ATDIWR Chapter 108

Chapter 108: Do Your Part, Jing Shi Base Responds…

“These idiots, at a time like this they’re still adding to the chaos!” Kong Zhongcheng couldn’t help but curse.

Wan Xueying’s face was grim. “Isn’t this exactly what Kobayashi Ichiro wants? To make us fall into internal strife so he can sit back and reap the benefits.”

Zhou Qin said coldly, “Maybe some of these protestors are people from Kobayashi Ichiro’s side. Otherwise, the public sentiment wouldn’t be so agitated. Methods of protest like demonstrations weren’t even popular in our Xia Country before The Apocalypse. Only foreign countries would hold these protest activities at the drop of a hat.”

Kong Zhongcheng ground his teeth. “Boss, what should we do? Just arrest these people and interrogate them?”

“No,” Zhou Qin said directly. “If we do that, we’ll fall right into R Base’s trap. Kobayashi Ichiro would be happy for us to suppress them with force.”

“Then we’ll just have to watch those spies from R Country and other countries do whatever they want right under our noses, and we can’t do anything about it!” Kong Zhongcheng fumed.

Facing this situation, everyone was furious and enraged. Only Gu Jinsheng remained expressionless, appearing indifferent, as if he couldn’t feel anger from beginning to end. He truly possessed a kind of robotic, mechanical calmness. In fact, except for Ji An, it seemed that no one or anything could provoke Gu Jinsheng’s emotions.

Gu Jinsheng stood up and said, “Let’s go out and take a look.”

Kong Zhongcheng, Wan Xueying, and Zhou Qin followed Gu Jinsheng out. For some reason, even though Gu Jinsheng didn’t show any particular emotion, they inexplicably felt that the people protesting today probably wouldn’t end well.

“Commander-in-Chief Gu is coming out!” An eagle-eyed Power User among the protesting crowd was the first to spot Gu Jinsheng and the others, shouting within the group, “And Vice Commanders Kong Zhongcheng, Wan Xueying, and Zhou Qin are all out!”

“Where are they? Why don’t I see them?” Zhao Tong craned his neck to look towards the command center, finally vaguely seeing Gu Jinsheng’s tall figure. Zhao Tong’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he immediately tapped a few times on the terminal on his wrist.

A companion beside him saw this and asked, “Zhao Tong, what are you doing?”

Zhao Tong didn’t care at all, as if he was doing something perfectly normal, and the person asking the question was being strange. Zhao Tong casually said, “Live streaming.”

His companions around Zhao Tong heard his answer and gathered around. “Let’s not live stream. This is an internal matter for our Jing Shi Base. At this critical juncture, don’t spread it online.”

Another companion also said, “R Base is waiting to see our base become a joke. If we live stream these things on the external network, it will only make Kobayashi Ichiro more arrogant, and he might even take this opportunity to make excessive demands, proposing more unreasonable conditions to us.”

Someone else added, “Our purpose for protesting is just to rescue our compatriots. We don’t want to cause trouble for the base. As long as Commander-in-Chief Gu is willing to bring them back, it’s fine. Even if he has to use core technology to exchange for hostages, R Base shouldn’t know about it to boost Kobayashi Ichiro’s arrogance. Otherwise, Kobayashi Ichiro will continue to use this method next time.”

Zhao Tong, however, was unfazed. Ignoring everyone’s opinions, he unilaterally opened his terminal. A light screen appeared in mid-air, live streaming the internal chaos and contradictions of their Jing Shi Base to the entire network.

Zhao Tong said as if it were a matter of course, “What you all said makes sense, but have you ever thought that what we are doing is also a form of coercion? If Gu Jinsheng gets angry, will he attack us secretly? What if he directly uses force to suppress us?”

“Who doesn’t know that Gu Jinsheng’s Thunder Dragon is infinitely powerful? If it casually spits out a few lightning balls, it can wipe us all out.”

Zhao Tong leaned his face towards the light screen and asked, “Can everyone see me? If you can, type ‘can’ in the live stream chat. We are here at Jing Shi Base, I am Zhao Tong. I believe everyone knows about the widely discussed hostage exchange incident online recently, right? We are currently protesting to demand an explanation from the base. For those who want to see the follow-up, please follow the streamer. This live stream will continue to follow this matter until it ends and Gu Jinsheng rescues the hostages.”

The eyes of the few people around Zhao Tong became strange, but Zhao Tong didn’t care at all and continued to act as he pleased.

