EDEH Chapter 25

[007 Diary Entry 11]

 

[The little evil dragon has been taken away, while Subject 002 is still in a meeting. I witnessed the entire meeting through the network and gained much.

 

This meeting introduced three new observation subjects:

 

Subject 007, Commander Lin Shuyi, who shares the same number as my name. He seems to be on the same team as Subject 002.

 

Subject 017, Murphy, who is Subject 007’s student.

 

Subject 027, Julian, one of the council members who barely spoke during the meeting, making his attitude unclear.

 

Norman and Gould are also on the observation list, but unfortunately too old.

 

From everyone’s dialogue, the Supreme Council’s targeting of Subject 002 may not be out of personal motives, but simply different positions.

 

It seems I should understand why Subject 002 made those statements targeting deviants in the first place.

 

Buzz… Data retrieval in progress… Retrieval failed.

 

Currently available information is very superficial. I need to penetrate deeper network domains to obtain more data.]

 

·

 

The conference hall was very quiet. The first four seats on both sides of the long table were occupied by Supreme Council members, with nameplates reading Gould, Fanny, Julian, and Lance Black respectively.

 

Lin Shuyi sat in the first seat on the left side, with District Seven Administrator Norman sitting across from him.

 

“This contaminant assault has brought immeasurable losses to District Seven.” Norman, with graying temples, stood and bowed. “But fortunately, under the leadership of Commander Lin and General Huo, we still managed to defend this land. On behalf of all of District Seven, I thank the main city and the Fifth Safe Zone for their generous assistance.”

 

After finishing his official thanks, Norman immediately added: “We also thank the Council for their concern. Let’s end today’s meeting here.”

 

“Wait.” Lance Black leaned casually against his chair, asking as if offhandedly, “Does District Seven still have a million people?”

 

“…Indeed, we’re short of a million.” Norman said. “However, the main city has always been in a state of population overflow. For the past decade, they’ve been allocating fresh blood to our district. I believe with the main city’s help, our district will soon fill the gap of a million people.”

 

“Main city, main city—are you District Seven people lapdogs begging for scraps behind the main city?” Lance banged the table loudly, saying disdainfully, “Look at what kind of people they’ve allocated to you over the past decade. How many young people are there? Fresh blood indeed!”

 

Although his words were harsh, the other three councilors showed no intention of stopping him.

 

Norman’s face looked terrible. He glanced at Lin Shuyi and Huo Yanji across from him—these two were calmer than the other, as if they hadn’t heard anything.

 

“Councilor Black’s words are a bit excessive. Close neighbors are like brothers—mutual support is normal.”

 

Gould played the good cop, turning his attention to Huo Yanji: “When General Huo returns to the main city, you might mention not always sending the old, weak, sick, and disabled to District Seven. The main city needs development, and District Seven needs it just as much.”

 

Norman swallowed his anger and could only sit down.

 

These councilors appeared to be standing up for District Seven, but they were actually trying to divide relationships, and he couldn’t say much about it.

 

Huo Yanji looked up, his tone flat: “Old, weak, sick, and disabled? If I remember correctly, Vice Chairman, you’re over sixty this year. It seems you’re not quite suitable for setting foot in District Seven either.”

 

Gould’s face turned green.

 

For people like them who lived comfortably without crisis awareness, age was taboo. Getting old meant being one step closer to death, with power in their hands slowly slipping away.

 

Lin Shuyi propped up his fist against his lips, suppressing laughter.

 

With the atmosphere already so tense, Lance simply stopped beating around the bush and went straight to the point: “District Seven suffered heavy losses this time. I want to ask General Huo—if you had chosen to protect residents during evacuation, would casualties have been reduced?”

 

A light sneer sounded from the conference table. Huo Yanji’s tone was sharp as he asked: “Evacuate? Where would nearly a million refugees evacuate to? The main city with severe population overflow?”

