The winter in the Northern Hemisphere was nearing its end, and the snow in the south had long since melted. Many animals in the mountains, having endured a winter of hunger, had nearly depleted their energy reserves. Those that hibernated were so emaciated they suffered from osteoporosis, while those that couldn't hibernate had struggled through months of ice and snow, now desperately needing to replenish their energy.
The mountain animals soon descended to hunt for meat. Whether rats or rabbits, they devoured whatever they found. If they encountered unarmed humans, they considered them a gift from heaven – a delicious meal!
As spring arrived, the number of people attacked by mutated beasts surged. Originally, the elderly and children would venture out to gather wild vegetables. However, once they left the settlements, their chances of being attacked increased significantly. Ultimately, the weak, elderly, sick, and disabled could only stay put within the cities or bases.
Meanwhile, Wang Aoye was quietly reading in his office in Meizhou. The day-to-day affairs were all handled by his capable subordinate, Yi Xingzhong, whom he trusted implicitly.
Currently, Wang Aoye had nearly ten ability users under his command. Most of these ability users had been recruited, as he lacked the means to obtain ability-enhancing potions, which would have allowed him to cultivate ability users himself.
For Wang Aoye, there was no need to worry about food. He had an ample supply to ensure that he and his subordinates would not go hungry. His sole concern was how to build a more powerful force in the future.
To this end, Wang Aoye was diligently studying books, hoping to find the corresponding methods within them.
However, while Wang Aoye was engrossed in his reading, Shi Weitian suddenly pushed open the office door and entered, exclaiming excitedly, "Boss, something's wrong, something's wrong! I just saw a huge piece of news on the foreign internet. The click-through rate for this video is enormous!"
Hearing his subordinate's excited words, Wang Aoye slowly put down his book and asked, "Why are you so agitated? Since it's a video from the foreign internet, it means this happened abroad. What are you afraid of? Is there any place safer than China right now?"
Wang Aoye was acutely aware of the current situation. For most people, China was the safest place. Although there were frequent attacks by mutated beasts, compared to other countries, it was already sufficiently safe. Therefore, major news from the foreign internet had nothing to do with him.
"Boss, you should watch the video first. I've analyzed it, and I think this matter is far from simple, so I had to tell you as quickly as possible!" Shi Weitian immediately took out his phone and handed it to Wang Aoye to watch the video.
Wang Aoye looked at the foreign internet video. It had a very simple title: "Recapturing a Million-Population City in a Week. Learn from Us, and You Can Do It Too!"
Reading the title, Wang Aoye immediately chuckled and said, "Recapturing a big city in seven days? Is this achieved through military advancement? If it's the military, then it's naturally no problem!"
"It's not the military; it was accomplished by two ability users. If you don't believe me, you can watch!" Shi Weitian eagerly clicked on the video.
Suddenly, two Asian faces appeared. Moreover, Wang Aoye recognized both of them. Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi stood in front of the camera and said, "Follow us to learn how to recapture cities. You can achieve it in a week. Also, you surnamed Wang, hurry up and transmit information to us!"
Seeing Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi appear, Wang Aoye's expression immediately turned confused, and he frowned, asking, "I remember the official announcement stated that Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi were stranded abroad and had recently returned to China. Why are they still posting videos on the foreign internet? And what do they mean by asking someone surnamed Wang to transmit information?"
Shi Weitian reminded him, "Boss, don't forget, you are also surnamed Wang!"
Upon this reminder, Wang Aoye nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes, yes. However, these two might not necessarily be looking for me. There are tens of millions of people surnamed Wang in the world; it can't be just me. Let's watch the video first. After we finish watching, everything will be clear!"
Wang Aoye found it very strange. Shen Feng's sudden appearance in a foreign internet video seemed unusual, and Shen Feng seemed to want to transmit some information. Wang Aoye was unsure what was going on.
The video was half an hour long. It included footage of Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi capturing mutated plants and scenes of them fighting in hordes of zombies. The time was also marked on the side of the video, seemingly indicating that this was indeed completed within a week.
At the end of the footage, Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi stood atop a building in Fremantle. Only scattered zombies could be seen in the entire city, indicating that Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi had successfully achieved their goal of recapturing the city in seven days.
Looking at the comments below the video, they were all filled with praise: "I understand, as long as you have mutated plants, you can recapture a city!"
"First, you need to be able to capture murderous mutated plants, otherwise, you'll become the plants' dinner. However, this method can indeed be utilized."
"Thank you, blogger, for sharing. I'm in South Africa now, and I'll immediately go to the desert to find Welwitschia. I want to recapture a city too, and I want to become a great hero!"
"Two powerful ability users from China, thank you for your help, you've provided more ideas for us to recapture cities!"
... Wang Aoye looked at the foreign comments, stroked his chin, and pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "The Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi in this video are definitely real. I've seen them use their abilities, and they are quite strong. But now, speaking of which, what are these two who returned to China?"
