Chapter Sixty-Two: Suspicions Surrounding the Incident

Rebuilding Civilization Without Barriers

Watching Meng Nan’s car drive away, Xie Han glanced at the time. Of the three hours he had in the modern world, less than ten minutes remained. Thinking that Chen Liu might come looking for him soon, Xie Han decided to make use of the remaining minutes; he rushed into the city, hurriedly picked out two cabbages that clearly bore the marks of long storage, and returned to his apartment. Wasn’t Chen Liu asking for a sumptuous dinner tonight? In the post-apocalyptic world, having fresh vegetables was already an extravagant feast.

Sometimes Xie Han wondered why, in the aftermath, people’s mindsets—or perhaps their perspectives—couldn’t shift a little. Take vegetables, for example. On the rooftops of the base, in the residential areas, there were plenty of places suitable for planting, yet nobody bothered. When it came to food, everyone relied on the base to distribute supplies, or risked their lives trying to snatch provisions from areas guarded by zombies, never considering the possibility of cultivating the vast fields outside the base for sustainable survival.

Xie Han understood that this way of thinking was largely shaped by their location. Take the present situation: near Wangtian City, with its massive food reserves, venturing out daily almost guaranteed fruitful returns. Who would bother to spend time turning wasteland into farmland, and then invest even more time to care for it? Besides, the zombies outside could suddenly swarm and attack, and without proper defense, one would often die a horrible death.

To explain the origin of the vegetables, Xie Han deliberately took a trip out, returning with two cabbages in hand. He didn’t need to say much; after all, today Gao Tianhao and his group had nearly emptied the city’s warehouse, and with advanced preservation technology, they had harvested quite a few easily stored greens like cabbage.

The vegetables Xie Han brought back surprised and delighted the exhausted group who had just finished hauling grain; it even revived Chu Tianhe, who was as tired as a dog, filling him with energy. He took the cabbages straight from Xie Han and dashed into the kitchen. Seeing Chu Tianhe’s eager antics, Xie Han couldn’t help laughing, saying, “Cook plenty of rice, and throw in the preserved meat and all the good stuff. Chen Liu will be coming over for dinner.”

Chen Liu came straight from the quarantine zone, bringing two trusted aides with him, just as Chu Tianhe set the dishes on the table. The lavish meal helped to lighten Chen Liu’s somber mood somewhat. In his position, with a certain team strength and a string of successful hunts lately, he lacked for little. Still, the bottles of Wuliangye on the table unsettled him.

Xie Han’s drinking capacity was not high; after a few ounces of Wuliangye, his face flushed red. In contrast, Chen Liu had remarkable endurance, downing an entire bottle without slurring a word, and kept pouring himself cup after cup. Xie Han didn’t try to stop him.

The truth was, Chen Liu was furious and frustrated. The loss of three Hummer Kings was painful, but even more so were the dozens of brothers aboard those vehicles. For over three years, these men had followed him everywhere; they had finally found a bit of peace at the base, and had enough grain to feed the team for a long time. They should have been enjoying life, yet Chen Liu couldn’t sit still. Success after success made him see hunting as a risk-free operation. That mindset led directly to today’s disaster.

Yet fate had other plans. Though the zombies were numerous and fierce, each Hummer King was fitted with eight-barrel heavy machine guns. The metal storm from three such guns was more than the zombies could withstand, and with over twenty vehicles guarding that side, their strength on the congested streets should have made them untouchable. The only explanation was some unforeseen event.

Xie Han wasn’t in the convoy and couldn’t know the details. He asked, “Brother Chen Liu, do you think they might have run into r3?” Chen Liu shook his head. “Impossible. The convoy’s smart systems were all interconnected. If r3 had appeared, there’d have been alarms. No matter how powerful r3 is, it couldn’t have destroyed them instantly.”

To Xie Han, there were many suspicious points. He offered a few words of comfort to Chen Liu, then noticed the bespectacled man sneaking glances at him. Xie Han’s heart stirred; he beckoned him over. The man hesitated, nervous, but came at last. Xie Han pointed to a chair at the table and smiled, “Sit down. After all this time, I still don’t know your name.”

The bespectacled man smiled awkwardly. His voice was somewhat rough as he answered, “Wu Donglin. I used to be a safety engineer at Wangtian Security Company.” Xie Han nodded. “Let me ask you something. The vehicle’s smart system—can it control the entire car’s electronic functions?”

Wu Donglin nodded. “The smart system is basically the car’s electronic integrated control center. You can issue commands to the system as needed to control the car—such as ignition and shutoff, and the engine’s electronic chip, brake chip, and so on.”

“If you used one vehicle’s smart system to invade the entire interconnected convoy, could you do it?” Xie Han knew this question was key. Even Chen Liu seemed to realize something, and watched Wu Donglin intently.

Wu Donglin grew nervous, swallowed hard, and under Chen Liu’s forceful gaze, said slowly, “With the right tools, it’s not difficult.”

Xie Han pressed further, “If you gained control of the other side’s smart system, could you control the cars themselves?” Wu Donglin nodded, “Once you have the system, you have the whole vehicle. That’s easy enough.”

Xie Han and Chen Liu exchanged a look. Then, Chen Liu slammed the table, his expression wild as a tiger. “Damn it, I knew this wasn’t simple!” If Wu Donglin was telling the truth, Chen Liu could already foresee: someone had tampered with the smart systems, leading to the deaths of everyone in twenty-plus vehicles at the hands of zombies. “But who would do this? And why? What would they gain?”

These questions were not easy to answer. Xie Han replied cautiously, “Brother Chen Liu, do you think this was aimed at you?” Chen Liu shook his head. “I, Chen Liu, have always treated everyone as brothers. Since coming to this base, I’ve never made an enemy. I can’t imagine anyone or any reason to target me.”

The twenty-some vehicles were all manned by his most trusted subordinates, and this realization darkened Chen Liu’s face. He murmured, “Looks like someone wants to move against me, Chen Liu.” He had an inkling, but kept it to himself; without proof, such suspicions were dangerous, and if he handled it poorly, the chaos that could ensue would be beyond his control.

“Xie, tell me, why did you ask me here? I doubt this meal is just for enjoyment.”