 

District Seven was originally established to solve the main city’s population overflow and the problem of having no land to grow food and vegetables. Even if hundreds of thousands of people reached the main city, they couldn’t be accommodated. Plus, losing District Seven as an agricultural production area would soon lead to famine.

 

Seeing they didn’t respond, Huo Yanji leaned back slightly, one hand on the table spinning a pen, continuing coldly: “Or evacuate to District Five?”

 

The Fifth Safe Zone was led by only one colonel named Murphy.

 

“Our district is indeed desperately short of people—” Murphy laughed, then changed direction, “but everyone knows our district’s environment. We could manage ten thousand people at once, but hundreds of thousands… we might as well all become refugees together.”

 

District Five itself was in a crisis-ridden situation, with conditions much worse than District Seven in all aspects. Being able to spare troops for support was already very generous.

 

Lance’s face couldn’t hold up for a moment. Julian, who had been silent, took over: “We just want to know which would cause greater losses—evacuation or defending to the death. General, you don’t need to be so hostile.”

 

Huo Yanji spun his pen once and said nothing.

 

Gould continued: “Before coming here, we heard some bad rumors related to the General. Although we don’t quite believe them, we still want to confirm personally—during the three days of support, did the General devote all his attention to battle command?”

 

Huo Yanji’s expression didn’t change, his pupils cold and silent, but there was an illusion of brewing storms that flashed by.

 

Gould couldn’t help but avoid his gaze, asking in succession: “During this support mission, did General Huo bring a youth who was neither military nor supervisor to his side?”

 

“When issuing all command orders, did the General ensure absolute clarity and rationality?”

 

“Did the General expend significant mental energy on private matters during the city defense?”

 

The entire room fell silent.

 

Norman frowned, just wanting to end the meeting quickly. He knew the Supreme Council was making trouble for no reason, but he didn’t want to offend them either.

 

Lin Shuyi was somewhat irritated. People like them who had been fighting for years simply couldn’t match these pampered people in verbal sparring.

 

Originally, if they had directly questioned the decision to defend District Seven to the death, he would have had plenty of room to help refute. But this line of questioning directly excluded everyone else, making it awkward for him to interject.

 

Truly worthy of a group of old fools who make their living with their mouths.

 

Huo Yanji remained unmoved: “If the Vice Chairman suspects I haven’t fulfilled my duties faithfully, feel free to investigate—during the three days of support, I spent no more than two hours with irrelevant personnel.”

 

“We will certainly investigate thoroughly.” Lance pressed aggressively, unwilling to give up. “But may I ask, why did General Huo personally bring an irrelevant person from the main city to District Seven?”

 

Huo Yanji remained composed: “You should have investigated before coming. He’s a newly arrived resident. At the time, I temporarily harbored suspicions about his identity and brought him along for supervision.”

 

“Does this require the General’s personal supervision?”

 

“After all this time, I thought the Council should understand my style—when I have the capacity, I’m willing to handle everything personally.”

 

“In such a critical support mission, does the General still have spare capacity?”

 

“Exactly—” Lin Shuyi smiled slightly and took over, “After entering the city, Yanji handed that youth over to his subordinates for supervision. It turned out he was overthinking—the person had no problems and even helped save many people.”

 

“…” Lance’s expression darkened, left speechless.

 

Lin Shuyi’s way of addressing Huo Yanji had already made his position clear.

 

He was a military ‘veteran,’ and offending him would be far more serious than offending Huo Yanji.

 

Gould gave Lance a look, and the latter let out an almost inaudible snort. As if thinking of something, the gloom on his face lifted somewhat.

 

The only female councilor smoothed things over: “We also traveled this great distance to verify the facts, because we continue to receive complaint letters from citizens regarding General Huo’s words and actions from previous years.”

 

Fanny smiled ambiguously: “We still hope the General will be more cautious in words and deeds in the future. The Council values your abilities greatly, but no matter how much we value you, we cannot go against public sentiment…”

 

The implication was that if there were more complaint letters, they would have to take appropriate action against Huo Yanji.

