The destination of this mission is far away, a seaside that the residents of Yuncheng have never been to.
This road was very smooth in the days of the antiques. Even for humans who needed to rest, it would probably take no more than fifteen days to drive there.
But after so many years, no one knows what this once thoroughfare has become, whether there are still roads or bridges, whether you will encounter other "cloud cities", and what kind of people you will meet.
They estimated that the journey would take one month.
"We have never been that far to the southeast," Li Feng looked at the map, "Xing Bi, you guys didn't go there before you arrived in Yuncheng, right?"
"The base is not in that direction," Xing Bi said. "As far as we can remember, it was already in chaos over there, and the traffic was cut off."
"What kind of chaos?" asked Colonel Yu.
"Humans are killing each other." Xing Bi said.
Minister Liu sighed: "I don't know what the situation is now."
"They are all dead." said Director Wu.
"How is that possible?" Qiu Shi said, "Director Wu, why don't you move out of the city for a while? If everyone died, where would the refugees come from? There are still many vagrants outside who don't need Yuncheng's shelter and have survived for a hundred or two hundred years."
Director Wu looked at him and said nothing.
"This is not something I learned from you," said Li Feng.
"I can tell the difference," said Director Wu. "This is how he is. He usually pretends."
When Qiu Shi arrived at the military base and was waiting for the supplies to be loaded onto the truck, he wanted to laugh when he thought of Director Wu's words.
"Stop laughing," Xing Bi said, "Li Feng said that if Director Wu died of anger, it would not be good for anyone."
“I didn’t really want to laugh,” Qiu said. “Maybe I was nervous.”
"Why," Xing Bi said, "you suddenly remembered that this is not a self-driving tour but a mission?"
"That's about right," Qiu Shi glanced at the busy soldiers, walked to the side and leaned against a tree, lowered his head and lit a cigarette, "I've never been to such a far place."
"Let's go and have a look at the past." Xing Bi said.
"Will it pass through your past?" Qiu Shi asked.
"There is a small overlap," Xing Bi said, "When Zheng Ting and I first started to form a team, the place where we trained was a very beautiful city."
"Do you think," Qiu Shi thought for a moment, "it's still there?"
"Yes," Xing Bi said, "but the person is gone."
Qiu Shi gently blew out a smoke ring.
In addition to several biochemical creatures, there are also twenty human soldiers traveling together this time, and they are responsible for all kinds of machinery.
When they finally got on the car, Qiu Shi took a look. There were seven cars, all of which were Yuncheng's newest off-road vehicles. Colonel Yu was quite proud when he introduced them.
When Qiu Shi got into the car and was about to close the door, Li Feng reached out his hand.
"Fuck," he quickly held the door, "Don't use your hand anymore, give it to Director Wu. You didn't say anything before getting on the bus, but now you're doing this when the door is about to close."
"So much nonsense," Li Feng threw a box onto his lap, "a gift."
"Can I say that I have guessed it is a blue scarf?" said Qiu Shi.
"I guessed wrong," Li Feng closed the car door and patted it, "Thank you, everyone."
Qiu Shi closed the car window.
"These damn officials are the best at this." He frowned.
This mission was carried out in secret. They left Yuncheng directly from the back city and headed eastward towards the Donglin and Xingchuan lines which had already been controlled.
This section of the road was familiar to Qiu Shi, who had walked it many times, saving Hu Xiaoling, looking for Xing Bi, killing Qiu Yu...
There is nothing comfortable.
However, after walking for a while, Qiu Shi discovered that the road had changed at some point, and it suddenly became very unfamiliar after the short section just out of the city.
The road has been repaired, the dried-up waterway in the forest has been filled with rubble, the protruding rocks on both sides have been blasted flat, the withered nests have all been cut down, turning it into an open flat land, and workers are leveling the ground, making it look like they are going to build a house.
"It's moving so fast," Qiu Shi sighed as he looked out the window, "Will it be different when we come back?"
"Maybe," Xing Bi said, "Li Feng may want to accept more refugees. The east is safe now, so we can expand out."
