Li Feng parked his car in the company parking lot. After getting out of the car, he did not go directly to the meeting room as usual. Instead, he was led by two men in black guarding the car to a small car next to it that looked ordinary, even a little shabby, and had no windows.
The door closed behind him, and only when he sat down did he see clearly that there was another person sitting in the dim carriage.
"Mr. Long?" He took out a lighter, lit it and waved it over there.
"Are you doing this on purpose?" Mr. Long frowned.
"I didn't expect you to ride in a car like this," Li Feng said. "It's really... simple."
"The place we are going to today is quite special, so we have to keep a low profile," said Mr. Long.
Li Feng could actually guess where they were going today. Although he was not familiar with the road to the Yuncheng Military Base, it was still easy to tell when he passed through the checkpoint because of the completely different silence from other checkpoints in the inner city.
But after passing the checkpoint, he was no longer sure.
The car kept going down, circling in a spiral. I don't know if there was no teleportation cabin or if it was a special lane, but it just kept going down like a drill.
When we got off the car, we parked it in a parking lot. It was very small, with only about seven or eight cars parked at a time. It was an underground cave with no decoration at all. The walls of the cave were not smoothed, but the metal door on the side looked very advanced.
There was no one following here. The driver did not get out of the car. Mr. Long took him to the door. After a thin "beep", something that looked like a fingerprint password box stretched out from the door.
Mr. Long motioned for him to press it.
Li Feng stretched out his hand and pressed it, and felt something prick his fingertips.
The metal door in front of me opened, but not automatically. It was just unlocked and had to be pushed open manually.
"Does this count as collecting my information without my permission?" Li Feng moved sideways and pushed the door open.
"You were collected when you were born," Mr. Long walked in, "Everyone in the inner city is the same."
Li Feng didn't say anything, he wasn't surprised. In this day and age, such operations were considered normal.
Otherwise, what would the people in the exhibition hall be busy with every day
I passed through several doors and didn't see anyone the whole time. I just felt that it was very cold all around and could see white mist floating in the air from time to time.
Li Feng didn't count how many doors they entered, and finally entered a small hall.
It was empty, with a beam of light shining on the large column in the middle of the small hall.
"Come and meet the general." Mr. Long said as he walked over and placed his palm on the column.
A palm-shaped white light appeared where the palm touched the surface of the cylinder, and the entire cylinder began to sink.
Then the contents were revealed.
A glass jar filled with liquid, which is filled with various thin wires, I don't know if they are wires or something else. At the other end of the wire is a brain.
Li Feng looked at the things in front of him and didn't know what to say.
"The general is not non-existent," Mr. Long slowly stepped back and stood beside him, "From before the war to now, the general has always existed, and there has always been only one general."
"Does the general know that you dug out his brains?" Li Feng asked.
"You always..." Mr. Long glanced at him, "You always have a different perspective than others."
"He probably doesn't know," Li Feng said. "He probably only knows that he stays in the office and if something goes wrong, he will start over."
"None of this matters," Mr. Long said. "We just need the general to stay alive."
Li Feng frowned and looked at the brain in front of him. He felt a strong nausea. He turned his head and cleared his throat: "Does Wu Kangwen know?"
“He doesn’t know,” Mr. Long said. “He won’t know until the system needs repair.”
"Why should I know?" Li Feng said.
"Because you discovered it," Mr. Long said, "some people may be suspicious, but since the general has existed in this way, you are the first one to verify it yourself. You are quite brave."
Li Feng didn't say anything.
Mr. Long only said that the general needed to stay alive, but he didn't say why, but it definitely wasn't because the general was so talented.
In Li Feng's opinion, the work within the scope of a general's duties is just so-so and far from being worthy of "eternal life", so there must be other reasons.
But now is definitely not the time for him to know the reason.
Mr. Long raised the column again, and the small hall returned to its previous empty silence.
"Li Feng, this place is absolutely safe. It's rare that we can tell the truth." Mr. Long turned around and looked at him. "Besides the position of Director of the Security Bureau, is there any other position you want?"
Li Feng was silent for a while: "I don't need a position, I just need power."
Mr. Long walked up to him slowly and said, "Will you kill me if you have the chance?"
"I don't have such an idea at the moment," Li Feng said. "During the years that you have led Yuncheng, Yuncheng has always been the safest refuge for humans. It is the paradise that those displaced people want to reach until their death."
"What kind of power do you want?" Mr. Long said.
"As for the cooperation with Donglin, there will be some other forces joining in later," Li Feng said, "I want the power of those defending the land outside of Yuncheng to be able to decide the method and depth of cooperation within a reasonable range."
"I will discuss this with the ministers," Mr. Long said, "but you have to be clear that if it weren't for the current crisis, you wouldn't have this opportunity and you might have been the director of the Security Bureau for the rest of your life."
