Bai Zhen spread out a large Nanjing city transit and tourism map, using transparent tape to stick it on the wall, making the living room somewhat resemble a command center.
In various films and TV shows, the walls of pre-war command posts always had battle maps, with high-ranking officers bearing stars on their shoulders pointing at the maps with long-riding crops, mobilizing thousands of troops with just a few words. This was exactly the kind of command center that old chuunibyou Bai Zhen had idealized. Since childhood, he had fantasized about becoming an important figure, which was why he joined the army after graduating high school. But while ideals were beautiful, the reality was cruel. After spending two honest years in the military, Bai Zhen realized he would never become a general in this lifetime – at most, he could be a driver.
“This is Meihua Villa, our current location,” Bai Zhen pulled out a black permanent marker and drew a small circle on the map. “It’s also where BG4MSR is located.”
Zhao Bowen, Wang Ning, and the others sat on the sofa, all eyes fixed on the wall map.
“Base One is here.” Bai Zhen found Gulou Park on the map and drew a circle at that intersection. “It’s underneath Purple Mountain Observatory.”
Everyone nodded.
“Base Two is here.” Bai Zhen then found Mochou Lake and drew a circle enclosing the blue lake. “It’s at Mochou Lake.”
“At Mochou Lake subway station,” Tunneling Mouse said.
The three black circles Bai Zhen drew formed a massive triangle on the map, seven kilometers long and four kilometers high, spanning three major Nanjing districts: Gulou, Qinhuai, and Xuanwu. The three circles marked the triangle’s vertices: Meihua Villa, Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Mochou Lake subway station. According to the original plan, BG4MSR was supposed to go to either Base One or Base Two to retrieve stored data, but this plan was interrupted before it could begin.
“Where’s the giant eyeball located?” Wang Ning asked.
“Unknown,” Bai Yang walked out of his room, looking somewhat exhausted and letting out a yawn. “That thing moves around.”
“Is it… an eyeball with legs?” River Mouse still found it hard to believe.
“Yes, not only does it have legs, but it crawls around everywhere,” Zhao Bowen looked toward Bai Yang. “Yang Yang, is the girl still emotionally stable?”
“She is,” Bai Yang rubbed his eyes and yawned again. “But she’s exhausted. Once she relaxed, she fell asleep.”
Old Zhao looked up at the wall clock – it was already 1 AM. They had returned the radio today, not expecting the subsequent troubles that kept them busy until now.
“If you’re tired, go to sleep,” Zhao Bowen watched Bai Yang’s continuous yawning. “Yang Yang, are you still going to school tomorrow?”
“Yes!”
Bai Yang turned and closed the bedroom door. He was worn out too.
The men continued their meeting.
“The giant eyeball first appeared at Zifeng Tower.”
Bai Zhen drew another circle near Gulou Square.
Zifeng Tower, Nanjing’s famous landmark and one of its tallest buildings, had eighty-nine floors above ground and four underground levels, reaching a total height of 450 meters. The super-tall skyscraper stood out like a crane among chickens, visible even across Xuanwu Lake. Standing on its roof would certainly provide an excellent view of Nanjing city – no wonder the giant eyeball had climbed up there.
“Zifeng Tower is too close to Purple Mountain Observatory,” River Mouse frowned. “How long does it take to walk from the observatory office building to the base of Zifeng Tower? About five minutes?”
“It might not still be at Zifeng Tower, since it’s a mobile entity,” Earth Mouse said.
“That’s exactly the problem. If it were just a fixed object, things would be simpler,” River Mouse said. “Then we’d only need to abandon Base One and go straight to Base Two. But once it starts moving around, neither base is safe, and the girl’s life would be in danger.”
This was a ticking time bomb.
Everyone recognized this issue – BG4MSR was in an extremely unsafe situation. A powerful monster was roaming around Nanjing city, searching for her everywhere.
“Hide?” Wang Ning spoke up.