"Except for the last time we repaired the wall," Qiu Shi said with some emotion, "I haven't seen any changes in Yuncheng."
"I haven't seen it," Xing Bi said, "Yuncheng hasn't changed in a hundred years. Maybe there's just a little more space in the mine in the inner city."
"The people who sent the excavation equipment yesterday were from the Urban Construction Bureau," Qiu Shi said, "This is the first time I've seen them."
"That's not true. Those checkpoint houses and watchtowers outside the city were all built by them," Xing Bi said.
"I can build those broken things in two nights with Brigade Zhao and the others," Qiu Shi said disdainfully. "This is truly a memorable year. The Yuncheng Army, which had never fought a war, fought a war, and the Urban Construction Bureau, which had never built a house, built a house."
Xing Bi smiled and said nothing.
"What gift did Li Feng give me?" Qiu Shi picked up the box and tore the wrapping paper. "Even the dog official gave me a wrapped gift. This is really a different year."
The wrapping paper is very beautiful. According to Qiu Shi’s habit, he will keep this kind of flowery paper. As long as it is something that cannot be seen outside the city, it is a good thing.
However, the wrapping paper was stuck very firmly and Qiu Shi couldn't tear it apart after trying several times.
"Fuck your ancestors," he pulled the box with one corner exposed, tearing the wrapping paper and the box in half. When he saw what was inside, he was stunned, "Shit, it's really not a scarf."
Inside are two pairs of windproof sunglasses, both with blue mirrors. There is a button next to them, which will turn them transparent when pressed, and looks very cool.
This is definitely a rare commodity in the outer city in ten years. If you go around the refugee market, you will be beaten to death with sticks and have the goods stolen.
"Yours." Qiu Shi handed one of them to Xing Bi.
"Couple mirror." Ji Sui said in the back seat.
"… What is that?" Qiu Shi put on his goggles, turned his head, pressed a button again, making the lenses transparent, and looked at him, "What goggles?"
"You two." Ji Sui said.
"A mirror for both of us?" Qiu Shi asked.
“…No.” Ji Sui said.
"Lovers," Xing Bi said, "did you leave the city without your brains or ears?"
"Wow," Qiu Shi turned to look at Xing Bi, "It's obvious that this couple doesn't get along."
Xing Bi didn't say anything, but leaned back in his chair and laughed.
After saying this, Qiu Shi finally came to his senses. A couple
Ji Sui could say these two words so freely in front of so many people? In addition to Ji Sui and Sang Fan, the others sitting in the back were all biochemical bodies that were used later and were not very familiar.
Qiu Shi leaned against the chair and slowly slid down a little.
"Hmm?" Xing Bi glanced at him.
"No." said Qiu Shi.
In the past, leaving the outer city of Cloud City was like leaving the safe zone and entering a dangerous and unfamiliar world, with crazy vagrants, numb refugees, terrible fungi, infected people hiding in dark corners, and biochemical bodies with unclear positions...
Just like the road leading to Xima Town, which goes northeast all the way to Donglin, and then eastward to Xingchuan, Qiu Shi didn't see a single person along the way except for a few occasional Yuncheng outposts.
"Where are those people?" he asked Xing Bi in a low voice.
"They were driven away," Xing Bi said. "All those who did not want to join the Cloud City Sanctuary left."
"Where can we go?" Qiu Shi asked.
But then I thought, where can they not go? Those vagrants all know where Yuncheng is and where Donglin is, but they still choose to survive hard in the swamps and jungles. No matter what the reason is, it's because they want to survive.
In the future, Yuncheng might be able to shelter more humans, and these people would continue to live outside the shelter in the same way they have been doing for hundreds of years.
Xu Jie was in charge of the Xingchuan defense line. When their convoy arrived, Xu Jie was already standing at the door. The several boxes of supplies on the roof of Qiu Shi's car were brought to Xingchuan.
Xingchuan and Donglin were occupied by Chen Dang and his men at the same time before. However, apart from a small number of ordinary townspeople, most of those left in Xingchuan were Qiu Shi’s fellow tribesmen. After the Yuncheng army arrived, these people also chose to stay.
