paranoianovel Chapter 19 Verification Successful
Chapter 19 Verification Successful
Gao Yuanping calmed down and quickly said, "That's great, thank you for coming to our rescue."
"When I heard about Project Dawn on the radio this morning, I kept thinking that maybe there were people with superpowers in our community, and that someone would come to rescue us. I never expected that someone would actually come."
When Gao Yuan expressed his gratitude, Lu Chen felt a warmth on his wrist.
The heat was very slight, even fainter than when Xu Wan thanked him before, but it was definitely there.
He subtly flipped his wrist and glanced down at it.
The fluorescence at the bottom of the mark increased slightly, not much, but it was visibly more abundant than before.
The faint, misty light spread upwards from the bottom of the mark, covering about one-tenth of the entire pattern.
His guess was correct.
The fluorescence of the meteorite imprint will increase if it receives sincere gratitude.
Xu Wan's thanks elicited a response from the mark, as did Gao Yuan's. The intensity of the mark's response varied depending on the degree of gratitude the two expressed.
Xu Wan was rescued from a desperate situation, so her gratitude was the strongest, and the burning sensation of the mark was the most obvious. Gao Yuan opened the door himself and joined in, so his gratitude was relatively weaker, and the warmth was also less intense.
Now that we've figured out the pattern, the next step is to figure out how to guide these people to express their gratitude.
The first expression of gratitude is the easiest. Being rescued from a room surrounded by zombies, the gratitude for surviving a close call is natural and requires no guidance.
But going on, it becomes much more difficult to get the same person to feel genuine gratitude a second or third time.
Saying "thank you" verbally a thousand times is not enough; it must come from the heart!
However, there is still room for maneuver, and Lu Chen already has some ideas in mind.
He suppressed these thoughts, turned his gaze away, and looked at Gao Yuan in front of him.
"You want to join our team? No problem!" he said calmly, "but let's get this straight."
Gao Yuan's expression also turned serious, and he stood up straight.
"Once you join, you must obey our orders unconditionally. We may assign you some dangerous missions until the military arrives."
Gao Yuan hesitated slightly, but did not refuse immediately.
He thought for a moment and asked, "What exactly do you mean by a dangerous mission?"
"For example, when there is a shortage of supplies, we need to go out to collect them, and a strong laborer like you will definitely have to go along," Lu Chen said bluntly.
"Of course, I will do my best to protect your safety during this process. After all, I can only get military merit if I hand you over to the military intact."
He spoke very frankly, without any embellishment.
After listening, Gao Yuan did not show any dissatisfaction.
"Okay, I agree to join!"
Now it was Lu Chen's turn to be surprised.
"You're not hesitating at all?"
From the moment I knocked on the door until now, only a few minutes have passed.
He stated the conditions so clearly—unconditional obedience to orders, possibly involving dangerous missions—and the other party agreed without even considering it.
"You just believe what I say?"
"Yes and no." Gao Yuan scratched his head, his expression frank. "Actually, I have more faith in the Dawn Project announced by the government."
He looked at Lu Chen, his tone becoming serious.
"The military has clearly explained the details of Project Dawn: those with superpowers earn military merits for saving lives, and these merits can be exchanged for supplies and equipment. This is officially endorsed; it's not something anyone made up."
He paused, then said, "Your bluntness just now actually makes me feel more at ease."
"If you confidently say, 'Come with me and I guarantee you'll be safe,' I'll start to suspect you have other plans. The clearer you are in your explanation, the more reliable I'll believe it."
Lu Chen nodded thoughtfully.
He had been thinking about how to persuade survivors to join, how to dispel their doubts, and how to build trust.
But Gao Yuan's words enlightened him; he didn't need to use his personal credibility to convince anyone.
No matter how good his credit is, it can't compare to that of the country.
The Dawn Project is an official announcement with clear details and a transparent exchange list.
