There are fewer people in the laboratory now, but the staff are still busy, and they walk more vigorously than before.
Zheng Ting was still staying quietly in the experimental cabin, with Chen Dang and the two chiefs standing at the door.
The Chief had probably just come out of the hibernation capsule. He didn't look very well. He was sitting on a chair near the door with an indescribable sadness in his eyes.
Qiu Shi was somewhat interested in the two humans who had been in the hibernation capsule, and wanted to go over and ask a few questions, but as soon as he took a step, Xing Bi pulled him from behind: "What are you doing?"
"Let me ask you," Qiu Shi turned back, "how do you feel?"
"You can't use it." Xing Bi said.
"My curiosity," Qiu Shi said, "I want to satisfy it... Don't worry."
Xing Bi glanced at him and let go of his hand.
"Gentlemen, how does it feel inside the hibernation capsule?" Qiu Shi walked over and asked directly without any politeness.
"Go in and experience it yourself." Wang Hong said unhappily.
Qiu Shi then realized that his question sounded like a mockery. He leaned against the wall and said, "I don't mean anything else. I just asked. After all, you two are the first two humans to enter the hibernation capsule."
"Yes, definitely not, not the first two," Zhang Tan said, "We can only say that we are the only two humans who have entered so far."
"Do you feel uncomfortable?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It's OK if it's not too long," Wang Hong said, "but it won't work if it's too long. It will definitely damage the brain. Our brains are very confused now, and our eyes are uncomfortable. It will also affect the functions of the body. After all, it's not an artificial body like a biochemical body."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
I can’t describe the feeling. I feel a little disappointed, but also a little relieved.
"Okay," Director Wu and his men pushed a cart with instruments and medicine bottles over, "Go in."
There was no strong light in the experimental cabin where Zheng Ting was located, for fear of irritating his eyes.
Zheng Ting looked similar to the last time he was seen. When Qiu Shi saw him, he would think of the clone who died in the research institute and sank to the bottom of the sea.
249 exploited Zheng Ting very thoroughly because he had stronger hatred and stronger emotions.
"The process is very simple," Director Wu introduced to Xing Bi, "No injection. First use gas to make the fungi on the surface fall off, and then proceed step by step."
"Yeah." Xing Bi stood in front of the glass and looked at Zheng Ting inside.
Zheng Ting seemed to feel him and slowly raised his head.
"Can he hear me?" Xing Bi asked.
"No, the sound is blocked," Director Wu said, "Do you want to turn it on?"
"Open it." Xing Bi said.
Zhang Tan pressed two buttons on the operating table next to him.
"Zheng Ting." Xing Bi called Zheng Ting.
Zheng Ting looked at him slowly, opened his mouth, but only a sound similar to breathing came out.
"249 is dead," Xing Bi said. "He was sunk to the bottom of the sea along with the institute. We brought Bai Zhan back. He has been near the base."
Zheng Ting uttered another low "Ha".
"It will take some time to treat you now," Xing Bi said. "Live, no matter what, live, truly live."
Zheng Ting did not make any more sound, but moved his hand. He brought his hanging arm covered with black fungi close to the glass cover and knocked lightly twice, then a few more times, sometimes fast and sometimes slow.
"Yes, I got it." Xing Bi replied.
Gas began to flow into the cover, making a hissing sound. The white mist-like gas quickly filled the entire cover, and Zheng Ting's huge black figure became blurred in the white mist.
"How long will this process take?" Xing Bi asked.
"Two days," Director Wu said, "I'll send you the specific steps later."
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
After leaving the experimental cabin, Li Feng received a call and turned to look at the two of them: "You two don't live in the inner city, right?"
"No." said Qiu Shi.
"Then come with me to the warehouse," Li Feng said, "I'll load the stuff into your car and drive straight to the bunker."
"What is it?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Luggage, supplies," Li Feng said, "You've been to a place as far away as the seaside, how come you don't know that you need to bring things when you go out?"
"I used to go out for a few days without taking anything with me," said Qiu Shi.
"How many days will it take you to come back?" Li Feng said, "I think you will be back in less than two months."
"If it weren't for those side missions you took on, it would probably take me a month to get back to playing," said Qiu Shi.
