Chapter 73.1 – Destroying the Headquarters (1)
On this rainy night, Citizen Jiang endured a session of criticism, nodding continuously while saying, “Okay, okay, okay.”
This person was always quick to nod. Before leaving, Xu Tonggui reiterated his previous words, pressing Jiang Yujin’s messy hair and giving it a couple of pats.
With his height seemingly pressed down by 2cm, Jiang Yujin dared not resist this time. He stood by the door, nodding incessantly and repeating, “Okay, okay, okay,” until he saw the other person descend the stairs, and the vehicle completely departed from the street before he withdrew his gaze.
The replay of the soap opera finally began. People who appeared to reflect deeply but actually had their minds elsewhere quickly turned on the TV.
When Chen Jing returned, he happened to see a car passing by the roadside. The car window was halfway open, and beyond the rain curtain, he saw a man under the warm light inside, with less sharp eyes and eyebrows than usual.
It was Xu Tonggui.
Thinking of something, his footsteps instantly quickened.
The sound of footsteps splashing on the water echoed in the quiet street, overshadowed by the sound of raindrops hitting the ground. The lights of the houses on both sides of the street were still on, with the faint sounds of TV and children’s playful noises emanating from inside, appearing no different from usual.
Reaching the downstairs and going up again, he took out his keys and opened the door. The moment the door opened, the sound of the TV inside saying, “You actually love him, love her,” reached his ears.
The person lying on the sofa laughed twice, noticed the movement at the door, and then turned his head slightly, somewhat surprised, saying, “Why are you so wet? Did the wind blow your umbrella off?”
Chen Jing closed his eyes, exhaling a breath. “It’s windy outside; the umbrella got blown off course.”
He folded the umbrella and asked, “Did something happen around here? I just saw a special task force passing by.”
Jiang Yujin, holding a large goose, sat up. “Not really.”
Chen Jing nodded, put away the umbrella, and went to the room to change clothes. When he was putting things away, he noticed the slippers at the entrance and asked, “Did someone visit today?”
Jiang Yujin said, “A friend came, left before you came back. The cake on the table is what he brought for you.”
Chen Jing went to the room to change clothes. When he came out again, the Hair-Drying Master Jiang came back online, rubbing Chen Jing’s head with the towel in his hand.
Chen Jing felt something was off.
His intuition proved to be right. It felt like his scalp was about to catch fire, but the person busy behind him seemed happy. In the end, Chen Jing chose not to speak and let the other person have his fun.
After playing the role of a hair dryer twice in one night and finishing watching the soap opera, Master Jiang, who had been busy all day, chose to go back to his room to sleep.
During the time that followed, it seemed like he had lost a son.
As the short vacation ended, Chen Jing mentioned that his previous practice exam didn’t go well. He decided to go to Xiao Pang’s house directly after school for joint study sessions, which might last for quite a while, perhaps until the next practice exam.
Jiang Yujin was pleased that his big son was so diligent in studying, but at the same time, he felt sad for the barber shop owner.
Because he had to go find the owner and get a free meal again.
After learning that he would be giving free meals for a long time, the barber shop owner sat by the window, smoking for a long time. The only good news was that Jiang Yujin didn’t come every day. After taking on the commission, most of the time, he ate free meals from his employer’s account, and in the end, there was also Xu Tonggui who came to deliver dinner every night.
Facing the fragrant dinner that was delivered to his door every day, Jiang Yujin’s expression was hard to describe.
Eating together downstairs, the barber shop owner looked at him and said, “Isn’t it good that someone brings you food every day?”
“He’s not here to bring me food,” Jiang Yujin lowered his voice and said quietly, “He’s here to catch me drinking.”
Originally, he didn’t like drinking much, but after a while, he found it okay, especially in the rebellious spirit of wanting to drink more when someone tried to stop him. Every day, he had to find ways to sneak a few sips and be careful not to get caught.
“…”
The barber shop owner didn’t understand the battle of wits and courage between the two men, so he chose to eat in silence, and finally asked:
“Don’t you want to inquire more about your adopted son’s situation?”
He reminded, “Aren’t you afraid they’ll run off to Atsha on their own?”
