30
The boss stood on the rooftop opposite the exit of the Lost Valley that led deep into the main city.
There were no other pedestrians around the exit except for the poor people in District D who were running by occasionally. It looked lonely and dilapidated.
However, if pedestrians passing by here at this time are sensitive, they should be able to experience a strong sense of security.
Six city guards were stationed in an abandoned building nearby, standing by the windows and staring at any abnormalities in the surroundings through scopes.
A caracal was standing on the roof in a dignified manner, and this anomaly had already been seen by the people behind the scope.
But it doesn't matter, the caracal is not subject to any restrictions, and the caracal is the only animal that has been approved for reset by the administrator himself.
Although it exists only on a voluntary basis as the partner of Lianchuan and Betelgeuse, it is not affiliated with any organization and does not take orders from anyone.
Many people would think that such an existence is meaningless. It is not even recorded in the main city's roster. If it disappears one day, there will be no record of it in the main city system.
The caracal is simply an animal that never existed.
But the word "voluntary" is more important to it than any power or interest.
For Lian Chuan, it should be a word that he may have thought about before but has definitely given up expecting.
The boss rubbed his claws on the edge of the roof, pulled his body back slightly, and jumped down, landing in the middle of the street silently but in full view.
Then it ran past the exit, turned a corner, and ran towards the next exit.
There are cleanup teams at all exits of Lost Valley, but patrol teams and city guards are also waiting in secret.
Everyone knew that once Lian Chuan came out alone, he might not even have a chance to explain, and the only person who could contact him first at this time was the boss.
Wherever the boss appears, that may be Lianchuan’s destination.
So the boss appeared at every exit.
Run, jump, stretch, sharpen claws, and scratch twice.
"What on earth is the caracal trying to do?" Xiao Lin looked at the information sent back by the system on the screen. The caracal's footprints covered all the exits of the Lost Valley, as if drawing a map for the system.
Moreover, the routes taken were different for two consecutive days. The system calculated that one was the longest way to go, and the other was the shortest way to go.
"To confuse us." said Liu Dong.
"Is there anything unusual? Except for the caracal." Xiao Lin asked through the intercom.
The patrol captain responded: "Nothing unusual, but... the cleanup team closed the ambush ten minutes ago."
"Lian Chuan is coming out?" Xiao Lin asked.
"No," the other side replied, "It seems like they are going to get ahead of us."
Xiao Lin cut off the communication and turned to look behind him: "Captain Lei, do you know about the cleanup team's behavior?"
Chun San sat on the sofa with a cigarette in his mouth and said slowly, "Captain Lei has already asked for leave to avoid suspicion. All weapons and communication equipment have been returned to the internal defense department. He has been in the sleeping cabin. All situations are reported only to the acting captain."
Liu Dong, who was standing nearby, sneered: "Acting Captain Liu Dong has not received any feedback so far."
"Report to the higher-ups and cancel Lei Yu's leave application." Xiao Lin said.
"The leave to avoid suspicion comes with a three-day cooling-off period," Liu Dong said, "and it cannot be cancelled now."
"Are the cleanup team going to collectively disobey orders?" Xiao Lin looked at Chun San, his voice filled with obvious anger, "Captain Lei's training is really good."
"Thank you. Protecting teammates as much as possible is the first rule of the cleanup team," Chun San flicked the ash off his cigarette. "Look at how envious Chief Xiao is. The security and patrol team members probably don't have such requirements. After all, they don't usually encounter situations where they need to put their lives in the hands of their teammates."
"What do you mean?" Xiao Lin turned around.
"What I mean is, Chief Xiao, please distinguish between public and private matters," Chun San put out his cigarette, his voice turning cold. "Although Lei Yu is my husband, I am just a technician. I am only here to provide you with information support related to Lianchuan."
"Take a break," Liu Dong said before Xiao Lin could speak. "Since the Traveler Expulsion War, the three parties have not cooperated again. It's normal to have some conflicts."