"Don't complain," Li Feng said, "You have to do it even if you complain, and you have to do it even if you don't complain..."
"I feel so suffocated if I don't complain!" Qiu Shi said, "How happy do you think I would be if I didn't complain?"
"Then give me a hug, hug me." Li Feng said.
"You wish." said Qiu Shi.
Xing Bi couldn't help laughing.
The warehouse of the Security Bureau remained the same, but it was obviously much more crowded, with various boxes piled up outside the warehouse.
"Where did you rob?" Qiu Shi asked, "Why are there so many things?"
"From Mr. Long to the directors," Li Feng said, "you must return my people to me now."
Qiu Shi sighed and said nothing.
"Don't worry, if you take something from me, I won't take it back," said Li Feng.
"Then you fucking owe me." Qiu Shi said, "And the prices are never equal, you bastard official."
"I'll let you take enough this time," Li Feng said, "There's also a box of strawberries, which I've put on the passenger seat. I'm afraid they'll get crushed if I put them in the back."
"Where did it come from?" Qiu Shi's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Xu Jie had someone deliver it to me," Li Feng said. "Didn't we have time to stop in Xingchuan on the way back? I tried two of them, they were very sweet."
"Have you eaten?" Qiu Shi immediately turned around and glared at him.
"A whole box! I only ate two!" Li Feng said, "I don't know if Xu Jie did it on purpose, but he sent only one box."
Qiu Shi jumped into the passenger seat, opened the box, took out a strawberry, held it in front of his eyes and looked at it for a long time. It was so beautiful.
This was completely different from the small red fruit they saw in the mountains. It was much larger, but the color was similar.
Qiu Shi took a bite of the reddest tip.
“Fuck,” he said, “that’s sweet.”
"We have never been to the south before," Li Feng said. "The map I gave you this time was copied from the booklet that Qiu Shi picked up from the research institute. It's a tourist map. The other real-time situations are summarized based on the intelligence of the vagrants. You can get a general idea, but it's not detailed, so don't go too far. Safety first."
"Well, I know." Xing Bi said.
"What did Qiu Shi mean by asking about the hibernation capsule today?" Li Feng asked.
Xing Bi glanced at Qiu Shi, who was eating strawberries with his eyes closed in the passenger seat: "You should think about it to some extent, life, death, life span..."
"Live your life to the end," Li Feng said, "as long as you are healthy and hopeful, that's all. Didn't you ask Old Wu to do a test for you? The data will be compared in a few days. If he dies almost immediately, that would be the best. If he dies first, you can see, hear, and experience it for him."
"Will you be lonely?" Xing Bi asked, "You are always alone."
"… yes, especially when I can't sleep," Li Feng said, "but life is not perfect, there is always a part that needs to be endured."
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
"Hook up the trailer later. There are some small equipment and weapons. It's safer to carry them with you," Li Feng said, and suddenly went off topic. He was indeed a pervert who only loved himself. "There is a small suitcase with tokens from several larger homeless gangs. Show it if you get into trouble."
"Does it work?" Xing Bi asked.
"I don't know. I think it usually serves as a mascot," Li Feng said. "If it doesn't work, just kill it and let them remember the logo of Yuncheng."
"This is the third mission, right?" Xing Bi said.
Li Feng laughed, turned around and walked away to arrange the newly arrived goods.
When Xing Bi was about to get on the car to taste a strawberry, Chen Dang, who had been leaning against the cargo box next to him, said, "Find a dog."
"What?" Xing Bi didn't understand.
Chen Dang glanced at Li Feng and whispered, "He has never seen a dog and wants to raise one."
“…Are there any species requirements?” Xing Bi asked.
"Forget about this unreasonable request," Chen Dang said, "It's fine as long as it's a dog."
"Okay." Xing Bi nodded.
Among the books that Qiu Shi picked up at the research institute, there was one with a folded page, and Xing Bi said it was an advertisement.
This advertisement introduces an RV that can be used for sleeping, bathing and cooking. It looks like a small house and is specially used for traveling.
There was no such car in Yuncheng, but with a black car, a trailer, and all kinds of supplies on board, Qiu Shi suddenly had a clearer feeling of a vacation trip.