 

…

 

After a period of undercurrents and veiled attacks, the meeting finally ended.

 

The Supreme Council members left first, followed by other unrelated personnel.

 

Murphy saluted Lin Shuyi familiarly: “Although I’d love to sit down and catch up with my teacher, District Five’s situation isn’t good either. I need to rush back overnight.”

 

Lin Shuyi nodded, looking at the student he had personally trained, finally showing a genuine smile: “You’ve worked hard.”

 

Murphy withdrew: “It’s my duty.”

 

The conference hall was instantly left with only three people.

 

“You sit too securely in the military, they can’t shake you, so they’ve started playing public opinion warfare, smearing you relentlessly.” Norman rubbed his temples, somewhat weary. “It’s still because of those statements you made about deviants years ago… that’s why they’ve targeted you.”

 

Huo Yanji didn’t care: “Youthful recklessness.”

 

“Ten years have passed in a flash, Yanji is already in his thirties.” Lin Shuyi laughed heartily. “When you say ‘youthful recklessness,’ it always feels unreal to me.”

 

Huo Yanji’s lips curved almost imperceptibly.

 

Norman looked at Huo Yanji and shook his head helplessly, hitting the nail on the head: “What youthful recklessness—don’t you still think the same way now?”

 

It’s just that after ten years, he no longer rushes to reverse everything, hiding his thoughts deeper.

 

Huo Yanji casually made an “mm” sound: “Young until death.”

 

Lin Shuyi stood up and clicked his tongue: “Being in love really makes a difference—you’ve indeed learned to joke.”

 

Norman was stunned. Although he’d heard some gossip, he hadn’t taken it seriously at all.

 

Hearing Lin Shuyi’s words, he asked thoughtfully: “Is there really someone? Just playing around or planning to settle down?”

 

“Nothing of the sort.” Huo Yanji also stood up, glanced at the time and said flatly, “Please send me a list of residents the main city has allocated to District Seven over the past ten years.”

 

Norman was puzzled: “What do you need this for? Don’t mind what the councilors said. Our district focuses on agricultural development anyway—bringing young people here would be wasteful.”

 

Current human society had no excess resources to support idle people, but people would always age. The main city dispersing these people to other safe zones not focused on expansion perfectly filled the gaps in agricultural work positions.

 

Huo Yanji said: “I want to investigate something else. I’ll tell you once I’ve confirmed it.”

 

He turned and left, giving Norman no chance to refuse.

 

Lin Shuyi didn’t ask what he wanted to investigate either. The two walked toward the restroom one after the other.

 

Just as they reached the corner corridor, they heard a sneer from the washbasin area—Lance’s voice.

 

“—What’s there to fear? How many more years can Lin Shuyi live?”

 

Lin Shuyi’s expression didn’t change, his lips still holding a smile.

 

But immediately after, a female voice came: “Instead of having time to worry about others’ lifespans, Councilor, you’d better protect yourself first. It’s such a long journey with extensive travel—if you encounter monsters the guard team can’t handle, or if those people from the ruins come upon hearing, you might easily lose your life.”

 

Lin Shuyi burst out laughing, looking proudly at Huo Yanji: “Worthy of being a student I personally trained—tough enough.”

 

Murphy and Wei Lan were the same age, both excellent representatives of the younger generation over the past decade. However, as a fellow woman, her personality was completely different from Wei Lan’s—passionate and forthright.

 

A reporter had once interviewed her about why she gave up the ‘comfortable’ life in the underground city to come to the surface and participate in fighting and killing.

 

Her response was very blunt: “Comfortable? That’s nothing more than a sacrifice women are forced to make. I acknowledge the importance of human reproduction, but I also don’t want future generations looking back at this history to call women’s sacrifice comfortable enjoyment, while only men’s names appear in the records of achievements.”

 

…

 

Murphy’s blatant threat left Lance speechless for a long time.

 

Hearing Murphy’s footsteps, Lin Shuyi restrained his expression and put on a serious demeanor.

