Chapter 22: The Cunning Old Fox Senior Researcher
Information regarding the central urban area of the JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area had always been classified as high-level confidential material in the Chu Sheng City Human Base government's database.
Naturally, publicly available information on Sector 02, which fell into this category, was also scarce.
Most of it consisted of unproven rumors and hearsay, lacking credibility, but one point was a fact acknowledged by all residents of Chu Sheng City: the 'high-risk' label attached to the central urban area of the JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area.
Severe pollution levels and high-risk monsters had turned this area into a forbidden zone for explorers.
Even for the Chu Sheng City Human Base government, entering and exploring it was extremely difficult.
Only the elite Chu Sheng City Standing Combat Army Security Team possessed the qualifications and capability to undertake missions in the central urban area.
In Zhong Jing’s dream, the Chu Sheng City Human Base government had paid a huge price to set up an ambush for the Witch ‘Tyrant’ in Sector 02A: the entire Security Army, with a mere two hundred personnel, was deployed, coordinating with tanks, combat vehicles, and armed helicopters from heavy armored units to sweep through Sector 02A.
The losses recorded on paper alone were already shocking enough.
Moreover, this was only the A section of the larger Sector 02.
The Chu Sheng City Human Base government no longer had the capability to enter the remaining BCD sub-sectors.
They could only deploy heavy forces to construct a defensive line facing these three 02 sub-sectors to prevent accidents.
According to the base government's plan, ‘Tyrant’s’ route would only pass through Sector 02A.
As for the other sub-sectors, it was sufficient to prevent unexpected situations.
But such a perfect plan failed to materialize.
An accident still occurred, not an attack on the ambush forces by monsters from the BCD sub-sectors, but rather, the narrow confines of the Sector 02A ambush zone couldn't accommodate too many reconnaissance teams, leading to one reconnaissance team getting too close to ‘Tyrant’s’ line of advance and being exposed.
This was also the fundamental reason why the base government's general command headquarters ultimately decided to organize an inducement team.
Recalling it now, Zhong Jing couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
From the very beginning of the accident, this inducement team was destined to be a 'sacrificial pawn' in this major battle.
The haste of this large-scale military operation left the base government lacking the ability to respond to unforeseen circumstances in the plan.
Sacrificing an inducement team to achieve the mission objective was already the best possible response.
‘Huff… huff…’
At this moment, the members of the team who had entered Sector 02A were breathing slightly more rapidly and heavily than before.
Even when face-to-face, they could only communicate through their comms headsets.
The air in the central area was not only more polluted but also lower in oxygen content.
If this had been the case before, this difference could have been ignored; only in the more core Sector 01 would additional oxygen tanks be necessary.
However, the current mutated JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area could not be judged based on past experience.
Even the peripheral areas were experiencing pollution spread, so it wouldn't be surprising if the low-oxygen zone extended to Sector 02A.
“Beep beep beep beep!”
As they advanced, the pollution alarm inside Si Ling’s A1-type Gas Mask suddenly emitted a rapid warning sound.
This built-in alarm worked on the same principle as the pollution alarms strapped to everyone’s shoulder straps.
The difference was that one detected the pollution level of the surrounding environment, while the other detected the pollution level within the gas mask’s filter layer.
When the gas mask’s built-in alarm sounded, the message conveyed was: the filter canister is about to fail.
Si Ling quickly held his breath, simultaneously reaching out to remove the filter canister from his gas mask and placing it into a pouch on his carrying gear.
Then, he took out a brand-new filter canister from another pocket and installed it.
He exhaled the breath he had been holding, and his breathing returned to a normal frequency.
This was already the third time he had replaced the filter canister since entering Sector 02A.
The high pollution environment accelerated the consumption rate of the filter canisters.
It was worth noting that during the entire operation prior to this, he had only replaced the filter canister once.
The others were in a similar situation; their filter canisters were almost depleted.
This was even with Zhong Jing trying her best to choose routes along the periphery.
If they had ventured deeper into Sector 02A, their filter canisters would probably have been exhausted long ago.
“Employer Han…”
Si Ling patted his now-empty pouch and gestured to Han Nianling.
Han Nianling, as if anticipating this, took out two brand-new filter canisters and handed them to him.
