Chapter 11: Disaster Anomaly |
Wu Zhong signed the papers and was assigned to some base that very night.
His resume was simple, his background clear; his family lineage for three generations was spotless, and aside from his grandfather there were no other relatives.
So there was nothing to arrange for him. Lu Guangqi said they would provide all living supplies for free, and he drove Wu Zhong out to the suburbs.
The car headed south, getting closer and closer to Mount Lu.
Outside the window the gale howled; the sky and clouds still gathered in that ominous way, and everyone watched it with mounting unease.
Seeing their expressions, an idea suddenly hit Wu Zhong.
“You think those ghosts and gods are just legends, yet they appeared all of a sudden today…”
“I watched a video—could it be that it’s the thing on Mount Lu?”
He remembered seeing a video earlier; comments there speculated that gods and demons were resurrecting.
Everything lined up.
The young Taoist sitting next to him didn’t hide anything when he heard this: “That’s right. Around seven this morning a cyclone appeared on Five Elders Peak on Mount Lu, constantly consuming matter.”
“All kinds of ghosts, gods, and creatures were born from it. They used the mountain’s clouds and mists as their bodies, changing a thousand times over, each with different abilities.”
“Although their bodies are fragile at first—I can shatter one with a single shot—they do keep growing stronger.”
“And they’re endless, neither dying nor perishing; they seem able to be reborn within the cyclone.”
Wu Zhong was astonished: “This is real?”
“Why didn’t you seal the information and kept it from getting out?”
The young Taoist rolled his eyes. “Look at that hurricane outside—such a huge cyclone can be seen for hundreds of kilometers. How could we seal it?”
“Rather than block it, it’s better to guide it. Instead of suppressing the news, we put it out ourselves…use a cultural tourism account, add some BGM, steer public opinion—that way nobody believes it.”
Wu Zhong was speechless. He really hadn’t believed it either.
He wanted to ask more about the Mount Lu cyclone, but the group wouldn’t reveal anything further.
They ignored him; the car fell into solemn silence.
Wu Zhong tended to be a little talkative; after a couple of remarks were met with no response, he fell silent too.
He felt genuinely restless, uneasy.
Time dragged in that gloom until they brought him to a military base at the foot of Mount Lu.
Nearby was the Mount Lu military airport—the only airport within Xunyang City’s jurisdiction.
When the car stopped, Lu Guangqi led him into a massive air-raid shelter.
It was brightly lit and incredibly spacious, carved out of the mountain, extending deep underground.
They took an elevator down into a bunker where military personnel were moving about.
This wasn’t a newly built underground defense—this place had been here for years, at least decades.
Corridors with gates marked by letters and numbers surrounded them. Lu Guangqi opened gate B12.
“Vrrrr!”
Lu Guangqi’s method of opening the gate was peculiar—not with retinal or palm print recognition, but with a five-finger gesture that formed a complex patterned air shield before his palm!
The air shield slid into a grid-shaped slot beside the gate and the gate slowly opened.
“What is that? Your superpower?” Wu Zhong blurted; it was his first time seeing such a sight and the visual impact was huge.
Lu Guangqi downplayed it: “Just a parlor trick. Come with me.”
“I’ll take you to meet someone first.”
Wu Zhong knew he wouldn’t be told much and stopped asking.
At the same time he was inwardly shocked: that’s a real superpower—condensing air with a wave of the hand. Is it the ability to manipulate gas?
He followed Lu Guangqi obediently down the corridor.
This place looked like a prison; every so often there was an old door.
There were no observation windows, so Wu Zhong couldn’t tell if there were people locked behind them.
“Click.”
At gate B12-019, Lu Guangqi swiped a card and the door opened.
This time not with any magic trick—just a keycard. Wu Zhong stared intently at the card as Lu Guangqi casually slid it into his briefcase.
“Infinite Summer, you’re pretty honest—meditating?” Lu Guangqi said as he entered and sat down.
Wu Zhong saw that the room wasn’t just a cell but had an inner partition.
Through thick glass, someone sat cross-legged in shabby clothes, clearly having been in a fight—a man in black.
He wore heavy, specially made shackles; two iron balls were chained to his hands, making his arms look like those of a cartoon character with clunky wrists.
“What…”
Seeing the prisoner’s face, Wu Zhong’s pupils contracted—he recognized him!
It was the stern-faced man who had pulled him aside on the roadside earlier and saved his life.
“How about it? Is it him? The person from this afternoon?” Lu Guangqi glanced at Wu Zhong.
“Y-yes…” Wu Zhong nodded heavily.
If not for that man, he would have been hit by that truck and killed; how could he not remember him?
He wanted to properly thank the man, but the stranger clearly didn’t care and hadn’t even left a name.