When they set out, most of the strawberries had been eaten by Qiu Shi, and he left the remaining half box for the greedy people in the bunker.
This time leaving Yuncheng was different from previous missions. Vacation and travel, these reasons for travel that had never appeared in their lives before, made everyone a little excited.
"It's just like when I went on adventures before. There's no need to be so excited," Qiu Shi said. "I'm not taking you with me."
"That's true," Zhao Lu laughed. "It's different from exploration. Exploration is to find something that can be traded and to survive. Every time we go out, we don't know if you can come back alive."
Qiu Shi sighed.
"This time is different. It's generally safe this time," said Zhao Lu. "There are no missions that must be completed. We don't need to fight desperately at all times. If there is danger, we can run. If we can't run away, there is the God of War following us."
“… God of War?” Qiu Shi said.
"Li Rui said," Zhao Lu said, "God of War Xing Bi."
"It's not good to read too much of this book," said Qiu Shi.
"Let's go," Zhao Lu said, "Let us know when you get to Xima. We won't be able to contact you if you go there again, right?"
"Yes," Qiu Shi said, "We brought a wireless device with us. We can set it up to contact Li Feng and the others. If you want to find me, let Li Feng contact me."
"Trouble," Zhao Lu said, "Li Feng is now the director on the surface, but he is very deep-seated behind the scenes. It's safer to stay away from him."
That's right, stay away from him, at least you won't be assigned tasks during your vacation.
In the past, when the car drove south from the bunker, it was just a wasteland.
But now when driving south, they need to pass through the "new district" of Yuncheng and the school that looks very good.
The sign at the school gate has been hung.
"Yuncheng College Outer City Campus." Qiu Shi looked at the words on the sign, "What a strange name."
"You can actually recognize all the characters?" Xing Bi said.
"You still don't know me well enough, partner." Qiu Shi said, "Not only can I recognize all of them, I can also write them down."
"It's just ugly." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi didn't say anything. He threw out the pet, projected a small piece on the windshield, and wrote on the projection with his fingers in the air, stroke by stroke.
Your ancestors.
Then he moved the projection in front of Xing Bi.
Xing Bi laughed: "These three words are okay, at least they are neat."
The car stopped at the school gate and Qu Shen walked out.
"Teacher Qu?" Qiu Shi got out of the car and looked inside.
"No," Qu Shen smiled, "I'll help."
"Is Teacher Li here?" Qiu Shi asked.
"In the teaching building," Qu Shen said, "I'll help you..."
"It's okay." Qiu Shi put his hand to his mouth, whistled, and saw Li Rui's face appear in the second-floor window of the teaching building from afar.
"Why are you here!" Li Rui ran out of the building, shouting as he ran, "I thought you guys had left!"
"I must say hello to the Third Master before leaving." said Qiu Shi.
"How long will it take you to come back?" Li Rui asked.
"About two months." said Qiu Shi.
"We can catch up with the start of school." said Li Rui.
"Get out!" said Qiu Shi.
"Teacher Li is still in charge of admissions," said Qu Shen.
"Go hire someone else," Qiu Shi said, taking out the small tablet with a screen that Li Rui had given him, as well as a charger, from the car. "Here."
Li Rui was stunned: "I said it was for you."
“Give it to me after you die,” Qiu Shi said, “This charger works. I tried it.”
Li Rui hesitated for a moment, took the small board, turned his head and sniffed.
"You were so cruel when we first met," Qiu Shi said, "Why do you cry so easily now? Why don't you and Hu Xiaoling become sworn brothers? Then you'll have someone to cry with."
"Are you going to lose money?" Li Rui said.
"Let's go," Qiu Shi said, "Teacher Li's enrollment was successful."
"Have a nice trip," Li Rui said. "Send me a postcard."
"What the hell?" Qiu Shi looked at him and then at Qu Shen.
"How do you explain this?" Qu Shen looked at Xing Bi with a smile.
"He asked you to go to a place and find a piece of paper, write a message for him and then have someone bring it back to him," said Xing Bi.
Qiu Shi looked at Li Rui for a long while before he said, "Get out." The car drove out of Yuncheng. Now the scope of Yuncheng has expanded a lot compared to before. Looking at the scene outside the car, the tattered refugees were walking among the arranged square little houses, looking like they were struggling with vitality.
