Chu Liuyue certainly knew that as the patriarch of the Gu family, Gu Man's uncle would never be a simple man.
It was truly unbelievable that he could calm down so quickly after hearing of his niece's murder, weigh the pros and cons, and even say, 'I don't blame you.'
Was it the cold-blooded nature of a politician, or did he have an ulterior motive?
Chu Liuyue's fingers tightened around his neck.
She interrogated him, "What material are the black bracelets on their wrists made of? Why do they suppress the use of superpowers once put on?"
Commander Gu smiled gently.
"It has to do with 'that thing.' Once we go to the research institute, everything will become clear."
Chu Liuyue didn't buy his nonsense, and her grip on his neck tightened a bit more.
"First, have your people take off their bracelets."
"Of course." Commander Gu coughed and said, "You might need to loosen your grip a little; my voice is too hoarse."
He tapped the red call bell on the desk.
Secretary Liu walked in. As soon as he entered, he saw his leader being held hostage. He was about to call for the guards but was stopped.
"Little Liu, take off their bracelets first."
"But, sir, you..."
"Just do as I say." Commander Gu cleared his throat.
Only then did Secretary Liu step forward reluctantly, taking a small, transparent bottle from his pocket.
The bottle contained a green powder.
He took out some powder and rubbed it a couple of times on the black bracelets. The bracelets instantly became soft, like wilted vines, and with a gentle tug, they were pulled off.
Commander Gu spoke again:
"Little Liu, arrange a car to take us to the Jingdu Research Institute."
"But sir, they..." Secretary Liu looked at the group of them, eventually sighed, and turned to make the arrangements.
Having arranged everything, Commander Gu looked toward Zhou Yu'an and the others.
"How about it? I'm being very cooperative. Can you have this young lady let go of me now?"
"I'm old and my heart isn't what it used to be. If she squeezes any tighter, I might lose my life."
Seeing this, Chu Liuyue let go of his neck, but the psychic energy pistol pressed against his temple remained at the exact same height.
Commander Gu saw this.
A hint of surprise and confusion flashed in his eyes.
"Is the red potion really this powerful?"
"Not only does it resist the suppression of the black bracelets, but using your abilities for such a long time—don't you get exhausted?"
Chu Liuyue was in no mood to explain it to him.
The group smoothly boarded the arranged vehicle and headed to the Jingdu Research Institute.
In the car, Commander Gu continued to appear completely harmless.
"You don't need to be so hostile toward me."
"I've never wanted to hurt you. I won't pursue the matter with Gu Man either. I know you are doing this to save humanity."
"Our goals are the same."
Li Xichen was driving. Hearing this, he couldn't help but sneer.
"Save humanity? Why did you support the laboratory researching such projects in the first place? Isn't it just because you old geezers want to escape the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, and fantasize about immortality?"
"You make it sound so noble, but the world turning into this mess is all your doing!"
Li Xichen's scolding was completely spot on.
Commander Gu just smiled, turning to point at Zhou Yu'an.
"Zhou Yu'an, is there really no benefit? Haven't you survived successfully?"
"If it weren't for this potion, you probably would have passed away during your surgery a few years ago. Doesn't that count as saving a life?"
Zhou Yu'an fell silent.
Even if the initial purpose of the research was good, it ultimately caused irreversible damage.
"But far more people are dying now," he said.
Commander Gu shook his head and sighed:
"This is inevitable, a phenomenon no one wants to accept."
"But a portion of people have already gained superhuman abilities. Perhaps this is the new direction of human evolution."
Chu Liuyue realized something.
Whether it was before the zombie outbreak or after.
These politicians always had their own set of theories.
They claimed it was for the big picture, for the future of humanity, and for the development of a new human race.
The only thing they would never admit was that their own faulty decision-making had amplified the danger and led to this fatal situation.
"Commander Gu, are you a mid-level official in the survivor base?" Chu Liuyue asked out of the blue.
Commander Gu paused for a moment, smiled, and said, "That's right."
"Wrong!"
Chu Liuyue retorted decisively,
"You are the highest leader of the survivor base, aren't you? Just now, when our car drove out of the base, everyone let us pass. No one dared to stop us."
"Even now, there are seven or eight base vehicles secretly tailing us."
"Why is it that the moment the virus broke out, your brother, Commissioner Gu in Jiang City, sent people to the research institute to pick up Director Zhou? That wasn't just good timing; it was as if all of this had been planned out."
"You want all the survivors to come to the Jingdu survivor base. What exactly are you trying to do?"
As they spoke.
The car slowly came to a halt.
They had arrived at the Jingdu Research Institute. It was also located in the suburbs, but its building area was three or four times larger than the one in Jiang City.
Commander Gu suddenly stopped smiling.
He simply asked:
"Are you still planning to go into the research institute now?"
Chu Liuyue nodded decisively and said, "Of course."
Commander Gu: "I admire your courage."
Chu Liuyue dragged him out of the car, saying, "You're coming with us. If there's danger, I'll use you as a meat shield first."
The others followed suit and got out.
Unlike the out-of-control situation at the Jiang City Research Institute, everything was still running normally at the Jingdu institute.
There were several staff members at the entrance.
Seeing this lineup, they looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
Commander Gu, however, calmly waved his hand and said:
"Put down your guns."
"We are just here to take a look around the institute."
The staff members looked nervously at how Chu Liuyue was holding him hostage and said, "But Commander Gu, you..."
"Relax, I'll be fine," he replied, still as calm as ever.
The main doors of the Jingdu Research Institute opened.
The first thing that hit them from inside was a heavy smell of disinfectant. The smell was so strong that it made Li Xichen involuntarily sneeze.
"Why hasn't this place been attacked by zombies?!"
He was stunned.
All the staff members moving about inside looked so normal. Being in this environment gave one a sense of surrealism.
It felt as if the apocalypse had never happened at all.
As if everything was just a dream.
Because everything here was operating perfectly normally.
Yan Qingdu suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" Chu Liuyue turned her head to look at him.
"This."
He pointed to a three-meter-tall glass tank right in the center of the lobby. The tank was filled with a blue liquid, and inside was a slumbering mutant zombie, identical to the ones they had seen at the Jiang City Research Institute.
The Jiang City Research Institute only had three, and one had broken out and escaped.
But here, they were densely packed together, numbering at least a dozen.
Staff members in white lab coats were extracting liquid from their bodies through a port, drawing out what turned out to be a vial of light green potion.
Seeing this, Commander Gu explained:
"This is the second-generation potion you saw later on."
