu Shi glanced at him.
"You will definitely die before me..." Xing Bi said, "That sounds more like an insult."
"I am a human being after all," Qiu Shi said, "Our life span is limited. Those people in the base and research institute would not think of doing those things. They all want to live like turtles."
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
"I know what you want to say," Qiu Shi said, "Are you asking if I would choose to become a cuckold if I had the chance?"
Xing Bi laughed: "What kind of description is that."
"If I die there," Qiu Shi looked at him, "the choice is yours, what would you do? Would you choose to turn me into a cuckold?"
Xing Bi was silent for a long time before he spoke: "No."
Qiu Shi took his hand and bent down to kiss it: "What about you?"
"Me what?" Xing Bi asked.
"Don't play dumb. You know that grandpa destroyed the system and wanted to make you die of old age," Qiu Shi said, "don't tell me you don't have any ideas at all."
Xing Bi smiled and said, "I can't."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi nodded, "You..."
"I will go back to the hibernation chamber," Xing Bi said, "Biochemical bodies are not immortal. They will die sooner or later."
"Fuck your ancestors." Qiu Shi cursed, "What's the difference?"
"It's very different," Xing Bi said, "I have memories, a lot of them, and I have many years to create more memories. No one knows how long a biochemical body can live. I have lived for a long time. Maybe one day, we will grow old together, and then die together..."
"No human being dies together. Most of them die one after another," Qiu Shi said. "No old couple will die at the same time."
“…Is this the point?” Xing Bi asked.
"I'm just correcting your mistake." said Qiu Shi.
"Okay," Xing Bi said, "maybe one day, we'll grow old together, and then die one after the other."
Qiu Shi couldn't help laughing for a long time: "Psycho."
"I wasn't like this before." Xing Bi said.
"It can be seen that Bai Zhan is very afraid of you." Qiu Shi said.
"I'm more serious." Xing Bi said.
"You were quite serious just now." Qiu Shi said, "I was so scared that I dared not speak."
"I said exactly what I wanted to say." Xing Bi said.
Xu Jie's voice came from the headset: "Xing Bi, where are you?"
"The beach." Xing Bi pressed the earphone.
"I'm going to take some people down there before it gets dark," Xu Jie said, "Come back and keep an eye on it."
"So urgent?" Xing Bi said.
"The vagrants are hard to control. They won't wait until we finish our inspection before going down," Xu Jie said. "Some of them have already gone down."
"Well," Xing Bi stood up, "Who are you taking with you?"
"I will take Ji Sui, Sang Fanfengzhi, and Dong Lin," Xu Jie said, "and we will take one of Bai Zhan's men. He is not a secret guard, but he has search experience."
"Bai Zhan isn't going to go down?" Xing Bi asked.
"We didn't allow him to go down," Xu Jie said, "He was seriously injured. We just found that out during the examination."
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
"What are you mainly looking for?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It's medical related, but we may not be able to find it. The explosion was too thorough. We can only try," Xing Bi said, "Although I don't want to be a cuckold, I still need to treat the disease. Yuncheng is now expanding outwards, and there are so many more people. We can't just take care of those in the inner city."
"Yeah," Qiu Shi responded, "There is no medical care in the outer city at all."
If you get sick, you can only wait to die. People can be killed for a pill. These are the memories of the refugees from the outer city in my mind.
"Yes, there will be schools and medical care," said Xing Bi.
"Has the school been built?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It should be," Xing Bi said, "It's almost time for you to go to school, Qiu Shi."
"What the hell?" Qiu Shi was stunned. "I go to school? What the hell do I go to school for?"
"If you improve your cultural level, even Mr. Li San will laugh at your lack of culture," Xing Bi said, "It's not good for a dignified captain of Yuncheng Heroes."
"I don't go to school," Qiu Shi said. "If I go, it's to the officially illiterate people like Zhao Lu. I can still write my own name."
"Can I write my name?" Xing Bi asked.
"Yes!" Qiu Shi said, "I can write a lot of words, but they are ugly!"
"It's very ugly." Xing Bi said.
"I don't write." said Qiu Shi.
Xing Bi said nothing.
"Are you speechless?" Qiu Shi looked at him.
Xing Bi still didn't say anything. After a while, he laughed and said, "It's true."
"If I have to go to school, I will do it quietly," Qiu Shi said, "As a heroic captain of Yuncheng, a man in his twenties, I still have to go back to school."
"Do you want me to teach you?" Xing Bi asked.
"You can't teach me, right?" Qiu Shi asked.
"There are a lot of things I can teach you, doomsday man." Xing Bi said.
The author has something to say:
To be continued tomorrow⊙▽⊙.