She didn’t argue, which I took as her silent agreement.
This only reinforced my suspicion: the Domination System hadn’t just assigned me a task—it had given the entire human race a hellishly difficult mission. And I? I was the final boss in this twisted game.
But I wasn’t going down without a fight. If I had to, I would use this opportunity to push humanity back on track.
My chance? The three wishes I could make once the mission was completed.
Later that night, in the lakeside pavilion:
The surroundings were pitch dark, with no light except for the moon overhead and the faint flicker of the camp stove, where I was boiling noodles. Using the dim light, I set up my tent nearby. I planned to spend the night here.
I had dismantled part of the wooden walkway leading to the pavilion. It was a distance I could easily jump over, but for the shrunken people, it might as well have been an impassable chasm.
This lake was situated right in the heart of a wetland park, far from any residential areas. The park was mostly deserted, and even if anyone was nearby, they were probably already food for frogs, birds, or insects.
With the tent set up, I returned to the stove and began eating my noodles.
A plastic bottle rested on the small folding table in front of me, and Zhang Ting stood beside it, gazing into the distance. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
The reason I was still keeping her around was simple: I needed to figure out the exact mission the shrunken people were given.
So far, the Domination System had only provided vague details: they needed to find a way to kill me within 100 days, and while they could sense my direction, they didn’t know my exact location.
But I knew there had to be more crucial information I hadn’t received, such as:
- Do they have a virtual panel or any similar tools?
- Will they organize themselves voluntarily to hunt me down, or is this mission being forced upon them?
- What’s the reward for completing the mission?
I needed to get these answers from Zhang Ting.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small amplifier I’d picked up at the digital store earlier. I switched it on and placed the microphone in front of the bottle’s opening.
As I ate, I casually said to Zhang Ting, “The whole world shrinking—pretty unbelievable, huh?”
The small amplifier crackled with static, but the sound was still clear enough: “Yeah, it’s way beyond our technology. I don’t even know if I should call it technology or a miracle.”
It seemed like she knew something about the Domination System.
“Do you know why I didn’t shrink?” I asked.
“Don’t you know?” she replied.
“I don’t. Honestly, I even wish I wasn’t the chosen target.”
“Then you’d have to struggle just like the rest of us to survive.”
I didn’t get any useful information from that.
“Yeah, you’ve shrunk so much, just surviving is hard enough. I don’t know how many people have died already.”
“Lots,” she replied, her voice low. “Almost 1.5 billion people have died. That’s more than the entire population of India.”
So, they had a virtual panel too!
Earlier, the Domination System’s message had said: “The entire world has received the order to hunt you down. They don’t know your exact location, but they can feel your direction, and they’ll follow it to eliminate you.”
So, their virtual panel wouldn’t show my exact position, but there was probably an arrow pointing in my direction.
“Do you know where the others are?” I asked directly.
“I don’t.”
“I was thinking… if you knew where others are, I could send you to them.”
“I told you, I don’t know.”
“Then, if you had the chance, would you kill me?”
She hesitated for a moment but answered almost immediately, “Yes.”
“Is it because of the reward?” I probed.
“Ha! If you can even call that a reward.”
Their reward must be different from mine!
“If I had a reason to survive, would you people stop trying to kill me?” I asked.
“No, we wouldn’t stop. In fact, we can’t stop. If we do, we lose everything.” Her tone suddenly became somber, and her voice trembled with emotion. “Is it possible for you to just die? I know it’s cruel and unfair to say this, but if you die… the rest of us can…”
She seemed to have her mouth covered, her face contorted in fear as if trying to speak, but no words came out. After a long struggle, she weakly whispered, “I can’t say it. Something… is blocking me.”
“I… if I make it through the 100 days, then…” The same suffocating sensation hit me too. When I stopped mentioning the reward, the pressure lifted in an instant.
“Same here. Looks like the most important information—we can’t share it with each other.”
“Then, who’s right?” she asked, throwing me a question I also wanted to know.
From my perspective, as long as I survived the 100 days, I could make three wishes. I could try to use them to save everyone.
