Chapter 407: Switch

Chapter 407: The Switch

Splash—

Huo Wenxi emerged from the water, finding no one around. Having grown up in District Four, she was very familiar with the terrain here. This area belonged to the unmonitored zone, filled with abandoned buildings awaiting demolition, and of course, there was no Prometheus automatic recognition system.

There was a small path that could lead her windingly to the port. Once she reached the port, someone would come to pick her up. The resistance organization didn't even know who the contact person was; the port was bustling with people, and she had to safely meet with the other party.

To others, it might be an apocalyptic movie, but for Huo Wenxi now, it felt more like a spy thriller.

All communication devices on Huo Wenxi were turned off, only to be opened as a last resort. Prometheus had already cast a wide net, and any call for help would expose her.

After getting ashore, Huo Wenxi touched her chest, feeling a piece of broken glass embedded below her shoulder, probably from when the car window shattered.

She took out a healing agent from her backpack. Her mother, Huo Huaiying, also took a backpack when she left home, just as she did before leaving.

Huo Wenxi hadn't carried supplies herself for a long time. It turned out this was what real adventure looked like, where every detail had to be prepared by oneself.

Injecting herself, the glass vial clattered to the ground, leaving a trail of blood along her path.

Huo Wenxi couldn't afford to worry about it. Her mind was very active, calculating while fleeing, with threads of consciousness connecting in the sea of her mind, the Eye of Foresight floating above.

At this stage, what obstacles could there be?

Huo Wenxi repeatedly pondered this question. The resistance was still vague, and she needed to personally make contact to confirm. She was eager to meet the current leader of the resistance.

As for Lu Yuan, Huo Wenxi could only hope she would hold on until the moment the protective barrier failed.

The evacuation of civilians required organized deployment, which was impossible to achieve alone. Currently, she couldn't optimize this further.

The plan was set: evacuate the civilians, wait for Zhu Ning to press the button, open the protective barrier, and let the Divine Kingdom fall. Although the success rate was less than one percent, it seemed flawless.

Was there anything else?

Huo Wenxi walked through the dark alley, flanked by dilapidated buildings. Light shone at the end of the alley, and she would soon reach her destination.

But suddenly, Huo Wenxi stopped, not moving forward.

...

Xuan Qing was almost driven mad. She had previously worked with Huo Wenxi, but back then, Huo Wenxi's life wasn't in danger; she only needed to execute tasks.

Now, Huo Wenxi had gone offline, and she couldn't find the commander's whereabouts at all.

Before cutting off the communication, Huo Wenxi gave a suggestion on how to spread the message when all official channels were cut off.

They had to notify the public to seek shelter, but the information network was broken, making even the simplest announcement extremely difficult.

"Do you remember Zhu Ning's True God Society?" Huo Wenxi said. "We can use it."

Xuan Qing was momentarily stunned, and in the next moment, she wanted to praise Huo Wenxi as a genius. Religion always held some power, whether through superstition or blind faith, significantly reducing communication costs.

Besides the resistance, Huo Wenxi had another useful line.

She spent so much time being the president of Zhu Ning's fan club, not just for fun. The fan club used an independent network, which, in times of need, became the best civilian force. Instead of relying on one person, mobilizing a group was more effective.

They were scattered across various human survivor bases, representing all walks of life, willing to do anything for their true god, believing that after the true god's descent, a world of equality would arrive.

They couldn't tell the public that their true god was about to press the button to destroy the world; this needed some artistic packaging.

Though morally questionable, they couldn't afford to care about such flaws at this moment.

Huo Wenxi opened the permissions, and Xuan Qing rushed to handle it. She temporarily took over Huo Wenxi's office, where subsequent deployments were complicated. The technical department was the busiest, working against Prometheus's powerful network system.

Xuan Qing crossed her arms, becoming the temporary commander, feeling so anxious that breathing felt heavy.

Silent, surrounded by busy employees, she hoped for good news. Unexpectedly, she received a communication from Huo Wenxi.

"Hello?" Xuan Qing immediately opened the channel. "Where are you? The contact person at the port hasn't seen you."

Xuan Qing was even more anxious than Huo Wenxi. As a medium, her safety index was too low, and Xuan Qing wished she could personally escort her.

