ATDIWR Chapter 98

Chapter 98: Gu Jinsheng is Unworthy of Being the Luo City Base Commander, Du Ruanlan Lost…

“What?” Wu Yu looked bewildered.

The student excitedly repeated, “Professor, we successfully developed the mental scanner!”

Wu Yu’s first reaction was to deny it. He asked, “Are there clinical trials? What are the results?”

Ji An said, “Trials are easy. Luo City Base lacks everything right now except Power Users under mental control.”

Ji An took the mental scanner from the student and said to Gu Jinsheng, “Let’s go, we’ll start with the command center.”

“Okay,” Gu Jinsheng agreed, leading Ji An to the command center.

Wu Yu couldn’t let Ji An and Gu Jinsheng mess around, so he hurried after them. Along the way, he bumped into a few vice institute directors and several senior researchers. Hearing that Ji An had developed the mental scanner in just a few days, these researchers were skeptical and all followed along. By the time they reached the command center, there was a large group of dozens of people.

Ji An was confident in his creation. Not to mention dozens, he wouldn’t be intimidated by thousands or tens of thousands.

The command center staff had already been initially screened by high-level mental Power Users before taking up their posts, so they could generally be considered safe personnel.

However, Ji An still had everyone stop their work and gather in the main hall for another individual screening.

At this critical juncture, there was a lot to do in the command center. The Power Users were so busy their feet were hitting the backs of their heads; they didn’t even have time to sleep.

The previous screening by high-level mental Power Users was fine; everyone was afraid of Power Users with mental suggestions planted among them, which would be a ticking time bomb, potentially exploding at any moment.

Now that they had been screened once and confirmed that there were no Power Users with mental suggestions planted in them, they had to undergo a second screening, which inevitably caused some Power Users to complain.

When they had checked thirty or forty people without problems, a Power User named Zhang Sheng said, “Isn’t this a waste of everyone’s time? We were already checked by high-level mental Power Users before, and we are all safe. Now, just for this absurd researcher to earn merit points, we have to waste our precious time?”

Zhang Sheng spoke without any regard for Gu Jinsheng being present. He loudly declared, “We are all safe. You keep scanning with that broken scanner, and the results are always safe. Who knows if your scanner is accurate or not? If you want to check, go out to the street; there are plenty there, do whatever you want, don’t waste our time!”

Ji An said, “You’re very busy. Alright, you go first then.”

Zhang Sheng glared angrily at Ji An. “Didn’t you hear what I said? I said you’re wasting everyone’s time!”

“Even if I am wasting everyone’s time, others don’t have an opinion. Since you do, I can scan you first. You’ve been queuing for so long; it’ll only take two minutes, and then you can leave,” Ji An said.

Ji An’s words seemed to hit a nerve with Zhang Sheng. Zhang Sheng simply flung his sleeve and stubbornly retorted, “I’m not getting scanned today! What are you going to do about it?”

Zhang Sheng walked out with his neck stiff, without even greeting Gu Jinsheng, clearly showing he didn’t regard Gu Jinsheng, the new commander, highly.

Gu Jinsheng had the nickname “Killing Machine” at Jing Shi Base, which suggested his tough methods and style. He was never a person who reasoned by appealing to emotions or logic.

Zhang Sheng had barely walked two steps when Gu Jinsheng’s ability was unleashed. Zhang Sheng, being stubborn, actually directly attacked Gu Jinsheng.

His courage was commendable, but his strength was too weak. He was subdued by Gu Jinsheng in one move, tied up securely, and sent over.

Ji An didn’t care about that. He pointed the mental scanner at Zhang Sheng’s pupils, and the scanner began to automatically scan.

The mental scanner, which had always shown a green light indicating a successful mental scan, lit up with a red indicator light for the first time, emitting a rapid and loud beeping alarm.

This meant that the scanned subject did not pass the mental scan and had been planted with mental suggestions.

No one expected the mental scanner, which had always shown a pass, to suddenly alarm. They were all stunned on the spot, momentarily unable to react.

