At dawn, at the foot of Mingdao Mountain, Sister Yu and another man had set up a temporary camp and were sitting by the campfire, lost in thought.
Neither had slept all night. Having lost several companions overnight and nearly being killed by thugs themselves, grief and terror intertwined, leaving them unable to sleep.
The man now took out his phone and typed: (Sister Yu, it's just the two of us left. What are we going to do from now on?)
Sister Yu replied: (Zhao Yu, even for the sake of those who died, we must strive to survive.)
(...You're right.) The man named Zhao Yu nodded. (Those thugs' jeeps had a lot of supplies, enough for us to survive for a long time.)
Seeing Zhao Yu's text, Sister Yu thought for a moment and typed: (I plan to take most of them up the mountain. You know as well as I do, without the help of the people on the mountain, we definitely wouldn't have survived.)
Zhao Yu: (That's true, we should thank them for saving our lives... But, judging by that person's attitude yesterday, they didn't seem to like being disturbed. Won't taking things up there make them angry?)
Sister Yu thought about it: (We'll just leave them at the spot we reached yesterday. Think about it, the people on the mountain knew we ran up the mountain in the middle of the night, so someone must be on lookout duty. So if we leave the supplies there, the people on the mountain should find them.)
Zhao Yu nodded, then thought of something, his expression darkening: (Sister Yu, if we had someone on lookout last night too, if we had discovered that gang of thugs earlier, could more of us have escaped...)
Seeing Zhao Yu's text, Sister Yu fell silent, a look of guilt on her face.
As the camp leader, failing to make such preparations was indeed her dereliction of duty. But she truly hadn't expected so many thugs to commit murder and robbery so brazenly.
This made her, while heartbroken, also develop a certain realization.
From this rule, no, from the moment the authorities announced that major cities were entering a Wartime Management State, cities and the wilderness had become two separate worlds.
Cities are strictly managed by the authorities, with drones patrolling 24/7. People are gradually, until all, moving into shelters. Eventually, each city will operate like a precision instrument, achieving peak efficiency.
Meanwhile, the wilderness far from cities will gradually become, in a sense, a "lawless land." Various gangs of thugs and violent organizations will emerge, attacking and annexing each other to compete for survival resources.
For those kind-hearted people living in the wilderness who dislike conflict, this is undoubtedly tragic and threatening.
But this is the price of choice. Choosing freedom means bearing the corresponding consequences. No one provides you shelter; you can only protect yourself.
Remembering the clean, efficient way the person on the mountain eliminated over a dozen thugs last night, Sister Yu felt both envy and awe.
She envied that if she had such combat power, the camp members wouldn't have suffered heavy casualties. She was in awe because, as an Ascendant, she could sense that the person on the mountain was definitely an extremely powerful Ascendant.
Furthermore, she believed there was more than just that one person on the mountain; there should be a camp. Otherwise, if it was just one person, would they stay awake outside on lookout duty in the middle of the night?
But regardless of how many people were on the mountain, judging by their attitude during yesterday's contact, they weren't particularly welcoming to outsiders. So Sister Yu didn't have thoughts of trying to join them. She just wanted to repay their life-saving grace first.
Then, together with Zhao Yu, she took out the supplies loaded in the thugs' jeeps and carried most of them to the spot they had reached yesterday, leaving them there.
This scene naturally didn't escape the watch of Guan Tong's "Shadow Surveillance Eye."
Seeing the two carry supplies over and leave them, clearly for him, he didn't stand on ceremony. After they finished moving everything, he blew the [Corpse Whistle], sending the living dead to transport all the supplies to his small courtyard.
After they were brought back, he saw a letter placed on top of one of the boxes, written by that Sister Yu.
(Hello, friends on the mountain. I am Yu Hong, and my companion is Zhao Yu. These supplies were taken from those thugs' vehicles. Please accept them.
Our former camp was destroyed by the thugs, our other companions were killed, and we now have nowhere to go. If you don't mind, the two of us plan to set up camp at the foot of this mountain for now.
We are also deeply grateful for your life-saving grace. I was previously a surgeon, and Zhao Yu was an architectural designer. If there is anything you need our help with, we will certainly not refuse.)
Reading Yu Hong's letter, Guan Tong felt she had a good sense of boundaries.
Clearly, both Yu Hong and Zhao Yu believed there was more than one person on the mountain, that a camp existed.
If she and her companion Zhao Yu were moving supplies to show goodwill with the intention of joining the camp, Guan Tong definitely wouldn't agree.
But simply expressing gratitude and making the request of "if you don't mind, we'll camp at the foot of the mountain" seemed much more reasonable.
The subtext of the letter was an acknowledgment that this mountain was the "territory" of the camp on the mountain, and that she and Zhao Yu wouldn't encroach on it, only camping at the foot.
This way, while seemingly not seeking to join, they actually gained a form of alternative protection.
From last night's events, the two could tell that the people on the mountain were good people. If they were similarly predatory thugs, they wouldn't have just eliminated the Bearded Man and the others; she and Zhao Yu would also have been doomed.
So they believed staying close to a camp of powerful good people would definitely provide more security than going elsewhere.
Guan Tong had no real objection to this. Where others chose to camp was their freedom; as long as it didn't hinder him, he wouldn't interfere.
