Chapter 37: The Blood-Stained Zhurong

"So..."

"So, my primary task right now is to find a device that can access the internet to look up information."

Before the Skull could get another word in, Lin Xu cut him off. The Skull looked at him, completely bewildered.

"What the hell? Didn't you just say something about the end of the world and escaping on a rocket?"

"Your train of thought is changing way too fast. Are you... suffering from a split personality?"

"Are you mentally ill or something?"

"You're the one who’s mentally ill." Lin Xu rolled his eyes. "You believe me just because I said the world is ending? If I told you your wife was a whore, would you believe that too?"

"...No." The Skull shook his head immediately.

"So you were just messing with me?"

"Yeah, what else?" Lin Xu replied casually as he took off his gear. "Besides, when you're stuck with nothing to do, you might as well find some entertainment."

"Conditions aren't right today, so we can't continue the operation. I need to take a look around the park first. If you want to follow, come along; if not, wait in the car."

With those words, Lin Xu pulled open the car door. Just like the previous few times, the Skull efficiently stripped off his gear and followed closely behind him.

"What are you going into the park for?" the Skull asked.

"Didn't I tell you? To get online."

"I need a device to look up information. Since we don't have one on us, I have no choice but to go into the park and find one, right?"

"...That makes sense, but it also doesn't make sense at all." The Skull was full of questions, but not knowing where to start, he simply followed Lin Xu into the park.

Lin Xu had a clear objective. After scanning his iris and verifying his identity, he headed straight for the exhibition hall. The holographic projection terminal in the hall wasn't just for displays; like most large exhibition screens from Lin Xu’s era, it was essentially a computer. Although company permissions prevented it from being used for gaming or watching videos, it was at least sufficient for looking up information.

Watching his fluid, practiced movements, the Skull couldn't help but ask: "You seem like you've been planning this for a long time... So, what exactly are you looking for?"

"Information on the Zhurong Mars rover," Lin Xu replied.

The Skull watched him, perplexed, and asked with a frown: "A Mars rover? Why are you interested in that thing?"

"Tsk... and you mentioned the apocalypse and all that... you wouldn't happen to be a member of that 'Planetary Reincarnation' organization, would you?"

As those words fell, it was Lin Xu's turn to be stunned. In fact, this was the first time he had heard the term "Planetary Reincarnation" from the Skull. It made him realize he might have been approaching this from the wrong angle.

True, in 2025, Planetary Reincarnation was an extremely secretive organization, perhaps one that didn't even exist yet, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find any information on it. But in 2045? The organization had already made the news, and Xu Jin’s identity had been publicly exposed as a wanted criminal. The organization’s influence was expanding, and its secrecy was fading. If he wanted to find information about them, could he perhaps get results simply by asking people or searching the web?

Damn it! What had he been killing himself for all this time?

Lin Xu wanted to slap himself. As he continued walking toward the exhibition hall, he asked, "You know about Planetary Reincarnation? So, what kind of organization is it?"

"A terrorist organization, what else... a terrorist group that screams every day that the end of the world is coming."

The Skull seemed to relax. "Since you're asking, it means you have nothing to do with them, right?"

"Of course not, otherwise why would I ask you?" Lin Xu retorted as if it were obvious. The Skull nodded and replied, "That’s for the best. Everyone in that organization is a lunatic."

"You've heard of groups like ISIS or the Taliban, right? Planetary Reincarnation is even more extreme. You could say their brand of extremism is on a completely different level from those old groups controlled by religion."

"Ordinary people might not encounter much of this. After all, the environment in the country is stable and our counter-terrorism efforts are strong."

"But I spent time in the Middle East. You have no idea what kind of fear those red and green flags brought us when they were raised..."

"Those people have no brains. They don't have the concept of 'casualties' when they fight. Even if they're only holding a burning stick, they’ll charge headlong into 12.7mm gunfire."

"That guy... have you ever watched zombie movies? When they go crazy, they really aren't any different from the zombies in the films."

"Is it that exaggerated?" Lin Xu looked at the Skull with slight suspicion.

Based on the description, "Planetary Reincarnation" was indeed an extremist organization through and through. They were violent, cruel, fanatical, and could even be called anti-human. These traits were consistent with what the interrogator had described back at the Maritime Security office. At the time, he thought the interrogator was just exaggerating or even "slandering" them to justify a crackdown. But now, it seemed the organization really was tainted.

Not just tainted—it was horrifyingly dirty.

