Invasion of America

Chapter 91 Excess Death
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the sun shone obliquely on the streets of Washington, DC. Thomas walked out of the Eisenhower Building near the White House with a briefcase and brisk steps.

He looked up at the sky, a smile unconsciously curling up at the corner of his mouth. In recent days, he had been in an especially good mood, and even the air he breathed felt a little fresher.

He got into his black sedan, started the engine, and drove towards Arlington.

Arlington is separated from Washington, D.C. by only the Potomac River. It is not only the location of Arlington National Cemetery, but also home to heavyweight organizations such as Raytheon, Boeing, and the Pentagon.

Thomas's home is located in this area where prosperity and solemnity are intertwined.

Recently, he got hold of an extremely capable "informant", and the information provided by this informant made him stand out in the department.

The secrets hidden behind computer reports - the corruption of a state official, the financial chaos of a local government, and the loopholes in a department's rules and regulations - were all dug out by him one by one.

This information cannot be captured by technical means, and one must go deep into the grassroots level to get a glimpse of it.

Most of the other agents in the Efficiency Department can only tinker with technology and analyze reports, and lack grassroots experience.

Thomas's "informant" perfectly made up for this shortcoming, and he was repeatedly praised in front of his superiors.

"Happy, so happy!" Thomas hummed a little tune, tapping his fingers lightly on the steering wheel. He left work early today and couldn't wait to get home and share this joy with his wife.

However, when he opened the door, the smile on his face froze instantly.

His beautiful wife was standing in the living room, looking a little embarrassed, and on the sofa sat a strange man.

"Hi, Thomas. Do you mind if I come to your house without an appointment?"

Zhou Qingfeng sat there calmly, holding a cup of coffee. He looked up at Thomas, smiled slightly, and raised his hand to greet him.

Thomas's head buzzed, as if struck by something. He subconsciously muttered, "Asshole, why are you coming to my house?"
-
"Honey, could you please go pick up the child?" Thomas winked at his wife.

His wife was slightly stunned, her eyes wandering between Zhou Qingfeng and Thomas, a look of worry appearing on her face.

"Mr. Victor...is there any problem?" she asked in a low voice, her fingers unconsciously twisted together, trying to look over her husband's shoulder and take another look at Zhou Qingfeng sitting on the sofa.

"No problem, but we have some official secrets to discuss." Thomas forced a smile and gave his wife a gentle hug, trying to reassure her.

His wife hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded, picked up the car keys, and hurried out of the house.

The moment the door closed, Thomas's face darkened. He turned around and stared at Zhou Qingfeng fiercely: "Asshole, you've crossed the line! You shouldn't be in my house!"

Zhou Qingfeng was still sitting leisurely on the sofa, holding the cup of coffee in his hand, "If I don't come to your house, where can I find you?
Are we going to the Eisenhower Building, where the Department of Government Efficiency is located? That's in the heart of Washington, D.C., and it's a great tourist attraction."

After he finished speaking, he took another sip of coffee and praised, "Your wife is very good at making coffee. I like the extra mellow taste of this kind with milk and sugar."

Thomas waved his hand impatiently, his voice filled with suppressed anger: "What do you want?"

Zhou Qingfeng put down his coffee cup. "It's nothing serious. I just wanted to tell you that I was able to find your home and see your young and beautiful wife. By the way, I want your help to look up some data."

It was a naked threat, but Thomas could do nothing about it.

As the performance of the "Electric Flight" project becomes more and more impressive, Zhou Qingfeng's influence is also growing, forcing people to tolerate his rudeness and shortcomings.

"What do you want to check?" Thomas asked through gritted teeth.

"Check the death toll in each U.S. state this year, especially the number of deaths among people over 60 and 80 years old.

Your Department of Health and Human Services hasn't been releasing relevant data lately, and I couldn't find it online, so I came to ask you."

Thomas frowned, looking puzzled: "Why check the death toll?"

Zhou Qingfeng chuckled, "I will provide you with the grassroots situation of each state in the United States, so that the Efficiency Department can break big news every two or three days, and always be at the forefront of public opinion.

I never ask 'why', why would you ask?"

