CH 72.1

Chapter 72.1 – The Third Plan

The two sat face to face on the sofa.

Shi Yuan rarely saw Lu Tinghan so serious to him, and couldn’t help being nervous: “What are you going to ask me?”

Lu Tinghan said slowly: “Now, the life and death of the Alliance are at stake. Since the peak period, you should have witnessed our helplessness many times. Every failure is fatal. I am the commander, and my duty is to make all judgments in favor of the Alliance.”

Shi Yuan: “Mm.”

He hugged his tail tightly.

“From the euthanasia bill to the abandonment of Gleaning City, to the day the ‘Heavy Hammer’ fell, to the parting of ways between me and General Su Enqi, there are other decisions you don’t know… Even if there is controversy, even if there is doubt, even if there is a painful sacrifice, I will always walk towards the path that is most conducive to survival. Or rather, I never had a choice, this is a war we can’t afford to lose,” Lu Tinghan said, “I can’t give up any chance.”

Shi Yuan still didn’t understand what he was going to say and tilted his head.

Lu Tinghan looked at him, his expression was… a bit struggling.

He said slowly: “You know ‘Echo’ and ‘Overlook’, then do you know that the Alliance once had a third plan?”

Shi Yuan remembered that Lin Yeran had mentioned it to him.

Lin Yeran said that the Alliance had long abandoned the third plan.

Lu Tinghan continued: “The third plan is named ‘Deep Dive’. For a long time, we found that the infection is mutually exclusive, except for you, each abyss cannot override each other’s infection characteristics.”

Yu Qingmei once held a transparent container in which the infected rabbit, which had grown many legs, was screaming madly.

She explained to the interviewer: “It was infected by Abyss No.4, characterized by ‘multiple limb deformity.’ And it can’t be infected by other abysses, that is, you can’t infect a creature that has already been infected, there can’t be a rabbit that is ‘gigantic’ and ‘multi-limbed deformed’ at the same time, the infection characteristics are unique and mutually exclusive. “

Shi Yuan: “Oh…”

Lu Tinghan: “This has led to the fact that different waves of infection will not approach the abyss of different sources. For example, the infected biota of Abyss No.4 will never approach an abyss other than it. So the Alliance has always had a vision of simulating the infection wavelength of one abyss that would cover the entire city. It will not infect any living thing, but it can deceive the infected groups, so that we only have to fight against one type of infected group.”

He told Shi Yuan: “There are two major problems with this project, the first is the lack of data. We used Abyss No.1 as the object to try to simulate, but we need more and more accurate data. Watchers have provided a lot of abyss data in the past 70 years, but that is not enough. We need…observations from the bottom of the abyss, that is, we go to the bottom of the abyss.”

“No one knows what is at the bottom of the abyss. The Alliance made many attempts, whether it was an aircraft or a monitor, it was either destroyed by an infected creature in the mist or annihilated in the mist. This is why this plan has been shelved.”

Shi Yuan asked, “Then what is the second problem?”

“The second problem is that even if the abyss signal is simulated, it’s actually very difficult to achieve 100% coverage with the Alliance’s cities exposed on the surface. If everyone moves to underground shelters, the signal coverage effect can be significantly improved, but it’s still not enough – far from it.”

“The underground shelter was built after the end of the world. Many designs, structures, and materials are inevitably insufficient. It has a small space and insufficient depth to achieve self-sufficiency and long-term residence. At the same time, its air tightness and armed capabilities are also lacking. In other words, we need an extremely complete underground building with self-sufficiency to complete the ‘Deep Dive’ plan. With our current ability, it is impossible to make it.”

Shi Yuan made it clear that humans could not go to the bottom of the abyss, nor could they find a suitable building.

He bent his tail: “That’s why the ‘Deep Dive’ plan was abandoned.”

“Yes, these two are insurmountable gaps,” Lu Tinghan said, “In contrast, underground buildings are slightly more promising: the Empire has many underground cities with perfect structures, and their underground shelters are superior to the Alliance. As long as we can find a large-scale underground building of the Empire, we can solve this problem.”

Shi Yuan: “But ‘Echo’ failed…”

“Yes. The Alliance already has the directions of the two Empire buildings, but, it is also extremely difficult to relocate everyone there. What’s more, there has been no progress in simulating the abyss signal,” Lu Tinghan looked at Shi Yuan with indescribable emotions in his gray-blue eyes. “But you have come to the city.”

Shi Yuan suddenly understood: “You want to simulate my wavelength?”

“If we ‘observe’ you up close and collect data from you, then the Alliance doesn’t need to go to the bottom of the abyss.” Lu Tinghan rubbed his eyebrows. “You are a very special abyss. Even if your wavelength cannot be simulated, maybe from you, we can have a better understanding of the abyss, so as to protect the city, and even…go to the bottom of other abysses and get their data.”

He continued: “If this is the case, we can also prepare to search for underground buildings at the same time, plan a transfer plan, and finally complete the ‘Deep Dive’ plan.”

“These days, Professor Guan also brought up ‘Deep Diving’ to me again. What he means is that you may well be our new hope.”

Shi Yuan: “Ah, so that’s the case, I—”

“Listen to me first,” Lu Tinghan interrupted him gently, “I was very torn when I heard Professor Guan’s words. Shi Yuan, do you remember what I said, let you witness everything.”

—On the rooftop of Gleaning City, they stood side by side.

At that time, Lu Tinghan said to Shi Yuan: “We have all seen the brave you. Now it’s your turn. There is no need for the God of Salvation. Shi Yuan, it’s your turn to witness our courage.”

Shi Yuan: “I remember.”

Lu Tinghan: “To this day I still think so, you are not obliged to save the city, nor to deceive the monsters. You should do whatever you want to do in the city, such as acting in stage plays, such as admiring the sea of flowers and wheat fields, such as answering the phone and taking care of the mutants. I am afraid that if I make a request to you, you will answer against your will because of your feelings for me.”

He continued: “My relationship with my parents was weak, and my closest friends were quite few. Su Enqi always said that I was born for war. The flames of war filled every minute of my life. You are a unique existence. You like me because of my company, so how could I not? I had never fallen in love with anyone before I met you, nor had I imagined this day. This is the purest feeling I have ever had, and because it is so beautiful, I don’t want it to have any flaws at all.”

“But, I am the supreme commander of the Alliance, and I have to seize every possibility to save the Alliance and save mankind.” He clenched his ten fingers vigorously, and his knuckles turned slightly blue. “So I still have to ask this question: Shi Yuan, I have confirmed with Professor Guan that the project is purely observational in nature and will not affect you – just like the observations I made in the watchtower in the past. You just need to release the infection wavelengths, and we record them in different environments to try to simulate it. And you will not be an outlier, but a member of the scientific research center, a volunteer who has contributed to the Alliance, and deserves due respect.”

“So, putting aside your feelings for me, are you willing to participate in the new ‘Deep Dive’ plan? Are you willing to…save the city as much as possible?”