Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 367 Strategic Goals
Storage room.

Curly tilted his head, curiously peering into the kitchen... He saw no one, but heard continuous, intense gunfire.

Lu Qiang quickly warned, "Watch out for stray bullets, don't stick your head out!"

He was rescued by Curly's family and has always felt grateful.

Curly-haired guy looked at him with surprise: "No way, there's no one up there, how could a bullet have gotten in?"

“The chances are slim, but there are.” Without saying a word, Lu Qiang reached out and pulled Curly Hair aside. “Bullets don’t have eyes. Even if we hide in the storage room, we can’t guarantee 100% safety.”

"No, this is a low-probability event, right? How unlucky would I be to run into it?" Curly muttered reluctantly.

"Missing it is a low-probability event, like a string of zeros after the decimal point, but if you do get it, it's 100%!" Lu Qiang earnestly advised, "No matter what, you can't take risks..."

Ou Yang sat on a broken wooden box, leaning against the wall as he watched the two argue, giving off a feeling of watching a live broadcast of why there are so few foreigners.

He saw it all, but remained silent.

The fighting outside was indeed lively, but with several fly swarms monitoring the kitchen and its surroundings, he was quite certain that there was no danger in the vicinity.

So, let them be.

What kind of unlucky child would be to be hit by a stray bullet while looking at a camera? The probability is probably many times smaller than winning the lottery.

Besides, we are all adults and must be responsible for our own actions.

In other words, as it's popularly said online, it means letting go of the urge to help others and respecting their fate.

Lu Wei's voice came through the radio: "Lone Star, how's the situation on your end?"

Ouyang replied lazily, "Great, very great, I'm incredibly happy!"

His gaze fell on Curly-haired Mom, who was busy to the side.

She was a kind-hearted, plump, and gentle-looking old woman from Nanmi. She was using the limited supplies in the storage room to prepare some food for everyone.

Ouyang refused, but the older woman was very enthusiastic and domineering, demanding that Ouyang listen to her.

He had to admit that Curly did have a very nice family.

"What about your end?" Ouyang asked in return.

"Not bad!" Lu Wei had just finished speaking when a muffled explosion suddenly came from outside the building, making the ground tremble and dust fall from the ceiling.

He looked up at the ceiling, worried that the ceiling might suddenly collapse under the pressure: "I'll show you something."

Ou Yang looked completely bewildered: "What?"

Lu Wei didn't speak, but simply turned the signal over, and the small port outside the town appeared on his tactical glasses.

Ouyang was astonished to see hundreds of ships of all sizes anchored on the sea, but all of them were in safe waters far from the shore, not daring to cross the line.

"This is... coming from the main island?" Ouyang asked.

“That’s right.” Lu Wei confirmed his guess. “After the news reached the main island, these people rushed over immediately, but unfortunately, they were still a step too late.”

"A step too late? If you ask me, that's just being scared out of your wits!" Ou Yang bluntly revealed the truth.

This is no exaggeration. Given the state of the island, even Thanos would hesitate for a while if he came.

Footage captured by drones shows that East Town has fallen into unprecedented chaos, with countless islanders abandoning all reason and descending into utter madness.

They didn't distinguish between men, women, or children; those with guns used guns, those without used knives, and those with nothing simply used stones, or even bit with their teeth or scratched with their fingernails.

Compared to the thugs of the underground forces, the islanders are at an absolute disadvantage, and they have to pay a heavy price for every thug they kill.

But all the islanders attacked the rioters recklessly, completely disregarding their own lives.
Drones even captured footage of a group of homeless people cannibalizing the corpses of rioters in the street, their expressions ferocious and their faces covered in blood, looking more like zombies than the infected.

Ouyang even began to suspect that someone might have released an extremely high level of hallucinogen, which caused all of this.

He suddenly remembered the legendary prions. These were no joke; boiling or steaming them wouldn't work. They had to be inactivated by high-temperature, long-term cooking...

Ou Yang suddenly smiled bitterly. At a time like this, how could he still be thinking about such irrelevant things?

Having finally managed to persuade Curly to leave, Lu Qiang went over to the injured man to check on him, then approached Ou Yang with concern: "Wang Kai's condition isn't good. When can he leave?"

"Leave?" Ouyang sighed. "Difficult!"

If it were just a conflict between islanders and underground organizations, that would be one thing, given the disparity in numbers between the two sides; the conflict would end in no time.

