"Where's Black Fox?" Ren Xiaosu asked in a serious tone.
Tang Zhou's name was like a knife, suddenly stabbing into his heart.
Ren Xiaosu felt like he had just returned to a peaceful life and had just started his witchcraft training class when another familiar friend of his left this world.
Strictly speaking, Ren Xiaosu did not know if he and Tang Zhou were friends.
They first met after the earthquake in the Jing Mountains. On the way to Stronghold 113's destruction, Tang Zhou, Luo Lan, and Ren Xiaosu fled to the Li Consortium's territory together.
Later, Ren Xiaosu pretended to be a Li Consortium officer and put on an act with Tang Zhou at Position 313. The Li Consortium's troops were left crying for help.
Later on, Ren Xiaosu rarely heard this name. As his military rank got higher and higher, he was sent by Luo Lan to become the commanding officer of one of the Kyung Clan's main forces.
The relationship between Ren Xiaosu and Tang Zhou was more like a norm in this era of the wastelands. They did not meet often, and each of them had their own lives to lead.
Perhaps they had met before, but they had quickly returned to their roles and returned to their own Jianghu.
The next time they heard from each other, it might be news of their deaths.
Everyone kept saying they should look forward because there was too much reluctance and unbearable pain in the time they had left behind.
"Mr. Black Fox, their vehicle has just driven into the stronghold." The soldier said, "They should be here soon."
As he said that, the sound of brakes came from the entrance.
Ren Xiaosu ran out and saw Black Fox jumping out of the military truck. Meanwhile, Tang Zhou was lying quietly in the back of the truck, covered in blood.
Black Fox said in the simplest terms, "We found him 30 kilometers north of the valley. He used a flare gun to attract our attention. At that time, a group of sparrows were besieging him. We found this metal tube on his body, so I think he was trying to pass on some information. Tang Zhou committed suicide before the sparrows attacked him. "
Ren Xiaosu took the metal tube and the piece of paper from the man's hand. On it was written news about Luo Lan.
At that moment, some soldiers had already gently lifted Tang Zhou out of the truck. Ren Xiaosu stepped forward to examine the wounds on the body. He saw that there was not a single part of the man's body that was unscathed. He could imagine what kind of torture the man had gone through.
Black Fox pointed at a wound on Tang Zhou's leg and said, "This metal tube was hidden next to his leg bone. He must have cut his own muscles to hide it. But it's strange that there was no wound on his leg. I don't know how it healed so quickly."
"Black medicine." Ren Xiaosu replied calmly, "I once gave Luo Lan a lot of black medicine. I believe that Luo Lan gave it to him."
With the black medicine, everything could be explained. Before Tang Zhou set off, he cut open his leg muscles and hid the metal tube inside.
Ren Xiaosu looked at Black Fox. "Did you check the sparrow's carcass at that time?"
"No." Black Fox shook his head. "When we got closer, we saw a silver metallic liquid slowly seeping out of the sparrow's carcass. To be cautious, I did not let the soldiers get close to it. Young Marshal, if you want to look for the sparrow's carcass, I remember the location. "
"Mhm, you did the right thing." Ren Xiaosu said, "That was a sparrow controlled by the artificial intelligence Zero. You were right not to touch it."
If Black Fox and the others had come into contact with the sparrow's carcass, what Ren Xiaosu would have had to do was isolate Black Fox and the others before electrocuting them one by one.
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu had almost pieced together the clues in his mind.
Black Fox raised another doubt. "I've heard of Tang Zhou before, and Mr. P5092 should've heard of him too. The troops he and Luo Lan are in charge of have always been known for being fearless of death. I don't quite understand why he would commit suicide."
"He didn't commit suicide because he was afraid of death." Ren Xiaosu sighed and said, "He was afraid that he would unconsciously reveal the location of the metal tube after being controlled by the nanomachines."
After the nanomachines were forcibly connected to the neurons, Zero could obtain a person's complete memories. Some people could even subconsciously forget their memories.
At that time, Zero would only need to accurately locate the metal tube through the sparrow. With Ren Xiaosu and the others blocked off from communication, they would not be able to find out what had happened to the Kyung Clan.
Ren Xiaosu could also go to the Kyung Clan to ask them what was going on, but it would be too late by then.
Before this, Ren Xiaosu had seen the Wang Clan soldiers under Zero's control at Zuoyun Mount. According to Zero, it only needed a small number of nanomachines to take control of a human's thoughts by connecting to the neurons.
