Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 280 I'll take it as the truth

Ouyang was already picturing it in his mind: a bustling street was separated by corrugated steel plates taller than a person; on the left side of the wall, a group of Americans set up a barbecue grill, raising full glasses of beer and laughing loudly; on the other side of the wall, another group of Americans held up cardboard signs covered with slogans to protest the isolation.

The atmosphere was perfectly set, and those drinking joined in with a shout, while the protesters simply climbed over the wall, ate some meat and drank some wine, then climbed back over to continue their march.

Ouyang knew that this was his stereotype of Lao Mi, but he couldn't help thinking that way.

In reality, while Old Mi may be eccentric, only a minority of people are eccentric; it's a classic case of one bad apple spoiling the whole bunch.

Under the threat of the pandemic, major cities across the United States have experienced population outflow, with many Americans voluntarily leaving the cities and seeking refuge in the countryside.

However, only a portion of the people left; the majority remained. Among those who chose to stay, the vast majority were aware of the severity of the pandemic and would stay home whenever possible.

Only a very few dimwits would run around like this at a time like this.

“Old Mi’s situation is that it’s easy to leave but difficult to enter. No one will stop him if he wants to leave, but it’s extremely difficult to enter the city,” Duan Shuxun said.

Ouyang immediately remembered their itinerary: "Can we go in?"

"Go in?" Duan Shuxun chuckled. "Of course not. We're just passing by Xiushidun and heading straight to the dock... We've rented a piece of land near the dock, which serves as both a temporary camp and a logistics center."

Ouyang suddenly realized: "I thought everyone was floating at sea!"

"There's no outbreak over there yet, it hasn't gotten to that point," Duan Shuxun explained, then added after a moment's thought, "Going back a few months, we were indeed at sea, wasn't that a collaboration with the US?"

As they were talking, a fork in the road appeared ahead, and a drone broke away from the group to go ahead for reconnaissance.

A short while later, the drone transmitted images back, and Secretary Liu reported in a low voice: "Director, the fork in the road leads to a farm, but... sigh, you'll have to see for yourself!"

Duan Shuxun glanced at Secretary Liu with a puzzled look, then shifted his gaze to the screen and immediately saw a burned-down American-style villa, with wisps of smoke rising from the ruins.

It appears that the fire occurred not long ago.

Subsequently, the drone found several pieces of human bones that were almost burned to ashes in the ruins.

Duan Shuxun frowned: "Expand the search area!"

The drone ascended to a higher altitude, capturing the surrounding scenery of the villa in its lens.

"Here!" Ouyang pointed to the screen and reminded him.

Everyone immediately looked at the spot he pointed to and saw a jumble of footprints.

"At least seven or eight people!" Secretary Liu said grimly. "This wasn't an accident; it was a man-made disaster!"

Duan Shuxun nodded: "Add two more drones to closely monitor the surrounding area!"

He wasn't there to investigate a case, nor was he there to uphold justice for Old Mi. Although he felt very uncomfortable seeing this scene, he had to put the safety of his own people first.

"Received!" Secretary Liu replied and immediately relayed the order. Soon, two more drones appeared in the air.

The search area has also expanded considerably compared to before, especially directly ahead, where a drone has been deployed a kilometer ahead to clear a path.

Fortunately, no accidents occurred, and the convoy passed the farm smoothly and continued south.

However, the journey was destined to be anything but peaceful. Just over half an hour later, the drone operator suddenly sounded an alarm: "Something's up!"

Ouyang, who was feeling drowsy, immediately perked up.

"What's wrong?" Secretary Liu asked.

The drone pilot showed the footage: "The road ahead is blocked!"

"Stop advancing!" Duan Shuxun roared, then looked closely at the screen.

On the screen, the relatively spacious screen was cut in half by several broken-down cars. There was nothing on one side of the roadblock, but seven or eight cars were blocked on the other side. More than thirty Americans were surrounded by a dozen fully armed thugs, the dark muzzles of their guns gleaming dangerously.

"Have we run into robbers?" Zhu Yiming asked in surprise.

Along the way, I haven't really encountered many genuine highway robberies.

Duan Shuxun calmly responded: "Continue to launch drones and expand the reconnaissance range!"

More drones took to the skies, thoroughly inspecting both sides of the road, and quickly concluded that there was no ambush.

"So they really are highway robbers?" Duan Shuxun stroked his chin. "Order the guards to move forward and clear the road as soon as possible!"

Time is of the essence; there's no time to waste here.

The three off-road vehicles immediately broke away from the convoy.

Ou Yang noticed that one of them was the very car that housed the robot dog!

He couldn't help but be a little surprised; this was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut!

As expected, when they were about to reach the target section of the road, the SUV in front slowed down and stopped on the side of the road. The rear door of the third car opened, and the robot dogs jumped out of the car one after another, disappeared into the roadside bushes.

