Chapter 233: Sea Country’s Gambit

As everyone looked at the young man who remained seated and motionless even when mentioned, the pressure in the meeting room soared.

Mr. Su’s expression didn’t change one bit; he merely sat up a little straighter.

Just then, several doors around the meeting room opened simultaneously, and teams of fully armed soldiers rushed in.

They all wore protective helmets and were equipped with new types of weapons.

Not conventional guns but silvery firearms ending in strange filaments.

Although they had only entered and made no other moves, the atmosphere in the meeting room instantly grew tense.

At the same time, through the small door behind Mr. Su, a tall man clad in leather clothes walked in.

The meticulously made-up secretary sitting behind Mr. Su, who had been taking notes with a pen, also looked up.

It felt as if an unseen wind swept through the entire meeting room, colliding softly and stirring up strange, swirling vortexes.

Though the windows were shut, the documents on a nearby desk flipped wildly.

…

…

“Don’t panic. Panicking won’t help.”

Mr. Su said this to the secretary who had tugged at his sleeve, then turned politely to the old ship captain and smiled:

“Elder Ye should know that bringing an S-rank Ability User into someone else’s territory unannounced is quite impolite. Furthermore, when you sent us the fax a month ago, you didn’t mention that your expert team included an S-rank.”

The old ship captain just chuckled, shook his head, and said, “Mainly because if I had mentioned it, I was afraid you wouldn’t agree.”

It had to be said, that was brutally honest.

Mr. Su said to the old ship captain, “Elder Ye, now you can state your true purpose for coming to Qinggang.”

“I’m here to seek cooperation.”

The old ship captain answered frankly, “It’s still the same sentiment: if we want to face the coming upheaval, we need seamless cooperation.”

“Among so many potential allies, the Sea Country has its eyes set on Qinggang.”

“You possess the Alliance’s most advanced new agricultural production chain, you’ve cultivated the best wild strains, and your research in mental alteration ranks among the top five in the Alliance. Therefore, the best choice for the Sea Country’s return to land is right here…”

…

Professor Bai interrupted him, saying, “Your desire to return seems quite urgent.”

The old ship captain glanced at Professor Bai, chuckled wryly, and said, “Yes. Because we went to sea earliest, we suffered the least losses during the era when madmen ran rampant. However… other problems did indeed arise.”

“Such as… a curse that makes people less than human?”

…

Professor Bai mused thoughtfully, tapping his knuckle, “Are you suggesting the Sea Country experienced some kind of degeneration?”

The old ship captain just smiled at him but didn’t elaborate.

Professor Bai merely glanced at Mr. Su and didn’t press further.

Mr. Su then said, “Regarding the exchange and cooperation proposed by the Sea Country, I believe Qinggang has already shown sufficient sincerity.”

The old ship captain looked at him, laughed, and said, “As I said earlier, this level of cooperation is clearly insufficient.”

“I know that if the Sea Country truly returns, joins the Alliance, or even Qinggang, some unpleasant conflicts will inevitably arise. Everyone has their own interests. Therefore, unless one side is willing to pay a heavy price, true cooperation is impossible.”

“Thus, I chose another method of cooperation: the Sea Country will take over everything in Qinggang.”

…

These absurd words created a sense of distortion among many in the meeting room.

They didn’t know whether to be angry or find it laughable.

Mr. Su’s expression remained unchanged. He interlaced his fingers and said softly, “You are provoking a war.”

The old ship captain slowly looked up at Mr. Su. “Was I not clear enough?”

“This is a war.”

…

The whirring sound of the helicopter’s propellers was piercing.

Night had officially fallen. The weather was exceptionally clear, making the Red Moon, missing a large chunk, appear unusually sharp and bright, seeming closer to the city than usual. It was as if it hung just behind the high-rises, close enough to touch.

Sitting in the helicopter, Lu Xin thought, so this is what riding in a helicopter feels like.

He used to think it would be fun. Now he knew… it actually was pretty fun, just a bit noisy.

The helicopter’s brilliant searchlight beams swept down, revealing a patch of ruins in the East District below.

Long cordon lines had already been set up around the ruins, guarded by rows upon rows of armed soldiers aiming their guns.

Within the ruins was a temporary detention area set up by the City Defense Department.

Everyone Lu Xin had pointed out had already been captured and moved into these ruins.

But now, many people still hadn’t been caught.

It wasn’t for lack of manpower; it was because everyone had gone into hiding.

Even though broadcasts repeatedly urged all citizens in the city center to come out onto the streets for inspection, allowing Lu Xin in the helicopter to easily pick them out, many people still hid for various reasons.