Sometimes humans are truly imitative animals. Many people had not thought about live streaming before, or if they had, they felt it was inappropriate and didn’t do it. Now seeing Zhao Tong live stream, they followed suit, opening their terminals and live streaming online.

The network connected to the terminal was not the previous domestic network, but the external network, or rather, the global network.

Many people were already paying attention to this silent war between R Country and Jing Shi Base. Almost as soon as someone from Jing Shi Base started live streaming, a large number of netizens who enjoyed watching the excitement without contributing rushed into the live streams.

Massive comments started scrolling rapidly across the light screen. The light screen was large, and someone started a live stream every so often, so almost everyone in the protesting crowd could see the content of the live streams.

“Finally seeing the follow-up to the Jing Shi Base incident!”

“They’re protesting? I thought the residents of Jing Shi Base had no guts and didn’t even dare to protest!”

“If this were our base, we would have protested long ago, the command center would have been smashed in minutes, and the commander-in-chief would have been overthrown!”

“I really don’t know what Jing Shi Base is hesitating about. Those are human lives, tens of thousands of lives. Are they less important than a few cold technologies!”

“Besides, it’s just some insignificant technology. Give R Base some more time, and they can research it. What’s there to hesitate about?”

“Those technologies should have been made public anyway. Humanity has reached this point, facing a major crisis for the entire species. We should work together. I really don’t know what Jing Shi Base is thinking, still maintaining technological monopoly at this time.”

“Jing Shi Base should change commanders. Gu Jinsheng is a selfish person.”

“Although Kobayashi Ichiro is not a good person either, one thing he said is very true: if Gu Jinsheng’s family were among them, Gu Jinsheng definitely wouldn’t hesitate at all and would immediately exchange technology for people!”

“I heard that Gu Jinsheng has a paramour, and he values that paramour a lot. When Luo City Base suffered a major disaster, he didn’t forget to have a romantic time with that paramour, taking them wherever he went. I suggest that if Gu Jinsheng doesn’t agree, you should capture his paramour, and I guarantee Gu Jinsheng will immediately agree.”

“Gu Jinsheng is selfish. He wants to use this global disaster to achieve his ambitions. He wants to unify Xia Country again, and maybe he even dreams of unifying humanity!”

Of course, there were also rational netizens speaking up for Gu Jinsheng and Jing Shi Base, opposing Gu Jinsheng using the core technologies to exchange for hostages. However, they were quickly drowned out by more opposing comments.

In the end, even the entire light screen was scrolling with unified comments.

“Gu Jinsheng is a sinner of all humanity!”

“Gu Jinsheng is a sinner of all humanity!”

“Gu Jinsheng is a sinner of all humanity!”

“Gu Jinsheng hand over the nutrient solution, treatment pods, space storage items, mental scanners, and holographic technology!”

“Gu Jinsheng hand over the nutrient solution, treatment pods, space storage items, mental scanners, and holographic technology!”

“Gu Jinsheng hand over the nutrient solution, treatment pods, space storage items, mental scanners, and holographic technology!”

In the end, the issue was no longer whether Gu Jinsheng would use core technologies to exchange for hostages, but that if Gu Jinsheng didn’t hand over those core technologies, he was a sinner of all humanity!

It was as if humanity would go extinct because they didn’t have these technologies if Gu Jinsheng didn’t hand them over!

Outside the live streams, Kobayashi Ichiro of R Base, Delbert, and Charles, who were also following the matter, were grinning from ear to ear.

Charles laughed heartily watching the screen full of comments. “Delbert and Kobayashi Ichiro, those two idiots, finally did something right for once. They should have sent some spies into Xia Country long ago to stir up chaos from within.”

Seeing Charles happy, his assistant dared to say a few words, cautiously observing Charles’s expression and flattering him. “Xia Country people have always been the most united, especially when facing foreign enemies. They can’t wait to sacrifice themselves to save their entire race.

Now we are using this characteristic of Xia Country people, attacking them with their own people, and they are falling into internal chaos!”

Charles smiled. “This is what Xia Country’s military strategy calls, using the enemy’s spear to attack the enemy’s shield!”

Kobayashi Ichiro of R Base laughed loudly looking at the one-sided comments. “The spies did a great job. Once I get all the core technologies, I will personally ask Commander-in-Chief Charles to reward them. Tell the online commenters to work harder and definitely suppress those opposing opinions.”

Inside Jing Shi Base, the protestors who were still hesitating saw that the light screen on their terminals was filled with comments supporting them and praising their courage. Their previously cautious hearts suddenly became firm, giving them the illusion that what they were doing was supported by all humanity.

