13: Chapter 13 Data is Truth

4:17 AM, Beiling City, East Suburbs Gas Station.

Commander Lin Dong's eyes snapped open from a light sleep. His three-year career in the Reconnaissance Company had honed an almost instinctual alertness to anomalies in his surroundings. Even though everything was silent now, he knew something was happening.

The digital clock on the nightstand emitted a faint glow. Temperature: 16°C, southeast wind at force 3, humidity 67%. These were the environmental parameters he had recorded before sleep. On this first night of the apocalypse, he forced himself to etch these details into his mind, just as he would during field training exercises.

Suddenly, rapid breathing came through the walkie-talkie.

"Captain Lin, there's movement on the monitor." It was Wang Lei's voice—the corporal who had survived from the second company and was now responsible for the late-night watch.

Commander Lin Dong didn't answer. He was already rolling out of bed. His left foot slid into a military boot, his heel tapping the floor twice, while his right foot followed suit. The entire process took no more than three seconds. The type 95 rifle by his bedside was already in his hand; the metallic clack of the bolt chambering a round was unnaturally sharp in the silent pre-dawn.

The rolling shutter door of the gas station convenience store was only raised a crack. Commander Lin Dong slipped through sideways. Inside, Wang Lei was pointing at a portable monitor screen on a table.

"Caught by camera three, east side, five minutes ago."

The image on the screen was tinged with the sickly green of night vision mode. This was the temporary surveillance system Commander Lin Dong had instructed Wang Lei to set up in the afternoon—four wireless cameras scavenged from an abandoned electronics shop, covering the main intersections within five hundred meters of the gas station. Without a proper monitoring console, they made do with a laptop. The image had a three-second delay, but even that was a luxury under these circumstances.

On the screen, a group of people was moving along the main road leading east toward the city.

Commander Lin Dong narrowed his eyes, sliding his finger across the touchpad to zoom in on a section of the image.

"Seventeen people," Wang Lei counted beside him. "I counted three times. Eleven adult males, four females, two children. No heavy weapons. A few have backpacks. Likely ordinary survivors."

Commander Lin Dong remained silent, his eyes fixed on the movements of the people on the screen. A three-second delay meant their current position was roughly fifty meters closer than what the camera showed—calculated at normal walking speed.

"Wrong."

Wang Lei was taken aback. "What's wrong?"

Commander Lin Dong pointed at the man walking at the front of the group on the screen. "Look at his stride frequency."

Wang Lei leaned closer. The man's steps weren't large, but each footfall was steady, the bend of his knees controlled perfectly. This wasn't the gait of an ordinary person fleeing in panic—those who were frantic would stumble, glance back frequently, even scramble with hands and feet.

This man did none of that.

He walked with a steadiness that seemed almost methodical, like he was measuring the land.

"Scout?" Wang Lei ventured.

"Or someone with military experience." Commander Lin Dong glanced at the timestamp in the upper right corner of the screen. "This was four minutes ago. They should now be..."

His finger traced a virtual path across the screen. "...about three hundred meters east of the gas station, near that abandoned auto repair shop."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the image on the screen flickered and dissolved into static snow.

Wang Lei's expression changed. "Was the camera destroyed?"

"Not destroyed," Commander Lin Dong said, staring at the static for two seconds. "It was deliberately turned. The camera is tied to a utility pole, nearly six meters off the ground. You'd need a long pole to reach it otherwise."

"So it was intentional?"

"It's a warning." Commander Lin Dong straightened up, casually switching the rifle's safety from 'safe' to 'semi-auto'. "Telling us they've spotted us."

Six minutes later, all defensive positions at the gas station were manned.

Commander Lin Dong divided the five people into three teams. Wang Lei and a student soldier were positioned behind the second-floor window of the convenience store, offering the best vantage point to cover the main entrance and the eastern road. The other two survivors—a middle-aged couple—were stationed behind the fuel tanker in the backyard. That was the last line of defense and also Li Na's temporary shelter.

Li Na's bleeding had stopped, but her face was still pale as paper. Leaning against a tire of the tanker, her right hand pressed against her heavily bandaged left shoulder, her left hand still clutched the military radio.

"You should be lying down," Commander Lin Dong said as he passed her, his tone devoid of warmth.