But I didn’t know the limits of those three wishes. I had no idea if they could truly help me achieve my goal. I didn’t even know if the Domination System was really interested in granting my wishes, or if it just wanted to watch us tear each other apart for entertainment.
It’s a battlefield.
I let out a burp, set the bowl down, and began packing up. “Time to sleep. It’s late, and we need to hit the road tomorrow.”
“I… I need to use the bathroom. Can you let me out?”
Right, there’s no bathroom in the bottle.
“And turn around. No peeking.”
I wasn’t trying to peek last time, honestly!
Once Zhang Ting was done, I carefully placed her in another plastic bottle, this time with a towel at the bottom. To prevent her from suffocating, I poked several tiny holes as small as pinholes in the top of the bottle. This way, air could circulate while also ensuring that she wouldn’t be able to escape. This was to avoid two things: one, that she wouldn’t get eaten by a bug in the night, and two, that she wouldn’t try to sneak out and attack me while I slept.
After all, as a guy alone out here, I had to be cautious.
Maybe I was just exhausted after the tense day, but I quickly fell asleep.
After falling asleep, I had plenty of dreams. In my dreams, meteors fell, skyscrapers crumbled, fires spread, floods surged, volcanoes erupted, earthquakes rattled, rain poured endlessly, thunder roared, and the world froze over. It was utter chaos—like every disaster movie I’d ever seen, all mashed together.
When I woke up, my head was pounding. I just realized I had made a mistake. The pavilion by the lake was safe, but the humidity and cold had gotten to me. Even with the moisture-proof mat and sleeping bag, I still caught a chill.
I quickly got up, lit a fire, and made myself a cup of instant coffee to warm up. I also ate some bread to regain energy.
After resting for a while, the headache showed no signs of letting up, so I decided to head to a pharmacy for some medication. I packed up and loaded everything into the Envision parked by the lake. Then I entered the nearest pharmacy’s address into the GPS. Zhang Ting was placed back in the bottle with the amplifier and stowed by the cup holder on the driver’s side.
“Drive slowly, I get motion sickness.”
“Even if I drive slower, it’ll still feel like a roller coaster ride for you.” I said with a grin. “Just bear with it.”
When I reached the pharmacy, I grabbed cold medicine first, then went to town, grabbing whatever I could—vitamins, antibiotics, painkillers, allergy meds, antiseptic, bandages, cotton swabs, iodine, alcohol, band-aids…
There were also other medications I didn’t understand, but I tossed them into my backpack anyway.
By the time I hit the road again, my headache had already eased a bit.
Today’s plan was to keep heading south, aiming for an area with fewer people. This stretch of road was near another city, so the traffic was messier than before. Everywhere I looked, there were car accidents, but thankfully, the road wasn’t completely blocked.
If everything went well, I’d be in the plateau area in a few days.
Suddenly, a car came speeding straight at me! It was coming fast, and I didn’t have time to think. Lacking experience, I swerved instinctively, but the other car mirrored my move, still heading straight toward me!
At that speed, I knew I wouldn’t survive.
Panicking, I slammed the brakes and swerved behind a flipped bus, hoping to use it as a shield from the crash.
The bus was slammed hard, pushing toward my car, and I was jolted back several meters.
If I hadn’t been wearing my seatbelt, I would have been thrown right out of my seat.
Though shaken, I remained conscious, but my head was spinning, like being hit by a soccer ball kicked from across the field.
Before I could fully recover, I heard another car speeding up behind me!
Without thinking, I quickly reversed, hitting the guardrail and steering off the road.
The road was about a meter higher than the surrounding land, and as I slid backward down the incline, a car flew over my head, narrowly missing me. Then came the deafening sound of a crash.
In just a few seconds, I had narrowly escaped death twice.
I slowly drove into a wheat field, then veered off the road entirely.
Only then did I realize that the two cars that had nearly trapped me were both Teslas—equipped with self-driving capabilities.
I had seriously underestimated humanity’s creativity and adaptability.
Who would have guessed that in less than a day, they’d already used available technology to launch such an attack? I didn’t know how they managed it, but I knew one thing for sure: I had to stay away from all remotely controlled devices.
I saw more Teslas on the highway.
