Walking at Ease

After Skullhead finished speaking, Lin Xu fell into brief thought.

If Lin Xu had merely "suspected" that the abnormal celestial phenomenon was connected to the apocalypse before, then now he could almost "confirm" that the abnormal Solar Ring phenomenon was part of the apocalypse's omens.

But that raised a new question.

If the apocalypse had omens, and the Planetary Reincarnation organization had inferred the coming apocalypse from "signs" like the Solar Ring, why had the authorities not reached the same conclusion?

There was a massive logical gap here.

In fact, in any country in this world, there could never be a situation like in Hollywood films, where "the authorities had foreseen the apocalypse but concealed it from the public for their own reasons."

Even without considering the terrifying mobilization capacity of his own country when facing major events, the reason was simple if one merely made malicious assumptions about "human nature."

There was no point in the upper class surviving alone.

To put it cruelly, the upper class itself was a class sustained by others. Even the so-called "lower class" was often the property of the rich.

When you foresaw an imminent loss of property, what you would obviously do was not abandon your property to save your life, but rapidly squeeze every last bit of value out of it in the shortest possible time.

Therefore, the reasonable approach was to reveal limited, downgraded information to the public.

If you foresaw that 10% of people would die, you would tell the public that no one would die, that their lives would merely be somewhat affected, and that everyone needed to unite and overcome the hardship together.

If you foresaw that 50% of people would die, you would tell the public that 5% of people would die, and that everyone had to work for their own survival.

If you foresaw that 100% of people would die, you would tell the public that at least 20% would die, letting everyone burn away the last of their remaining strength.

Managing expectations and using reasonable disaster projections to mobilize the highest degree of organization was the optimal solution for dealing with a disaster and ensuring the upper class's survival.

But in the world inside the wristband, things were clearly not like that.

None of the civilians he had encountered possessed such expectations of disaster.

They did not even know the apocalypse existed!

So why was that?

Had the authorities' judgment diverged from Planetary Reincarnation's?

Or was the apocalypse itself unforeseeable, and Planetary Reincarnation's so-called "prediction" merely a coincidence?

That was right...

If Planetary Reincarnation had truly predicted the time and manner of the apocalypse accurately, the entire Earth would have long since descended into chaos.

They only needed to present their chain of evidence. With their organizational scale and brainwashing ability, this world could not possibly still be so "calm and peaceful"!

Their "prediction" of the apocalypse was actually just a guess!

Even they were not sure!

—But what about Jiang Xingye's prediction??

The question lingered in Lin Xu's mind for only an instant.

Because he immediately figured it out.

Jiang Xingye had not "predicted" the apocalypse.

She had "observed" the apocalypse in advance from Mars!

That was why her time had been so limited!

Everything made sense now.

The Solar Ring, Mars, the Cosmic Filter, Zhurong...

The reason Planetary Reincarnation was going to Mars was not because they wanted to hide from the apocalypse there.

They were going there to search for clues about the apocalypse!

And Zhurong must have, under some circumstances, "concentrated" clues about the apocalypse as well!

Whether something had happened to the rover itself or it had captured something in its footage, Planetary Reincarnation had to obtain it if they wanted to uncover the truth of the apocalypse.

His logic connected, and his mind became clear.

Though there still seemed to be a long way to go before reaching the final truth, all the clues at hand had basically been integrated.

From now on, when he pushed his deductions further, he would no longer be building castles in the air.

A satisfied smile appeared on Lin Xu's face.

By then, the convoy had arrived outside Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant.

He patted Skullhead on the shoulder, then took the lead in getting out of the vehicle.

"Activate the electrochromic camouflage and follow me."

Lin Xu turned and circled around the side of Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant before continuing.

"All operatives, follow my command. Maintain a tight formation, keep your steps synchronized, and move forward with me."

"Understood."

Skullhead answered briefly and followed close behind Lin Xu.

Lin Xu lowered his head to glance at the watch on his wrist, carefully calculating the time.

"Stop in fifteen seconds. Get low and lie prone for concealment."

"Turn off the night-vision devices. Turn off all light sources, including the lights on the friend-or-foe identification equipment."

"Understood."

Skullhead answered again.

At that point, he was completely convinced that Lin Xu was Maritime Security.

