The roads in the main city are like a wheel, radiating outward layer by layer. Area A is the core, the safe zone, and the heart of the main city. The farther away from Area A, the more dangerous it is.
When the car reached Area C, the street scene had changed greatly. It was the chaos and dilapidated state that Lian Chuan was used to seeing.
Compared to the safe zone, this place has become a region where darkness is growing. Even the brightness of artificial daylight has begun to decrease. Gradually, some black fog is floating in the air, like a few drops of paint falling into the water.
Area D is the last edge of the main city that can be called the main city. After leaving Area D and passing through the huge arches that span across various intersections, you will be out of the control of the main city.
Outside are the Dark Iron Wastes and Ruins, areas abandoned by the main city.
Although there are still large areas where you can see traces of being part of the main city, beneath the ruins, it has long been the territory of the "bats".
"Is our team responsible for incidents of Category II or above?" Lu Qian suddenly asked from behind.
Lian Chuan was too lazy to even make an expression and simply ignored his question.
"I know the rule is to go to the nearest place, but many major bug incidents are handled by Group 6," Lu Qian said, "After all, you..."
"Southwest of Jiuxiang," Lian Chuan suddenly spoke in a calm voice, "Luo Panjiang Xiaogan will go through the back door, and the others will continue to the original coordinates."
When he was halfway through his words, the car suddenly turned and turned into an alley next to the H1 intersection in Zone C.
Lu Qian was not prepared, and the strong inertia made him reflexively grab Lian Chuan's belt. If it weren't for the safety buckle, he would have been thrown out.
"Is there an emergency in area C?" Luo Pan replied over the intercom.
This place is not close to where the target appears. Theoretically, the system will not have such a large error. If the target does not have tools, then there is an emergency.
"Yes." Lian Chuan didn't say much.
"I understand." Luo Pan answered simply.
Lian Chuan has the authority to temporarily change the mission content without affecting the clearance of mission objectives. When there is a conflict between the system and Lian Chuan, team members will follow his judgment out of trust.
"Let go." Lian Chuan said.
This sentence did not come from the intercom. Lu Qian was stunned for a moment before quickly loosening Lian Chuan's belt.
He tried hard to appear more skilled on his first mission, but he still had to ask again: "Where is the sudden target?"
"Pay attention to the roof." Lian Chuan's car began to rise in height.
Lu Qian’s professional performance must be good, but it is hard to say whether such a style is suitable for the cleaning team. However, among the several team members who died in school, he was the only one who came back. Lian Chuan couldn’t figure out the reason for a while.
"I understand." Lu Qian replied, and immediately stared back and forth at the roofs on both sides. Although he could not find anything not only with his naked eyes but also with the sensors, he firmly believed in Lian Chuan's judgment.
Because Lianchuan is a legend.
Lianchuan is not just a legend of the Internal Defense Department, he is a legend of the entire main city.
Lu Qian could easily name more than five of his deeds, easier than bragging to others in a tavern. All kinds of impossible tasks, all kinds of desperate escapes, all kinds of... decisive killings.
The target could no longer be seen and the abnormality he felt at the beginning had disappeared, but Lian Chuan did not doubt his judgment and he slowed down the car.
This alley is very long. It is called Wine Alley because there are small pubs lined up at different heights on both sides. There are 49 pubs in total, and 61 of them including those that have closed down.
Although there are taverns in the safe zone with better quality, besides being too expensive, there is also a curfew in the main city, so those who want to get drunk for a night can only come here.
Even though this place is shabby and dark and it seems like the sun will never rise, for many people, it is still a good place to forget their worries.
"Nothing found." Luo Pan's voice came from the intercom.
"Guard it." Lian Chuan said, then jumped off the hovering car and walked deeper into the wine alley.
Lu Qian followed him and jumped out of the car. Lian Chuan looked back and originally wanted to ask him to stay where he was. He was a newbie and had just died yesterday. It would be too tragic if he died again today.
But after hesitating for a moment, he didn't speak.
If he died again, maybe he would understand why Lu Qian was the only one to come back. After all, it is already difficult to apply for birth population now, not to mention the death reset of the adult population.
After Lu Qian followed him for two steps, he made a move that perfectly proved that he was a novice.
He walked towards the door of the nearest tavern and nodded to the burly man guarding the door, who was tied up with seven or eight black leather belts of varying thicknesses. "Did you find anything unusual?"
The eight black belts looked at him with disbelief in their eyes, and after a while they answered, "Yes."
"What?" Lu Qian asked.
"A hyena actually came to ask me for directions. Don't you think it's unusual?" Eight Black Belts said this while laughing so hard that he could hardly breathe, his face full of mockery.
Lu Qian obviously hadn't expected such a scene to occur and was stunned.
Lian Chuan turned and walked over.