“Infinite Summer—is that his nickname?” Lu Guangqi answered offhandedly. “His real name can’t be traced. Infinite Summer is his codename in the Free Mercenary Club—quite famous.”
He pointed at the glass and spoke into a microphone: “Hey, Infinite Summer, do you know this guy?”
Infinite Summer slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Wu Zhong, and shook his head slightly: “Don’t know him.”
Lu Guangqi chuckled. “Eyes open and lying, huh? You saved him this afternoon—then you tell me you don’t know him?”
Infinite Summer considered, studied Wu Zhong closely, and said: “Oh, that guy? I pulled him up on a whim. Never saw his face before.”
Wu Zhong’s mouth twitched—wow, so cool. He hadn’t looked at him at all? What disdain.
Wu Zhong said, “Brother, even if you helped on a whim, for me it was the difference between life and death.”
Infinite Summer’s expression remained cold and indifferent.
Lu Guangqi eyed him suspiciously. “You don’t know him? You think I’d believe that?”
“A famous golden mercenary came all the way here to Xunyang, and on the road he just happened to save a stranger?”
Infinite Summer made a nasal sound: “Hm…”
Lu Guangqi slammed the table. “Don’t play dumb with me. You came all the way from Vienna just to casually rescue some unknown person?”
Infinite Summer asked back strangely: “I rescued him because I rescued him. Need a reason? Why are you so hung up on whether I know him? Is there something special about him?”
“Could this kid be one of the Disaster Realm people?”
Lu Guangqi probed: “He’s not—just an ordinary citizen. That’s why it’s stranger.”
“That group of ghosts and gods didn’t attack us directly, but sent the Day and Night Wandering Deities down from the mountain, going through all that trouble to take his life. Isn’t that odd?”
Infinite Summer grew astonished and stared at Wu Zhong.
“There’s that? So…that runaway truck this afternoon was actually the doing of a Day Wandering Deity?”
Mentioning the Day Wandering Deity made Lu Guangqi seem to find a crack in the story. He slapped the table: “Ha! You slipped up, didn’t you? We spent the whole day studying them and communicating with those ghosts and gods before we barely understood them.”
“You say outright it was the Day Wandering Deity, and you still claim not to know him?”
Infinite Summer remained calm: “Knowing about the Day Wandering Deities doesn’t mean I know this guy.”
“Why keep zeroing in on this point? I bothered to show some charity and now I get accused of ulterior motives—what a drag…next time I won’t save anyone.”
Lu Guangqi pressed on: “How do you know about the Day Wandering Deities?”
Infinite Summer’s mouth tilted: “I broke into Mount Lu’s forbidden area and looked through your files—didn’t you already know?”
“No, no…” Lu Guangqi shook his head. “This disaster just appeared this morning, and you showed up in the afternoon—too fast.”
Infinite Summer said lightly: “Such a big disaster, you can’t hide it. The huge cyclone on the summit could be seen for hundreds of kilometers; abnormal weather spread to several cities. I came to take a look—what’s strange about that?”
Lu Guangqi’s voice dropped: “No, too fast.”
“Around seven this morning a cyclone emerged on Mount Lu, continuously consuming matter. Various ghosts and monsters were born from it.”
“We only got into close contact and by four in the afternoon had a rough idea of their names and abilities; the data was stored in the base at 4:15.”
“And you…you broke in at 4:20 and headed straight for the E02 archive.”
“Why? You clearly came for the files, but they were only stored five minutes before you broke in, and you even knew where they were.”
Infinite Summer showed no alarm: “What else? You had an inside man.”
Lu Guangqi’s pupils shrank. Indeed, an internal leak was almost the only explanation.
If Infinite Summer waited outside for a tip from an insider, he could have broken in after the files were confirmed stored and stolen them.
But…
Lu Guangqi sneered: “I don’t believe any of my men are moles. You have an information-class disaster artifact, right?”
“Call it what you want.” Infinite Summer had the air of someone who didn’t care: “You interrogating me here with empty accusations is ridiculous.”
“Oh?” Lu Guangqi’s gaze turned sharp. “You’ve been caught—what’s your backing? What makes you so calm?”
“Will someone come to save you? Or do you think I won’t use torture?”
Infinite Summer fell silent and closed his eyes to meditate.
Lu Guangqi said softly: “Tomorrow, the ‘Ever-Thirst Plum’ will be brought here.”
Infinite Summer showed no reaction.
Seeing he didn’t flinch, Lu Guangqi explained: “Seems you don’t know this disaster artifact.”
“This thing—just one glance and you’ll fall into an eternal thirst. You’ll drink until your belly bursts, and it won’t relieve you in the slightest.”
Infinite Summer wasn’t frightened, but Wu Zhong was.
