Li Feng's car was parked at the side door of Yuncheng Prison. This was an internal passage and no outsiders would pass by. However, he did not drive his own car, but took the car provided by the City Defense Bureau to transport prisoners.
And he was sitting in the escort cabin.
A refugee in the car had been sent to the dungeon, and he had to wait here for the people inside to send Zhang Sihai out. He had done a lot of this kind of work and was very skilled at it.
When Zhang Sihai came out, he had a hat on his head and lowered his head. The guard opened the door of the escort cabin and pushed him into the car.
When he saw Li Feng in the car, he was stunned at first, then turned around and was about to get out: "I want to go back."
"Sit down!" Li Feng shouted in a low voice.
Zhang Sihai was stunned for a moment. While he was hesitating, the door was closed by the guard and then the car started moving.
"Are you going to silence me?" Zhang Sihai took off his hat, threw it at his feet, and stared at Li Feng with a heroic look on his face.
"You don't deserve it." Li Feng said.
"Where are we going now?" Zhang Sihai asked.
"Send you home." Li Feng said.
"I won't go back!" Zhang Sihai stood up suddenly, knocked his head on the roof of the car, and then fell back to his seat, "I won't go along with you..."
Li Feng slapped him in the face: "Shut up."
Zhang Sihai was stunned.
"It's your turn to come out and hire a refugee. If you stay at home honestly, he will come out in a few months," Li Feng said. "If you make trouble now, he will die. You are really great."
"Brother Feng," Zhang Sihai touched his face, his voice full of grievance and anger, "Did I ask you to change people? I dare to do it and I dare to take responsibility. I will lock him up!"
"It's your father," Li Feng said, "Go cry to him."
"I hate you, I hate you so much," said Zhang Sihai.
"Then we can go back and assassinate Director Zhang first." Li Feng glanced outside and knocked on the driver's window.
The car stopped, and after turning two tunnels was the exhibition hall. Qiu Shi and Xing Bibi would go to the already declining Nest No. 1 to collect information in cooperation with the experiment, so he had to go and take a look.
As soon as the door opened, Zhang Sihai jumped up from his seat again.
Without thinking, Li Feng thrust the stun gun in his hand directly into his neck, and Zhang Sihai fell swiftly into the escort cabin.
"Send him to Director Zhang's home," Li Feng instructed the two guards in the cab. "Before you open the door, give him a warning. Make sure he gets home and is handed over to his family."
"Understood." The guard nodded.
When Colonel Xu and his people were not present, Xing Bi did not need to be transported like a piece of cargo in a box they called a "transit box", and could sit in the experimental vehicle with the experimenters.
Although there will be a bunch of instruments and two operators nearby, the atmosphere is relatively relaxed.
"Has the wound healed yet?" Qiu Shi sat opposite Xing Bi.
"Yeah." Xing Bi raised his arm.
"The fungus is in your body now?" Qiu Shi leaned towards him, supporting himself with his elbows and knees.
"Yes." Xing Bi also did the same thing as him and moved closer to him.
"Can you feel where they went?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Not yet." Xing Bi replied.
"Can you control where it goes?" Qiu Shi asked again.
"I don't know. Not now." Xing Bi replied.
"If you can't control it, you will eventually become that monster," Qiu Shi glanced at the two operators who were staring at the instruments and lowered his voice. "You probably still think you're pretty smart? Since this step will happen anyway, why not choose the infection site yourself?"
"Yes." Xing Bi said.
"It's bullshit." said Qiu Shi.
"Then what should I do?" Xing Bi asked.
Qiu Shi was silent for a long time, and finally said: "What if they don't plan to do this?"
"You also know that's impossible, right?" Xing Bi smiled.
Qiu Shi didn't say anything.
"I understand humans better than you do." Xing Bi said.
"That's right," Qiu Shi leaned back in his chair, "How long have you lived? Your model has been discontinued, right?"
"Not only that, the factory has been closed for a hundred years." Xing Bi said.
"Fuck." Qiu Shi laughed, and after a while he sighed softly, "Li Feng said the second generation was also more than a hundred years ago."
