Jiang Baimian and the others were a little stunned by Long Yuehong's question, only Shang Jianyao thought carefully and answered seriously:
“He probably doesn’t know.”
Doesn't know that the Qinggang Olive District often has water and power outages.
This time, Jiang Baimian stood on Long Yuehong's side:
“It’s normal not to know at first, but once you live in the Qinggang Olive District for a few days, no more than a week, you will definitely know that there are frequent power outages here.
“And the guest in the bathroom has encountered Hypno Cat for a while now.”
What she meant was that even if Xiao Chong chose to live in the most chaotic and least easily discovered Qinggang Olive District when he first came to First City, he should now move to the Red Hyena District, Golden Wheat District, and other places.
“If Xiao Chong is indeed related to the outbreak of ‘Heartless Disease’ in these blocks, then he won’t be too far from here.” Gevaudan’s chip whirred, eliminating all the impossibilities.
The basis for this judgment is a certain logic:
If the range Xiao Chong can influence is very large, then the previous “Heartless Disease” cases would not be so concentrated in location.
Hearing Gevaudan's words, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen all turned their gazes to the inn window.
Standing inside the room, they could see the Third Avenue separating the Qinggang Olive District and the Red Hyena District through the not-so-clean glass.
At this time, a group of people were parading there mightily, shouting “We want land” and “We want jobs.”
“Is Xiao Chong in the blocks on the Third Avenue side?” Long Yuehong also reacted.
“Possibly.” Jiang Baimian nodded lightly.
Shang Jianyao followed up, saying:
“Xiao Chong’s thinking isn’t too normal either; he might not be what we expect.”
So he’s your good friend? Long Yuehong muttered inwardly, saying with some difficulty:
“If Xiao Chong is in those blocks, it will be more troublesome. The security there is better, it’s almost impossible to check every household, and it’s not that easy to have a power outage.”
The difficulty in checking every household is mainly because the situation is now relatively tense, and the Old Task Force has to hide from the Antipathy Sect. If they pretend to be security officers, enter and exit a fixed area for more than ten days in a row, and visit different residents, they will easily be targeted.
After listening to Long Yuehong's words, Jiang Baimian smiled:
“If those blocks don’t have a power outage, we’ll make them have a power outage.
“Anyway, the hospital is relatively far away.”
Clap clap clap, Shang Jianyao applauded for this.
Looking at the team leader’s smile, which was obviously very pleasing to the eye, Long Yuehong suddenly had a feeling of “we might really be the villains.”
…………
The next day, 3 PM.
Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen split up and boarded two buildings that could see the target area, monitoring different places with binoculars.
“Ten, nine, eight…” Shang Jianyao started counting down with a sense of ceremony.
Just as he shouted “One,” the Red Hyena blocks near Third Avenue suddenly had a power outage. The few places with light bulbs no longer had anything to resist the sunlight.
The reason why the Old Task Force chose to have a power outage in the afternoon instead of at night was because Xiao Chong's gaming was an all-weather activity, and not fixed to that time period. Once there was a power outage at night, everything would be pitch black, and the difficulty of monitoring for Jiang Baimian and the others would increase exponentially.
In addition, at this time of day, most people in the Red Hyena District were at work, which would not affect the Old Task Force's observation. By night, especially after the power outage, it was unknown how many people would enter the streets, and the Old Task Force simply didn't have enough manpower to watch them all.
Confirming that the target area did indeed have a power outage, Shang Jianyao praised:
“Old Gevaudan is really punctual; not a second off. We carbon-based humans really can’t compare to that.”
“I can.” Jiang Baimian raised her left hand.
She meant that she had an auxiliary chip and could also make actions accurate to the second.
While speaking, she did not get distracted and continued to observe the target area with binoculars, seeing if there were any changes.
Shang Jianyao did the same.
One room after another, one person after another leaving the buildings and entering the streets came into their view.
More than ten minutes passed, and Jiang Baimian heard Bai Chen's report:
“No one suspected of being Xiao Chong was found, and no rooms appeared abnormal.”
“Same here.” Jiang Baimian replied.
At this moment, Gevaudan had also finished watching the surveillance footage copied from the Ugo Inn:
“There are no creatures suspected of being Xiao Chong, Hypno Cat, or Nightmare Horse.”
“It seems that Xiao Chong’s thinking is indeed a little different from normal people…” Jiang Baimian said with a “low voice”, “Hey, if it were you, what would you choose?”
Shang Jianyao pondered for a moment and said:
“I would roll the dice and let fate decide.
“When even I don’t know where I’ll choose, those who want to find me will be even less likely to know.”