Fortunately, Teslas don’t have off-road capabilities, so they couldn’t follow me across the bumpy fields.
How did they know my location?
Then I remembered my phone—still with me, used for navigation.
The SIM card could track my location, and the map software’s big data could also be used to pinpoint me. I threw the phone out of the window and, with the Envision’s decent off-road capabilities, turned my back to the road and kept driving, determined to keep moving.
Command Center No. 13 of the Savior Alliance
The computer screen displayed footage sent from a Tesla’s dashcam: the target vehicle, a black Envision, was driving across a wheat field, quickly disappearing from view.
The command center was eerily silent. The operation had almost succeeded—just a little more, and it would have been a success.
Originally, Command Center No. 13 had been a regular roadside café, but now it was teeming with hundreds of thousands of people. More were arriving, overcoming every obstacle to check in.
People spilled out of buildings like ants, moving in steady streams, merging into one continuous line that flowed into the command center.
This is the location of the 13th Commander marked on the virtual panel as the closest Commander to them.
Commander Chen Feng stood at the edge of the table, staring at the sea of people below. Most were barely clothed, wrapped in tattered strips of fabric. Some were covered only by threadbare scraps, just barely held together.
Chen Feng wasn’t much better off.
Two months ago, he had been fired by his company under the guise of a “graduation” termination. He didn’t tell his family that he had lost his job. Instead, he continued the charade of going to work every day, but in reality, he spent his time in a café, taking on small coding gigs just to get by.
When the shrinking event occurred, he was hunched over his laptop, working in the café. His shirt had fallen to the floor, but he got trapped on the desk, nearly suffocated by a giant wig, which, in his current size, was like a mountain.
At first, Chen Feng thought it was just a hallucination from staring at the screen too long.
Then, he noticed the virtual panel:
Mission Name: Save the Remaining Humans
Mission Description: Kill the only remaining person of normal size within 100 days, and humanity will return to their original size.
Task Countdown: 99 days 23 hours 57 minutes 27 seconds
Current Human Population: 7.650248627 billion
The virtual panel also displayed a map. In addition to the dense sea of green dots representing the people, a red arrow pointed in the approximate direction of the target, though not very accurately.
As Chen Feng stared at the screen, the virtual panel updated again.
Congratulations, you’ve been appointed as Commander No. 13. You now have the authority to issue summoning commands. Anyone within a 50-kilometer radius will receive and follow your orders.
New options appeared on the panel: a Summon button and a Commander’s Meeting button.
When Chen Feng clicked the Summon button, he noticed that the green dots on the map, after a brief pause, began to slowly move toward his position.
Next, he clicked the Commander’s Meeting button. A new interface appeared on the virtual panel: 1,000 avatars arranged in neat rows, each with a corresponding number. A few avatars lit up, while most remained gray. Gradually, more lit up until the meeting system became a cacophony of voices.
“What’s going on? Are we being attacked by aliens?”
“Why was I chosen to be the commander? I’m just a mechanical engineer!”
“Someone help me, I’m with my two cats, and they’re eyeing me suspiciously.”
Along with Mandarin, there were voices in English, Japanese, Korean, and other languages that Chen Feng didn’t understand. Everyone was in a state of panic.
Someone suggested, “Let’s speak in order based on our commander numbers. Share only useful information and advice. If you need help, use the Summon button, and someone will come to your aid.”
The suggestion was quickly repeated in English.
The meeting system gradually quieted down.
“I’m a high school geography teacher. I’ve already issued a summon, but I don’t know what to do next. Is it even possible to kill a normal-sized person with just what we have?”
“I’m a college student. I issued a summon, but only classmates from my floor have arrived. I think the stairs are blocking them. I’m planning to tear threads from my clothes to use as ropes and get down to the first floor so others can join me.”
“I work at a children’s toy car manufacturing company. My colleagues are trying to use toy cars as transportation, but we can’t press the remote control buttons.”
“I’m at the center of a pedestrian street, and I’ve gathered a decent number of people. They’re following my orders strictly. I’ve tested them, and even when the instructions are clearly unreasonable, they follow them.”