The off-road vehicle waited a while longer until the robot dog was in place before setting off again, swaggering behind the roadblock.

Whether they were robbing or being robbed, they were all stunned by the sudden appearance of the SUV. How dare they stick their noses up in this situation? They really don't know the meaning of death!
Many of the robbed Americans secretly breathed a sigh of relief, their eyes gleaming with excitement and hope, while others thought maliciously: Let's hurry up and rob these people!
A bewildered little boy looked up and asked, "Mommy, are they here to save us?"

The woman quickly covered the child's mouth: "Shh, don't talk!"

The rioters immediately split into two groups: one group continued to guard the kidnapped old man, while the other group bypassed the roadblock and planned to have a proper talk with the guards who came forward.

The leader was the guard who was talking to Ou Yang; his name was Yu Zhiheng.

A cold smile appeared on his lips as he picked up the walkie-talkie and said something.

The next second, the windows of all three cars rolled down simultaneously, and two machine guns and four automatic rifles were aimed at the rioters in front of them.

"Don't move, or I'll kill anyone who moves!" Yu Zhiheng jumped out of the car unhurriedly, a mocking sneer still on his lips.

The thugs opposite were of all ages, and their weapons were a jumbled mess; they were clearly a disorganized mob.

The thugs all paled. One of them, who looked to be under twenty, with blond hair, revealed a fierce glint in his eyes and raised his hand to fire.

Yu Zhiheng drew the pistol from his side with lightning speed and fired a shot that pierced the blond-haired man's forehead.

All the thugs were stunned. Although they still held guns in their hands, they were petrified and dared not make the slightest move.

Where did these people from the East come from?
Ouyang, who was far behind, witnessed this scene and was also quite surprised.

He thought his drawing speed was pretty good, but compared to Yu Zhiheng, it seemed he was still a little lacking... This guy's identity must be extraordinary, could he be from China?
Yu Zhiheng calmly put away his gun: "Put down your weapons, surrender and you will not be killed!"

After saying it, he realized something was wrong. How could he have blurted it out like that? If Old Mi got out, wouldn't his identity be exposed immediately?
Fortunately, the rioters didn't think too much about it, but no one voluntarily surrendered their guns.

The thugs left behind the roadblock realized something was wrong. One of them, with beady eyes, signaled to his companion to keep an eye on the hostage, and crouched down to move behind the roadblock, seemingly trying to rescue his captive companion.

But just as Green Bean Eyes lifted his leg, before his foot even touched the ground, a gunshot rang out from the bushes by the roadside, and Green Bean Eyes' head exploded like a rotten watermelon.

Old Mi screamed in surprise, and then saw several white-painted robotic dogs leap out from behind the snow-covered bushes.

The thugs panicked even more. They even had this thing. Who the hell was this person?
The hostages, on the contrary, suddenly erupted in cheers. Regardless of who these people were, they were saved!
Yu Zhiheng sighed, thinking to himself, "Forget it, I don't have time to waste here."

He nodded to the guards behind him: "Let's take care of it here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, all the guards opened fire at the same time. Bullets flew past Yu Zhiheng and accurately hit the rioters who refused to surrender.

Within seconds, all the rioters lay dead in pools of blood.

The rioters on the other side of the roadblock were also killed by the robot dog.

The hostages fell silent, all stunned into silence.

These Easterners are so ruthless, won't they kill us all?

Several terrified Americans had already quietly made their way to their cars.

Yu Zhiheng strode back to the car, and the two guards leaned over to look at the roadblock: "Captain, it's hard to move!"

"What are you moving? Stop giving me this nonsense and get the problem solved!"

The two guards chuckled, immediately pulled out plastic explosives, placed them under the roadblock, ran away, and pressed the remote control. With a loud bang, the old car blocking the road was overturned by the explosion, spun 360 degrees in the air, and then crashed heavily onto the roadside.

Yu Zhiheng grabbed the walkie-talkie: "Move! The roadblocks have been cleared!"

Secretary Liu replied: "Dongyao received. Maintain order at the scene. We'll be there shortly!"

"Understood!" Yu Zhiheng put down the walkie-talkie and called over a guard to give him a few instructions.

Ou Yang jogged over to the group of hostages: "Alright, you can go now!"

A group of elderly Americans looked at each other, somewhat incredulous.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!" the guard urged.

Still, no one moved.

The guards were furious and simply ignored them, returning directly to their car.

But once back in the car, everyone, including Yu Zhiheng, was on high alert, wary of a hidden thug suddenly appearing from behind the scenes.

A few of the bolder Americans got back into the car and left first.

Seeing this, the others followed suit, and before long, all the Americans left, full of gratitude, leaving only the thugs' bodies by the roadside.

