Chapter 136. Bottomline
Arc 5 : Wasteland World Movie Nightmare.
Shen Heng looked over in surprise and asked: “Du Wenping? Aren’t those the Du couple you went to see?”
“Yeah.” Du Yan nodded.
“What’s going on?”
Du Yan frowned and said: “I don’t know. They were fine when I left.”
The atmosphere in the vehicle fell silent, and neither Du Yan nor Shen Heng spoke again.
If the murder of the Du couple was true, it would not be difficult for Du Yan to guess the intention. It was most likely someone from the First Research Institute who ordered others to do it, and the purpose was very simple.
That is to alienate the relationship between him and Shen Heng.
It has been a while since Du Yan left Homeland No. 1. Presumably, with the means of the First Research Institute, they have already found out that it was Shen Heng who took him away.
With the current mecha technology, no one can snatch people away from Shen Heng for the time being. At the end of the movie, even after another hundred years, mecha technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, and the mecha troops sent out to deal with the last and strongest Infected still return empty-handed every time.
Du Yan also knew the style of the people in the First Research Institute. If they wanted to do something and it was difficult to achieve the goal through direct means, they would use roundabout means.
Du Yan recalled the reports about Shen Heng that he had read in the Infected Weekly. Although there were some exaggerations in them, they were generally very accurate.
Shen Heng is a man who has his own bottom line even though he is extremely powerful in this chaotic wasteland world. He has his own set of principles, which can be simply described as the name of the movie: The Last Hero on Earth.
Killing children is something that goes beyond Shen Heng’s bottom line.
In fact, when the external radiation began to decrease to a level where humans could survive and the survivors began to walk out of the underground shelter, Shen Heng was not alone like he is now.
Shen Heng had many close friends before the war. At that time, they all chose to hibernate in the same underground shelter. After waking up, Shen Heng moved around with his friends and even set up a camp.
However, with the collapse of social order and the unprecedented power, many Infected could not control themselves and exposed the evil side of human nature.
Shen Heng’s friends belong to this category, and a rift began to appear between Shen Heng and them, which eventually turned out to be because his friends massacred an entire underground shelter of innocent Pure Ones survivors, including several children.
Shen Heng broke off relations with his friends and spent several years hunting down the murderer, executing all the murderers.
The people from the First Research Institute saw this point and used the death of the child to anger Shen Heng.
In their opinion, Shen Heng and Du Yan had only known each other for a short period of time. Even if Shen Heng helped Du Yan out of pity or sympathy, the trust between them would not be greater than that between his former friends.
Once he was sure that Du Yan had killed someone, he would not protect him even if he did not send Du Yan back to Homeland No. 1.
The sky was gradually getting dark. Normally, Shen Heng would have started looking for a place to stay at this time. However, today, the speed of the vehicle did not slow down at all, and the ‘behemoth’ was still speeding away into the distance.
The atmosphere in the vehicle was extremely silent. Du Yan turned his head and looked out the window. His expression was quite calm. He was not too nervous. He did not speak because he was just waiting for Shen Heng to sort out his thoughts.
Xiao Ba couldn’t stand the current atmosphere and asked nervously: “The people in the First Research Institute are too sinister. They actually killed the whole family. Why? Is it just to make you morally condemned?”
Anyway, Du Yan was free at the moment, so he patiently explained the reason to Xiao Ba.
He said: “Of course it was to alienate me and Shen Heng. If Shen Heng stayed by my side all the time, no one would be able to catch me back.”
After listening to this, Xiao Ba asked hesitantly: “Couldn’t the people in the research institute just hide the people? They could achieve the same effect anyway.”
Du Yan said: “Shen Heng is not a person who would be so gullible. He would definitely try to go back and investigate the truth. In order to completely deceive Shen Heng, they would not leave such a big flaw, so they must have killed them.”
In Du Yan’s mind, Xiao Ba angrily scolded the people of the First Research Institute for their sinister behavior and murder of innocent people.
Du Yan smiled coldly from an angle that Shen Heng couldn’t see: “Although their methods are cruel, they are very effective in alienating companions who have not been together for a long time. In this chaotic wasteland world, human life is really worthless.”
“Is this kind of world really necessary to continue to exist?”
Xiao Ba’s angry curse was swallowed back by Du Yan’s words: “You, don’t scare me…”
“I was a little too into the role, sorry.” Du Yan came back to his senses.
Xiao Ba quickly changed the subject and asked: “So what are you going to do next?”
Du Yan’s tone was very nonchalant: “What can I do? Just keep running. Those people in the First Research Institute must have discovered that I have activated my superpowers. If I am taken back by them, what awaits me is a miserable life of being sliced into pieces every day.”
Xiao Ba felt a little worried when he heard this. Although this is just a dream world, it is extremely real to the dreamer and is no different from reality.
If Du Yan was really captured and taken back to the research institute to undergo those cruel and inhumane experiments, he was somewhat worried that the other party would be traumatized.
Xiao Ba asked: “Didn’t you say that Shen Heng couldn’t stand the killing of innocent people, and involving children was beyond his bottom line.”
“So what?”
“You came back a few hours later than agreed. If you can’t explain clearly what you did during those hours, Shen Heng will definitely become suspicious. What if he then parted ways with you?”
Du Yan said: “No, Shen Heng knows me very well now. How could a naive and ignorant boy like me kill an innocent person?”
Xiao Ba felt that he was really stupid just now. He actually worried whether Du Yan would have psychological trauma. He should be worried about whether Shao Lingheng would have psychological trauma after meeting Du Yan, a dream-eater with a strange train of thought and an evil taste.
“You deceived Shen Heng like this, and you still have the nerve to say that you are innocent and ignorant of the world? Let’s see how you can cover up this lie this time.”