Gu Jinsheng, however, signaled the command center personnel, “Put a blocking helmet on him and take him away.”

The personnel at the Luo City Base command center didn’t move, but the Power Users from Jing Shi Base were present. These individuals followed Gu Jinsheng’s orders without question. He Tao immediately stepped forward, took custody of Zhang Sheng, and prepared to take him to a special isolation room to await a high-level mental Power User to remove the mental suggestions from Zhang Sheng.

Zhang Sheng struggled and shouted loudly, “Gu Jinsheng, let go of me! What do you think you’re doing? This is Luo City Base, not your Jing Shi Base, and it’s not a place where you can act wildly!”

Now that Luo City Base had joined Jing Shi Base, Gu Jinsheng was the overall commander of Luo City Base. Zhang Sheng’s words clearly showed he didn’t respect Gu Jinsheng and didn’t accept him as the overall commander.

Some of Zhang Sheng’s colleagues, afraid that Zhang Sheng’s behavior would upset Gu Jinsheng and cause trouble for him in the future, reprimanded Zhang Sheng, “Zhang Sheng, you shouldn’t talk nonsense even if you’re angry. Now our Luo City Base has joined Jing Shi Base, and Commander Gu is the commander of our Base.”

Zhang Sheng didn’t appreciate it at all. He sneered, “Do you think flattering Gu Jinsheng will let you continue to live well in Luo City Base? Can’t you see clearly from what happened to me?”

“What mental scanner? How could it be such a coincidence? Everyone else passed, but when it got to me, it didn’t?” Zhang Sheng pointed out several names in the crowd. “We were all checked by the same high-level mental Power User. None of you were checked incorrectly, but by such a coincidence, I was checked incorrectly!”

“I see clearly that this researcher named Ji An has a switch in his hand and can manipulate the scanning results at will!”

“Can’t you see? This is clearly Gu Jinsheng’s open scheme, an opportunity to openly eliminate dissidents!”

“He wants to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys, kill me, this chicken, for all of you monkeys to see, that this is the consequence of not being obedient!”

“Today, you let him dispose of me however he wants. Tomorrow, the same thing will happen to you. By then, our Luo City Base will be Gu Jinsheng’s one-man show, just like Jing Shi Base!”

Wu Yu, who was already somewhat suspicious of the mental scanner, became even more wavering upon hearing Zhang Sheng’s words. He suspiciously eyed Gu Jinsheng and Ji An, unsure if what Zhang Sheng said was true, whether this was indeed a play orchestrated by Gu Jinsheng and Ji An to eliminate dissidents and establish authority.

The people in the Luo City Base command center had not yet been completely won over by Gu Jinsheng. These Power Users were also swayed by Zhang Sheng’s words.

Just then, a loud shout came from the crowd, “Zhang Sheng was checked by me before. Since you have objections, I’ll check him again.”

“Wang An,” Wu Yu recognized the person.

Wang An nodded at Wu Yu, his expression proud. “Since you doubt the results, I will check again. Please release the person.”

He Tao was not like the people from Luo City Base; they only listened to Gu Jinsheng’s words. Hearing this, he looked at Gu Jinsheng.

Ji An said coldly, “I’ve never heard of any requirements for the posture of the subject when checking their mental state. Does the fact that he’s tied up affect your test results?”

Wang An was choked by Ji An’s retort. He glared at Ji An, then began to check Zhang Sheng.

Although everyone couldn’t delve deep into Zhang Sheng’s brain, observing Wang An’s state, they knew he was checking Wang An very carefully this time. It was just a mental state check, but it took over ten minutes.

After the check was finished, Wang An looked shaky and his face was very pale. It was clear that this check had consumed a lot of his mental power, but Wang An still insisted, “Safe. This time I checked very carefully, Zhang Sheng is safe. You can let him go now, right?”

Wu Yu looked at Wang An with heartache. “This is a high-level mental Power User from our Research Institute. His mental ability level is higher than yours, Researcher Ji. You can rest assured.”

