The next morning, the "Old Task Force" finished their breakfast and headed straight for Redstone Town, entering the security office.
Regardless, they felt it was best to resolve the issue of Han Wanghuo first.
The longer it dragged on, the more likely accidents were to happen. For example, Weller might blurt out what he saw to other members of the Town Guard, spreading the news that Han Wanghuo was a variant throughout Redstone Town.
If Han Wanghuo wasn't a variant, that would be fine, but if he was, it would be troublesome. Even if he hadn't done anything to betray Redstone Town, he might be forced to self-dissect to prove his innocence.
The "Old Task Force" had fought alongside him, so they naturally held some goodwill and hoped to resolve the issue smoothly.
However, only Weller was sitting in the security office.
"Team Han didn't come?" Jiang Baimian asked.
Weller shook his head:
"He doesn't report here punctually every day. He still has a lot of Town Guard matters to handle. The war left behind quite a few problems."
The simplest and most direct was that so many people had died, and their families had to be appeased, and the morale of the remaining Town Guard members had to be boosted.
Jiang Baimian carefully sensed the surroundings, confirming that no one else was present in the security office, and then asked in a low voice:
"You didn't show anything in front of him, did you?"
Weller thought for a moment and said:
"I don't think so. I have pretty good mental fortitude."
"Yeah, you even dared to get into someone else's bed, sleep with someone else's wife…" Long Yuehong had always disliked this playboy.
After a pause, Weller "hissed" and said:
"But in the past two days, I've subconsciously been avoiding him a bit, not joking around with him as much as before."
Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen exchanged glances and solemnly asked:
"Where does Team Han live?"
Weller stood up and pointed in a direction:
"Just north of the park exit. There used to be a few small buildings there, but they collapsed, leaving only one. Team Han lives there, saying it's closer to Redstone Town, and he can get here quickly if anything happens."
Jiang Baimian didn't say much more, led the three members of the "Old Task Force" out of Redstone Town, and drove towards the north side of the park.
Before long, they arrived at the exit and saw a row of detached buildings hidden among the trees.
Unfortunately, in the severe winter cold, the tree branches and leaves were withered, offering little in the way of scenery, and the buildings were either collapsed or badly damaged. Only one was still relatively intact.
Jiang Baimian glanced and noticed that there were no vehicles parked outside the dark blue small building, and immediately frowned.
At that moment, a thought flashed through the minds of her, Bai Chen, and Long Yuehong:
Could Han Wanghuo really have a problem and already be on the run out of fear of punishment?
As the jeep drove towards Han Wanghuo's residence, Bai Chen looked at the ground and said:
"There are relatively fresh tire tracks."
There had been a drizzle last night, and some of the road surfaces were quite muddy.
"Han Wanghuo left not long ago?" Long Yuehong understood Bai Chen's meaning. "Team Leader, should we turn around and chase him now?"
Just as he finished speaking, Shang Jianyao laughed:
"You really have no talent for hide-and-seek."
Long Yuehong glanced at this guy and asked thoughtfully:
"You mean, these are disguised tracks?
"Han Wanghuo drove the car a distance, found a drier spot, hid the car, and then secretly sneaked back here, waiting for the team chasing him to leave before running in the opposite direction?"
Shang Jianyao gave a fair assessment:
"You listen to a lot of radio programs too."
Jiang Baimian said while driving:
"A reasonable guess, that's one possibility.
"Well, when we're investigating, it's best not to change targets at will. Eliminating possibilities one by one is the most stable approach, otherwise it's easy to make the mistake of dropping the ball.
"In short, let's go look for him in Han Wanghuo's house first. If he's really gone, we'll follow the tire tracks."
Soon, the jeep arrived in front of the three-story small building.
Jiang Baimian sighed as soon as she got out of the car:
"There's someone inside. The tire tracks are indeed a smokescreen.
"It seems Han Wanghuo has extensive counter-tracking experience. Well, he should have more than one car."
As she spoke, Shang Jianyao walked to the front of the small building, bent his fingers, and knocked on the door.
The sound of "dong, dong, dong" echoed, but there was no response.
After knocking three times, Shang Jianyao reached out his right hand and pushed open the door that wasn't even locked.
"When did you notice it wasn't locked?" Long Yuehong asked, holding his assault rifle, both surprised and amused.
Shang Jianyao glanced at him:
"Before I even knocked."
"..." Long Yuehong was speechless for a moment. "I get it, a sense of ritual, right?"
"You're wrong. Today's Shang Jianyao is not yesterday's Shang Jianyao. This time, it's politeness," Shang Jianyao explained seriously.
This guy's condition seems to be getting worse… Long Yuehong didn't respond and followed Jiang Baimian past Shang Jianyao into the small building.
Jiang Baimian stopped in the hall, looked towards the kitchen, and shouted loudly:
"Come out."
This time, there was still no response.