…
When it was Chen Feng’s turn to speak, he said, “I’m a programmer. People are assembling, but I’m stuck at my desk, trying to figure something out.”
While following the conversation in the meeting system, he began looking around for useful tools.
He thought the college student’s idea of using clothes’ threads was a good one. Fortunately, there was a baseball cap on the desk. He went over, found some exposed thread from the stitching, and began to painstakingly pull it out.
This was no easy task—the thread’s diameter was almost the same as his forearm. He had to grip it with both hands, pulling with all his might and twisting it around to continue.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally got enough length of thread. But then, a new problem arose: the distance from the desk to the floor was dozens of times his height. No ordinary person could use a single thread to climb up. And if he climbed down, there was a high risk of falling to his death.
Moreover, he had a nagging feeling that the reason each commander had been selected was somehow tied to their profession and skills.
Chen Feng’s expertise was coding, and his most essential tool was his laptop on this desk.
How could he use a rope to help the people on the ground climb up safely?
An idea struck him: he remembered the rope nets soldiers climb during training exercises, scenes from movies and TV shows.
He kept unraveling the sewing thread. Once the thread was gone, the fabric around the edge of the hat was exposed. The thread on the fabric was easier to remove, and Chen Feng quickly pulled a good amount off. Using the edge of his laptop, he sawed through the fabric to create several lengths of rope, each over a meter long.
Chen Feng tied one end of the rope securely to the handle of a coffee cup, then dropped the other end down to the ground. He shouted at the nearest person below with all his might:
“Pull the rope straight! Weave it into a net! A nylon net! Who knows how to do it? Organize the others! Group up! Five thousand people up first! The rest form groups of a hundred! Gather food! Drinking water! Collect anything useful! And turn off the music in the store!”
Once he finished shouting, Chen Feng let out a long, relieved sigh, collapsing to the ground, utterly exhausted.
Now, all he had to do was wait.
Meanwhile, the meeting system was still buzzing with frantic discussions:
Commander No. 129: “I found a paper map here. I need everyone to report your locations and the direction of the target, according to the map. The more information we have, the more accurate our estimate will be.”
Commanders quickly began reporting their locations and the directions they believed the target was in.
Commander No. 129: “Based on my calculations, the target is likely near City C. Let’s verify it. Who’s closest to City C?”
Chen Feng: “I’m in City C.”
Commander No. 671: “I’m near City C.”
Commander No. 129, confidently: “Keep an eye on the direction arrow on your map. The target will probably try to move, and the closer you get, the more the arrow will shift.”
Chen Feng stared at the arrow: “It’s definitely moving.”
A moment later, Commander No. 671 confirmed the same.
Someone raised an issue: “We can track him like this, but how do we eliminate him? He’s still a normal size, so he can drive, but we can’t even open car doors, let alone drive.”
“Earlier, someone mentioned using toy cars as transportation. Has that been resolved?”
“No, we can’t use the remote control. We’d have to redesign and manufacture a miniature remote for it to work, but that’s a huge challenge. With our current resources, we can’t manage it. Even if we did, it’s still a toy car. How can we chase a real car with a toy?”
Someone else suggested, “What if we think of a different approach? What if we use a remote control to operate real cars?”
Immediately, someone added, “We could remotely control self-driving cars and use them to crash into the target.”
“Fully self-driving cars aren’t available yet. They’re still in development and testing. Plus, the cars’ intelligent systems calculate safe distances and apply brakes automatically to avoid collisions.”
“Let’s reconsider. Which cars on the market can be remotely controlled, even partially? Things like starting the engine, auto-navigation, or avoiding obstacles?”
“Most electric vehicles have intelligent operating systems. A lot of the commands are sent through electronic signals. If we can simulate or replace the button signals remotely, we might be able to control the car.”
“We’d also need to acquire the necessary control permissions from the manufacturers.”
“The most important thing is making sure the car actually hits the target. If we drive it in front of him and it hits the brakes suddenly, that’s just absurd.”
“Which smart electric car has had the most accidents due to system errors or malfunctions?”
Several commanders spoke in unison, naming a brand.
