20
The daylight in the main city is already very dim. After a while, the street lights will light up and the night in the main city will begin.
Lei Yu sat in front of the screen in his office, motionless for several hours.
Outside the window was the courtyard of the cleanup team's headquarters, which was much more comfortable than the offices of the Interior Defense Department, most of which were buried deep underground.
But today he was not very willing to look out the window.
The boss has been squatting on Lianchuan's A01 for several hours. He has been sitting in the car for as long as he has been sitting in the office.
Everyone who walks past it will lower their head and walk past quickly.
Lianchuan entered the Lost Valley.
All members of the cleanup team are aware of this incident and have kept it in mind.
Minister Chen had proposed half an hour ago that if Lian Chuan did not come back, should we consider resetting the team members' memories? This proposal was rejected by both the City Affairs Department and the Internal Defense Department.
It is too difficult to erase Lian Chuan from the memory. Lian Chuan has implanted himself deeply into everyone's memory with his extremely strong mental power and combat power that surpasses all the internal defense members. Forcible reset may cause serious bugs.
Sometimes Lei Yu would wonder if Lian Chuan was fighting against the fate arranged for him by the main city in this way. Even if he was replaced or disappeared one day, he would be a legend that the main city would never be able to erase.
The boss is waiting for Lianchuan to come back.
Every team member is waiting for Lian Chuan to come back.
But except for the boss, perhaps everyone already has some kind of desperate and pessimistic answer in their hearts.
The Lost Valley is a paradise for bats, a refuge for travelers, and a dreamland for exiles, but it is also a place of no return that anyone with armed information from the main city would never dare to set foot in.
I can never wait for Lianchuan to come back.
This is the team members' answer.
Lei Yu stood up, opened the office door and walked out.
He knew that at this moment, deep underground in the City Affairs Office and the Ministry of Internal Defense, someone was discussing another issue.
There is a possibility of losing Ning Gu. If Lian Chuan cannot bring Ning Gu back, what should be done next
When he passed by the boss, Lei Yu stopped and looked at him: "Would you like to go to my house for something to eat?"
The eldest brother shook his ears and turned his head away, his impatience obvious in his body language, as if he wanted to shake his voice out of his ears.
"I'll let you know as soon as I have news." Lei Yu placed a communicator on the front of the car, along with a transmitter. "Take this too. You'll need it when Lian Chuan comes back."
This is the transmitter Lianchuan used to communicate with it. It was found at the exit of the Lost Valley along with Lianchuan's equipment and exoskeleton.
The boss turned around, grabbed the transmitter from the front of the car, placed it on the seat, and stepped on it with his hind legs.
Lei Yu didn't know whether he should go home or not. When he went home and faced Chun San, could he resist asking about those things that he couldn't access and shouldn't try to access.
Chun San works in the City Affairs Office. On the surface, she is responsible for the operation of the education system, but her secret work needs to be kept confidential. She is a core technical staff of the unconventional plan.
But both Lei Yu and she knew it clearly. He knew it, and she knew that he knew it.
Over the years, we have tacitly not discussed these things with each other.
Lei Yu only thought about cleaning up the team, and tried his best to protect every member of the team under the pressure he could bear, although he often looked a little cold and ruthless because he was unable to do so.
Chun San is thinking about the future of the main city.
"I'm not in the mood today," Chun San sat at the table, rubbing his forehead gently, "Let's eat the rations?"
"All right," Lei Yu took off his coat, went over to stand behind her, and gently pinched her head, "Any more news?"
"No news," Chun San said, "I just got home, and the scans in the four main city districts are all working full-time. Apart from the equipment at the entrance, there is no trace of him. All I can say is that he has never come out."
"What is the relationship between Ning Gu and Qi Hang?" Lei Yu asked directly without any probing. There was no need for any roundabout way between him and Chun San.
"I can't say that." Chun San replied.
Lei Yu did not ask any more questions. Before, he could speculate that Ning Gu and Qi Hang might not really have any relationship, and the fact that they could activate the same weapon could also be explained by Ning Gu's own reasons.
But now Chun San's words are equivalent to telling him that these two people are related.
Although he needed to know the relationship between the two people in order to further judge Lianchuan's safety, he couldn't ask directly.
"Where is Qi Hang?" he asked another question.
"Don't keep asking me questions that you can't answer," Chun San smiled, picked up a white cube from the plate on the table, and handed it back to him, "Can this shut you up?"
Lei Yu also smiled.
After a moment of silence, Chun San sighed softly: "In fact, we have known that this day will come. Chuan is different from others. He exists to destroy."
"He is indeed a different child," said Lei Yu.
"Remember when he was little, he had a lot of questions," Chun San leaned back and rested his head on Lei Yu's stomach, "Other children wouldn't think as much as he did. He asked me where all those destroyed people had gone, and I didn't know how to answer..."
"He was too young at that time, and I was afraid he wouldn't understand no matter what I said." Lei Yu's heart was moved.
"I remember he kept asking you questions for a long time." Chun San smiled, with a gleam in the corner of his eyes.
They will turn to ashes and dissipate into the air.