“Commander-in-Chief Gu Jinsheng, the purpose of our protest is for those hostages stranded in R Country. Please agree to R’s demands as soon as possible and exchange the hostages back,” Zhao Tong said, pushing to the front towards Gu Jinsheng, seeing the rapidly increasing number of viewers in the live stream.

Gu Jinsheng glanced at the middle-aged man in front of him. He looked ordinary, nothing special, but one couldn’t determine whether a person was a spy from their appearance.

Gu Jinsheng asked, “With what identity are you making these demands of me, of Jing Shi Base?”

Perhaps not expecting Gu Jinsheng to respond like that, Zhao Tong choked for a moment before saying, “I am a resident of Jing Shi Base. We have this right.”

“Yes, this is our right.”

Wan Xueying glanced at Gu Jinsheng. She stepped out and said, “We are also discussing this matter internally again and again in meetings. The situation is not as simple as you believe.”

Zhou Qin also followed up, “First of all, how can you ensure that R Base will release the hostages after getting the technology? What kind of people are R Base, don’t we Xia Country people know? Have those bloody historical events been forgotten just because The Apocalypse arrived?”

Thinking of the numerous crimes R Country had committed against Xia Country, everyone fell silent for a moment.

The protesting people were silent, but the netizens online were not. They became even more active because of Gu Jinsheng’s words, with comments scrolling rapidly, one after another.

The crimes of R Country could never be forgiven in the hearts of Xia Country people. Zhao Tong, being a Xia Country person, didn’t know how to answer. He inadvertently glanced at the bullet screen, saw the stream of comments on the light screen, and instantly felt that what the netizens said made sense. He replied according to the comments on the light screen, “No matter what R Country has done in the past, that is the past, or rather, it is unrelated to this matter. Now what R Base wants is just the core technology. As long as you give the core technology to R Country, our hostages can be released.”

Wan Xueying looked coldly at Zhao Tong. “We just said, how can you guarantee that R Base will definitely release the people?”

“Why wouldn’t they release them? What R Base wants this time is just those core technologies. As long as you hand over the technologies, and R Country verifies they are real after experimenting, they will release the people,” Zhao Tong said naively.

Wan Xueying used all the self-control she had in this life not to roll her eyes at Zhao Tong in front of the whole world. At this moment, Wan Xueying truly wanted to cut open Zhao Tong’s head and see if it was filled with tofu pudding.

Zhao Tong didn’t feel that anything he said was wrong at all. Facing the speechless expressions of Wan Xueying and the others, he thought he had won a great victory and grasped the truth.

He continued, “Commander Li Mo has already exchanged his family members at R Base using the core technology of the mental scanner. Mr. Kobayashi Ichiro has already promised him that as long as the experiment is successful, he will release the people.

To show his sincerity, Mr. Kobayashi Ichiro even took Commander Li Mo’s parents out of prison separately and moved them to a better environment. Isn’t this enough to show his sincerity?”

Wan Xueying sincerely felt she was talking to an idiot. Just this could show sincerity?

They took the people out, couldn’t they also put them back? And they have to wait until the experiment is successful before releasing them? What if the experiment is never successful?

Wan Xueying said, “Who is the organizer of you protestors? Can you come out and talk to us separately? So many of you gathered here are already affecting the normal work of the command center.”

Zhao Tong immediately said, “Are you trying to get rid of all of us and then threaten and entice the organizers, and then pretend this matter is over?”

Wan Xueying’s fists clenched. Zhou Qin, afraid that Wan Xueying couldn’t hold back, quickly took over for Wan Xueying and said, “So many of you being here is already affecting the normal work of the command center.”

Zhao Tong said, “Isn’t the purpose of the command center to serve us base residents? Now that our family members are held in R Base facing the threat of death at any time, what else does your command center have to be busy with? Shouldn’t you first solve the problem for us?”

Zhou Qin also lost his patience and retorted directly, “When those people didn’t know whether they were alive or dead in the past, Jing Shi Base still operated. Since it operates, it needs work. Jing Shi Base isn’t immediately destroyed without them. There are many other things to be busy with.”

Zhao Tong stare big eyes and said, “What do you mean by that? You just don’t want to care about the hostages stranded in R Base anymore?”

“Is it just as Commander-in-Chief Kobayashi Ichiro said, precisely because there are no family members of yours among those hostages, that you are not in a hurry, and don’t care about the lives of those hostages at all!”

