98: Chapter 98 News of the Morlocks

"The day for the business trip is almost here."

What arrived before the business trip was a phone call.

September 25th, 3:10 PM, Antique Shop.

Yan Zheng was behind the counter, repairing the bottom of a Kangxi blue and white brush washer. The smell of the epoxy resin was mostly sucked away by the exhaust fan, leaving white powder on his fingers.

The old mobile phone in his back pocket rang.

It wasn't Burns' encrypted frequency; it was Liu Kun's number.

Yan Zheng placed the brush washer into a padded tray, wiped his hands with a tissue, and answered.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Liu."

The breathing on the other end of the line was a bit hurried. Liu Kun's voice was low, and the background noise was chaotic; it sounded like he was calling from a public place.

"Boss Yan, the matter regarding the New Jersey farm has been investigated and clarified."

"Please go ahead."

"The farm has been shut down. It was cleared out by the end of August. The Mutants were transferred, the equipment was dismantled, and even the foundation pipes were dug up. I had someone check the site; the entire plot of land was turned over, and not a single trace was left behind."

Yan Zheng threw the tissue into the wastebasket and tapped his fingers lightly on the counter.

"Where were they transferred to?"

"Upstream." Liu Kun's voice dropped even lower. "I can't find the specific location. All the middlemen in the chain have cut off contact. Two of them changed their numbers and moved, and there is another one—"

Liu Kun paused for a second.

"Dead. He was found in Jersey City last week. The autopsy report said cardiac arrest, but I heard there were burn marks at the scene."

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ≖ ‸ ≖ )

"Silenced."

"Yes, silenced. The remnants of Weapon X are cleaning up the outer chain; they don't want anyone to trace the line back upstream."

Yan Zheng opened the drawer under the counter, took out a pencil and a notepad, and wrote down the information Liu Kun provided point by point.

"Mr. Liu, you said there was another piece of news?"

Liu Kun's tone changed, shifting from tension to a certain undefinable hesitation.

"Boss Yan, this one has nothing to do with Weapon X. It came from the Mutant community."

"Speak."

"The Morlocks."

The pencil left an ink dot on the notepad.

"Have you heard of them? Between The Bronx and Manhattan, there is a group of Mutants living in abandoned subway tunnels. Their appearances are mutated, and they can't live normally on the surface."

"I have heard of them."

"They have recently been in contact with Magneto's The Brotherhood. The reason is that after the news about the Registration Act came out, federal government investigators began infiltrating the subway tunnels. The Morlocks' territory is no longer safe, and they need external protection."

Yan Zheng's pencil wrote two characters on the notepad.

Morlock.

"Mr. Liu, which channel did you get this news from?"

"I knew a middleman on the old Mutant trafficking chain. He doesn't do trafficking anymore, but he has supply trades with the Morlocks. There is no running water or electricity in the subway tunnels, so the Morlocks need supplies transported in from the outside. This middleman helps them transport Water and canned food twice a week."

"How much is he willing to tell?"

"He said the Morlocks' tribe size is about sixty to eighty people. Most of them are vulnerable Mutants with physical mutations and have no combat capability. But there are a few in the tribe who can fight, and they are responsible for guarding the tunnel entrance."

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ✧ ⌓ ✧ ˵ )

"Sixty to eighty."

He ran this number through his mind.

"Mr. Liu, how many of those who can fight are there?"

"The middleman said he has seen four or five. He couldn't describe their specific abilities clearly, but they were likely strength-based and defense-based. However, the leader of the tribe seems to be a sensory-type Mutant who can detect biological signals within a radius of several hundred meters, which is why the Morlocks have been able to hide in the tunnels for so many years without being discovered."

"Sensory-type."

Yan Zheng's pencil stopped.

"What about the quality?"

"What quality?"

"Nothing, just my own terminology. Mr. Liu, to what extent has the negotiation between the Morlocks and The Brotherhood progressed?"

"It hasn't been settled yet. The Brotherhood demands that the Morlocks pledge allegiance to Magneto, but the Morlocks' leader refused. They only want protection and don't want to get involved in the conflict between Mutants and the government."