Now this place looks completely different from Xima Town. The entire town of Xima is garrisoned, while Xingchuan is more like an ordinary town with military garrisons.
Qiu Shi got out of the car and looked at the houses outside the defense zone in the distance and the residents who were looking over here with some curiosity. He felt a kind of tranquility in the chaos of war.
"What are those sheds?" Qiu Shi asked Xu Jie.
"Greenhouse," Xu Jie said, "for growing vegetables. The cold-resistant ones are grown outdoors, and the others are grown in the greenhouse."
"Is it safe?" Qiu Shi asked.
All of Yuncheng's planting and breeding are in the mountains. Because they are the guarantee for the entire city, any damage may put Yuncheng into crisis, so they are guarded very strictly. Qiu Shi doesn't even know the exact location.
"The area is not large," Xu Jie said, "and it's easy to guard. When you come back, the strawberries will be ripe, and you can try some fresh ones."
"Strawberry?" Qiu Shi was stunned.
“… It’s too tragic.” Xu Jie said.
"Huh?" Qiu Shi didn't understand.
"The Doomsday guys don't even know strawberries," Xing Bi said, "They're just a small red fruit."
"This range is too large." Xu Jie said.
"Anyway, he has never seen any small red fruits." Xing Bi said.
"Fuck," Qiu Shi laughed, "I've seen them, too. There are some in the ditch behind the mountain. They are very small. In summer, they bear small red fruits, about the size of a fingernail. They are quite sweet. Mr. Zhao goes to pick them. The old man says they are called cherries."
Xing Bi smiled and said nothing.
"Are you trying to fool us?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Not really. Some people also call it wild cherry," said Xing Bi.
"Let's eat strawberries." Xu Jie said.
Qiu Shi should have seen what strawberries look like. It must have been in that picture book. However, Qiu Shi was more interested in the part about animals, such as bears and wolves. He skipped all the vegetables and fruits.
Xing Bi took out his little pet and projected a picture of it on the car for him.
A first-level biochemical being, he writes well and draws very well.
"When they are fully ripe, they are red. Some are half red," Xing Bi traced his fingers in the air, "and some are white..."
Qiu Shi leaned back in his chair, and at this moment he really felt like they were on a journey.
Especially when they were unloading the goods and getting into the car, Xu Jie said outside the car window: "Have a safe trip."
However, leaving Xingchuan means truly leaving Yuncheng's current control range. As Xingchuan's house gradually moved farther away and disappeared from sight, Qiu Shi opened the map in front of him.
There is actually a map information collection system in the car, which can continuously correct and complete the map prepared by Qu Shen, and can also sense biological activities in a larger range.
But Qiu Shi still felt that he would feel safer if the map was in front of him. The map that used to make him dizzy when he looked at it and made him stagger when he walked, now had no effect on him at all.
Their first stop was the city closest to Yuncheng.
"Is it bigger than Yuncheng?" Qiu Shi asked.
"If you count the inner and outer cities together, it's not as big as Yuncheng," Xing Bi said, "but if you count the surrounding county towns, it's much bigger than Yuncheng."
"Can it still be calculated this way?" Qiu Shi said.
"Yes." Xing Bi said. They set out in the middle of the night, and it was already daybreak when they arrived in Xingchuan. However, there was no new road built by Yuncheng on this section of the road outside Xingchuan. Instead, they drove on gravel and muddy roads. The speed of the car suddenly slowed down, and the car swayed from side to side, causing Qiu Shi's neck to ache.
When we approached this "city closest to Yuncheng", it was already dark and there was silence all around. When we opened the car window, we could hear the occasional chirping of insects in the distance, as well as the cries of birds or animals.
"There are people here." Ji Sui said from behind.
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
Qiu Shi took a look at the map and found no movement around.
However, the lead vehicle stopped, and then the voice of the biochemical body Feng Zhi from the vehicle ahead came over the intercom: "Need to clear mines."
"Mine clearance?" Qiu Shi lowered the car window and looked out. In the moonlight, he could see tire tracks on the ground that did not belong to them, and it was obvious that there was more than one car.
