Chapter 99: The News-Black Rain of the Apocalypse(The bell on the cat’s ear)

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In the early morning, the entire city slowly awoke, and early risers were already seen on the streets. Yi Chen quickened his pace, trying to move through the narrow alleys and side streets. At this moment, he made no effort to conceal himself; his head of white hair was noticeable, but manageable—what was truly unsettling was his red left eye.

Although there was a threat looming, the inner city remained orderly, just as it had been before the apocalypse, far from descending into chaos. To others, he was like a grain of sand that didn’t belong here; if he caused panic, it would be his fault.

But where else could he go now? The inner city was vast, yet offered little refuge.

After the turmoil last night, he increasingly wanted to see his parents and sister. However, with his current appearance, that was impossible.

Yi Chen pondered briefly and headed toward the hotel where Zhou Shiwen had arranged for Bai Ge and the others to stay the previous night.

As for the bobcats, he decided to let them roam freely and search for clues. Although the inner city was inhabited by living people, he had confidence in them.

Feeding the bobcats might prove difficult, but since Zhou Shiwen had established a direct line of communication with him, many of his requests could be made straightforwardly.

Zhou Shiwen valued results; as long as Yi Chen’s methods weren’t outrageous, his demands would likely be met.

Additionally, Zhou Shiwen promised to bring Cheng Xianglong and Wang Lu from the outskirts into the city today for unified accommodation, so Yi Chen would have no worries. If Yi Chen was ever unavailable, Zhou’s son, Zhou Zihao, would act as an intermediary to liaise with him.

Currently, Zhou Shiwen’s mindset was different from yesterday’s when he invited Yi Chen for a meal. Circumstances forced him to rely more heavily on this trump card.

The evolved stalkers among the crawlers were terrifying—both intelligent and able to mask their presence—and with Ouyang Hong, who was familiar with the Future Group, the infected, and zombies, acting as his right-hand man, they were far beyond what conventional tactics and weapons could handle.

More troublesome still was that they commanded a fully equipped infected squad.

Senior executives of the group would never have dreamed that those infected they intended to deploy against zombies might, in their first battle, be fighting against them.

Yi Chen arrived at the hotel. Only a few guards stood symbolically outside Ling Lan and the others’ room; the rest had already withdrawn, likely under instructions from the Zhou family.

Ling Lan opened the door and welcomed Yi Chen inside.

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“Why are you up so early?” Yi Chen glanced at his watch—it was just past six.

“Early? Didn’t you sleep well, sister? It’s because I was worried about you,” Ling Lan shot him a glare.

Liang Bing sat quietly on the edge of the bed. When she saw Yi Chen, she nodded expressionlessly, though a heavy weight lifted from her heart.

Ling Zhe was next door. The only person still sound asleep in the room was Bai Ge.

Bai Ge seemed to have unconditional trust in Yi Chen. She believed he could handle everything and didn’t need her concern. To Ling Lan, however, this meant Bai Ge was a bit too carefree.

Yi Chen recounted last night’s events in detail. Ling Lan listened carefully.

She found Ouyang Hong’s betrayal hard to understand.

“I haven’t spent much time with him, but I don’t think he’s the kind who would side with the monsters. Even if he did switch sides, there must be a reason.”

Yi Chen raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I thought you hated him. Didn’t expect you to defend him.”

“I do hate him. If he fell into my hands, I’d deal with him harshly without mercy,” Ling Lan rolled up her sleeves and made a fierce expression. “But to be fair—Ouyang Hong is very determined. He’s always stood firmly on the side of humanity, rejecting monsters and the infected. He probably wouldn’t change his mind easily to side with the monsters.”

Yi Chen shook his head. “I don’t know then. People change. Nothing is absolute. Maybe he found it more advantageous to side with the monsters.”

Ling Lan thought for a moment. “If those assumptions are true, will the infected they took obey? Ouyang Hong was ruthless to them before; they must hate him…”

“It’s useless to speculate now. When we find them, we’ll capture one or two alive and get the answers,” Bai Ge said, yawning and stretching as she got up. Her short hair was messy and casual.

The first thing Bai Ge did after getting up was turn on the TV, which was airing the city’s morning news.

“Last night, a group of rioters set fire to the Future Pharmaceuticals headquarters, resulting in five deaths among the on-duty staff and six injuries. While fleeing, they drove into the Jiajiale supermarket on Wendong Road attempting to commit further violence, but were promptly apprehended by Future Security.”

“Authorities report that the rioters have accomplices, and the Future Group is conducting a thorough investigation. Our station will provide timely updates. We remind all citizens to avoid walking outside at night and not to venture alone to sparsely populated areas to prevent accidents.”

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“Do they mean us by ‘rioters’?” Yi Chen was speechless at how far from the truth the news was.

“The death toll at the pharmaceutical headquarters was forty-five, yet they say only about a dozen casualties? Isn’t that ridiculous? And why is there no mention of the situation at Dongfang Shikong Apartments?” Ling Lan was more concerned with the details—she couldn’t tolerate inaccuracies.

“If too many deaths are reported, it will attract public attention. The group won’t broadcast the facts; the news is carefully polished. But yesterday, many people witnessed us breaking into the supermarket, so hiding this is impossible,” Bai Ge said calmly.

“The news ticker just showed something about Dongfang Shikong Apartments—it said a gas explosion in a residential building caused six deaths,” Liang Bing, who had been silently watching TV, suddenly said.

A gas explosion… that’s too fake, Yi Chen thought, speechless.

However, the news’ final caution was accurate. Revealing some problems helps keep people alert, preventing them from being unaware of danger.

“Any plans for today?” Bai Ge asked after the news.

“Going out to look for clues,” Yi Chen paused, “I also want to see my family.”

“Is there anything we can do to help with the investigation?”

“Zhou Zihao will bring all the data on those infected over today; you can analyze it first.”

“Don’t we need to go out and search? The inner city is so big; you can’t cover it alone,” Bai Ge said.

“Don’t worry, I can handle it,” Yi Chen smiled slightly.

He hadn’t told them about the bobcat squad yet. If they knew, they would definitely want to stop it—after all, those were monsters. Having dozens of monsters roaming in the crowded inner city would make them uneasy.