Ji An didn’t look at Wu Yu. He turned to the person beside him and said, “Perform a mental scan on this researcher’s mental Power User as well.”

“You, how dare you?” Wang An seemed greatly insulted, glaring fiercely at Ji An.

Ji An said calmly, “It’s just a mental scan. It’s not like I’m invading your mental domain. Why are you acting as if I’m going to do something to you?”

“Scan him,” Gu Jinsheng ordered the Jing Shi Base Power User.

Two Power Users immediately stepped out, pointed the mental scanner at Wang An’s eyes, and began scanning.

The mental scanner once again emitted an alarm. The red light flashed wildly, and the beeping alarm echoed throughout the command center.

“What’s going on?” The crowd in the command hall was in an uproar.

Zhang Sheng shouted, “I told you so! That researcher must have a remote control in his hand. Whoever doesn’t obey Gu Jinsheng, he presses the button, and that person becomes someone with mental suggestions planted by zombies! They want to use such means to eliminate dissidents and completely control Luo City Base!”

“Is this true?”

“Could there really be a remote control?”

“There must be a remote control! Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? The people who cooperated obediently before were all fine, but these two who weren’t willing to cooperate had problems?”

“Gu Jinsheng is killing the chicken to show the monkeys! He wants us to know that not obeying him means being killed.”

“But I’ve seen Gu Jinsheng working diligently all these days.”

“That doesn’t contradict his desire to control Luo City Base and eliminate dissidents.”

Everyone was talking and speculating, with many believing Zhang Sheng’s “killing the chicken to warn the monkeys” theory.

Wu Yu then said, “Researcher Ji, how about we just stop? The Power Users in the command center have indeed been checked by the senior Power Users from our Research Institute. There should be no problems.”

Ji An didn’t care that these people were questioning him. He was young, and in the research field, age was often seen as a factor. So, people meeting him for the first time would almost always doubt his abilities. But they were provoking Gu Jinsheng, and Ji An couldn’t tolerate that.

Ji An understood Gu Jinsheng’s character. Although he seemed cold, he was an extremely responsible person. Since he had promised Du Ruanlan, he would definitely do his best. Yet, despite everything Gu Jinsheng did, saving everyone in Luo City Base didn’t earn him gratitude. These people were even trying to make it difficult for Gu Jinsheng to take over Luo City Base.

Not only were they being unfair to him and Gu Jinsheng, but they were also being unfair to Du Ruanlan’s sacrifice and planning for Luo City Base, and Bi Xue’s ruined ability.

Ji An looked coldly at Wu Yu. This time, he didn’t spare his feelings. “Just your Luo City Base’s mental Power Users? Relying on them, Luo City Base has now become the lair of Psychic Zombie Kings! If it weren’t for Commander Du sacrificing himself, and me arriving in time, your Luo City Base would have been overrun by the Psychic Zombie King long ago. Since your high-level mental Power Users are so capable, why didn’t they come out to fight the Zombie King when the Psychic Zombie King was rampant?”

“Since this mental Power User named Wang An is so capable, why didn’t he request to fight the Psychic Zombie King then, waiting for me to come!” Ji An not only didn’t give face, but he directly ripped off the Research Institute’s facade. “You didn’t dare come out then because you were afraid of being mentally controlled by the Psychic Zombie King, right? Then how do you prove that he hasn’t been controlled by other mental zombies now?”

“I…” Wu Yu didn’t expect Ji An to be so blunt, his face turning red and neck thick with anger.

Just then, someone unknown informed Owen, who was accompanying Du Ruanlan in the isolation room. Concerned about the stability of Luo City Base, Owen had to temporarily leave Du Ruanlan, no matter how reluctant, and hurried over. As soon as Owen arrived, the Power Users of Luo City Base started talking all at once, telling her what had happened.

However, some of the Power Users’ accounts were highly colored with emotion, directly portraying Gu Jinsheng and Ji An’s actions as a means to eliminate dissidents.

Owen was not a woman easily fooled. She narrowed her eyes, her dangerous gaze sweeping over the few people whose narratives were clearly emotionally charged, immediately causing those Power Users to fall silent, their hair standing on end.