The convoy turned off its headlights, and the two Yuncheng soldiers who got out of the car at the back moved very quietly, and only the faint sound of their footsteps could be heard.
There is a detection system on the lead vehicle that can accurately sense the location of mines and mark them. The two soldiers are followed by a half-person-high vehicle that is controlled by them remotely.
"A mine-clearing vehicle?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Yes, mine clearance and road obstacle clearance," Xing Bi said, "This is the earliest model brought from the base. It is an antique replica, but it has no problem dealing with this kind of mines."
Several biochemical beings got out of the car and stood guard more than ten meters away on both sides.
Qiu Shi got out of the car with the gun in hand.
This is a wilderness. Apart from the sparse woods on both sides, there is almost no place to hide. The moonlight is very bright tonight, and the undulating shadows on the ground are clearly visible, making any moving objects very obvious.
Qiu Shi took out a telescope and looked forward. He could vaguely see a group of black shadows of different heights, which looked like houses or a continuous city wall. However, a lot of damage could be seen from the edges, so it was probably something from the ancestral era.
If there is an ambush, it is probably among these shadows.
“Try not to cause conflict and pass through quickly,” Qiu Shi said. “We are all ordinary human beings.”
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
Biochemical or symbiotic organisms would not use such a method for defense. The tire tracks on the ground were much narrower than those of their new off-road vehicles, and it was obvious that they were ordinary small cars.
The mine-clearing vehicle in front lowered the shock-proof plates at the front and sides, and it looked a lot bigger. The operator got on the lead vehicle, and the biochemical bodies on guard on both sides quickly returned to the vehicle.
The demining vehicle picked the straightest route with the least markings and began to move forward.
With two explosions, the convoy behind followed.
Although this is the route with the least mines, as the mine-clearing vehicle continues to move forward, there will be continuous explosions almost every ten seconds.
Perhaps due to limited supplies, the horizontal distance of this minefield is longer. Qiu Shi estimated that the vertical section forward is about three hundred meters.
The convoy was moving forward in the black fog and flying mud caused by the explosion. The vision around it was blocked and they could only observe from the map.
After a few minutes, the explosions stopped and they had passed through the minefield.
The biochemical body still got out of the car and stood guard, waiting for the mine-clearing vehicle to retrieve it.
Qiu Shi glanced at the demining vehicle passing by him and found that after passing through this round of mines, the vehicle looked a little dusty, except for the mud and grass residue all over the vehicle, but the shock-absorbing plate of the demining vehicle was not damaged.
When the demining vehicle drove up to the large black transport truck and was about to get on, several strong lights suddenly lit up in front of the convoy, followed by a few popping sounds, and the white light instantly illuminated the entire convoy and the surrounding scenery.
Qiu Shi suddenly felt his eyes hurt from the flash, and he could see nothing but white. Even staring at the sun in the middle of the day could not produce such an effect.
Then, accompanied by a rustling sound, a voice came from above, which sounded like a horn.
"here it is… "
After a few gunshots that rang out almost simultaneously, the strong light went out and the sound disappeared.
The biochemicals turned off the high-intensity lights above.
The surroundings returned to darkness, with only moonlight remaining.
"Who hit the horn?" Xing Bi asked.
"I," Sang Fan said, "there is no light on."
“… I wanted to hear what he had to say.” Xing Bi said.
"Yeah." Sang Fan responded.
Although the atmosphere was tense, Qiu Shi still wanted to laugh.
"Drive forward," Xing Bi said, "They are bluffing. Let's just drive past them without stopping."
"Got it." Feng Zhi responded, and the lead car started to move forward.
There is a road on this side of the minefield. After the old cement road surface was damaged, it was repaved with slag and soil. It can be seen that people stay here for a long time.
The black shadow that Qiu Shi had seen before can now be seen clearly with the naked eye. It is a group of buildings. The tallest one has four floors, and the shortest one has only one floor. It is estimated that it has collapsed.
All the houses were very old and looked particularly dilapidated under the moonlight. The walls were covered with withered vines, and it seemed as if the houses were tied up by these vines and prevented from collapsing.
A row of bright spots appeared above the map and the convoy stopped.
