This mission’s destination was very far — a seaside area that no resident of Yun City had ever been to before.
In the days of the old timers, this road used to be very smooth. Even for humans who needed to rest, driving there would take no more than fifteen days.
But after so many years, no one knew what had become of this once-thoroughfare — whether the road still existed, whether the bridges were still intact, whether they would encounter other “Yun Cities,” or what kind of people they might meet.
This time, they estimated the journey would take about a month.
“We’ve never gone that far southeast before,” Li Feng looked at the map. “Xing Bi, before you guys came to Yun City, had you ever been in that direction?”
“The base isn’t in that direction,” Xing Bi said. “By the time we have memories, that area was already very chaotic, and transportation was cut off.”
“What kind of chaos?” Colonel Yu asked.
“Humans killing each other,” Xing Bi replied.
Minister Liu sighed: “I don’t know what the situation is like now.”
“They’re probably all dead,” Director Wu said.
“That’s impossible,” Qiu Shi said, “Director Wu, maybe you should move out of the city for a while. If they were really all dead, where would the refugees come from? There are still many homeless outside, and without Yun City’s protection, they have survived for over a hundred or two hundred years.”
Director Wu glanced at him but said nothing.
“This is not something I learned from you,” Li Feng said.
“I can tell the difference,” Director Wu said. “This is how he really is. Usually, he’s just pretending.”
When Qiu Shi waited at the military base for the final loading of supplies, he still wanted to laugh thinking about Director Wu’s words.
“Stop laughing,” Xing Bi said. “Li Feng said if Director Wu dies from anger, it won’t be good for everyone.”
“I actually don’t want to laugh,” Qiu Shi said. “I might just be nervous.”
“What?” Xing Bi said, “Suddenly realizing this isn’t a road trip but a mission?”
“Something like that,” Qiu Shi glanced at the busy soldiers, walked to a tree, leaned against it, and lit a cigarette. “I’ve never been that far.”
“Go see the past,” Xing Bi said.
“Will we pass through your past?” Qiu Shi asked.
“A small part overlaps,” Xing Bi said. “The place where Zheng Ting and I first formed a team — a very beautiful city.”
“What do you think,” Qiu Shi thought for a moment, “is it still there?”
“It is,” Xing Bi said, “just the people are gone.”
Qiu Shi exhaled a smoke ring quietly.
Besides a few bio-engineered beings, the group traveling this time included twenty human soldiers responsible for various machinery.
When they finally got on the vehicles, Qiu Shi glanced at them — seven cars, all the newest Yun City off-roaders. Colonel Yu was quite proud when introducing them.
Qiu Shi sat inside, about to close the door, when Li Feng’s hand reached out.
“Damn it,” Qiu Shi hurriedly held the door. “Don’t put your hand here. Save your hands for Director Wu. Don’t say anything before boarding, then do this just when the door is closing.”
“Too much nonsense,” Li Feng threw a box onto his lap. “A gift.”
“Can I say I already guessed it’s a blue scarf?” Qiu Shi said.
“Wrong guess,” Li Feng closed the door, patted it. “Thanks, everyone.”
Qiu Shi closed the window.
“Corrupt officials sure know how to play this game,” he frowned.
This mission was carried out in secret. They left Yun City directly from the back city, heading east along the lines of Donglin and Xingchuan, which had already been taken over.
This part of the road was familiar to Qiu Shi, having traveled it many times — rescuing Hu Xiaoling, finding Xing Bi, killing Qiu Yu…
None of which were pleasant memories.
But after traveling for a while, Qiu Shi noticed that the road had somehow changed. After just a short stretch outside the city, it suddenly became unfamiliar.
The road had been repaired; the dried-up waterway in the forest had been filled with gravel; the jagged rocks on both sides were blasted flat; the withered nests were all cut down, turning into a wide open space, with workers busy leveling the ground as if preparing to build houses.
“Quick work,” Qiu Shi looked out the window with some emotion. “When we come back, maybe it’ll look different again.”
