Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 12 Retreat
Zhuang Fan remained silent throughout because there were too many familiar faces present, and he was trying to organize and summarize his memories.

Xu Tiansheng's act of seizing power seemed abrupt, but Zhuang Fan, as an observer, did not find it surprising and even felt some understanding and sympathy.

Xu Tiansheng's outstanding management skills are evident from his long tenure in the important position of administrative officer for 100 years.

He then served as chairman for 60 years, defeating countless competitors and dedicating himself to the company, almost burning himself out.

In his later years, Xu Renyi also made a will, designating Xu Tiansheng as the first heir, and other members of the Xu clan were also made accordingly, which made everyone happy.

The entire family, young and old, is just waiting for the old man to pass away; the succession of power will then proceed naturally.

As a result, the old man's legs remained strong, and he continued to stand for decades, extending his lifespan from 320 to 400 years, going further and further down the road to longevity.

Ancestors, wait for your descendants!
Countless complaints and resentments followed, causing a small group of middle-aged and elderly people who had been looking forward to the passing of their elders to die first, leaving their descendants to continue the slow, simmering process.

Faced with growing resentment within his family, Xu Renyi remained indifferent, his personality became increasingly paranoid, and he also developed severe paranoia.

Aside from Xu Tiansheng and Xu Lanshan, he wouldn't trust anyone around him.

The position of "Commander of the Guard Corps" was once the most dangerous position in the group, with people constantly being harvested like leeks.

Later, when the commander ran out of men, he brought in Max, who had been frozen for hundreds of years, to be the commander of his guard, simply because Max had a clean record.

Fortunately, Old Mai pulled through. Zhuang Fan really thought that Old Devil Xu was a menace.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Fan looked at Xu Tiansheng and said slowly, "Tiansheng, you're being a little too hasty."

His words silenced the entire room.

Xu Tiansheng frowned slightly as he looked Zhuang Fan up and down, but his eyes were full of indifference.

Zhuang Fan continued:
“I originally planned to retire after I got a new body, and you would take over, with Xiaomai and Lanshan assisting you.”

Zhuang Fan could swear that Xu Renyi did indeed intend to do so, and he did not overcomplicate things. As for whether Xu the Old Demon would go back on his word, he was not sure.

Xu Tiansheng smiled gently and said, "Putting aside your pretentious act, do you think you can fool yourself with such words?"

Many people at the scene laughed and joked, and joined in the mockery.

Zhuang Fan ignored the noise: "If you don't believe me, then just kill me."

The old man standing to the side sneered, "Heh, you're getting off easy. Just for stealing company confidential documents, you'll never be able to leave the Nuclear Group's prison for the rest of your life."

"Oh, if the company's confidential documents can be easily stolen by an ordinary vagrant, then I am indeed quite disappointed and have serious doubts about your ability to govern the company."

Zhuang Fan said slowly and deliberately, "Or is it that you've always been eyeing my more than half of the shares, and now that you're out of options, you're just putting on a show of bravado?"

These words caused another uproar in the room, and the representatives of the neutral faction all looked at Xu Tiansheng.

Xu Tiansheng's expression remained calm as he shook his head slightly.

"Old Xu is dead, there's no need to argue anymore. As for the share transfer, I promise to reset the group's core leadership or replace them entirely in the shortest possible time."

Group Mastermind
In an instant, Zhuang Fan unlocked another small portion of his memories, but was rendered speechless by this memory:

In a huge glass tank, hundreds of human brains were neatly submerged, connected to each other by electrode patches and cables, with bubbling bubbles rising and falling in the water—a very eerie scene.

The bionic mechanical octopuses that come and go will use their skillful claws to reach into the water tank and sort and arrange the brains one by one.

There are thousands of these glass water tanks, densely covering the vast underground cavity layer.

Together, they have a very fitting name:
[Human Brain Matrix]

A product of outdated technology born out of compromise and helplessness.

In this foggy era, quantum computers have completely stopped working, and in order to find a replacement, humanity has no choice but to turn its attention to the human brain.

The human brain is amazing; its inherent quantum biological mechanisms naturally resist interference from the fog.

It also has many drawbacks, such as insufficient computing power.

Therefore, to rival traditional quantum computers, it is necessary to accumulate a large number of human brains and win by sheer quantity.

Where do human brain resources come from?

Although Zhuang Fan's memories didn't reveal more, he could already guess some of it.

A gentle, peaceful night can always be the breeding ground for the bloodiest blade.

With the human brain matrix "maintaining fairness", it can ensure that shareholders' rights and interests are not harmed, and the shares in hand are far safer and more reliable than a piece of paper.

Moreover, Xu Renyi also holds ultimate control over the group's mastermind, which is the lifeline that determines the group's survival.

Now, Xu Tiansheng's intentions are obvious. He dares not gamble on whether Zhuang Fan has completely retained Xu Renyi's consciousness, or whether Zhuang Fan himself is Xu Renyi.

Anyway, first take Zhuang Fan back to headquarters, get the authorization password and brainwave pattern, and completely transfer Xu Renyi's shares and authority to him.

In other words, the conflict between the two sides is irreconcilable, and there is nothing left to discuss.

