Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 127 Blue Blade
“Our progress here is seriously behind schedule. If you keep dragging your feet, pack your bags and get out of this desolate valley!”

After finishing his speech, the old director glanced at the laboratory staff on site and gestured for them to report one by one.

A researcher with a receding hairline stepped forward, explaining with a troubled expression:

"Director, our funding is... really limited, and we can only recruit testers from those refugee camps."

The old director scoffed: "What kind of bullshit reason is that? Don't homeless people have strong personal emotions?"

"Director, they are emotional, but their emotions are fluctuating... so they are not doing what I designed."

The experimenters sighed: "My method is to 'randomly select one person each week to receive torture,' and if someone volunteers to take their place, the intensity of the torture for that person will double."

"And what happened? They fight for that one last torture slot every week, since they're not going to die anyway! They're all here to be tortured, just wanting to experience that near-death feeling, they're a bunch of lunatics!"

Another researcher also complained:
"The 'food passing down layer by layer' rule that I was in charge of was a joke. It was supposed to simulate a 200-layer ecosystem, but the budget was cut so much that we could only build 30 layers and then cram 30 people in them."

"The rules are very strict. Food is delivered from the top floor and stays on each floor for half an hour. Crossing platforms and hiding food are prohibited, otherwise you will be electrocuted."

He looked utterly dejected. "And what happened? Those thirty people seemed to have conspired beforehand! They precisely allocated their portions each time, never taking more than their share, never causing trouble. Not a single extra piece of fruit, not a single extra sip of wine, and they even cleaned up all the trash themselves!"

“Last month I completely rearranged their staff and floors, but it didn’t work! They were still as polite as ever! Later I found out that they were actually a scavenging team, coming here to freeload! They wasted a month’s worth of my data!”

The researchers nearby couldn't help but chuckle: "Free food and lodging, free feeding."

The old director's face was grim: "Since they dare to take advantage of the nuclear resources, then send them all to be used as specimens."

"What's so great about yours? My 'escape vote' rules are useless here too."

The experimenter in the corner muttered, "We hold a vote every month. If even one person vetoes our decision, everyone will have to stay and continue to be punished. There will be zombie attacks, and people will really die."

"But they just wouldn't leave. They were provided with basic food, and they said we were kind and wouldn't force them to work in the coal mines or throw them into the prison camp..."

Edward listened quietly.

The researchers complained incessantly, but failed to mention the most crucial point.

Why is there a shortage of funds? Why are all the testers we recruited so "weird"?
Edward's gaze inadvertently fell on the old director who had just finished giving a speech.

Someone must have embezzled the money.

Seeing that the director's expression was getting worse, the deputy next to him quickly tried to smooth things over:

"Director, the problem still lies in the punishment mechanism. We need to make them feel real fear in order to collect enough... emotional fluctuations."

"waste!"

The old director slammed his hand on the control panel. "Does the lack of the group's mainframe and supercomputer mean you can't design anything anymore? Any one of those androids is a hundred times more useful than you!"

He waved his hand impatiently: "Forget it, I'll go ask the people from Umbrella Corporation to design it. When it comes to torturing people, they're the real experts."

"Director, so... is the testing location still at headquarters?" a subordinate asked cautiously.

The old director rejected the idea, saying, "Find me a dozen or so small, pristine shelters around the valley, and then hand them over to the people under the protection umbrella."

Edward listened in for quite a while.

He vaguely sensed that a significant portion of the director's reprimand of his subordinates was deliberately said to him, as if he were trying to distance himself from something.

After his subordinates dispersed in fear, the old director, as if he had just finished his work, forced a smile at Edward:

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh. What brings you here?"

Edward briefly explained his purpose and pointed out the espionage case involving the "Morisaka Network".

"What? Morisaka Networks?"

The old director's tone instantly rose, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, "How is this possible! It's not true! Your joint investigation team is simply making a complete mess of things!"

