Chapter 11: Persuasion
They stared at each other in silence. Ran Yao examined the man carefully and suddenly noticed something. There was an inconspicuous red mark on the man’s cuff. He abruptly grabbed his arm. Guo Yi was startled and was about to struggle, but he was immediately pinned down by the people around him.
Ran Yao scraped the mark with his fingernail, brought it to his nose, and sniffed. A strange smile appeared on his face.
“There’s a woman.” It was a lipstick smear.
He ordered his subordinate, “Report to the Executive Committee. There are stowaways on the ship. One has been captured. There is at least one more female on board!” He added, “The other party may be armed!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Notify He Ming and Wu De to conduct a full search of the camp and ships! Check everyone’s ID cards. Anyone without a card is to be detained on the Fengcheng for identification.”
The matter was quickly cleared up with a large-scale search. The military group on the Fengcheng checked cabin by cabin. The result of the carpet search was that the two ATF agents were dragged out of a storage compartment near the bottom of the ship. The agents, who hadn’t eaten for a day, had no intention of showing their heroism in the face of gleaming SKS rifle bayonets and surrendered obediently.
The two ATF agents were very cooperative. They quickly recounted their investigation, from tracking the North American branch’s gun purchases and shipments to following the trail back to China. Xue Ziliang tried to negotiate with Ran Yao, proposing that if he could help them contact the US consulate or find some other way to get them out, he would be paid a large reward.
Ran Yao just shook his head with a smile. “The price is very good, but no one has the ability to collect it.”
“Are you afraid?” Xue Ziliang shrugged. “The US government can protect you…”
“I believe in the capabilities of the US government. The problem is, that entity doesn’t exist right now.”
Xue Ziliang whistled. “Alright, alright, I know this is the territory of the Chinese government.” He gave a sly smile. “Or maybe it’s not.”
“Do you know what day it is today?”
“Month X, Day X, 20XX.”
“Wrong. Today is the first day of the ninth lunar month in the year 1628 AD,” Ran Yao said, shaking his head. “You have arrived in another time-space.”
The two Americans looked at him as if he were a mental patient, then smiled mysteriously.
“I knew it,” Ran Yao muttered to himself with resentment. This reaction was completely within his expectations.
In the Executive Committee’s conference room on the ship, the items confiscated from the three stowaways were spread out on a table. Passports, IDs, documents, pistols… a whole table of miscellaneous things. The two ATF agents had even more stuff, two full backpacks, but no food—they probably thought they wouldn’t be on the ship for long.
“So this is the legendary Section X,” Wen Desi said, picking up Guo Yi’s credentials and flipping through them.
“This Guo Yi refuses to say anything. Very disciplined,” Ran Yao couldn’t help but praise him.
“What about the two Americans?”
“They’ve told us everything. They were here to investigate the North American guys and just happened to team up with Little Guo.”
“What they came here for is meaningless now. They can’t go back anyway,” said Xiao Zishan. “Let’s talk about how to handle them.”
“When you say ‘handle,’ it has a bit of a ‘liquidate’ connotation. It’s chilling.”
Dr. Zhong was quite nonchalant. “Since they are here, let them be at ease. These are all useful talents. We can absorb them into our ranks.”
“Little Guo is easy to deal with. He’s a comrade who can be educated. What about the two Americans?”
“Isn’t one of them of Chinese descent?”
“He’s an ABC. He doesn’t identify with you at all.”
“What does it matter where we are? Who does he want to identify with? The 17th-century English or the Dutch? Only we represent advanced civilization. He’ll have to identify with us whether he wants to or not,” Wang Luobin said, rather optimistically.
“That’s true. New York is still just a village right now, isn’t it?”
“The Dutch only acquired Manhattan Island two years ago. Right now, it’s called New Amsterdam,” said Yu E’shui.
Ma Qianzhu said, “My personal opinion: we can absorb them. These are all regular law enforcement officers with knowledge and experience in using weapons. They would be very useful for strengthening our law enforcement team. It’s too much for the military group to always be acting as a police force.”
Ran Yao nodded repeatedly, showing his support for Commissioner Ma’s opinion. He then made another suggestion. In the family that was accidentally caught up, the daughter-in-law was also a former police officer, a criminal investigator. He requested that she also be transferred to the Public Security Group.
“You all talk a good game,” said Xiao Zishan. “But they still think I’m a mental patient. Is anyone willing to work for a group of mental patients?”
“We need some proof that we’re for real… No cell phone signal?” said Wang Luobin.
“There are always places in the world with no signal.”
“No GPS signal.”
“You’re jamming it.”
“The beacon tower.”
“An ancient monument. Or a fake one.”
“Ming Dynasty furniture.”
“Can be made in modern times.”
Wang Luobin blinked, unable to think of anything else new.
“I’ve said all this. It’s useless, useless,” Xiao Zishan said, spreading his hands helplessly.
But Yu E’shui said, “Let them all go.”
“Let them go?!” All eyes turned to him.
“Yes, let them go. Let them see for themselves,” Yu E’shui said. “They don’t believe this is Hainan in 1628, do they? Hearing is deceptive, seeing is believing. Back then, we all had to see Director Wen’s wormhole with our own eyes to believe it. This situation is too far beyond common sense. If it were me, I wouldn’t believe it either. Let them go and see for themselves. Let the facts speak for themselves.”
“What if they run away and something happens to them on the road? They’re old and young, and they haven’t been vaccinated.”