“Now, we have two more issues: how to gain remote control access, and how to control the car.”
“Did you mention Tesla just now?”
“What did the foreign guy say?”
“I’ll talk to him. Maybe he knows how to gain access.” After a brief pause, the commander who had been in contact with the foreign team said, “I’ve shared the info, and they’re reaching out now.”
“What about the car control issue?”
Chen Feng thought for a moment, then replied, “If I can get the highest-level access to the car, I should be able to write a program that uses remote electronic signals to replace the car’s internal commands and control it.”
“How are you going to write code? I’ve tried, and I can’t even press the keys with all my strength.”
Chen Feng was confident: “I have a solution.”
The rope net had been successfully woven, and people were now climbing up in batches.
Chen Feng instructed the group to climb onto the computer, aiming to get as many people as possible onto the “0” key on the numeric keypad. In total, 53 people managed to squeeze onto the key. After counting, “1, 2, 3,” they all jumped with as much force as they could and almost simultaneously landed on the “0.” However, the keyboard only wobbled slightly and didn’t register the press. The screen remained blank, and no “0” appeared.
It hadn’t worked, just as Chen Feng had anticipated, but he still couldn’t help feeling a slight disappointment. Fortunately, he had another tool: a laser projection keyboard, about the size of a slightly larger mobile phone charger, weighing roughly 50 grams. Chen Feng directed hundreds of people to help him activate it.
When the geometric laser projected onto the table, the crowd erupted into cheers. This was the first time they had used familiar modern technology since being mysteriously shrunk.
The laser projection keyboard worked simply: by touching the projected laser keys, the sensors on the bottom of the device would detect the interruption in the signal, confirming the input, which would then be transmitted to the computer via Bluetooth.
At this point, Chen Feng had no choice but to rely on sheer numbers to solve the problem.
The crowd gathered around the laser keyboard, with some people positioning themselves between the keys, careful to maintain enough distance to avoid triggering false inputs. When Chen Feng called out “A,” the people near the “A” key quickly gathered to block the sensor’s signal. Once the information was entered, they returned to their original positions.
Each character input required at least 50 people to work in sync. If a mistake was made, the incorrect character had to be deleted before the correct one could be input, doubling the workload.
It was an incredibly labor-intensive task, requiring flawless cooperation from thousands of people.
Some of the more frequently used characters had to rotate every 20 minutes to prevent exhaustion from setting in.
Chen Feng stood on top of the computer, checking whether the information on the screen was correct while directing the crowd. He had never been so meticulous in his career.
Every line of code was the result of countless people’s sweat and even blood.
Chen Feng couldn’t afford to make a mistake. He had to ensure every line was simple and accurate. What he was working on was a tracking system. Another commander had tried using a paper map, but the results hadn’t been precise enough.
What Chen Feng needed to do was pull up the map data and mark the locations of several commanders, showing the general direction of their target panels in order to define the target’s rough range.
In theory, the more parameters used, the more accurate the result would be.
The function itself was simple, but under the current circumstances, it took until dark before Chen Feng finally got it working.
Although he’d double-checked the code, a sense of unease still crept in as he ran the first test.
If there was a bug, things would get chaotic.
Chen Feng first tested a set of contradictory parameters, which triggered an error message.
Next, he set the parameters with his own location as the target. The feedback showed a green, irregular polygon that perfectly covered his current position.
Chen Feng tested several more sets of parameters, finding no major issues.
He then entered the commander’s conference system and shared his method of using the laser projection keyboard and mass coordination to write the code.
“Bro, that’s impressive! Let me check if we have any programmers, and I’ll try to get the equipment. We can all pitch in later.”
“Any updates on the advanced control permissions for the smart cars?”
“The foreigners are still negotiating. It’s a mess over there too. I heard when they shrank, the President of Country A was in the bathroom and fell into the toilet… Talk about a humiliating way to go.”
…
Noticing the conversation veering off-topic, Chen Feng pressed on: “I’ve completed a version of the tracking system. I’ll upload it online later, and once everyone sets up their network teams, you can download and run it.”
“Input your location and the general direction of your target. The more precise, the better. Try to keep the angle error under 5 degrees.”
