owlsbooks Chapter 107 The Disappearance in the Quarantine Zone
Chapter 107 The Disappearance in the Quarantine Zone
The research team members specially sent by Oasis Company to participate in this sample collection and testing have been making things difficult for Lao Liu. After Qi Te and Ding Xiang arrived, these guys started to slack off.
After several unsuccessful attempts to make things difficult for him, the person in charge, Zheng Yong, felt utterly humiliated and simply disappeared.
That evening, Wang Renfu, who had just received a call from Liu Baichuan, rushed to the base.
Zheng Yong, who was enjoying a meal in a private room of the restaurant, received a report from his researchers and hurriedly threw down his chopsticks and rushed to the Third District.
As soon as he entered the gate of Laboratory No. 9, Zheng Yong immediately rushed forward with a beaming smile: "President Wang!"
Wang Renfu glanced at Zheng Yong, whose lips still glistened with oil, and said coldly, "Dr. Zheng, is this how you do monitoring?"
"king..."
Before Zheng could finish speaking, Wang Renfu waved his hand and then pointed to the holographic projection.
"Professor Liu has compiled the sample data from previous years. Please take a close look."
Wang Renfu is the president of Oasis Haicheng branch. Coming from a conglomerate, he is naturally good at doing business, but these numbers and symbols are no different from a foreign language to him.
Leave professional matters to professionals; otherwise, why hire these professors and PhDs at high prices just to have them as decorations?
Upon seeing the freshly released data, Zheng Yong's eyes lit up, but he quickly frowned again. If he admitted that Liu Baichuan's testing was better than his own, wouldn't that be a slap in the face?
But when he shifted his gaze to the list of past years, his shiny face twitched slightly involuntarily.
"How...how can there be such a big difference?"
Liu Baichuan stared intently at Zheng Yong and said, word by word, "Dr. Zheng and his team members have been of immense help in this sample testing!"
Zheng Yong swallowed nervously, and under Wang Renfu's scrutinizing gaze, he could only force a smile and nod, saying, "Professor Liu, you're too kind. It's...it's all what we should do..."
A barely perceptible smile flashed across Liu Baichuan's lips as he turned and gave Qi Te and Ding Xiang a wink.
Old Liu is indeed a good person, but the reason he didn't expose Zheng's hypocrisy wasn't out of kindness, but rather out of consideration.
He knew exactly what he wanted. This unprecedented collaboration with Oasis was partly about financial support, but his real intention was to obtain detailed information and samples of erythematous eczema.
Fortunately, although the amount collected was limited, it yielded truly valuable and crucial data.
The time was ripe, and we had taken a big step closer to the answer we wanted. At such a crucial moment, how could Liu Baichuan possibly engage in such a childish act as tattling?
Moreover, Zheng Yong is a long-term team leader employed by Oasis. By exposing Wang Renfu's confrontational and inactive behavior in front of him, Zheng not only embarrassed Oasis but also disgraced the company.
If this scoundrel gets desperate and claims there's an error in the data, I'll have to spend time arguing with him and explaining to Wang Renfu. The time and effort involved will only increase.
Old Liu has a firm grasp on interpersonal relationships and the art of judging situations.
In the upcoming negotiations, the less Qi Te and Ding Xiang, these small fry, the better.
The two tactfully left the laboratory, retrieved their phones from the storage bins at the entrance, boarded the hovercar, and flew towards the hall.
..............................
"The teacher is really something, why did she give that guy so much face?"
After arriving at the base, the two of them were subjected to a lot of disdain from the researchers. Ding became increasingly angry as he thought about it, and felt even more indignant for his mentor.
"I feel like throwing up whenever I see that guy surnamed Zheng."
Qi Te glanced at the refined-looking teaching assistant with some surprise. The assistant had been Lao Liu's student before and stayed on at the university after graduating with his master's degree. Therefore, the research group members privately called him "Senior Brother."
"Don't worry, our Lao Liu isn't so easy to bully."
Ding asked, puzzled, "No, didn't you hear the teacher saying nice things about that guy surnamed Zheng?"
Qi Te shook his head with amusement. With Lao Liu's acting skills, even an award-winning actor would have to bow down and humbly seek his advice.
At the No. 1 base in the old city, Liu Bochuan mentioned the outbreak of erythema lesions 37 years ago and clearly stated that he wanted to obtain the data and samples from that incident.
"So, the teacher is doing this to get what he wants."
After listening to Qi Te's explanation, Ding Xiang suddenly realized... but it was all for naught.
"But that's not contradictory, is it? Why not expose that all-knowing but empty-headed guy?"
Qi Te was speechless. He used to think that Senior Brother Ding had a very good temper, was never in a hurry, and had never seen him argue with anyone, not even swear. Now he realized that not only was the other person slow-paced, but his mind was also incredibly slow.
Just as I was figuring out how to explain it clearly, my phone suddenly vibrated.
Seeing the incoming call, Qi Te answered with slight surprise: "Brother Zhang."
