harleyscars Chapter 534 The Truth
Chapter 534 The Truth
He glanced at Xu Si with the eagerness and pride one would show when looking at a promising junior.
As for the [Nirvana] behind Xu Si, which was clearly no ordinary object, he only glanced at it before focusing his attention on Xu Si.
Ever since Xu Si revealed his identity and searched for his sister in the earliest announcement, he had already found out about Xu Si's family before the apocalypse.
Therefore, Xu Si knows the hardships he has endured to get to where he is today.
If he had enough time, he would prefer to sit down and listen to the hardships the train crew had endured along the way.
Listen to the growth stories of the other members of the Salary Train team.
"Commander-in-Chief of Future Survival Base No. 012 - Du Zhaolin"
He had placed Xu Si on an equal footing with him in the conversation.
Xu Si is qualified.
"Zhao Wulong, Defense Chief of Future Survival Base No. 012"
After hesitating, the short-bearded man also introduced himself.
This statement only indicates one thing: Xu Si needs to deal with Du Zhaolin before he can take action against him.
If he had known that dealing with Xu Si would be a simple matter of one move, he probably wouldn't have had this idea.
Looking at the young man before him, Du Zhaolin was filled with emotion.
You're younger than I thought.
In the end, Du Zhaolin only said this one innocuous sentence.
"Should we go inside to talk or stay here..." His ingrained Chinese hospitality compelled him to continue.
Zhao Wulong stood beside him, his gaze never leaving Xu Si's hands and the unsheathed sword at his waist.
Countless battle analyses replayed in his mind, considering how he should respond if a conflict were to actually break out.
As a high-ranking transcendent who had experienced numerous real battles before the apocalypse, although his instincts told him not to try to resist, his sense of self as a warrior allowed him to overcome all kinds of instinctive fears.
"It's all the same everywhere. I just discovered your existence by chance, so I have a few questions I want answered!"
The result of Fu Xiaojian's discussion with him was only to make contact and obtain some resources that the City of Fire did not have, such as seeds.
But when he actually arrived here, Xu Si had no intention of being so insincere.
Mutual guessing and probing are too exhausting and time-consuming.
"Your sudden visit is just to ask a few questions?" Du Zhaolin still didn't believe it.
In his mind, the most likely outcome for Xu Si would be to confront him, but what would be the point?
In the face of such a catastrophe, the power of a nation also seems so insignificant.
Xu Si naturally wouldn't ask naive questions, such as why you abandoned ordinary people? Why did you secretly hide and smuggle yourself out for safety?
"Indeed, I have absolutely no interest in you other than that!"
"Oh, by the way, I have another purpose for this trip: I want to take a portion of the seeds you've stored away!"
These words made Du Zhaolin and the others look rather unpleasant.
Because what Xu Si said was almost blatant contempt, even though what he said was true.
But the truth sounds particularly harsh.
But in this apocalyptic context, it is a rare kind of honesty.
If Xu Si truly harbored ill intentions towards them, given the methods he just demonstrated, he wouldn't have needed to waste any words.
"seed?"
"You traveled thousands of kilometers to find an underground base buried under mountains, all for...seeds?"
"The vast land of Earth is no longer suitable for plant survival. There are only seeds, and without the necessary hydroponic facilities, you won't be able to grow anything from them!"
His words were actually somewhat of a recruitment tactic, since only official bases like theirs possess truly complete and high-value hydroponic facilities.
"You didn't know that crops can be grown in the City of Fire?" Xu Si asked rhetorically.
He thought Fu Xiaojian had already informed the outside world long ago.
"Planting crops? Is that some kind of strange thing?" Du Zhaolin fell into deep thought.
It seems Fu Xiaojian hasn't announced the existence of the World Tree yet, and upon reflection, Xu Si has also come to accept it.
Before the World Tree and the City of Flame have truly matured, he probably wants to play it safe and develop cautiously.
Revealing yourself rashly will only attract more covetous people.
For example, a survival base like the one right in front of us.
Xu Si has only discovered three so far. According to his deduction, these three should be of the same specification. Are there any of higher specifications?
Xu Si felt that there should be some, which could be seen from the order of their survival bases.
The scale of the top ten survival bases in the ranking sequence is definitely far beyond Xu Si's imagination.