This was one option.
The giant eyeball was an unstoppable powerful monster, and expecting BG4MSR to face it alone was unrealistic – it would only put her in grave danger.
If you can’t fight it, why not hide from it?
“We can plan routes to help her avoid areas where the eyeball might appear. Better to take detours than risk her life,” River Mouse nodded in agreement. “I think Section Chief Wang’s suggestion is feasible. We can’t engage in confrontation – that would be like eggs smashing against rocks.”
“But how can we predict where that eyeball might appear? We know almost nothing about it,” Earth Mouse raised an issue. “If it’s a living thing with the ability to think, its movement patterns would be unpredictable. This isn’t like a video game where NPCs follow fixed routes that you can memorize. We don’t have room for trial and error – one small mistake means total failure.”
“You can dodge the first day but not the fifteenth, catch the monk but not the temple. We might hide for a while, but we can’t hide forever,” Tunneling Mouse also believed hiding wouldn’t work. “If we don’t deal with it, it’ll stay there like a bomb that could go off at any time. This is a huge security risk – if we don’t resolve it completely, something will eventually go wrong.”
“Resolve it? How? There’s no way to resolve this. Do you want a girl barely twenty years old to duel with a ten-meter monster? Isn’t that sending her to her death?”
“We can provide support, provide weapons.”
“If we were dealing with Schwarzenegger, I’d agree. But having a young girl carry a rocket launcher to fight aliens? That’s ridiculous.”
“Taking the initiative is better than waiting passively for death. If we don’t deal with it, we’ll be living in constant fear.”
“Taking the initiative is a death sentence.”
The group split into two camps. Wang Ning, Bai Zhen, and River Mouse believed confrontation was absolutely out of the question – having BG4MSR face the giant eyeball head-on carried unacceptable risks, too foolish and dangerous. The others believed hiding wasn’t a long-term solution – the eyeball was alive, and BG4MSR couldn’t hide from it for long. Without eliminating it, this major threat would persist, eventually leading to serious consequences.
“Stop arguing, everyone stop arguing!” Zhao Bowen quieted the voices in the living room. “Listen to me!”
The others fell silent, all eyes turning to Old Zhao.
“Old Zhao, what’s your view?” Bai Zhen asked.
“My view is that we need to think this through carefully. This isn’t something we can resolve easily – we won’t get a feasible plan or conclusion even if we discuss it all night,” Zhao Bowen said. “Everyone makes valid points. We have no room for trial and error, with an extremely low tolerance for mistakes – one wrong step means total failure. That’s why we need to be more cautious and take it slow. We can’t rush this. Let’s end here for tonight – it’s almost 2 AM, time for everyone to head home.”
Zhao Bowen was right – it was already 1:40 AM. They could keep talking until dawn.
Everyone got up to leave and prepare to go home.
Bai Zhen sat on the sofa, watching people leave one by one, waving goodbye. He was too tired to get up and see them out.
Zhao Bowen was about to leave too when Bai Zhen suddenly called out to him.
“Old Zhao.”
“What is it?”
Zhao Bowen was changing his shoes at the entrance.
“Do you have any ideas?” Bai Zhen asked.
“Ideas?” Zhao Bowen put on his leather shoes. “What ideas could I have?”
“My intuition tells me you have something in mind,” Bai Zhen said. “You kept scratching your head earlier, grimacing while you did it. From what I know of you, your expressions are most animated when you’re thinking.”
Zhao Bowen stood up straight and gave him a look.
“I do have an idea, but if executed poorly it could start World War… But it’s too early to discuss that. We have too little intelligence, we’re practically working blind. In our current situation, we can’t do anything. Any successful military operation in this world is based on sufficient and accurate intelligence work. So the first step should be to send in a scout.”
Bai Zhen was startled.
“A scout?”
Zhao Bowen nodded:
“That’s right, a scout with good eyesight and a pair of binoculars.”