“Maybe,” Xing Bi said. “Li Feng might want to take in more refugees. The east is safe now — they can expand.”
“Except for that wall they built last time,” Qiu Shi sighed. “I’ve never seen Yun City change much.”
“Neither have I,” Xing Bi said. “Yun City hasn’t changed in a hundred years, maybe just a bit more space in the inner city mine tunnels.”
“The excavation equipment brought yesterday was from the city construction bureau, right?” Qiu Shi said. “I saw their people for the first time.”
“Not exactly,” Xing Bi said. “Those checkpoints and watchtowers outside the city — they built those.”
“I could have built those crappy things with Zhao’s team in two nights,” Qiu Shi sneered. “What a year to remember — the Yun City army fought a battle for the first time, and the city construction bureau built houses for the first time.”
Xing Bi smiled but said nothing.
“What did Li Feng give me?” Qiu Shi picked up the box, tearing the wrapping paper. “Even the corrupt officials are giving me gifts with wrapping — really a different year.”
The wrapping paper was quite pretty. By habit, Qiu Shi kept this kind of floral paper. Anything not seen in the outer city was considered good.
But the paper was stuck on tight. Qiu Shi tore several times but couldn’t open it.
“Damn it,” he scratched a corner of the box, and with one tug, tore both the paper and the box in half. Seeing what was inside, he froze. “Damn, it’s not a scarf.”
Inside were two pairs of windproof sunglasses, both with blue lenses and a button on the side that, when pressed, switched them to transparent. They looked very cool.
These were definitely rare goods, the kind that would be stolen immediately at the refugee market with a beating.
“Yours.” Qiu Shi handed one pair to Xing Bi.
“Couple glasses,” Ji Sui said from the back seat.
“…What the heck?” Qiu Shi put on the glasses, turned his head, pressed the button again to make the lenses transparent, and looked at him. “What kind of glasses?”
“You two,” Ji Sui said.
“Our two glasses?” Qiu Shi asked.
“…No,” Ji Sui said.
“Couple,” Xing Bi said. “Did you leave your brain and ears behind when leaving the city?”
“Whoa,” Qiu Shi looked at Xing Bi. “This couple thing obviously doesn’t fit you two.”
Xing Bi said nothing, leaned back in his chair, and smiled.
Only after that did Qiu Shi realize — couple?
Ji Sui could say that so casually in front of so many people? Besides Ji Sui and Sang Fan sitting behind, the others were bio-engineered beings recently activated and unfamiliar.
Qiu Shi leaned back in his seat and slid down a little.
“Hmm?” Xing Bi glanced at him.
“Nothing,” Qiu Shi said.
Leaving Yun City’s outer city was like leaving a safe zone and entering a dangerous, unfamiliar world: crazy homeless, numb refugees, terrifying fungal colonies, infected lurking in dark corners, and bio-engineered beings with unclear allegiances…
Just like the road to Xima Town, from northeast to Donglin, then east to Xingchuan, Qiu Shi rarely saw any people along the way except for a few Yun City checkpoints.
“Where are those people?” he quietly asked Xing Bi.
“They were driven away,” Xing Bi said. “Those unwilling to join Yun City’s protected area left.”
“Where could they go?” Qiu Shi asked.
But then he thought — where can’t they go? Those homeless knew where Yun City and Donglin were, yet chose to survive painfully in swamps and jungles. Whatever the reason, they kept living outside protection in a way they had for centuries.
The Xingchuan defense line was managed by Xu Jie. When their convoy arrived, Xu Jie was already standing at the gate. The boxes on Qiu Shi’s car roof were supplies for Xingchuan.
Xingchuan was captured by Chen Dang and his people simultaneously with Donglin. But unlike Donglin, where few ordinary townspeople remained, Xingchuan had more of Qiu Shi’s kin — and after Yun City’s army arrived, many chose to stay.
Now the place looked completely different from Xima Town. Xima was a fully garrisoned town, while Xingchuan felt more like an ordinary small town guarded by troops.