"They are humans." Qiu Shi said, "More than a dozen."
"There are weapons." Ji Sui said.
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a flash of fire over there and the dozen or so people opened fire.
The bullets hit the mud in front of the lead vehicle, making a dull sound. Two bullets hit the front of the vehicle, but did not penetrate it. The military vehicles still gave people a sense of security.
After the first round of shooting, Qiu Shi and Xing Bi got out of the car together.
"The firepower is not enough," Xing Bi said, "Let's go."
The convoy continued to move forward, and the biochemical body followed the convoy under the cover of the car door. Qiu Shi put his gun on the car window and aimed forward.
It was obvious that these guys had no experience. They took turns poking their heads out from behind a low wall.
A random shot could hit a head.
"Don't fight back." Xing Bi said.
A cylinder suddenly appeared next to a head over there.
"They have cannons?" Qiu Shi was shocked.
"Megaphone." Ji Sui said.
"Fuck." Qiu Shi looked through the scope and it seemed to be just a metal tube.
"Over there!" A head popped out from behind the metal cylinder and started shouting, "What are you doing?"
"How should we answer?" Qiu Shi asked, "They can't hear us even if we shout at them, right? What's wrong with our brains?"
"Don't go any further!" the head stood up while shouting, "If you take another step, I'll blow you up!"
"Stop." Xing Bi said.
Their journey this time was long and they had to collect various information along the way, so such a battle was not necessary.
The convoy stopped again.
I don't know if the guy over there was too brave or his brain was really not working well, but he actually came out from behind the wall with a dozen people, carrying the loudspeaker and walking towards this side.
He held up a megaphone as he walked: "Do you know where this is? How dare you come in!"
"Qiu Shi will go and negotiate," Xing Bi said, "The biochemical body will stay behind."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi put away his gun and walked over there.
After the head came closer, Qiu Shi understood why he was so bold. The head was wearing a very thick bulletproof vest and a metal helmet on his head that looked very resistant to impact.
"What are you doing?" The man stood a few meters away from Qiu Shi, and a dozen people behind him pointed their guns at this side.
"We are just passing by," Qiu Shi said, "We are going east."
"Passing by?" He looked at the convoy behind him. "Arms dealer? Where are you from?"
"Over at Donglin." said Qiu Shi.
"Where is Donglin?" The voice in my head sounded a little confused, but it didn't seem to want to know. "Do you want to rest?"
"What?" Qiu Shi was stunned.
"Rest. Don't you need to rest at night?" The head said, "We can rest here, sleep, eat, and even drink wine."
Qiu Shi realized that this group of people was probably a black shop group.
"Rest." Xing Bi's voice came from the headset.
"Okay." Qiu Shi said.
"I want to see the goods in the car," the head said, "I can exchange them for sleeping, eating and drinking, and you still have to compensate me for the landmine."
I'll fucking compensate you for your ancestors.
Qiu Shi suddenly got a little angry. It was obvious that the mines were waiting to kill people so that they could steal things.
"It depends on whether you can afford it." said Qiu Shi.
"Wow, you're so arrogant." He raised his hand to the people behind him. All the guns behind him were put away. He turned around and waved, "Follow me."
Qiu Shi looked back and saw that Xing Bi and the others had all gotten on the car, so he turned around and followed Head inside.
"What is this place?" Qiu Shi asked.
"I just said it on the loudspeaker! Didn't you hear it?" said the head.
"We broke the loudspeaker," said Qiu Shi.
The head whipped around: “Fuck.”
The helmet covered the face too tightly, so Qiu Shi couldn't see the head clearly, but he could tell that he was not very old.
"Then you have to compensate for the horn." said the head.
"It depends on whether you dare to accept it." said Qiu Shi.
"Don't provoke me!" The head pointed at him.
"Don't point at me." Qiu Shi looked at his finger.
The head took his hand back: "This is my territory, ten miles in radius, I have the final say."
"What's your name?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Mountain eagle." said the head.
"What the hell?" Qiu Shi looked at him.
The author has something to say:
To be continued tomorrow⊙▽⊙.