7
Lian Chuan was already standing in front of the long table.
The three people behind the long table froze together. In such a short time, they had no time to react.
Lian Chuan's speed is a legend that is not just a legend. Even if you have seen it ten thousand times, it will still shock you. Without any weapons, he has already entered a defensive state.
But beneath this shock, Minister Chen and Xiao Lin also felt another emotion, a strong sense of uneasiness.
The light in the main city is gradually dimming. This is a fact, regardless of whether the residents of the main city have noticed it or not. The City Affairs Office has held countless meetings on this matter, but all the equipment is operating normally, the energy supply is also normal, and the technical department still cannot find the reason.
Finally, this phenomenon can only be attributed to the main city law.
Another law of the main city is flash.
Unexplainable flashes, fleeting, followed by the appearance of strange visions.
As for what kind of elephant it is and what kind of method it is, it all depends on circumstances.
Minister Chen had a guess in his mind that no one could know.
"Continue?" the clerk asked after Lian Chuan returned to his chair and sat down.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Xiao Lin looked at Lian Chuan and said.
"No," Lianchuan said, "I just answer questions."
Xiao Lin's attitude towards Lei Yu was not much better, let alone towards him, so his anger today was not just because of the death of three team members, and it might not even be one of the reasons.
In his opinion, the fact should be that the most shabby cleaning team in the internal defense actually used the mission as an excuse to directly defeat the security team members without asking for instructions, and there were three of them at that. It was a matter of thunder and lightning.
If he didn't have the aura of the Betelgeuse Compatible, Xiao Lin would probably apply to smash him to pieces on the spot, not to recover him, and never to reset him.
"You can't touch the target in the mission you are carrying out today, right?" Minister Chen looked at him. "When Long Biao rushed out, did you know his purpose?"
"Yes," Lianchuan said, "He wants to avoid us sitting here answering questions after the mission is over."
"Give a direct answer!" Xiao Lin said.
"The security patrol team is approaching," Lian Chuan glanced at him, "In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifice, he wants to lead the target away."
"Why didn't you stop him?" Minister Chen continued to ask.
Lian Chuan sighed: "After all, the mission is not to kill the security guards, so we should avoid it if possible."
"But he failed," Minister Chen said, "and then he wanted to ask other team members for support. Why did you stop him?"
"Protect the team members." Lian Chuan said.
Xiao Lin sneered: "Protect the team members? Protect what?"
Lian Chuan leaned back in his chair: "Protect their memories from being reset."
Minister Chen leaned his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together, making a "click" sound.
"You're a little abnormal today," Lei Yu said, holding a cigarette in his mouth, glancing at Lian Chuan while driving. "It's no surprise that you pissed off Xiao Lin. Even Minister Chen was very angry, but he didn't do anything because he couldn't beat you. You're really capable... Things like memory reset, even if everyone inside knows it, can't be mentioned in public. You wouldn't be like this before, why are you so unrestrained today?"
"I will pay attention next time." Lian Chuan said.
"Don't let Xiao Lin catch us," Lei Yu took out a small black stick from his pocket and handed it to him, "Do you want to smoke?"
Lian Chuan shook his head.
The tobaccos are all top-grade special supplies, and Lei Yu is the one who can get the last bit of special supplies. If others want to smoke, they can only buy those smuggled in from the Lost Valley, and the quality is not good at all.
But he didn't want to touch it today.
Lei Yu did not mention today's flash, which was a bit deliberate.
Lian Chuan could sense the uneasiness and fear beneath such deliberateness.
The probability of a flash occurring is very low, so low that Lian Chuan has never experienced it in his lifetime, but he actually feels a little excited.
In the days when no changes were noticeable, he was looking forward to whatever the flash brought, good, bad, chaos, or destruction.
When the car arrived at the gate of the cleanup team's headquarters, a huge buzzing sound came from the direction of the light thorn, disrupting the quiet air, and everything around began to vibrate with the frequency of the buzzing.
Followed by the second sound.
When the third sound rang, Lian Chuan and Lei Yu had already jumped out of the car and rushed into the cleaning team's building. All the team members were running towards the equipment room, regardless of whether they were on duty today.
Three buzzing sounds at equal intervals are an alert to the entire main city.
The traveler is coming.
When Lian Chuan entered the equipment room, a slight "beep" was heard from the intercom.
This is Lei Yu’s private channel connected.
He jumped onto the equipment rack and stood in front of the exoskeleton, waiting for the equipment to be put on. After making sure that there was no one around, he said, "Safe."
"Go to headquarters immediately. We have received an order," Lei Yu said, "to urgently activate Betelgeuse."
Lian Chuan was rarely surprised, but this sentence made him pause as he walked down the equipment rack.
