"If you do this again next time," Director Zhang leaned close to Li Feng's face and roared in a suppressed voice, "you'd better tell me in advance so that I can lock you up in the dungeon!"
Li Feng stepped back, feeling that Director Zhang would bite off his nose in shock and anger in the next second.
He looked at Director Wu who was giving the final explanation and whispered, "Director Zhang, who am I doing this for? If we delay for another week and this happens again, the inner city might be invaded. If someone takes advantage of the chaos and releases the video, everyone will find out that the company and the military knew about it a long time ago but kept it secret from the public, putting the safety of civilians at risk..."
"Are you threatening me?" Director Zhang looked at him.
"How dare I?" said Li Feng.
"You are really..." Director Zhang said in a low voice, "very scary."
Li Feng did not answer. Seeing that Director Wu had probably finished his final statement and was looking over here, he immediately tilted his head and said, "Director Wu, what's going on?"
“That’s basically it,” said Director Wu. “I personally think this exhibition is quite successful.”
"The results of this demonstration are quite satisfactory. The full video will be submitted to the general and Mr. Long." The company staff nodded and looked at the military representative.
"The general will give more specific instructions later." said the man.
"The situation is urgent," Director Zhang added, "It would be best if the first mission could be carried out today. The supporting team that the general arranged has already completed its training."
"Yes, these generals all know it," the man nodded and glanced at Li Feng, "Director Li."
"Although my original intention for violating the rules today was because I was too worried about the safety of Yuncheng," Li Feng said sincerely, "the method I adopted was still ill-considered. I am willing to accept any form of punishment after the mission is completed."
The man didn't say anything else. He just patted Li Feng on the shoulder twice, turned around and walked out: "No need to see me off. You guys continue to make preparations."
Director Zhang still followed a few people out.
"What can I say to you?" Director Wu waved his hand at the experimental team. "Do the final feedback reception debugging to ensure that the communication is not disturbed at all."
Li Feng looked at Xing Bi in the hood and walked to the control console: "Which switch is for dialogue?"
"What for?" asked Director Wu.
"I have something else to ask him." Li Feng said.
"You still dare to ask?" Director Wu looked at him, "Can't you find anyone to talk to?"
"It's important," Li Feng said, "just one question."
"Ask me first," Director Wu said, "I might be able to answer you."
Li Feng ignored Director Wu and did not ask him to turn on the call switch. Xing Bi could see outside at this time, but could not hear any sound.
"Do you know why you must bring Qiu Shi back?" Li Feng turned his head and looked at Xing Bi and asked.
Xing Bi looked at him and said two words. It was easy to tell what they were from his lip movements.
"Know."
Director Wu turned on the call switch and asked again, "Know what?"
"He is the one flying the kite." Xing Bi said.
Director Wu was silent for a long time.
Although no one will mention that oath again, it is not unfamiliar to these "managers", but this sentence really makes people silent.
This was what the Sub-Guards privately called their human partners.
"You hurt Qiu Shi," Li Feng asked the most pointed and dangerous question, "Do you want to refuse the mission?"
The answer to this question actually represents whether Xing Bi is truly controllable.
"That's not me." Xing Bi said.
This simple answer is reasonable and comprehensive enough.
Although Li Feng still had doubts, he could not say that the undercover guard sent out that day was Xing Bi. In theory, he was just a machine whose thoughts were forcibly closed.
"Xing Bi, because Qiu Shi is injured, he will need at least half a month to recover," Director Wu looked at Xing Bi, "so there is no one flying the kite this time. The people cooperating with you are the general's men. I need you to confirm again..."
"I will do my best to ensure their safety while completing the mission," said Xing Bi.
"Premise." Director Wu emphasized.
"My own safety." Xing Bi said.
"Okay." Director Wu nodded and turned off the switch.
The password is Li Feng’s work number 103, just three simple numbers.
When the box was opened, the group of people crowded in the bunker let out a collective exclamation, followed by screaming and laughter.
"Isn't this a dream? Someone hit me!" Hu Xiaoling yelled, "Quick! Brother Shi! Open those ones too!"