The screen showed surveillance footage of the port in District Four, with technicians ready to lock onto Huo Wenxi's face for early rescue.

"I haven't arrived yet," Huo Wenxi's voice came through.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Xuan Qing couldn't help but curse. She immediately directed the technician to re-locate Huo Wenxi. If Huo Wenxi activated her device before reaching the site, Prometheus would find her first.

The technician's fingers clicked rapidly, urgently searching for Huo Wenxi's location again.

"Listen to me first," Huo Wenxi spoke quickly. "Go find Zhu Yao."

"Who?" Xuan Qing's mind was almost in chaos. What was this nonsense?

"There's an uncertain factor, Zhu Yao." Huo Wenxi's foresight lines activated. Xuan Qing was right; they didn't know what Zhu Yao was doing or what the stance of the Alpha series' mother was.

Zhu Yao's intentions now influenced the entire situation.

"Where are you?" Xuan Qing asked.

Xuan Qing didn't need to ask anymore. The technician had locked onto Huo Wenxi's location, three kilometers from the port, hiding among the abandoned buildings.

Xuan Qing immediately sent Huo Wenxi's latest location to the resistance. They had people nearby, within three kilometers, but they were racing against time with Prometheus.

Hurry up, Xuan Qing could only feel anxious, unable to be on-site. Otherwise, she could control the situation. The resistance connected, and those near the port immediately headed to the abandoned buildings.

"Hold on, I—"

Click. Huo Wenxi hung up, leaving only a busy signal. Xuan Qing's back went cold. In the second before the communication cut off, a gunshot was heard from Huo Wenxi's end.

Xuan Qing's blood ran cold, and the bustling command center fell silent in an instant. The sound of gunfire echoed endlessly in her mind. On the technician’s screen, blue dots appeared, indicating that Prometheus' security forces had entered the area, overlapping with He Wenxi's coordinates.

He Wenxi knew there was a risk in turning on her device at this moment, but she had to report this matter first; she was almost safe.

"Minister Xuan?" the assistant asked softly, "Minister Xuan? What should we do next?"

The command center became noisy again. Xuan Qing's lips trembled, and her voice was hoarse, "Find Zhu Yao."

It seemed as if she finally came to her senses, shouting, "Find Zhu Yao immediately!"

...

Zhu Yao left Yongsheng Pharmaceutical's experimental base.

Pollutants were released inside the laboratory, and amidst the flames and explosions, tentacles writhed. That day was extremely chaotic, and no one noticed a tiny bug entering the lab. Later, the bug coalesced into a human form. Teacher Qi infiltrated the lab, took away Zhu Yao, and left behind only ruins and chaos.

Teacher Qi, about whom everyone knew very little. Her age was a mystery, and some said she had lived from before the apocalypse until now. She had used at least a dozen aliases over the years, and even her closest confidants didn't know what to call her. Over time, people began to refer to her as Teacher Qi.

Liu Yu grew up under Teacher Qi's watchful eye. After failing an expedition in Utopia and returning to the Divine Kingdom, she finally settled down and obediently followed Teacher Qi's instructions.

Teacher Qi, like an ascetic monk, had slightly sunken cheeks and wore a black nun's robe, dedicating everything to this cause. The future would belong to the Queen, and Lu Yuan would become the new Queen.

Teacher Qi brought Zhu Yao to the F03 exit of the North Wall, the exit for the Pilgrims, which was currently deserted.

Teacher Qi lit a campfire. They had held countless farewell ceremonies here. Not far away was the factory where Zhuang Lin and other members of the investigation team died, making it an ideal place to deal with the trouble that was Zhu Yao.

Only half of Teacher Qi's body remained, like a piece of paper torn in half, leaving her with one eye and half a nose.

Upon closer inspection, her face was covered in a dense mass of insects. Teacher Qi always considered the masses as ants, but she herself was an ant.

Teacher Qi was dressed in black, while Zhu Yao, in contrast, was predominantly white, wearing a white coat stained with blood.

They stood atop the North Wall, with the human survivor base on their left and the bizarre, chaotic world beyond the wall on their right.

They resembled angels and demons, heroes and villains, but Zhu Yao seemed more like the latter, the mother of demons.