"The mission is unknown, the goal is unknown," said Lei Yu.
"Understood." Lian Chuan turned around and walked quickly out of the back door of the equipment room and pressed the transmitter on his leg.
The boss appeared silently beside him as he stepped onto the A01.
"There is no backup, and no one knows your mission. There are only you and the boss. You must be careful and safe." Lei Yu said and hung up the call.
Lian Chuan frowned.
Ning Gu leaned against the door of the carriage.
Few people stay here because the wind is too strong. In the past, someone was swept into the black fog by the strong wind and not even a trace of debris was left.
Ning Gu was also afraid, but he would always sit here and stare outside from behind his goggles.
The carriage was lit up by the cold light bottle, but it was pitch black outside. The black fog was much thicker than in the ghost town, and you could almost see its weight.
"It doesn't matter if you can't see clearly," the team leader said, "You can still hear and touch. There are no redundant parts in the body. Even if everything fails, you are still conscious."
Black fog, the sound of wind, and hot and cold air currents.
There is also a section of driving that is off the track and suspended in the air.
Is it flying, gliding, or passing through some unknown space
"Almost there," Hammer poked him on the back and whispered.
Ning Gu pulled his hat down over his nose and then slowly retreated back to Hammer. There were too many people traveling with him, so he had to hide himself well.
He was not so careful the previous two times, but this time was different. He didn't know why the captain didn't want him to go to the main city, but he knew that if he was discovered this time, he would probably never have the chance to go to Tongue Bay again.
Just like those former travelers whose names and origins are unknown and locked in the basement of a ghost town.
"Get off the train and follow me closely," Hammer said, "The first wave is the most dangerous. The city guards will be blocking the old exit, and hyenas will also come. Their equipment is better than that of the city guards, but there are not many of them, and they are usually in the city."
"Yeah." Ning Gu nodded.
After getting off the bus, there are many regular routes into the main city. Roads connecting the main city extend from the center like wheel spokes. If you are lucky, you can run all the way, cross the main road, cross the narrowest bridge over the darkness, and then pass through the big arch to start your sightseeing tour of the main city.
But the city guards only needed to stand at the bridgehead and turn them into charred pieces one by one like playing a shooting game.
Therefore, travelers choose to try to enter the main city from the ruins and the Black Iron Wasteland, following the bats' constantly updated smuggling routes. These routes are called exits.
Some routes are safe, while others may be blocked, especially on celebration days when the main city is heavily guarded.
Everything depends on fate, and any revelry has a price.
To find a new exit, you need bats to lead the way. Bats are all level 10 land kings and will not help others or do good deeds. Travelers need to exchange with them. The general condition is to bring them safely into the main city. After all, if they meet, the only thing that can resist the firepower of the city guards is the traveler's ability.
Pink snot bubbles don't count.
Although there are many pink snot bubble-level travelers who can only entertain themselves, there are also many powerful ones. Li Xiang and the team leader alone can provide them with a safe passage. Ning Gu doesn't understand why there are always people disappearing on the carnival road leading to the main city.
"Ouch—" A howl suddenly came from the carriage.
Then, continuous shouts began to be heard in all the carriages, and the excited travelers began to howl and stamp their feet, making uniform clanging sounds.
Yes, that's it.
This should be the first cause of death.
Amid the excited shouts and stomping of feet, someone quickly rushed past him and jumped out of the car door with a lingering whistle.
The cheers in the car immediately escalated, becoming deafening, with a strong affirmation of the fearless disappearance, especially the fearless and mindless self-inflicted disappearance.
Hammer grabbed Ning Gu's arm and said nervously, "Not yet."
“… I know.” Ning Gu said.
The person who jumped out of the car had disappeared, but Ning Gu was still staring at the door.
He had only known before that some people would jump out of the carriage before reaching the main city, most likely because of excessive excitement and blood rushing to the brain, but this was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes.
The moment he leaped into the black fog, the man waved his arms as if he wanted to hug something. The afterimage of this scene remained frozen in front of his eyes for a long time.
In fact, for a brief moment, he felt somewhat envious.
Those who jumped out, those who disappeared in the fog, whether alive or dead, whether existing or disappeared, may have found the answers they wanted.
When the real stop arrived, travelers poured out of the carriage like a tide, shouting and screaming.
In order to avoid Li Xiang, Ning Gu and Hammer leaned against the car door and did not rush down with the first group of people.
Hammer stamped his feet anxiously: "Hey, hey, hey..."
"Let's go." Ning Gu had just said this word when Hammer grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the car door.
This was the third time that Ning Gu came outside the main city and the third time he jumped out of the carriage.
The first time I didn't stay where I was.
There is no wind.
There is no never-ending gale.
There are no debris flying in the wind forever.
Even my breathing seemed to become a little erratic.