"Let me remind you," Chun San stood up, "this is a cooperation between two parties."
Without waiting for the two to say anything more, she turned and walked out of the room.
"This is it," Lian Chuan stopped, "The exit is in front."
Ning Gu looked forward and could only see darkness at the end of a tunnel. The only way to tell that it was the exit was that the dark red light in the cracks in the wall of the Lost Valley was no longer there.
Oh, and there's the flowing air sweeping across your face.
"Are you going out now?" Ning Gu asked, "What time is it in the main city now?"
"Any time is about the same," Lian Chuan glanced at him, "Don't come out with me. Don't come out no matter what you hear."
Ning Gu frowned: "Didn't you say that the main city didn't know about this exit? Why do you make it sound like I'll die if I go out..."
"Just to make you cautious." Lian Chuan said as he started to take off his clothes.
"Change back to your hyena clothes?" Ning Gu looked at him with disdain. "Are you so disgusted? The clothes that Bat found are also new."
Lian Chuan didn't say anything. He took out the uniform from his bag, put it on quickly, and pressed the side of his leg. A few blue lights flashed on the clothes.
"I see," Ning Gu nodded, "Your clothes can help."
"Do you remember what I said?" Lian Chuan asked.
"Remember," Ning Gu waved his hand, "Let's go, I'm not Jiu Yi."
Lian Chuan didn't say anything else, turned around and walked towards the exit.
Ning Gu looked at his back and suddenly felt a little lonely.
He didn't know when the car would arrive, nor could he predict what would happen after Lian Chuan went out. Next, he would have to face all the unknowns alone in this strange world.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say goodbye to Lian Chuan, or say something like "be careful", but before he could finish his words, Lian Chuan suddenly accelerated, and several blue spots of light drew long tracks and disappeared into the darkness.
Ning Gu sighed. There was no need to rush now and no car was coming. According to Lian Chuan's instructions, he had to stay here for a day and make sure it was safe outside before he could go out.
There is so much time all of a sudden that it makes people feel a little confused.
This place is different from a ghost town. In a ghost town, he can wander around the garbage dump and metal cemetery all day, climb to a high place to get some fresh air, or even venture to Tongue Bay to think about things that will never have an answer.
In this strange and dangerous place, there was nothing he could do except to be alert and wait quietly.
In order to kill time, he sat on the ground, took the clothes that Lianchuan threw away, and rolled them up randomly, preparing to take them with him when he went out. Who knew how long he would have to stay here.
After rolling it twice, he found something hard inside his clothes.
He quickly shook the clothes open and found something in both pockets.
Logically speaking, Lian Chuan has almost no personal belongings. Except for two boxes of stolen rations in his clothes...
He felt for a box in his right pocket.
rationing
Ning Gu pulled his hand away in shock and saw a small box containing rations in his hand.
"What the hell?" He quickly searched his other pocket and found the same small box.
Two boxes of rations, neither of which had been opened.
Lian Chuan, this bastard! He actually stole four boxes!
The ground beneath my feet feels very different than usual.
The ground of the main city is flat, and every inch of it bears traces of human activity, while the Black Iron Wasteland is a pristine wasteland. The ground under your feet is made of hard black iron, with sharp blades covering the ground and shield walls rising from the ground.
Even though this place was once part of the main city, with artificial daylight and countless residents, it now seems to have been swallowed up by the primeval world. Except for the ruins that can be seen near the main city, all traces of civilization have long been wiped out in the heart of the Black Iron Wasteland.
There was no light, and Lianchuan could only rely on the dim sunlight of the distant main city which had already entered dusk to identify the direction in which he was heading.
What was better than he had imagined was that this exit was indeed not discovered by the main city, and Jiuyi did not lie.
This at least gave him the opportunity to choose which direction to enter the main city from.
He needed to enter from the place closest to the City Hall.
There is a noise in front of the left side.