Thomas was speechless and could only take out his cell phone in annoyance, call his subordinate and ask for relevant data.

The annual death toll in the United States usually accounts for around 0.8 per thousand of the population, and has been very stable unless a special epidemic breaks out.

Thomas didn't take it too seriously at first, but when his subordinate replied that he couldn't find any relevant data, he couldn't help but frown.

"Can't find it? How is that possible?" Thomas' tone turned serious. "Go check the data submitted by each state or even county, or directly check the databases of major nursing homes in the United States.

The most accurate data should come from pension fund payment records. Every additional death of an elderly person means the fund management institution can save money. They will definitely not be careless about this matter.

A few minutes later, a string of data arrived on Thomas's phone. He quickly scanned it, his expression growing increasingly serious, and he couldn't help but curse, "Fuck!"

"What's wrong?" Zhou Qingfeng raised his eyebrows, having anticipated Thomas's reaction.

"In the past three months, payments from several pension insurance funds have decreased significantly, jumping from 3% at the beginning to 5%, and even dropping by 10% last month."

Thomas' tone was filled with shock and anger, "Pension payments are decreasing, which means some elderly people are dying excessively.

"The rate is increasing by several percentage points every month, indicating that the death toll is steadily increasing. If this accumulates over a year, tens of millions of elderly people will die across the country."

He raised his head and looked at Zhou Qingfeng with complicated eyes: "Oh my God, this is definitely big news."

Thomas was in a state of conflict. If he reported this news, it would definitely cause a stir, and he would definitely get a promotion and a raise.

But at the same time, he also realized the seriousness of the problem - the increase in the number of deaths among the elderly may hide a greater crisis.

"The increase in the death toll suggests huge interests are involved. It's definitely a clue worth digging deeper into," Thomas muttered to himself. "Victor, how did you know to investigate this?"

Zhou Qingfeng spread his hands and did not answer the specific reason.

Thomas didn't ask further questions, as a storm of thoughts was already brewing in his mind. "American journalists are always sharp and will report any little thing.

Excess deaths like this can't be concealed; sooner or later, they'll be discovered. Just exploring the cause would undoubtedly trigger a wave of public opinion. He couldn't contain his excitement, so he grabbed his coat and hurried to the door. "Victor, thank you. I need to get back to the office right away; I have to report this news."

Thomas left in a hurry, his footsteps fading away in the corridor and finally disappearing outside the door.

Zhou Qingfeng was still sitting on the sofa, leaning forward slightly, his hands crossed on his knees, his eyes lowered, as if staring at a certain point on the floor.

The room was eerily quiet, with only the ticking sound of the wall clock, as if it was counting down something.

He had a small communication headset hanging from his ear, keeping him connected. Gray Shark's voice came from inside, "Victor, is the end of the world coming?"

Zhou Qingfeng did not answer immediately, his eyes still lowered, as if he was avoiding something, or as if he was thinking about something.

Gray Shark's voice became even more uneasy and anxious. "Is it Virus X? It specifically attacks the elderly? What about my mother? She's over sixty and in poor health."

Zhou Qingfeng's throat moved, as if he wanted to say something, but was suppressed by some invisible force.

Until he took a deep breath and finally spoke, "Go into the shelter. Make sure the air is filtered, including you."

Gray Shark was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "How long will we stay in the shelter?"

"long time."

“Is there no vaccine?”

"Yes, but Virus X is very special. It mutates very quickly and frequently, so the vaccine is of limited effectiveness."

Gray Shark struggled to digest this cruel news, and asked with a trembling voice, "So, in the future... is there still hope for humanity?"

Zhou Qingfeng let out a long sigh, "I don't know, I didn't see that day."

The room fell silent again, with only the ticking of the wall clock continuing.

Zhou Qingfeng slowly stood up, walked out of Thomas's house, and looked at the world outside that was still full of vitality and vigor. He was like a traveler abandoned by fate, standing on the edge of doomsday, staring at the terrifying future.
-
A day later, Kelly's father, Jeff Connolly, chairman of Pioneer Holdings, flew from New York to Washington, D.C., on a private jet.