The nanomachines were hidden near the brain stem, and they did not even need to expend much energy to stay dormant. The biological energy produced by a human's movements was far more than the nanomachines consumed.
If Zero only used the nanomachines as a control tool and not a combat tool to improve the "strength" and "muscle strength" of the human body, the nanomachines would be like a huge charging tank that would provide the nanomachines with an endless supply of energy.
"I'm going to the Central Plains," Ren Xiaosu said.
Big Bluff immediately said, "Young Marshal, we'll go with you."
However, P5092 shook his head and said calmly, "Young Marshal, you can't go."
"Why?" Ren Xiaosu asked as he looked at P5092.
"The Wang Clan's troops are already stationed at the border of the Northwest. A war between the two sides could break out at any moment." P5092 analyzed, "There are only two outcomes for Luo Lan to head to the Central Plains now. The first is to negotiate peace. You mentioned before that Wang Shengzhi wanted to negotiate peace with Commander Zhang, and in the end, Commander Zhang will take over the Barrier Alliance. I think the peace talks between the Kyung Clan and the Wang Clan should be the same. After all, other than Commander Zhang, only Qing Zhen is capable of ruling the entire Barrier Alliance. "
P5092 continued, "If the peace talks succeed this time, the Northwest will have to face a pincer attack from the Southwest and the Central Plains. Young Marshal, have you ever thought about the consequences? "
Ren Xiaosu shook his head firmly. "That won't happen."
P5092 analyzed, "Of course, Young Marshal, from an emotional point of view, the Kyung Clan will definitely not betray the Northwest. I have nothing to say and trust your judgment. So let's talk about the second possibility. If a conflict breaks out between the Wang Clan and the Kyung Clan, a war with the entire Barrier Alliance will break out at any moment. If you're not in the Northwest at that time, I'm afraid it'll affect the morale of the troops. Moreover, you're putting yourself in danger. If your strength suffers because of an 'outsider,' who will protect the people in the Northwest? Personally, I believe that it's necessary to sacrifice Luo Lan. "
Next to him, Zhang Xiaoman muttered, "Why are they always sacrificing this and that? Can't fewer people die?"
P5092 looked calmly at Zhang Xiaoman and said, "Otherwise, what do you think war is?"
Zhang Xiaoman shrunk his head and did not say anything.
That's right, people would die in war.
Ever since the term "war" first appeared in the history of human civilization, every war had been extremely cruel.
Both sides of a war would leave their hometowns and families to head to the battlefield. Then they would raise their weapons and try their best to eliminate the enemy's forces.
How could there be any reason for something like that?
Victory was only the final moment of jubilation, short and glorious.
But before victory, everyone felt like they were walking through a long, humid, and stuffy dark tunnel. No one knew where the end was, and it was normal for people to sacrifice and die in battle.
In P5092's opinion, which war did not involve deaths?
Since people would die, why couldn't Luo Lan be the one to die?
At a time like this, as the military commander, P5092 naturally did not wish for Ren Xiaosu to leave the Northwest.
Everyone felt that the Wang Clan had gone crazy. How could he run over to the Wang Clan at a time like this?
However, Ren Xiaosu said to P5092, "When I was still a refugee, I was always thinking about how to survive. I could eat tree bark and grass roots. There was once when I set a trap to catch a rabbit, but I ended up getting kicked by it. At that time, I thought it was good enough to survive. As long as I could survive with Yan Liuyuan, I would do anything. But later on, things changed a little. I slowly realized that there were more important things in this world than surviving. "
With that, Ren Xiaosu walked outside. "Don't follow me. If I need you to make a move, I'll just activate the passcode."
Yang Xiaojin blocked Ren Xiaosu's path. "You should at least let me go with you. Have you forgotten your promise?"
Ren Xiaosu said in seriousness, "Xiaojin, you really can't go this time, because you might have to face your aunt."
"Although I can't shoot her, I can help you kill the others," Yang Xiaojin said calmly.
Ren Xiaosu smiled. "How can it be that simple? Listen to me, don't go this time."
The two of them had just discussed that as long as Ren Xiaosu went somewhere dangerous, he would definitely bring Yang Xiaojin along.
But it was different this time because the people Ren Xiaosu was going to face were Wang Shengzhi and Yang Anjing.
No matter what Yang Anjing had done, she was still Yang Xiaojin's aunt. Moreover, when the cap-wearing girl lost her parents when she was young, all the warmth of the family came from this aunt.