All four boxes were opened and there was a burst of jubilation in the bunker outside the city, the volume of which had never been heard before.
The box was full of weapons, some common ones, and some models that they would never dare to think of. Some of them even had military stamps on them.
"This isn't even at the city defense department level," Brigade Zhao said with an expression of excitement that he couldn't suppress. "This is for the military."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded, looking at the excited brothers around him, the helplessness in his heart gradually enveloped him.
These weapons, which are considered luxury-level for the corpse collectors, mean that what they will face next are no longer the refugees and corpses of the past, nor the occasional infected people.
"Brother Shi, why did they give us these weapons?" Finally, someone thought of this key question in ecstasy.
"The defense outside the city has been upgraded," Qiu Shi said, sitting against the wall. "Recently, the number of infected people has increased, and there are also suspected intruders. There may be... sudden emergencies. Our patrol missions will be more frequent than before, and the degree of danger has also increased."
"Is there really a bio-invasion?" someone asked. "If there are only infected people, no matter how many there are, they won't need weapons of this level."
"It's just a rumor, there's no official confirmation," Qiu Shi said, "If... we really encounter it, hit the neck. The back of the neck is the central nervous system. If we can't kill it, we can at least restrict the movement of the biochemical body."
"How did you know that?" Hu Xiaoling asked with admiration.
"Historical Exhibition Hall," Qiu Shi stood up. "Lieutenant Zhao Xiaoling, divide the weapons among us. Take the light ones with you. The two people on duty will take the hard weapons with steel stamps. Then set up ambush points around the bunker. Also arrange time to go to the corpse cave to familiarize yourself with the weapons."
"Okay, leave it to us." Zhao Lu nodded.
"What about me?" Xiao Lei couldn't help but ask.
There was a low laugh in the room.
"Come." Qiu Shi walked out of the weapons bunker and returned to his "ward."
"What's the matter?" Xiao Lei followed.
"Sit down." Qiu Shi lay back on the hospital bed and put his hand into the sleeve of a device next to him. When he took it out a few seconds later, the needle had been inserted. He still had two bottles of fluid of some unknown substance to be infused.
The injuries on his body have healed a lot today, and the speed of recovery surprised him a little. He only knew that the hospitals in the inner city could cure many diseases, but he didn't expect it to be so amazing.
"What do you want me to come over for?" Xiao Lei sat next to him and waited for a long time. Finally, when he closed his eyes and prepared to sleep, he couldn't help but ask.
"What else do you want to do?" Qiu Shi turned his head and looked at him. "Do you want to take a gun and go out for a walk? Or do you want to take over the command of those people on behalf of Brigade Zhao? How about you go and collect the bodies? And then we will collect your bodies? Is there anything you can do here?"
Xiao Lei fell silent.
"You may be sent back tomorrow or the day after tomorrow," Qiu Shi closed his eyes, "Just stay in the house. After all, you are a rich man in the inner city. I can't bear the responsibility if you die here."
"Something big is going to happen." Xiao Lei said.
"I don't know." said Qiu Shi.
When the military vehicle drove out of the tunnel early in the morning, Qiu Shi was still sleeping.
"Brother Shi!" Zhao Lu kicked open the door of the "ward".
Qiu Shi sighed without opening his eyes.
Xiao Lei, who was dozing off at the nearby seat, was so frightened that he nearly jumped onto the roof. He pulled out a knife from his waist and slashed at the door.
"What's wrong with you!" Zhao Lu cursed, "What are you doing here!"
“… I was scared to death,” Xiao Lei said. “I couldn’t sleep yesterday, so I sat here. I thought something came in.”
"If anything can get here, it means we are all dead," Zhao Lu said, "I suggest you just commit suicide."
Xiao Lei sighed and asked, "What's the matter?"
Zhao Lu ignored him and walked to Qiu Shi's bedside: "Brother Shi, there's a military car coming over the tunnel. It's a big black car that transports people."
Qiu Shi stuffed several kinds of medicine that he had to take three times today into his mouth and swallowed them all at once, then got up and left the ward.
The military's cars for transporting people are all black, and they call them big black cars.
