Chapter 106: Spy
By the time she entered the inner circle, the battle inside was nearing its end.
Five people were lying on the ground, pinned down by a group of soldiers and unable to move. Dirty clothes were stuffed into their mouths, so they could only make faint humming sounds.
Fang Qing and Liang Zheng were talking nearby. Su Qing came closer and was caught by Fang Qing's peripheral vision. She exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you here?"
Liang Zheng also looked at Su Qing and nodded politely.
"I couldn't get in touch with you, and then I heard from Dong Wen that there was a commotion at the makeshift camp, so I rushed over." Su Qing said, glancing at the people lying on the ground. "Were they the ones causing trouble?"
"They were being used. They formed cliques and spread rumors to incite the crowd during the evacuation." Fang Qing took a few steps forward with a cold expression. She bent down and pulled the rag out of one of the men's mouths. "Tell me what you just said again," she said.
The object was removed from the man's mouth. He swallowed uncomfortably a few times and then coughed forcefully twice. The rain continued to fall from his head, making it difficult for him to open his eyes. His entire features were twisted together. The man's voice was hoarse and trembling, and he stammered, "I... I... We were bewitched and believed those people's... lies! Lord Chief! Please let me go! I have parents... I have children..."
Seeing this man hesitating and talking nonsense, Fang Qing kicked him hard, saying with impatience: "Get to the point!"
"Ah!" The man screamed in pain. He subconsciously tried to curl up his body, but was held down by the two soldiers who counterattacked him.
"Important...important...ah! Important! We just left the base, and on the way, a few people interspersed with the team and said something, something about the siege being a conspiracy, and that the leader had colluded with the zombies and wanted to take over all of China..."
"We...all of us will be sacrificed to the zombies."
Su Qing frowned. "How many people are there? What are their characteristics?"
"A few people... I don't know, they... they were wearing ordinary raincoats and hats covering their faces. I didn't pay much attention to their appearance..."
"Please let me go. I just told others what I heard. I didn't do anything harmful!"
Several people on the ground also began to struggle, whimpering and begging for mercy.
After listening for a long time, there was no useful information. The man's continuous crying and shouting was particularly harsh. Liang Zheng signaled the people next to him to cover his mouth again, and then ordered the soldiers to take the few people on the ground away for detailed interrogation.
"Comrade Su, we suspect that those who spread the rumors have not left the camp yet. I have sent a team of soldiers together with Dong Wen and others to secretly scout among the crowd. If any abnormality is found, we will take immediate measures." Liang Zheng looked at Su Qing and said slowly.
Su Qing listened to Liang Zheng's words, his expression slightly solemn. "Okay, the situation is chaotic now, and rumors have a great impact on the base personnel. We must investigate as soon as possible. However, please also pass on the message and tell them to be cautious and ensure their own safety and the safety of the base personnel. The enemy is in the dark, and they are trying to stir up trouble at this time to take advantage of the chaos and disrupt our Dawn Base. I am afraid they will take extreme measures to achieve their goal."
Liang Zheng smiled slightly and nodded in response: "Don't worry about this. The people sent out are all elites of our department. They know exactly how to deal with it."
Fang Qing ordered the crowd to disperse. She walked over to Su Qing and stood beside him. "Don't worry, we'll resolve this as soon as possible." Then she asked, "By the way, how's the situation at the base? Should we... continue to move to the capital?"
"The zombies have all left, but..." Su Qing paused and spoke with some difficulty, "The research institute... was blown up."
"What?" Fang Qing and Liang Zheng looked at Su Qing with shock in their eyes.
"What's going on?" Fang Qing's voice trembled slightly, and an ominous premonition arose in her heart.
Su Qing took a deep breath and said slowly, "After the zombies evacuated, we were not prepared for the air attack. Someone took advantage of the chaos and flew a military aircraft into the base and blew up the research institute. The buildings collapsed and were severely damaged. We don't know what happened to the analytical instruments inside yet. Qin Yu and Lu Chen are leading the excavation now."
A trace of anger flashed in Liang Zheng's eyes. "Only a few people know about the data analysis within the institute, and they can even fly military aircraft to bomb. Could this be..." His voice was as cold as ice when he said this, "There's a traitor in the military."
Su Qing shook his head. "Actually, I suspect this incident might be related to the G City base. The zombies attacking the city, destroying the research institute, and someone spreading rumors during the evacuation team—putting these three things together doesn't seem like a coincidence."
"And it seems that the only people who can do this are those in City G."
Fang Qing was silent for a moment, then said uncertainly, "But...how did they know that the research institute was analyzing important data? Even we only learned about it from Professor Gu after the zombies attacked the city..."
Professor Gu's analytical data determines whether humans can defeat the zombie virus and eliminate zombies, which is the biggest threat to the G City base.
In this case, either they had been planting spies in the Dawn Base, and after the siege, they learned about the research institute and decided to blow it up on impulse, or there was a traitor around Professor Gu, and the news was leaked to let people from the G City Base come and deal with it.
The former involves a wide range of people, but if it is the latter...