"Yes," Xing Bi nodded, "Be more respectful to your great grandfather in the future."
"... Your ancestors," Qiu Shi was stunned, "can you hear this?"
"I can see it." Xing Bi said.
Today's mission is to check the condition of Nest No. 1 and try to find the source of nutrients for the nest.
"The range cannot exceed Nest No. 1, but in order to prevent encounters with invading biochemical organisms," Director Wu put a box on the table, "You can carry weapons, but you must ensure safety."
Qiu Shi opened the box and found the three guns he had chosen in the last mission and the one Xing Bi had chosen.
"You regret not taking more guns, don't you?" Qiu Shi said as he equipped all the guns. "You are such a stingy general, are you just giving us those guns to open our eyes..."
"Let Director Zhang apply again." Li Feng's voice came from behind.
"Why are you everywhere?" Qiu Shi turned around and glanced at him.
"The Security Bureau has to guarantee everything," Li Feng said, "It has to ensure that the mission goes smoothly. If you want to eat anything, you have to find it at the Security Bureau."
"Give me a bottle of wine." said Qiu Shi.
"Now that you have completed the task in these two days, I asked you to take some back." Li Feng said.
"It needs a whole barrel," Qiu Shi said. "I've seen it in the warehouse of the Security Bureau. It's the black barrel kind."
"Don't push your luck." Li Feng said.
"I learned this from you," Qiu Shi lowered his head to check the gun, "I don't know if we'll lose contact when we go in."
"If anything unusual happens, return immediately and don't take any risks," Director Wu instructed.
"Director Zhang is not here today." Qiu Shi asked. Although Director Zhang doesn't talk much, he is usually present because he needs to report to the general.
"We are rectifying our family traditions." Li Feng said, "Today it's just me and Director Wu. You can talk about whatever you want. Today we will only record Xingbi's parameters and detect the contamination status of the infection source. We will not report the task content unless there is an emergency."
"What to talk about? You don't want me to trick him into saying something, do you?" Qiu Shi glanced at him.
"That's not the case," Li Feng said, "You can't figure it out."
"We're ready," Director Wu said beside him, "We can set off now. Let's go to the command room."
The construction of the high wall outside the No. 1 nest has stopped, and the busy scene of sending people to die has disappeared. Only some tools thrown on the spot are left. Instead, there are large black military vehicles parked at intervals, and soldiers wearing protective clothing and holding guns.
After passing through the high wall passage and coming out of the city, Qiu Shi felt the change when he first saw the dense black forest of Nest No. 1.
The strange aura of vitality and death intertwined was fading, and even the black color began to fade, revealing a slightly withered brown-yellow color.
The nest is indeed dying.
When walking into the woods, Qiu Shi reached out and touched the tree trunk and found that the black fungus covering it had dried up and would peel off from the trunk with a pinch of the hand.
"Can you still hear the sound?" Qiu Shi asked.
"No," Xing Bi said, "the marginal ones should all be dead."
"Xing Bi," Director Wu's voice came out, "You can try to see if you can sense the presence of other symbiotes."
"I didn't feel it." Xing Bi said.
Director Wu and Li Feng didn't say anything else. Just like Li Feng said before, they didn't have a clear mission objective this time, so there was nothing they needed to communicate.
"It's just like taking a walk." Qiu Shi said as he walked. The headphones were quiet, and the map in front of him was also quiet, with only a red dot, Xing Bi.
Apart from the sound of their conversation, the only sound was the tiny crackling of dry fungi when their soles touched the ground.
"Are you taking a walk?" Xing Bi asked.
"No," Qiu Shi said, "but when we are outside the city, we will go out for a few laps every day to look for infected people or refugees. It's almost like taking a walk."
"Walking around without a purpose is called a walk," said Xing Bi.
"Are you taking a walk?" Qiu Shi glanced at him.
"Not yet." Xing Bi said.
"Let's go now," said Qiu Shi.
"Take a walk with a gun." Xing Bi said.
"Then throw away your gun," Qiu Shi said, "it was almost the same as throwing it away during the last mission anyway."
