Chapter 110: First confrontation with the survivors
Su Wanqing's footsteps stopped in mid-air. She could sense a dangerous aura.
The new passage did not lead to more resources as Xiao Ran said, but led directly to a completely enclosed space.
"Be careful." She whispered, her voice swallowed by the humid air echoing in the passage.
At the end of the passage, a metal gate blocked their way.
The gate was closed and covered with anti-rust coating, indicating that it had not been opened for a long time.
Lu Zhao tried to use an instrument to connect to the gate's control system, but the system seemed to have been disconnected from power manually.
"It needs to be turned on manually." Lu Zhao reported.
Just as he was about to take action, a noisy sound came from inside the gate.
Then, the gate slowly opened, revealing a narrow room.
In the room, five or six figures were holding guns, watching them vigilantly.
The leader was a man in his forties, wearing a stained white coat and with messy hair, but his eyes were unusually sharp.
His face was tired, but he was not at all off guard. Next to him stood a young woman, holding a submachine gun tightly in her hand, her eyes as cold as a knife.
"Who are you?" the man spoke, his voice hoarse and full of obvious hostility.
"This is a private area, leave immediately."
Su Wanqing raised her hand and motioned for everyone to stop. "We are just passing by and just want to find some medical supplies. We have no ill intentions."
The man sneered. "No bad intentions? It's the end of the world, who would believe in other people's kindness? Here are the supplies we need, you'd better be sensible and leave immediately, otherwise don't blame us for being rude."
"We just want to seek cooperation." Su Wanqing tried to calm the other party through negotiation.
"We can help each other and fight the zombies together."
"Cooperation?" The man shook his head. "We don't need anyone's help. We are capable of protecting ourselves." His eyes swept over Su Wanqing and the others, and finally stopped at the instrument in Lu Zhao's hand.
"You look like you have bad intentions. Are you planning to take our supplies?"
"Absolutely not." Lu Zhao explained quickly. "We just want to find some medicine to treat the wounded."
"Treat the wounded?" The man snorted. "There's nothing here you can use. All the medicines are prepared by us, specifically for dealing with mutant viruses."
Xiao Ran was getting impatient with the current situation. He took a step forward, ready to directly touch the medical supplies, but was pointed a gun at his head by a soldier under the man.
"Stop! If you take another step forward, we will shoot!" The soldier's voice was cold and ruthless.
The situation became tense and the two sides were on the verge of a fight. Su Wanqing realized that it might not be easy to solve the problem peacefully.
"What are you researching here?" Su Wanqing tried to change the subject and find more useful information.
"These medical devices look very advanced. Are you a professional medical team?"
The man narrowed his eyes, seeming to be somewhat puzzled by Su Wanqing's question.
"Why do you care so much?"
"I'm just curious." Su Wanqing replied calmly. "We have been looking for ways to fight the virus. If you have some special formulas, maybe we can learn from each other."
The man was silent for a moment, his eyes moving back and forth across Su Wanqing's face, as if assessing her authenticity.
"The formula we have is very dangerous and not everyone can use it. Besides, we don't trust anyone."
At this time, Su Wanqing subconsciously used the ancestral jade bracelet to transfer several small bottles of disinfectant and painkillers into her backpack.
The action was so fast that almost no one noticed.
The man noticed something strange about Su Wanqing, and his eyes became more alert.
"What did you do?"
Su Wanqing pretended to be calm. "I didn't do anything. I just packed my backpack."
"What are you wearing on your wrist?" The man noticed the jade bracelet on Su Wanqing's wrist, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.
"What is that?"
Su Wanqing smiled slightly and tried to evade the question with vague words.
"It's just an ordinary jade bracelet, passed down from my grandmother."
The man obviously didn't believe Su Wanqing's explanation. He took a few steps forward and wanted to take a closer look at the jade bracelet.
"Don't come near!" Xiao Ran stood in front of Su Wanqing, his eyes full of warning.
"We don't want a conflict, so you'd better not force us."
"Conflict?" The man sneered. "You came here first. I warn you, leave here immediately, or I won't be polite to you!"
