CIATB Chapter 200 Goal!
Chapter 200 Goal!
Deep in an abandoned quarry on the outskirts of Jinghai City.
Su Wanqing staggered into a hidden cave and leaned heavily against the cold stone wall.
She was breathing heavily, her chest heaving violently.
That once innocent face was now as pale as paper, and fine beads of cold sweat seeped from her forehead.
"Damn the Mohists..."
She cursed under her breath, her voice hoarse and inhuman.
Extending his right hand, two scarlet energy balls slowly appeared in his palm.
That was the last bit of life energy that Xu forcibly squeezed out of Su Wanqing's body.
The energy ball pulsed in the darkness, emitting an eerie red glow that illuminated the interior of the cave.
Su Wanqing stared at the energy in her palm, a hint of hesitation flashing in her eyes.
Swallowing it will temporarily restore some of your strength.
But the price is that Su Wanqing's body will be completely hollowed out, turning her into a walking corpse.
"Heh... I won't live much longer anyway."
She chuckled self-deprecatingly and swallowed the two wisps of energy.
"ah--!"
A piercing scream echoed through the cave.
Su Wanqing's body convulsed violently, her veins bulged, and her eyes rolled back.
Crimson energy surged through her body, like countless knives cutting into her internal organs.
A few minutes later, the convulsions stopped.
Su Wanqing collapsed to the ground, her chest rising and falling slightly.
Her skin became even paler, almost transparent, and the veins underneath were clearly visible.
But those eyes were even more bloodshot than before.
"Go to sleep... When you wake up, it will be a new beginning."
She murmured to herself and slowly closed her eyes.
The cave fell into a deathly silence.
Only faint breathing sounds proved that life still existed here.
……
a few days later.
Tianji Security Company, three underground floors.
Zhang Yan stood in front of the control panel, his hands flying across the keyboard.
On the screen, lines of code flowed down like a waterfall.
What is the core logic of this identification program?
Qin Xiao leaned closer, looking at the screen with curiosity.
"Pupillary reflex rate".
Zhang Yan didn't even look up. "A normal person's pupils will contract when exposed to light, and the reflectivity is within a fixed range."
"But people whose eyes are contaminated by the ruins will have abnormally high reflectivity in their pupils, like a cat's eyes."
"How could the surveillance cameras capture such a subtle difference?"
"I couldn't capture it on camera." Zhang Yan stopped. "So I added an algorithm to determine if there was anything abnormal by comparing the changes in the pupils of the same person under different lighting conditions."
Qin Xiao scratched his head. "It sounds impressive, but I didn't understand it."
"All you need to know is that this thing can filter out suspicious targets."
Zhang Yan pressed the last Enter key, and the program started running.
On the screen, the surveillance footage of Jinghai City was divided into countless small windows, each rapidly switching between different scenes.
Shopping malls, subway stations, hospitals, schools...
Thousands of faces flashed across the screen.
Suddenly, one of the windows turned red.
"Found it?" Qin Xiao's spirits lifted.
Zhang Yan clicked on the window, and the image froze on the face of a middle-aged man.
The man, dressed in a suit, is buying cigarettes at a convenience store.
He looked ordinary, but deep within his pupils was a barely perceptible crimson hue.
"Record the location," Zhang Yan said.
"Understood." Qin Xiao immediately took out his phone and sent the convenience store's address to his subordinate.
Over the next hour, the program flagged seven more suspicious targets.
There were students, white-collar workers, homeless people, and even a policeman.
"So many?" Qin Xiao gasped. "The speed at which the Ruins are spreading is too fast!"
Zhang Yan didn't speak, he just stared at the screen, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
The eight targets are located in different areas of Jinghai City and have no obvious connection with each other.
But there's something strange about it.
These eight people all visited the same place within the last three days.
Jinghai City First People's Hospital.
"A hospital?" Qin Xiao also noticed this detail. "Could the Ruins be hidden inside the hospital?"
"Not necessarily." Zhang Yan pulled up the hospital's surveillance footage. "But there's definitely something wrong with the hospital."
He quickly scanned the surveillance footage, when suddenly his finger stopped on a particular frame.
In the video, a young doctor in a white coat is pushing a wheelchair with an elderly person sitting in it.
The doctor had his head down, so his face couldn't be seen.
But his shadow stretched very long on the ground, an unusually long one.
Moreover, the edges of the shadow faintly glowed with a scarlet halo.
"I've found you."
A cold smile curved Zhang Yan's lips.
……
The 12th floor of the inpatient department at the First People's Hospital of Jinghai City.
The corridor was quiet, except for the sound of nurses pushing treatment carts past.
The door to ward 1208 was ajar, and low voices could be heard coming from inside.
"Dr. Li, is my father's illness... really incurable?"
A middle-aged woman had red eyes and a choked voice.
"Ms. Wang, you have seen your father's condition."
The young doctor adjusted his glasses and said in a gentle tone, "Late-stage lung cancer, it has already spread throughout the body."
All we can do is try to alleviate his pain.
"But...but he's only sixty years old!"
The woman covered her face, her shoulders trembling.
The young doctor was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly spoke up: "Actually, there is another way."
The woman suddenly looked up. "What method?"
"It's a new drug, still in clinical trials," the doctor said in a low voice. "It's very effective, but the price... is a bit expensive."
"How much? I have money!"
The woman grabbed the doctor's arm urgently.
The doctor looked at her, and a barely perceptible flash of crimson appeared in his eyes behind his glasses.
One million.
"One...one million?"
The woman was stunned.
"I know this number is very high," the doctor said softly, "but Ms. Wang, this is your father's last hope."
"Can you bear to watch him leave like this?"
The woman bit her lip, tears streaming down her face.
"I...I'll think of something."
She turned and rushed out of the ward.
The doctor stood there, watching her back, a strange smile slowly spreading across his lips.
"Another one."
He muttered to himself, a hint of pleasure in his voice.
Just then, footsteps came from the end of the corridor.
The doctor turned his head and saw a young man walking towards them.
The man was wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans. He was quite handsome, but his eyes were as cold as ice.
Their eyes met in mid-air.
The doctor's smile froze.
He saw something in those eyes that terrified him instinctively.
"Dr. Li, right?"
Zhang Yan stopped in front of him, his tone indifferent.
"Who...who are you?"
The doctor instinctively took a step back.
"I came to talk to you."
Zhang Yan reached out and placed his hand on his shoulder.
The doctor tried to struggle, but the hand was like an iron clamp, rendering him unable to move.
"Let's go, let's talk somewhere else."
Zhang Yan dragged him toward the emergency exit.
In the doctor's eyes, the scarlet light grew stronger and stronger.
……