Plague (17): What does he want?

When he saw the news about the Huaxi Hospital incident dominating the headlines, Tan Xiao felt a bit anxious, fearing he might see news he didn’t want to see.

He braced himself and clicked on the official news, which was very prominently displayed in blue and black letters, an official announcement from the world government.

“[Huaxi Hospital Malicious Attack Incident Announcement]

Yesterday, a criminal gang led by Li and Wang planned a heinous and insane violent attack, inciting an unidentified crowd to launch a vicious assault on Huaxi Hospital.

In this attack, thirty-five people were injured, including two doctors and a criminal police officer who were seriously injured but are now out of life-threatening danger, while the rest sustained minor injuries.

The criminal gang was extremely ruthless and has been eliminated on the spot by our forces. We hope everyone will not believe or spread rumors and not be used by unidentified forces…”

Wen Yi said he wasn’t injured, but since they hadn’t video chatted, and their conversation was light-hearted, it was uncertain if the other person was just putting on a brave face.

However, being able to send a message himself meant that even if there was some concealment, it wouldn’t be a serious injury, just a minor one.

Thinking of this, he breathed a sigh of relief and went to check other related trending topics.

[The Inside Story of the Huaxi Hospital Attack, See the Truth Quickly!]

[The first cured patient has successfully been discharged, and Huaxi Hospital’s vaccine progress shows promise of developing a vaccine within a month]

[A team selling supplies illegally has been caught]

[A single act of misplaced trust led to a seventy-year-old being sentenced to twenty years!]

Usually, during sentencing, younger or much older individuals receive leniency, but this time it was different. Even elderly people in their seventies or eighties would have the sentence strictly enforced, making them serve their full term.

After all, the policy was issued too recently, and because it was quite strict, it was inevitable that some people would try to exploit loopholes.

Tan Xiao looked at this news, and with the efficiency of the authorities, there was always a sense that this was a bait-and-switch operation.

After all, the malicious incidents were exaggerated to a great extent, and a bunch of criminals were shot on the spot, but no one died, only three were seriously injured.

In fact, his guess was not wrong; this incident was indeed a bait-and-switch operation manipulated by someone behind the scenes.

Yesterday, the media was in chaos, which was orchestrated by Nie Cheng with the intention of pushing things forward. He had complete control over the pace of this attack.

The personnel responsible for maintaining public order were all wearing sufficiently sturdy protective and anti-explosion gear. They received orders to directly eliminate any troublemakers before the situation escalated.

The reason for the injuries was that there were insiders within the hospital colluding with outsiders to create a small-scale riot.

As an awakened NPC, Nie Cheng naturally knew that there were outsiders in the city. The number of these outsiders was quite significant, though he didn’t know the exact figure—perhaps ten thousand, a hundred thousand, or even more.

Outsiders meant instability, danger, and turmoil. He could be ruthless to the local citizens, let alone these outsiders.

If they behaved themselves and did nothing, Nie Cheng wouldn’t go so far as to kill them. After all, finding the outsiders wasn’t an easy task, and the official personnel were already stretched thin, making it unnecessary to waste resources on searching for them.

But those unstable elements who had no feelings for the residents of this city and no respect for life must be eliminated immediately.

After the policy was released, a considerable number of people would take it lightly. After several repetitions, Nie Cheng decisively chose to set a typical case at the very beginning: to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, and to deter the vast majority of citizens.

The military was not joking around; violating regulations would truly result in immediate execution on the spot.

In addition to the incident at Huaxi Hospital, the authorities also reported multiple cases of selling supplies during special periods, stealing during lockdowns, leaving residential areas without permission, and inadequate disinfection and protective measures.

On weekdays, petty theft, violations of laws and regulations, and bribery cases were also dealt with severely and harshly.

Apart from Huaxi Hospital, those who violated rules and caused serious consequences by running amok were sentenced to prison within a short period, with particularly severe sentences starting from three years, up to the death penalty, and even immediate execution.

As soon as the announcement of this incident came out, those who usually had some ulterior motives instantly settled down, fearing that they might do something bad and then be caught and made an example of.

For most ordinary people, this situation actually provided a greater sense of security. After all, they didn’t want to take revenge on society; they just wanted to get through the tough times safely.

Moreover, the authorities also said that some people had been cured and there had been significant progress with the vaccine.

However, only a very few people knew that this statement was a piece of fake news meant to placate the public.

While chatting and continuously scrolling through the news, a strange phone call came in: “Hello, I am a staff member from the Hope Rescue Team. May I ask if you still intend to donate the medical supplies you promised earlier?”