“I’ll check the meeting system every hour. If the advanced permission issue is resolved, please let me know.”
After exiting the meeting, Chen Feng continued instructing the group to upload the code.
What else could be done?
Chen Feng looked at the growing crowd in the café, lost in thought.
The people on the ground could barely hear his instructions, and it was difficult for him to gather any meaningful feedback from them.
At his core, Chen Feng was just a programmer with a limited knowledge base. He needed to organize the crowd effectively so each person could use their strengths and skills. Only then could they have a chance of completing this task.
He realized that what they lacked the most right now was an effective communication tool, especially for long-distance communication.
Currently, only the commanders could communicate over a distance. It had been tested that in a coordinated effort, a phone call between two phones (both turned on) would connect, but even if they shouted into the phones, the other side couldn’t hear anything.
The only viable option was for people to type messages, but the process was far too slow.
How could they replace human voices with something capable of producing normal decibel levels?
Chen Feng immediately thought of an online voice-over platform. The concept was simple: input text, and the platform would automatically select a voice from its library to generate synthetic speech, which could then be played through the device’s speakers.
With this in mind, Chen Feng quickly gave instructions. Soon, the computer began speaking:
“Hello, everyone. This is Commander Chen Feng. I’m deeply grateful to all of you for answering the call to save humanity. Right now, our most crucial weapon is this computer, and I urgently need your full support.
“Step one: I need everyone to establish a logistical supply route from the ground up to the table. Those with construction experience should organize a team to complete this task as quickly as possible.
“Step two: I need people with mechanical engineering and electronics experience to organize teams to create small-scale vehicles.
“Step three: I need those with management experience to organize the remaining members based on their skills. Our focus must be on basic survival, power, and network infrastructure, safety warnings, tool manufacturing, and combat strategies.”
Though the voice was mechanical, it was clear and instantly grabbed the attention of most people in the café.
To make things easier, Chen Feng directed the group to use their phones to record the message, so they could play it on a loop.
The next issue was extending the device’s battery life.
The computer’s power supply was plugged in, so there was no need to worry about that.
The laser projection keyboard, however, was running on batteries, and the charging cables for both the keyboard and the phone were still in the computer bag.
Chen Feng directed over a thousand people to work together, enduring great effort to successfully charge the devices.
After exchanging experiences with other commanders, Chen Feng learned that the logistics team had already used basic tools to install pulleys and a basket at the edge of the table, efficiently transporting food up.
Finally, the issue of feeding the thousands of people was resolved. Chen Feng exhaled in relief.
Just then, someone approached him.
“Commander, report from the intelligence team,” said Zhao Dong, the head of the intelligence unit. “We have some crucial intel that needs to be shared with you.”
The intelligence team? Chen Feng hadn’t even considered them yet. To his surprise, they had already organized and appeared to have gathered valuable information.
“Go ahead,” he said.
Zhao Dong motioned for someone behind him to step forward. “This is the business manager from Mei You Cultural Company, located on the 16th floor of Kaihong Business Building. He may know the exact identity of our target.”
Chen Feng’s mind sharpened instantly. When they had speculated that the target might be in the area around City C, he’d considered the possibility of witnesses. He hadn’t expected a lead to surface so soon.
“Earlier this afternoon, before the incident, we were in a meeting at the company. During the meeting, a colleague suddenly asked to borrow my car, saying there was an emergency at home and he needed to get to the hospital. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, so I let him take the car. Then, a while later, I remembered the car’s wipers were broken and hadn’t been repaired yet, so I called to warn him, just in case. But just as I was about to dial, I… I suddenly shrank…”
Chen Feng groaned in frustration. He still hadn’t heard anything useful.
“…Eventually, with help from other colleagues, I crawled out of my shoes. Then I thought, if we all shrank, maybe my colleague in the car did too? We tried calling him to check on him. Fortunately, my phone’s screen was set to never turn off, and it was just one step away from making the call. So we all lay on the screen together, and we got the call through…”
Chen Feng’s patience was wearing thin. “Please, get to the point.”