"If they can't reach an agreement, what are the Morlocks planning to do next?"

Liu Kun was silent for two seconds.

"Boss Yan, I don't know about that. But the middleman said one thing—the Morlocks have changed their tunnel entrance three times recently, and each time, they were found by investigators in less than a week."

"There's an inside traitor."

"Or the investigators' equipment precision is being upgraded."

Yan Zheng put down the pencil and picked up a soft cloth to wipe the residual resin powder from his fingers.

"Mr. Liu, thank you for your hard work. Help me keep an eye on that middleman, and if there are any new changes in the Morlocks' movements, notify me immediately."

"Understood. Boss Yan, there is one more thing."

"Please go ahead."

"The middleman asked me—if you have any ideas about the Morlocks."

Yan Zheng's hand holding the soft cloth paused for half a second.

"Mr. Liu, how did you answer him?"

"I said my boss is interested in antiques, not in Mutants."

"A very good answer."

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ≖ ᗜ ≖ ˵ )

"Just say that."

The phone hung up.

Yan Zheng tore the note paper from the notepad, folded it into quarters, and tucked it into his shirt pocket.

He walked to the back door of the shop and opened it. Cold air from the stairwell welled up from the Underground Room, carrying a mixed scent of formalin and inscription wax.

He didn't go down.

He leaned against the doorframe, rubbing his fingers along the edge, his fingertips sensing the fine cracks in the wood's lacquer finish.

"The Morlocks."

"Sixty to eighty Mutants, the vast majority of which have low-level mutation genes."

"Taken individually, they are too poor even to be used as filler for a Skeleton Soldier."

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ˘ ͈ ꒳ ˘ ͈ )

"But the quantity is there."

"Sixty sets of mutation genes broken down to make adhesive is enough for me to mass-produce the base layer for elite-level creations for half a year."

"And that sensory-type leader—if it is a true telepathic-type Mutant, even if the quality is only intermediate, it would still be ten times better than that telepathy fragment."

He tapped his fingers on the doorframe twice.

"But I cannot take the initiative to touch them."

"An Antique Shop owner going to slaughter a vulnerable Mutant community in the subway tunnels? The next day, Charles Xavier would come knocking with his X-Men."

"Magneto wouldn't sit idly by either—the Morlocks are his potential source of troops."

"Offending both sides at once is something my current assets cannot handle."

He closed the back door and walked back to the counter.

The Kangxi blue and white brush washer was still lying in the padded tray. The epoxy resin had mostly solidified, and the repaired surface was smooth and even.

Yan Zheng sat back down in his chair, resting his chin on his left hand, while his right index finger slowly drew circles on the counter.

"But what if it's not me who takes action?"

"The Registration Act will be voted on in two months, and the conflict between The Brotherhood and the government will escalate."

"Investigators have already infiltrated the Morlocks' tunnels."

"If the government takes action against the Morlocks—the consequences of the purge will naturally be borne by them."

"If The Brotherhood forcibly absorbs the Morlocks—it wouldn't be strange for both sides to fall out after the Morlocks refuse."

"It's even possible for both sides to take action at the same time."

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ꐦ ≖ ‸ ≖ ˵ )

"At that time, the place will be littered with Mutant remains that no one will clean up."

"And I only need to do one thing."

"Wait."

He picked up the cup of black tea that had cooled on the counter and took a sip.

The tea had no temperature left; it only tasted astringent and slightly bitter from the theine, but he held it in his mouth, swirling it for two seconds before swallowing.

"Yan doesn't play the hunter."

"Yan plays the scavenger."

"The dead don't pick the motives of the undertaker."

He placed the cup back on the counter, and the sound of the porcelain base hitting the wood echoed back and forth in the empty shop.

"Mr. System."

"Help me add a new procurement item to the bottom of the Harvest Season list."

"Item Name: Morlock Gene Wholesale."

"Note: After others have settled the bill, I will come to collect the goods."