Owen directly said, “Since everyone doesn’t believe the machine’s scanning results, then let Researcher Ji personally perform the mental examination. Everyone knows that Researcher Ji has powerful mental strength; even the Psychic Zombie King is no match for him. His examination results are sure to be accurate.”

The Power Users heard that Owen was leaning towards Gu Jinsheng and Ji An. Unlike Gu Jinsheng, Owen had been operating in Luo City Base with Du Ruanlan for seven years and had established a long-standing authority. No one dared to openly question her words.

Ji An looked at the unconvinced expressions of the Luo City Base Power Users and sneered, “No need. That would only further confirm that Jinsheng and I are working together to eliminate dissidents.

Everyone knows that my mental strength is powerful, and even the Psychic Zombie King couldn’t defeat me. If I examine Zhang Sheng and Wang An, even if the results show a problem, these people might still think that originally the two of them were fine, and I tampered with it, and the two of them were planted with mental suggestions by me.”

Owen said, “Of course Researcher Ji would not do such a thing.”

Ji An said, “You believe me, but the Power Users in your command center don’t, so it’s useless.”

Ji An looked at Wu Yu and said, “Director Wu himself is a high-level mental Power User and presumably knows how to perform mental examinations. Then I will trouble you to personally perform the mental examinations on your own researchers and this Power User.”

Owen wasn’t discussing with Wu Yu but directly ordered him, “Director Wu Yu, please trouble you.”

Wu Yu personally took action. He first performed a mental examination on Zhang Sheng. It was originally a matter of a few minutes, but Wu Yu spent over ten minutes on it. When he withdrew his mental power, his face was grim.

A Power User eagerly asked, “Director Wu, how are the results?”

Wu Yu didn’t answer that person’s question but proceeded to perform a mental examination on Wang An. This time the examination took even longer. By the time he emerged from Wang An’s mental domain, Wu Yu’s face was so grim it looked like it could drip water.

Owen already had the answer in her heart, but she still asked, “How are the results?”

Wu Yu closed his eyes and said with difficulty, “Both of them have problems. They were both planted with mental suggestions.”

The surrounding Power Users were in an uproar, and their gazes towards Gu Jinsheng and Ji An changed again.

Ji An sneered, “This time, it was personally confirmed by the director of your Luo City Base Research Institute. You should believe it now, right? This certainly isn’t me and Jinsheng putting on a show to eliminate dissidents!”

As soon as Ji An finished speaking, He Tao, who was guarding Zhang Sheng and Wang An, shouted, “Not good, Zhang Sheng and Wang An are about to self-destruct!”

Another Power User immediately put the blocking helmets in his hands onto Zhang Sheng and Wang An, but it was no use. Zhang Sheng and Wang An’s faces continued to swell and turn purple, and their heads continued to enlarge.

“The blocking helmets are damaged!”

“The new helmet I just fixed is also damaged, what do we do?”

“Run!”

A Power User, running out in a panic, shouted, “Everyone run! Power Users are about to self-destruct, everyone run!”

Suddenly, the entire command center hall was in chaos.

Ji An summoned his mental power, transforming it into a bow and arrows, and shot arrows at Zhang Sheng and Wang An’s heads.

Wang An and Zhang Sheng were instantly shot into idiots by Ji An, one arrow each.

They lay on the ground, saliva dripping from their mouths, becoming foolish and vacant.

The Power Users who were fleeing in panic all stopped, looking at Ji An with terror.

A Power User pointed at Ji An and said, “You shot them into idiots! Isn’t your mental strength very powerful? If it’s so powerful, why don’t you remove the mental suggestions for them?”

This time, Wu Yu didn’t need Ji An to speak personally; he said angrily, “Are you an idiot? If you don’t understand, don’t pretend to. What’s self-destructing is the Power User’s crystal core. The mental suggestion merely acts as a fuse. Once the fuse is lit, removing the mental suggestion is useless because the crystal core’s self-destruction is irreversible. Once it starts, it cannot be stopped.”

