“As you can see… Captain Zhou,” she said helplessly, “Yan Hao and the others have been desperately searching for your whereabouts. Now that you’re reunited, what are your next plans?”
She finally got to the point.
“Yan Hao has probably already explained to you that we hope to find a ship to go to sea and reach the temporary headquarters in the Nansha Islands,” Zhou Rong said politely: “If you’re willing to send personnel to assist us, that would be best…”
“Forgive me,” Chen Yajing said, “but the headquarters you mentioned may no longer exist.”
She had probably repeated these words to Yan Hao many times, but Zhou Rong did not immediately refute, and they stared at each other silently.
” Do you know where the first region of the national virus outbreak was? It’s right under your feet. But what did the government do then?” “Cover-up, blockade, suppression, refusal to report, news blackout,” Chen Yajing said coldly.
“Until the situation became uncontrollable, they then tried to use indiscriminate bombing to cleanse entire villages and towns.” “Bombing and cleansing were necessary,” Zhou Rong answered calmly. “From small coastal towns to the heart of the nation, as long as the virus spread could be controlled, all sacrifices were inevitable.” Chen Yajing retorted: “But afterwards? I exhausted immeasurable human and material resources to repair communication stations, continuously broadcasting signals to surrounding areas requesting support before winter arrived. Where was the government? Where was the nation? Where was the rescue?” Zhou Rong fell silent.
“If we hadn’t opened our doors to welcome the people, the coastal areas would have completely fallen long ago. Captain Zhou, I admire soldiers like you who are so iron-blooded, resolute, and full of conviction, but unfortunately, not all officials and soldiers share the same beliefs.” Chen Yajing said calmly: “The country has abandoned us, and we can only struggle to survive in the apocalypse, using every means possible to maintain the spark of survival.”
Zhou Rong was silent for a long time before slowly saying: “I disagree with your view, Miss Chen… What do you think a country is?”
Chen Yajing did not answer.
“A country is not a changing subjective state, nor is it a fixed objective territory.”
A country is not just its government, institutions, military, and borders, but also you and me standing here right now, and every person struggling to survive elsewhere.
“You are the widow of this research institute’s deputy director, and you have saved tens of thousands of people in the surrounding areas using the country’s property and resources. Don’t you think this represents the country? I am a major-level squadron leader from the 118 top-secret force. I led twenty-one team members thousands of miles south, sacrificing seventeen comrades to complete our mission and protect civilians, without ever abandoning a single ordinary survivor. Don’t you think this represents the country?”
Chen Yajing instinctively wanted to refute something, but couldn’t organize her words and suppressed her response.
“I understand your thoughts,” Zhou Rong said frankly, his voice still very steady. “In this vast land, with war and smoke everywhere, you’re waiting for no rescue and feel abandoned. But now you’ve seen us continuously searching for the government and organizations. In other places you can’t see, there are certainly soldiers like me, constantly searching for survivors and gradually assembling an army. Where do you think the government’s rescue capabilities come from? It’s accumulated bit by bit like this.”
If you establish your own territory and I stay put, becoming scattered individuals, won’t the country fall apart, and the government will never have the concentrated power to launch rescue operations?”
The living room fell into a long silence, with the last rays of sunset passing through the glass window and falling on Chen Yajing’s legs covered with a blanket.
After a while, she finally shook her head and said solemnly, “What you say is not without reason, but the South China Sea is vast, and I still don’t believe you have any possibility of finding the so-called… headquarters. Dying at sea seems more likely.”
Zhou Rong responded, “That’s our business. But I can frankly say that successfully reaching the South China Sea base is a crucial part of our mission, and we will do it even if you refuse to provide any cooperation.”
Chen Yajing stared at him with an investigative gaze, but Zhou Rong remained unmoved.
Half of his face was bathed in golden-red sunset, the other half hidden in shadow with cruel and gloomy eyebrows and a casual curve at the corner of his mouth.
If judged by appearance alone, even those mutinous highway robbers would seem more righteous than him.
“…Excuse my presumption, Captain Zhou,” Chen Yajing finally said slowly:
“Is this important mission that would make an elite soldier like you risk your life… related to the vaccine?”
Zhou Rong suddenly felt a hint of suspicion in his heart. She continued calmly:
“Just as you are determined to find the South Sea headquarters at all costs, I will do everything to protect this base; even if you don’t understand now, you will eventually comprehend my persistence.”
Wan Biao pushed her towards a minivan waiting at the small courtyard gate.
The vehicle was clearly specially configured for Chen Yajing’s limited mobility. The driver’s side window was halfway down, revealing half of the driver’s face.
At first glance, the driver seemed quite ordinary – a man in his early thirties, fair-skinned, with black hair, slender build, wearing glasses, with a somewhat scholarly demeanor. From his hand casually resting on the car window, it was evident he wore a light blue shirt under a white lab coat.
Zhou Rong’s eyelids suddenly twitched; his long-cultivated danger instinct instantly rose. An inexplicable unease swept through his sensitive nerves. The driver noticed the staring gaze and turned his head, meeting Zhou Rong’s eyes directly.
Two seconds later, the window slowly rose, cutting off their line of sight. Zhou Rong narrowed his eyes, laughed nonchalantly, turned and returned to the room, closing the door. The car moved forward slowly. Chen Yajing asked softly, “Ning Yu?
The driver withdrew his gaze, pointing at the blue and white SUV in the courtyard that was almost destroyed by shotgun fire: “Isn’t that the vehicle Rommel’s group was driving?”
“Yes, those three A-country people… are probably dead.”
“What about the one named Zhou?”
Chen Yajing pressed her palms together, rubbing her brow, eventually saying: “I’ve decided to send these people away as soon as possible.”
The driver named Ning Yu glanced at her through the rearview mirror, somewhat surprised: “Why? Didn’t we want to keep these special forces soldiers?”
“That Zhou… is particularly dangerous.”
Chen Yajing paused, seemingly searching for words to describe her feeling, then shook her head in resignation:
“He’s different from the others, with an extremely firm will and sharp insight. I feel he’s already starting to suspect something… I don’t want to be forced to silence these soldiers someday, so I can only let them leave quickly.”
Ning Yu nodded, then questioned: “How did the Omega Rommel is searching everywhere end up with these people?”
“That’s the key issue. Why did Rommel travel so far to find this brother? Is it truly his twisted emotions? Why did Captain Zhou break away from his team to rescue this Omega, personally mark him, and bring him all this way?”
The van jolted slightly, and survivors along the way stopped to salute Chen Yajing.
“The important mission Zhou Rong is willing to risk his life to complete,” Chen Yajing said softly, “is probably to control this Omega and safely escort him to the South Sea.”
