Zong Cheng smiled, “You actually found both bombs in the building? Impressive.”
Qing Chen narrowed his eyes slightly. The Puppeteer, controlling the old woman’s body, didn’t seem surprised that the bombs had been disarmed.
Zong Cheng showed no sign of dejection, instead, he asked with interest, “I’m curious, those two bombs were hidden in the walls, and this puppet checks the bomb’s signal source every night at 2 am. In other words, you infiltrated those two places at 2 am and disarmed them? In that amount of time, could you search the entire building? I doubt it… So how did you find the bombs? Ah, I see, it’s that Force field Awakened One, the girl by your side.”
The places where the other party hid the bombs were very secretive, even the Mute servant didn’t find them. After all, the Mute servant couldn’t possibly search everyone’s load-bearing walls house by house.
But Qing Chen was different. Last night, he had a Force field Awakened One by his side.
The Force field of the bombs, and the signal receiver tied to the bombs, were all beyond Yang Yang’s perception.
And most importantly, Yang Yang could not only sense the bombs but also sense that their next-door neighbor, the old woman, was a high-level Metahumans…
To be precise, Zong Cheng didn’t really reveal any flaws, but unfortunately, he met Yang Yang.
At this time, according to Yang Yang’s perception, there were no other bombs in this building, nor were there any other Metahumans.
However, Qing Chen was still a little uneasy because Zong Cheng was too calm. He didn’t look like someone who had suffered a setback after a complete failure.Zong Cheng continued, “This is something I overlooked. You once teamed up to sink a Class A Airship, how could I miss such an important clue? It seems that my ability in initiating direct conflicts is still lacking.”
After speaking, Zong Cheng looked up at Qing Chen and smiled, “Sorry, I’m a bit slow, and although Huǒzhǒng Company’s genetic modification improved my lifespan, it sacrificed some intelligence. I’ve changed several bodies, but no matter how I change them, I’m still affected by my initial state, so I have to think things through slowly. Fortunately, my ability gives me the opportunity to keep trying. I’ve made many mistakes in the past, but as long as I’m alive, I can always figure them out.”
At this moment, Zong Cheng’s tone was unusually sincere.
Qing Chen frowned. This Zong Cheng wasn’t as arrogant as he had imagined. When faced with failure, he was still constantly summarizing his gains and losses?
And the way he analyzed problems was like a newly created artificial intelligence.
If that’s the case, he’s been constantly looking for vulnerabilities for hundreds of years and constantly patching them.
No.
Qing Chen began to re-profile this Puppeteer in his mind.
He wanted to use the new information and the information he already had to try to reconstruct a fuller image of the other party:
This bionic body was very clumsy at first, and even if it created puppets, it didn’t know how to use them.
He was living off an old man’s welfare, relying on workers to tighten screws to support himself, like a parasite living on hundreds of people, with no brains.
Later, he started patching his behavior, proactively eliminating all the puppets that had already exposed their financial chain clues.
Later, he took on the alias Liuyue, began trying to control the army, and just when he was about to succeed, he was blown to smithereens.
But this Puppeteer didn’t die. Only then did he finally learn a lesson: to bide his time.
For hundreds of years since then, no one even realized that ‘Liuyue’ was still alive!
He has been constantly learning during these hundreds of years,
Finally, more than a decade ago, the time was ripe. He completed his layout in the southwest and began using his Shadow Candidate identity to plot a higher position.
He wanted to quietly control a Conglomerate, but he didn’t try to directly turn the head of the family into a puppet, because if that were exposed, he might suffer another fatal blow.
Therefore, he chose Shadow Candidate, a very safe choice.
The key is that more than a decade ago, this Puppeteer could assassinate Ning Xiu without leaving any clues for the Shadow to find!
Even the Head of the Qingshi Clan only started investigating him eight years ago!
Such an enemy, who is constantly learning, growing, and reflecting, made Qing Chen take him seriously again.
Then another question arose. Why would such a cautious Puppeteer, with hundreds of years of accumulation, start to proactively expose himself?
There’s only one answer: he wants to expose himself.
