210: Chapter 210 Click

"Commander, it's time to wake up."

Li Ming yawned. Although he was still a bit sleepy, he climbed out of bed anyway.

He stretched, feeling the wind whistling through the building.

He grabbed a pack of compressed biscuits and ate them. Li Ming used a motorized zip line to go downstairs. Indeed, the motorized zip line was just too reliable, giving his currently fearless self the ability to move between floors quickly.

Once on the ground, Li Ming tapped his phone, and the zip line retracted on its own, waiting for its next activation.

His task for today was to confirm the specific status of the Mediation Force. How many people they had left, what their supply situation was like, and how many people were still in the city—Li Ming knew none of these things.

The Omniscient One's information blockade was quite professional. It seemed the years of civil war had allowed them to grow quite a bit; they were no longer the pampered Meituan delivery-boy soldiers.

Thinking this, Li Ming began to explore the city.

"Oh damn, where did he come from?"

"How should I know? It's like he dropped from the sky... Is he the one Miss Elsa mentioned yesterday..."

"Yeah, Bob saw him yesterday. Fully armed, wearing glasses, buzz cut, carrying a G36C. Everything matches."

"I heard he caused yesterday's commotion. He took out an M2 and killed over a dozen people all by himself..."

"I bet it's an exaggeration. No one is that badass."

"Actually, brother, there are. Have you forgotten Miss Elsa and the others?"

"True, those really are superhumans..."

"Alright, Karl. Report it quickly. Say the guy from yesterday has appeared and is currently heading north along Houston Main Street. Specific objective unknown."

——————

"Hey, bro? How about we make a deal?"

Li Ming shook a box of cookies and placed it on the rubble nearby. Leaning on his gun with his other hand, he looked at the dirty little kid in front of him. "Answer a few questions for me, and this box is yours. Not just this, but these too."

He added a case of mineral water next to the cookie box. "So, how's the deal?"

"...Go ahead." The brown-haired youth looked at him. He was roughly middle-school age, not yet fully grown, but clearly a strong lad.

His green eyes darted around, but seeing the cookie box and the whole case of water, he chose to test the waters.

"Great. What's your name? Where are you from?"

"Tom Collin, from Kentucky."

"Then why are you in Texas?"

"Fled here with my parents as refugees."

"I see." Li Ming nodded and pulled a bottle of Coke from his pocket. "A little treat for you. Try it."

The boy hesitated for a moment before tucking it into his ragged clothes. "Do you have any more questions?"

"What do you think of the World Alliance Mediation Force?"

"They're all good people, very good people."

"But their current situation isn't great. I see the Donkey Party Army outside constantly calling for them to surrender."

"Pah! You can't trust them!" Tom spat. "Those guys are a bunch of bastards! My father died at their hands!"

"..." Li Ming fell silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, my friend."

"...It's okay. Keep asking."

"It looks like you don't have any food supplies left. How long have you been hungry?"

"Hmph... about two months or so..." He thought for a bit. "The Mediation Force soldiers gave all their food to us. If they hadn't, many more of us would have starved to death..."

Li Ming took a deep breath. "Do you know the deployment of the Donkey Party Army outside? I mean, do you know how they patrol and what their routes are?"

"Then you've asked the right person! Not only do I know, but I'm the one who walks that route!"

He told Li Ming everything he knew. Li Ming nodded and stood up to leave. "Take the things. If the intel is accurate, there will be a... final payment when I see you next."

Watching him disappear around the corner, Tom grit his teeth, picked up the water and the cookie box, and ran toward the camp. He arrived in front of a guarding Mediation Force soldier. "Uncle Hans! A weird black-haired guy was asking about you...!"

The German in the blue beret perked up. "Tom, tell me about it."

Tom explained the whole situation to Hans. Hans nodded. Seeing Tom trying to hand over the supplies, he quickly waved him off, telling him to keep them or take them to the supply depot in the back. Watching him leave, Hans picked up his walkie-talkie.

"Command, a local citizen has reported new information. I need someone to take over my shift; I'm coming to report immediately."

"Understood. Ivan will relieve you. I'll wait for you at the air-raid shelter."

"Copy that."

On the other side, after Uncle Sam took the supplies and insisted on leaving a few cookies for Tom, Tom ran off to find his little buddies... though they were called buddies, they were actually a group of minors organized into a "drifting" gang of sorts.

He revealed his "battle plan" to them. Considering how generous the man was and how strange his behavior had been, he asked everyone to track him and catch him to figure out who he really was.

What if he was a spy?

"Alright friends, our battle plan is ready to..."

"What are you kids up to?"

The door to the "secret base" was pushed open, and a tall, dark figure stood at the entrance. The voice was pleasant, though the tone wasn't exactly friendly.

"Whoa?! Big Sister Maria?"

And just like that, the Anti-Spy Battle Plan Alpha devised by the group of kids was completely aborted at minus one second from its announced start.

The plan failed—it wasn't that she ruined it for you, but that the world ruined it for you! (Auto-playing the Song of Guan Yu)

In any case, after disbanding the mostly playful group of kids, the tall, red-haired Russian girl glared at Tom. "You can leave the rest to us. Tom... tell me what you know, okay?"

"But, Big Sister Maria..."

"You're only thirteen, Tom. There are some things you shouldn't be doing at your age. Trust me, alright?"

"Ugh..."

Although kids this age are at their most rebellious, he had no resistance against a gentle, beautiful older sister and had to recount everything he knew.

"Very good, Tom. Hurry home. Your sister is worried about you. You're her only support now..."

"Sasha..." Tom was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran off. He still had the cookies he'd saved for his sister in his hand.

Maria stood up, watched his retreating figure, and shook her head.

...

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