Du Yan said: “It’s very simple. Just tell him what I did that day.”
Xiao Ba was puzzled: “You want to tell him about the Adam Project? If Shen Heng’s faith collapses, be careful that this dream world will collapse as well.”
This dream world is based on the movie “The Last Hero on Earth”, and some basic concepts of the movie can not be changed.
The theme of the entire movie is not the story of the wasteland world or the future of mankind, but the creation of the character of Shen Heng. In a world where order has collapsed, Shen Heng still maintains a belief, and for the hope of human survival, he endures loneliness and moves forward unswervingly.
If Shen Heng’s faith collapses, it will definitely lead to the collapse of the dream world.
This is also the reason why Du Yan is not prepared to tell Shen Heng about the Adam Project directly. Only by letting Shen Heng know the truth step by step can he avoid causing his faith to collapse.
Du Yan smiled and said: “I know, just make up another lie.”
Xiao Ba could only use two words to describe his mood in the end: “Haha.”
In fact, when Du Yan was chatting with Xiao Ba in his mind, his attention was always on Shen Heng, not leaving for a moment.
He could sense Shen Heng’s emotions, and the other party was indeed full of doubts. However, this doubt was not directed at Du Yan’s negative emotions, so he could say so confidently that Shen Heng would not doubt himself because of this wanted news.
Du Yan was in a very relaxed mood, but Shen Heng was in a complicated and tangled situation.
He naturally didn’t believe that Du Yan would do such a thing, but the fact that Homeland had issued such a wanted order must have a reason.
A family of four was killed, including two underage children, and the incident was related to Du Yan. Given Shen Heng’s character, he would never let it go unless he got to the bottom of the matter.
Shen Heng was struggling in his heart. He wanted to ask Du Yan what he had done during those hours, but he was also worried that Du Yan would be sad because he doubted him and didn’t believe him.
Du Yan sighed helplessly in his heart. Shen Heng was really good in every way, except that he was too entangled. He had a delicate mind that was completely different from his rough appearance.
Then, he can only break the deadlock by himself. Thinking of this, Du Yan asked: “Just ask me what you want to know. I won’t mind.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Heng decisively pulled the vehicle over.
Shen Heng turned around and looked at Du Yan, raised his hand, rubbed his hair, and then spoke.
“Du Yan, I trust you very much. You have to remember that the following words are based on my trust in you. I am just trying to figure out the cause and effect of this matter. After all, it involves the lives of four innocent people.”
Du Yan nodded obediently and said: “Okay, I understand. Ask ahead.”
Shen Heng considered his words and then asked: “My concern is that the time you returned was a few hours different from the time we agreed on.”
Shen Heng paused for a moment, and when he saw that Du Yan looked calm, he continued.
“From your behavior that day, the result of your conversation must have been unpleasant, so they would not have invited you to have a meal there or anything else, so you left and went somewhere else, right?”
Du Yan nodded and said: “I knew that I couldn’t hide these things from you. After I learned the clues about my origin from the Du couple, I went to the library in Homeland No. 5.”
The library is open to all residents of the Homeland. Du Yan took off his disguise when he entered Homeland No. 5. His fair skin naturally allowed him to blend in with the local residents without being suspected.
Therefore, Shen Heng did not doubt Du Yan’s statement. He suddenly asked: “Did you go there to check the whereabouts of your biological parents?”
Du Yan said: “Du couple only said that I was fostered by a friend in their home, and then the friend took a job and left Homeland and never came back. They couldn’t make ends meet at the time, and they found something special about me, so they were confused by money and sent me to the research institute.”
Pure Ones in their homeland do not necessarily never leave their homeland.
When a missed underground shelter is discovered, the Homeland will send out Pure Ones with a full set of anti-radiation equipment to investigate the situation. If there are survivors who have not been exposed to radiation, they will be kept for later.
In addition to a small number of official personnel, these tasks will also recruit a large number of people from the private sector with high salaries. In Du Yan’s description, his non-existent biological parents took on this job.
These official missions are all recorded in the library’s《Homeland History Annals》. It is very logical for Du Yan to go to the library to inquire about the destination of the mission.
Shen Heng had no doubts at all and believed Du Yan’s words directly, saying: “It seems that the Du couple reported you to the First Research Institute after seeing you, and then you were photographed by the surveillance equipment when you entered and left the library.”
“Hmm.” Du Yan nodded: “They released this news just to make you give up protecting me, and then I will be helpless and have no choice but to return to the institute.”
Shen Heng sighed: “It’s just the news of the Du family’s death. I don’t know what the real situation is.”
Du Yan glanced at him and said sympathetically: “I know that with your personality, you will definitely not be able to bear to see innocent children get hurt. Why don’t we go back to Homeland No. 5 to get some information.”
Unexpectedly, Shen Heng shook his head: “No, it’s too dangerous for you to go back. They must be looking for you over there.”
Du Yan asked: “Then what are you going to do?”
Shen Heng hesitated for a moment and said with uncertainty: “I will find a safe place to hide you, and then go to the Homeland No. 5 alone to find out the news?”
Du Yan asked with a smile: “Shen Shsuhsu, Boss Shen, are you stupid? In this world, is there any place safer than being with the strongest Infected?”
“…” Shen Heng was stunned, and his ears turned red because of Du Yan’s praise: “I, you, let’s not delay any longer and go back quickly.”
The sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and in this wasteland world, the light reflected from the moon was not enough to break through the thick dust suspended in the atmosphere.
The endless road disappeared at the end of the horizon, and the whole world was dead silent. The only signs of life were the headlights of the vehicle and the people inside.
The ‘behemoth’ carried Shen Heng and Du Yan and drove towards Homeland No. 5.
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