So have they disappeared or will they continue to exist
I don’t know, but the body has indeed disappeared and no longer exists.
What about thoughts? What about mental power? Do the people and things they remember no longer exist
Why don't you ask some childish questions... These things may always be there, somewhere.
A maze like the Lost Valley is very unfriendly to people who enter it for the first time.
…and not very friendly to people entering for the second time.
Ning Gu took Lian Chuan through the only trading hall he knew, carefully avoiding the yellow flower eyes, and randomly picked a tunnel that had a traveler in it and followed him in.
But the layout on the other side was still the same. After passing through the large cave hall twice, Lian Chuan stopped.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I don't know," Ning Gu turned around. He heard doubt in Lian Chuan's question, which was very annoying. Although the doubt was very reasonable, he still raised his chin and said, "If you want to know the way, go ahead and lead the way."
"You are going inside." Lian Chuan said.
"Really?" Ning Gu looked around. He didn't like Lian Chuan very much, but he wasn't a stubborn person either. In this situation, he was willing to ask the annoying Lian Chuan for advice. "What does this mean?"
"Deep in the Lost Valley." Lianchuan said.
"How did you know?" Ning Gu asked sincerely. He really didn't feel anything around him that could help him determine the direction.
Lian Chuan did not answer. He reached into the bag containing his personal belongings, then flicked his fingers and a small round piece flew out from between his fingers and landed on the table at the door of a nearby trading hut.
The owner of the goods, who was sleeping on the edge of the table, raised his head and picked up the small disc at a rapid speed without even opening his eyes.
"Notebook and pen." Lian Chuan said.
The owner said nothing. He quickly pulled out a box from under the table, opened it, and took out a notebook and two black pencils.
"Are there other colors?" Ning Gu asked from the side.
The owner threw a small box onto the table: "Red and yellow."
"Don't want the black one." Ning Gu said.
The owner put the black pen back into the box and took out two pens, one red and one yellow, and threw them to him.
After leaving the trading hut, Lian Chuan took the notebook and walked to the corner of a small cave hall with few people. Then he squatted down and put the notebook on the ground.
"What did you just use to exchange the paper and pen with him?" Ning Gu was a little curious.
Hyenas are different. They can easily take out things that can be traded in the Lost Valley, and they won’t fight over price negotiations.
"Universal currency." Lian Chuan said.
"Oh." Ning Gu remembered what Hammer said, if you have the universal currency of the main city, you can also buy it.
"Give me a pen." Lian Chuan stretched out his hand.
Ning Gu looked at the pen in his hand and gave him the red one.
When he saw Lian Chuan flipping through the notebook, he suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He quickly squatted down and put his hand over the notebook: "Wait."
Lian Chuan looked at him.
"What do you want to write?" Ning Gu asked.
"No, I won't write," Lian Chuan said. "I'll draw."
“…Oh.” Ning Gu breathed a sigh of relief and took his hand away.
Lian Chuan lowered his head and flipped through the notebook. It was an old used notebook with all sorts of messy writing on it. At a glance, it looked like a notebook used by a child who was distracted in class. Lian Chuan found a blank page and started drawing from the lower right corner.
Ning Gu was originally waiting for him to ask "Can't you read?" As long as Lian Chuan dared to ask, he would scold him.
But Lian Chuan did not ask. This person seemed to regard thinking and language as a resource that could not be wasted, and he would not easily utter a single extra word.
He drew a passage from the lower right corner, followed by a circle, and then several more passages, but only a small part of it, with only one passage being complete.
Ning Gu was staring at it in a trance. Although this was not a real painting, he had to admit that even the circles drawn by Lian Chuan were rounder than those drawn by Uncle Feng.
Unfortunately, although the pen is red, the core is still black, not a colorful pattern.
After Lian Chuan drew a bunch of circles and passages, he drew a long line in the middle with arrows on it, and then threw the notebook in front of him: "This is the route we took to get here, and all the places we passed through."
"Ah." Ning Gu picked up the notebook and was a little surprised. Every cave hall he passed had several passages and several trading huts. Lian Chuan had drawn them all. "How did you write them down?"
"I memorized it in my brain." Lian Chuan said.
Ning Gu didn't expect him to talk like that. He clicked his tongue twice and stared at him again: "No wonder, I don't have that thing."
"Do you want to go deeper?" Lian Chuan asked.
"Go deeper," Ning Gu looked at the notebook, "Last time I came here, I saw layers of holes going down. I don't know how many layers there are or how deep they are. But I didn't see any place to go down last time. I guess there are some stairs or passages further in."
"Is it necessary?" Lian Chuan asked.
"What is necessary? Writing data?" Ning Gu said, "Of course not. We can definitely find it on this floor."
Lian Chuan didn't say anything.
"Aren't you curious?" Ning Gu asked, "Why did you faint just now?"
Why did you faint
have no idea.
But Lian Chuan was able to feel something just a second before he fainted.
He couldn't describe the feeling, just like the first time he felt Ning Gu prying into his thoughts.
He couldn't even be sure whether everything he saw, heard, and felt was still real or had been distorted by some force.
He could only draw a perhaps inaccurate inference from these feelings.
