"Why do you have such an idea?"
"When people are on the verge of death, they will definitely do strange things. Of course, I'm just guessing. Could it be that old turtle Zhuge also has Morgellons?"
"Isn't it curable now?"
We chatted, but couldn't deduce anything for the time being. We could only rest for a while.
During the meal break earlier, the special forces brought food, but we didn't eat it and threw it away. We then ate some dry rations.
After an unknown amount of time, it was the next day. This time, no one was frantically knocking on our door. Instead, we heard someone outside shouting our names: "Two, are you up? It's 9 AM. The boss has something to arrange for you to film today. You need to go to our Hengxing Company's warehouse. Warehouse Minister Gongsun Hao will meet you there!"
So Gongsun Hao was in charge of the warehouse within the company. I muttered to myself and shouted to the door, "Give us about 10 minutes!"
We quickly changed our clothes, then washed up, and came outside the room. Seeing us emerge, a female special forces soldier made a gesture for us to follow and then escorted us downstairs. After we got into the car, we were taken away.
The company's warehouse was not located inside an office building, but in a remote suburb on the island. After we arrived here by mountain bike driven by the special forces, we soon got out with cameras and other equipment.
The special forces led us around some mountain paths and into a cave. They then took us to a pile of boxes where Gongsun Hao was already waiting.
Although it was inside a cave, it had clearly been modified. Dim lights shone everywhere. There was some standing water on the ground, and some residue that looked like pills. As we stepped over them, Gongsun Hao looked at us and said, "Let me introduce myself. Can you film me?"
"Alright, Mr. Gongsun, get ready, and we'll start!" I responded politely.
Gongsun Hao nodded, then took out a document that looked like a speech and read it for a moment before saying to me, "Alright, reporters, let's begin!"
It seemed I had to act again, but there was no choice. I made an OK gesture and started recording. Liu Yuning, standing beside me, prepared to ask some questions. Gongsun then began to speak eloquently: "This is our company's warehouse, a vast warehouse. Most of Puers are stored here. This batch of goods has nearly depleted our funds. Now we are going to sell them all publicly at reasonable prices. Large-scale purchases are welcome. Familiar customers can get discounts, and new customers also have various offers..."
It sounded quite convincing, but internally, we were both sneering, wishing to finish meeting these scoundrels quickly and then go see the old man to complete our mission. However, we knew we couldn't be impatient now. We had to endure humiliation and continue cooperating, otherwise, the minister would directly send heavy troops to surround us and finish us off, without all this fuss.
As I thought, he asked us to follow him, and we came to various storage units. Here, all the drugs from Hengxing Company were neatly arranged. Many of them were incomprehensible to Liu Yuning and me, but they were likely not good things. While we were filming, Gongsun Hao seemed to be showing off, telling us a lot of technical jargon.
"This is another batch of drugs developed by our company after Puers. However, it's just a special medicine for colds, so its effect is not as powerful as Puers. Let me tell you a secret: our boss actually suffers from Morgellons. He must have had selfish motives all these years, but his original intention was for the general public!"
"Yes! Yes! He is indeed a passionate entrepreneur!" Liu Yuning and I deliberately echoed.
"Of course, our boss has been doing good deeds all these years. That time the Polaris criminal organization was destroyed by the police, it was he who provided information to the police."
"Oh... what did you say?" I didn't hear clearly at first, but after I realized, I asked in surprise.
Gongsun Hao gave me a meaningful smile: "Hmph, people outside probably think we have some connection with criminals, right? In fact, we have always been on the side of the police... Well, or perhaps that's not quite accurate. We are good citizens, and police-civilian cooperation is essential. So, our boss contributed his share at the time. Do you understand now?"
"I understand, but people outside say this place is a den of thieves. Is that false?"
I deliberately asked in the capacity of a reporter, using the privileges of my current identity.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Gongsun Hao pursed his thick, dry lips and said, "Don't listen to the rumors outside. This is a secret medical base for a country. It's a perfect paradise dedicated to researching how to deal with the world's ten most bizarre diseases, or perhaps a mysterious research island. Our superior is Mr. Chairman."
"Uh, this..." I knew I was in the role of a reporter, so I could continue questioning. Thus, I pressed on: "But the information I received was from the police. They are all investigating. If this place is truly legitimate and legal, why would it be suspected by the police?"
"It's just a routine investigation. When some scientific research companies develop rapidly, they will attract national attention. Don't you reporters know these things?" Gongsun Hao grumbled impatiently.
My tone towards him was different from before. If it were my old voice, even if the face was different, this guy would have recognized me long ago and might have dragged me out and killed me.
Liu Yuning also posed her own question: "This time, why didn't you invite more reporters to interview? Are just the two of us enough?"
"Don't worry, the ability of Puers is too strong. I'm afraid that if this news spreads suddenly, it will attract too much attention. Our boss is considering the safety of this place, which is why he thought of promoting it gradually."
"Uh? So that's how it is. It seems your boss, Mr. Zhuge, is quite cautious."
At this point, no matter what the other party said, we could only appear to be convinced. We were getting closer and closer to the internal workings of Hengxing Company. These people seemed to have no reservations about us, truly believing we were reporters.
This interview was also quite successful. After Gongsun Hao finished introducing the warehouse, he asked us to look around the vicinity and take more photos, then left. While it seemed like he was giving us free rein, the area was actually patrolled by many red-clothed guards who were monitoring us.