Chapter 353: Puppet

More than their sudden ambush on him, Zhang Wenda was furious that this group was trying to lure the remaining members of the Third Line into a trap.

It was a good thing they had run into him. If anyone else had come alone, given the skills of these mercenaries, they would have picked them off one by one.

But now, a question arose. Who would do something like this? ‘It’s the fucking apocalypse, and humanity is already in a massive crisis. How can there still be a group of people busy with infighting?’

Soon, the three wretched individuals were bound securely with rope, thrown onto the cold, hard concrete floor, and subjected to interrogation.

The group consisted of two men and one woman, ranging from young to middle-aged. One of them, a man with a full beard and rimless glasses, seemed to be their leader based on his demeanor.

“Who put you up to this? And who told you the Third Line’s rally signal?” Zhang Wenda demanded of him.

Even though his companions had died such a brutal death, the man kept his head down and remained silent.

Zhang Wenda hadn’t expected him to talk anyway. He turned to Hu Maomao.

“They’re mercenaries,” Maomao said. “Their payment was enough weapons and food to survive in this chaotic environment. They don’t know who hired them. The employers are very mysterious.”

“All they know is that they’re supposed to lead anyone following the Third Line’s rally markers into dangerous zones. The more dangerous the zone, the higher the pay. If any stragglers show up, they get paid by the head.” As she finished, Hu Maomao’s voice grew agitated.

Hearing the little girl voice his exact thoughts, the bearded man snapped his head up and stared at Hu Maomao in utter disbelief.

“Good. How do you make contact with them?” Zhang Wenda pressed.

The man was clearly trying to control the details in his mind, but that was nearly impossible. The more he tried not to think about something, the more it dominated his thoughts.

After a moment, Hu Maomao hesitantly looked up at Zhang Wenda. “He says it was in a dream.”

“A dream? Are you sure?” Zhang Wenda’s brow furrowed.

“Yes, it was a dream. From the fragments of his memories, it seems those people have the ability to control dreams. They give them their mission objectives in the dream, then leave weapons and supplies at a designated location for them to dig up. There’s never any direct contact.”

Zhang Wenda went over to their vehicles and started searching their belongings for clues, like an organizational insignia or anything of the sort.

He didn’t find anything like that. His only discoveries were the Triangular Device in the back of a vehicle that turned matter into metal, a very well-stocked arsenal of melee and ranged weapons, and dozens of single-serving combat rations.

Some were weapons from the old world, but others appeared to be newly created within the zone. Judging by the recent fight, they were all highly effective.

The Triangular Device, capable of altering any substance, was particularly valuable. It would be incredibly useful for a newly formed organization.

It was clear the employers were thriving in this catastrophe. While others were still scrambling for food, they had more than enough resources to hire people to set traps for them.

But now, these were all his spoils of war. The weapons, the food, and even the three high-performance off-road vehicles were sent into his Inner World by Zhang Wenda, ready to be brought back for his own forces.

He didn’t even leave behind the atmospheric creature that had been turned to metal, packing it away into his Inner World as well. After all, the pool in Zone 2 had no iron, making any metal a precious resource.

Returning to Hu Maomao’s side, he watched her continue to press the captives for information. He rested his chin in his hand, thinking. ‘Who could it be? Who would go to such great lengths to target the Third Line?’

‘The Third Line’s strength has already suffered a major blow; you could even say we’ve fallen apart. And yet, someone is still relentlessly hounding us. Who could it be?’

Just as Zhang Wenda was lost in thought, he saw Hu Maomao’s expression suddenly change. He hurried over. “What is it? Did you find something out?”

Hu Maomao said nothing. She simply walked over to the man and gently placed a hand on his head. Soon, his body began to tremble violently. Veins bulged on his forehead as his face turned a deep purple-red, and white steam began to rise from his scalp, making it look as if his head were being cooked.

A few seconds later, Hu Maomao removed her hand. She looked up at Zhang Wenda and said, “It’s them. It’s those Lizard People who worship 1999 as a god. I saw a flash of scales on one of them in his memory.”

“Fuck!” Zhang Wenda swore viciously. “Those bastards aren’t all dead yet!”

“There’s no way they’re all dead. A species with a shared consciousness is far too good at adapting to new environments. Besides, this whole catastrophe is inextricably linked to them.” Hu Maomao’s expression was now grim.

Suddenly, she looked up at Zhang Wenda. “Do you think… the Lizard People are doing this on orders from 1999? Does it know we’re regrouping and planning to fight back?”

Zhang Wenda’s heart skipped a beat at her words. “That can’t be right. According to the intel Old Tan left behind, 1999 is supposed to be mindless. It couldn’t orchestrate something like this. It must be something those fanatics came up with on their own.”

He said as much, but his tone lacked conviction. He knew far too little about 1999—next to nothing, in fact.

‘Looks like if I want to defeat it in the future, I have to understand it better.’ Whether it was 1999, the unknown zones, or the things within them, the steps to victory were always the same: observe, understand, interact, familiarize, and finally, control or defeat.

‘My ultimate goal is to defeat 1999 and set everything right. The first step has to be understanding it, and I still know far too little.’

‘Wait! The intel Old Tan left before he died!’ The memory jolted Zhang Wenda. He remembered Old Tan’s final words: he was leading a team to confront 1999, and he had made it very clear that even if they failed, he would leave behind a record of the battle.

‘If that record really exists, not only could I find out why the world ended up like this, but I could also learn more about 1999.’

‘Whether or not 1999 is pulling the strings, the Lizard People have made their move. There’s no telling when they’ll realize what I’m planning. I need to pick up the pace.’

After tossing the two remaining captives into his Inner World, Zhang Wenda said to Hu Maomao, “Let’s go. We’ll head back for now and figure out a way to get our hands on Old Tan’s battle record against 1999.”

“Okay.” Hu Maomao nodded, then began to float into the air.

They hadn’t gotten far when the smooth concrete ground began to tremble. Both of their expressions changed instantly.

“There’s always something new in this damn place! Probably another new phenomenon. Let’s move!” Zhang Wenda grabbed Hu Maomao, ready to bolt. But at that exact moment, a twisted branch, like a finger reaching from the heavens, slowly descended from the gloomy gray sky.

All sorts of objects, large and small, dangled from it like ornaments on a willow twig. As the branch slowly drew nearer, Zhang Wenda finally saw what was hanging from it—an assortment of wooden home appliances, among them a radio.

As the branch twisted and the concrete on the ground began to pulsate in time with its movements, Zhang Wenda’s pupils suddenly contracted to pinpricks.

In that instant, he understood. He understood why Hu Maomao couldn’t detect any thoughts from the creature with the square concrete head, and why there was no red—no life—within its body.

The radio on the wooden staff had been the real entity from the very beginning! The body was just its puppet!