The big black car didn't stop at the bottom of the slope, but went straight up towards the shelter.
"You're trying to cause trouble for me so early in the morning, what a piece of shit." Qiu Shi cursed, jumped onto the bunker, tore off the camouflage net, and started his motorcycle.
With a roar of the engine, the motorcycle rushed down. Qiu Shi parked the motorcycle across the road that the big black car had to take to go up. He supported himself on the ground with his legs, lowered his head, lit a cigarette and waited.
The big black car rushed to his legs before it had to stop. A soldier with a gun jumped out from the passenger seat. He pointed at Qiu Shi with an angry face and shouted, "What are you doing! Get out of the way!"
"What are you doing?" Qiu Shi also got out of the car and looked at him.
"The military is carrying out its mission and doesn't need to explain it to you!" The soldier held the gun horizontally and came over to push it towards him.
"Bullshit military." Qiu Shi got furious when he heard the word "military". He threw the cigarette in his hand to the ground and kicked the man in the stomach.
When the man fell backwards, he grabbed the collar and pulled him back. When the man was still blindfolded, Qiu Shi had already snatched the gun from his hand and pointed the butt of the gun at his forehead: "You are just a little sergeant!"
Then he held up three rifle butts: "You are worthy! Follow me! Do it!"
When he let go, the sergeant almost fell down. He held on to the wheel next to him to steady himself, and blood flowed from his forehead.
"Brother Shi!" Hu Xiaoling's voice came from above the bunker next to him.
Qiu Shi turned his head and saw that several soldiers who had gotten off the car had formed a semicircle around him, pointing their guns at him.
"Qiu Shi," a man in plain clothes and without a gun came over, "I'm the captain of this defense operation, Zhao Yi."
"What does this have to do with you?" Qiu Shi turned around and asked Zhao Lu.
Zhao Lu was stunned by his question: "My brother?"
"The defense period is 20 days," Zhao Yi continued. "The City Defense Bureau is not involved in this operation. The military is in direct command. Please cooperate."
"Drive the car down and find a place to hide before you come back and tell me all this," Qiu Shi said, "Are you afraid that the location of the bunker won't be discovered by others?"
Zhao Yi hesitated for a moment, then made a gesture to the car, and everyone in the car got out. At a glance, there were about twenty or thirty people, all fully armed soldiers.
The big black car slowly backed down the slope.
"My people will be divided into three groups," Zhao Yi looked at him, "one group will be deployed here, one group will be in the tunnel, and the other group will be on mobile patrol."
Qiu Shi looked at him without saying anything.
"Where are your people?" Zhao Yi asked.
"My people are divided into two groups," Qiu Shi said, "one group collects the bodies, and the other group sleeps."
"Please cooperate." Zhao Yi repeated.
"My people will not carry out any missions with the military," Qiu Shi said calmly, "no participation, no assistance."
Zhao Yi frowned.
"Listen carefully," Qiu Shi said, "We are not soldiers, we are civilians. We are civilians who are not protected by Yuncheng. Do you understand?"
"So what?" Zhao Yi asked.
"Stay away from the bunker, don't cause us any trouble, do whatever you want." Qiu Shi said.
Li Feng sat in the conference room of the laboratory, looking at the shaking images on the screen. Those were the images recorded by Xing Bi's team when he was performing a mission last night.
The mission was successful, clearing out the infected and two biochemical organisms within the specified range.
But all six members of the team were infected. Xing Bi killed the infected and came back alone.
Li Feng was forced by Director Zhang to sit here and watch the video for the whole morning. They needed to make sure that Xing Bi's behavior was not abnormal and that the death of the six-member team was an inevitable normal result.
"It's the general's phone," Director Wu said as he walked in. "Press the call button next to you."
"I'm not here," Li Feng waved his hand, "Just say I didn't come, I..."
"He knows you're not in the Security Bureau," Director Wu said. "He just wants to ask about the situation. He doesn't want to accuse us."
Li Feng sighed, paused the video, rubbed his face, stood up and answered the general's call.
The general's face appeared on the display.
"Sit down and talk," the general said. "Be more casual."