Only after the convoy had passed did Yu Zhiheng and the others drive back to their unit.

After this little incident, Ouyang, who saw the difference, kept thinking to himself: This is the difference between a regular army and a guerrilla force!
He secretly resolved that once he found an opportunity, he would definitely ask Yu Zhiheng for advice on how to develop such a fast draw speed!

In terms of pure speed of drawing the gun, Ou Yang believed he was not much slower than Yu Zhiheng, but he used a Glock, a world-famous gun that could be carried with a full magazine.

All he had to do was pull out the gun and pull the trigger to fire.

Yu Zhiheng used the most ordinary standard-issue pistol, which had to be chambered after being drawn. If the safety wasn't off, there was an extra step to disengage it.

Although it may only be one or two insignificant movements, their impact on speed is fatal!

Ou Yang felt that if Yu Zhiheng were given a Glock, he would be even faster!
If the other person hadn't been in another car, he probably would have been eager to have a good talk with Yu Zhiheng right now.

The team continued onward, and the rest of the journey went smoothly without any further troubles, except for encountering some older Americans.

Some went south, some went north, like headless flies, unable to find their way.

Ouyang sighed: The Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture is currently facing many disasters. To the north, there are epidemic areas that have broken the lockdown, and to the south, there are refugees from South America. It is not easy for locals to find a safe place!
Zhu Yiming and Jiang Yuwei both remarked that it was safer to travel with the main group. If it had been just the three of them as before, they might have encountered countless troubles along the way.

As the convoy continued to move forward, the ice and snow on both sides of the road gradually disappeared, and later on, large areas of green land and lawns could even be seen!

Ouyang was a little confused. The climate was so different! How far was it from Salleton to here? Two hundred or three hundred kilometers?
In the afternoon, a city appeared ahead, and the convoy slowed down and stopped outside the city.

This is the first city we encountered after leaving Salaidon, but unlike Salaidon, it has no city walls and does not prohibit entry or exit; large numbers of old Americans come and go.

Duan Shuxun took out his phone and dialed a number: "We've arrived... um, um, we're just outside the city... um, um, I'll wait for you!"

Ouyang asked curiously, "Is someone here traveling with us?"

Duan Shuxun was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses and laughed, "No one is following us. I'm contacting the office here to have them take away the supplies we brought."

Ou Yang blinked in surprise: "This place has our office? It doesn't seem like it!"

"Do you feel uncomfortable without walls?"

“Yes!” Ouyang nodded frankly.

Duan Shuxun said, "You misunderstood. Not every city has city walls. Don't be fooled by the fact that this place seems undefended. In fact, like Salleton, it has a lot of purification equipment installed. Old Mi has to pass the test to make sure he is not infected or carrying the virus before he is allowed to enter."

"Oh!" Ouyang exclaimed in realization, "I see!"

Zhu Yiming asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid that infected people might sneak in?"

“I don’t know about that,” Duan Shuxun said. “As far as I know, it seems that Lao Mi wanted to test which method was more suitable for the situation under the epidemic, so he created this city with tight internal control and loose external control.”

Zhu Yiming scratched his head: "Are they using Lao Mi as an experiment?"

On one hand, there's a complete lockdown, and on the other hand, people can come and go as they please. The US is really like a toad marrying a frog—ugly but beautiful!

Duan Shuxun twitched the corners of his mouth without saying a word, but the meaning had been conveyed.

A short while later, several cars drove out of the city. Duan Shuxun got out of his car to greet them, and the two sides shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.

In these extraordinary times, there's no need for formalities. We simply said a few words and handed over the supplies we had brought with us to the local office, along with a dozen or so staff members.

After the handover was completed, the convoy, now lightly equipped, continued south.

Ou Yang asked curiously, "Why did you leave them behind?"

“Why go back? Wouldn’t it be better to have a place to contribute our remaining energy?” Duan Shuxun sighed and explained, “Shushidun is our base in the southern United States. There are plenty of people there. Most of us were recruited from our compatriots who retreated to Shushidun.”

Ouyang immediately understood.

That makes sense. There are too many compatriots in the US, and we can't evacuate them all. We definitely can't send people out from our hometowns anymore. Finding people from among those who couldn't evacuate is convenient, fast, and can also relieve some of the pressure. Why not?
Ou Yang couldn't help but ask, "Yu Zhiheng too?"

"Yes, why?" Duan Shuxun asked curiously.

"No, it's nothing." Ou Yang shook his head. "I'm just curious, he's so skilled, where did you find him?"

"Oh, this!" Duan Shuxun smiled. "With so many compatriots, is it really that hard to pick a few capable ones?"

Ouyang...

I'll take it as the truth!
(End of this chapter)