But how could that be? This was an organization whose ultimate goal was "getting to Mars"! The entire group was built on the foundation of "science." And clearly, they had recruited a number of genuine researchers like Xu Jin. How could these people tolerate such things?

Lin Xu furrowed his brow. By then, he had reached the holographic projection in the center of the hall.

"Search for information on the 'Planetary Reincarnation' organization."

Results popped up instantly, but Lin Xu soon discovered that this wasn't what he was looking for at all. The massive amount of results were all descriptions of the "crimes" committed by Planetary Reincarnation, interspersed with summaries, debunkings, and critical articles from official institutions. From this information, Lin Xu couldn't find a single key lead.

Is this really the organization from my mind? Is this really the Planetary Reincarnation that is "determined to reach Mars at all costs" and deeply tied to space exploration? Or is this just a part of them?

Lin Xu vaguely sensed that by this point in time, the Planetary Reincarnation organization had already fractured. The more radical elements had strayed from the organization’s original intent, spiraling into an uncontrollable direction. These peripheral, uncontrollable elements had formed a thick shell, obscuring the truth, distracting the authorities, and tightly wrapping the true core, making it impossible to investigate.

Was this an active choice, or a desperate result of passive development? Lin Xu didn't know. But he did know that the path of "internet searching" to find clues was likely completely blocked. As of today, the official focus remained on the "surface" of the Planetary Reincarnation organization. How could it be easy for him to reach the core?

He had to take it one step at a time. Lin Xu let out a long sigh.

"Search for information regarding the Mars rover 'Zhurong'."

He continued to issue commands to the AI, and the results popped up quickly. Unlike the results he had found in 2025, this time, most of the information recorded the life of the Mars rover in much greater detail.

Launched in 2024, landed on Mars at the end of 2024. Discovered semi-metallic hydrogen, found suspected liquid water, captured numerous photos of Martian terrain, and sampled and analyzed rock specimens...

In 2030, the rover suffered its first malfunction. Over the next three years, it remained in an intermittent state of operation until it was completely decommissioned at the end of 2033.

Its history should have ended there. But then, a piece of information that left Lin Xu dumbfounded appeared before his eyes.

In 2035, the first official research vessel, the heavy manned spacecraft "Donghuang Taiyi," landed on Mars. Then, in mid-2035, the Zhurong Mars rover took off from Mars. In January 2036, the return capsule carrying Zhurong entered Earth’s atmosphere. Due to a control system malfunction, the capsule veered off its intended trajectory and landed in the Nabk region, 62 kilometers northwest of Damascus, the capital of Syria.

This rover was eventually recovered by the Chinese authorities.

It really did come back!

Lin Xu recalled Xu Jin’s words: "You must bring Zhurong back."

So, was it him who made it happen?

Lin Xu pondered in silence. Just then, the Skull spoke up from the side: "Nabk... what a familiar name."

"Familiar?" Lin Xu turned toward the Skull. "You've been to Nabk?"

"Of course." The Skull pointed at the text on the holographic projection and continued: "Doesn't it say it right there? Zhurong landed in Nabk."

"I was working for another PMC at the time, and I happened to be involved in the security detail. I have a vivid memory of that event."

"That was truly... the bloodiest scene I have ever seen..."

"Bloody?!" Lin Xu was stunned. "What happened?"

"An attack," the Skull said with a click of his tongue. "You won't find this kind of information through public channels; consider it a bonus for purchasing our services."

"In short, Planetary Reincarnation organized a large number of armed personnel to try and seize the Zhurong rover. In Nabk, they left at least a thousand bodies behind. And we lost a lot of people, too."

"I heard—just heard, mind you—that our overseas personnel suffered over 50 casualties."

"After that, Maritime Security, in coordination with overseas PMCs, spent three years practically washing the entire Middle East of all extremist organizations. Groups like ISIS and Sham were completely wiped out during that time."

"However, such a massive operation, when presented to the average citizen, was just a simple, generic phrase: 'The joint multi-national peacekeeping security mission in the Middle East has concluded successfully.'"

"Though, back in the country, the commotion was a bit louder—State Security made a massive sweep of people, and some of them even made the news."

"Who?" Lin Xu’s eyes changed instantly. "Xu Jin? Was that name among those in the news?"

"I don't remember," the Skull shrugged. "But the name sounds pretty familiar. It probably was, right?"

If it was likely, then it was.

Lin Xu let out a long breath.

Now, everything made sense...