If those three go on their own, it might not be possible to catch up later.
Jiang Yujin waved his hand, “You need a guardian to go there. If they want to go again, they’ll call me.”
Because he had been there before, he was quite clear about these regulations.
As he was speaking, a phone call came in, and he answered.
It was a neighbor from the street who couldn’t play cards earlier because of overtime, saying that he was off tomorrow, and everyone could gather for a game in the evening.
With a snap, Jiang Yujin quickly agreed.
The barber shop owner couldn’t bear to watch him, looked away, and silently ate his food.
…
The next afternoon, after receiving an anonymous tip in the morning, the SIU located and destroyed another branch of Zero. This branch was the largest in the area, with numerous small outposts beneath it. According to the information found in the branch, it had been maintaining close contact with the Zero headquarters.
When Zero headquarters contacted them again, they intercepted the communication address.
The address was heavily encrypted, changing coordinates every few seconds, all fake. But they discovered a fixed node during the transformation. By tracing back through the node, they finally found the real coordinates.
The coordinates were in the center of the South Seas, in the midst of an expansive sea with absolutely no structures, making it even less authentic than the occasionally pinpointed false coordinates in a city.
The half-human, half-strange species were dealt with on the spot. They captured the branch leader and a series of relatively normal cadres underneath.
Only the branch leader knew about the headquarters. None of the cadres underneath were aware of the headquarters, but no matter how they questioned, the branch leader refused to reveal the location and situation to headquarters. In the end, it was the branch leader’s secretary, a seemingly weak man seeking a reduced sentence, who spilled all the information he knew.
He was the secretary of the branch leader, but apparently, there were other relationships involved. The branch leader confided everything to him, and he had also visited the headquarters with the leader.
According to his description, Zero’s headquarters was indeed in the center of the South Seas, under the deep sea. Special methods were needed to go from the surface to the seabed. However, he was not aware of the specifics of these special methods. He only knew that the headquarters was prosperous but strangely oppressive. After visiting once, he never wanted to go there again.
After obtaining the information, the SIU held a meeting to discuss Zero’s headquarters. It took several hours, but they couldn’t come up with any conclusions.
In the late afternoon, as the sun began to set, and the meeting at the SIU ended without any results, in a small laboratory on the other side of the city, a mouse was dr*gged and fell unconscious.
Xiao Pang, with dark circles under his eyes, smiled.
Indeed, it was a success.
For nearly half a month, he had been experimenting every day, facing numerous failures. Finally, today, after repeated tests, he confirmed that what he had developed was indeed effective.
Chen Jing and Zhang Xin brought several cages of mice, and they conducted dozens of experiments throughout the day.
The mice that had not been parasitized by the genesis cells would readily eat the food with the dr*g that caused the mice to lose consciousness. Parasitized mice, upon seeing the addition of the d*rg, chose not to eat the food. The mice that had been parasitized, after being treated with Xiao Pang’s concoction, still refused to eat the food. However, after being treated again, the parasitized mice would, like the non-parasitized ones, willingly eat the food and then lie down motionless. This pattern repeated dozens of times.
This was a success.
Xiao Pang needed to observe and adjust further. Zhang Xin and Chen Jing seized the opportunity to leave, heading home to organize their things and book tickets.
With each passing minute, [0] understood more about itself. If they could create something immune to its parasitism, the other side could also find ways to counteract it.
In essence, this was a race against time.
That evening, the three high school students headed to the airport.
While the high school students were at the airport, Citizen Jiang was still in the tea house, enjoying a game of mahjong.
The unfortunate worker who used to work overtime across from him suggested, “How about playing a few more rounds and having a drink?”
Jiang Yujin glanced at the message recently sent by someone named “Surveillance Brigade, Xu,” on his phone, raised his eyebrows slightly, and quickly agreed.
Everyone at the SIU, from leaders to grassroots, was working overtime tonight, and Xu wouldn’t come over here today.
The meaning was to let him play more today.
The idea of playing a bit more was to continue playing until midnight. At this point, everyone felt that something was missing in their stomachs. Unanimously, they agreed to call it a day and head to the usual small pub together.