Although they had encountered many unexpected situations in the JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area, Han Nianling had not gone back on her promise to provide filter canisters.
For the time being, they didn't need to worry too much about filter canisters, which meant the mercenaries hadn't had anything to worry about so far.
“Three o’clock direction, distance about two hundred fifty meters, a wandering walker is heading this way…”
Uncle Lin, walking at the very front, suddenly raised his hand and made a gesture.
Then he raised his gun and aimed at the target he saw.
As he pulled the trigger, after a slight sound, the walker in the scope was killed by a bullet that pierced its brain, truly returning to death.
This was the thirteenth walker they had encountered along the way, just an ordinary walker, not the advanced type Zhong Jing had encountered before.
The sniping tasks were all handled by Uncle Lin.
After all, only his gun was equipped with a magnified scope.
In Sector 02A, any accident needed to be avoided as much as possible, so Uncle Lin acting as a sniper was also the safest option.
Killing the enemy with a single bullet was the most effective way to reduce the possibility of complications.
If a single shot didn't kill it and the monster made strange noises after death, no one could say what kind of ghastly thing it might attract.
“Clear… advance.”
After killing the walker, the team didn't rush to set off.
After observing for a while through the scope and confirming that it was a lone wandering walker, Uncle Lin resumed their advance.
Only, a layer of irremovable doubt hung on Uncle Lin’s face from beginning to end: “Another lone, ordinary walker… damn it.”
The others also understood Uncle Lin’s doubts.
Along the way, apart from the dangers posed by the environment, they hadn't encountered any danger from monsters.
The monsters they encountered were all ordinary walkers like this.
Even in the outer Sector 06, they had encountered a Tier 1 Swift Walker.
How was it that in the more dangerous, more polluted Sector 02A, they kept running into single, ordinary walkers?
Normally, ordinary walkers in ruined city areas mostly moved in small groups.
Lone walkers were more common in open, wild suburban areas.
“Wait!”
Just then, Han Nianling suddenly spoke, causing the team that was preparing to set off again to retract their steps.
Just as everyone thought she had discovered some hidden danger and raised their guns in alert, she suddenly opened her suitcase and took out a tripod.
The mercenaries had seen her repeat this action more than ten times before, so they naturally immediately realized what Han Nianling was about to do.
“Employer Han… this is Sector 02A.” Uncle Lin’s fingers rubbed the slightly smoking, hot muzzle of his gun, his brow furrowed slightly. Although they hadn't encountered any danger along the way, this didn't mean that danger didn't exist. The danger of staying in Sector 02A was truly hair-raising.
“What are you doing? We don’t have time to accompany you here doing some detection work.” Crow voiced his protest most directly from the side. His attitude towards Han Nianling had been rather impolite ever since the iron bridge was broken.
“Remuneration doubled.”
Han Nianling wasn't worried about the mercenaries' opposition to her.
She clearly had these mercenaries by their Achilles' heel, because she knew what they wanted most, and these were not a problem for her.
Sure enough, four simple words basically dispelled the mercenaries' dissenting voices.
After exchanging glances, they immediately and unanimously dispersed to the surroundings to stand guard, providing a safe working environment for this wealthy employer.
Zhong Jing, who was about to leave, was called down alone by Han Nianling.
“You stay by my side on guard, responsible for my personal safety.”
Zhong Jing’s mind wasn’t slow; she instantly understood Han Nianling’s purpose.
That map of Sector 02A had caught her attention.
This detection was part of Han Nianling’s mission, and it also contained an intention to be alone with her.
The surrounding mercenaries hadn't gone far.
Han Nianling seemed to be still focused on fiddling with the instrument, but her voice had already come through Zhong Jing’s earpiece: “I have established a private channel with you. They will not hear our conversation.”
“The detailed map of Sector 02A should be something you obtained in that dream you described, right?”
“……”
Zhong Jing naturally chose silence in response to Han Nianling's question.
The warning she received at the broken bridge in Sector 04 not long ago was still fresh in her mind.
She wouldn't easily forget being humiliated with a slap on her rear as a warning.
Now it was Han Nianling's turn to ask something of her.
Such a turn of fortune wasn't common.
