Startled, Chen Zhizhi dropped her pen onto the table, where it rolled to the floor. A small hand reached out and picked it up.
Seeing the gun barrel in front of her, Chen Zhizhi immediately got up from her seat, squatted down, and hugged her son in her arms.
She said in a panic, "I'm the owner here. I can give you anything you want, as long as you don't hurt me or my son."
Li Ke's gaze swept over them. The child had pale skin, and one leg was noticeably smaller than the other. He was nestled in Chen Zhizhi's arms, his bright eyes looking at her curiously.
The floor was covered with a thick carpet. Li Ke locked the door behind him, found a place to sit in the adjacent reception area, pointed at Chen Zhizhi with his pistol, and gestured for her to bring the child and sit down as well.
Chen Zhizhi looked pretty good. Apart from some sagging in her facial features, she was still a beautiful woman. Li Ke thought that she was only in her thirties, but she was aging quite quickly.
Chen Zhizhi carefully sat down with her child in the place furthest away from Li Ke, not daring to speak. She only looked up at Li Ke once before immediately lowering her head.
"How much do you know about Dr. Cheng here?" Li Ke asked slowly.
Chen Zhizhi then realized that the person in front of her seemed to be a woman. She raised her eyes again before speaking, "Dr. Cheng is the manager here. All transactions here are under his control. Only he can handle external material transactions and information exchanges. Here, if you want to survive and have food, you have to listen to them."
Li Ke: "How did you get here? Weren't you in the shelter in N City before?"
Chen Zhizhi was startled by what she heard and looked up at Li Ke again, but when she met Li Ke's sharp eyes, she immediately looked away, unable to bear it.
The child in her arms was getting impatient and wanted to get down and play by himself. Chen Zhizhi patted him gently and held him tighter before saying, "We were originally there, but then the floods came and the food supply at the shelter couldn't keep up. The leadership was also a bit chaotic, so our family left when the shelter fell apart. Later, we met Dr. Cheng's men and went out to sea with them to make a living here."
"What is Dr. Cheng doing collecting those corpses lately? You mentioned trading supplies, with whom are they trading? Are the people here allowed to leave freely?" Li Ke asked again.
Chen Zhizhi shook her head: "I don't know what they want those corpses for. Every two to three months, several cargo ships come here, and they are all received by the island's guards. After a while, we guessed that they were supply ships from outside. There are two oil fields on this island, so I guess they use those for trading."
Once you become a resident of the island, you can bring people in, but you can't leave. You can go out to sea to fish, but there are limits on the area and time. The island also has defensive missiles, so no one dares to disobey.
However, once they obtain residency here, few people want to leave, because they can't find another place to live.
Every time they set sail, there are inspections. The fuel and supplies on board are only enough to last the crew for three days at most. In three days, they won't even be able to cover one-sixth of this sea area.
Li Ke looked at Chen Zhizhi and said, "It seems you're doing quite well."
Chen Zhizhi was taken aback for a moment, then relaxed a bit: "You know me?"
She stared at the tall, slender woman wearing a leather mask for a while, vaguely feeling a sense of familiarity. Memories raced through her mind as she tried to find someone who matched the description.
Li Ke ignored Chen Zhizhi's thoughts and continued to ask her, "Any news lately? For example, what happened with those corpses? Has there been any change at sea?"
Chen Zhizhi honestly shook her head: "The people on the island live a life of isolation from the world. They really don't know what's happening outside. The only people here who can leave freely and have contact with the outside world are Dr. Cheng's people."
Li Ke asked Chen Zhizhi for the address of Dr. Cheng's headquarters. According to her description, the place was quite easy to find; it was the most unique building here, a semi-circular structure.
Li Ke had tried sending messages from here before, but no signal was found, and the messages failed to be sent. She also tried to locate the location here, but that didn't work either.
When asked, Chen Zhizhi said she didn't know either; everything had to be found out from Dr. Cheng.
Dr. Cheng controls the energy and food supplies here, as well as all external contacts and transactions. Everyone on the island depends on him for their livelihood.
He also opened two food processing plants on the island, where, through special processing methods, they could minimize the toxicity of the fish and produce them into edible canned goods.
The island's only agricultural research base was also established by them. The yield was average, but it could still supply some privileged classes.
Chen Zhizhi looked at the woman opposite her who remained silent, seemingly deep in thought. She mustered her courage and called out, "Li Ke?"
Li Ke looked up at her without saying a word, but Chen Zhizhi's eyes seemed to flash with surprise. She said happily, "Is it really you? You've changed so much. I just thought of everyone I know, and I still think only you can become so amazing."
Li Ke watched Chen Zhizhi's performance with a half-smile: "What are you so happy about? Our relationship isn't exactly good."
Chen Zhizhi was speechless for a moment. So much time had passed that she had really forgotten most of the things that happened before.
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