He followed Hammer, blending into the large group of travelers and ran forward.
They didn't know which was the correct way, which direction the exit was, or where the bats that would lead them into the main city were. In short, they just ran forward with a hint of excitement.
At this time, he summed up the second reason why there are always people who can never go back.
The people who jumped out of the car together soon spread out in all directions like dust blown by the wind. Because they could no longer use the cold light bottles, they split into several groups in the chaos and went forward separately, some of them even losing sight of the general direction.
"Are we heading in the right direction?" Ning Gu couldn't help but ask.
"Look," Hammer pointed ahead, "Do you see a bright spot in the distance?"
It was indeed very far away, so far that he felt he could not reach it even if he ran all night. There was a tiny, bright dot of light.
"That's the Light Thorn," Hammer said. "You've heard of it, right? It's the landmark of the main city."
Heard it countless times.
Ning Gu slowed down and stared at the light.
The location of the light spot is the core area of the main city.
Safe zone.
Area a.
Where travelers once lived.
pain.
It felt like every inch of flesh on my body was torn apart and every bone was broken.
Lian Chuan could even hear the "clicking" sound in his memories.
There were flashes of light all around like hallucinations, and continuous and intense tinnitus.
"Betelgeuse," a voice sounded from the front, "wake up."
This is the voice of the Betelgeuse designer, or rather, this voice is the communication of the designer's thoughts.
The designer disappeared before Betelgeuse was completed.
Hearing this voice means that Lianchuan is no longer Lianchuan.
It's Betelgeuse.
All the pain was suppressed beyond Lian Chuan's consciousness in an instant. When he raised his head, his voice did not tremble at all: "Got it."
"Compatibility test passed," the voice said with relief, "all connections are functioning normally."
"Got it." Lian Chuan replied. The chaotic spots of light in his sight had faded. Although they did not disappear completely, they would not affect Betelgeuse's reaction.
"Long time no see." said the designer.
"It's better not to meet." Lian Chuan said.
"Security code." The voice sounded like a smile.
9761,8455.
Two numbers flashed through Lian Chuan's mind, one of which was a pseudocode before the memory was reset, which he should not have remembered.
And now he had to give the only answer immediately without any time to think.
"8455."
"Good luck to you."
"Betelgeuse security verification passed," this time it was the system's voice that sounded, "Wait for mission information after arriving at the coordinates."
"Betelgeuse has applied to depart." Lianchuan said.
Betelgeuse walked out from the exit of the secret tunnel in the inner defense building. The caracal that had been waiting at the exit stepped forward, touched Betelgeuse briefly, changed the way of receiving communication signals, and then jumped onto the wall and left.
Then Betelgeuse also left and headed north to the edge of zone D.
"Perfect." Minister Chen looked at the monitor.
Someone walked towards him, and the footsteps stopped behind him. A female voice said with a hint of regret: "It's a pity that being replaced is his inevitable fate."
"It's a bit early to say that now," Minister Chen pinched his fingers gently, "but the goods the captain brought this time are quite special. Maybe the flash has something to do with it. We have to wait until we get it back to see the details."
"That's better." The female voice didn't sound surprised.
"Don't come to my office next time," Minister Chen took a sip of water from the cup, "There are too many people here."
The person behind me didn't speak.
He turned his head and saw only an empty chair and an undrunk glass of water on the small table.
An emergency curfew has been imposed in the main city, and the streets that were crowded with people in the afternoon are now empty.
Betelgeuse passed through the sky above the dead silent street like a streak of silver-black ink.
The intercom can receive calls on various frequency bands, which helps him judge the overall situation. What he knows now is that some travelers have entered area D from the new exit.
No one was surprised by this. There were countless passages on the long border between the main city and the Black Iron Wasteland, and even bats could get in, let alone travelers led by bats.
After arriving at the coordinates, the Betelgeuse mission came into view.
Recover the organisms in the target container.
Lian Chuan looked at the scanning results on the screen. The container was just around the corner in front of him, under a wall that had half collapsed.
And his eyes... Betelgeuse's eyes are more useful than scanners. They can see the target whose main body is mostly obscured by collapsed walls and debris. It is a suitcase.
He could even see a curled-up humanoid creature inside the suitcase.
The scan results showed that it was safe and there were no other suspicious objects around except the suitcase.
The boss walked past him, crouching low.
Just as he was about to jump over to check the box, Lian Chuan grabbed its tail.
The boss turned his head suddenly and bared his fangs at him, which were shining coldly.
"There's someone." When Lian Chuan said this, not only was the boss' eyes full of surprise, but he himself was also surprised.
This person avoided the sight of Betelgeuse and the highest-level sensors and information scans in the main city. Even when he sensed danger, he was unable to determine where this person was.