Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 119 Preparing for the Counterattack!

"Chief Chen and two staff officers have fallen into a coma. The head of the communications department is attempting to sabotage the communications equipment. The situation is urgent, and we have taken coercive measures..."

Chief of Staff Liu Zhen reported on the situation inside the headquarters, his tone revealing lingering fear.

Their earlier fears came true; even in this command center, there were people who had been taken into custody.

Falling into a coma under the impact is a sign of abnormally distorted thinking. The parasitized person has developed resistance and will not fall into a coma, but is still able to exhibit identifiable characteristics. In this case, they may take risks and engage in extreme behavior.

Even if their bodies haven't truly transformed into zombies, in a sense, these people who have been mentally parasitized are already no different from zombies.

On the other side, after the meeting reconnected, Qin Chang and Su Xun returned to the command center, but the atmosphere was much more somber.

Su Xun coughed lightly, breaking the tense atmosphere, and said, "Alright, at least the hidden danger has been eliminated. Given the distance from Haizhou to the Jianghuai headquarters, this is already its limit. The higher command headquarters is also an obstacle it cannot bypass in order to conceal its existence. That parasite should also be a key node that it planted at great cost."

Haizhou is located on the border of the Jianghuai area, and the distance to the command center there is even farther than to the Taimeng hub base. If it weren't for relay communication, they might not have been able to contact them at all.

When Chi Xiaoyun arrived at the Taimon base, Su Xun could clearly feel that the zombie king's control over her had reached a certain limit. Even when it finally made a dying struggle, it did not use any special methods, but simply attacked recklessly against that body.

"Don't panic too much. This zombie king is only at the fourth level, not the tenth level. It's far from being invincible. Next, we can start arranging a wider-ranging self-inspection."

During the same video call, Feng Zhengze asked, "If it's a self-examination, do you need to repeat what you just did?"

"No, that was just the fastest and most direct method."

Su Xun explained to the group that what he had just done was essentially a targeted spell. Spiritual energy is not a true electromagnetic wave, and to achieve a special effect with it, one needs considerable control.

The ability to instantly project power across hundreds of kilometers is difficult for the Zombie King, and also quite strenuous for Su Xun.

He wasn't a specialist in mental abilities after all; his ability to perform such operations was entirely due to his advanced experience. To influence a wide range of targets simultaneously, one would either need to reach a truly advanced level or develop a corresponding device that could match advanced abilities, neither of which was feasible at the moment.

In this situation, they need to rely on self-inspection and mutual inspection in each region. Although this may not rule out the possibility that the parasitized individuals may conceal their own situation and cover up each other's false reports, at least this can deal a powerful blow to the zombie king as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, those units less affected can quickly stabilize the situation and get rid of the other side's interference during this self-inspection. In other words, this is a division of factions, which can quickly determine the affiliation of both sides.

In fact, based on Su Xun's judgment, the zombie king, having confirmed its exposure, should no longer engage in meaningless concealment. It would likely quickly retract its power to prepare for the upcoming confrontation. Those on the periphery who were controlled or parasitized would likely be abandoned by it, at most interfering with their own judgment.

As for the method of self-examination, since his memory was blank, Su Xun thought for a moment and finally found a way based on his own experience.

“In areas with third-tier and mentally mutated ability users, these people can complete the operation. However, there are not many such people. In other areas, we can still use the existing spiritual communication devices and combine them with the cognitive interference effect of the alien crystals to achieve the same effect.”

"I will compile the relevant operating methods and share them with you as soon as possible." At this moment, Su Xun began to feel somewhat fortunate that the secret realm had opened ahead of schedule. In order to build a large broadcasting station as soon as possible, each block had been working hard to collect the corresponding spiritual energy crystals. Now that Taimon had completed its goal first, places like the Jianghuai block, which had a smaller demand for broadcasting, immediately allocated these precious and versatile resources to various subordinate units, which were now coming in handy.

After discussing the operational details, Feng Zheng asked, "Are there still any uncontrolled shelters in Haizhou?"

"There shouldn't be any shelters that are unaffected. There are a total of 41 shelters in Haizhou, and they will all be affected by it to some extent. But to say that it can completely control it... the fourth-tier zombie king doesn't have that much power. It can't affect hundreds of thousands of people at the same time. It can't completely imitate the life trajectory of normal people in order to achieve its goal of hiding itself. It also can't turn all these people into zombies."

At this point, Su Xun glanced at the map on the wall and continued, "I speculate that Shelter 32 and its surrounding area should already be a relatively completely occupied area. Based on my experience, there may be about fifteen shelters completely under its control."

“Extending outward from the occupied area, it can be divided into the more deeply affected central area and the smaller peripheral area. In these two areas, its influence will rapidly decline. In many places, it may only control key positions. For the people in the grassroots shelters, its strategy should be more inclined to deceive and conceal. Only when there is a risk of exposure will it expend effort to control more people.”

"As for the outer cities, its actual control should not be high. Haizhou and Haiqu are very close. If that zombie king actively expands outward, its parasites will also appear in Haiqu. However, I personally went to Haiqu for many days before and did not find any clues... This can also reflect its control range from the side."

"And what's more fortunate is that Haizhou doesn't have a large central security zone, and the cities around Haizhou are relatively independent, with low mobility and a relatively slow spread... This is probably a regional advantage left over from the civilized era."

Indeed, upon hearing these words, Feng Zheng felt a sudden pang of fear. If this zombie king had been born in Yanshan, then the number of people in danger would be far more than just a few hundred thousand.

After some discussion, the group proposed some new plans for the self-inspection in each region. In the end, they decided to take action immediately without waiting for the meeting to end. The loss of the two parasites in key locations was enough to make the zombie king realize that they had been exposed, and the other party's actions may have already begun at this moment.

Hearing the instructions constantly being relayed through the microphone, Su Xun sighed, wondering what kind of losses this round of self-examination would uncover.
Sitting in the lobby, he suddenly felt tired, not only from the exertion he had just experienced, but also from mental fatigue.

This land, riddled with holes, is like fine sand held in the palm of your hand; no matter how hard you try, some will always slip through your fingers.

But then, another surge of anger rose within him.

Why can't I be angry? How can I avoid being angry?
The superhuman's will was as firm as a rock. He coldly suppressed the raging anger in his heart and said in an icy tone, "Given the extremely high danger of this zombie king, I believe that we should immediately prepare to launch a counterattack towards Haizhou after the self-inspection is completed."

"Following the self-inspection, unaffected areas are required to concentrate their resources, prepare troops, and assemble towards Haizhou!"

"We require all shelters in the Haizhou border area to actively relocate residents and evacuate them from dangerous areas with the support of the surrounding areas."

"We demand that all shelters in the central area of ​​Haizhou regain control of the shelters, shrink their defenses, and hold out for reinforcements."

"For this operation, I propose that the five division-level units of Huaiyin, Zhongwu, Sheyang, Haiqu, and Langya serve as the main force, while local militia and civilian survivor groups be mobilized to assist in logistical support. At least 200,000 frontline troops should be mobilized to encircle Haizhou!"

"agree!"

"agree!"

(End of this chapter)