The purple that spread in an instant, the "people" who fell down in droves and then strangely stood up again, their color turning a deathly gray... this scene was indeed very similar to a zombie outbreak in a disaster movie, but instinct told Yun Feng that things were far worse than that.
"No, it's more thorough, and more bizarre," Yang's voice carried a heavy certainty. "Viruses at least follow the logic of biology, but 'Honkai'... it's more like a 'judgment'."
He manipulated the model, zooming in on an area that had just been covered in purple.
Yun Feng immediately focused his attention on the location Yang indicated. He could clearly see that among the people who had fallen, a portion of them stood up again after a few seconds, their eyes empty, their skin an unhealthy grayish-white, their movements stiff yet with a strange aggressiveness.
This was exactly what Yun Feng understood as "zombies."
But there was another group of people who did not turn into monsters. After a brief, painful struggle, their bodies seemed to adapt to the energy, still maintaining their original bright red color.
But such existences were extremely rare. The concept of one in ten thousand was completely concretized at this moment, bringing a huge visual impact to Yun Feng.
And most people... under the purple wash, their colors completely dimmed and dissipated, as if they had never existed.
"Do you see the difference?" Joachim pointed at the model. "Honkai energy doesn't simply kill or infect.
"It's more like a filter. Those who can't withstand its erosion are directly eliminated. Those who can withstand it but undergo a malignant mutation become 'Deadwalkers' who only know destruction.
"And a very small number who can adapt and even preliminarily guide this energy..."
His finger swept across the still bright red, but variously shaped individuals, a hint of grief in his words.
Yang did not continue, but let the model continue its deduction.
And so Yun Feng saw the survivors who had struggled to survive, the one in ten thousand, welcome a second, more desperate, and more painful trial.
They were still in pain and shock, when the people around them who had already completed their "Deadwalker transformation" pounced on them in a more cruel way than wolves and tigers. The bright red began to disappear quickly, one after another dimming.
What was more terrifying than a one-in-ten-thousand chance was a second one-in-ten-thousand chance.
Sapphire City had a dense population of a full twenty million. After two consecutive [one-in-ten-thousand] chances, how many would be left?
Two thousand!!
And this number would only decrease over time. After a month, how many people would be left in Sapphire City after experiencing such a disaster?
Perhaps even two hundred would be a luxurious, beautiful dream!
"These people are the key to surviving the disaster and the hope for future reconstruction. But first, they have to survive the initial impact and the subsequent chaos."
Yun Feng felt a bone-chilling coldness.
This was no longer a natural disaster, nor a man-made one, but an almost ruthless "redefinition" of life forms.
He looked at the light spots in the model that were being wiped away like by an invisible cloth, at the bright red light spots being submerged by the gray light spots, and at the gray light spots themselves...
After a long silence, Yun Feng suddenly let out a miserable sneer.
"It's not just Sapphire City, is it?" he looked up, a few fierce blood vessels already appearing in his eyes. "A mere zombie virus would never make you so mobilized, and it's even more impossible for a small entrepreneur from Shenzhou like me to enter the center of the event."
His voice carried an imperceptible tremor. "The people you can find are definitely not just at my level, but you're looking for me... this kind of targeted search only has one possibility—the best person you can find is me.
"So, Mr. Yang, where did you get your intelligence from, to be able to point the spearhead at me, instead of contacting the government and military of Shenzhou?
"I'm afraid there's only one answer—your intelligence is based on 'assumptions' and 'fiction' that are not recognized by the officials. Everything comes from your... [memories]."
"Am I right? Mr. Joachim Yang, who has returned from the [future]?"
Yun Feng's words exploded like thunder in this small fire equipment room.
His eyes, filled with gravity, stared intently at Joachim, as if to pierce through those ordinary glasses and reach the depths of his soul.
It was not just a guess, but a conclusion that was almost equivalent to a fact, based on strict logic and astonishing insight.
Joachim was silent.
The calmness on his face finally broke, a very complex emotion flashing across it. There was surprise, admiration, but more of a helpless smile at the "coincidence."
Of course, Yun Feng's answer was wrong, but Joachim would not deny it, because Yun Feng's reasoning was impeccable.
Under the circumstances where official channels were still effective, a person with top-level authority in the City of the Future had chosen to bypass all normal procedures and accurately find an entrepreneur who was neither a government official nor a military leader. What could be the source of his information, other than a "future" he had personally experienced?
But the one thing Yun Feng overlooked was a fact—he, Joachim Yang, would also become a follower.
Just as Yun Feng firmly believed in him because of his Mosquito's Breath and sub-quantum bracelet, he would also firmly believe in them because of Kallen [Kaslana]'s identity.
At this moment, impersonating this identity might be the best choice. Yun Feng was capable and had enough confidence, so he would naturally firmly believe in the answer he had deduced.
But...
The complex emotion on Joachim's face finally turned into a helpless chuckle. He shook his head and looked at Yun Feng with a strange expression.
"Mr. Yun Feng, your reasoning is brilliant, and the chain of logic is almost perfect," he said slowly, not directly denying it, but choosing a more circuitous approach.
"You have keenly captured the contradiction—I have official channels, but I chose you. This does indeed point to an unconventional source of information."
Then, Joachim's tone changed. "But have you considered another possibility? Perhaps I am not the only 'insider', nor the 'source' of the information?
"Perhaps, like you, I have also chosen to believe in a certain... information source that is more difficult to accept by common sense, and have made my own judgments and actions based on it?"
Yun Feng took a deep breath, trying to make his brain work better by flooding it with blood.
The point was not the other's intention to refute him, but that although the other had not admitted to "coming from the future," he had not denied the unconventionality of the information.
He mentioned "belief" and "information source"... which meant that besides this mysterious "Yang," there were others who knew about this disaster? And its credibility was so high that it could even make a core member of the City of the Future bypass the official system...
Kaslana?!