He exclaimed: “What? Eternal thirst?”
Lu Guangqi seemed to want him to respond and continued: “Yes. The thirst reaches absolute extremes and never fades until death.”
“Worse, it doesn’t dehydrate the body. You feel the pain of dying from thirst without actually dying.”
“This thing has no cure—once tainted, no one can remove it. Infinite Summer, your crimes don’t merit death; we don’t want to use this on you.”
Wu Zhong was horrified—just one look and you’re forever thirsty until death, and there’s no cure.
What kind of thing is that? Terrifying! Far worse than ghosts and monsters—hundreds of times worse!
“You’re joking, right? Scaring him…” Wu Zhong muttered.
Lu Guangqi’s face turned deadly: “Joking? I wish this were fake!”
“This damn thing was sold mixed among ordinary plums at a morning market in Jinzhou last year…”
“From discovery to containment, 113 people were infected with the Ever-Thirst in a short time, including nine of our comrades!”
“All of them, without exception, committed suicide.”
Wu Zhong went pale. If Ever-Thirst has no cure, they would have to kill themselves.
He had been hungry before—days of hunger were agonizing.
Thirst was far more painful than hunger…being thirsty for a lifetime? Just thinking about it was despair. Life would be endless torment; suicide would be the only escape.
Yet Infinite Summer remained unmoved, his face as cool as ever.
Wu Zhong was incredulous—could he really be that tough? Maybe he thought it was a lie. But what if it was true—was he not afraid?
Lu Guangqi was angered by Infinite Summer’s attitude. “Do you think I won’t use that thing on you? Do you know how vicious the Mount Lu disasters are?”
Infinite Summer sighed: “Of course I know, but how is that my fault? Its birth was a pure disaster.”
“You should understand that disaster artifacts have no reason, no traceable origin—they appear out of nowhere; anything is possible.”
“You 985 Fire Brigade fellows shouldn’t always try to pin blame on someone for a disaster. That habit’s unhealthy.”
Lu Guangqi’s tone hardened: “Pure disaster? Hmph, how do we know it’s not man-made?”
“Fine—if it came from the heavens, then you must have deep ties to the Mount Lu incident, otherwise how could you arrive so quickly from thousands of miles away and break into the forbidden zone?”
“And conveniently save the first person those ghosts and gods wanted to kill?”
“Tell me everything you know—this involves the fate of countless people!”
Infinite Summer shook his head and kept silent.
Lu Guangqi said in a firm voice: “Then there’s no other way. Once you catch Ever-Thirst and are restrained so you can’t kill yourself, when a cup of water appears before your eyes you’ll say anything.”
“Heh, we’ll see.” Infinite Summer let out a faint laugh and closed his eyes to meditate.
Seeing he was unyielding, Lu Guangqi didn’t bother further and strode out with Wu Zhong.
Wu Zhong trailed after him and couldn’t help asking: “Is that Ever-Thirst real? You’re scaring him, right?”
Lu Guangqi didn’t look back: “It’s real.”
Wu Zhong’s hands and feet went numb. “You’re really going to use such torture on him? You said there’s no cure—if he gets it, he’ll just kill himself?”
Lu Guangqi glanced at him, thought a moment, and said: “We won’t let him die before he confesses…with such a horrible effect, death is the greatest release—he’ll talk.”
Wu Zhong was frightened even though it wasn’t about him: “Huh? Didn’t you say his crimes don’t merit death?”
He remembered Lu Guangqi’s earlier words and demanded explanation.
Lu Guangqi stopped and stared at Wu Zhong for a moment: “That’s why his best option is to confess. Too bad he won’t cry until he sees the coffin.”
“What, you sympathize with him? You saw how arrogant he was—mercenaries of that caliber are cold-blooded and ruthless, not worth pity.”
Wu Zhong said nothing.
Lu Guangqi walked him out of the B12 corridor and returned to A02.
Area A was clearly the staff living quarters—former team members stayed here. Lu Guangqi first took Wu Zhong to shower and gave him a change of clothes; all his possessions were confiscated.
Then they assigned him a clean suite with a toilet and shower—one bedroom and a living room, cleaner than his own home, except there was no internet.
“The canteen you passed earlier is open twenty-four hours. You can eat anytime.”
“You’re free to move within the whole A02 area. If you need anything, find Guyue—yeah, him.”
Lu Guangqi pointed to the firefighter who had been sketching the Night Wandering Deity earlier, gave a quick briefing, and left.
Wu Zhong sat on the bed in a daze. Too much had happened today; he needed to decompress.
After a while his head grew heavy—he hadn’t slept well yesterday, nor today. He was exhausted.
Given the situation, he decided to rest. He lay down, pressed his face into the pillow, and fell asleep without dreams for the whole night.