He dusted off his white coat, feigning composure: "Minister Edward, if you're going to investigate spies, you should also investigate the new recruits who have just joined the company."

"What motive would I have to betray the group when I've been working in nuclear fields for over a hundred years, with half my body buried in culture medium?"

Edward's gaze remained fixed on him, his voice growing even more steady: "Director, the group appreciates the contributions of all long-serving employees. But loyalty is not measured by seniority."

He added, "The job of the review department is to verify all of this."

The old director's eyes flickered, as if he had grasped at the last straw: "Minister Edward, if I remember correctly, you're from the intelligence department. When did it become your place to manage the censorship department?"

Edward remained calm: "This is a joint operation. The Minister of Review is on sick leave, so I'm temporarily taking over."

"I need to verify," the old director insisted, trying to stall for time.

Edward, however, had no patience to waste time with him and directly dialed the testing department head's contact number.

The light screen connected, and Edward stated succinctly: "Minister, Director Eng is obstructing the investigation."

He turned the light screen toward the old director.

The old director only listened for a few seconds before all the color drained from his face.

"...Yes, I'll cooperate immediately." He hung up the call, completely admitting defeat.

Edward glanced behind him.

His review team just came out of the director's office, nodded slightly to Edward, and handed him an investigation report.

Edward glanced down at the documents, then turned to the director, his tone flat: "Director, I have good news and bad news."

The old director's eyelid twitched.

"The good news is that we have found no evidence of infiltration or bribery by you and Morisaka Networks."

Just as the director was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Edward continued, "The bad news is that they have found direct evidence that you misappropriated experimental funds."

"You're slandering me!" The director's face flushed red.

"Director, that explains it."

Edward revealed a hint of understanding. "No wonder your experiments were so crude. There's an old saying that even a skilled cook can't make a meal without rice. Since you've diverted all the funding, they naturally have no rice to cook."

His expression seemed both regretful and sarcastic: "I'm sorry, Director, we were just doing our job. We apologize for disturbing you."

The investigators did not give the old director any further chance to explain, and directly asked him to leave the testing area under the pretext of "assisting in the investigation".

In the corridor, you could still faintly hear his blustering but cowardly curses, complaining about how these people were so unreasonable.

Edward stood there and sighed softly.

From a corner of the corridor not far away, Xu Lanshan took in the whole scene.

When she saw Director Engel being taken away, a faint suspicion arose in her mind.

Instead of immediately stepping forward, she held a data board and pretended to check financial documents, following Edward at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

She saw the inspection team stop at section C-15 again, and a few minutes later, the test supervisor, Heathma, was also handcuffed and escorted out.

Xu Lanshan's heart skipped a beat. Hissma was also on her list.

Over the next half hour, she witnessed Edward swiftly arrest four other supervisors from the logistics, data center, and maintenance departments.

Every name perfectly matched the list of criminal evidence she had secretly collected!
Just as she was about to leave quietly, Edward's voice came from behind her.

"Ms. Xu."

Edward had appeared behind her without her noticing, his gaze lingering for a moment on the data panel in her hand, with a scrutinizing look typical of an intelligence officer.

"what are you doing here?"

"Minister Edward."

Xu Lanshan spoke calmly, raising the data board in her hand, "I found that the personnel data of several departments in Area C is seriously messed up. I'm going to ask Director Eng to check it."

"Director Engel has just been suspended from his duties."

Edward stated succinctly: "All his permissions and data have been frozen."

"Is it just him?"

Xu Lanshan feigned surprise and offered an impeccable reason: "The data gap on my end involves several departments. I need an accurate list of suspended employees, to recalculate the data, and to verify the system."

"Ms. Xu, is this matter urgent?"

"It's quite urgent."

Edward glanced at her, and the intelligence chief's keen intuition told him that something was amiss.

Xu Lanshan landed smoothly in a defection incident at the beginning of the year, and her position was demoted from chief financial officer to ordinary financial officer.

