"Lai San doesn't leave the base at all now. Apart from a few going out on patrol, all his thousands of underlings are piled up next to the base, becoming a human meat shield."
"That guy has learned from experience and even knocked down the surrounding tall buildings, leaving Brother Long without a sniping point. We can only solve the problem by close-range assassination, which is almost an unsolvable puzzle."
"To tackle the crowd tactics, we must lure the snake out of the hole. Let me share my proposal..."
Moments later, Lu Wenwu looked at the other four with a smile, while they stared at him like they were looking at a devil.
It's simply because Lu Wenwu, who looked harmless, proposed a solution that would even make anti-terrorism experts nod in acknowledgment...
Spread the location of those survivors to lure the contaminated ones out, take advantage of the time difference, and reduce the difficulty of assassination.
Anyway, they'll be teleported out right after completing the main mission, and there's no worry about being ambushed when they return.
What?
What if the main mission isn't completed?
Then that's it, what else is there to say?
If, under the premise that the survivors refuse to assist, the contaminated army is lured away and the assassination still can't be completed, there's simply no other way.
Even a toe could tell that those survivors who refuse to help are no longer willing.
Otherwise, wouldn't someone have at least spoken up when Lu Wenwu persuaded with virtue?
Come to think of it,
Anyone brave probably already left with the previous players, and those remaining survivors are timid, scared, and weak.
"This plan... is just too criminal..." Wei Long said dryly.
The honest special ops sergeant felt his worldview had been greatly impacted, and didn't know what to say in light of Lu Wenwu's power and contributions.
Yuan Shi stammered, "Five... Brother Wu... isn't our approach a bit too..."
"Too inhumane?" Super Niu Niu, recovering his composure, struggled to chew on a piece of bread, "Then do you have a better solution?"
Yuan Shi thought for a moment with a bitter face, "Uh... theoretically, shouldn't we reason and appeal emotionally, persuade those survivors to help us wholeheartedly, learn about the worldview and background from them, find the weakness of Ma Guang and the polluted ones, and then..."
"And then we end up like those people before, with the assimilation rate directly shooting past forty percent, forever nailed to the pillar of shame for implicating Brother Wu." Ye Hongyuan sighed, "Xiaoyuan, you wouldn't want to head to battle with a group of incompetent comrades, would you?"
Yuan Shi stammered, "No... I wouldn't."
"You say getting their full assistance, would passive assistance count?" Ye Hongyuan asked again.
"I guess... it counts."
"You say uncovering the worldview and background, have we found out the weaknesses of the contaminated?"
"...Yes, the contamination has been around for eight years, the number in City of Evolution sharply fell during the civil war, and the contaminated have dull reactions to smells."
"Well, there you go. Don't be too rigid in doing things."
Ye Hongyuan spread his hands with a slight smile on his face.
"In your young people's terms, compared to Brother Wu, your understanding of the game still falls way short. Only by using all available resources at hand can we go further, get higher ratings, and save more people."
"Yes... even if it's not humane—if those guys can still be considered human."
Lu Wenwu glanced at Ye Hongyuan in surprise.
This nearly sixty-year-old chief physician was surprisingly perceptive.
No wonder he's the best off among them.
Wei Long sighed, patting Yuan Shi on the shoulder, everything left unsaid.
For those of them from a military background, the ingrained way of thinking is hard to change.
"Well, let me ask a serious question." Wei Long sighed again, "How do we ensure the contaminated will definitely come out and fall for our diversion tactic?"
Lu Wenwu confidently said, "Hunger."
"Hunger?" The others were stunned.
Lu Wenwu nodded, "You may not see it, but from my observation, whether it's those contaminated patrol squads or the Mutated Beastmen, 'Hunger' is written all over their eyes."
"Hunger is a temptation difficult for any creature to resist, especially for a bunch who don't know how long they've been starving. Unpolluted creatures should have a deadly allure to them."
"Of course, this is all conjecture based on information and cases described in some literary works."
"Uh, this... you mean, they catch survivors to eat?" Yuan Shi mumbled, "And this hunger thing... Brother Wu, is this really reliable?"
"Eighty percent sure, we'll know by scouting and running an experiment tomorrow." Lu Wenwu said calmly, "As for judging the hunger aspect, even just a cook like me, I've seen many a hungry wolf."
Hunger, seen directly through the Eye of Insight.
The conjecture that the contaminated ones catch survivors to eat stems from Lu Wenwu.
They previously learned that it's been more than eight years since the apocalypse began in this world.
Aside from the military fort at the survivor camp, which had stockpiled many resources, all the food in the city should have been exhausted.
The contaminated don't farm or produce, so where does the food come from?
And considering what the middle-aged man who was 'convinced by Virtue' said earlier, Lai San's underlings have diminished over the years, but their average strength has increased.
That led to Lu Wenwu's speculation.
They are likely devouring each other.
The losers become food, while the survivors grow stronger.
It's nothing unusual.
In times of great famine, people resort to cannibalism.
This city is empty of bodies and even classic mutated stray dogs and cats of apocalypse stories, probably because they've all been eaten.
Ma Guang and his group have likely been starving for a long time, so their blood bars are seldom full.
But they are no longer ordinary humans; they can hold out longer, which is why they have maintained their strength till now.
"One last question." Wei Long thought for a moment, "If all the survivors die, will we fail the mission? Or, will it affect the mission evaluation?"
"What's our main mission?" Lu Wenwu countered.
"Assassinate the contaminated... Oh, sorry, no problem." Wei Long realized belatedly, "Xiaoyuan and I agree with this plan."
"I also agree with the Five Gods' idea." Super Niu Niu followed up, "Whatever the Five Gods say goes!"
"I agree," Ye Hongyuan also said.
"Woof woof!"
Mao Mao, who had been lying on the ground as a makeshift paperweight, joined in the fun, waving its paw while nodding.
Five people and a dog reached a consensus .jpg
Lu Wenwu smiled slightly, "Good, let me outline our plan for the next few days..."