"I would rather live my life like that," said Li Feng.
"How long have we been following them?" Qiu Shi hid behind a hillside and could see the infected people walking out of the darkness from time to time, all heading northwest.
"One hour and twenty-six minutes." Xing Bi replied.
"Too far," Qiu Shi opened the team channel, "Xing Bi and I will continue to follow, and the others will return to Xima. Now it seems that these infected people are not targeting Xima or Yuncheng, so there is no need to follow them all."
"Sang Fan doesn't need to follow me anymore?" Zhao Yi was a little worried.
"The symbiote is still near Xima Town," Xing Bi said, "Sang Fan, go back and cooperate with Lin Sheng, just in case."
"Got it." Sang Fan replied.
"Lin Sheng is very strong and experienced," Xing Bi said, "You can trust his judgment, but don't worry about his partner."
"Got it." Sang Fan said.
After watching the team members withdraw, Qiu Shi turned around and sat down against the hillside: "I found out."
"They are not interested in us either," said Xing Bi.
"Another quick answer." said Qiu Shi.
"Hurry up," Xing Bi said, "Follow them to the front and take a look."
"Well," Qiu Shi glanced at him, "Did you enjoy the robbing?"
"Great." Xing Bi's lips curled slightly.
Qiu Shi pulled up his scarf, took out his gun, and jumped up: "Let's go."
The two jumped out from behind the hillside and started running in the direction of the infected.
Under the moonlight, you can hear the footsteps of the two people, a monotonous but pleasant rhythm.
Xing Bi didn't run at full speed, but he wasn't slow either. It was much easier for Qiu Shi to keep up with him now than when he was in Donglin before.
This feeling is a little hard to describe. I don’t know whether I should be happy or sad.
However, for Qiu Shi, what he cares more about may be that if the partners must have this kind of mutual restraint, then the stronger he is, the better, after all, the opponent has no scruples.
They soon passed the group with the largest concentration of infected people. As they continued to move forward, they could still see sporadic bright spots of infected people on the map. It was obvious that they were not under control, but were being attracted towards that direction by something in the northwest.
"I've never been here before," Qiu Shi stood on a slightly higher slope and looked around, "There should be an abandoned town or village ahead."
"How do you judge?" Xing Bi asked.
"Look at the ground. There used to be trees here, but they were all cut down," Qiu Shi said. "Someone lived here, but there is no trace of it. So there must have been people there a long time ago."
"Yes," Xing Bi said, "I agree."
Qiu Shi glanced at him and said, "Can't you see that? Are you fucking doing this on purpose?"
"No." Xing Bi smiled.
"You used to go on missions with your partner," Qiu Shi looked at him, "was it like this too?"
"What?" Xing Bi asked.
"It's like this now." said Qiu Shi.
"Why are you suddenly interested in my former partner?" Xing Bi asked.
"I want to compare." said Qiu Shi.
"I've had three partners," Xing Bi said, "all of them were elites selected from the military, very strong."
"Wow." said Qiu Shi.
Xing Bi laughed: "What kind of reaction is this?"
"To express surprise." said Qiu Shi.
"They all look very similar to Liu Wu," said Xing Bi.
Qiu Shi frowned.
"You are the fourth one, the most special one," Xing Bi said, "You were different when you came out of the box."
"Don't mention the box," Qiu Shi touched his ribs and asked, "What's so special about it?"
"You are the only partner who was ready to kill your superior in front of me when we met officially." Xing Bi said.
"Thank you on behalf of Li Feng." said Qiu Shi.
"You are human," Xing Bi said, "alive and beautiful."
“Fuck,” Qiu said, “because our education levels are different, I can’t say such flattering things.”
"Great grandfather isn't in vain." Xing Bi quickened his pace and rushed forward.
After moving northwest for about half an hour, the number of infected people around us began to increase slowly.
Xing Bi slowed down and jumped onto a rock on a slope. This angle made it difficult for him to be discovered by the approaching infected people. Qiu Shi also jumped up.
"Switch the knife," Xing Bi whispered, "We may be close to the location. Using a gun will easily expose us."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi switched the gun to his left hand and pulled out the knife with his right hand.
After returning to the ground, they did not run again, but walked quickly forward, keeping a distance from the infected people who appeared from time to time.
There was a little light in the distant sky, and the surroundings were foggy. The scenery became a little blurry and not as clear as under the moonlight.
But Qiu Shi saw a thin black mist floating gently in a sparse woods in the distance.
If you look closely, you can also see black particles similar to dust floating in front of your eyes.
And those infected people were walking towards the trees, and more and more infected people were disappearing into the black fog in the forest.
"That's it." said Qiu Shi.
Xing Bi stopped and said, "Don't go over there yet."
Qiu Shi looked at the map. The woods were a little far away, and the small area that could be detected on the edge of the map was black.
"Fungal nest?" Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi.