Su Qing immediately asked the system in his mind whether there were any people who had bad intentions among those who joined the base.
"Testing... The trust levels of the base personnel are all normal."
Everyone's trust in the base is within the safe range, but information leaks have occurred... This makes Su Qing more vigilant. She tells the system to monitor the base personnel at all times and tell her immediately if anything is wrong.
Su Qing clearly understood that one should not underestimate any small person, as anyone could become the key to the direction of an event.
"I'll have Lu Chen remind Professor Gu to be careful with those around him. You should also keep an eye on anyone in the base who can get close to Professor Gu. Also, calculate how many people want to go to the capital and how many want to stay at the Dawn Base. Those who want to leave will be contacted with the capital to arrange for transportation. The rest will remain in the temporary camp. I'll go back to the base and find a way to open up the research institute, and then we'll finalize the follow-up arrangements."
Su Qing said a few words to Fang Qing and left in a hurry.
When he returned to the base, it was already bright. The rain was getting lighter but still showed no signs of stopping. Su Qing flew the helicopter and parked it on the side of the tent area.
When she approached the research institute, she discovered that a tall tarpaulin had been erected in a collapsed corner, with dozens of people surrounding it, digging with their bare hands.
Among the crowd of people in dark green raincoats, Lu Chen and Qin Yu stood out. Even though there were so many people around them, Su Qing could recognize them at a glance.
She walked quickly over to take over a soldier's position. No one noticed her arrival. The person in front handed her a large stone, and Su Qing quickly took it and passed it to the back.
After a while of this busy work, someone suddenly shouted, "We've dug it up! We've dug it up!"
All of a sudden, everyone put down what they were holding and came over. Su Qing was pushed so hard that she couldn't stand steadily. The stones under her feet loosened and she tilted her body and was about to fall.
A hand grabbed her arm in time and pulled her over.
Su Qing looked at the hand on her arm, which was covered with muddy sand and a little blood-red. Looking up along the palm, she saw Qin Yu looking at her anxiously. A few wet strands of his hair stuck to his forehead, his eyebrows were dark and blue, and his chin was covered with stubble, making him look quite embarrassed.
After Su Qing stood firm, Qin Yu immediately withdrew his hand that was tightly holding her arm, "It's not stable here, be careful with your steps."
"Thank you. Let's go over and take a look." Su Qing said as he walked towards the crowd.
Qin Yu hurriedly caught up when he saw this. He quickly stood beside Su Qing, using one hand to help separate the crowd, and the other hand to protect her, holding it by his side to prevent anyone from squeezing her. The two of them soon arrived at the innermost part.
Lu Chen and Li Yi were half-crouching on the ground and digging with their bare hands.
Su Qing leaned over and bent down slightly, then asked softly, "Have you found it?"
Lu Chen raised his head and glanced at her, then focused on his hands again, "This is the location of the data analysis laboratory. We just found a host computer, but we're not sure if it's the one."
Su Qing saw that Lu Chen looked very haggard and miserable, and thought that they had been digging here all night without any rest.
"Let me do it, you guys go take a rest over there."
Li Yi dug out a few bricks with his hands and threw them aside, saying with a smile, "Sister, victory is just around the corner. You can't steal the credit from your brothers! I've been working hard here all night just for this moment. Once I dig out this host that can save humanity's important data, I'll be the greatest hero of the entire Blue Planet! From now on, my old man will have to think twice before he wants to beat me up."
Su Qing couldn't help but chuckle when she heard Li Yi say this. The tense atmosphere was broken by his few words.
Everyone joined in the jokes.
"We are witnessing history!"
"That's right! If this incident is written into history books, won't we also be remembered for eternity?"
"Come on, you're just wishful thinking. How can history possibly include the names of dozens of us?"
"Hey, if you don't want to write it, then don't write it. I'm also an important witness, so mentioning it will bring honor to my family."
Li Yi dug out another handful of gravel from the side of the host. He raised his hand to throw it while laughing. Maybe he was laughing too happily, his hand trembled, and the gravel slipped and hit the host with a crackling sound.
Su Qing had been staring at the host computer, and his heart stopped beating for a few seconds when he saw this.
Lu Chen reacted immediately and stepped forward to hug the host computer, while the remaining stones hit his back and fell off.
At this moment, everyone was quiet.
Li Yi quickly moved his hand away and threw away the remaining gravel. "Fuck! I've become a sinner on Blue Star! Hurry up, let me see if you're okay."
Lu Chen carefully moved away. He looked up and glared at Li Yi fiercely, saying angrily, "It's already this late, and you're still so careless!"
"It's my fault, it's my fault! Let me check the machine." Li Yi hit his thigh in frustration and looked at the host anxiously.
However, the monitor in the laboratory had been smashed and there was no electricity. They couldn't turn on the machine now, and no one knew what was going on.
Su Qing stepped forward and gently brushed off the stones on the machine. Suddenly, a few words flashed before her eyes. Her heart moved, and with a "swish", the host computer on the ground disappeared, leaving only a hole.
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