But the reality is not like that; many previously hidden contradictions have erupted due to the chaos.

Locals and outsiders alike, anyone with a grudge or conflict, would seize the opportunity to retaliate. There were many instances of people attacking each other without warning one second and then suddenly attacking their companions the next; there were also cases of people fighting to the death in the street.

As a result, the scope of the conflict expanded, and more and more islanders were drawn in. Now, the land was littered with corpses and blood.

Even more shockingly, an islander who happened to be in the frame held a torch and roared angrily at the burning house.

Several thugs, covered in flames, rushed out of the house. The islanders immediately rushed up and swung their wooden sticks, knocking the thugs down one by one.

It appears that the homeowner, whose house had been taken over by outside thugs, burned down the occupied property in a fit of anger.

The revenge was taken, but the house was gone too.

Ouyang couldn't help but ask, "Old Ya, this is too chaotic. Won't it affect us?"

"It's hard to say." Lu Wei wasn't sure either. "Let's prepare to evacuate first."

Ouyang couldn't help but smile wryly: "Withdraw? It's not that easy!"

Due to the relentless resistance of the rioters, the rescue team is still on the outskirts of the town. With a little effort, the chances of them getting out are high.

But Ouyang is different. The target building is located in the core area of ​​the town. Although it is safe for the time being, it is similar to being in the eye of a storm. It is the kind of situation where you can see the wind and rain but it is difficult to leave.

Just as I was figuring out how to break through the encirclement, I suddenly received a new message. When I opened it, it turned out to be a live feed of the main island. Although it was from an overhead angle, I could still see people fighting and shooting on the ground.

Ou Yang was immediately stunned: "So we've found the real person?"

As is widely known, in the Canon Islands, Saint Coe is undoubtedly number one, with the other islands merely playing second fiddle.

Any force that retreated to this island with any real strength would fight tooth and nail to get onto the main island. Only those who couldn't get onto the main island would choose other islands or set up branches there. The group that planned the kidnapping is quite powerful; their main force is definitely on the main island. What we're seeing now means their stronghold has been raided by another gang!

Lu Wei chuckled, seemingly unconcerned about the explosion outside the building: "Hundreds or thousands of tons of supplies, who wouldn't be tempted? If you ask me, we should offer a reward of a hundred tons of supplies for their capture, secure the chain of evidence, and then execute them in a public and righteous manner!"

What the hell?
Ou Yang looked at him strangely. What kind of time is this to still talk about correct procedure?
Just as I was about to make a few jokes, a building in the scene suddenly exploded violently, instantly leveling a medium-sized four-story building.

The fierce fighting on the main island was briefly halted by the explosion.

Ou Yang blinked, carefully discerning the location of the explosion: "Old Ya, this place, doesn't it look like the building of the temporary government office?"

Lu Wei also looked astonished: "Yes, that's right, this is the place I was just about to mention!"

The forces on the main island are intertwined, and only the local forces know the specifics. The New City faction has no idea how those strangely named gangs are distributed.

However, in order to obtain the right to use Saint Wa Island, our side had dealt with the neighboring government quite a bit. The main island power that everyone was most familiar with was this neighboring government, which had been bullied by various gangs.

It's one thing to suffer a little grievance normally, but how come the building was even bombed?

Ou Yang glanced at the time: "Isn't it office hours now?"

“Yes, it’s during office hours!” Lu Wei confirmed.

The neighboring officials are just punching bags, so naturally there's not much official business for them to do. But they have to put on a show of being busy, so it's very rare for them to be absent from their posts during working hours.

Ou Yang was a little confused: "Who wiped out the entire Lin family mansion?"

He wanted to ask who had the audacity, but the Lin family might not even be considered by the major powers. Perhaps some underground boss thought these people were in the way and took the opportunity to launch a big attack.

Before Lu Wei could speak, Ou Yang suddenly added, "You wouldn't be trying to use someone else to do your dirty work, saying that the Lin family is involved in the kidnapping incident, would you?"

Lu Wei instantly forgot what he had wanted to say: "Possibly!"

He paused, then added, "Very likely!"

Regardless of who made the move, the goal was definitely to physically eliminate the Linfu. But the timing was perfect. Even if the Linfu had nothing to do with the kidnapping, the blame could still be shifted to Xincheng—who made Xincheng's bounty cause such a stir on the island!