Teacher Qi coughed lightly, and speaking with half a mouth did not affect her pronunciation. To rescue Zhu Yao, she had endured great suffering.

"You actually shot someone?" Teacher Qi was somewhat surprised. When she went to the lab, Zhu Yao had already killed someone.

Teacher Qi had seen countless people and could tell from their eyes whether they could kill. She always thought Zhu Yao was the type who wouldn't kill.

"Just learned," Zhu Yao replied coldly.

Teacher Qi had gone to great lengths to save Zhu Yao from Chu Qing's research base, willing to expend significant resources because of Zhu Yao's immense value.

She met Zhu Yao through Liu Yu, who was constantly under the surveillance of the Divine Kingdom, with all her actions filtered. The only loophole was Teacher Qi.

Prometheus called Teacher Qi Lu Yuan's godmother, which was entirely accurate; she was indeed the godmother of all Queens.

Queens must survive in the new world. If Zhu Yao's Alpha series experiment succeeded, two paths could coexist, a seemingly perfect solution.

Teacher Qi contacted Zhu Yao with some skepticism, always being cautious and never allowing direct communication between Liu Yu and Zhu Yao.

Zhu Yao showed no abnormalities, behaving like a scientist obsessed with her experiments. Upon first meeting Teacher Qi, she asked, "So much psychic energy consumption?"

Her tone was indifferent, showing no emotional fluctuation, yet Teacher Qi felt as if Zhu Yao had seen through her. She knew what kind of attributes Zhu Yao might have and possibly understood her weaknesses, which made Teacher Qi inexplicably fear Zhu Yao.

A researcher with no psychic abilities, who could be crushed with one hand, why did she evoke such fear?

Teacher Qi pondered this question for a long time, and the reason was that she couldn't fathom what Zhu Yao intended to do.

Others could guess, but Zhu Yao was too mysterious. Was she seeking revenge against Prometheus?

Was she trying to create the Alpha series experiment to build a new world?

She once asked Zhu Yao if she supported the Pilgrim Organization, willing to send deformed psychic offspring for reconditioning, to cultivate the mothers of the new world.

Zhu Yao only said, "I support Liu Yu."

This answer sounded reasonable, but Teacher Qi always felt something was off, like a needle pricking her heart occasionally.

Now, on the eve of chaos, before Lu Yuan became the mother of the new world, Prometheus was about to shut down, deviating from the plan.

Teacher Qi didn't care if Prometheus would continue to exist, but she preferred a gradual process rather than a rash one.

The world was in turmoil, and the cause of the turmoil was Zhu Ning.

Teacher Qi sat cross-legged by the campfire, her remaining eye staring at Zhu Yao through the flames. "Your daughter is at the entrance to the mainframe."

"Hmm." Zhu Yao's hands were in her pockets, her response showing no emotion, "I know."

Teacher Qi: "Saving you comes at a cost."

Her fingers, dry like twigs, rubbed together, a gesture akin to asking for payment. There was no free lunch in this world; she and Zhu Yao were merely exchanging favors.

"Did you install a master switch for Zhu Ning?" Teacher Qi asked.

Zhu Ning, after all, was an experimental subject. Zhu Yao had made many arrangements to prevent Zhu Ning from going out of control, including setting a limited lifespan for her.

The only person in the world who could stop Zhu Ning from pressing the button was Zhu Yao.

A demon could destroy the world with a single button press, and Zhu Yao could destroy Zhu Ning with a single button press.

That was why she earned the respect of everyone, a woman who truly influenced the landscape.

Prometheus wanted to find He Wenxi to persuade Zhu Ning, but it was futile. In Teacher Qi's view, nothing compared to a word or a slight finger movement from Zhu Yao.

She could give Zhu Ning life and also make her collapse, just like any mother-daughter relationship in the world.

Zhu Yao didn't respond, so Teacher Qi changed her tone to a softer one, "I know you want to kill Prometheus, but not now. You can pause your little experiment for a bit."

Zhu Yao gazed into the distance, the blood on her white coat now dried. Inside her coat, she still had the miniature pistol, though it was out of bullets. She kept caressing its surface, as if recalling something.

Zhu Yao turned her head and said, "Of course."