The pleasure, akin to revenge, made her unable to suppress the slight upward curve of her lips.
Han Nianling seemed to have anticipated Zhong Jing’s reaction and made no comment on her silence, continuing instead: “I admit: what I am doing now is related to your dream, and some things in your dream may provide me with some extremely important clues. In exchange, I will also provide corresponding intelligence.”
“…”
Zhong Jing didn’t speak. Han Nianling’s shrewdness was comparable to that of an old fox. Actively agreeing would mean handing over the initiative. The more critical the moment, the more important it was to remain calm.
“JD Shopping Plaza.”
However, Zhong Jing's composure didn't last long.
A place name Han Nianling suddenly threw out, seemingly unintentionally, caused Zhong Jing's body to tremble imperceptibly, and all of this fell into Han Nianling's eyes: “Judging by your reaction, I should be right. That’s the place where you died in your dream, isn’t it.”
“How did you…” Zhong Jing blurted out in her anxiety, and although she immediately shut her mouth, it was already too late.
“Indeed.”
“Remember the map you drew?” A trace of teasing colored Han Nianling’s tone, just like back then in the office building. “The general map I drew earlier deliberately included some small landmarks, to clarify our direction. And the map of Sector 02A you drew, after being primed by my previous marking method, you naturally used this method when drawing the main roads. Do you remember the first landmark you pointed to without hesitation?”
JD Shopping Plaza?!
Suddenly realizing, Zhong Jing stared wide-eyed at Han Nianling before her.
For the first time, she felt a trace of fear towards Han Nianling.
It was a subconscious action she herself hadn't even noticed, but she never would have thought Han Nianling would actually obtain such important information here.
“There are clearly many more important and conspicuous landmarks, why did you choose this one first… At first, I only knew this place was extremely important to you but wasn’t sure of the details. Just now was merely a coincidental guess, and your reaction confirmed my thoughts… Indeed, death leaves the deepest impression on people.”
“……”
“Alright, stop sulking, okay? I apologize for what happened just now. You know more than I imagined…” Her tone shifted, and Han Nianling coaxed Zhong Jing as if she were a child.
“I’m not a child…” This attitude from the other party made Zhong Jing protest with great dissatisfaction.
“Yes, yes, yes, you’re no longer a child…” Still in a teasing tone, seemingly unconcerned with her protest. As such, Zhong Jing simply clammed up again, telling herself from the bottom of her heart not to reveal any more information and be led by the nose by the other party.
“Don’t be angry. I just thought you looked interesting and couldn’t resist making a harmless little joke. Perhaps I should reintroduce myself: Han Nianling, A-level researcher at the Research Institute, responsible for research issues related to Witches and Dark Energy. Don’t worry, our cooperation is a win-win.”
Han Nianling wasn't worried at all about Zhong Jing’s silent protest, because she had the reason Zhong Jing found most irresistible: “What if, I said: I can help you investigate the reason why you became like this?”
“!”
Witch? Dark Energy? Zhong Jing skipped over the earlier words, and this latter sentence was what most directly broke through Zhong Jing’s psychological defenses. The overwhelming waves that erupted left Zhong Jing unable to even come to her senses.
Han Nianling was right.
This was what Zhong Jing most wanted to know, and it was also her ultimate purpose for braving the dangers to come to the JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area.
Compared to her, a second-level mercenary, blundering around aimlessly, the help from an A-level researcher would be more useful, and the possibility of obtaining the truth would also be greater.
Zhong Jing simply had no way to refuse.
“I… what do you want to know?”
Alright, Zhong Jing chose to compromise.
Compared to the truth she sought, sulking over that trivial matter was really not worth it.
Moreover… Zhong Jing glanced at Han Nianling with great reluctance.
This cunning old fox might still be able to wheedle something else out of her.
Otherwise, the bargaining chips left in her own hands would become fewer and fewer.
It was better to just take them out directly in exchange for the information she wanted to know.
Han Nianling nodded slightly, very satisfied with Zhong Jing’s statement.
Persuading this little girl was much easier than she had imagined.
However, just as the two reached a consensus, Si Ling’s warning suddenly came through the earpiece, and this warning left everyone’s hearts hanging in suspense.
“Corpse tide! Large-scale corpse tide detected to the west!”