Although the other party was the chairman's younger sister, he still shook his head. "The list is confidential and I cannot disclose it at the moment. The group will issue a unified announcement regarding any subsequent personnel changes. You can wait for the notification."

"Thank you, Minister. I'll go back and proofread now."

Xu Lanshan didn't press further; she had already gotten the answer she wanted.

Not only did Master Xu see the sandbox documents, but he also used Edward's hands to precisely remove the nails in just over ten hours.

Xu Ye has access to the internal network, but probably not the authority to operate it. His only purpose in doing this is to hint to her that he is trying to contact her.

She remained outwardly calm, turned and left with steady steps, but her breathing became heavier.

Max's fate is unknown, David's whereabouts are missing, and Master Xu's situation is certainly not good either; she needs to contact him as soon as possible.

Edward watched her leave in a hurry, his brow furrowed.

He always felt that something was off about Xu Lanshan, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He shook his head, temporarily suppressing his doubts.

Only then did he notice the communication request from Wuji that had appeared on his terminal a few hours earlier.

He dialed back.

"it's me."

Edward cut to the chase, "What's the situation on Fengmang's side?"

"Sir, everything is going well."

Wuji answered truthfully: "Grey Goose has reached a superficial alliance with Habenson as planned, and she is using the resources you provided to reorganize the team."

"very good."

Edward pondered for a moment, "From now on, you will serve as the intelligence chief stationed in Linhai City."

"..."

The black-boned chicken held its breath.

"Do it well."

Edward's tone remained calm, revealing neither joy nor anger, "Observe and learn more, put away your petty thoughts, and don't disappoint me."

"Yes, sir! Thank you for your trust, sir!"

Meanwhile, the camp of the second team of the Sharp Edge was in complete chaos.

Overnight, the entire second team lost fifty members, including four team leaders.

Those mercenaries who were kicked out of the team had ashen faces and were gathered in the center of the camp.

They looked at each other, their faces a mixture of astonishment and disbelief.

What exactly happened? How did she find out? The entire army was wiped out!
Those informants disguised as mercenaries, those two-faced old foxes, those openly defiant troublemakers...

They thought they had disguised themselves very well, and some of them were even close to infiltrating the core, but now they have all been accurately exposed by Chu Ningyan overnight.

Inside the camp, the veteran mercenaries who had managed to stay behind gradually figured out what was going on.

Those who were dismissed included almost all the notorious troublemakers and cronies in the team, as well as those old scoundrels who cheated and shirked their duties.

As for the group members who lost their group leaders, Chu Ningyan herself took over their positions.

Immediately, the camp was abuzz with discussion.

"How did she do that? It's amazing." "Now it's finally peaceful. Look at that guy's face, it's completely black. Those black sheep should have been gone a long time ago."

Many people's perception of Chu Ningyan has subtly changed; this female captain is more shrewd than they imagined.

Of course, some people disagree.

Several dismissed mercenaries shouted, "She's abusing her power! Dismissing veteran members requires approval! We're going to file a complaint!"

A burly man stepped out from the crowd; he was the strongest close-combat fighter in the second team.

He looked Chu Ningyan up and down, spat on the ground, and said with utter contempt, "A woman like you is fit to be our captain? We're all about strength."

The troublemakers behind him chimed in, "Yeah! We're not having it! Unless you can beat him!"

Chu Ningyan's eyes swept over everyone on the field, then she stretched her wrists.

"can."

The burly man grinned maliciously, took a step forward, and slammed his iron fist toward her face with a whooshing sound.

Instead of retreating, Chu Ningyan advanced, slightly shifting her body to the side to precisely avoid the punch.

"call--!"

After the burly man missed his first attack, he immediately changed his move and swept across the room, each strike potentially fatal.

Chu Ningyan was even faster. After lowering herself down, she kicked Chu Ningyan's right leg hard in the back of his supporting leg's knee like a whip.

"Snap." A crisp sound.

The burly man screamed and fell to his knees with a thud.

Before he could get up, Chu Ningyan's military boots had already stepped on the back of his neck, pressing his entire face firmly to the ground.