Jiang Baimian originally wanted to say, “What if the dice roll isn’t good, and it directly gives the option of next door to the enemy, what should we do then?” But after careful consideration, she felt that this wasn’t a problem.
Similar wrong answers could be eliminated before rolling the dice.
“We can only guess little by little based on the scope of this ‘Heartless Disease’ outbreak…” Jiang Baimian said finally, puffing out her cheeks.
The fact that Xiao Chong was related to this “Heartless Disease” outbreak was just a speculation itself.
Just at this moment, Shang Jianyao suddenly became excited:
“I see him! I see him!”
“Xiao Chong?” Jiang Baimian hurriedly turned her binoculars to where Shang Jianyao was looking.
After Shang Jianyao's “guidance,” she finally locked onto a person.
That person was in his forties, wearing a dark robe, draped with long black hair, and a stylish mustache on his lips.
He wasn’t Xiao Chong, but he was an acquaintance of the Old Task Force, and had some understanding of Xiao Chong.
Du Heng!
The mysterious expert Du Heng, who claimed to be an antiquities scholar, a history researcher, and had become a “Formal Hunter” not long ago!
“He chased Xiao Chong to First City?” Jiang Baimian nodded slightly.
This made her confirm once again that Xiao Chong had come to First City.
“Go say hello?” Shang Jianyao suggested excitedly.
“Wait a little longer, observe a little more.” Jiang Baimian didn’t want to waste the hard-won power outage opportunity.
By the time the maintenance personnel had fixed the fault and restored the power supply, they still hadn’t found Xiao Chong or anything abnormal.
Jiang Baimian no longer stopped Shang Jianyao, and together with him, she took the elevator downstairs and rushed to the street where Du Heng was.
The two of them were quite lucky. When they arrived there, Du Heng had not yet left.
In fact, even if Du Heng left, they wouldn’t be too worried, because Bai Chen and Long Yuehong were still staying on the roof, observing the movements of this mysterious expert.
Seeing Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian approaching, Du Heng, who must have been a handsome man when he was young, laughed and said:
“I was wondering who was looking at me, it’s you guys.”
He spoke in Ashlands dialect.
This is too perceptive, right? We even disguised ourselves… Jiang Baimian forced a smile and said:
“It’s inevitable to be excited when meeting an old friend in a foreign land.”
“Yes, yes.” Shang Jianyao deeply agreed.
They also switched back to Ashlands dialect.
Du Heng looked up at the high-rise where Bai Chen and Long Yuehong were, and said with a smile:
“Let your companions come over too. I ate your roasted rabbit last time; this time I have to treat you to something good.”
“Quick, there’s a feast!” Shang Jianyao immediately informed Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Gevaudan via walkie-talkie.
Soon, the Old Task Force gathered, invited Du Heng into one of the cars, and under the other party's guidance, they drove towards a place in the Red Hyena District while talking and laughing.
In the other car, Long Yuehong suddenly sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Bai Chen, who was driving, tilted her head.
Long Yuehong looked ahead, and said in a complicated tone:
“Du Heng is our acquaintance, and so is Han Wanghuo. Seeing Du Heng living so well, I’m even more worried about Han Wanghuo. I don’t know how he is now…”
…………
Qinggang Olive District, in a rented room that wasn't well-lit.
Han Wanghuo, who was already tall and thin, became even more emaciated.
He poured out two pills, swallowed them down with a glass of water.
After checking the handgun and rifle he carried with him, Han Wanghuo walked out of the room with a slightly gloomy face, got into his car, and drove all the way to Antana Street.
This time, he didn't go to Doctor Maze's clinic, but with his rich experience, he found the underground black market and met a merchant who had channels for human organs.
“Do you have a heart?” Han Wanghuo asked directly.
“Yes, you can get any organ you want. I don’t guarantee where they came from, because I don’t know. I won’t try to find out about these things; it would give my conscience a bad time, and if I don’t do it, there will be plenty of others who will.” The black market merchant was very talkative, saying a lot of things that didn't need to be said.
He was an Ashlands human, not very old, about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, about one meter seventy-five in height, and had a somewhat bookish appearance.
Han Wanghuo was silent for a few seconds and said:
“Do you have one that was voluntarily donated?”
“Voluntary?” The black market merchant laughed, “You’ve reached the point where you need an organ transplant, and this is the Ashlands, so why bother whether it’s voluntary or not?”
The muscles on Han Wanghuo's face twitched slightly, and he asked again:
“Do you have one?”
“Yes, but not many, and the probability of a successful match is very low.” The black market merchant shook his head and said.
Han Wanghuo slowly exhaled and said:
“Then let’s see if there’s a match first.”