It is almost certain that there are higher-ranking powerhouses among them.
The fact that Xu Si hasn't noticed anything amiss with them yet speaks volumes.
"Now you can ask questions!" Knowing that the seeds would be useful, Du Zhaolin agreed.
Do you know the truth about the apocalypse, or do you have any guesses about it?
Although Xu Si now knows most of the truth about the apocalypse from his younger sister, he still has doubts about whether it is the real truth.
Everything that happened made him remain suspicious.
Doubts about the truth, doubts about the end times, doubts about others, and even doubts about oneself.
Du Zhaolin and the others were clearly surprised that Xu Si would ask such a question, especially the two Superhumans with guns, who both looked at Du Zhaolin.
Perhaps they would prefer to hear the truth about the apocalypse from him.
Du Zhaolin remained silent.
Since Xu Si asked the question, he definitely had to answer it.
But the answer to this question remains a challenge he is unwilling to face.
"We...the authorities have had some speculations about this," he finally said.
Xu Si lay down on the 'throne' behind him and listened intently, looking just like a holy monarch awaiting a report.
"Three months before the end of the world, we received a top-secret report internally," Du Zhaolin said.
"The report is about the abnormal spectral analysis of the 'Blood Sun'—the data shows that the radiation band of the Blood Sun is undergoing some kind of periodic, irreversible shift."
"Offset?"
"Yes. That pattern of shift doesn't match any known celestial activity. It's not natural, but rather..."
"Instead, it carries a clear characteristic of will." Du Zhaolin paused, as if considering his words.
"So that's when the survival base started to be built, and it eventually came in handy!"
Xu Si remained noncommittal.
He recalled his first encounter with the Blood Sun. That enormous, dark red celestial body was indeed unlike a normal star; it was more like a carefully crafted creation, endowed with some kind of mission.
However, Xu Si is now certain that the Blood Sun itself has a problem, and that the problem is not caused by the [Source of Plague].
Because after the [Source of Plague] was removed, the Blood Sun did not return to normal.
"So you knew back then that there was something wrong with the Blood Day?"
"I know there's a problem, but I don't know what it is. So I can say I know or I don't know," Du Zhaolin said.
"After the report was submitted, the higher-ups could only give a four-word reply: 'Continue to observe.' It was precisely when the strange occurrences truly erupted that the official survival base entered a period of full preparation!"
"Everything happened too fast; there wasn't much the authorities could do!"
He said this to make Xu Si understand their actions and to dispel any resentment he might have harbored.
"and then?"
"Then, the apocalypse far exceeded the official expectations." Du Zhaolin raised his head, his gaze returning to Xu Si, filled with a complex and indescribable emotion.
"When all the frontline troops were wiped out, all the speculation, all the analysis, all the reports became meaningless at that moment."
"Has the authorities had any contact with Gao Weiwei?" Xu Si asked again.
Du Zhaolin glanced at Xu Si in surprise; the answer was obvious.
The authorities have not only encountered high-level anomalies, but also many other high-level anomalies.
In the early stages of the apocalypse, the authorities even sought a way to coexist peacefully with the supernatural.
As a result, Nie Wansheng, one of the four pillars of the Great Xia Dynasty and the Illusionary Chess Saint, perished in this process.
"We've had quite a bit of contact, but..." Du Zhaolin sighed.
This is one of the reasons why there are those three ironclad rules.
I won't respond to anything strange, because it won't lead to anything.
Du Zhaolin's gaze lowered slightly, as if searching for a path through those sealed memories.
"On the day Longjiang City was invaded by the strange creature, the Northeast Theater Command lost all contact with headquarters. The last communication record was only seventeen seconds long—it reported that they had encountered an 'indescribable' strange creature, with a sequence rating of at least level seven, and possibly even level eight."
He paused, his voice becoming even lower.
"Headquarters dispatched a full-strength battalion, and three days later, not a single one of them returned alive."
Even the official high-level sequence of events failed to prevent the situation from deteriorating.
"On the day the capital was attacked, Du Yan, the Time Traveler, and Gu Changqing, the Froststorm, bravely sacrificed their lives for the tens of millions of people in the capital, but they only managed to delay the bizarre attack!"