After a few rounds, the outcome was already decided.

The camp fell silent instantly; those troublemakers who had been making a ruckus earlier all shut their mouths.

"What the hell..."

The burly man, pinned to the ground, struggled. Seeing this, several thugs behind him drew their daggers and shouted, "Let go of our leader! You dare touch him!"

At the same time, Chu Ningyan's old subordinates reacted even faster, instantly pointing their guns at those troublemakers.

The burly man's face flushed red as he glanced warily at the dark gun barrels, his voice filled with resentment:

"Fine, you wait, I'm going to headquarters right now to complain about your abuse of power!"

"Whatever, now leave the camp immediately."

The mercenaries left cursing, and the camp quieted down, but the atmosphere became even more oppressive.

Chu Ningyan gave no one a chance to catch their breath. "Everyone, assemble at the training ground in five minutes."

He then turned and left without hesitation.

Half an hour later, the high-intensity combat training began. She personally demonstrated each instruction, and each command was brief and strict, her voice devoid of any warmth.

Behind the group, some mercenaries secretly grumbled, thinking she was like a madwoman, even more ruthless than Qiu Shan, "Has our captain never smiled in her entire life...?"

As the old subordinate passed by, he overheard this complaint, and a thought flashed through his mind.

The captain would certainly laugh, but it wouldn't be for them.

The high-intensity drills lasted for three hours.

During a break, Chu Ningyan wiped the sweat from her forehead and dialed Zhuang Fan's number.

Have you left the city?

"Okay, let's get out of the city first. Old Cat's loading is too slow."

"Then... be careful."

"You too."

The brief communication ended.

Chu Ningyan's old subordinate kept his eyes straight ahead, knowing it was that mysterious man again.

……

On the main road outside the city, a truck bearing the banner of the Chamber of Commerce is slowly driving toward the Torch Base.

Inside the driver's seat, Zhuang Fan gripped the steering wheel tightly.

He had changed into a worn-out set of work clothes, disguising himself as a third-class citizen named "Pepa," looking slightly weathered.

After the truck drove out of the guards' sight, a hole was opened in the roof of the truck bed, and Xiong Er crawled out.

He nimbly climbed onto the roof of the vehicle, sat down facing the wind and sand, set up his sniper rifle, and surveyed the surroundings.

Half an hour after the truck started moving, Xiong Er on the roof sounded a brief alarm.

"Boss, the intersection ahead is blocked. There's a scavenging team of about a dozen people, but they don't have any heavy weapons."

"They're coming for us?" Zhuang Fan frowned slightly.

Xiong Er picked up the binoculars and observed for a while. "No, it looks more like they're searching for something."

Zhuang Fan gripped the steering wheel, his expression unchanged, but he had already grabbed the assault rifle beforehand.

As he approached, he slowed down and brought the heavy truck to a steady stop in front of the roadblock.

Cole said into the communicator, "Boss, do you need us to go out?"

"No need for now, let's see what happens."

Just then, Watson's urgent communication came in, filled with barely concealed anxiety.

"Boss, Hua Xin is in trouble!"

"Get to the point." Zhuang Fan's voice turned serious.

"They were attacked while scavenging. After the enemy discovered the catwoman, they called for more people and relentlessly tried to capture them."

Hua Sheng took a deep breath: "Hua Xin led his men to hide in an underground cave. The fog inside is thick and strange, and the signal couldn't be transmitted. I just received it."

"Who is the enemy?"

"I can't see clearly, but they have a small blue totem on their chests, but I'm sure they weren't sent by the chaebol."

"Casualties."

"Three people are seriously injured and eight people are slightly injured. Their condition is temporarily stable. I can't contact her now."

Zhuang Fan felt a little calmer; everyone was still alive, and things hadn't reached the worst point yet.

"We're coming back soon, wait for me."

A scavenger who looked like a minor leader walked over.