"Yeah," Xing Bi responded, "It's a very large area."
"Were these infected people attracted by this patch of fungus?" Qiu Shi was a little confused. "It seems that the nests in Yuncheng don't have this ability either."
"It is the subject inside that is calling them." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi immediately remembered the main body that they brought out from Nest No. 1 for the first time, which had completely become a fungal culture medium.
"That thing has this ability?" Qiu Shi felt a little nauseous in shock.
"I don't know," Xing Bi said, "Humans have talents like you, and probably some of the main body also has such talents. We have lived together with these things in this world for a long time, so it's not surprising to see any kind of talents." "Then what are they doing?" Qiu Shi looked over there.
"That's probably how those infected people who were controlled that day came from," Xing Bi said, "to be used in the attack on Yuncheng, but now it seems that there are not enough of them."
“The previous ones came from the south of Xima,” Qiu said. “These are in the northwest, so they at least have another main body of this culture medium in the south.”
"Yeah." Xing Bi looked over there.
Qiu Shi grabbed his arm and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I didn't do anything." Xing Bi said.
"What did you want to do just now?" Qiu Shi said.
"I was just wondering if you would grab my arm if I didn't tell you I wouldn't go over." Xing Bi said.
"Your ancestors." Qiu Shi let go.
"Go back," Xing Bi said, "There must be another entity in this place. Contact Li Feng. If we want to go in, we are not sure now. The only one who can cooperate with me is Lin Sheng. Sang Fan is a brand new biochemical body and does not have enough experience. Xiao Zuo and Xiao You will die if they go in."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi nodded.
When we returned to Xima Town, it was already daybreak. The Xiniu Village, which used to be home to many people, was now empty. Only some sundries were left scattered on the ground, clothes that were almost torn into strips, shoes that seemed to be falling apart, some blackened cotton wool, and canned food given by the garrison troops that they were reluctant to eat. These items stood out among the other items and were so luxurious that they looked out of place.
Qiu Shi first met with the garrison Captain Yang. This man looked very serious, but was relatively friendly. He was the easiest officer Qiu Shi to communicate with among all the officers he had met.
"The testing equipment from Yuncheng will arrive this afternoon," Captain Yang said, "and we can start working tonight, covering the uninhabited areas and villages around Xima Town."
"Well," Qiu Shi said, "then let's patrol more frequently during the day."
"Okay," Captain Yang looked at him, "Did you find anything unusual?"
"There are some anomalies, but the details..." Qiu Shi said, "I still need to contact Yuncheng to confirm."
"Then tell me if you need anything," Captain Yang said, "My orders are to cooperate with the heroic team as much as possible when conditions permit."
"Don't..." Qiu Shi suddenly felt a little awkward, "What kind of hero is this?"
Captain Yang smiled and said, "We will try our best to cooperate with Team 2 when conditions permit."
"Thank you." said Qiu Shi.
Back to the supermarket... no, now it should be called the dormitory, the team members immediately surrounded us.
"Where is Xing Bi?" Zhao Yi glanced behind him and asked in a low voice.
"I haven't found it yet." Qiu Shi also lowered his voice.
"That's a bit boring." Zhao Yi said.
"I've gone upstairs," Qiu Shi said, "Am I going to come over to greet you guys? Are you afraid no one will notice?"
"Did they find anything over there?" Zhao Yi asked.
"Well," Qiu Shi whispered, "There may be a large nest. I will contact Yuncheng first to see how to deal with it."
"No wonder they all ran over there," Long Hao frowned, "If it's a nest, we can't deal with it, right? Will they die?"
"Are you scared?" Lu Yu asked with a smile.
"You're not afraid?" Long Hao said, "Fear is a normal reaction."
"They are all scared," Zheng Yu leaned against the window, "They just gritted their teeth and didn't say anything. Look at Lu Yu, his face is so swollen from biting his teeth."
Several people laughed.
"I'll go up and contact them," said Qiu Shi.
"Yeah." Zhao nodded.
When going upstairs, Qiu Shi saw Liu Wu standing in the corridor on the second floor, looking at the street outside.
"Captain Qiu," he turned around when he heard the footsteps, "did you find anything?"
"I'll tell you later." Qiu Shi took two steps toward his room and found that Lin Sheng's little dot was not there. He turned around and asked, "Where's your partner?"
"Send them out on patrol." said Liu Wu.
"He's on patrol," Qiu Shi looked at him, "What are you doing here?"
"Then where do you think I should be?" Liu Wu asked.
"You should lie down on the bed and take a nap." Qiu Shi turned and walked into the house, slamming the door. "Fuck."
"You're so angry, partner." Xing Bi's voice came from behind the door.
Qiu Shi turned around and found him leaning on a chair by the wall: "Do you want to go out on patrol by yourself, partner?"
Xing Bi smiled.