"If you fall behind, you will be attacked. When you lack strength, you cannot even sit at the negotiating table."
Du Zhaolin didn't know if he was answering Xu Si's question or simply venting.
"One last question: Does the official website currently have its own Sequence 9? Or is there a promotion path to Sequence 9?"
Xu Si's words clearly acknowledged that he was a Sequence 8.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have sought to advance to Sequence 9.
"...I don't know." Du Zhaolin hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.
If the authorities have hidden higher-level sequence transcendents, they must be in the top ten survival bases.
Each of those bases could accommodate tens of thousands of people, but even he didn't know their exact locations.
"I'm sure you have a way to contact them. Please tell them that they'd better not do anything irrational."
Xu Si didn't actually expect them to know the way to advance.
But he didn't want them to follow the same path as Mei Lin.
"Alright, now give me the seeds I need!"
Du Zhaolin didn't understand what Xu Si meant, but he still gestured to Zhao Wulong.
The situation was so compelling that even he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
Moreover, he actually wanted to offer some help to these car teams struggling to survive in the outside world.
"These are all selected, high-quality edible seeds. Please plant as many as you can!"
Xu Si was surprised to find that the seeds he received most were corn and rice, each in a large bag, and there were also quite a few potatoes and sweet potatoes.
There are also quite a few beans, probably because they are well-suited for hydroponics.
Other seeds are only varieties, with only a small handful of each, probably just for collection purposes, as hydroponics is quite difficult.
These seeds were then absorbed by the [Nirvana] behind him. His original name was Dongtian, and it truly was a Dongtian, with a space much larger than the [Space Cloak].
Aside from the possibility of embezzlement, there's nothing wrong with it.
"Equivalent exchange, I can answer three of your questions."
After accepting the seeds, Xu Si didn't immediately leave.
The negotiations went relatively smoothly, so he voluntarily agreed to abide by the principle of "equivalent exchange".
This is also the principle that all caravans in the post-apocalyptic world adhere to.
Du Zhaolin and Zhao Wulong exchanged a surprised glance. Xu Si was in a position of absolute advantage, and they hadn't expected him to abide by the ridiculous principle of "equivalent exchange".
Despite their thoughts, they were still racking their brains to think about the problem.
The final result was that Du Zhaolin asked two questions, and Zhao Wulong asked one.
"What do you know about the truth of the apocalypse?" This was Du Zhaolin's first question, and also Xu Si's first question.
This made Xu Si glance at Du Zhaolin in surprise, not expecting that the boomerang that had been thrown out would hit him again.
Zhao Wulong, who was still deep in thought, was extremely surprised, as if he had opened the door to a new world.
"The truth I know is that the apocalypse is actually a divine selection initiated by the God of Creation. We are all members of the chosen ones, and only by advancing to Sequence 9 can we touch the edge of godhood."
god?
They never expected to receive such an outrageous answer. If you had said mutation, virus, or invasion from another world, they might have been more accepting.
But looking at Xu Si's unchanging expression, they knew that no matter how outrageous the answer was, it was probably closer to the truth.
Xu Si said all this because he wanted them to stop being complacent and to stop hiding away like rats.
Hope can only be called hope after being tempered by iron and blood.
"The second question," Xu Si urged, looking at Du Zhaolin who seemed somewhat dazed.
"The second question is, do the gods you mentioned really exist?" He originally wanted to ask Xu Si the second question, but he changed his mind at the last minute.
Because the answer to Xu Si's first question had such a profound impact on him, he still asked the second question, even though it was meaningless.
"certainly!"
Regardless of what they saw with their own eyes, their own experiences, and their efforts to retain Chun and Jian Shiyi, they were certain that the gods and the chosen ones truly existed.
"The third question is, besides sacrificing myself, how do I advance to Sequence 8?" Zhao Wulong clearly hadn't expected his words to reveal anything.
"The process of advancement is actually the process of eliminating weaknesses!" Xu Si's expression turned cold, but he still said the same answer Wan Liuchun had given him before.
"Don't misunderstand, this is just our speculation, but I can guarantee that no official has done this!" Du Zhaolin tried to salvage the situation.
Xu Si didn't say anything, and transformed back into a beam of light, disappearing from their sight.