"Mobilization?" Fu Qingdai panicked at once. "Brother, I don't know how to do that!"
"Then what do you know how to do?" Cheng Du cut in with a raised eyebrow.
"I... I..." Flustered and tongue-tied, Fu Qingdai stammered out after an agonizing pause, "I know how to collect class fees..."
"Cheng Du, what's your problem! My daughter is still a kid!" Fu Hu roared in fury.
Su Jin's smile faded. "Listen to me, Qingdai. Tomorrow, you don't need to do anything at all. All I want you to do is take a good bath, change into a clean set of clothes, and stand in front of the crowd looking down at everyone. Whatever you do, don't get stage fright, and don't make any expression. Leave the rest to me."
"You'll have other tasks later, but none of them will be too hard. I'll teach you myself."
Fu Qingdai nodded slowly.
Su Jin continued, "Everyone, by getting things to where they are today, we've reached a pivotal moment! You could say this is the critical juncture that determines our future fate. I expect you to take it seriously. Every task I assign must be carried out to perfection, and any problem you discover must be reported immediately."
"Fu Hu, Cheng Du, you two go practice your abilities first. Sister-in-law, take Qingdai and Auntie Liu back to organize the records."
At his command, they all responded and dispersed to their respective rooms.
Sun Ya and Wei De stood by with their eyes half-squinted, waiting for Su Jin to speak.
After a moment, Su Jin said, "You two followed the later process more closely than I did. Were there any oversights in this screening?"
Sun Ya shook his head. "None. But Old Wei and I put together a list of suspicious individuals, and we'll keep a close eye on them for you later on. Also, we found a stethoscope in one resident's home. Moving forward, I want to interview everyone individually."
"Bluff them with questions, listen to their heartbeat with the stethoscope, and observe their pupillary responses. That will allow us to draw more detailed conclusions."
Wei De looked up at the slightly disappointed Su Jin. "Xiao Li, reaching this point today is already no small feat. We'll do our utmost to improve the screening's precision and eliminate potential hazards as much as possible. Things have come this far; you don't need to worry excessively. Go ahead and act boldly with a free hand."
"I understand. Thank you both for your hard work, then. Get some rest early."
The next day, after another half-day of bustling work, all personnel had been completely screened, and no additional covert mutants were found.
Every resident across the entire complex who was still holding out in their apartments had been gathered into the community activity center—
A total of two hundred and thirty-five people.
Years ago, Rencai Community had been an upscale neighborhood built for distinguished professionals.
The entire activity center had been built to quite impressive standards—impressive for its era, of course.
Today, it looked rather dated and worn.
Yet it had one great advantage: it was unquestionably spacious.
Once all the tables and benches inside were cleared away and replaced with bedding laid out on the floor, it could comfortably accommodate over two hundred people.
Perhaps the thick sheet of ice in the core zone of the Hanqiong strike had still not melted away.
Even though the weather had warmed up, an occasional gust of cold air still swept through the atmosphere.
Caught between alternating hot and cold, many people—fearing a cold that might cause others to mistake them for infected—still wore padded jackets, down coats, and other heavy clothing, while others dressed in light, thin layers.
At that moment, the activity center was packed with bobbing heads, a messy, colorful kaleidoscope at first glance.
Though no one dared speak loudly, the low murmurs never ceased for a single second.
Having been cut off from the outside world for so long, each person had lived in isolation inside a tiny apartment.
Even setting aside the enormous crisis brought by widespread zombie infection, the loss of water and electricity, the hopeless future, and the crushing solitude were enough to cause severe psychological distress.
Now, under these apocalyptic conditions, ordinary people found themselves rescued by what seemed to be military forces and reunited with old acquaintances.
At long last, they were able to breathe again and experience a rare, long-lost sense of security.
By three-thirty in the afternoon.
In the northernmost part of the community activity center, along the wall, a patch of space remained unoccupied by bedding.
Instead, contrary to the rest of the room, a small raised platform had been erected.
When Su Jin led his group into the community activity center, the entire hall instantly fell dead silent.
Fu Hu and Cheng Du posted themselves directly at the entrance, locking the main doors from inside.
Every pair of eyes converged on Su Jin.
The vast majority of people present had seen Su Jin before. Although they didn't know his exact identity, after brief contact and observation, nearly everyone had figured out that this man was the leader of the rescue team!
Ignoring the crowd, Su Jin walked straight to the northern end and stepped onto the raised platform.
The collective gaze followed him closely.
Su Jin looked down at the crowd, picked up a megaphone, and tapped it.
"Testing, testing?"
The megaphone's output echoed through the hall, and Su Jin looked up at the crowd once more.
Back when he had worked a regular job, he had spoken at plenty of meetings, but mostly to report on work to his team members or superiors.
An assembly of this scale was indeed his first time organizing.
Still, there was nothing difficult about it. Focus on emotion rather than dry facts, and set up a contrast by taking them low before lifting them high.
After taking a moment to psych himself up, Su Jin raised the megaphone and said in a deep voice, "Hello, everyone. I imagine eighty or ninety percent of you here have already seen me, but none of you know who I am."
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Li Haocheng, Director of the National Critical Risk Intervention and Implementation Bureau. You may also refer to it as the National Intervention Bureau."
Puzzled looks appeared across the crowd as people exchanged glances and whispered questions to one another.
Su Jin cleared his throat and continued, "I know you aren't familiar with this department of the state. The National Intervention Bureau has always been a classified department subordinate to the highest leadership, never revealed to the public. The missions we handle have never been made public either, so only a select few are aware of us."
Su Jin stepped aside and gestured toward Sun Ya and Wei De. "Elder Sun and Elder Wei—many of you in our community probably know them. These two experts once briefly served the National Intervention Bureau and can vouch for this."
"Yes, we did indeed hold brief appointments at the National Intervention Bureau as technical advisors. There is nothing to doubt on this point," Sun Ya said, stepping forward, before stepping back again.
The stir in the crowd gradually subsided.
Many people indeed recognized Sun Ya and Wei De. While one couldn't say every single resident knew their backgrounds, the two old men unquestionably commanded immense respect.
Su Jin took a deep breath and said, "Before I go on to explain the specifics of our department's work, there is one thing I must confess to all of you. You have all assumed that we are a state rescue team. Yet earlier, you all received text messages stating that the nation had acknowledged its own demise. This seems like a contradiction."
"I will tell you plainly right now: the nation has indeed fallen. This disaster struck with extreme suddenness, dealing devastating blows indiscriminately to every country across the globe. The state power you hold in your hearts has completely collapsed on all fronts."
The entire hall held its breath. Over two hundred people stared at Su Jin in disbelief, an ache of grief seizing the hearts of most.
They had endured the ruin of their country and the loss of their families, only for someone to appear in the name of a state rescue. Through countless days and nights, they had tossed and turned between hope and confusion. And now... this person who had appeared in the state's name was telling them that all of that hope had been an illusion!
Chapter 61