The eight black belts were still laughing: "It's too unusual, isn't it? Not to mention tonight, yesterday, tomorrow, and the day before yesterday are also very unusual..."
Lian Chuan raised his hand and pressed the eight black leather belts at the throat.
The man with eight black belts froze for a second, then bent over in pain, holding his neck.
Lu Qian didn't even see clearly what Lian Chuan did. He only knew that after the guard bent down, Lian Chuan walked into the tavern.
He hurried to catch up.
There were quite a few people in the pub, and when they saw someone coming in, they all turned their heads.
When they saw the equipment on them, they turned their heads away again.
"Why did the cleanup team get here?"
"Pah, a bunch of hyenas."
"Keep your voice down."
"I'm not afraid of anything..."
The voices were very low, but they were all audible.
Lian Chuan said nothing as he slowly walked through the crowd. He could sense a certain aura, which was definitely not from the target of the mission, but just made him feel uneasy, a kind of uneasiness that he couldn't let anyone notice.
In the midst of the noisy silence, Lian Chuan pushed open the back door of the pub and walked out.
After standing in the back alley for a while, the uneasiness disappeared and he lost his goal.
Lu Qian was behind him, not saying anything, but one could hear that his breathing was heavy.
"Where did you grow up?" Lian Chuan asked.
"Green land." Lu Qian replied.
"No wonder," Lian Chuan looked back at him. The Green Land is one of the most important settlements in the main city, and the residents there are not ordinary people. "Now is your first lesson in going on an incognito tour."
Lu Qian looked at him.
"Everyone hates the cleanup team," Lian Chuan said.
Lu Qian said nothing and frowned.
Lian Chuan didn’t know if it was the first time he heard someone use the word hyena to describe the cleanup team members, but Lu Qian definitely knew that in various ancient legends in the main city, hyenas were a synonym for the god of death.
Whenever a cleanup team appears, it means that someone else is about to disappear. No matter whether this person is a good person or a bad person in the eyes of ordinary people, the cleanup team is always associated with death.
The abnormal body in area C disappeared. Lian Chuan knew that he did not make a wrong judgment, but the abnormal body did disappear.
"The original coordinates." Lian Chuan said.
"Received." The voices of Luo Pan and Jiang Xiaogan were heard from the intercom one after another.
Half the group set out again.
Lu Qian didn't speak again for a while. Lian Chuan could see from the real-time surveillance video on the goggles that he was looking left and right, and was very alert.
Lianchuan felt it was great and much quieter.
The H3 intersection in Zone D is very close to the last symbol of the main city, which is one of the arches, but the target of the mission has not yet passed through the arch to leave. This may be because the border patrols of the Internal Defense Army have been strengthened during the celebration day.
After they arrived, the track showed that the target had been hovering near the intersection.
"There's more than one," Lianchuan said, "Watch out for weapons."
Luo Pan's car came up from behind and stopped parallel to his right about ten meters away. This was their regular formation. As long as there were no accidents like the one at school, their next job would be to close in the encirclement and aim to recover.
Just two steps.
"Found the target." Jiang Xiaogan said.
The coordinates were displayed on the goggles.
The group's encirclement quickly closed in on the coordinates.
"What's the target situation?" Luo Pan got out of the car and asked. They were already very close to the target.
The target is behind the huge collapsed billboard in front.
"Two," Jiang Xiaogan replied, "I can't see clearly. Their shapes don't look like normal humans."
"The system gives only one goal." Luo Pan said.
"Scan the target data and archive it." Lian Chuan said.
When Lu Qian wanted to follow him towards the billboard, Lian Chuan made a gesture for him to wait where he was.
Lu Qian was very reluctant, but still stopped. He just raised the recycler in his hand and aimed in the direction of the billboard.
Lianchuan and Luo Pan continued to move forward, one on the left and one on the right.
The words on the billboard could be clearly seen through the scope, although the color had faded a lot and they were still upside down.
Let the sunshine of the main city wake you up every morning.
It's a real estate advertisement.
The billboard has been there in this position for who knows how long since the first time I passed by Lianchuan, as if to prove that the sunlight waking you up every morning is just a collapsing dream.
The main city no longer had enough space and supplies to accommodate more people.
"Cleaning team," Luo Pan walked forward to the front of Lianchuan and faced the billboard. "According to the No. 109 redundant population standard of the City Affairs Department, you have been confirmed by the system. Now the cleaning team will respond to you according to the law..."
Before Luo Pan could finish his words, a figure behind the billboard suddenly leaped into the air, with a height and predicted distance that were obviously better than that of an ordinary person.
This is the one that the system has not monitored, and this is not the redundant population of the main city.
"Bat." Lian Chuan discovered that under the festering skin on the front of his calf, the exposed bones were wrapped in a layer of metal. Just by looking at this overly hardcore equipment, it can be determined that this is a vagrant in the Black Iron Wasteland.