The powerful function that was left behind in the Lost Valley at an unknown time, the powerful function that restricted the main city’s armed forces from entering the Lost Valley, was some kind of spiritual power.
Or rather, it was someone, someone who was destroyed, disappeared...
However, when Ning Gu faced this power, he showed no reaction as if nothing had happened.
"Is that a pub?" Ning Gu suddenly pointed ahead, "I heard we can drink here."
Lian Chuan had already seen the liquor sign hanging outside the trading hut in front, so he answered with certainty: "No."
"No?" Ning Gu was a little skeptical. "I can smell it. Does the label say it's wine?"
"No." Lian Chuan replied.
"Then tell me what that word is." Ning Gu said.
"Water." Lian Chuan said.
"Do I look like a fool to you?" Ning Gu pointed at his own face and moved closer to him.
"Aren't you brainless?" Lian Chuan said.
“…Yes, I almost forgot.” Ning Gu nodded, turned around on the spot, and felt that his anger was about to burst out of his nostrils.
Just when I was thinking about going into the hut to take a look, a few people came out.
Ning Gu immediately spotted Sister Qi who was walking in front, and quickly covered his face with his hands, turned around and pushed Lian Chuan away: "Let's go, Sister Qi recognizes..."
"Ning Gu!" Sister Qi had already seen him and shouted in shock, suppressing her voice.
Ning Gu pretended not to hear and ignored Lian Chuan, just lowered his head and rushed forward.
"Stand still!" Sister Qi still lowered her voice, "Why are you here!"
Ning Gu looked around nervously, trying to find something that could lift him off the ground. Sister Qi's ability was stronger than the hammer, so there was no need for solid ground...
But two seconds later, he found that he was fine.
Turning back, he was surprised to find that the people behind him were no longer there.
Sister Qi had been pinned to the wall by Lian Chuan's throat with one hand. Several travelers were surrounding them and didn't dare to move.
"What are you doing!" Ning Gu rushed over and grabbed Lian Chuan's hand, "Let go!"
Lian Chuan glanced at him, then looked at Sister Qi, and loosened the fingers pressing on her throat: "You want to take him away, right?"
"Why should I take him away? I'm free!" Sister Qi coughed twice.
"The best." Lian Chuan said.
Sister Qi didn't care about anything else. She turned her head and glared at Ning Gu: "Why are you with a hyena? Did it threaten you?!"
"No, I have my own things to do. He is my bodyguard now." Ning Gu was a little helpless. Lian Chuan could really be recognized as a hyena no matter what.
He grabbed Lian Chuan's wrist and pulled it again, but found that Lian Chuan's arm was like a locked machine, not moving at all.
Maybe it really is a robot. Ning Gu remembered the deep cracks on the ground outside the Lost Valley that were left by Lian Chuan's kick.
"Bodyguard?" Sister Qi was a little shocked. "Hyena is your bodyguard?"
"I have the leverage over him," Ning Gu glanced at Lian Chuan, "Let go, do you want to break the deal?"
Lian Chuan let go.
Sister Qi rubbed her neck, stared at Lian Chuan, then turned to look at Ning Gu: "Does anyone know you're here?"
After saying that, he turned back and stared at Lian Chuan.
"No one knows," Ning Gu said, "it's better if you don't know either."
"Bullshit! Where else can you go except the main city after running away from the ghost town!" Sister Qi said, "What do you want to do?"
"I can't say." Ning Gu said.
"Then pick someone who can talk," Sister Qi leaned on his shoulder and asked quietly beside his ear, "Is this person Lian Chuan?"
"No," Ning Gu said immediately. He couldn't let the head of the group know that he was with Lian Chuan. "His name is... Xiao Laba."
Sister Qi and several travelers nearby were stunned. Even Lian Chuan, who had remained calm until now, turned his head, and an expression of shock appeared on his expressionless face.
Sister Qi burst into laughter, patting his shoulder and laughing so hard that she couldn't straighten her back: "Xiao Gu, do you think that the people in the main city can just give a random name like us and know who it is?"
"What's your name?" Ning Gu turned his head and looked at Lian Chuan.
Lian Chuan knew that Ning Gu didn't want the team leader to know who he was with. If he knew, the next time there was a bus, all the travelers in the ghost town would crowd into the Lost Valley to look for him.
So… Although the name puzzled him, he calmly replied, “Little Trumpet.”
"Did you hear that?" Ning Gu looked at Sister Qi.
Sister Qi couldn't stand laughing and waved her hand at him: "I don't care about so many trivial matters, and the leader didn't ask me to keep an eye on you..."
"Then I'm leaving." Ning Gu said, and turned to leave. He walked two steps and then stopped, pointing at the liquor sign, "Is there any liquor there?"
"Ouch!" When Sister Qi heard this, her eyes widened and she turned and ran.
Several travelers followed her and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"This is a tavern," Ning Gu said proudly, "The leader doesn't allow travelers to drink. Look how scared she is, she must have drunk."
Lian Chuan didn't say anything.
"I'll just have a taste," Ning Gu walked towards the hut, "Come on, little trumpet."