When all other possibilities are eliminated, the remaining answer, no matter how unbelievable, must be the only truth.
Why.
Why.
Why?
Qing Chen’s mind kept turning. Why would he proactively expose himself? After proactively exposing himself, he would definitely be targeted. What benefit would this bring him?
There must be benefits, but Qing Chen couldn’t figure out why.
Qing Chen became alert.
Wait.
Re-organize!
The key information here is that he overlooked Yang Yang’s ability, but he couldn’t possibly overlook Qing Chen’s ability.
In fact, even if those two bombs weren’t found, they couldn’t have been detonated because Qing Chen had the ability to destroy the remote control with an electromagnetic pulse before the other party’s signal source was transmitted.
If he wanted to kill Qing Chen, the best way was to directly tie explosives to the puppet. Now, he only needs to manually pull the fuse, and Qing Chen would inevitably suffer serious injuries, or even die.
Isn’t this method simpler than blowing up the entire building?
Anyway, the puppet’s life is worthless, so just carry out a suicide attack. But he didn’t do that.
Of course, with Yang Yang around, if Zong Cheng really did this, Qing Chen would have run away.
But the key is why he didn’t do this? Because he didn’t want to kill Qing Chen? He still has use for Qing Chen?
Is there a possibility that the benefits he wants to get after exposure have to be obtained from Qing Chen?
Qing Chen felt like he was sitting opposite a fledgling artificial intelligence, playing a game of chess.
This is an opponent he must re-examine and take seriously.
Zong Cheng looked at Qing Chen and smiled, “I seem to have said a lot today. Let’s meet again next time.”
As soon as the words fell, the old woman opposite Qing Chen died on the spot from bleeding from all seven orifices.
Qing Chen got up and walked out decisively.
Return Countdown 14:00:00
10 am.
In the forest.
Chen Jiazhang sat by the campfire roasting wild boar legs, Zad sat aside, propping his chin, looking forward to it, and asking every once in a while if it was done.
Dayu was sleeping on the side. In the past two days, he had become increasingly sleepy.
Chen Jiazhang asked Zad, “Hey, kid, does your wilderness settlement have wine brewing?”
Zad shook his head, “We are short of food, let alone brewing. Usually, it’s only when the Lian Tribe from Xiuzhu Prefecture comes out to exchange things that they bring one or two pots of their brewed qingjiu. I want to drink, but at that time, I was still wearing the sapling limited skin, trees can’t drink.”
Chen Jiazhang: “….”
Over this period of time, Chen Jiazhang had come to understand Zad’s nature. As long as you filter out half of his nonsense, you can still extract some useful information.
“I know qingjiu, this stuff is delicious, but you can’t drink it casually. I suffered a loss because of this stuff back then,” Chen Jiazhang sighed, “The Lian Tribe is a rather special tribe. The status of men there is very low. Only by eating something called Red Heart Gu can you have equal status with women in the village. But the problem is, once you eat that thing, you lose your freedom, and you can only love the woman who raised the Red Heart Gu for the rest of your life.”
Zad thought for a moment and asked, “Is it delicious?”
“Isn’t your focus a bit off? You’re asking if it’s delicious for something everyone avoids?” Chen Jiazhang said angrily, “Anyway, I haven’t eaten it. I heard it’s bitter.”
Zad: “Mainly… I’ve grown up, and I also want to taste the bitterness of love.”
However, as soon as the words fell, rustling footsteps came from the surroundings of the campfire. Chen Jiazhang looked around in astonishment, but could only see giant trees and no human figures.
The bushes were shaking, the tall weeds were shaking too, and sounds came from all directions. They seemed to be surrounded.
This geographical location is far from the Chen Family army, and there are no air forces in the sky. It shouldn’t be the Chen Family.
So, in this wilderness, who else could make Chen Jiazhang unable to find their traces?
The next second, Zad pointed to the 7 o’clock direction, “I saw a golden figure flash past.”
“Damn it!” Chen Jiazhang stood up, “Could it be the Lian Tribe? They left the Red Heart Gu in my body, and I thought it was dead after so many years! Quick, quick, quick, wake Chen Yu up, we have to leave quickly! If we can’t leave, we have to fight!”