Xing Bi smiled and said, "Those guys are indeed a bit troublesome."
"Will you get angry?" Qiu Shi asked, "Logically, you should be able to understand emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, right?"
"Yes." Xing Bi said.
“… Then you have a good temper.” Qiu Shi nodded.
I don’t know if it’s because this nest has begun to die, but I didn’t encounter any biological organisms or infected people as I went deeper into it.
At the scene of the first encounter that day, the "corpses" of A, B and C were still there. Xing Bi took out a detector given by Director Wu, inserted it into the ground next to them, and turned on the switch.
"We received the detection signal," Director Wu's voice came from the other end. "No infection was detected. I will notify the technical team to come and collect it. You continue."
Recycle.
"Can they come back to life?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Just reactivate it before the biochemical substances change," said Director Wu.
"If it's level one," Qiu Shi thought for a moment, "will it still be level one after it's reactivated?"
"In principle, yes," replied Director Wu.
"What do you mean?" Qiu Shi didn't understand and turned to look at Xing Bi.
"The memories will be backed up and can be activated together." Xing Bi said.
"Backup? Does that mean it can be tampered with?" Qiu Shi asked sharply.
"This is difficult," Director Wu said, "Generally, it will only be locked, and when activated, the locked part will also be activated in a locked state. In other words, it will not be deleted or modified at will. This is the respect that humans give to biochemical bodies as friends."
"Respect?" Qiu Shi didn't know what to say.
Xing Bi smiled and said nothing.
Qiu Shi looked at the several Level 2 submersible guards lying quietly on the ground waiting to be recovered, then turned to look at Xing Bi and said, "I've always wanted to ask you a question."
"Hmm?" Xing Bi responded.
"What are these biochemical bodies to you? Compatriots? Same kind? Or something else?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Biochemical body." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi did not expect this answer. He wanted to ask something else, but he didn't know what else to ask, so he could only remain silent.
"Emotionally, I have been more inclined towards humans since I can remember," Xing Bi said, "even though I am not human."
Qiu Shi noticed that Xing Bi used "I" instead of "biochemical body", but he couldn't figure out what this meant.
"That depends on how you define human," Qiu Shi said bluntly. "If we only use the lowest standard of species, it is indeed not true. But if the standard is higher, some people, such as Director Li, find it a bit difficult to define."
Xing Bi laughed: "Just because you don't have to report the mission doesn't mean it won't be filed for future reference."
"Is that so?" Qiu Shi said, "Director Li?"
Li Feng didn't say anything, only Director Wu smiled and replied: "It will be archived."
"Where is Li Feng?" Qiu Shi asked again. Although this mission was not difficult, it was part of the symbiosis experiment and there was no reason for Li Feng not to be on the scene.
"He has an important call." said Director Wu.
"Straighten your tongue and say it again." Li Feng looked at Xiao Lei's anxious face in the picture, "Who is missing? Where did they disappear?"
"Hu Xiaoling is... a little brother in the corpse collection team," Xiao Lei's voice was a little trembling, "After drinking, everyone walked around the outer city and... visited the refugee market..."
"When did it happen?" Li Feng interrupted him.
"Half an hour ago." Xiao Lei said.
"Why are you reporting it now?" Li Feng lowered his voice.
"We looked for it first..." Xiao Lei said, "Lv Zhao didn't let me tell you because he was afraid Qiu Shi would be worried."
"Who the hell do you belong to?" Li Feng turned around in anger. "Zhao Lu is afraid that Qiu Shi will be anxious, but aren't you afraid that I will kill you? What did I tell you at the beginning?"
"Any abnormalities, no matter how big or small," said Xiao Lei.
"Let them return to the bunker!" Li Feng roared in a low voice, "Now, immediately! Don't f*cking look for them anymore. If anything happens to one of them, you'll pay with your life!"
"They may not listen to me." Xiao Lei immediately stood up and ran.
"He put a knife to his own neck and threatened to die," Li Feng said, "I will send someone to find him."
If a corpse collector disappeared in the past, Li Feng would not have cared about it at all, even though he knew that to Qiu Shi, these brothers were like family.