However, the cruelty of those thugs yesterday also gave Guan Tong a similar thought to Yu Hong's.
That was, as the authorities focus their efforts on shelters within cities, they will likely adopt a kind of "hands-off" management approach for areas outside cities.
Guan Tong himself had solid strength and wasn't worried about threats. But some weaker groups weren't suited to staying in the wilderness, or needed to quickly join a larger wilderness organization. Otherwise, they would end up like Yu Hong's group, targeted by roving thug gangs for their supplies, killed, and robbed.
...
Deep underground, in a laboratory of the Countermeasures Research Office.
After thorough preparations, the "Sound Hunter Attack" test was finally about to begin.
A tester walked into the room. Besides a thick black metal box with one side open and a mechanical arm suspended on the wall, the room was empty.
The expert who designed the test used equipment to convert text into electronic speech to guide the tester inside the room.
"Please enter the metal box."
The tester nodded, walked into the black box, and the suspended mechanical arm, following signals, closed the door tightly and seamlessly.
Thus, a fully enclosed small space was created.
This black metal box, seemingly ordinary, was actually made from various alloys. It could block electronic signals and had incredibly high defensive strength; ordinary missiles couldn't damage it.
After the tester was sealed inside, the mechanical arm began following the program, placing numerous proximity-triggered bombs around the sealed metal box.
This way, no matter from which direction the Sound Hunter approached, it would trigger a bomb explosion. These bombs varied in composition: some were chemical explosives, some were metal shrapnel bombs, others were gas bombs containing neurotoxins, totaling over ten types.
The goal was to test which weapons could effectively damage the Sound Hunter.
After all bombs were placed, the expert took a deep breath and used a remote-controlled mechanical arm to tap the metal box three times, notifying the tester inside: preparations complete, test begins.
The tester inside the metal box heard the three taps, opened his mouth, and shouted: "Ah!!!!!"
The moment the tester failed the rule challenge, a large number of monitoring devices simultaneously activated and began operating.
Since the naked eye couldn't see the Sound Hunter, all kinds of biological imaging technologies were employed: fluorescence, contrast imaging, nuclear magic resonance, electronic, thermal imaging, etc.
The expert didn't believe that among so many technologies, not a single one could scan the Sound Hunter.
For a moment, aside from the sounds of the relevant instruments, there was no other noise.
Every observer held their breath. According to previously compiled data on attacks from various locations, within approximately three to eight seconds after a sound was made, the Sound Hunter would arrive and launch an attack.
These few short seconds felt like an immense ordeal for every observer, even feeling as long as several minutes.
1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8
Eight seconds passed. None of the densely packed bombs around the sealed metal box detonated.
The observers were shocked. The expert who designed the test immediately initiated the door-opening procedure.
The suspended mechanical arm responded, opening the sealed metal door. Inside, the tester sat slumped, blood continuously flowing from his neck.
At this moment, all observers widened their eyes.
The testing expert concluded with an ashen face: (It's teleportation! The Sound Hunter moves by teleporting remotely to the side of the person making the sound!)
The experiment observers now understood one fact: if the Sound Hunter moved via teleportation, that meant eliminating it would become extremely difficult.
There might even be only one possibility...
Ten minutes later, the relevant experimental results and conclusions were placed before the research office director, Gao Liangwei.
Experimental result: Tester deceased. Determined that the Sound Hunter moves via teleportation-type means.
Hypothesized elimination method (untested): By attaching a proximity-triggered bomb to the tester's neck location, detonating it the moment the Sound Hunter kills the tester, there is a probability of damaging the Sound Hunter.
Experimental conclusion: To attempt to eliminate a Sound Hunter capable of teleportation movement, currently, it appears only possible through suicide attack experiments. But this means the tester will certainly die. Whether to proceed with the next experiment is for the director to decide.
"..."
After reading the conclusion, Gao Liangwei frowned deeply.
Although he originally knew the Sound Hunter was troublesome, he hadn't expected it to be this troublesome.
Attempting to eliminate it necessarily came at the cost of human lives.
But who would be the certainly-doomed tester? The previous volunteer tester, if he knew the experiment meant certain death, might also hesitate.
So now, was it really worth sacrificing lives for Ascension Coins and the possibly dropped tradable Communication Scrolls? Moreover, the attempt might not succeed, and the authenticity of that post on Ascendant Home was still unverified...
Just as Gao Liangwei hesitated, a red landline phone on his desk rang.
He was slightly startled. This landline could only be dialed by a select few official higher-ups.
He picked up the receiver and placed it to his ear. An electronic voice came through: "Continue the experiment."
Gao Liangwei's eyes sharpened. Then the electronic voice in the receiver continued.
"Experimental personnel will be provided by me. They will be delivered to the underground base in 3 hours."
Beep, beep, beep...
After the two electronic sentences, the call ended.
Gao Liangwei held the receiver for a moment before placing it back on the phone.
He knew that the number of people in Beixing Country qualified to learn the experimental results simultaneously with him didn't exceed double digits. And the will of these people was the will of the nation.
Gao Liangwei took a deep breath and conveyed the order: (Notify the testing expert, the experiment will continue in three hours. Begin preparations now for the proximity-triggered bomb to be placed on the tester's neck.)
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