Qiu Shi got out of the car and looked at the houses beyond the defensive zone, at the curious residents watching them — a kind of calm amid chaos.
“What are those sheds?” Qiu Shi asked Xu Jie.
“Greenhouses,” Xu Jie said. “For growing vegetables. Cold-tolerant outdoor farming; other crops grow inside the greenhouses.”
“Are they safe?” Qiu Shi asked.
The planting and breeding in Yun City were all done in the mountains. Because it was the entire city’s safeguard, any damage could potentially plunge Yun City into crisis, so the protection was very strict. Qiu Shi didn’t even know the exact location.
“The area isn’t large,” Xu Jie said, “easy to guard. By the time you all come back, the strawberries will be ripe. You can try some fresh ones.”
“Strawberries?” Qiu Shi was a bit surprised.
“…Too sad,” Xu Jie said.
“Hm?” Qiu Shi didn’t understand.
“End-of-the-world guys don’t even know strawberries,” Xing Bi said, “They’re just small red fruits.”
“This range is too big,” Xu Jie said.
“Anyway, he’s never seen any kind of small red fruit,” Xing Bi said.
“Damn,” Qiu Shi laughed, “I’ve seen them. In the ditch behind the mountain, they’re small, ripen into red fruits in summer, about the size of a fingernail, and pretty sweet. Zhao Lv always goes to pick them. The old man said they’re called cherries.”
Xing Bi smiled but said nothing.
“Are they fooling us?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Not really, some people call those wild cherries too,” Xing Bi said.
“Still better to eat strawberries,” Xu Jie said.
Actually, Qiu Shi should have seen what strawberries looked like — they were definitely in that illustrated literacy book. But Qiu Shi was more interested in the animal section — bears, wolves, all kinds of fruits and vegetables he skipped.
Xing Bi took out a small pet and projected a drawing for him in the car.
It was a first-level biochemical organism, the handwriting was neat, and the drawing was very good.
“When fully ripe, they’re red; some are half red,” Xing Bi traced with his finger in the air, “some are white…”
Qiu Shi leaned against the back of the seat. At this moment, he really felt like they were on a journey.
Especially after unloading the cargo and getting on the car, when Xu Jie said from outside the window, “Safe travels.”
However, leaving Xingchuan meant they truly left Yun City’s current controlled area. As the houses of Xingchuan gradually became distant and disappeared from view, Qiu Shi opened the map in front of him.
The car actually had a map information collection system that could continuously update and correct itself based on the previous map by Qu Shen, and also detect biological activities in a larger range.
But Qiu Shi still felt safer having the map right before his eyes. The map that used to make him dizzy after a glance, making his footsteps uneven, no longer affected him at all.
Their first stop was the city closest to Yun City.
“Is it bigger than Yun City?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Counting both the inner and outer city, no,” Xing Bi said, “but if you count the surrounding counties and towns, it’s much bigger than Yun City.”
“Can you count it like that?” Qiu Shi said.
“Yes,” Xing Bi said.
They departed at midnight. By the time they reached Xingchuan, it was already dawn. Beyond Xingchuan, there were no new roads built by Yun City; they drove on gravel and mud roads, and the speed immediately slowed down. The car swayed left and right so much that Qiu Shi’s neck got a bit sore.
When they neared this “city closest to Yun City,” it was already completely dark. Everything around was silent. Opening the window, they could hear occasional insect chirps in the distance, as well as calls that were either birds or beasts.
“There are people here,” Ji Sui said from behind.
“Mm,” Xing Bi responded.
Qiu Shi looked at the map; no signs of movement were detected nearby.
However, the lead vehicle stopped. Then the radio transmitted the voice of Feng Zhi from the front vehicle: “Need to clear mines.”
“Clear mines?” Qiu Shi rolled down the window and looked outside. By the moonlight, he could see tire tracks on the ground that didn’t belong to them; more than one vehicle was evident.