But if someone goes missing during this period, it would be a very serious problem.
The place where they disappeared was the refugee market, a place where the strong prey on the weak. Under normal circumstances, no one would easily cause trouble for the corpse collectors unless they were mentally ill. Everyone knew that these people were risking their lives, and even if a mentally ill person really caused trouble for them, they would be defeated.
The only thing Li Feng could think of was that this was aimed at Qiu Shi.
And he chose Hu Xiaoling.
It can be said that Hu Xiaoling and Zhao Lu basically grew up with Qiu Shi.
When returning to the command room, Li Feng could hear that Qiu Shi was in a good mood during this mission. There were no accidents and no fights.
He sat down on the chair with a frown, looking at the real-time images of Qiu Shi and Xing Bi on the screen, not knowing how to explain the matter without being exposed.
"What's wrong?" asked Director Wu.
"A corpse collector is missing." said Li Feng.
Director Wu was stunned. After a while, he whispered, "We have to keep this a secret for now."
"How long can you keep it a secret?" Li Feng said, "If he finds out that we didn't tell him right away, he'll blow up the museum."
"Then just say it directly?" Director Wu said.
"Just say it directly," Li Feng said, "Xing Bi said it when he was present. I have sent people to look for him. I hope Hu Xiaoling got drunk and fell asleep somewhere."
"Director Zhang will be here soon. Ask the City Defense Bureau to send someone as well," Director Wu said. "This doesn't look like an ordinary disappearance."
"I was just about to look for him." Li Feng's face was gloomy.
The fungi near the center of the nest are still alive, and compared to those that have withered at the edges, they are still soft and somewhat disgusting.
"Will it shrink to the range where they are still alive?" Qiu Shi scratched the ground with his feet. The human figures that were wrapped up before had disappeared without any trace left.
"Almost." Xing Bi squatted down slowly.
"Those biochemical bodies that besieged you that day," Qiu Shi looked around, "have also been recovered by them."
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
Qiu Shi glanced at him and squatted down as well. He found that Xing Bi was motionless, with his left index finger lightly tapping a small piece of black fungus.
Seems to sense something.
He wanted to ask, but immediately thought of what Director Wu had said before.
It will be recorded for future reference.
So he didn't say anything, and waited for a while. When Xing Bi still didn't move, he reached out and pushed Xing Bi's fingers away from the fungus.
Xing Bi turned his head and looked at him.
"There is nothing abnormal about the source of the symbiont," Qiu Shi said, "all the nutrients have been consumed."
"Have you discovered any other symbionts?" asked Director Wu.
"No." Xing Bi replied.
"Extract the sample now." Qiu Shi took out the sampling bottle, unscrewed it, and handed it to Xing Bi.
Xing Bi put his finger into the bottle and stirred it.
"The mission is over," Director Wu said, "You can go back now. Be careful."
Back to the departure hall, we disinfected it as usual.
After changing his clothes, Qiu Shi found that the atmosphere in the hall was a little strange.
Normally, in such a large space, with only Li Feng, Director Wu and Director Zhang standing there, there shouldn't be any atmosphere or even any breath.
But at this moment, Qiu Shi felt that there was a sense of uneasiness in the entire space.
"Tell me something." Li Feng leaned his hands on the stage, and his face looked very ugly when he spoke, "Qiu Shi, calm down and listen to me finish my story."
"What happened outside the city?" Qiu Shi asked immediately.
"Hu Xiaoling is missing." Li Feng said.
Qiu Shi didn't say anything or move. Li Feng's answer without any pause or buffer made him feel like a buzzing sound in his head.
He tried hard to control his emotions, and after a while he said, "I want to talk to Brigade Zhao."
"No!" Director Zhang said at the side, his tone full of dissatisfaction, "The people from the City Defense Bureau have gone there, and they are being questioned!"
"Who to ask? Just go like this, if you can find out even one word, I'm your grandson." Qiu Shi looked at him. He could still tolerate Li Feng's attitude, but Zhang Qifeng's inexplicable dissatisfaction was like a fire.
