“Chu Xuan, what exactly are you plotting?” Zheng Zha asked curiously, poking at the bonfire. “Though it’s just a hunch, I have a feeling you’re scheming something, and Xiao Honglu seems to be plotting too. What are you two up to? No matter how brilliant you are, you’re still members of the Central Continent Team, alright? Stop making rash arrangements and schemes.”

Chu Xuan turned his head to glance at Zheng Zha but said nothing, continuing to eat the bananas he had conveniently brought from the military base.

Seeing Chu Xuan remain silent, Zheng Zha felt quite helpless for a moment. He could only turn to chat with the other team members, especially Zhan Lan, focusing on her psychic scanning of the entire base.

“From the surface down to fifty meters underground, this entire section has been excavated and transformed into several layers of space. Each layer is far larger than the steel base above ground, even bigger than the destroyed city of St. Louis. As for the space below fifty meters, I can’t detect it—it feels completely shielded…” Zhan Lan said with her eyes closed, unaware of the rush of warm air near her ear, which startled her into snapping her eyes open.

She indeed saw Zheng Zha leaning close to her ear. “Stop just using your psychic scan; tell me what kind of situation might be brewing between those two.”

Zhan Lan looked at Zheng Zha in surprise. Only when she saw him smile and nod did she lower her head to touch her forehead.

Then, she murmured, “I think the most likely possibility is that they disagree on the use of nuclear weapons, or perhaps both are laying groundwork regarding the nukes. I can’t know the exact details. Speaking of which, doesn't it strike you as suspicious that Xiao Honglu specifically chose Zhao Yingkong?”

“Suspicious?” Zheng Zha grew curious as well, asking strangely, “Suspicious of what?”

“Zhao Yingkong is the key to them stealing the nuclear weapon codes. Although I can briefly control people, I can’t implant information into someone’s mind like those hypnosis experts in movies. I can’t make someone enter a hypnotic state days later. Nuclear codes are dynamic; they generate a completely different number every time. So, getting the codes through my control method is impossible. Zhao Yingkong’s stealth and infiltration skills are what suit their needs best. As long as she can sneak in while I control the US President, she can insert that disc and run the virus.” Zhan Lan finished with a smile.

“Yes. Chu Xuan’s plan was exactly like that, right? There’s no need to doubt it so much?” Zheng Zha looked at Zhan Lan strangely but saw a faint smile on the girl’s face.

A thought suddenly struck him, and he understood instantly. “I get it. That disc has always been with Zhao Yingkong! Only she knows what Xiao Honglu tampered with on that disc, which is why Xiao Honglu specifically picked her. Otherwise, considering Zhao Yingkong’s close-combat strength, she’s less useful than high-tech talents like Ba Wang or Wang Xia when acting as bait. Even Luo Gandao, who pilots the robot, is far more useful than her.”

Zhan Lan merely smiled and remained silent.

However, the look she gave Zheng Zha was as gentle as flowing water.

Now that he understood how Xiao Honglu had set up his strategy, even without knowing exactly what he had done, since even Zhao Yingkong had helped him complete this arrangement and kept it secret, Xiao Honglu probably wouldn’t have a major impact on the team. He was, after all, still a child; though exceptionally clever, he would still be influenced by emotion. Wanting to compete with someone stronger than himself—as long as he didn't affect the team itself, Zheng Zha would let him have his way.

It was just Zhan Lan right now… Ever since she was resurrected, Zhan Lan had become extremely quiet. Although Zheng Zha could still feel her intentional or unintentional gaze upon him from time to time, most of the time she merely performed her duties diligently—the duty of the psychic controller within a Reincarnation Squad. Beyond that, there were times she was almost forgotten. Zheng Zha understood Zhan Lan’s intention without it needing to be spoken: she was sealing herself off in this manner, widening the distance between them until they became strangers.

Meanwhile, far from where Zheng Zha and the others were camped, Xiao Honglu and the other two were situated near the edge of a small grove. Lacking a psychic controller, they had retreated even further from the steel base. Coupled with Zhao Yingkong’s expertise in stealth and evasion, the three felt no concern about being discovered. They were currently sitting around a small fire, eating simple rations.