Without his goggles, he couldn't scan the target information in the dark, so he could only take out the spare knife from his waist as soon as possible.
The receiver on the side of his leg beeped twice, and the short beeps made him breathe a sigh of relief.
"Boss?" He paused.
A dark shadow jumped out, and he heard the boss's deep guttural voice.
"How did you get here?" Lian Chuan looked around. He thought that even if the boss wanted to come over, he couldn't go so deep. It was not easy to get rid of the surveillance of the patrol team and the city guards.
He pulled the boss's claws over and felt the damage on the pads without even looking, with several cuts made by the sharp black iron.
The boss was running very fast all the way here, and if he had walked normally he wouldn't have been injured so badly.
The eldest pulled back his claws and gently touched his nose to his hand.
"I'm fine," Lian Chuan looked at the light in the distance, "I'm going to the City Affairs Office."
The boss walked to his legs and he touched a walkie-talkie hanging on the boss's body.
This is the cleanup team's intercom, the same one he had been using before, and the goggles.
Lian Chuan put on the goggles and intercom. These two things cannot be connected to the main city system here, but the goggles can provide basic visual and scanning functions.
The two pieces of equipment brought by the boss have obvious meanings.
The cleanup team will pick him up in the main city.
"I'll go there by myself, and you stay out of the spotlight," Lian Chuan pressed on the boss's shoulder, "If the car doesn't come in the next few days, you have to pick up Ning Gu."
The boss exhaled through his nose.
"He is very important," Lian Chuan said, "No matter what, he cannot fall into the hands of the main city. I will not die if he is alive."
The eldest brother touched his calf with his head to show that he understood.
"I'm going over there," Lian Chuan said, "Boss."
The boss raised his paw and stepped on his shoe.
He also clenched his fist and pressed twice on the boss's paw.
There were no weapons and no exoskeleton.
When he meets someone again, he might face a fight without even having a chance to speak.
Apart from the painful and brutal training in his memory, he had never fought like this outside of the laboratory.
No firepower, no assistance, only yourself.
Precursor test subject.
In order not to implicate the cleanup team, Lei Yu and Chun San, he must reach the City Affairs Office as quickly as possible and use his last resort to get a chance to speak.
"Where is the boss?" Li Liang asked on the intercom.
"No news. I didn't see it today," Jiang Xiaogan said, "Maybe they have found the person?"
"It has a communicator," Long Biao said, "Just don't occupy the private channel of the cleanup team."
"Will Commander Liu cause trouble for Captain Lei? We have been pretending not to hear his orders." Lu Qian said.
"Lei Yu is not someone you can easily mess with," Long Biao said, "Besides, what kind of dirty work does the cleaning team do every day? Who can replace him?"
Li Liang was about to speak when two beeps came from the intercom.
"Private channel connected!" he shouted, jumped up from the hidden dilapidated house, kicked open the door panel blocking a01, and stepped over.
"I'm going to enter the city from Exit A1 in Zone D," Lian Chuan's voice came out, "I'm going to the City Affairs Office."
"How many people?" Long Biao asked.
"One." Lian Chuan replied.
"I've uploaded the route to you," Luo Pan said, "We'll be there soon."
"Hurry up," Li Liang said, "get ahead of them."
"Don't come over." Lian Chuan said.
"You are nothing?" Long Biao said, "Why are you showing off your power as the strongest in the main city at this time?"
Dozens of A01 vehicles of the cleaning team suddenly rushed out from their waiting areas and onto the streets at the same time, totally disregarding the onlookers. This was a scene that had never happened in the main city before.
Neither the city guards nor the patrol team responded.
A01 is the best mobile equipment in the main city, and only the cleaning team has one. After all, the work they do is the most shameful, requiring the fastest speed and the strongest mobility.
"Follow them!" Xiao Lin stood in front of the screen and watched several A01s flashing blue light whizzing past the screen. He shouted into the intercom, "Where are they going!"
"It's impossible to tell!" The patrol captain's tone was equally angry, but also somewhat helpless, "A01's speed..."