"There's a signal on the radio," Li Na's voice was soft but stubborn. "After 3 AM, a new signal source appeared on the shortwave band. Weak, intermittent, but it's there."

"What's the content?"

"It's not about the content," Li Na looked up at him. "It's the encryption method. I can't understand what's being said, but the characteristics of that encryption algorithm... it's military."

Commander Lin Dong's steps faltered for a moment.

A military radio. That meant organized military units were still active. Not scattered remnants like their own group, but proper forces with command structures and logistical support.

"Can you triangulate it?"

"The signal's too weak. We'd need at least three receiving points for triangulation. We only have one right now."

Commander Lin Dong nodded and said nothing more. He quickly crossed the gas station backyard and climbed the iron ladder on the side to the roof of the convenience store.

The roof was flat, littered with several abandoned air conditioner outdoor units and the skeletons of advertising signs. Commander Lin Dong lay prone behind a sign frame, resting his type 95 rifle on the waterproof membrane, its muzzle aimed at the gray road to the east.

A sliver of dawn light was beginning to show on the horizon. Morning mist drifted over the distant ground, blurring abandoned vehicles and buildings into silhouettes. Visibility was improving visibly—200 meters, 300 meters, 500 meters.

At 5:03 AM, the first figure appeared in Commander Lin Dong's scope.

The man emerged from the mist, his steps steady, hands hanging naturally at his sides, no visible weapons. He stopped about one hundred and fifty meters from the gas station and raised his hands, palms facing forward.

A standard gesture of surrender.

"Wang Lei, do you see him?" Commander Lin Dong spoke quietly into the walkie-talkie clipped to his chest.

"I see him. Is he alone?"

"Wait."

The man stood motionless in place for a full two minutes. Then, he lowered his hands, pulled something from his pocket, and held it over his head.

It was white. A piece of cloth, or a handkerchief.

Commander Lin Dong's index finger rested on the trigger guard, not inside it. He waited.

Sure enough, after another thirty seconds, more people emerged from the mist behind the man. Eleven adult males, four females, two children—exactly matching Wang Lei's earlier count. They all stopped at the same invisible line, one hundred and fifty meters from the gas station. No one crossed it.

The first man raised the white cloth again, took twenty steps forward, and stopped.

At this distance, his face was clearly visible.

He looked to be in his early thirties, with a buzz cut, lean cheeks, but steady eyes. He wore a faded military-green jacket. On the left chest was a faint mark—Commander Lin Dong recognized it as the ghost of a removed rank insignia.

"Military background," he said into the walkie-talkie.

"We need gasoline, food, and medicine," the man's voice was hoarse, but his words were clear. "We won't take them for free. We can trade information."

Three minutes later, Commander Lin Dong allowed him to enter the gas station alone, the rest remained in place. A pat-down was necessary. The man cooperated, voluntarily taking off his jacket and turning around to show he carried no weapons.

Now they faced each other through the glass door of the convenience store. Commander Lin Dong stood inside, his rifle muzzle consistently aimed at the level of the other man's knees. The man stood outside, his hands still kept in plain sight.

"What information?" Commander Lin Dong asked.

"About the zombies," the man said. "I know their movement patterns, what attracts them, what doesn't. I survived two days in the city center, crossed three streets teeming with hordes, and brought all seventeen people out alive. That wasn't luck."

Commander Lin Dong stared into his eyes. They were calm, but beneath that calm lay a profound weariness.

"How?"

"Data."

The man pulled a palm-sized notebook from his pocket and opened it, holding it up to the glass door. Commander Lin Dong saw pages densely filled with numbers and simple diagrams.

"The first night, I hid in a supermarket freezer. Had nothing better to do, so I started observing them." The man pointed to lines on the first page. "Temperature, humidity, decibel level of sounds, movement speed, reaction time. I recorded everything I could observe, then looked for patterns."

Commander Lin Dong said nothing.

"For example, now." The man pointed toward the figures in the distant mist. "At this distance, with this wind direction, the sound of our conversation won't reach them. But if I were to shatter this glass, they'd turn toward us within three seconds. Because the frequency of breaking glass is around 4000 Hz. That's within their sensitive range."

Commander Lin Dong's pupils contracted slightly.

"You tested that?"

"Used liquor bottles from the supermarket. Threw twelve. Three people died." The man's voice held no inflection, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself. "But the data was correct. So no one died after that."