He first looked up, glanced warily at Xiong Er on the roof of the car, and then his gaze lingered for a moment on the imposing Gauss sniper rifle.

Zhuang Fan rolled down the car window and looked at the gang leader: "Why are you blocking the road?"

"Are you mercenaries? From the city?"

"Is something wrong?"

Zhuang Fan glanced at the blue blade totem on his clothes, his eyes turning slightly cold.

Those unidentified attackers were the "Blue Knife Gang" from the north of the city.

The Blue Blade Gang is the largest scavenging group in the north of the city, with at least five or six hundred members. How did they suddenly end up in the south of the city?

In an instant, Zhuang Fan recalled the report from [Edge Radio], which said that the Apocalypse Cult was holding a rally in the north of the city and had even fought with the Blue Knife Gang.

It seems that the Blue Blade Gang was decimated and had to flee to the southern region in a sorry state.

The leader looked around again, making sure there was no one else in the car, and his tense tone became less cautious.

"We're from the Blue Blade Gang. Where are you from?"

Zhuang Fan had initially considered using Feng Mang or Xunlong's name, but the thought quickly passed. Worried about information leaks exposing the base, he quickly made up an excuse:

"Black Gold Trading Company, Level Two Caravan".

"Black Gold Trading Company?"

The leader muttered something, then became even more dismissive: "Have you seen any catwomen along the way? There are at least a dozen of them."

"Catwoman?"

He shook his head in feigned surprise: "This is a rare find! I haven't seen it before. You guys are going to strike it rich!"

"Get rich?"

The henchman, as if his tail had been stepped on, spat out a mouthful of saliva: "What the hell! There's some wild cat that's got some nerve, it scratched our Fifth Brother's eye! Damn it!"

"We have sealed off all the garbage dumps and passageways in the vicinity. We must find them all!"

These words completely confirmed Zhuang Fan's guess.

He gave a perfectly timed smile: "So you're here to catch the catwoman? What a coincidence."

He lowered his voice as if he knew the place well, "To be honest, I'm also very good at this. How about I give you guys a hand? Once we catch the guy, we can discuss the resale price."

The squad leader squinted at him, as if assessing the value of prey.

He noticed that Zhuang Fan's work clothes were relatively clean, and his skin was fair and delicate, clearly indicating that he was a city dweller who had never truly experienced hunger in the wasteland. He immediately felt hungry.

But he remained cautious: "It would be great if you could help, but..."

He changed the subject, gesturing with his chin towards the carriage, "You still need to know the rules. Let's check your carriage first, just in case you're harboring any stray cats."

"Fine, whatever." Zhuang Fan spread his hands, feigning helplessness, and jumped out of the car.

He sneered inwardly. This fool from the city actually believed it; he was already determined to hijack the goods.

"Go search it."

Six scavengers armed with rifles immediately surrounded him, pressing their gun barrels hard against Zhuang Fan's lower back, and dragged him to the back of the vehicle.

"Open the door! What are you dawdling for!" The scavenger holding him back pushed him impatiently.

"Don't rush me."

Zhuang Fan used force to pull open the heavy tailgate.

"Bang—" The car door slammed shut.

The greedy smiles on the faces of the six scavengers hadn't even faded before they froze instantly, their scalps tingling with fear.

There was nothing of value in the back of the truck.

In the darkness, ten fully armed armored soldiers stood quietly, their tactical goggles glowing faintly red.

The muzzles of rows of rotating machine guns were all pointing outwards, already locked onto them.

The armored soldier at the head of the group was none other than Cole.

He slowly raised his alloy finger and placed it on the microphone of his helmet, making a clear "shh" gesture.

The six scavengers, their bodies ice-cold, nodded blankly, even their breathing becoming cautious.

Meanwhile, the minor leader was completely unaware.

He was staring at Xiong Er's Gauss sniper rifle, his eyes revealing undisguised greed for the gun, plotting how to snatch it.

But he quickly frowned.

The trunk is too quiet. Does it really take this long to open the door and check?
(End of this chapter)