“Right. The thing is, when we shouted from here, he couldn’t hear us. But the voice that came from the phone sounded normal—like the voice of an average-sized person, at a regular volume.”
Chen Feng’s eyes lit up. “So you’re saying the colleague who borrowed the car is our target?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Tell me everything you know about him. This is critical for us.”
“I just don’t understand who issued this mission, or what caused all of this to happen. But I believe in my colleague. He’s just an ordinary man, a good person. I hope you all reconsider and don’t go after him.”
The manager’s voice was small but firm.
Chen Feng’s tone grew more resolute. “Tell me everything about him.”
“I don’t think we should follow the virtual panel’s instructions. Why should we listen to it? Just because it can shrink us? Just because it can appear out of nowhere in our line of sight? Just because we can’t understand whether it’s scientific power or some kind of divine force?”
Chen Feng silently studied the manager, offering no response. He turned to Zhao Dong and said, “His other colleagues must have come with him. Get as much information as you can from them about the target. Be thorough. Send two more people to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t get in touch with the target.”
“What right do you have to kill someone?” the manager shouted, but he was quickly subdued and taken away.
His outburst didn’t stir any response; no one wanted to face the issue.
Chen Feng knew they all wanted to believe they were part of a mission that everyone could agree on. No one was willing to admit they were involved in a murder.
Only Chen Feng quietly muttered to himself, “Because this is the only known way to restore us to normal. It’s fine. I’ll be the villain.”
Soon, Zhao Dong brought in detailed information about the target, even including a charcoal portrait drawn by a criminal profiler.
Chen Feng logged into the commander system.
“Please be quiet. This is Commander Chen Feng, number 13. We’ve gathered all the critical details about the target, including his phone number, social media accounts, and more. I’ll upload everything to the network shortly, and you can review it whenever you like.”
“You arrived just in time. We have some good news for you as well.”
“We’ve established the highest-level access to the smart car system, and they’re willing to cooperate. However, due to the distance, there’s a significant delay in the network signal, making it difficult to control the vehicle remotely. They want us to take charge of the car ourselves to complete the mission.”
“They’re working on restoring the network and data transmission. They’ll contact you online shortly and grant you the necessary permissions.”
Chen Feng immediately understood. No one wanted to handle the dirty work themselves. They all hoped to push the responsibility onto him.
It didn’t matter. He reassured himself. Everyone was in the same boat.
As dawn broke, Chen Feng finally finished his task after a sleepless night. He sent a remote signal to the designated vehicle, taking control of its functions—starting, shifting gears, steering, braking, monitoring—and replacing the self-driving function with the highest-level permissions.
In simple terms, the hijacked vehicle had turned into a giant remote-controlled toy.
Chen Feng then issued instructions through the “broadcast” system, assembling a team of professional drivers, competitive gamers, and ideally, a few race car drivers.
With the mission underway, the “typists,” who had rotated shifts multiple times, immediately lay down and fell asleep after receiving Chen Feng’s rest order, their bodies sprawled across the desk.
Only a few “messengers” remained by Chen Feng’s side, ready for any orders.
Chen Feng looked at the massive team of typists and fell silent.
The typists were grouped based on key positions, with the number of typists assigned to each key depending on its frequency of use. Each key was also assigned a primary and a secondary leader to oversee and direct operations.
Despite these arrangements, the input speed was still excruciatingly slow, and the error rate remained frustratingly high.
Chen Feng accessed the commander system: “The initial preparations for Operation One are more than halfway complete. We’re organizing personnel and will begin training with a few vehicles away from the target zone.”
Currently, fewer than 50 commanders had established a functional network connection, and only six were within effective operating range. Any further distance would cause the network signal to delay and make control even more difficult.
Chen Feng explained the remote control system’s basic functions and usage to the other commanders and agreed to launch the attack before noon.
One commander spoke up: “The target is still near the Wetland Park. Based on our projections, he’ll likely continue westward along the national road. We need to act before he reaches the plateau, or we’ll lose our chance.”
Everyone knew the vehicles they could control were all electric. Even fully charged, they could only travel a few hundred kilometers before running out of power, and recharging wasn’t an option. Once the target reached the plateau, it would be nearly impossible to find a controllable vehicle, let alone carry out the mission in such difficult terrain.
