Si Nan said calmly, “Then you should cooperate with Zhou Rong. Rommel brought in a zombie horde and killed over twenty innocent soldiers. Even if he keeps his promise and gives you the ultimate antibody, don’t you want to avenge them?”
Tang Hao’s hand holding the gun trembled slightly. Si Nan could clearly sense the gun barrel quivering, with the loaded bullet just inches away from flesh.
“Cooperate with Zhou Rong?” After a long pause, Tang Hao spoke coldly and warily, “If I tell Zhou Rong, what would happen? He would never support sending you as a hostage. Instead, he would strongly advocate for everyone to march directly to Rommel’s hiding place and eliminate him in one go. But Rommel is extremely cautious. Once discovered, he would immediately destroy the ultimate antibody. You’ve also said that it’s the last sample in the world!”
“So what’s your plan?” Si Nan countered.
Tang Hao shifted his body weight, leaning slightly against the tree trunk. He spoke hoarsely, “That night, Rommel originally wanted to kill Guo Weixiang directly. I lied to him, saying headquarters had decided that if our team loses contact, they would send Zhou Rong and you as the second search team to the valley. If I could take the critically injured Guo Weixiang away, you would be more likely to trust me when you saw me, and thus let your guard down.”
“You didn’t expect me to come to the valley.”
“No, I didn’t,” Tang Hao admitted. “I thought the best outcome would be Zhou Rong coming. If that didn’t work, I’d just kidnap Zhou Rong and hand him over to Rommel to vent his anger.”
“You want to kidnap Zhou Rong?” Si Nan was very surprised.
Tang Hao said impatiently, “Can’t a dream be as big as one’s heart?”
“I originally planned that if it came down to the last moment, I would report this to the military and let headquarters decide whether to exchange you for the antibody,” Tang Hao continued helplessly. “So when I saw you actually appear in the valley, I was very surprised and immediately realized that this choice ultimately fell on me… If the team leader wasn’t Zhou Rong, I might have fully disclosed everything and requested everyone to cooperate.”