Zhou Qin was the one with the best temper among the commanders, but at this moment, the veins on his forehead were twitching.

Zhao Tong was truly tactless. He seemed unable to see that the commanders were trying their best to tolerate him and continued to read the online comments fearlessly. “Just as the netizens said, we are currently in The Apocalypse, a time when all humanity faces a crisis. Therefore, we should work together, resist the natural disaster together, and fight for a future for all humanity.

You clearly hold such advanced technologies that can change the future of humanity, yet you refuse to share them. What is your intention?”

“Many hands make light work, this is something even uneducated farmers know. Country M possesses the world’s cutting-edge scientific research. As long as you are willing to share the technology with other countries, those countries with higher scientific levels will definitely be able to decipher more technologies useful for human development based on these foundational technologies.”

“Even if R didn’t propose such conditions, Jing Shi Base should voluntarily share the technology.”

These were all online comments, and Zhao Tong just read them out one by one, without even using his brain to think.

Gu Jinsheng asked directly, “Are you a zombie disguised as a human?”

“Ah?” Zhao Tong didn’t know why Gu Jinsheng suddenly asked this. “Commander-in-Chief Gu, are you speechless because of my questions and just want to arbitrarily accuse me of a crime and then arrest me?”

Wan Xueying said, “Boss is simply stating that your head is empty.”

Zhao Tong’s chest heaved with anger. He angrily said, “Which sentence did I say that was wrong? Everyone in our Jing Shi Base knows that Commander Gu Jinsheng has a sweetheart. Just as Mr. Kobayashi Ichiro said, if your sweetheart were among the hostages, Commander-in-Chief Gu would surely exchange him with technology without thinking… Ah!”

Wan Xueying and the others knew something bad would happen when Zhao Tong mentioned Ji An. Sure enough, before Zhao Tong finished speaking, Gu Jinsheng released an ability and slapped Zhao Tong severely, knocking out several of Zhao Tong’s teeth on the spot.

Wan Xueying and the others had long wanted to beat Zhao Tong up, but they refrained due to various considerations.

Wan Xueying looked at the protestors who were already scared silly and the unfavorable comments about the base being frantically posted on the light screen, feeling anxious. “Boss?”

Gu Jinsheng released his Thunder Dragon and ordered the Power Users behind him, “Arrest them all!”

“What?”

Inside and outside the live streams, including the people protesting at the scene, no one expected things to develop like this, and they were all stunned for a moment. Kobayashi Ichiro, who was watching the live stream, said, “Is Gu Jinsheng crazy?”

It wasn’t just Kobayashi Ichiro who felt this way. Wan Xueying said, “Boss, isn’t doing this inappropriate?”

Gu Jinsheng stood before everyone, saying coldly, “Jing Shi Base can provide all the benefits to its residents. At this time in The Apocalypse, now that the external network is connected, you can see if there is any other base with as good welfare treatment as Jing Shi Base.

But Jing Shi Base treats you like this, how do you treat Jing Shi Base? Now that Jing Shi Base is in trouble, being troubled by R Country, instead of thinking about sharing the burden for the base, you even unite with R Base to pressure your own base.”

Gu Jinsheng looked at all the protesting people and said, “Today I want to tell everyone that Jing Shi Base will not reduce the treatment it should provide, and it accepts suggestions from residents, but it will absolutely not be threatened by anyone!”

“Do it!”

With Gu Jinsheng’s command, the Thunder Dragon, which had been circling in the sky with scarlet eyes, swooped down. The Power Users from the command center saw that Gu Jinsheng was serious and not just bluffing, and they also charged forward.

The protestors were just a disorganized rabble and no match for the well-trained Power Users of the command center. They were quickly brought under control.

Even when captured, Zhao Tong kept shouting, “What did we do wrong? We just wanted to find a way for those stranded people to live! Why are you arresting us!”

“Based on the fact that every word you say favors R Country, I have reasonable suspicion that you are an R Country spy.”

Zhao Tong panicked. “I’m not! You’re just deliberately trying to frame me for colluding with the enemy and treason.”

“Your actions don’t need framing, they already explain everything,” Wan Xueying said.

“Take them all away,” Gu Jinsheng waved his hand. All the protestors were taken away, and blood flowed freely in front of the command center’s entrance. Cleaning staff quickly came out to clean up.

The internet had exploded. Everyone was discussing Gu Jinsheng’s actions.

Wan Xueying looked at the comments, worried. “Boss, the online sentiment is very unfavorable to us now?”