The convoy turned off the headlights. Two Yun City soldiers quietly got off the vehicle; only faint footsteps could be heard.
The lead vehicle had a detection system that could accurately sense and mark the positions of mines. Next to the two soldiers was a small half-person-high vehicle controlled remotely by them.
“A mine-clearing vehicle?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Yes, mine clearing and road obstacle removal,” Xing Bi said, “This is an early model brought from the base, considered a relic copy, but it can handle this type of mines without issue.”
Several biochemical organisms got off the vehicles, guarding positions about ten meters on both sides.
Qiu Shi held his gun and also got off.
This was a wilderness, with only sparse trees on either side and almost no cover. The moonlight was bright tonight, shadows of the uneven ground clearly visible; any moving object would stand out.
Qiu Shi took out binoculars and looked ahead. He vaguely saw a cluster of black shadows at varying heights, like houses or continuous city walls. From the edges, many damages were visible, likely relics from the ancestors’ era.
If there were an ambush, it would probably be within those shadows.
“Try not to provoke conflict, pass through quickly,” Qiu Shi said, “They are all normal humans.”
“Mm,” Xing Bi replied.
Biochemical or symbiotic organisms wouldn’t use this kind of defense. The tire tracks on the ground were much narrower than their new off-road vehicles, clearly from ordinary small cars.
The front mine-clearing vehicle lowered its front and side shockproof plates, appearing much larger. The operator got back into the lead vehicle, and the guards quickly returned to their vehicles.
The mine-clearer picked the route with the fewest marked mines and started forward.
With two explosions, the following vehicles began to move forward as well.
Although it was the route with the fewest mines, as the mine-clearer proceeded, explosions erupted every ten or so seconds in rapid succession.
Probably due to limited resources, this minefield stretched longer sideways; the length ahead was estimated by Qiu Shi to be about 300 meters.
The convoy advanced through the black smoke and flying soil caused by explosions, with vision obscured. They could only watch the map.
After a few minutes, the explosions stopped—they had passed through the minefield.
The biochemical organisms still got off and guarded while waiting for the mine-clearer to recover.
Qiu Shi glanced at the mine-clearer passing by. After this round of mine clearing, apart from being covered in mud and grass debris and looking a bit beaten-up, the shockproof plates were undamaged.
When the mine-clearer reached the big transport vehicle and was about to board, suddenly strong lights flashed ahead, followed by several sharp sounds. The white light instantly illuminated the convoy and surrounding scenery entirely.
Qiu Shi felt his eyes hurt from the glare. Nothing could be seen except white — even staring at the sun at noon wouldn’t cause such an effect.
Then, accompanied by a “rustling” sound, a voice came from above, sounding like a loudspeaker.
“This is—”
After several shots fired almost simultaneously, the strong lights went off, and the voice disappeared.
The biochemical organisms extinguished the strong lights overhead.
Darkness returned, leaving only moonlight.
“Who shot down the loudspeaker?” Xing Bi asked.
“I did,” Sang Fan said, “No more lights.”
“…I was going to hear what they wanted to say,” Xing Bi said.
“Mm,” Sang Fan replied.
Although the atmosphere was tense, Qiu Shi couldn’t help but want to laugh a little.
“Keep moving forward,” Xing Bi said, “They’re bluffing. We won’t stop, just pass through.”
“Roger,” Feng Zhi replied, and the lead vehicle started moving forward.
There was a road on this side of the minefield. The old concrete road, damaged, had been filled again with gravel and dirt. It was obvious that the people here had been staying long-term.
The patch of shadows that Qiu Shi had seen earlier was now clearly visible to the naked eye. It was a cluster of buildings, the tallest being four stories high, while the shortest was just one story—probably collapsed.
All the buildings were very old, appearing especially dilapidated under the moonlight. The walls were covered with withered vines, as if the buildings were being bound by them, preventing collapse.
A row of bright dots appeared on the map above, and the convoy came to a stop.
“Humans,” Qiu Shi said, “about a dozen.”