The Power User was sprayed with spit by Wu Yu, realized he had asked a stupid question, and said sheepishly, “I didn’t know.”

Ji An said, “If you are ignorant, read more and talk less.”

Gu Jinsheng pointed at several Power Users hiding in the crowd and said, “Arrest these people for me.”

The Power Users from Jing Shi Base immediately swarmed forward and apprehended all the Power Users Gu Jinsheng had pointed out.

As those Power Users were being tied up, they were still shouting, “Why are you tying us up? We didn’t do anything wrong.”

Gu Jinsheng ignored them. Ji An, however, held the mental scanner and scanned their pupils one by one. Everyone passed the safety check.

The Power Users breathed a sigh of relief. One Power User stiffened his neck and said, “Can we leave now?”

Gu Jinsheng’s cold gaze swept over them. He waved at He Tao, “Take them away.”

“Why?” The Power User shouted, “We weren’t planted with mental suggestions by zombies.”

Gu Jinsheng said calmly, “You few just now were mixed in the crowd, constantly agitating the crowd’s emotions and siding with those two who were planted with mental suggestions by zombies. I suspect you are spies, or have other motives.”

Gu Jinsheng exuded dominance. “I, Gu Jinsheng, never use roundabout methods to eliminate dissidents. I always do it openly and with real force, just like now.”

The entire command center hall was silent. No one dared to cause trouble again, and they all obediently lined up to be checked.

Later, several more Power Users were detected with planted mental suggestions. Because the mental removal was timely and the trigger mechanism planted by the zombies wasn’t activated, all of them were successfully removed.

This also completely convinced Wu Yu of Ji An’s abilities and removed any doubt about the mental scanner in his hand.

“I apologize, Researcher Ji, I shouldn’t have doubted you,” Wu Yu apologized to Ji An on the spot.

Ji An waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it. This isn’t the first time I’ve been questioned because of my age.”

Wu Yu said, “It is our narrow-mindedness to judge everything by age, forgetting that heroes often emerge in youth.”

Ji An said, “Director, there’s no need for that. Since Luo City Base has joined Jing Shi Base, we are a family, and I propose that the position of Director of the Luo City Base Research Institute should be held by you.”

The few vice directors were Wu Yu’s old subordinates and respected him greatly, but at this moment, their respect for Ji An even surpassed that for Wu Yu. They sincerely hoped that Ji An would join the Luo City Research Institute.

“Please, Mr. Ji, assume the position of Director of the Luo City Base Research Institute!!!”

The vice directors and senior researchers called out in unison.

Ji An was truly touched. Gu Jinsheng said, “Xiao An, you deserve this. They are sincere. Just agree to them.”

Ji An finally nodded and accepted the position of Director of the Luo City Base Research Institute.

At the same time, Ji An felt his mental power suddenly surge with vitality. That restless energy almost made Ji An unable to control it, nearly losing control again.

Gu Jinsheng noticed Ji An’s abnormality and quietly asked, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s a good thing,” Ji An said. “My mental power has advanced another small stage. It’s now Tier 4 intermediate.”

Gu Jinsheng was slightly taken aback for a moment. He remembered Ji An telling him that he didn’t have a Power User crystal core, only mental power. He hadn’t expected it could still level up; it was a pleasant surprise.

After Owen finished handling the matters in the command center, she inquired about the recent situation in Luo City Base from several trusted subordinates. Finding that Luo City Base was being managed in an orderly manner by Gu Jinsheng, she immediately returned to the isolation room to accompany Du Ruanlan.

At this point, Du Ruanlan’s body was 90% zombified, with almost no possibility of reversal. People like him would eventually become 100% zombies.

It was truly admirable that Du Ruanlan could still maintain a shred of clarity in this condition.

Seeing Owen return, Du Ruanlan spoke with a thick tongue, word by word, “How…is…it?”

In fact, Owen couldn’t fully understand what Du Ruanlan was saying at this point, despite Du Ruanlan’s strenuous efforts to express himself.