 

Murphy, who suddenly met his gaze, was startled. Lin Shuyi said sternly: “Didn’t I warn you that being too rigid leads to breaking? I see you haven’t listened at all.”

 

Murphy shrugged: “I can’t help it.”

 

Huo Yanji ignored Lin Shuyi’s fake but actually boastful education, directly walked past Lance by the washbasin into the restroom without even greeting him.

 

Lance’s face turned ashen, while Julian, who was talking with him, showed no reaction.

 

After Lin Shuyi finished chatting with Murphy, Huo Yanji had already come out of the bathroom stall.

 

But when he also finished and came out, he found Huo Yanji still at the washbasin, carefully washing every inch of skin on his hands.

 

Lin Shuyi dried his hands helplessly: “Why do you wash your hands more seriously than eating every time?”

 

Huo Yanji didn’t respond, walking while making a call.

 

The other side answered quickly but there was no sound.

 

His steps paused: “Sang Jue?”

 

There was only faint wind sound from the other end. After a few seconds, two beeps, then it hung up.

 

Lin Shuyi was holding the elevator door waiting for him in front. Seeing this, he teased: “What’s wrong? Is the little guy throwing a tantrum and ignoring you?”

 

“He wouldn’t throw this kind of tantrum.” Huo Yanji’s face turned cold. “Something happened.”

 

At the same time, Saiya, who was leading the team for sewer cleanup, called: “Sir, we found a secret passage leading outside the city! And we found pieces of Colin’s clothing in the tunnel!!”

 

…

 

The vehicle was bumping violently. On the ground lay several broken rope segments. Sang Jue, who had been tied up, was now gripping a guard’s neck, preparing to break it—two corpses already lay beside him.

 

He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious. The drug effects hadn’t worn off yet, making him involuntarily gasp for breath.

 

The vehicle suddenly braked hard. Sang Jue’s body lurched forward uncontrollably, hitting the partition between the compartment and driver’s seat.

 

Two sets of footsteps gradually approached. Sang Jue’s nose twitched—both were scents he had smelled before.

 

A round of applause came, and the compartment door was opened. A man wearing a black mask smiled at Sang Jue: “Not bad, you managed to break free even though I tied you so securely.”

 

Sang Jue immediately identified who this person was: “I said I would definitely come back and kill you.”

 

He pressed his lips together, his eyes showing neither excitement nor anger, as if simply stating a calm fact.

 

The masked man said regretfully, examining him like merchandise, licking his dry lips: “What a pity, you’ve become a deviant. Otherwise, you should be crying under me right now.”

 

The man beside him asked: “Become? He wasn’t before?”

 

The masked man nodded: “He shouldn’t have been originally. I saw him run into the spore zone with my own eyes, but he’s still alive now… tsk tsk, one in a thousand lucky one.”

 

“Jason.” Sang Jue also recognized the man beside him—it was Aruan’s lover who had been killed by Huo Yanji at the city gate. “If you stay with people who don’t like bathing, you’ll gradually become smelly too.”

 

Jason glanced at the masked man beside him and frowned, taking a step away.

 

The masked man’s face twitched: “You believe him when he’s talking nonsense?”

 

Sang Jue wasn’t talking nonsense—this man stank terribly.

 

He looked over Jason, whom he hadn’t seen for several days. Jason somehow had an additional scar on his face, cutting through his left eye, completely ruining his formerly handsome appearance and adding several degrees of ferocity.

 

Jason’s eyes held hatred as he threw handcuffs into the compartment and pointed a gun at Sang Jue: “I said I would make you pay the price—pick them up and cuff yourself.”

 

Sang Jue’s mind turned quickly: “You want to use me to threaten Ji… Huo Yanji? He won’t be threatened by you.”

 

Jason said coldly: “Then you’ll just have to die.”

 

The little evil dragon wasn’t sad at all, saying sincerely: “That’s fine. He might not save me, but he’ll definitely eliminate all of you.”

 

—Provided these people weren’t eliminated by himself first.

 

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