The survivors trusted the male voice on the radio who read out the details of Project Dawn, and they trusted the credibility of the military and the government.
What he needed to do was not to waste time explaining how reliable he was, but to simply present Project Dawn.
Lu Chen turned his head and looked at Shen Qingci.
"I think it's necessary to bring a radio along," he said. "Instead of you wasting your breath explaining, you might as well just play the Dawn Project for them."
Shen Qingci paused for a moment, then nodded.
"That makes sense!"
Xu Wan had never heard of Project Dawn before, and it took her a long time to explain before the other party reluctantly opened the door.
Gao Yuan knew about the "Dawn Project" and volunteered to come out after hearing about it. The difference in their situations was obvious.
Hearing the two discussing this, Gao Yuan quickly chimed in, "I have a radio here, and it even has a recording function. I just happened to record this part of Project Dawn, I'll bring it over for you."
Lu Chen glanced at him with some surprise, then smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll trouble you."
Gao Yuan turned around and went back into his room. Less than half a minute later, he came out with a radio.
The radio was brand new, with the original plastic protective film still on its casing, and the buttons were clean without a trace of wear.
Gao Yuan noticed their gazes, smiled somewhat embarrassedly, and took the initiative to explain, "Around the time the Red Moon appeared, I had a feeling that something was going to happen. There were all sorts of theories online, some saying it was a solar storm, some saying it was an anomaly in the Earth's magnetic field, and others saying it was some kind of radiation leak."
"The more I looked at it, the more uneasy I felt, so I not only stockpiled supplies, but also went out of my way to buy this new radio."
"My thought at the time was that if the network had problems, at least I could still listen to the radio. I never expected that my guesses would come true."
He glanced down at the radio in his hand, his tone a mixture of relief and bitterness.
Lu Chen took the radio and examined it. The button layout was simple, with a record button on the side and the screen showing that the battery was still mostly full.
He pressed the play button, and a sound with static came out—the same part of the Dawn Project broadcast that morning.
"The recording is good." Lu Chen put away the radio and nodded.
Gao Yuan hesitated for a moment, then said, "I used to work in the neighborhood office, and I've handled a lot of neighborhood disputes and resident coordination matters. I'm quite good at dealing with people."
"You're already exhausted from clearing out the zombies, so how about... I take over the communication with the survivors afterwards?"
He spoke with a sincere tone and a humble posture, as if he were carefully handing over a resume.
Lu Chen looked at the other person and almost nodded.
Who wouldn't like someone who can see the situation clearly, proactively seek out work, and is also capable?
Gao Yuan hasn't said much since the door opened, but every word he's uttered has been spot-on.
But in the end, he held back.
The reason is simple: they won't help every survivor. Shen Qingci's special ability allows her to sense the good and evil in people's hearts; who can be taken in and who cannot is entirely up to her to make the final selection.
He and Shen Qingci had discussed this matter before—the ability to perceive good and evil was a bit too taboo.
No one wants to be seen through, especially in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone is on edge. Being exposed not only makes survivors feel uneasy, but also makes them a target for those with ulterior motives.
However, Lu Chen didn't want to dampen Gao Yuan's enthusiasm. The fact that Gao Yuan had taken the initiative to ask for work showed that he genuinely wanted to integrate into the team, and directly refusing him would only discourage him.
He thought for a moment and said, "Rescuing survivors is still a bit dangerous, so you shouldn't come along yet."
"However, we might need your help with logistics management later on. The team will grow larger and larger, and we'll need someone to handle things like resource allocation, room arrangements, and meal coordination. You've worked in the subdistrict office before, so you should be quite familiar with this area."
Gao Yuan's tense expression visibly relaxed, and he nodded with a smile, saying, "Okay, I will definitely cooperate fully."
His eagerness to perform was ultimately aimed at building a closer relationship with Lu Chen and the others.
Now Lu Chen has assigned him logistics work. Although it's not his forte—communication—he has a place in the team, and that's enough.