"Director Li," Xing Bi spoke from behind Qiu Shi, "finish your talk first."
"Xiao Lei said they went out for a drink together, and then went to the refugee market to hang out," Li Feng glanced at Zhang Qifeng, "and halfway through the market, Hu Xiaoling disappeared."
Qiu Shi stared at Li Feng, not wanting to miss a single word with either his ears or his eyes.
"Director Zhang and I have arranged for someone to look for him," Li Feng said, "but..."
"Don't look for it anymore. Those who can't be found are not refugees, nor those from the out-of-town gangs," Qiu Shi said. "They are coming for me."
"It should be." Li Feng frowned.
"Let me talk to Zhao Lu," Qiu Shi looked at him, "If he really knows something or sees something, he will only tell me."
"It can only be here." Li Feng glanced to the side, took out his pet and threw it in front of Qiu Shi, "Video call, Xiao Lei."
Xiao Lei's face was casually projected onto a box on the side, looking particularly messy: "Qiu Shi..."
"Where is Zhao Lu?" Qiu Shi asked.
"In our empty bunker, the City Defense Department wants to question them," Xiao Lei's voice was a little hoarse, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let them go to the market, I..."
"It's none of your business, it's not your problem," Qiu Shi said, "Let Zhao Lu come over."
Xiao Lei turned around and looked over there.
"Captain Xiao," Li Feng said, "I'm Li Feng. Director Zhang is also here. Go and bring the person over."
Zhao Lu appeared in the picture with a mess of hair, looking unhappy and with injuries on his face. When he saw Qiu Shi, he quickly wiped his face and said, "Damn, Brother Shi, it's really you! I thought they had some tricks up their sleeves."
"Did I hit you?" Qiu Shi asked, his hands hanging by his side trembling slightly.
"Misunderstanding," Zhao Lu smiled, then quickly put away his smile, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay," Qiu Shi said, "Any clues?"
Zhao Lu didn't say anything, frowning. After a while, he suddenly asked, "What did I eat this morning?"
"Eat shit." Qiu Shi said.
"Yes." Zhao Lu nodded.
Li Feng couldn't help laughing and quickly turned his head away. Director Zhang turned around and glared at him.
"I don't know if it counts as a clue," Zhao Lu lowered his voice, "I saw the woman who was with that idiot in the video at the market. What was her name? Deng Ye Ye. I just glanced at her and didn't make contact, but she looked at me."
As soon as these words came out, Li Feng raised his eyebrows, and Director Zhang's face suddenly became very gloomy.
"That's all. Is it useful?" asked Zhao Lu.
"It's useful," Li Feng said beside him, "Captain Zhao, from now on, if you think of anything suspicious or discover anything, let Captain Xiao contact me immediately. Emergency channel 037. I will answer at any time."
"I understand!" Xiao Lei came over and shouted.
"The City Defense Bureau will withdraw soon," Li Feng glanced at Director Zhang, "You guys don't leave the bunker for now."
"I understand." Xiao Lei nodded.
"Then..." Li Feng was about to say a few more words when a noisy sound suddenly came from the other side.
"What's wrong?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Brother Shi! There's news!" Zhao Lu reached out, grabbed Xiao Lei's pet, and threw it out of the shelter, "Someone is here to find us!"
The little pet turned half a circle and quickly adjusted the shooting distance. In the picture, there were two blurry figures at the foot of the mountain in the distance. As the camera zoomed in, it could be seen that they were two people, one tall and one short.
The tall one's face couldn't be seen clearly, so one could only tell that he was a man, but Qiu Shi recognized the short one at a glance.
"It's Deng Yeye."
"Such a big show?" Director Zhang said calmly, "What are you trying to do?"
Deng Yeye raised her hands high, and a few laser-projected words appeared on the dust above her that was blown up by the wind.
Qiu Shi, Donglin Town.
The author has something to say:
I will continue tomorrow, and then I may have to stop for a day the day after tomorrow. Why? The author knelt down and said, because I will become a V tomorrow, and I have to stop for a day to accumulate strength after updating...
Love you guys!