The bat leaped up and pounced on Lu Qian.
Luo Pan's first attack missed, and the bat was less than two meters in front of Lu Qian when it landed.
"Boss, go ahead." Lian Chuan didn't change his posture while holding the recoverer. He didn't look back or take cover. He pressed the button the moment the target of the mission poked his head out from behind the billboard in the sight.
The target was hit, raising a cloud of black and gray debris.
As the fragments were being sucked into the recycling device, a slender and agile black shadow rushed out from the darkness, passed between Lu Qian and the bat, and swung its claws with a cold glow.
The bat fell to the ground.
This is the caracal, the elusive "partner" of the dragon in Lianchuan legend.
Lu Qian reacted quickly and immediately lowered his arm, aiming the retriever and the gun on his arm at the fallen bat at the same time.
No one in the team moved, leaving the chance to kill the bat to the newcomer.
"Hyena!" The bat said through his teeth, "Go to hell! You all deserve to die!"
Lu Qian might have only hesitated a thousandth of the time, but he definitely hesitated.
After all, with a light push of a button, no matter if it is a redundancy, a bat or something else, it will disappear forever in the air, and all the memories will be scattered, slowly merging into the black fog outside the sunlight. Everything you once had, whether it was sad or happy, whether you wanted to forget or remember...
A thin beam of light flashed across the sky, and the bat's body seemed to be burned by temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees.
When Lu Qian came to his senses, the dust-like fragments of the bat that was hit by Lian Chuan had already wrapped around him, and he could even feel a little choking.
Just coming back to his senses, he was stunned again in this cluster of ash that carried the smell of death.
"Pack up." Lian Chuan turned and left.
Luo Pan pushed Lu Qian away from the dust that had not yet dispersed.
"Second lesson of the incognito tour," Lian Chuan got on the bus, "Don't let the bats talk."
Lu Qian stood there stiffly, looking at him.
"Three seconds." Lian Chuan said.
Lu Qian jumped into the car and let out a breath.
"What about the travelers?" he asked from behind. "The passage will be open soon. They are coming. What should we do if we encounter them?"
"You?" Lian Chuan said, "Run."
"Would you like to go for a drink later?" Jiang Xiaogan's voice came from the intercom, "Before the next mission."
Everyone in the group agreed.
"Then..." Lu Qian seemed to have recovered a little, "Can I go?"
"You can go. Come over and follow my car." Luo Pan said.
Lu Qian was stunned: "Why?"
"He doesn't drink." Luo Pan said.
"Oh." Lu Qian got out of the car and ran over to get into Luo Pan's car.
Lian Chuan turned the car around and disappeared at the intersection.
A black shadow passed over the roof and then disappeared.
“That cat…” Lu Qian raised his head.
"That's not a cat," Luo Pan said, "Call me Boss, remember that."
"Boss." Lu Qian nodded.
Each time the sunlight in the main city comes on, it is shorter and dimmer than the previous time.
Although such subtle changes are imperceptible to the naked eye, you can find them if you look at them 30, 60, or even hundreds of times.
"How is it?" Jiuyi sat on a stone... no, a piece of iron that looked like stone. It was not very comfortable, but this was the only kind of metal in the Black Iron Wasteland, and this was the only place where he could see the tallest tower in the main city.
The tower is called Light Thorn.
Very straightforward, a glowing thorn.
The daylight had faded and he had been sitting here all day.
Staring at the tallest and brightest thorn in the main city that has lost its luster, it seems as if all the light in the world is in the main city.
This was his first time on the surface since the last celebration day.
The air is nice, but it's very desolate.
"I couldn't bring it out." A person squatting nearby answered.
"Who asked you this? You definitely can't bring it out." Jiuyi frowned.
"Then why are you still letting us take it?" the squatting man asked, "We're losing one too."
"Did someone replace your brain? You've been following me for how long and you don't even know this?" Jiuyi glanced at him and confirmed that this was Fulu, his little follower who had been following him for a while. "If you're willing to pay the price, then take him with you. No matter if he lives or dies, or who he is, those who are willing to go are just for the little bit of profit, right? You'll get what you pay for anyway, even if you die."
"...Oh," Fulu thought for a moment, "I see. You're asking about the entrance to the main city. It's all blocked. Just now, Suki led his men to charge in, but lost two of them. The city guards beat them to a pulp."
Jiuyi sighed: "There's no point in living, right? You can go to the guard team and sign up to be a meat shield."
"Not really," Fulu also sighed, looking into the distance, gritting his teeth, "That should have been our territory!"
“Shh, don’t let the travelers hear it.” Jiuyi raised his index finger and laughed. His voice echoed strangely in the empty metal wilderness. “They think so too.”