Zad said, “But he’s sleeping soundly.”
“What time is it, still sleeping?” Chen Jiazhang went over to wake Huan Yu, “Wake up, don’t sleep.”
At this time, Huan Yu opened his eyes. He looked at Zad in surprise, “Brother Zad, how many days have passed?”
Chen Jiazhang: “?”
He felt something was wrong.
Zad counted with his fingers, carefully calculating for a while, “Several days… Right, this is a letter your brother gave you.”
He took out the letter from his bosom and handed it to Xiaoyu. Chen Jiazhang was surprised, “What’s wrong with this kid?”
Zad explained, “There are two souls in their bodies, just think of them as having split personalities, each personality will appear alternately, the one you know is Dayu, and the current one is Xiaoyu.”
Then, Zad patiently instructed Xiaoyu, “Xiaoyu, this is the old geezer.”
Chen Jiazhang: “?”
Xiaoyu was confused, “What?”
Zad explained, “Your brother specifically instructed that you have to call him old geezer, otherwise your brother will be unhappy.”
Chen Jiazhang said angrily, “Why specifically instruct this?! Is there even one normal person among you? Also, don’t chat at this time. Don’t you have any sense of crisis?”
But when he said this, it was too late.
Seven Golden Corpses blocked seven directions in the forest, like a seven-star Beidou array, firmly locking Chen Jiazhang and the others in the formation.
Chen Jiazhang was so angry that he jumped, “I said I shouldn’t go to the wilderness settlement, but you insisted on going!”
At this time, a twenty-eight or twenty-nine-year-old woman walked out of the forest, followed by more than ten Lian Tribe women.
They were wearing navy blue dresses, adorned with golden and silver jewelry.
The woman looked at Chen Jiazhang calmly, “Chen Jiazhang, right? If it weren’t for the Red Heart Gu, I would have almost not recognized you.”
Chen Jiazhang wondered, “You are…?”
The woman sneered, “My name is Lian Xin. Now do you remember who I am? You abandoned my mother and me, you were really ruthless. I was only that age at that time, how could you bear to do it?”
Zad and Xiaoyu were both stunned.
They originally thought this was a scene of being hunted down by enemies, but they didn’t expect it to be a story of a heartless man being settled by his daughter. This twist was too sudden.
Zad looked at Chen Jiazhang, “This is clearly your fault, we won’t help you.”
Chen Jiazhang said angrily, “You don’t understand anything!”
Lian Xin said calmly, “Why did you leave us?”
Chen Jiazhang’s tone was weaker when facing his daughter, “I’m a Knight, destined to roam the world. Your mother insisted on making me eat that Red Heart Gu, staying in your village, that’s impossible. I persuaded her to run away with me, but she wouldn’t.”
“Since you weren’t willing to stay in the village, why did you make my mother fall in love with you?” Lian Xin asked.
Chen Jiazhang said speechlessly, “Can I blame myself for that? When I traveled to your village, you were having a bonfire party. I was stupidly pulled to drink a lot of qingjiu, and then your mother carried me home…”
Zad exclaimed, “Is this what the starting point said?”
Chen Jiazhang glared at him, “Get out of the way.”
In the Lian Tribe, bonfire parties are held every now and then, with singing, dancing, and drinking.
Men and women can find their lovers at the party. Men are called Azhu, and women are called Axia.
Lian Tribe women have their separate homes, while men live together.
If a man is not chosen, he can only return to his residence alone, practicing his dancing and singing skills…
And that night, Chen Jiazhang was the chosen one.
It’s also good that Lian Xin’s mother hadn’t raised the Red Heart Gu yet, otherwise, the Red Heart Gu would have been fed that night.
Lian Xin said, “Isn’t it good to live in the village? My mother treated you so well. You liked drinking, so she brewed wine for you. You said you liked her wearing white, so she sewed herself white clothes.
She paid so much for you, just wanting you to stay with her in Xiuzhu Prefecture. Was she wrong?”