In this way, the forces that took action can at least shift half of the responsibility. If they do a good job of propaganda and profit distribution, and fool a few more uninformed people, they might be able to shift more than half of the blame, or even completely get rid of responsibility!
This is no joke; if not handled properly, it could escalate into a diplomatic incident!
Lu Wei was extremely anxious and immediately stopped communication with the ship's command to alert them to the anomaly.

At this time, Xu Yi had already received the news and was contacting the Dongzhou to report the situation.

After hearing this, Pan Rui frowned deeply: "Old Xu, your decision to offer a bounty was ill-considered!"

"I apologize," Xu Yi admitted without hesitation, "I'm willing to take full responsibility!"

Pan Rui waved his hand: "Now is not the time to assign blame... Have the hostages been found?"

"Found them. They're still on Saint-Va Island. Apparently, the kidnappers plan to take the hostages away."

"Take them away? Take them to Saint Coe Island? If we strap a few bombs to the hostages and detonate them in the neighboring city, we'll be completely blamed!" Pan Rui sneered.

Xu Yi was taken aback, and a thin layer of sweat suddenly appeared on his forehead.

It's ostensibly a kidnapping, but nobody knows what these people are really plotting. If, as Pan Rui said, they find their own personnel self-destructing at the explosion site, the relationship between New City and the enemy will instantly plummet to below freezing. The right to use Saint Václav Island will be out of the question, and the unfinished New City will be abandoned. They'll just pack up and get out.

It's important to know that Saint-Ville is not the only one; several other new towns in other directions are also under construction.

When the news spread, the various countries associated with the new city were shocked to see that, in order to obtain the right to use Saint Václav Island, they actually attacked the neighboring city on Saint Cole Island!
Regardless of whether the neighboring government is in charge or not, it is nominally the highest authority of the hungry party. Today it can physically exorcise the hungry party's neighboring government, tomorrow it will dare to attack other forces.

Reputation is something that is hard to build, but can often collapse in an instant.

If this trivial matter on Saint-Va Island disrupts the overall strategic plan... Xu Yi's thoughts of dying to atone for his sins have even surfaced.

But he calmed down in a moment: "The Lin residence has been blown up. The key now is how to deal with this mess!"

Pan Rui remained calm and composed: "Tell me, what are your thoughts?"

Xu Yi's mind raced: "If it were just a coincidence, it wouldn't be a big deal, but how could things be so coincidental? This group must have been prepared, so we have to be quick!"

Pan Rui nodded: "What are the specifics?"

"We have limited intelligence and don't know who's behind this, but that's alright. They just want to pin a label on us, right? Let's muddy the waters first... Staff Officer Shen!"

"To!"

"I need a local force to take responsibility for the attack on the neighboring city!"

As evening fell, the islanders, who had been in a frenzy, gradually calmed down, and the gunfire that had been going on for half a day finally stopped.

After observing the area with a drone for half a day and confirming that there was no danger, Lu Wei finally led the rescue team to the target location and met up with Ou Yang.

The medic immediately examined the wounded and made a very pessimistic assessment.

Lu Wei immediately called a helicopter to take the wounded away.

Watching the helicopter fly away, Ou Yang let out a long breath.

Looking around, Dongzhen was almost a dead city, with piles of corpses and large patches of blood everywhere, and the pungent smell of blood lingered.

An unexpected light rain arrived, washing away the dried bloodstains, and the corpses soaking in the rainwater gradually turned white.

"Let's go!" Lu Wei sighed and led the group back to the dock.

Curly didn't want to leave, but seeing the horrific scene in the town, all his thoughts vanished, and his only thought was to get out of this hell as soon as possible.

Yes, that's right, it's hell.

The group walked silently among the many corpses. Even Ouyang, who was used to seeing big scenes, was stunned by the gruesome deaths along the way.

Indeed, humans are the most cruel to their own kind.

Before even reaching the beach, Ouyang saw that the seawater outside the pier was full of corpses. A large number of sharks gathered around, drawn by the smell of blood. Underneath every churning wave outside the harbor, there was a shark devouring a corpse.

A group of locals stood frozen on the shore, staring blankly at the scene, many of them bearing serious injuries.

Ou Yang felt a tightness in his chest and wanted to say something, but what could he say?
In chaotic times, are people worse off than dogs in peaceful times?

This damn world!

(End of this chapter)