“They have weapons,” Ji Sui added.
Just as he finished speaking, a flash of fire lit up that side, and the dozen or so people opened fire.
Bullets hit the muddy ground in front of the lead vehicle with dull thuds. Two rounds struck the car’s hood but didn’t penetrate—it was a military vehicle and still gave a sense of security.
After the first round of shooting, Qiu Shi, along with Xing Bi and the others, got out of the car.
“Their firepower is weak,” Xing Bi said, “let’s go.”
The convoy continued forward. The bioroids walked alongside under the protection of the car doors. Qiu Shi rested his gun on the window, aiming ahead.
These guys clearly had no experience—they kept poking their heads out one after another from behind a low wall.
A casual shot could easily hit a head.
“Don’t return fire,” Xing Bi ordered.
Suddenly, beside one of the heads, a cylinder appeared.
“Do they have a cannon?” Qiu Shi was shocked.
“Megaphone,” Ji Sui corrected.
“Damn.” Qiu Shi looked through the scope—it did seem to be just a metal tube.
“There!” The head behind the metal tube popped up and started shouting, “Who are you?!”
“How to respond?” Qiu Shi asked. “They probably can’t hear anyway. What kind of brains do they have?”
“Don’t come any further!” The head shouted, standing up as he spoke. “One more step and you’re all dead!”
“Stop,” Xing Bi said.
Their journey was long, and they still needed to collect various information—there was no need for a fight now.
The convoy stopped again.
The head—either braver than brains or really stupid—actually led a dozen others out from behind the wall, carrying the megaphone as they approached.
They even raised the megaphone as they walked: “Do you know where this is to dare come in?”
“Qiu Shi, go negotiate,” Xing Bi said. “The bioroids stay back.”
“Got it.” Qiu Shi put away his gun and walked over.
When the head came closer, Qiu Shi understood why he was so bold—the man was wearing a thick bulletproof vest and a tough-looking metal helmet.
“What do you want?” The man stopped a few meters away from Qiu Shi. Behind him, a dozen people pointed guns at them.
“Just passing through,” Qiu Shi said. “We need to head east.”
“Passing through?” The man glanced at Qiu Shi’s convoy. “Arms dealers? Where are you from?”
“From Donglin.” Qiu Shi answered.
“Where’s Donglin?” The man sounded confused but seemed uninterested in learning more. “Need a rest?”
“What?” Qiu Shi was stunned.
“Rest. Don’t you rest at night?” The man said. “You can rest here, sleep, eat, drink. We even have alcohol.”
Qiu Shi realized this group was probably a black market gang.
“Rest.” A voice from the earpiece—Xing Bi’s.
“Okay,” Qiu Shi replied.
“I want to see the cargo in the car,” the man said. “You can rest, eat, drink, but you’ll have to pay me for the landmines you triggered.”
Damn, pay you for that?
Qiu Shi immediately felt annoyed. That minefield was obviously set to kill people so they could rob the survivors.
“Let’s see if you can pay.” Qiu Shi said.
“Oh, big talk,” the man said, raising his hand. The guns behind him lowered. He turned and beckoned, “Follow me.”
Qiu Shi glanced back. Xing Bi and the others were already back in the car, so he turned and followed the man inside.
“What is this place?” Qiu Shi asked.
“I just told you over the megaphone! Didn’t you hear?” the man replied.
“The megaphone got broken.” Qiu Shi said.
The man suddenly turned his head sharply. “Damn.”
His helmet hid his face too well to see clearly, but Qiu Shi could tell he was not very old.
“Then you owe me for the megaphone too,” the man said.
“Let’s see if you dare ask for it.” Qiu Shi said.
“Don’t provoke me!” The man pointed at him.
“Don’t point at me.” Qiu Shi stared at his finger.
The man retracted his hand. “This is my turf, within ten miles around here. I make the rules.”
“What should I call you?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Zuo Shandiao,” the man said.
“What the hell?” Qiu Shi looked at him.