Owen could understand only by guessing, based on her years of understanding Du Ruanlan.

Owen’s eyes turned red, and tears welled up. She didn’t know how much longer Du Ruanlan’s clarity would last, but she knew that day wasn’t far off; it would come soon.

So Owen particularly cherished every day she spent with the conscious Du Ruanlan. Owen turned away and wiped the tears from her eyes, not letting Du Ruanlan see them.

“Gu Jinsheng is a very responsible overall commander. Luo City Base is managed very well by him.” Owen sat opposite Du Ruanlan, wearing a full set of protective clothing and gloves. She held Du Ruanlan’s dry hand, which had already completely turned into a zombie’s hand.

Du Ruanlan’s deep black, uniquely zombie long fingernails were held in Owen’s hand, as if they could pierce Owen’s flesh and turn her into a zombie at any moment. But Owen wasn’t afraid; she even felt a sense of anticipation.

“Ji An is also very capable. Our guess should be correct; he is the researcher of the nutrient solution and the treatment pod. He just arrived and has already developed a mental scanner. It’s a device that can scan if Power Users have been planted with mental suggestions. With it, the Base’s Power Users won’t have to live in fear, constantly guarding against their colleagues, seeing everyone as someone who might have been planted with mental suggestions.”

Owen deliberately rambled; she just wanted to talk to Du Ruanlan and didn’t care what she was saying.

Du Ruanlan tried to smile, but when he actually did, he realized how stiff the muscles in his face were. He couldn’t control them at all.

Du Ruanlan lowered his eyelids, “Gu…lucky.”

Du Ruanlan could no longer speak long sentences, but Owen understood his meaning. She knew Du Ruanlan wanted to say that Gu Jinsheng was very lucky, that Ji An had voluntarily pledged allegiance to him.

Such a talent as Ji An was worth making every effort to recruit!

Owen couldn’t help but say, “If only Ji An had come to our Luo City Base back then, maybe you…” wouldn’t have ended up like this today.

But Owen couldn’t say the rest of the sentence. Her voice was choked in her throat.

Du Ruanlan looked at Owen with the gentle gaze of his eyes, which Owen had been deeply infatuated with before he turned into a zombie, “Water…gone…help…me.”

Gu Jinsheng had left a bucket of water for Du Ruanlan before he left. Even knowing that water was useless against the zombie virus, Du Ruanlan had continued to drink it. Today, it was all gone.

Owen said, “Okay, I’ll help you get some.”

Du Ruanlan moved like a zombie now. His movements were slow and stiff. He slowly approached Owen, then leaned down and placed a light, precious kiss on Owen’s forehead through her protective hood. “Thank…you, and…I…love…you.”

Owen could no longer hold back and ran out. She hadn’t gone far when tears streamed down her face.

She covered her face and wept bitterly, knowing that Du Ruanlan’s conscious will wouldn’t last much longer. He could turn into a zombie at any second; otherwise, he wouldn’t have said words that signaled an impending farewell.

However, Owen didn’t dare to cry for long, because there was no time left to waste between her and Du Ruanlan. Owen only cried for a few moments, then forced back her tears, poured a glass of water, and hurried back.

But this time, upon returning, Owen found the door to the isolation room ajar. A bad feeling instantly arose in her heart. Owen pushed the isolation room door wide open. The isolation room was empty; the zombified Du Ruanlan was gone.

The water glass in Owen’s hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces, water splashing everywhere.

Owen turned around and found that the door to the adjacent isolation room was also ajar. She pushed the door open and found that room was also empty.

Owen searched the isolation rooms one by one; all of them were empty. The Power Users who were turning into zombies or had already become zombies inside were all gone.

Owen’s face instantly turned as pale as paper. She didn’t dare to delay and immediately ran to the monitoring room, simultaneously reporting the situation to Gu Jinsheng.

“Commander Gu, this is bad, Ruanlan and all the isolated Power Users are gone.” Although Owen was reluctant to admit it, she had to say, “Ruanlan has likely already turned into a zombie.”