Wang Aoye had keenly sensed a conspiracy. Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi were still on the west coast of Australia, yet the authorities were now widely reporting that the two heroes had returned to China. This was clearly abnormal. Perhaps the two individuals in China were fakes!
Shi Weitian quickly nodded in agreement and said earnestly, "Exactly, this is why I came to find you. I suspect that the people being widely reported these days are fakes!"
"Find the news reports and look at them. If fake impostors appear, then there will always be clues in the news," Wang Aoye continued.
Shi Weitian searched and found footage of Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi disembarking from a ship in the official news. The two were walking down from an ordinary ship, waving to the crowd on the pier, with gentle smiles on their faces. Numerous reporters were vying to photograph them.
Looking at this scene, Wang Aoye was also puzzled, muttering, "That's strange. This doesn't look like Photoshopped or AI-generated faces. Why do I feel like these two faces are identical to Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi?"
Shi Weitian was also perplexed. From their appearance, the two ability users who returned to China looked exactly like Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi. However, in terms of timing, it was completely wrong. It seemed as if there were two Shen Fengs and two Yue Hengyis in this timeline.
"Someone here is definitely lying, but the authorities have acknowledged their identities. We can't just question them directly, can we!" Shi Weitian asked hesitantly.
Wang Aoye frowned and thought about it. He began pacing around the office, thinking. He had now moved beyond conventional thinking and started to consider what message the Shen Feng in the video was trying to convey.
"Third brother, you tell me. If the Shen Feng overseas is the real one, and the person surnamed Wang he mentioned refers to us, what information does he want us to transmit?" Wang Aoye asked Shi Weitian.
Shi Weitian immediately felt troubled. He frowned and thought carefully, then said, "I don't know, but I think if the Shen Feng overseas is real, then these two probably want us to report back to our families!"
At this point, Wang Aoye finally understood and clapped his hands, exclaiming, "I get it, I get it! Shen Feng wants to use our mouths to send a message to Yuzhou! He can't contact Yuzhou, and the authorities have acknowledged the identities of others. In this way, they become impostors overseas. This explains everything!"
Shi Weitian also felt that his boss's analysis made sense. Otherwise, there would be no reason for Shen Feng to post such a strange video on the foreign internet, generating so many clicks, clearly hoping that someone in China would see it. And the surnamed Wang he pointed out could only be Wang Aoye.
"I understand, it's like the real and fake Monkey Kings. Except for a few people who know the truth about these two, everyone else is being kept in the dark. As for the two certified by the authorities, they are likely to use this identity to do bad things!" Shi Weitian said in a low voice.
Wang Aoye thought for a moment and quickly said, "Third brother, prepare to go to Yuzhou and find Chu Chaoyan or Chang Jianyi to explain this matter privately! I believe this is what Shen Feng intended. After that, I'll have Gu Xu go to Yanjing to find Qin Kewei!"
"Under what pretext should I go? If we suddenly appear in Yuzhou, we might be targeted by the mastermind," Shi Weitian quickly asked.
"Didn't Chang Jianyi have a baby two months ago? Use that as an excuse to go to Yuzhou," Wang Aoye said.
"Boss, that reason won't work. Shen Feng's son had his full moon celebration a while ago, and we already sent gifts, including a mutated tangerine tree. Going again now would be very unusual!" Shi Weitian continued.
"Forget it, you stay in Meizhou. I'll go myself. It will be more convincing if I go personally!" Wang Aoye resigned himself to going himself.
Wang Aoye set off immediately. After packing his things, he left alone, riding a motorcycle. The motorcycle had enough gasoline for him to reach Yuzhou.
Shi Weitian was also understanding and told outsiders that Wang Aoye had gone into the mountains to hunt mutated beasts. Except for a few core members, no one else knew Wang Aoye's true whereabouts.
"Shen Feng, Shen Feng, now you owe me a favor. I'm taking risks to help you, and if you don't give me some real benefits after returning to China, I won't agree!" Wang Aoye muttered to himself while riding his motorcycle.
For Wang Aoye, he was convinced that the Shen Feng overseas was the real one. However, this conflicted with the official certification. The mastermind behind the appearance of the impostors remained hidden. His trip to Yuzhou to deliver the message was fraught with danger.
Shi Weitian also found time to contact his contacts in Fremantle via radio, hoping to connect with the real Shen Feng. If they could establish contact, they could further confirm the authenticity.
However, after sending the telegram, there was no reply for a long time. A day later, a telegram was received: "Mr. Shen and Mr. Yue have already departed for Southeast Asia and are accelerating their return to China!"
Upon receiving this news, Shi Weitian was speechless. He thought to himself, "Shen Feng, what would it have hurt to wait there for a couple of days? If you're going to Southeast Asia now, how can we contact you?"
After much thought, Shi Weitian contacted his subordinates on Luzon Island and directly instructed them, "Inform everyone to be vigilant. Once Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi appear, report to us immediately and try to keep them there so we can establish contact!"