Qiu Shi took off his coat and shook it a little unhappily.
"Don't think too much," Xing Bi said, "Lin Sheng's previous partners were similar to Liu Wu's. Most partners are selected from soldiers. Their attitude is determined by the attitude of their superiors. Partner is just a title, but in reality it is a weapon. Partners like you... are rare."
"They assume that biochemical bodies are not human." Qiu Shi touched his wrist, and a white light lit up on the back of his hand.
Li Feng's voice came from the headset, with a nasal tone: "Hey."
"Deputy Team Leader Li, you are not still sleeping, are you?" Qiu Shi glanced at the time.
"I just fell asleep," Li Feng said, "I'm about to die suddenly."
"You can die after I finish talking." Qiu Shi said.
"Speak." Li Feng's voice quickly returned to normal.
"Northwest of Xima Town, almost where the end of the Dahei Mountain Range on the west side meets," Qiu Shi said, "there is a nest, which may be quite large."
"Yes," Li Feng responded, "Give me the coordinates later, and I'll check the map. Is there anything unusual about this nest?"
"It can attract the infected people to go in its direction." Qiu Shi whispered.
"Really?" Li Feng was stunned. "How big is the range?"
"Infected people started to go there from Xima Town," said Qiu Shi.
"Does the symbiote use this method to gather the infected?" Li Feng asked.
"Not sure, but possible," said Qiu Shi.
"Has Xing Bi ever gone inside the nest to take a look?" Li Feng asked.
"Xing Bi..." Qiu Shi opened his mouth before he realized what had happened. He had almost been fooled. "We haven't found him yet. There were many infected people coming in, so we didn't let anyone else..."
"Qiu Shi," Li Feng interrupted him, "the call is confidential."
"Why," Qiu Shi said, "What are you trying to plot with me?"
"Let Xing Bi speak." Li Feng said.
"What the hell..." Qiu Shi was silent for two seconds, "How did you find out?"
"I can hear that you are in a good mood." Li Feng said.
"Fuck." Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi.
"There is a main body in this nest," Xing Bi said, "It may be similar to the one in the previous nest No. 1."
"Old Wu calls that thing a supersymbiont," Li Feng said, "Do you think this was... done by Zheng Ting and the others?"
"It should be," Xing Bi said, "Its function is to gather the infected."
"You guys cleaned up the first batch," Li Feng thought for a moment, "Can you clean it up again using the same method?"
"It depends on how many entities there are," Xing Bi said. "If there are few entities, it will be easy. If there are enough entities, it will be difficult. They must know that next time they come, there will not be only five entities."
"Do you have any ideas?" Li Feng asked.
"Give me my team members." Xing Bi said.
Li Feng was silent.
Qiu Shi looked at Xing Bi. This team member should refer to Xing Bi’s undercover team back then. He said that he and Lin Sheng had always been in the same team.
"How many?" Qiu Shi asked him.
"Four," Xing Bi said, "Director Wu should have used them all."
"This is a bit difficult." Li Feng spoke.
"Is there anything else you find difficult?" Qiu Shi said.
"The key is that Xing Bi is still missing," Li Feng said, "Lin Sheng can't be completely controlled. If we release two more now, we won't have a partner... This is simply impossible."
"You bastard official," Qiu Shi said, "there's no need to emphasize that Xing Bi is missing."
"This nest is closer to Cloud City," Xing Bi said, "If there are enough infected people and we can't control them, Cloud City will be in trouble."
"We can only determine the location of one nest now," Qiu Shi said, "No one knows if there are more. There may be some in the East Forest direction..."
"You two have a good understanding," Li Feng said, "Okay, I'll try, but I can't guarantee it. You'd better have a backup plan."
After ending the call, Qiu Shi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hmm?" Xing Bi looked at him.
"Isn't this request easy to achieve?" said Qiu Shi.
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
“They…” Qiu Shi felt his nose itchy. He rubbed it with his hand and froze. “Fuck?”
His hands were covered in blood.
Xing Bi rushed over in two steps: "Where do you feel uncomfortable?"
"I'm not feeling uncomfortable." Qiu Shi could feel blood still pouring out of his nose and there was a strong smell of blood in his throat. He grabbed the scarf next to him and wiped it off. "What the hell is going on?"
Xing Bi grabbed his wrist.
"He won't die, will he?" Qiu Shi asked.
"No, I haven't adapted yet," Xing Bi said, "but I need to temporarily..."
"Temporarily what?" Qiu Shi stood up and covered his nose with a towel.
"Slow down the circulation." Xing Bi reached out and pinched the side of his neck.
Qiu Shi suddenly felt his legs go weak and the scene in front of him quickly went out of focus. The last thing he remembered was Xing Bi's hand on his shoulder and he fell forward onto Xing Bi.
The author has something to say:
To be continued tomorrow⊙▽⊙.