He was accompanied by Baker Hughes, who provided legal services to Zhou Qingfeng. Both men, one in his sixties and the other in his seventies, were considered elderly.

The plane landed at Dulles International Airport. Zhou Qingfeng met them in a Lincoln outside the airport and handed them a document.

The document was compiled by Thomas's "dog" agent. The front page was clearly printed with the logo of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the content was a data report on excess deaths in the past three months.

"The Ministry of Health is trying to conceal the excess deaths in the last three months, or by saying they are 'looking into the matter' and preparing to 'deal with it as soon as possible'."

Jeff's eyes quickly scanned the report, and his first reaction was, "We can short senior products in the stock market and hold or buy some health insurance stocks."

Baker Hughes was so angry when he heard this that he raised his voice. "Jeff! You're still thinking about making money? This is a matter of life and death! This X virus has spread, and we are the most susceptible population!"

The two old men looked at Zhou Qingfeng. Zhou Qingfeng shrugged and said, "I'm telling you this because I have some friendship with you, and I want to remind you that this terrible virus is spreading rapidly.

Secondly, we also hope that you can exert some influence to see if you can persuade certain politicians to mobilize the US state machinery to curb the development of the situation.

After all, this virus was created by the US military, and Congress is full of old men over 60 years old."

Jeff's eyes returned to the report, and a paragraph in bold font caught his attention: In the past three months, seventeen former members of Congress have died and four current members have died.

This number itself is very abnormal.

What shocked him even more was that six American billionaires also died. These people could have enjoyed the best medical services, but in the face of the virus, they were completely equal to ordinary people.

The two old men's expressions suddenly turned extremely ugly. They originally thought that this only involved the suffering of the poor at the bottom of society, but now it seems that this is not the case at all!
"What should we do now?" Faced with a personal threat, Jeff no longer had the shrewd calculations he had just made.

Zhou Qingfeng had no good idea either. "Or we can ask the US military if they have the vaccine. I think they probably don't have it, otherwise the Ministry of Health wouldn't be so anxious to cover it up for several months.

Or go home and find a shelter to hide, and make sure you don't come into contact with virus X until there's a vaccine. Of course, the best way is to stop deceiving yourself and let those who are responsible stand up and take responsibility."

Hearing this, Old Baker smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I know Washington bureaucrats too well. It's impossible to expect them to take responsibility. When have you ever seen them admit their mistakes?"

Jeff became even more anxious and said angrily, "Victor, you shouldn't have called us to Washington.

This place has a huge flow of people, with thousands or even tens of thousands of people coming and going every day. A council member has already died, proving this is a natural breeding ground for viruses!

The two old men looked at each other and said almost at the same time: "Turn around! We're not going to the city!"

Chen Rui, who was driving, was stunned for a moment, then turned the car around at Zhou Qingfeng's signal.

Jeff and Baker had obviously made up their minds and refused to go to downtown Washington. Instead, they asked to find a high-end medical facility and book a completely isolated nursing ward.

"So... don't you plan to meet with members of Congress and exert some influence?" Zhou Qingfeng's voice was filled with sarcasm.

Old Baker laughed out loud. "Victor, even you know about this, so it's impossible for the members of Congress not to know. They just don't want to take responsibility until the day they can no longer hide it."

Jeff complained angrily, "Next time you encounter something like this, just send an email. There's no need to call us over."

Zhou Qingfeng could only look up and sigh, "You guys are really hopeless."
-
The two old guys really took a walk outside the airport and then took a private plane back to Miami.

Zhou Qingfeng had no choice but to take a car back to the safe house near Washington, D.C. When he entered the house, old man Hammer was watching TV in the living room and Lucy was doing housework in the kitchen.

"Hey Victor, there's a guest coming to see you." Hammer pointed in the direction of the restaurant.

Xiao Jinlang, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, sat at the table in the restaurant, drinking the coffee Lucy had made. Seeing Zhou Qingfeng, he slowly raised his head and said, "Xiao Zhou, it's so hard to find you. I need to take your blood."

Zhou Qingfeng asked with a stern face, "Are you going back to China?"

Lao Xiao shook his head, "I'm afraid you and I can't go back."

(End of this chapter)