At this time, Lin Che suddenly whispered to Su Wanqing: "Host, the other party's leader is too strict in protecting certain samples and is suspected of concealing important information. It is recommended to take tough measures and seize them directly." Ye's voice sounded in Su Wanqing's mind, with a hint of coldness and murderous intent.
Su Wanqing shook her head and rejected Ye's proposal. "Now is not the time. We must obtain more intelligence to make the right judgment."
She turned to the man and softened her tone. "We don't intend to be your enemy, we just hope to seek cooperation. If you are willing to share some information with us, perhaps we can find a better way to survive."
"How to survive?" The man sneered. "In this apocalypse, only the strong can survive. You weak ones are destined to be eliminated."
"The strong may not always be right." Su Wanqing retorted. "Sometimes, cooperation can create greater value."
The man ignored Su Wanqing's words. He just looked at them coldly, his eyes full of distrust.
"You can go now," the man said. "Don't bother us anymore."
Su Wanqing knew that it might be meaningless to continue the negotiations.
She nodded to Lu Zhao and Xiao Ran, signaling them to prepare for battle.
"Well, since you don't believe us, we won't force it."
Su Wanqing said. "But if you need help, you can always come to us."
After saying that, Su Wanqing turned around and prepared to leave with everyone. The man and his men were still staring at them, ready to take action at any time.
Su Wanqing said to herself: This group of survivors is definitely not a good group. They must be hiding some secret, and this secret may be related to those closely guarded virus samples.
Su Wanqing slowly turned around, with her back to the tense team of survivors, her face calm.
She tried to keep her breathing steady and not sound too rapid.
Behind them, Lu Zhao and Xiao Ran remained on guard, their hands unconsciously on their weapons.
Lin Che lowered his head, his body trembling slightly, as if he was enduring some great pain.
"We are just passing by." Su Wanqing spoke, her tone as gentle as possible.
"This city has been abandoned for a long time. We just want to find some supplies and take a rest. We don't have any special purpose." She tried her best to show weakness, hoping to gain the other party's trust.
Opposite, the man in a white coat, named Zhou Wenbo, looked at Su Wanqing with a scrutinizing gaze like a knife.
"Passing by? After the end of the world, few people would show up here for no reason. This is not a tourist attraction, nor a free supply station." Zhou Wenbo's voice was still hoarse and full of distrust.
"We were commissioned by a small settlement nearby to find some medical supplies."
Su Wanqing continued, trying to make up a reasonable excuse.
"They've suffered some casualties over there and are in urgent need of some medicine."
Zhou Wenbo sneered. "Small settlement? What's the name of the settlement you're talking about? Where is it?"
Su Wanqing's heart tightened. She hadn't prepared this excuse in advance, so she could only bite the bullet and say, "That... the settlement is called Anning Village, about fifty kilometers away from here."
Zhou Wenbo's eyes became sharper. "Anning Village? How come I have never heard of this name?"
He turned to look at a young soldier beside him and said, "Li Wei, go check the latest intelligence to see if there is any record about Anning Village."
Su Wanqing felt that she was in a more dangerous situation.
Her lies could be easily exposed, and once revealed, the consequences would be disastrous.
At this moment, a faint voice sounded in her mind: "Host, the other party is very concerned about the sample in his possession, and has begun to doubt your lies. The other party may have a complete research plan for the evolutionary virus. This is a rare opportunity, and we must find a way to obtain it."
That was the sound of the night, with a cold calculation and a strong desire for control.
Su Wanqing frowned. She didn't like Ye's tough style.
But we have to admit that the information given by Ye is indeed very important.
If the other party really mastered the research plan of evolving viruses, then they would have hope of fighting against the doomsday crisis.
"I understand." Su Wanqing said secretly in her heart.
"Mr. Zhou." Lu Zhao suddenly spoke, interrupting Zhou Wenbo's thoughts.
"I'm a physicist and I'm very interested in these medical devices. Would you allow me to take a closer look?"
Zhou Wenbo turned his gaze to Lu Zhao. "You are a scientist? Why?"
"I want to see the technical principles of these devices, maybe they can help us in our research and development to fight the virus."