Commander Lin Dong was silent for two seconds, then pushed the glass door open a crack.

"Come in."

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

The man stepped through the door and immediately handed a notebook to Commander Lin Dong.

Commander Lin Dong did not take it, only glancing at the dense data.

"F-Class Zombie, auditory sensitivity range 2000-5000 Hz, peak at 3500Hz. Effective visual range 20 meters, sensitive to dynamic vision, static target recognition rate below 30%. Movement speed 3.2 m/s, short bursts up to 4.5 m/s, lasting no more than 8 seconds. Sense of smell sensitive to fresh blood, effective range 80 meters..."

Behind every item of data, the test time, location, and sample size were noted.

"What is your name?"

"Shen Ting," the man said. "Thirty-two years old, veteran, previously worked as a draftsman at an architectural design institute. I had just finished my resignation procedures a month before the apocalypse, preparing to take on my own projects. Then the world turned into this."

Commander Lin Dong finally took the notebook and flipped to the latest page.

The date was today. A circle was drawn in red ink on it, with the location of the gas station inside. Beside it was a note: Suspected human stronghold, under observation. Signs of personnel activity, lights at night. High alert, identify yourself before approaching to avoid misunderstandings.

"You have been observing us?"

"Since last night," Shen Ting said calmly. "I saw you setting up antennas and installing cameras on the roof. But you didn't open fire or set active traps, so I judged that communication was possible."

Commander Lin Dong looked up at him. "What if your judgment was wrong?"

Shen Ting was silent for a second. "Then I would have waited over there until you left, or until you died."

Thirty minutes later, the deal was struck.

Fifty liters of gasoline, split into five portable fuel cans. Two cases of military rations, a box of antibiotics, and a roll of bandages—this was the limit of what Commander Lin Dong could provide. He adamantly refused to give any weapons, and the other party was sensible enough not to insist.

In exchange, Shen Ting left the notebook and drew a detailed map on the spot.

"This is the current situation in the city center." He used a pencil to mark an 'X' at the gas station's location. "Heading west, the road to the military camp is blocked by a horde of zombies. The route you took when you came here now has at least five thousand zombies gathered there."

Commander Lin Dong's brows furrowed. That was their only retreat route.

"Heading north, through this residential area, there is a small supermarket. But I observed it last night; there is a big guy in the residential area." Shen Ting drew a skull symbol on the paper. "Lv.7, Strength-type Mutant, about 2.3 meters tall, right arm mutated into a bone hammer. The panel shows 1200 HP, and normal bullets cannot penetrate its skin."

"You've seen it with your own eyes?"

"Two of my men died at its hands." Shen Ting's voice had no fluctuation. "I measured it with a construction worker's level; its running speed is 2.8 m/s, slower than an ordinary person, but its destructive power is astonishing. It can punch through a brick wall."

Commander Lin Dong stared at the skull on the map, his mind rapidly calculating various data.

Mutant, Lv.7, Strength-type, HP 1200. Conscript's ak-47 assault rifle, 7.62mm bullets, penetration data... If they used concentrated fire, with ten people aiming at the same spot simultaneously, theoretically, they could deal 800 damage within four seconds. But it would require hitting a weak point, attracting its attention, and ensuring no other zombies interfered...

"You want to kill it," Shen Ting said suddenly.

It was not a question.

Commander Lin Dong did not deny it. "It has a crystal core."

Shen Ting's gaze changed. It was the understanding that only exists between those of the same kind—they both knew what a crystal core meant. That energy which humans could absorb, that miracle which could allow ordinary people to awaken, that thing which was more valuable than gold in the apocalypse.

"Your team has fewer than ten people," Shen Ting said. "And I can tell, you have wounded on your side. Women, students. What are you going to fight with?"

"I have my own methods."

Shen Ting stared at him for a long time, then suddenly laughed. There was no mockery in that smile, but rather a strange sense of relief.

"I knew it," he said. "You are not an ordinary person either. There is something about you that I have only seen in our company commander. It is a kind of... look that only those who believe in data have."

He stood up and pushed the notebook forward. "Keep this. My people are heading south; there is a suburban-rural fringe area there, few people, many houses, easy to hide. If we can both survive, perhaps we will meet again."