"Well," Li Feng sat down, took the remote control, and cut out the video screen in a corner of the monitor, "I'm still watching this video."
"I've talked to Lao Wu and Lao Zhang," the general said, "and now I want to hear your opinion."
"Let me state my conclusion first," Li Feng said, "I think Xing Bi's behavior was normal, and the death of team members was an inevitable result that could be predicted before the action."
The general sighed, seeming to feel sorry for the team members: "Lao Zhang originally thought that those medicines would be able to hold out a little bit."
"The medicine can only protect against a small amount of contact. Our formula is incomplete, and there is too little information available before the 'breakup'..." Li Feng was interrupted by the general before he could finish his words.
"Let Qiu Shi start the adaptation training," the general said. "Three days, is that enough?"
"According to his physical condition..." Li Feng paused, trying to calculate the time.
"He's already beaten the men I sent over to defend the city and made them bleed," the general said. "I don't think there's anything wrong with his bones."
"I understand," Li Feng said, "I'll go pick them up right away." Qiu Shi was very grateful that the Security Bureau's car did not drive to the bunker again. In the past few days, all kinds of large trucks had almost pressed out a road from the bottom of the slope to the bunker.
"How long will it take?" asked Zhao Lu.
"No more than a week," Qiu Shi didn't dare to specify a time limit. "During this period, any problems will be decided by you. I'll leave everything to you, brothers."
"Don't make it sound like you're leaving a will," Zhao Lu said. "You went to the ruins and didn't leave any will before you came back after ten days."
That's knowing that I will definitely come back.
"Don't do anything with Zhao Yi's soldiers, and don't take risks for them," Qiu Shi said. "It's not safe. They have no combat experience in all these years. The people from the City Defense Bureau can only beat up the refugees, but those soldiers don't know how to survive outside the city."
"Yeah." Zhao Lu nodded.
Qiu Shi glanced at Xiao Lei next to him, and Xiao Lei came over expectantly.
"Master Li may have forgotten you here," Qiu Shi looked at him, "But that's okay. If something really happens, you are the only one here who can contact Li Feng."
"Yes," Xiao Lei responded, "I will take good care of them."
Zhao Lu turned around and looked at him: "How much did you drink?"
The City Defense Bureau's car stopped under the tunnel. Qiu Shi jumped out from behind Zhao Lu's car and patted him on the shoulder. Zhao Lu turned around and drove away.
The car door opened and Qiu Shi saw Li Feng sitting inside. He sighed and got in the car.
"From now on, the itinerary is top secret," Li Feng looked out the window, "everything you hear, see, and experience, take it to the grave."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything.
"Make some noise." Li Feng said.
"If you don't have a good end, you will definitely die in my hands," said Qiu Shi.
Li Feng knocked on the board behind the driver and the car started.
This time, before Qiu Shi could ask, Li Feng went on to say, "Now I will take you to the exhibition hall for three days of training, so that you can learn how to cooperate with the submerged guards to carry out missions."
Exhibition hall? Training? Undercover? Mission? And fucking cooperation
This string of words together shocked Qiu Shi, who originally had no intention of talking to Li Feng, and couldn't help but say, "What the hell is this?"
"Someone will explain it to you in detail when we get there," Li Feng said. "How are your injuries?"
"Don't ask such hypocritical questions," Qiu Shi said, "Even if I die in the next second, you will still bring this dead person over. Does it matter whether the injury is healed or not?"
Li Feng smiled.
The inner city is still bustling with people coming and going on the roads. In addition to the shops on both sides of the road, the tunnels leading into the mountains are also brightly lit, and the living areas inside look prosperous and peaceful.
As if to show him the life scenes in the inner city, the car drove along the winding mountain road in the inner city all the way to the bottom of the valley, and then drove up the mountainside from the winding mountain road opposite.
After turning another narrow peak, Qiu Shi saw the historical exhibition hall.
Then the car drove directly into the entrance tunnel from the side. An automatic door opened upwards, revealing a large transport cabin. The car drove directly in.
They began to descend with their car and people.