Shang Jianyao clapped his hands and said with a smile:
"Hide-and-seek requires composure. You can't come out just because someone bluffs."
After speaking, he darted into the kitchen, squatted in front of the storage cabinet, and reached out to knock three times.
The next second, the storage cabinet door opened, and Han Wanghuo, with two scars on his face, was huddled inside, pointing a pistol at Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao followed suit, dutifully playing the role of a captive:
He raised his hands, slowly stood up, and retreated bit by bit.
Han Wanghuo crawled out, scanned the surroundings with his yellowish-white eyes, and lowered the gun:
"So it's you guys who came... I thought Weller would be leading the Town Guard to surround this area."
"We took on a task," Jiang Baimian said calmly, her voice as usual.
"A task to capture me?" Han Wanghuo smiled, a bit bitterly.
Jiang Baimian shook her head:
"The task is simple, just to find you and ask you a question."
Han Wanghuo was silent for a few seconds.
"What question?"
At this moment, he seemed to be awaiting his final judgment.
Jiang Baimian looked at his yellowish-white eyes and asked in a deep voice:
"Are you a variant?"
Han Wanghuo's expression immediately became a bit strange, looking both disappointed and relieved.
He laughed and looked around:
"Yes, I am a variant."
After speaking, he pushed up his left sleeve, revealing his arm.
Starting from the middle of the arm, amber scales were protruding, not so densely packed, and interspersed with strange lumps of skin.
Han Wanghuo then smiled:
"A wandering variant without even a community."
At this point, his expression suddenly became a bit distorted:
"But aren't variants human too?
"According to this classification, aren't the Red River people and the Gray Whisperers not human either?"
"They are human," Shang Jianyao said honestly.
Han Wanghuo didn't expect to receive an affirmative answer and didn't know how to continue.
After a few seconds, he slowly exhaled:
"Actually, I can understand why the Fishmen and Mountain Monsters have to fight back to Redstone Town and seize it. Although there probably aren't many of them who have truly experienced the destruction of the Old World and still have memories of their homeland, for them, the lakeside near this city ruin is a symbol of their former human, normal lives, a place where all good things and all persistence are entrusted.
"If they just give up like this and don't pass on the belief of fighting back here from generation to generation, then maybe after a few more generations, their descendants will accept the fact that they are monsters and forget that they should be human…"
After listening quietly, Shang Jianyao seemed to want to take off his tactical backpack, but ultimately resisted. Jiang Baimian opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't organize her thoughts for a moment.
The phrase "This damn world!" flashed through Long Yuehong's mind again.
At this moment, Bai Chen suddenly spoke:
"Then why do you stand on the opposite side of them? You also said that you killed many Fishmen and Mountain Monsters."
Han Wanghuo was stunned for a moment, revealing a self-deprecating expression:
"Maybe because I've always considered myself human. Before my parents died, they kept telling me that we were human, humans with a strange disease.
"Later, I started wandering on the graylands, and every time I looked forward to interacting with humans, but once they discovered my secret, they would look at me with very strange eyes, as if they were looking at a monster. The better ones would just stop contacting me, and the worse ones would even want to hunt me down.
"To be a good human, I found many books left over from the Old World and demanded myself to follow the instructions in them.
"Sometimes I'm very scared, but I still have to bravely rush up to save people. Sometimes I really want to get valuable things into my own hands, but in the end, I choose to make a fair distribution. Sometimes I wish that person would die, but because he hasn't committed any crimes, I have to endure it. Sometimes I almost can't control myself and want to scold this group of paranoid guys in Redstone Town, but I still maintain my composure, reason with them, organize them, and lead by example."
At this point, Han Wanghuo's eyes became a little unfocused:
"Once, a Mountain Monster discovered my secret before he died. He looked at me and said one sentence:
"You're so selfish…"
"Haha," Han Wanghuo laughed, laughing a bit madly. "Yes, I'm very selfish. Everything I've done is for myself to be seen as human, to gain recognition. But I've done so much, paid so much, and in the end, I still only hear the word 'variant'."
His gaze swept over the masks of Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others, and he said mockingly:
"If humans have standards, then compared to the Hervigs and Anhebaths who can sell weapons to opposing groups for profit, compared to those who are timid and drag their feet when enemies invade, compared to the followers of the Vigilance Sect who can't even give the most basic trust, I think I'm doing pretty well in 'being human,' even if it's often forcing myself, but I've always been demanding of myself according to human standards."
Han Wanghuo laughed again, laughing loudly:
"Yes, I'm a variant, I'm just a variant, but compared to most people in this town and this world, I'm more like a person!"
Jiang Baimian didn't know how to respond at all, and she even regretted asking that question earlier.
Just then, Shang Jianyao stepped forward, looked at Han Wanghuo, and said after a moment of silence:
"I don't know what to say, so let me dance for you."
After speaking, he made a few dance moves and then turned and left.