"Wait."

Shen Ting stopped in his tracks.

Commander Lin Dong took a piece of paper from behind the counter, quickly wrote a few lines with a pencil, and handed it to him.

It was a set of frequencies and contact times.

"Every day at 4:00 AM, this channel. If there is an emergency, you can call at any time. Someone on my side will be watching."

Shen Ting took the note, folded it carefully, and put it into his innermost pocket.

"Many thanks," he said. "I still don't know your name."

"Commander Lin Dong."

Shen Ting nodded, turned, and pushed open the door. He walked two steps, then turned back, looking at Commander Lin Dong with a strange expression.

"By the way, there is one thing I forgot to mention."

"What?"

"The source of that data," Shen Ting said. "I can see those numbers because my panel is different from others. My talent is called [Data Analysis]. As long as I stare at something for more than three seconds, I can see its attribute panel."

Commander Lin Dong's fingers tightened slightly.

"But that Mutant, the Lv.7 one," Shen Ting's voice became somewhat ethereal, "the first time I looked at it, there was a line of grey text under its name. I thought it was a display error, but later I confirmed it several times."

"What did it say?"

Shen Ting looked at him and said word by word:

"'Brood Nest Beacon, coordinates marked'."

Shen Ting disappeared into the morning mist with his people. The gasoline, food, medicine, and that contact frequency were enough for them to survive the first week in the suburban-rural fringe area to the south.

Commander Lin Dong stood at the entrance of the convenience store, watching those backs being swallowed by the mist, then turned and went back inside.

"Do you believe him?"

Wang Lei came down from the second floor, his face showing obvious suspicion. He had heard the entire conversation via surveillance.

Commander Lin Dong did not answer directly, but instead opened the notebook and carefully looked at the data on every page.

The handwriting was neat, the logic clear, and every item of data had a testing method and sample support. If not for the current environment, he would have almost thought this was a professional investigation report.

"The data is credible," Commander Lin Dong said. "The person is hard to say."

"What do you mean?"

"He said three of his people died testing the auditory threshold of zombies." Commander Lin Dong looked up. "Do you think a person who would use their own people for experiments is trustworthy?"

Wang Lei was stunned.

"But the data he provided is indeed useful..." He tried to argue, but stopped halfway. Because he suddenly realized a problem—if Shen Ting could use his own people as experiments to obtain data, would he also treat others as test subjects?

"There are two possibilities." Commander Lin Dong held up two fingers. "First, he is lying, and that data was obtained from somewhere else, and he fabricated the testing process to increase credibility. Second, what he said is true, then he is a person who is extremely rational to the point of coldness. Either way, we need to keep our distance."

Wang Lei was silent.

Commander Lin Dong tucked the notebook into the pocket of his tactical vest. Outside the window, the morning mist gradually dissipated, and sunlight shone through the clouds onto the abandoned city, gilding the reinforced concrete ruins with an illusory layer of gold.

Li Na's voice suddenly came over the walkie-talkie, carrying a hint of undisguised excitement:

"Team Leader Lin, that signal has appeared again. The military radio signal, it's particularly clear this time."

Commander Lin Dong walked quickly toward the backyard.

Li Na was leaning against the oil tanker, her face still pale, but her eyes were startlingly bright. She handed the headset to Commander Lin Dong, and a disjointed voice came from inside:

"...This is... Armored... Respond if received... Coordinates..."

Encrypted communication, it was indeed military.

Commander Lin Dong pressed the talk button and said in a deep voice: "This is a survivor from the eastern suburbs of Beiling City, we have received your signal, please repeat the coordinates, please repeat the coordinates."

There was silence in the headset for five seconds, then the voice sounded again, much clearer this time:

"118.72 degrees East longitude, 31.84 degrees North latitude. Repeat, 118.72 degrees East longitude, 31.84 degrees North latitude. This is the temporary command post of the Armed Police Beiling Detachment, we still have thirty-seven people, heavy weapons include two armored vehicles. If there are any survivors, please move toward the coordinates. If there are any survivors, please move toward the coordinates..."

Commander Lin Dong's pupils contracted sharply.

That coordinate—he remembered it. On the map Shen Ting drew last night, that location was marked with a red skull.

It was exactly the location of that Lv.7 Mutant.

[End of Chapter]