"That postcard," Qiu Shi frowned, "how did you make it before?"
"When you travel to a place, there will be some small cards with the scenery of that place printed on them. Then you write a blessing or something like that and then write the address," Xing Bi said, "and the postman will deliver the card to that address."
"Li Rui must be crazy," Qiu Shi said, "for asking me for this thing."
"It's not impossible," Xing Bi said, "We can do it in a different way."
"How do we do it?" Qiu Shi asked.
It used to take a long time to run to the "single stone", but now it feels like it is getting closer and closer to Yuncheng.
When the car stopped next to the stone, Qiu Shi felt like he had just left Yuncheng not long ago.
"Come," Xing Bi got out of the car, threw out the pet, stood in front of the stone and waved at him, "take a video."
"Hmm?" Qiu Shi walked over and stood beside him. "How do we shoot?"
"Just say anything." Xing Bi said.
"Hello everyone, I'm Li Datou." Qiu Shi blurted out.
"Why don't you go back to school?" Xing Bi said.
"Hello everyone, I'm Qiu Shi." Qiu Shi changed his name.
"Hello everyone, I don't know the fool next to you for now." Xing Bi said.
“Fuck,” Qiu Shi laughed, “Let’s do it again.”
Although he had seen those videos of Zhang Sihai, he grew up outside the city after all. Apart from those videos, the only other video he had seen was the one that 249 left in the base.
Facing the camera, he was indeed quite confused.
"No need to say anything," Xing Bi said, "Just take a picture and smile."
Qiu Shi smiled at the flashing camera light on Xiao Chong's side.
"Okay, let me take a look." Xing Bi projected the photo he had just taken onto the stone next to him. "This human is quite photogenic."
"It's okay." Qiu Shi said modestly, his eyes looking at Xing Bi in the picture.
This biochemical body is indeed very good-looking.
Xing Bi wrote four words under the photo: Sunshine on the Solitary Stone.
There was another line written below these four words: Received by Teacher Li Rui from the Waicheng Campus of Yuncheng College.
"Send this to Director Li and have him pass it on to Teacher Li," Xing Bi said. "Every time you go to a place, get a copy of this and have Director Li pass it on to Teacher Li."
"Then Director Li will go crazy." Qiu Shi said.
"We are all busy and tired outside, can't he take care of some chores?" Xing Bi said.
"I'll have to take some photos when I get to Xima Town," Qiu Shi said, "I'll also have to take photos at Xiniu Village and Xiyang Village..."
Xima Town has not changed much. The buildings in the town itself have not changed much, but there are a lot more people and it looks more orderly.
The biggest change is probably the tall signboard outside the town.
Cloud City Station.
There are small words below, saying Xima Town, and arrows marking the directions to Shidi and Zhuyuan.
I guess there are already such brands over there.
"Many of your people still choose to stay in Xima Town," Xing Bi drove into the town. He did not go through the center of the town, but chose a small road along the edge. "They have been active here for a long time and are used to it."
"What do you mean by my people?" Qiu Shi still couldn't get used to this name.
"Black blood believers." Xing Bi said and stopped the car.
Zhao Yi and Long Hao appeared next to the car from nowhere.
"We knew about it when you were still in the village outside." Zhao Yi said, "Are you here to inspect?"
"What are you inspecting? We're just passing by." Qiu Shi got out of the car. "Are you two on patrol?"
"Well, it's a routine security patrol. It's been pretty peaceful lately," Zhao Yi said. "We'll have to train new soldiers later."
"Where are you going?" Long Hao asked, "Are you going on another mission?"
"Going south is not a mission," Qiu Shi said, "Let's explore the way."
"Going south is still the believers' territory, it's safe," Zhao Yi said, "They recognize Qiu Shi as their leader."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything.
This time the "leader" came out with disinfectant, ready to destroy all their holy objects. I wonder how these believers would feel when they knew about this.
Xima Town is the only way to go south, not only because it is Yuncheng's territory, but also because Qiu Shi wants to meet the old man.
He hasn't seen the old man since he left Xima Town last time.
Deng Yeye settled the old man in an unnamed abandoned village further south of Xima Town. Few people came here, and there were only vegetable fields of Xima Town around.