"Chase! They must be heading in the same direction!" Liu Dong said, "Stop them in advance and strengthen the scan outside the main city. Lian Chuan must be about to enter the city."
"Acting Captain? Are you giving orders to the patrol team and the city guards?" Xiao Lin looked at him. "Shouldn't you first order those mad dogs in the cleanup team to stop?"
"Why don't you take over as captain?" Liu Dong said.
"What's going on?" The door was pushed open and Minister Chen walked in hurriedly. "Hyenas are running all over the street, and all the residents are out to see!"
"You're really able to sit still and come here just now." Liu Dong said.
"Lianchuan's information has been scanned," a technician shouted, "They have already broken through the A1 intersection in Area D. Two city guards have died. They were not stopped."
"Failed to stop him? The four city guards of group A1 failed to stop Lian Chuan who had no equipment?" Xiao Lin looked at Minister Chen.
"That's Lian Chuan," Minister Chen touched his chin, "It would be incredible if he stopped him."
"You seem quite happy?" Xiao Lin pointed at the screen. "He is going to lead those hyenas straight to the City Affairs Hall. You are already in the City Affairs Hall!"
"Chun San," Minister Chen said, "can you stop him?"
Chun San, who had been leaning against the sofa in the back and remained silent, stood up and said, "I said, he doesn't want to die. As long as he thinks his life is threatened, no one can stop him. He must take the initiative. This is the inevitable result."
"Let's give it a try," Minister Chen said, "I'll go talk to the internal defense. In this situation, both sides might suffer losses. We don't know where Ning Gu is yet. If Lianchuan is destroyed, everyone will lose everything."
In the past few days, the cleaning team has almost figured out the positions of the patrol team and the city guards. Although the other party now knows the purpose and route of the cleaning team and their numbers greatly exceed theirs, the cleaning team has already seized the initiative.
When they meet up with Lianchuan, the cleanup team will not be at a great disadvantage in terms of numbers.
Without Lei Yu and Lian Chuan, the cleaning team, under the command of Long Biao and Li Liang, headed towards the A1 route of the City Affairs Hall.
No one questioned the action, no one mentioned "consequences."
But they also knew that Long Biao and Li Liang had brought the entire cleanup team into this operation because they wanted everyone to work together to avoid the "consequences."
The tacit memory reset cannot be implemented perfectly when faced with such complex information and so many participants.
Lian Chuan crossed the rooftop of a three-story residential building and jumped down.
At the end of the road ahead, several familiar A01s appeared, and when he rushed over, an orange light flashed on the right fork in the road.
He suddenly spun half a circle in the air, avoiding the first attack. The second attack grazed his thigh and a wall behind him collapsed.
The first A01 that rushed to his side was Li Liang, and closely behind him was Long Biao's car.
"Come up!" Li Liang shouted.
Lian Chuan was about to get in the car when a beam of orange light swept over. Long Biao quickly activated the shield, but failed to completely block the attack.
Li Liang, who was turning the car around, was hit on the right shoulder and fell to the ground with the car.
The patrolmen did not use conventional security weapons, but lethal weapons. Li Liang's entire right shoulder was covered in black fragments.
"Bastard!" Long Biao roared and raised the weapon in his hand.
But before he could aim, Lian Chuan had already rushed into the fork in the road like an invisible shadow.
When he found Lian Chuan through the scope, he had already slashed his knife across the chests of the two patrol members, with the tip of the knife sinking into the captain's neck.
The knife was not fatal, but with Lian Chuan's speed, it could be fatal at any time before anyone fired a shot.
"If you move, you will die." Lian Chuan held the knife in one hand and took away the patrol captain's intercom with the other hand, "Xiao Lin."
"Yes." Xiao Lin's voice came from the intercom, "If you dare to touch my people, you will not be able to leave there alive today."
"I've already started," Lian Chuan said, "Anyone who tries to stop me will die."