“There’s nothing we can do about that. Revolution requires sacrifice. If they are unwilling to be our fellow travelers, their life and death can only be left to fate…” Yu E’shui’s small eyes gleamed, making everyone clench their buttocks.
“We can release all seven of them together,” Wu De said with a chuckle. “They will definitely stick together for now. After walking for a while and realizing something is wrong, they’ll start to fall apart…”
Zhong Lishi raised an objection. “According to the interrogation records, the backgrounds and abilities of these seven people are all quite good. In a transmigration novel, any of them could be the protagonist. If they stick together, there’s no guarantee a second transmigrator force won’t appear in Hainan! Even without our technological foundation, they could still defect to the Ming!”
Wu De smiled. “Impossible. Let’s not even talk about whether the Ming would take them in. Just look at how complex this group of seven is. You have ordinary people, a People’s Police officer, and American agents—and four women. We all came together for a common goal and went through a break-in period of over a year. What common goal do they have to strive for? At the first sign of a setback, it would be a miracle if they didn’t immediately fall out.”
“After they’ve had their fill of arguing, they will naturally understand and come back,” Wu De said slowly. “Taking them in then would be much better than Zishan trying to persuade them now and getting cursed for it.”
“What if they get captured by the Ming, or even killed? It’s not impossible.”
“Why would they kill such strange and special people? The Ming officials are not savages. They will definitely keep them. Isn’t it better to let them suffer a bit before we rescue them?” Wu De said. “If they are really unlucky and die, there’s nothing we can do.”
Xiao Zishan nodded. “That’s a good idea. I suggest we check their belongings, keep what we need, and just issue them some basic rations and tools…”
“No,” Wu De interrupted him. “Since we are letting them go, let’s be generous. Give them back everything. Fully embody our policy of freedom to come and go. Even if everything is lost, it doesn’t matter. These things were extra anyway, no need to feel bad about it.”
“If the local Ming officials capture them, will they leak our secrets?”
“So what?” Wu De retorted. “They think we are mental patients, and the Ming officials will also treat them as lunatics. Besides, it’s hard to say if they can even communicate.”
Guo Yi did not encounter the torture and interrogation he had imagined. He was even given a few steamed buns and some pickled vegetables. After eating, he was taken to a cabin. On the table was a stainless steel pot and a few half-empty plates. Xue Ziliang was ravenously devouring a steamed bun, slurping his congee loudly. The 100kg giant’s table manners were quite unsightly. Sarlina looked haggard. Having not eaten for a day, her eye sockets had sunken, and her blue eyes were listless. She held a half-eaten steamed bun in her hand, apparently unable to eat much.
It seemed that even an ABC still had a Chinese stomach. The pure-bred Westerner was clearly not acclimatized.
“Guo, what did they ask you?” Xue Ziliang asked after swallowing his last mouthful of steamed bun, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“They asked. I didn’t say anything.”
“Sorry, Guo, we told them everything…” Xue Ziliang said with an innocent look.
“I know, I know. Your policy on capture is very humane, very humane…” Guo Yi was no longer interested in this issue. He was concerned about how these bandits would dispose of them.
They weren’t interrogating him anymore, perhaps because they were satisfied with Xue Ziliang’s confession, or perhaps because they thought they were no longer useful… The hairs on Guo Yi’s neck stood on end. Looking at the contentedly eating Xue Ziliang, he was really carefree.
“Guo, are you scared?” Xue Ziliang leaned over and asked.
Guo Yi wanted to maintain the heroic spirit of the Chinese people, but as soon as he spoke, the truth came out. “A little… What do you think of this group of people?”
Xue Ziliang took a cigarette from his inner pocket. His lighter had been confiscated. He could only hold it under his nose and sniff it as he spoke. “I don’t think they have any malicious intent.”
”?”
“There’s something very strange,” Xue Ziliang said, his playful expression gone. “The person who interrogated us just now kept trying to make us believe…” he lowered his voice, “that it’s the year 1628 right now.”
“What?!” Guo Yi couldn’t believe his ears. How could they say something so absurd?
“It’s very strange, right? At first, I thought he was crazy. But Sarlina said he’s not crazy, he’s definitely mentally sound.” To add to his persuasiveness, he said, “Sarlina has a master’s degree in psychology. She can tell if a person is crazy or not.”
“That’s not necessarily true. For example, pyramid schemes…” Guo Yi realized this was not a good example; it was difficult for an American to understand the Chinese-style pyramid scheme business. “For example, cult organizations. From a psychiatric perspective, they are not crazy either…”
Xue Ziliang nodded. “That’s right. I think this organization has a bit of a cult flavor to it.”
Cults were not within Little Guo’s area of expertise, but being in the same agency, he still had some basic knowledge.
“But they don’t have the characteristics of a cult… for example, a cult leader, or totems and symbols.”
“Have you heard of an underground organization called the Church of Survival?”
“The Church of Survival?”
“Yes, it’s an underground organization with an unknown origin. They stockpile large amounts of supplies and build fortifications in order to survive a nuclear war or other major disasters that could destroy the normal social order… By the way, their leader seems to be called Wen-ster. He has been constantly preaching about the coming of doomsday, advocating for survivalists to be prepared.”
“Preaching about the end of the world is also a characteristic of a cult,” Little Guo remembered.
“And remember the cargo list we saw? Those things, as trade goods, are too many and too complex. But what if they are for rebuilding civilization?”
“Are you saying?!”
“Yes, I suspect there is a huge scam here,” Xue Ziliang said, word by word. “Someone has fabricated a new world.”