Xing Bi did not enter the house. He was outside taking travel photos of the vegetable garden. Qiu Shi walked into the house carrying a box of supplements.
The old man was in good condition, sitting in a wheelchair holding a small heater.
"A new product from Yuncheng," Qiu Shi said, "with different flavors. I brought some for you."
"Where are you going this time?" asked the old man.
"South, there is no definite destination." Qiu Shi sat down and looked at him, "Are you used to staying here?"
"It's okay, but not as interesting as when we were in Dayan," said the old man.
"There's nothing for you to eavesdrop on, right?" Qiu Shi said, "If you want to miss Yuncheng, I'll take you back when I come back."
"Forget it," the old man waved his hand, "I don't have any acquaintances in Dayan anymore. They're all dead. There's no point in going back. I'll just stay here. I've been eavesdropping for twenty years. It's time to change my lifestyle. This is a good place to retire."
"Are you old?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Am I not old?" The old man said with a smile, "You have called me old man for more than 20 years."
"Wei Yuan." Qiu Shi called his name.
"Well," the old man glanced at him, "I almost forgot my name."
"Didn't Old Deng call you by your name?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Let me call me old man too," said the old man.
"How long have you lived?" Qiu Shi asked.
The old man said nothing, just looked at him.
"Don't you remember?" Qiu Shi asked again.
"A long time," the old man said. "Why do you ask?"
"Just asking." Qiu Shi said.
"I watched you grow up," the old man said, "I know exactly what's on your mind."
"Why are you asking?" Qiu Shi glanced at him.
"After I was strengthened," the old man said, "I have lived for quite a long time. All in all, I am over a hundred years old."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything.
"It's not as good as a biochemical body, but it's still longer than an ordinary human lifespan," the old man said. "In my experience, the earlier you receive enhancement, the slower your body will age."
"Why are you saying this?" Qiu Shi looked at the vegetable field outside the window.
"Isn't that what you wanted to ask?" The old man laughed.
When I came out of the old man's house, Xing Bi had already driven the car over and parked it on the small road out of the town.
Qiu Shi got in the car, sat in the passenger seat, and waved toward the cabin.
"Let's go?" Xing Bi asked.
"Let's go." Qiu Shi looked forward.
The car drove out and started heading south along the path.
In the distance, you can still see the black forest left by the previous 249 nest and camp, like an old scar that will slowly disappear in time.
"Have you found the answer?" Xing Bi asked.
"What answer?" Qiu Shi lowered the back of his chair, opened the map in front of him, half leaned back in the chair and looked out the window.
"About some time that we can't control." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi glanced at him and asked, "Writing poetry?"
"Let's accept the influence from our ancestors." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi smiled, and then sighed after a while: "Some things have no answers."
"Remember what you said yourself," Xing Bi said, "Not all questions need answers."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
"Maybe the answer is at the end of the story." Xing Bi said.
"Well, what I mean is that you will know when I am about to die," said Qiu Shi.
Xing Bi laughed and said, "Actually, it's okay for you not to go to school. It's fine this way."
"I like to hear that... His ancestors don't want to think about this anymore," Qiu Shi said, opening the car window, "Take a picture of us and the car from the outside."
"Yeah." Xing Bi threw the pet out.
The photo was taken okay. They were both smiling towards the front. Although they looked a little silly, they looked like they were on vacation.
"I'll write it." said Qiu Shi.
"Write it." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi projected the photo onto the glass, thought for a while, and wrote a few words on it.
Start with row O.
"You don't know how to write the word 'travel'?" Xing Bi asked.
"Don't talk nonsense." Qiu Shi said, "Just tell me if it can understand this sentence without this one word."
"Yes." Xing Bi said with a smile, "Let's start traveling."
"That's it," Qiu Shi stretched happily, "Let's start traveling, partner."
"Good partner." Xing Bi said.
The author has something to say:
Ah, the main text is finished!
I had something to do today, so the update is late! Ah, maybe I was reluctant to finish it, so I had more things to do today than usual...
I'll take a break tomorrow, and then update the extra chapters, probably three or four.
This article has some different meanings to me, so I am very grateful to you who have been with me these past few months, muah!