They were somewhere in this city, but distinguishing them quickly from ordinary people was impossible.

“The pilot program for the Stress Guidance and Relief course started earliest in the City Center and South City. If what you’re saying… if this pollution spread from that course, then those two areas must be the focus. I really, really don’t know who all is messing with this damn stuff… but I know a few guys who like this kind of thing. I’ve already had them ask around…”

Liu’s voice came through the channel, filled with anxiety yet sounding sincere:

“There are some questions you guys can’t easily ask, and they wouldn’t tell you anyway, but the people I arranged can get answers…”

“If they don’t answer, beat them…”

“Those lists they just found are also suspects. Just go grab them, none of them will get away…”

“Look, I’ve been so helpful. Afterwards…”

…

In this massive search and capture operation, both the Special Cleaning Department and the City Defense Department had exerted tremendous effort. That’s how they managed to capture over a thousand people and send them to the Isolation Zone in such a short time. Even this Liu character used his own methods to help identify a large number of suspects. However, despite all this, many Altered Persons still hadn’t been completely rounded up.

Looking down from the helicopter, Lu Xin knew, even without seeing them directly, that a large number of Altered Persons were still hidden within the city.

“Reaching this point has pushed us to our limits. Going forward, even mobilizing large numbers of soldiers and police officers to knock on doors house by house would require immense time and effort. Therefore, we must admit that capturing significantly more Altered Persons in the short term is impossible!”

Chen Jing’s voice came through the walkie-talkie: “So, there are two things we need to do now:”

“First, prepare in advance for a potential large-scale mental alteration incident. The City Defense Department has already made arrangements for this.”

“Second, identify the potential threats these Altered Persons might pose and take targeted preventive measures beforehand…”

“Mr. Lone Soldier, given that you are currently the only one who can see that something is wrong with them, this task requires your cooperation.”

…

“Okay.”

Lu Xin agreed and said to the pilot in the protective suit in front of him, “Let’s land first.”

Beside him, the Doll sat pressed close against him, tightly gripping his arm.

“Is she afraid of heights?”

Lu Xin thought about it, then suddenly shook his head. She definitely wasn’t afraid of heights.

The first time he met her, she had jumped out of a helicopter. Could someone like that be afraid of heights?

However, considering the current situation, this didn’t seem to be the most important question.

He began to ponder Chen Jing’s words. What kind of changes would ultimately occur in these people whose minds had undergone alteration?

…

Right now, they were all acting normally.

Even though, in his eyes, they had already turned into various kinds of monsters.

But at this moment, they could still cry, make noise, feel fear, and maintain their reason and thoughts.

This was clearly not characteristic of a normal mental alteration.

So, when the real mutation occurred, what would they become?

This reminded Lu Xin of Vice President Xiao’s stepmother—in a way, the wife of his company’s boss.

She was the first Altered Person he had witnessed firsthand. Her manifestation was that she had already undergone mutation, but she didn’t even know it. She just made a wish, wanting Vice President Xiao to go mad, unaware of the price required for that wish.

Just as she was unaware that she had already grown a second head at the time.

Strictly speaking, she was the originator of the nightmare incident Vice President Xiao encountered.

The shadow he had seen influencing Xiao’s nightmares back then was also her.

This indicated that what was actually at work at the time was her mental power…

Afterwards, she became haggard and listless, which was very likely related to the consumption of her mental power.

But she herself possessed no ability. So, who granted her the ability?

Or rather, who borrowed her mental power to exert an ability?

And what was this person’s objective?

…

…

“So, the current chaos in our city was arranged by you in advance?”

At this very moment, back in the meeting room at the Donghai Grand Hotel, Mr. Su slowly inquired.

“Just some necessary arrangements.”

The old ship captain nodded, saying, “Nobody has experience using Ability Users in warfare. If control isn’t handled well, it could certainly lead to massive casualties. So, making some prior arrangements is also intended to settle things quickly and avoid too many deaths.”

*Click!*

Hearing the old boatman’s words, someone, seething with uncontrollable anger, gripped their gun tightly.

It felt like an invisible string in the air had been stretched taut to its absolute limit.

Mr. Su and Professor Bai, however, remained calm.

Professor Bai was slowly twirling the pen between his fingers, seemingly contemplating something.

Mr. Su looked at the old ship captain and said, “So, this is your answer to us, Elder Ye?”

“When you’re surrounded by children who don’t understand the power of guns but are holding them…”

…

The old ship captain knew he understood his meaning, smiled, nodded, and said, “Correct.”

“To avoid being killed by these reckless children…”

“We decided to shoot the others first.”