After getting out of the car, Qiu Shi could see surveillance cameras everywhere, in front, behind, and on both sides, which made him feel extremely uneasy.
After a body search and changing into the white uniform of the City Defense Bureau, he followed Li Feng and the staff into a large, simply decorated room that looked like an empty office.
Different from the previous atmosphere of strict security, there is a table, a set of sofas, three cabinets side by side, and a camera in the corner. It looks casual and simple.
The man sitting behind the desk saw them enter and stood up.
"Director Wu of the exhibition hall is in charge of the technical support for this mission," Li Feng introduced Qiu Shi. "The confidentiality level of this mission is very high. The people you can meet are all core members."
"Hello," Director Wu smiled and nodded at him, "Qiu Shi, how are you?"
"I'm fine." Qiu Shi frowned.
Director Wu turned sideways and waved his hand toward the sofa behind him: "You have met Xing Bi before, so there is no need for me to introduce him to you, right?"
Seeing Xing Bishi sitting on the sofa, Qiu Shi was a little surprised.
Because he had lived outside the city for many years, he had a very keen intuition about his environment. From the time he entered the room to now, which was at least ten seconds, he even noticed that Director Wu took off his shoes and quickly put them on when he stood up from behind the table, but he did not feel Xing Bi's presence at all.
The man who broke all his bones and knocked him out twice was sitting on the sofa, but he didn't even see it.
And when Xing Bi's eyes met his, he suddenly felt that this person was the same as the person who stuffed him into the box that day, and they seemed to have only a shell.
"The normal procedure is to meet in the laboratory," Director Wu said bluntly, "but Director Li means..."
He glanced at Qiu Shi and said, "I'm afraid you won't cooperate in the lab."
"I don't want to cooperate here either," Qiu said. "I was forced to do this."
"Time is limited," Li Feng stood aside with his arms folded, "Director Wu, please start."
"You've checked out the situation in the woods," Director Wu got straight to the point. "That's the reason for the recent increase in infected people. We call it the 'nest.' Your mission is to clear out the infected and symbiotic bio-organisms, enter the center of the nest, find the core source of infection, and try to destroy it."
After Director Wu finished speaking, he looked at Qiu Shi, as if waiting for him to digest this content.
"Then why doesn't he go?" Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi, "What does this have to do with me?"
"You have to go too." Li Feng said, "From now on, you are partners."
Qiu Shi frowned and looked at him in silence for a long time before speaking: "Is this mission a replacement for a human being after each mission?"
"Of course not." Li Feng smiled.
"Then how can I come back alive?" Qiu Shi said, "The medicine you gave me requires two pills just for close contact. For something like running into someone's nest and smashing eggs, one bottle wouldn't be enough, right?"
"You won't die." Li Feng said.
"Why?" Qiu Shi asked again.
"The medicine given to you is vitamins." Li Feng said.
Qiu Shi looked at him.
"It's not an anti-infection drug." said Li Feng.
Qiu Shi felt his hands trembling a little. He took a breath and then asked in a low voice, "Did you know that I gave these vitamins to my brothers?"
"You usually don't let them take action when dealing with infected people," Li Feng said, "You also let them hold guns..."
Qiu Shi didn't let Li Feng finish his words. He punched Li Feng in the face and said, "Go to hell."
Before Li Feng fell completely to the ground, Qiu Shi had already straddled him, then suddenly sank his body and drove his knee into Li Feng's throat.
…but he was held up by someone, and the force of his knee went in vain, stretching his leg so much that it hurt a little.
He knew who was holding him without looking back. Director Wu was still standing there and hadn't reacted.
It can only be Xing Bi.
"Let go!" He shook his arms.
Xing Bi let go.
Director Wu came to his senses at this moment. He went over to help Li Feng up from the ground and handed him a tissue.
"Xing Bi," Li Feng seemed not to mind Qiu Shi's punch at all. He wiped the blood from his nose and asked, "Feedback question, why didn't you stop him with the first punch?"
"That punch wasn't fatal." Xing Bi said.
The author has something to say:
To be continued tomorrow.
It’s so hard to see it above, I must continue to update⊙▽⊙.