Xu Tiansheng issued an ultimatum: "If you want to maintain your dignity, come out on your own and don't waste everyone's time."

It turns out that everyone at the scene was just using holographic projection to confront each other, leaving each other some buffer space.

Zhuang Fan said, "All of you need to think this through carefully. Who really calls the shots at Nuclear Corporation? Think it over carefully, and don't choose the wrong side."

After he finished speaking those last nice words, the holographic projections of the entire group went offline and completely disappeared from Xu Tiansheng's sight. "Strange."

Xu Tiansheng frowned. After he put on the "Illusion Eye," he was only granted basic access privileges. He couldn't access the shelter's AI system, let alone completely control it.

Xu Wendao reminded him from the side, "Father, they may have cut off the main system's power."

"There is no point in putting up a stubborn resistance."

Xu Tiansheng gave the order: "Wen Dao, go and capture them all. Except for those few people, kill any who resist."

Xu Wendao shook his head: "Father, I have changed my name. Wendao is useless. I must first Wangdao. From now on, I will be Xu Wangdao."

Xu Tiansheng gave a soft "hmm," showing particular leniency towards his son's adolescent delusions.

Cutting off the main power supply to the shelter was indeed a last resort for Max.

While this prevented the "Phantom Eye" from infiltrating, all the base's defensive weapons were also shut down.

When Zhuang Fan escaped from prison before, he caused a lot of destruction, self-destructing many hidden machine gun turrets, mechanical dogs and drones. This time, he has shot himself in the foot.

The armored soldiers also put up little resistance. When faced with enemies verified by "Phantom Eyes," they would immediately cease fire or even turn their guns on their own troops.

Xu Wangdao, as the vanguard, was arrogant but not brainless; he used the broadcast system to persuade them to surrender.

"At Hanling 133 Refuge, all units must immediately lay down their weapons and cooperate with the inspection. Unauthorized personnel must disperse; otherwise, they will be treated as rebels!"

Xu Wangdao led a large number of law enforcement soldiers and quickly captured one-third of the refuge area. He encountered almost no resistance throughout the process, and the surrendered people were swept away like dry leaves.

It was clear to everyone that Xu Renyi's faction was doomed, and no one wanted to go down with the ship, so many people switched sides at the last minute.

It's completely useless.
After seeing this scene from the control center, Zhuang Fan sighed to himself, "Old Devil Xu has such poor interpersonal relationships, he's truly hopeless."

In the end, very few members of the management team were willing to stay by Zhuang Fan's side, and Max's core force was reduced to only a few hundred elite soldiers.

They blocked key routes to delay as much as possible.

Max felt a pang of guilt, wondering how many of his hundreds of trusted soldiers who had come with him would survive.

At the control panel, several operators' fingers were pressing buttons so fast they were almost smoking.

They are doing everything they can to delete all of Zhuang Fan's biometric information, including blood DNA samples, body language data, and surveillance footage, to leave absolutely no trace.

Only in this way can Zhuang Fan's whereabouts be completely concealed during his escape.

What Xu Tiansheng saw before was merely a fictional character created by Zhuang Fan.

"Mr. Xu, I have successfully completed the task and deleted everything."

Zhuang Fan nodded: "Thank you for your hard work."

Xu Lanshan glanced at Max, still having concerns: "With so many people in the refuge, it would be easy to restore them simply by extracting their memories. It would be difficult for Master Xu to keep this a secret."

"We can keep it a secret for now, we'll talk about it after we escape."

On the other side, David had his men remove the bottom cover of the hydroelectric generator, leaving a waterway large enough for one person to dive down.

One of the soldiers muttered softly, "Commander Wei, what should we do now?"

"What should I do?"

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, none of them speaking first, until an impatient man stepped forward and shouted, "Of course we surrender! Didn't the broadcast already say it!"

"What? At this point, you're surrendering?"

David paused, looked around, and noticed that the soldiers around him were giving him strange looks.

"Boss, when the commander and that double arrive, we'll capture him and claim the credit!"

"Yeah, yeah, otherwise we wouldn't be able to escape."

David nodded solemnly, his expression turning serious.
"You guys are really shrewd. This deal isn't a loss. We're going to make this clear this time. Now, who wants to back out?"

"Let anyone who dares to back down try! Let's fight!"

Zhuang Fan and his group fought and retreated, leading the remaining soldiers to the energy center, whereupon the alloy gate slowly closed.

Currently, besides Xu Weimai and two other people, as well as a few senior executives, Zhuang Fan only has twenty soldiers left.

After the fierce chase, more than half of the men fell. Max's eyes were red by the end of the battle.

Zhuang Fan and Xu Lanshan also had some minor injuries, but they were nothing serious and could be treated with simple bandaging.

Max turned to David: "Are the escape equipment ready? We're about to be overwhelmed."

David sighed, "I only found an old miniature cabin, which I temporarily modified with a tarpaulin. It's barely usable."

Max checked it over: "It should be fine."

David stood still, without moving.

After giving him a few instructions, Max turned around and looked at him suspiciously, then instantly understood.

(End of this chapter)