Yang Xiaojin said she was willing to become enemies with the Wang Clan for Ren Xiaosu, but Ren Xiaosu could not bear to see her suffer in the middle.
"If there's really any danger, I'll open the Gate of Secret Keys." Ren Xiaosu said, "I promise you, I'll keep my word."
In the end, Ren Xiaosu set off alone.
After he left, Yang Xiaojin immediately called Zhou Yingxue over from the black market and instructed Zhou Yingxue to guard the living room 24 hours a day. This way, if the Gate of Secret Keys was opened, Zhou Yingxue would be able to help Ren Xiaosu immediately.
By guarding the living room 24 hours a day, she meant sleeping on the sofa in the living room …
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu and the others still did not know that a behemoth was heading north, seemingly trying to block Ren Xiaosu's way.
…
On the outskirts of the Sacred Mountains, two figures wearing turf camouflage were quietly waiting on a hillside.
The core area of this strange mountain range was shrouded in a strange white fog all year round. It was as though it was a natural barrier that could prevent outsiders from spying on it.
It was precisely because of this that almost no one in the outside world knew what was happening in the Sacred Mountains.
One of them raised his wrist to look at his watch and saw that the moment the clock ticked to 10 o 'clock, the white fog shrouding the Sacred Mountains thinned at a speed visible to the naked eye until the air returned to a completely transparent state.
"Director, look," Zhang Baogen, who was crouching on the hillside, said.
Next to him, Nonsense took out a pair of binoculars and wanted to take a closer look at what was inside the Sacred Mountains while the white fog was dissipating.
However, he was a little disappointed. They were still a distance away from the core area of the Sacred Mountains, and all they could see were some raw materials being transported in and the secret boxes being escorted out by vehicles.
There were a lot of transport vehicles, and it looked quite lively on the road.
Nonsense frowned and asked, "Baogen, don't you think these vehicles look like some kind of insect?"
"What insect?" Zhang Baogen was a little puzzled.
"Ants," Nonsense said softly.
At this moment, they were crouching on the hillside. On the road at the foot of the mountain, the black, medium-sized trucks were like worker ants. The teams that were going in and out of the mountains followed the same route in an orderly manner, busying themselves tirelessly.
The Sacred Mountains were like a huge ant's nest that was constantly creating something.
However, when Hu Shuo thought about how the vehicles were filled with soldiers armed with live ammunition and that they were transporting a mysterious object, he found the Ant Nest a little terrifying.
Nonsense asked, "Has there been any news from the South?"
"Yes, one of their teams has even crossed the Zhou Clan's original territory and gone even further south," Zhang Baogen replied.
Nonsense was puzzled. "It's the same in the North. They even sent a team to the grasslands without a trace. I originally thought that the Wang Clan wanted to form an alliance with the new owner of the grasslands, but that team did not make contact with the herdsmen. Instead, they disappeared into the grasslands."
Nonsense only had one question on his mind. What was the Wang Clan up to?
"Director, what should we do next?" Zhang Baogen asked curiously.
"Inform everyone to retreat to the Northwest." Nonsense thought for a moment before answering, "But after you inform them, make another trip to Stronghold 73. I noticed that a quarter of the vehicles heading south are heading to Stronghold 73. Find out what they're transporting in those vehicles. Be careful. If anything happens, immediately head to Xiuzhu Prefecture to look for Shentan. I've already marked his location for you. "
"Aren't we going into the Sacred Mountains to take a look?" Zhang Baogen asked.
"We can't go in." Nonsense shook his head. "We might not be able to get out."
"But Director, didn't you tell us not to disturb Brother Shentan?" Zhang Baogen said, "Didn't you say we should wait for him to give birth to Miss Lianyi's child before looking for him?"
When Hu Shuo heard this, he was infuriated. "What a disappointing thing. Miss Lianyi was clearly already 100% willing, but in the end, he became so unreasonable and insisted that he had to have feelings first before he could take the next step. I should make a trip to the Northwest now and look for Ren Xiaosu to get some of that black medicine he has! "
"Drug him?" Zhang Baogen was shocked. "Is that necessary? I think as long as he continues to stay in Xiuzhu Prefecture, it's only a matter of time before he has a child …. "
Nonsense looked at the convoy driving out from the foot of the mountain. He suddenly sighed and said, "We might not have that much time left."
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