"Qite, there's an older man who says he has something very important to tell you."
After saying that, a flustered voice came through the receiver.
"Little Te, this is Sixth Uncle. Something's happened! Xuebao, Xiaoni, and Shaozi are missing!"
Qi Te's face darkened, and his brows furrowed sharply: "Don't rush, Sixth Uncle, tell me slowly, when did those three disappear?"
"Yesterday morning, the shrine was distributing food, so I went to call the three of them. But the shack was empty; the food was still there, but the people were gone."
Uncle Liu, his voice trembling with tears, said on the other end of the phone, "I don't know when they disappeared..."
Qi Te quickly asked, "Where and when was the last time you saw them?"
"Xuebao and Xiaoni came with me through the dog hole the day before yesterday evening, picked up some goods at the junkyard, and went to sleep after counting them when we got back."
"Spoon...Spoon...It was probably the night before last when I saw him arguing with a few guys from the Ghost Fire Gang. I quickly called Flathead and Zhuangzhuang from the shack next door, and they chased those guys away."
"That jerk, Spoon, said he didn't need our help, stormed off in a huff, and we haven't seen him since..."
"I, Pingtou, and his dad have been searching for two days, looking everywhere, but we can't find him. Zhuangzhuang says he must have been taken away by city people to have his blood drawn!"
"Little Te, what should we do?! Do you...do you know anyone in the police department who could...help me find out? They said there are cameras everywhere in the city, they can film people wherever they go..."
Qi Te quickly interrupted, "Sixth Uncle, I can't leave right now. Please give the phone to Brother Zhang first."
"Eh, eh"
Uncle Liu hurriedly responded twice, and then Zhang Xiaodao's voice came through the receiver: "I ran into this uncle when I was on patrol. I saw him talk to you when I saw you off to your car that day. I never expected it to be like this."
Zhang Xiaodao was also afraid of causing unnecessary trouble for Qi Te, so he offered an explanation.
"Brother Zhang, I'm at the Oasis Biological Base. I can leave as early as tomorrow afternoon. If possible, please notify the Public Security Bureau."
"No problem, but, Zite, you should know very well the residents outside the quarantine fence..."
"Understood, I'll try to find someone to contact the police department in the West Ninth District."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaodao immediately replied, "Okay, I understand. I'll keep an eye on things here, and we'll discuss it further when you get back."
After hanging up, Qi Te quickly dialed Cao Yingchong's number.
"Class monitor, there's something very important I need your help with..."
..............................
After returning to his room, Qi Te put on his Bluetooth earphones and quickly took a shower.
Around nine o'clock, a phone call finally came.
The Commissioner of the West Nine Districts Security Department respectfully stated that police officers had been dispatched to the area outside the West Nine Districts boundary to investigate the situation.
Three people are indeed missing, but since there are no surveillance cameras outside the isolation fence, the cause of their disappearance has not yet been determined.
Besides Uncle Liu, the police questioned dozens of marginalized individuals, but found no useful leads. Some said they saw Xuebao yesterday, others said they had lunch with Xiaoni today—all irrelevant information.
In the director's view, these marginalized people were either mentally unstable or full of lies, and all the statements collected were nonsense.
Qi Te, who had interacted with marginalized people since childhood and was quite close to them, knew very well that those people were not lying on purpose.
Cell phones and watches, which are readily available to city dwellers, are extremely rare and precious items outside the quarantine fence. Even outdated cell phones are unattainable luxuries for people who rely on relief and scavenging for a living.
Most people spend their days gazing at the sky, without electronic devices or clocks, their perception of time has become extremely dulled. And in the perpetually gray winter, this perception of time is even more pronounced.
Therefore, the chances of finding useful clues through questioning are slim.
Qi Te asked somewhat anxiously, "What about the surveillance cameras in District 9 West?"
"Sir, to be honest, the surveillance cameras in District 9 are either stolen or broken. It's not that we don't want to fix them; we've reported it many times, but as soon as they're fixed, they get stolen or vandalized again."
The chief said with a helpless tone, "The Ghost Fire Gang is practically lawless in District Nine. Our police resources are limited, it's really...sigh!"
Clearly, Cao Yingchong's flying brother did not reveal his true identity, and the director naturally assumed that he was the head of the investigation bureau.
As a native of District 9, Qi Te had naturally heard of the Ghost Fire Gang's infamous reputation.
It is said that when Ji Chenyu was a child, he was extorted by gang members with brightly colored hair several times.
"Thank you for your trouble. I'll trouble you to keep an eye on things for the next couple of days, Director. I'll get there as soon as I finish what I'm doing."
After hanging up the phone, Qi Te frowned, thought hard, and finally thought of someone.
Xu Su, captain of the Blue Shield field security team.
Blue Shield has surveillance satellites that can capture images of border areas, and naturally, they can also capture images of cities.
To access footage captured by someone else's surveillance satellites, you naturally need to contact someone on the inside...