“Have the online commenters taken action?” Gu Jinsheng asked.

“Yes, they are already guiding public opinion,” Zhou Qin said.

Zhou Qin thought, if it weren’t for Zhao Tong’s loose tongue involving Ji An, maybe those protestors wouldn’t have ended up in this state.

Gu Jinsheng seemed to see what Zhou Qin was thinking and said lightly, “It’s not because of Little An. Even if they hadn’t mentioned Little An, I would have decided to handle it that way. Sometimes, the base cannot always back down. When it’s time to be tough, we must be tough. Once those who can’t distinguish right from wrong or those who are being stirred up realize that this method, which is close to coercion, is effective, they will use the same method next time. Should we be held hostage every time?”

Wan Xueying and the others were all silent. In fact, they all knew in their hearts that the protesting crowd this time were not just ordinary base residents. Most of them were family members of the hostages, R Country spies, and a small number of people who were brainless and just followed the crowd without distinguishing right from wrong.

If they let these people leave just like that this time, there would definitely be a next time. From then on, protestors would take to the streets to protest at the slightest provocation, and any policy the base wanted to implement would be blocked and pushed back by people with ulterior motives using this method.

Gu Jinsheng was truly an excellent commander-in-chief. While all other commander-in-chiefs only cared about themselves, Gu Jinsheng had already started considering the livelihoods of the base residents.

As soon as the base made a little money, the welfare benefits of Jing Shi Base began to be implemented: nutrient solutions for a few yuan each, free treatment pods, and orphanages, etc.

Gu Jinsheng said, “Interrogate the leader carefully. Is he an R Country spy?”

“He should be,” Zhou Qin said. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t say those things. It’s just that at this time, even if everything we say is true, the residents won’t believe it and will think we are deliberately framing him.”

Gu Jinsheng said, “If he is, detain him first and deal with him after everything is resolved. For those who are not spies and are willing to admit their mistakes, have them record videos and put them online, then release them, but record it in their files. For the others who are still stubborn and unrepentant, send them to R Country.

Didn’t they want to contribute their part to those hostages? Then let them go and rescue the people themselves!”

Zhou Qin said, “Okay, we’ll go and do it immediately.”

In just one night, the internet was already a storm. Those fierce comments seemed capable of killing their way to Jing Shi Base in an instant. But in reality, more people were begging and pleading to rescue their troubling family members.

Most of the protestors immediately recorded videos admitting they were misled, talking about Zhao Tong and what some people had said to them, like how the law doesn’t punish everyone, and so on.

Some others confessed that they were neither family members of the stranded hostages nor purely wanted to help the hostages, but wanted to gain popularity and become online celebrities through live streaming.

These people’s truthful confessions were all posted online, without any blurring.

On the external network, those online commenters were shouting that Gu Jinsheng had forced them to say that. Gu Jinsheng didn’t explain, letting them discuss however they wanted.

Zhou Qin reported, “Boss, the interrogation is done. Zhao Tong is not an R Base spy. He is a resident of our Jing Shi Base and has no connection with those spies.”

The driver said in disbelief, “No way, maybe you didn’t get the truth during interrogation? If he’s not a spy, how can he be more jumping around and active than those R Base spies, more like a spy!”

“He simply wants to be famous, to become an online celebrity,” Zhou Qin was also speechless about the interrogation result.

“What should we do, Boss?”

“Is Zhao Tong willing to record a video?” Gu Jinsheng asked.

“No,” Zhou Qin said helplessly. “Zhao Tong still seems to think that Boss is just trying to scare them and doesn’t dare to really do anything to him. He still wants to refuse to admit anything, so he can talk about it when he gets out and continue to be an online celebrity. His live stream is still on.”

“Send them all to R Base. Since they want to contribute to rescuing the hostages so much, then let them do their part!”

Under the cover of night, Jing Shi Base quickly transported those who refused to admit their mistakes to R Base. At first, these people didn’t know where they were going. When they landed in a strange place, they started to panic. “Where is this place?”

The accompanying staff member turned on the live stream, facing Zhao Tong and the others. “These are the Power Users who are worried about the safety of the hostages. They are willing to contribute their part for the hostages stranded in other countries, so our Commander-in-Chief Gu is willing to fulfill their wish and send them to R Base. Then, we wish you good luck!”

“Hurry up and go, R Country’s fighter jets have discovered us and are coming soon.”

The staff members immediately climbed back into the plane, and the Jing Shi Base plane flew away into the distance.