Chapter 96: Business

The side room was arranged with a fresh and elegant simplicity, and the surroundings were quiet and silent. Within sight were brocade wall hangings, a solid wood table joined with mortise and tenon, various exquisite utensils, and platters of brightly colored food—it all looked unmistakably like a high-end dinner gathering.

Yi Chen sensed the area carefully; aside from the father and son from the Zhou family, there was no one else nearby. It seemed all outsiders had long been sent away.

After confirming that the other party was not planning any tricks, Yi Chen confidently took a seat opposite Zhou Shiwen. Zhou Zihao, showing tact, closed the door and left.

“You can eat raw food, right? This place is famous for its sashimi,” Zhou Shiwen said, apparently not treating Yi Chen as an outsider. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to begin.

“What exactly did you want to talk to me about?” Yi Chen frowned.

His family and friends were still under Zhou Shiwen’s control; how could he possibly be in the mood to eat? Was this some kind of joke?

On the way here, Yi Chen had considered many scenarios and countermeasures, even thoughts of confrontation. Yet now, with Zhou Shiwen’s unguarded demeanor, Yi Chen found himself at a loss.

“Forgot to tell you, I prefer to discuss business over meals,” Zhou Shiwen ignored Yi Chen’s displeasure, poured himself some wine, and took a sip.

“I’m not here to talk business with you.”

“There’s no essential difference. I provide what you want, you give me what you want in return—that’s business.”

As Zhou Shiwen spoke, he took out his phone and dialed a number.

“They’ve arrived. Remove the guards at Unit 2, Lane 325, Shengli Street.”

The voice on the other end responded promptly and immediately relayed the order.

Yi Chen recognized the address as where his family currently lived. Listening carefully to the response on the other end, everything seemed in order.

“No more worries now, right?” Zhou Shiwen put away his phone and said, “No need to be so tense and confrontational. We’re not enemies.”

Zhou Shiwen’s gestures of “sincerity” confused Yi Chen.

He had come cautiously, step by step, surely to stir up trouble tonight and hold someone accountable?

“Let’s be straightforward,” Zhou Shiwen said, noticing the perplexity on Yi Chen’s face, finally getting to the point.

“Dr. Ouyang reported to us this afternoon that an evolved form of the Crawlers has appeared on the outskirts. This new creature has been temporarily named the ‘Lurker.’”

Lurker? Thinking of that creature’s origin and unique traits, Yi Chen felt the name was very fitting. He hadn’t expected their intelligence network to be so well informed, already aware of its existence.

“Many higher-ups are skeptical about this news. As you know, the mission to eliminate the Crawlers was completed, and that entire sewer area was blown up. Now suddenly someone tells us the Crawlers aren’t dead but have evolved… it’s hard to accept,” Zhou Shiwen said, picking up a slice of salmon, dipping it in wasabi, and eating it.

Watching him chew heartily, Yi Chen grew even hungrier.

Controlling zombies, fighting Lurkers, breaking into the inner city, then to the hospital and Ouyang Hong’s home—all this upheaval had left his stomach empty. Without a strong mental resolve, he might have grabbed anyone on the street just to fill his stomach and have some meat.

Though raw food wasn’t as delicious as fresh human flesh, it would suffice. Yi Chen finally picked up his chopsticks and began eating.

A faint, barely noticeable curve appeared at the corner of Zhou Shiwen’s mouth.

Just as he expected, Yi Chen accepted the food, loosening his mental defenses a bit, making the following conversation easier.

“According to Dr. Ouyang, the Lurker not only has the basic abilities of a Crawler but can swiftly blend into its surroundings, making its movements hard to detect. Most importantly, it possesses intelligence and can think… If all that’s true, it will be a far more troublesome monster than the Crawlers.”

“Does Ouyang Hong know the Lurker’s origin?” Yi Chen swallowed a mouthful and, since the topic had been brought up, took the opportunity to inquire about the background.

“Maybe Dr. Ouyang knows. But he’s missing now, his fate unknown, so he can’t clarify anything,” Zhou Shiwen answered truthfully.

“Rather than waste time guessing the Lurker’s origins, what we care about is how to eliminate it.”

By now, no need for Zhou Shiwen to spell it out; Yi Chen knew he wanted him to take on the task of dealing with the Lurker.

Yi Chen didn’t like being controlled, but this time the situation was different.

Besides the objective reasons that Zhou Shiwen had leverage to coerce him, Yi Chen also harbored a long-standing grudge against the Lurker and wanted to settle the score.

During the skirmish on the outskirts, the creature had silently slipped away, which infuriated him. Later, so many incidents at Future Pharmaceuticals headquarters and the Eastern Time-Space Apartments seemed connected to it!

“I suspect the Lurker has already entered the inner city,” Yi Chen said after some thought.

“Oh? Why?” Zhou Shiwen asked with keen interest.

“The people inside the pharmaceutical building weren’t killed by us, and we didn’t touch other infected either. Moreover, something went ahead to the Eastern Time-Space Apartments and took away Ouyang Hong’s and the infected’s data.”

Zhou Shiwen listened quietly without comment.

“There should be surveillance cameras inside the pharmaceutical building, right? We should check the footage,” Yi Chen had a sudden inspiration.

“Unfortunately, the cameras only recorded your fights with security and guards; all subsequent footage has been erased.”

“What?!” Yi Chen was shocked.

“If these people weren’t killed by you, then it’s even worse. If your guess is right and all this is the Lurker’s doing, it’s not just ‘intelligent.’ We need to analyze its motives more deeply,” Zhou Shiwen’s expression turned serious.

Motives? Yi Chen pondered.

As a monster, if the Lurker bit someone, it could quickly raise a massive horde of zombies within the inner city, yet it hadn’t done so.

It killed all those people, separating their heads from their bodies.

This brutality and paranoia indicated it wanted to frame him! To have the Future Group eliminate him!

As for the disappearance of the infected and Ouyang Hong, perhaps that was another part of its plan... Yi Chen dared not think further. It was likely playing a larger game and laying its traps.

“These tragedies have already happened and cannot be changed. I don’t care about the truth of the matter, but I don’t want any more incidents to occur that shake people’s confidence,” Zhou Shiwen put down his chopsticks.

The meal was nearly finished, and the topic was drawing to a close. The Future Group had reached this point with great difficulty; he needed to protect the current system.

“I’m a businessman; you put in the effort, I pay you. We can settle all past matters in one transaction. Your family and friends will be safe and sound, and everyone will be happy. As for tonight’s events, I’ll find a way to give the other higher-ups a reasonable explanation.”

Yi Chen remained silent. Given all the circumstances, he had no reason to refuse.

“If there’s no problem, I’ll contact you directly for further support,” Zhou Shiwen said, handing over the phone he had just used.

“… By the way, how did you know we were going to Ouyang Hong’s house?” Yi Chen asked at last.

“That’s thanks to my devoted son. He tampered with Bai Ge’s phone and installed a tracker. Wherever she goes, he knows,” Zhou Shiwen said without hiding anything.

Damn! Yi Chen felt a wave of disgust.

How could the heir of the Future Group stoop to such dirty tricks? He’d have to tell Bai Ge to get rid of her phone immediately!