Bullshit!

Other than a Maritime Security professional, who could lead a completely unfamiliar team with such effortless proficiency?

This mysterious man knew Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant's security layout like the back of his hand!

Just after the seven-person team lay prone, a security guard happened to patrol to the edge of the wall, while the team happened to evade his sight beneath the cover of their electrochromic camouflage!

"Keep moving."

"Prepare the grappling lines and ascenders. Charge the capacitors in advance."

"Understood."

That order shocked Skullhead even more.

The ascenders they used were powered by high-capacity capacitors. To use them, they had to be charged thirty seconds in advance in order to rapidly ascend roughly fifteen meters.

Yet this man had even taken that into account!

Was this really his first time here?

The thought flashed through Skullhead's mind, but Lin Xu had already reached the designated position.

"Right here!"

"Throw the lines and ascend!"

"Roger."

Several team members swiftly threw out ropes, hooking them onto the tall outer wall of Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant. Lin Xu still went first.

Using the ascender that had just finished charging, he rapidly climbed the wall. He then pulled the rope back and tossed it down the other side before immediately ziplining down without pause.

The entire crossing took less than twenty seconds.

Behind him, the remaining team members also landed without a sound.

Lin Xu let out a breath.

From here onward, the infiltration would become far easier.

The buildings inside Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant were complex, with plenty of cover to use.

As long as they did not deliberately seek trouble, even a pig could avoid the security guards' line of sight and reach the final target location.

"Stay low and infiltrate silently."

"Do not use radios."

"Prepare subsonic rounds before entering the building."

"Three enemies on the first floor, positioned at two danger corners and one safe corner on the right."

"After entering, spread out in waves and conduct a dynamic assault."

"After eliminating the first-floor enemies, head upstairs immediately. The final enemy is beside the water dispenser in a second-floor corner. He has body armor. Two people focus fire on his head."

"...Understood."

Skullhead stared at Lin Xu in stunned disbelief. He had no idea where Lin Xu had obtained all that information.

But it did not matter.

Since the team leader had given the orders, his job was simply to carry them out!

The seven of them advanced to the outside of the target office building. Lin Xu moved to the rear of the team, while the other six quickly formed a two-sided assault formation. After communicating with hand signals, they swiftly broke in.

Tap!

Tap!

Tap tap!

The gunshots of the suppressed subsonic pistols sounded like marbles dropping onto the floor, so quiet that they did not arouse anyone's suspicion at all.

After taking out the three security guards on the first floor, the team quickly moved upstairs and, following Lin Xu's guidance, killed the last enemy holding a shotgun.

"Take the hostages."

"Knock them out, tie them up, and stuff them into the storage room."

"The storage room is at the end of the hallway."

"Understood."

In less than two minutes, everything had been dealt with.

Lin Xu checked the time.

"Thirty-eight minutes left. Not bad."

"Not bad??"

Skullhead was dumbfounded.

From arriving outside Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant to entering the final target building, you took less than three minutes in total, okay??

The whole operation had been leisurely and unhurried, as if you were returning to your own home!

And now you were telling him that was merely not bad?!

Seeing Lin Xu enter the office, unlock the computer, and begin examining the files, Skullhead could not help stepping forward and asking.

"What... do we do now?"

"Every five minutes, use the security guards' radios to respond with the safety code."

Lin Xu replied.

"The safety code is 'lion dance.'"

"Understood."

Skullhead immediately relayed the order to his team members.

Then, unable to restrain himself, he asked again.

"So... do you Maritime Security people know everything?"

"More or less."

Lin Xu answered casually.

Skullhead coughed and continued.

"It's like this... I have a wife..."

"I've always felt that there's something off about her."

"...Everyone knows there's something off about your wife, okay?"

Lin Xu focused on the document on the screen and could not even be bothered to turn his head.

"Huh?"

Skullhead froze for a moment.

"No, no."

He waved his hands repeatedly.

"What I mean by something off is that she's a survivalist."

"The type who builds underground fortifications and stockpiles supplies herself."

"I always feel like someone scammed her... maybe Planetary Reincarnation, the ones spreading talk about the apocalypse?"

"Say, do you people... handle this kind of thing?"