Chen Jiazhang said bitterly, “But I can’t stay there forever.”
“Then why did you make my mother fall in love with you?” Lian Xin said, “As long as you eat the Red Heart Gu, you can also be the head of the household in the village, and you can also practice corpses. After you die, mother will train you into a Golden Corpse, allowing you to accompany me, your daughter.”
Actually, the first half of this sentence is quite normal, but the second half is a bit terrifying…
Chen Jiazhang knew that Lian Tribe Golden Corpses are divided into gold, silver, and bronze categories. Bronze corpses are equivalent to level Gene Soldiers, silver corpses are equivalent to B-Class Gene Soldiers, and Golden Corpses have A-Class combat power.
And these Golden Corpses, silver corpses, and bronze corpses are all men, and they are all former partners of the Lian Tribe people. Some Golden Corpses are even from thousands of years ago.
During the last intelligent machine crisis, Xiuzhu Prefecture was secluded and escaped the disaster.
In the Lian Tribe, the status of men is two extremes.
Before eating the Red Heart Gu, men would change their hearts and betray, so men who hadn’t eaten the Red Heart Gu had a low status in the village.
But after eating the Red Heart Gu, once men can’t betray them, they can have equal status with women.
However, the price is that after death, they will be trained into Golden Corpses, silver corpses, bronze corpses…
Chen Jiazhang said, “Being trained into a Golden Corpse sounds absurd…”
Lian Xin said, “You’re already dead, do you still care about whether you’ve been trained into a Golden Corpse?”
Chen Jiazhang said painfully, “If I died before your mother, I wouldn’t care, of course. But I’m a Knight! Back then, my Knight path hadn’t ended yet, I could easily live for 251 years. Back then, I asked your mother what would happen if she passed away first, she said she would take me away with her…”
Zad widened his eyes on the side, “Wow.”
A Lian Tribe woman said to Lian Xin, “Chief, don’t talk to him so much. After he left, the old chief cried every day, and only slowly untied her heart these few years. Let’s catch him back, and… the clean-looking young man next to him is quite good.”
Zad put Xiaoyu behind him and exclaimed, “No, no, Xiaoyu is only six years old!”
Lian Xin looked at Xiaoyu in confusion, “This is six years old? Your family’s six-year-old child looks like this?!”
“This is a bit complicated to explain,” Zad said, “He was 27 yesterday, and he’s 6 today. But it doesn’t matter, in seven or eight days, he’ll be 27 again, and you can feed him the Red Heart Gu then.”
Lian Xin: “?”
What is all this nonsense!
Zad’s words seemed to confuse the Lian Tribe people, and Lian Xin, the chief, only thought that this kid was playing with them.
At this time, Zad asked, “You keep saying Red Heart Gu, Red Heart Gu, it sounds so scary. What does Red Heart Gu actually look like?”
Lian Xin thought for a moment, took out a small box made of chicken wing wood from her bosom, opened it, and saw a tiny red seven-spotted ladybug sleeping quietly inside, “This is our tribe’s Red Heart Gu…
Eh?”
Lian Xin only felt a flash before her eyes, Zad rushed over and snatched the box, giggling as he ran away, finally able to taste the bitterness of love.
Everyone present was shocked.
No one expected that the Red Heart Gu, which others were unwilling to eat, this guy actually snatched it.
Seven Golden Corpses moved at the same time, forming a seven-star array in the forest, blocking Zad inside.
Not only the Golden Corpses, this time even Chen Jiazhang was anxious, and he actually joined forces with the Lian Tribe people to capture Zad who was running around in the forest!
However, this guy was too agile, turning left and right, making circles, and no one could catch him.
Seeing Zad pinching out the Red Heart Gu and stuffing it into his mouth as he ran, everyone became completely anxious, and desperately threw themselves at him.
Chen Jiazhang sat on Zad and tried to pry open his mouth, “Open your mouth, spit it out, spit it out!”
Zad opened his mouth and said happily, “Swallowed it!”
Lian Xin, not far away, was dumbfounded…
That was the Red Heart Gu she raised with her own blood!