Chapter 102: The Situation of Wind Full Building

The next many days, He Zhizhi, Liu Chang, and Xiao Jing lived in peace. During this period, a pursuit team had also tracked them, but under the triple anti-tracking measures of He Zhizhi, Xiao Jing, and Liu Chang, the team returned empty-handed many times, finally losing their trail—Liu Chang had probably given up the mission and returned to report to the military district.

In these days, several major events had occurred within Zhengzhou City.

The first was a month earlier, five days after Liu Chang had left the kindergarten. Most areas of the city had been sprayed with defoliant, and those regions had indeed turned barren, as Zhao Zhuo had predicted. After completing the operation, the military district had even boasted about using defoliant to open roads between cities.

But after clamoring for some time, the decision had remained unexecuted, whether because political struggles had inflated human power to the point of reluctance to contact the central authority, or because defoliant lacked the massive reserves needed for such a vast undertaking—in any case, the matter had been shelved.

Once the defoliant had truly been sprayed throughout Zhengzhou City, people’s lives had indeed returned to normal. After most vegetation had perished, the insects and animals concealed among them had nowhere to hide, either swept away by the army or fled into the forests, safeguarding the lives of ordinary citizens.

With ordinary people now secure, those who had secured the majority of the labor force were assigned numerous reconstruction tasks. The compensation was straightforward: those who worked more earned more, and those who worked less earned nothing. Zhao Zhuo used the instinct for survival to spur the forward march of human civilization.

This was the first event.

The second was a political storm.

During the prolonged political struggles in Zhengzhou City, the military, which held the dominant force, had finally seized control in this tempest, annexing and restructuring the government to establish Zhengzhou as a special city-state, with military and politics integrated. In the course of this storm, Zhao Zhuo had once again been thrust to the summit, standing at the apex of power, becoming one of the few figures in the new system who truly commanded authority.

Like the sun at its zenith.

Yet while Zhao Zhuo, both in government and among the people, enjoyed this supreme status, whether through sabotage or the old adage of “no double blessings,” his advocated “radiation grain storage method” had suffered a catastrophic leak. Trouble had erupted at the Zhengzhou high levels.

A super bacterium had run rampant, killing most of the military and political officials, causing the newly established power system dominated by Zhao Zhuo to descend into chaos once more.

Biological Science Experiment Park.

A research area.

“Qingshui, how exactly did this super bacterium come about?” Standing inside the laboratory, Zhao Zhuo frowned. “It shouldn’t have malfunctioned. How could a batch of super bacteria suddenly appear?”

“Using low-radiation methods to kill microorganisms and preserve food freshness was originally flawless in the pre-era.” Li Qingshui regarded the reagent in his hand with calm composure. “But now, things are different. The low-radiation preservation method is no longer effective. Radiation inevitably causes slight mutations in microorganisms, and in this environment, the combination of radiation and mutation inevitably leads to unpredictable changes in bacteria—an unavoidable consequence. I once tried to stop you from using this method to eliminate microorganisms, but unfortunately, your temperament is too impatient, and you refused to listen to my counsel.”

“Mmm, this is indeed my fault, but the appearance of this super bacterium is far too suspicious.” Zhao Zhuo nodded, glanced at Li Qingshui, and continued, “Still, it has cleared out a portion of the high-level officials, so in the future, no one will dare to raise objections when we speak.”

“Yes, most of the high-level leaders died in the very night the bacteria leaked.” Li Qingshui’s mouth twitched slightly. “Now there will be no opposing voices. However, these past days have been chaotic, so you must remain vigilant.”

“What is there to be vigilant about?” Zhao Zhuo’s face split into a scheming, manic grin upon hearing Li Qingshui’s words. “Who in the entire city-state’s upper echelons does not know that I Zhao Zhuo holds the trump card of synthetic humans? Even if a hundred synthetic humans cannot rival a large-scale regular army, they could still execute decapitation strikes with perfect lethality—who could possibly stop them?”

“Whoever dares to raise an objection, I will ensure they never speak again in my world. No need for decision-makers, only executors!”

“Mmm, that makes sense.” Li Qingshui nodded.

“By the way.” Zhao Zhuo suddenly asked, “Though the words are bold, matters must be handled with utmost care. I instructed you to accelerate the research on the medication. That super bacterium cannot be allowed to leak out—it is something human immunity cannot withstand. If it were to escape, nearly half of Zhengzhou City’s population would perish.”

“Rest assured.” Li Qingshui shook the reagent in his hand. “I have already prepared the substance. While it cannot completely cure a super bacterium infection, it can effectively halt its spread. You need have no worries.”

As he spoke, Li Qingshui offered Zhao Zhuo a reassuring smile, indicating that the matter was entirely manageable.

“That is good.” Zhao Zhuo nodded once more.

“Oh, there is one more thing.” Seeing Zhao Zhuo nod, Li Qingshui continued in a seemingly casual tone, “I heard that the water purification pipes at the Zhengzhou water plant had been blocked by something. At first, I assumed it was mutated algae, but when squads were dispatched to investigate, no results were obtained, and several teams perished in the attempt. Finally, I sent an entire battalion, and despite heavy casualties, they returned with information.”

“What information?” Zhao Zhuo inquired.

“Information concerning a giant monster. The survivors spoke in terror of a Yellow River water beast.” When Li Qingshui uttered the word “water beast,” his voice remained perfectly steady, “Yet I do not believe it is merely that.”

“Mmm, what is your opinion?”

“A super life.”

“Super life?” Zhao Zhuo’s eyes gleamed with interest. “Meaning a lifeform whose mutations far exceed those of other species, sustained solely by survival instinct?”

“Yes, extremely powerful. I once had the honor of encountering one.”

“How powerful?” A spark of excitement shone in Zhao Zhuo’s gaze.

“I am uncertain of the exact measure, as we shared only a single encounter and I never glimpsed its true form.” Li Qingshui set the medicine on the table, a look of longing in his eyes, “But according to my calculations afterward, the super life I once met was at least equivalent to five thousand life units.”

“You mean, calculating an adult human male as a single unit?” Upon hearing the number, Zhao Zhuo’s face twisted in horror. “This is impossible. Such a life is far too powerful—even nuclear weapons might not be able to destroy it!”