Time was running out.
Soon, a 15-person team gathered in front of Chen Feng, including 7 long-haul truck drivers, 2 driving instructors, and 6 professional esports players.
Chen Feng instructed the typists to gain control of a suburban vehicle, then handed over the command to the typists for practice and coordination.
The vehicle started smoothly, but less than 100 meters into the drive, it crashed into a wrecked car.
Everyone saw the obstacle through the vehicle’s surveillance system, but the chaotic commands and mismanagement caused the typists to miss the opportunity to avoid it.
Rather than restarting the vehicle immediately, the team paused to reassess their strategy.
After a quick discussion, the two driving instructors took charge, determining the vehicle’s route, speed, and steering angles. The truck drivers and esports players worked together to replace the typists in control of the vehicle’s direction and speed.
Once the vehicle was restarted, they carefully maneuvered around the obstacle and proceeded cautiously, only to crash into another obstacle shortly after.
Chen Feng observed the team’s progress as they refined their coordination, adjusted the pacing of their commands, and continued to track the target’s movements.
Finally, the target’s activity zone on the tracking system shifted. It was marked as an irregular polygon, about 600 meters in diameter—this was the most precise estimate they had so far.
Chen Feng issued the order: “Two more hours of training. After that, we launch the attack.”
The command structure was adjusted once more. One instructor became the overall commander, another instructor and the esports leader took charge of issuing specific commands regarding key sequences and timing, while the other members and typists coordinated to complete the commands.
This proved to be the most effective arrangement so far, improving the vehicle’s ability to avoid obstacles and gradually increasing speed.
At 10 AM, the final pre-operation meeting took place in the commander system.
Chen Feng: “We have six teams ready to go. In 5 minutes, we’ll each control a vehicle within 5 kilometers of the target and enter the target’s activity zone from both ends of the national road. Once we locate him, we’ll all strike at the same time. Command 13 is ready.”
“Command 69 is ready.”
“Command 250 is ready.”
“Command 404 is ready.”
“Command 419 is ready.”
“Command 996 is ready.”
In the café, aside from those directly involved in the operation, everyone else stopped what they were doing and anxiously stared at the computer screens. The monitors showed the vehicles under control, along with their various parameters. The cars skillfully navigated obstacles as they moved westward, entering the target’s activity zone.
Soon, the voice of Commander 996 came through the system: “We crashed. Regaining control of another vehicle.”
Next, Commander 419 reported that their vehicle had lost control and gone off-road.
Commander 69 was the first to shout: “Target sighted!”
On Chen Feng’s screen, the Envision vehicle appeared, just as the intelligence report had described. The team issued the acceleration command, and the Envision suddenly stopped behind a bus to avoid being hit by oncoming vehicles. Then it was pushed to the side of the road together with the bus, completely blocking the way forward.
Perfect opportunity!
The team aimed their vehicle at the Envision and sped forward.
The Envision began to reverse, and the team quickly issued a slight steering command, still targeting the Envision as they rushed toward it.
Just as everyone held their breath, a person rushed into the typing area and headed straight for the “0” key—the brake button.
Behind him, a scrap of paper fluttered in the wind, just large enough to cover the key.
In the brief moment before the paper landed, the laser-projected keyboard detected the “keypress” and transmitted the signal “0” to the computer, which interpreted it as a “brake” command, sending it to the Tesla.
The Tesla’s speed plummeted.
The Envision managed to break through the barrier, its body quickly dropping as it disappeared from the cameras just as the Tesla was about to collide with it.
The Tesla, traveling too fast, flew off the road, rolling through the wheat fields before finally coming to a stop. Only the surveillance camera was still able to work properly. The other vehicles arrived shortly after. However, the Tesla lacked off-road capabilities. Even if it could smoothly drive down this slope which was over one meter high and rather steep, it would still be difficult to catch up with the target in the bumpy crop fields full of ridges.
So close.
They were almost there.
So close to completing the mission.
So close to returning to normal.
Everyone’s gaze shifted to the person who had sabotaged the operation.
To be continued …
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