603 The bank vaultsWhen Ren Xiaosu looked away from the ocean of green, he was startled to see that the Wang Consortium’s artificial intelligence camera near the gate was turning slowly towards him.
Ren Xiaosu pulled his hood up and wondered, ‘The stronghold’s on the verge of being destroyed, so why is the AI still working? Since it’s still working, why wasn’t there any warning given?’
A lot of people had mentioned the artificial intelligence to Ren Xiaosu. However, Ren Xiaosu was never really certain about how it worked. As Ren Xiaosu did not have any experience with things like computers in his previous environment, he had always been curious about the artificial intelligence yet somewhat skeptical.
Now that he thought about those who had praised the artificial intelligence, he felt like they might have been sarcastic.
Of course, Ren Xiaosu did not know if the Wang Consortium themselves thought that way.
As he did not understand the artificial intelligence, Ren Xiaosu had no way of judging it.
Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue walked cautiously along the streets. As they proceeded, Ren Xiaosu suddenly stepped on something. He looked down and saw a human skeleton under a dense growth of creeper vine leaves.
It wasn’t just one. Human skeletal remains were strewn all over the streets with the creeper vines wrapped tightly around them. It was a horrifying and terrifying sight to see.
Ren Xiaosu could imagine how desperate the people were at the moment of the disaster.
If it had been the Experimentals attacking, some of these people might have at least been able to escape by taking refuge at home. The Experimentals’ awareness was not as heightened even though their physical fitness had improved significantly. As such, some people had managed to survive that ordeal.
But it was different when faced with the creeper vines. After walking around for a long time, Ren Xiaosu did not even glimpse any survivors.
Ren Xiaosu tried to remember, ‘What was the name of the hotel that Luo Lan was staying at?’
He took out a copy of yesterday’s newspaper from his storage space. After browsing for a long time, he finally found it in the papers: InterContinental Triumphant West Road.
Ren Xiaosu led Zhou Yingxue to a newspaper stand first and found the map of Stronghold 61 there. Then they identified where Triumphant West Road was located.
They were only about five or six kilometers away from the hotel, and it would take about half an hour to get there by walking.
When they arrived outside the InterContinental Hotel, other than the skeletal remains of humans, there were also the banners the protesters had abandoned.
“It’s here.” When Ren Xiaosu saw the banners, he was sure they were at the right place. “Let’s check out the parking lot first.”
When they arrived at the parking lot, Ren Xiaosu was surprised to find the vehicles with the Qing Consortium’s license plates already covered in vines. The tires of the vehicles looked like they had been punctured.
Ren Xiaosu wondered why all of Luo Lan’s vehicles always met with such unfortunate incidents. Back at the Li Consortium’s stronghold, didn’t Yang Xiaojin destroy his cars one after another?
And at this place, his vehicles’ tires were punctured.
Ren Xiaosu took Zhou Yingxue upstairs and searched through the rooms one by one. However, he could not find Fatty Luo at all. Just searching from room to room alone took Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue an entire hour to complete.
“There’s no sign of any corpses that might be Luo Lan’s, so that means that he’s already escaped from the hotel. That’s a good thing,” Ren Xiaosu analyzed. “But where’ll he head?”
“He’s so fat, so he definitely can’t run fast enough. Who knows, he might’ve already been caught by the creeper vines,” said Zhou Yingxue, curling her lips.
“No.” Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “He brought his subordinates here. The Qing Consortium soldiers are far more loyal than you can imagine. If he can’t run, they’ll carry him and escape together.”
“Alright.” Zhou Yingxue said, “Then let’s go search the bank vaults?”
Awhile later, a group of people who were hiding in a bank vault suddenly heard knocking come from the outside. The people who had locked themselves in the vault were shocked. Why would someone be knocking on the vault door at a time like this?
“Has rescue arrived?” Someone said excitedly, “It must be the Wang Consortium troops who came. Who else would be knocking on the door at this time?”
“Maybe it’s the vines?”
“The vines don’t know how to knock on doors!”
“The vines can even eat humans, so why would it be strange if they can knock on the door?”
As they were discussing, a muffled shout came from outside. Due to the soundproofing of the vault, the volume was very soft when it reached the inside.
When someone heard the shouting, they pressed their face against the walls and heard what was being said. “Is there anyone inside? Don’t open the door. It’s full of vines out here. I just wanna ask if there’s anyone named Luo Lan in there.”
The people in the vault looked at each other in dismay. What on earth was going on? Why would someone come here to look for people?
The person inside shouted, “No, we don’t have anyone called Luo Lan in here!”
“Alright, just stay well-hidden in there and don’t come out rashly. The vines out here haven’t been dealt with yet, and the Wang Consortium troops are also not here yet.” Ren Xiaosu then led Zhou Yingxue away.
The people in the bank vault were the first group of survivors Ren Xiaosu had encountered. This was a good sign. Based on Luo Lan’s intelligence, he would definitely know he could hide in a bank vault too. As long as Luo Lan could get in there, he could wait until Ren Xiaosu came to rescue him!
When the people in the vault heard the situation outside had calmed down, they were all dumbfounded. “Who was that outside? It wasn’t the Wang Consortium troops?”
“It’s definitely not them.” Someone said, “But at a time like this, what kind of a powerful person can walk freely among those vines?”
For a moment, their image of Ren Xiaosu suddenly became very mysterious and elevated. They looked at themselves hiding in the vault in such a pathetic state, and even their breathing had become a little difficult due to the lack of air. Meanwhile, the person knocking on the vault door was treating the creeper vines as though they were nothing.
Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue continued walking deeper into the stronghold. Zhou Yingxue suddenly whispered, “Master, look over there.”
Ren Xiaosu looked in the direction Zhou Yingxue was pointing and was surprised to see a few people tied to a wall. The creeper vines were stabbed into their bodies, and blood was flowing out through the vines, making them appear red.
However, these people were different from the skeletons Ren Xiaosu had come across. Although their eyes were closed and they seemed unconscious, they were clearly still alive!
It was like these people were sources of nutrients the creeper vines were keeping for themselves.
Ren Xiaosu wanted to get closer to take a look, but Zhou Yingxue stopped him. “Master, don’t get too close. The creeper vine has a very strong instinct to protect its food and is highly territorial. If you get too close, it’ll get angry and both of us will be goners.”
Ren Xiaosu wondered, “What is the principle behind it not attacking you?”
“I assimilated it with my power and let it think that we’re part of it. So it’s not that it doesn’t attack us but that it hasn’t discovered us yet,” Zhou Yingxue explained.
“But didn’t you manage to control my Potato Shooter plants? Why can’t you control the vines?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
Zhou Yingxue explained helplessly, “Because I can’t find its roots. If I want to gain control of it, I have to infuse my power into its roots. Master, why don’t we go and look for its roots? As long as I can control it, won’t the threat in the stronghold get resolved immediately?”
Ren Xiaosu stared numbly at the vast ocean of greenery before him. “Look, my ass! Who could possibly find its roots in the midst of all this? Stop dreaming!”
“OK…”