The Hope Rescue Team was a relatively large civilian rescue team, with over 500 registered members in the official association, but nearly 10,000 volunteers signed up.

After all, there were too many patients, and there was a severe shortage of manpower to help distribute supplies.

“Donations, of course, donations, but I can’t leave my community.”

“That’s okay, we have the necessary permits here, and our transport team can come to pick up the supplies. Thank you very much for your donation.”

If it were just one or two packs of masks, a few packs of gloves, or one or two sets of protective clothing, they definitely wouldn’t be willing to come over and deal with it. However, after contacting the donor, they took the corresponding photos.

Over 500,000 worth of supplies filled an entire living room, enough to sustain them for a while.

Originally, the family community affiliated with Huaxi Hospital was managed very strictly, and even the rescue team was not allowed to enter easily. But upon learning that Tan Xiao intended to donate a batch of supplies, the rescue team quickly obtained the necessary entry permit.

The relevant person in charge received instructions from superiors, suggesting that they should try to get closer to the donor, Tan Xiao.

That day, after Nie Cheng found out that Wen Yi had a boyfriend, he quickly used his own means to investigate Tan Xiao’s information.

When the data was delivered to him, he scrutinized every line of small print for a long time.

An 18-year-old young prospective college student, sunny personality, outstanding grades, exceptional appearance…

That day, he was hit by a basketball, ended up in Huaxi Hospital, and then fell in love with Wen Yi at first sight, launching a passionate pursuit.

From the data, it seemed that Tan Xiao was not an outsider, at least he didn’t act like one.

Nie Cheng didn’t plan to do anything to Tan Xiao, but since he was Wen Yi’s boyfriend, he upgraded this person’s data level to the highest and paid more attention to the latter.

Tan Xiao had been very well-behaved these past few days, staying at home and not going out. The next day, those messy news websites sent targeted emails and pop-ups to Tan Xiao’s account.

However, Tan Xiao spent very little time browsing the related news; he was just a good citizen living a good life.

After all, Tan Xiao didn’t even know what a player was, let alone the so-called mission.

This donation incident was a natural opportunity to get close to Tan Xiao.

After Tan Xiao communicated the details, it took less than an hour for someone to drive a van into the family community.

After verifying the relevant information, the person in charge thanked Tan Xiao once again and said, “This is the honor certificate for your donation. Thank you very much for your donation. If you have any difficulties in life or any other requests, we can help you arrange them. If you want to exchange this batch of scarce supplies for money at market price or if you want a special pass, we can accommodate that.”

The person in charge was wearing a single-sided headset, and the collar pin on the protective suit was a high-definition miniature camera. On the other side of the headset was the highest-ranking military commander, General Nie Cheng.

Tan Xiao, wearing a protective suit, came down, and even with goggles on, his clear and bright eyes could be seen.

Mr. Tan, the enthusiastic donor, said, “I really have something I need your help with.”

He asked the person in charge, “Can your team accept me?”

On the other side, Nie Cheng couldn’t help but frown, “Reject him.”

If something happened to this person, Wen Yi would go crazy in advance.

The person in charge shook his head.

Tan Xiao was extremely surprised: “But I saw your team said you were short on manpower. I’m young, strong, and healthy. I can help with a lot of work.”

The person in charge’s voice was dry, forcing a smile: “We don’t need anyone for now.”

Nie Cheng instructed through the surveillance equipment: “Ask him, doesn’t he worry about his boyfriend?”

The person in charge parroted back, receiving strange looks from the people around.

“I never said I had a boyfriend, how did you know?!”

The former was sweating profusely, and with a flash of inspiration, said, “Well, I happen to know Dr. Wen. He mentioned you, the little hero who saved people during the medical incident back then. You know, our rescue team has a wide network, and we often deal with doctors from Huaxi Hospital.”

The naive Tan Xiao believed the person in charge’s words and felt a bit embarrassed, not expecting that so many people knew about his relationship with Dr. Wen.

His eyes were crescent-shaped, and even through the thick protective suit, one could sense that the young man was in a good mood: “Actually, I want to join you and there is indeed a bit of selfishness involved. I wanted to ask if the rescue team could let me volunteer at Huaxi Hospital, even if it’s just for a day. I want to see my boyfriend with my own eyes.”

On the other side, Nie Cheng was silent: Donating over 500,000 worth of medical supplies, just to take the risk of seeing Wen Yi once, was this person really an outsider? He was simply a crazy love-struck fool!

“This… this…”

As the person in charge hesitated and stammered, contemplating whether to refuse, Nie Cheng’s command came through, his voice sounding extremely complex: “Agree to it.”