Lu Zhao said calmly. "I promise, I won't cause any damage to your equipment."
Zhou Wenbo hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded. "Okay. But you must observe under my supervision. Also, you can only look, not touch."
Lu Zhao nodded, walked to the medical equipment nearby, and began to examine it carefully.
He soon discovered that the circuit boards of these devices were engraved with special encryption symbols, apparently to prevent them from being cracked by others.
"These devices were once strictly controlled by very high-level scientific research groups." Lu Zhao said to himself.
On the other side, Xiao Ran was trying to ease the tense situation. He walked up to a soldier who was cleaning his gun and asked, "What kind of supplies are these? They look very professional."
The soldier raised his head and looked at Xiao Ran coldly. "This is a drug we made ourselves to treat the mutant virus. It has nothing to do with you."
"Can you let me take a look?" Xiao Ran asked. "Maybe I can help check if it's easy to carry."
He just wanted to find an excuse to get close to those evolved virus samples.
"No!" the soldier shouted. "These things are extremely valuable, no one is allowed to touch them casually."
Seeing this, Xiao Ran did not force it anymore and asked, "Where was this place before? It looks like an abandoned medical experiment base."
"This used to be a biological research center," the soldier replied.
“Specializing in the study of some new drugs and viruses.”
"Researching viruses?" Xiao Ran asked. "What type of viruses are you researching?"
"I don't know." The soldier replied. "I was just on guard duty, I don't know anything else."
"It seems that there are many secrets hidden here." Xiao Ran said secretly in his heart.
At this moment, Zhou Wenbo suddenly spoke. "Where are you from? What are your identities? Why are you here?"
Su Wanqing was startled. Zhou Wenbo seemed to have noticed the flaw in their identities and was trying to get information from the side.
"We..." Su Wanqing was about to speak when Zhou Wenbo interrupted her.
"Stop talking. Your answers are full of loopholes. I'm increasingly feeling that you came here for other purposes."
He narrowed his eyes and stared at Su Wanqing. "Who are you? Why did you lie to us?"
As soon as Zhou Wenbo finished speaking, Li Wei's voice came from the side.
"Director Zhou, I checked. There is no settlement called Anning Village nearby, and there are no recent records about them."
Zhou Wenbo's expression became even darker. "It's a lie!"
He turned to look at Su Wanqing, his eyes full of anger. "What do you want to do?"
Su Wanqing took a deep breath, knowing that she could no longer hide it.
She said slowly: "We...we are an expedition team from another area, commissioned by someone to find some drugs that can fight the virus."
"Expedition team?" Zhou Wenbo sneered. "Your expedition team is too well-equipped, isn't it? Also, your identities make me feel very suspicious." He paused and said, "So, let me ask you again, who are you? Why did you lie to us?"
Su Wanqing knew that she had to find a reasonable excuse to resolve this crisis.
She calmed herself down and said, "Our identities may surprise you. We...we are..."
Just as Su Wanqing was about to speak, Lin Che suddenly covered his head and groaned in pain.
His body began to tremble and his face turned pale.
"Host, Ye...Ye can't control himself anymore! He wants to take over your body!"
Lin Che's voice was weak and hoarse.
Su Wanqing's face turned very ugly. She knew that Ye's power was very strong, and if he controlled her body, the consequences would be disastrous.
"No... I can't let Ye control me!" Su Wanqing struggled desperately in her heart.
Zhou Wenbo noticed Lin Che's strangeness, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Zhou Wenbo asked. "You don't look well."
Lin Che did not answer, he just closed his eyes in pain.
Su Wanqing knew that she had to end the negotiation as soon as possible, otherwise Ye would most likely expose her identity.
"Mr. Zhou," Su Wanqing said. "We know that you are full of suspicion towards us. However, we really have no ill intentions. We just want to seek cooperation and fight against the apocalyptic crisis together."
Zhou Wenbo was silent for a moment, and finally nodded. "Okay. I can trust you once. But if you dare to deceive me, I won't be polite to you."
Su Wanqing breathed a sigh of relief.
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