“…So, to put it plainly, that disc has definitely been input into the black box?” Xiao Honglu repeatedly inquired of Zhao Yingkong beside him.

Zhao Yingkong offered few words, merely nodding silently. “En, the disc has definitely been inserted into the black box, along with Chu Xuan’s program and… the program you inserted into the disc—both are now inside the black box.”

Xiao Honglu let out a breath of relief, but continued to press, “Does Chu Xuan know about all this? Did you tell him about the disc?”

Zhao Yingkong looked up at him briefly, then stated flatly, “I didn’t say much about other things. We’ve cooperated several times before. Am I the type of person who talks too much?”

Xiao Honglu exhaled and laughed. “Relax, I’m just overly suspicious because I really want this plan to succeed. Hahaha! Since Chu Xuan doesn’t know about this, then there’s nothing to worry about. Tomorrow is the start of the fifth day. Just wait, wait for the hydrogen bomb explosion…”

Compared to Chu Xuan, Zhao Yingkong’s original collaborator was actually Xiao Honglu, this young boy. Although everyone perished in the Resident Evil 2 horror movie world, Zhao Yingkong’s trust in Xiao Honglu was not much less than her trust in Chu Xuan. It was just that Chu Xuan’s intellect surpassed everyone else’s by a clear margin, so she remained neutral in the contest of plans between the two. At that time, Xiao Honglu laid out his entire plan for Zhao Yingkong. After weighing the pros and cons, Zhao Yingkong decided to help Xiao Honglu realize this plan because Xiao Honglu’s strategy had almost no drawbacks for the team. On the contrary, if successful, it would reduce the danger of this battle to a very low level.

Xiao Honglu had programmed a piece of code into Chu Xuan’s main disc program. Three hours after the nuclear weapons were launched, the program Xiao Honglu wrote would be activated.

“It’s just a small Trojan horse system. Since Chu Xuan’s main program handles breaking firewalls and opening network passwords, this Trojan horse—which doesn’t need to worry about firewalls or network passwords—only requires a tiny snippet of original source code to execute. Its main function is to issue an attack command… The target is the US military forces poised outside the steel base perimeter. The timing is to attack the steel base ruins three hours after the nuclear strike!” This was Xiao Honglu’s plan. Although he wanted to compete with Chu Xuan, he would never do anything to harm the team. He simply wanted to use this incident to show Chu Xuan that he, Xiao Honglu, was not to be trifled with. While he might not necessarily be stronger than Chu Xuan, in certain aspects, he could think of things Chu Xuan hadn't, such as mobilizing the US military this time.

“Because the satellites were destroyed, the city was ruined, and many communication lines and cables were also destroyed, most information exchange is impossible now. Only a few military lines remain intact. Unless they use Morse code to send telegrams, which would be too slow during wartime, I left a note for the President before I left. I said that we possess a fast-rusting bacteria that can counter these robots, and they can be quickly eliminated once their base is found. Since I will be a soldier who gains US citizenship in the future, and I want to leave some useful technology and the source of infinite energy—the AllSpark—for this era’s America, I urged him to immediately dispatch troops to surround St. Louis. Once we use the bacteria against the massive destructive robots, the armies will surround St. Louis from all directions. After we retrieve the AllSpark, these surrounding troops will detain us…”

“That’s the surface explanation. The true content is that once these armies are ordered to surround St. Louis, several hours after the nuclear strike, the Trojan horse system will issue a command, in the name of the main base, to attack the ruins of the steel base. After that, the entire central computer system of the main base will be completely destroyed by the virus Chu Xuan wrote. By then, no one will be able to stop the US military from attacking the steel base.”

“This is my plan: let the US military act as our bait! While they are locked in a frantic battle with those robots, Zheng Zha and the others—who are individually far superior to them in capability—can easily sneak into the steel base to steal the AllSpark! Chu Xuan, just watch. My strategic ability is definitely no worse than yours! And this plan was designed with yours in mind!”

The sky gradually brightened; this was the dawn of the fifth day. Two days prior, hundreds of thousands of troops had already begun to surround the area around St. Louis, waiting only for the command from the main base for this last, fully intact army of the United States to launch an assault on the robot main base...

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