Chapter 100.2 – Going to the Capital
Home.
Shi Yuan had heard this word many times.
Humans had a soft spot for it.
He Yu, who kidnapped him, tried his best to go back to the city, go home to take a look at his daughter and touch her black hair; countless people marched against the euthanasia bill, protesting that the infected people could not return home; monsters also wanted to go home, the abyss came from outside the stars, perhaps at the end of the universe, there was really their hometown; then, the memory returned to the day he and Lu Tinghan first met, the young man stepped on the snow and sea of flowers, holding his hand, and showing him pictures of the city, long streets, sunsets, and the smoke from the kitchen…
He said this was his home and he must go back.
And then what?
According to others, Shi Yuan showed Lu Tinghan the way he came – Shi Yuan didn’t remember much about it. At that time, he just wanted Lu Tinghan to return to the place he liked.
Now, the monster-like woman said the same thing.
Shi Yuan was puzzled.
He wanted to stay with Lu Tinghan, and he ran wherever Lu Tinghan went.
He liked the golden wheat fields of Gleaning City, the windmills of Fengyang City, and the vast Main City, but it was limited to “liking”. He guessed that the love of human beings for their homeland was deeper, the kind that couldn’t be replaced.
Lu Tinghan said, “When we arrive in Elton, we will find a way to contact you.”
“Okay, I understand,” Di Wen said in a low voice, “The journey is difficult and dangerous, I should be with you…”
“I can understand,” Lu Tinghan said, “If I were you, I would also make the same choice.”
Di Wen was silent for a while, and said, “I’ll go to the aircraft, hurry up.”
They returned to the aircraft together.
Di Wen held a dilapidated and incomplete hand-copied map, constantly marking the locations of the cities on the holographic map. The hand-copied maps were not accurate enough. She’d often circle an area of several square kilometers and mark that there were cities there.
She sighed again: “If only I could go with you. In case some landmarks are still there, I can recognize them.”
“Don’t be too entangled,” Lu Tinghan told her, “You are doing what you have to do.”
“Yeah,” Di Wen murmured, “Yeah.”
She bent over and slid across the screen. Shi Yuan noticed that the hand-copied map had many traces of modification, and there were even routes of different colors. Probably, Di Wen had also planned countless times how to find a livable city.
In another two days, under the attacks of several waves of infected groups, Di Wen completed the marking.
The mole people began to prepare to transfer to other places, and it was time for the aircraft to set off.
This was their last night in the “lair”.
It was still around the small fire, and the old kettle was still boiling root tea.
Countless mole people crawled around, busy packing their bags. The long wandering was about to begin, and the fluctuations in the Gamma Abyss this time were more violent than ever.
Everyone sat around the orange-red fire, all silent.
Shi Yuan was holding a cup of root tea and saw hesitant, torn, and blank faces.
He turned his head again and saw that Lu Tinghan was still as calm as ever, and his handsome facial features were not a bit shaken, so he was relieved again.
They ate canned soybeans and pickled vegetables.
Di Wen asked, “Where’s Dorothy? Where did she go?”
Dorothy had been following Chi Yongge for the past few days, and again, she should have shown up when the departure was imminent.
She was bent on being able to inject inhibitors. Now that Chi Yongge was also leaving, there was no way to continue to observe her situation. It was too dangerous to take the risk of injection, so she could only cancel the plan.
Chi Yongge replied: “I haven’t seen her for hours.”
“Probably busy packing,” Gerald said, “We’ll have to go soon.”
“That stinky girl,” Di Wen didn’t speak anymore.
After dinner, Shi Yuan and the others were about to return to the aircraft.
The two sides bid farewell to each other.
Although he hadn’t made friends, Shi Yuan liked the lair and the mole people quite a bit. He took Lu Tinghan’s hand and turned his head every three steps.
Before they could take a few steps, there was a commotion.
Rustling, rustling… That was the sound of many mole people walking through the tunnel. Countless pairs of eyes flickered in the dark. Immediately afterwards, the mole people came out and squeezed into this small space. They were afraid of light and did not dare to get too close to the fire in the center, so they stood full at the junction of light and darkness.
“Diwen!” “Diwen!” “Diwen!”
They still shouted like this.
“Are you hungry?” Di Wen said, “Wait for me to get the meat.”
She walked slowly towards one of the tunnels, but the Mole man stopped her.
“Di Wen!” They shouted, “Di Wen! Go find Elton!”
Di Wen was surprised, and then understood: “Did Dorothy tell you? Did she say that?”
“Yes, yes!” one of them said, “Dorothy also said, you were going to go with the guests!” They surged into a ball, trying to squeeze out a smile on their terrible faces, “You can go with them, we’ll be fine!”
“No,” Di Wen said, “The underground monsters are coming, I won’t leave you behind.”
“We are fine!” another one said, “Mr. Gerald and Mr. Morgan will lead us. We know a lot of things and can defend ourselves!”
With decades of Di Wen and Gerald’s above-average efforts, they were treated as human beings, learned language, and learned cooking and firearms… which were the most basic survival skills and the legacy of civilization.
“Di Wen!” They shouted again, “Go find Elton and find General Liszt! Then take us to live in the city!”
Di Wen looked at them and said, “The city is not as important as staying ‘alive’. Yes, Mr. Gerald and I have told you about the city many times, and we have also mentioned Elton. Maybe, maybe we have said that the city is too beautiful. After so many years, they should have changed a long time ago, and have become ruins. Besides, what’s wrong with living in a nest for so many years, and we’ve lived through it?”
She took a deep breath: “I won’t leave. I am satisfied enough to maintain the status quo. Forget about the city for the time being,” She quickly glanced at Lu Tinghan and the others, “If they can find the city, they will also tell us. If you can really find it…”
“You can’t keep the status quo forever, can you?” a crisp voice came.
Di Wen paused.
Shi Yuan saw that Dorothy came out of the group of mole people.
She still had a small yellow flower pinned to her head and said, “Mom, don’t you want us to live in a concrete house, don’t you want to have a classroom, study, and kitchen?”
Di Wen: “Dorothy, you’re too naive…”
“Too naive?” Dorothy interrupted her, “You don’t really think we can hide for the rest of our lives, do you? The Gamma Abyss began to be restless again. Last time we were lucky to survive, what about this time? When it is completely restless, can we really survive? Rely on these clay guns, rely on these tunnels, rely on those dilapidated robots? I don’t think it will work!”
She continued: “There is less and less food and ammunition, otherwise we wouldn’t risk going that far to the princess’s warehouse. Without the production line, there will always be a day when we run out of ammunition if we delay further.”
Dorothy looked at Di Wen and said firmly: “Now, there is still time. The ‘Deep Dive’ plan is our only hope. If it succeeds, we can really live. Besides,” she smiled lightly and slyly, “Mom, you’re really not that ‘indispensable’. We’ve learned enough to survive, at least, to last until you find the Elton.”
“So, just follow your friends from the Alliance and tell them where our magnificent cities are.”
The fire continued to burn, and there was a ‘crackling’ sound.
Di Wen was at a loss and didn’t know what to say for a while.
Countless mole people swarmed around, all looking at her expectantly.
They said: “You always say that cities, towns, and villages are the homes of mankind, and we shouldn’t live in the ‘lair’. Go on, find our home!”
“…” Shi Yuan didn’t know if it was his illusion, he felt that there was a layer of mist in Di Wen’s cloudy eyes.
She clenched her hands tightly.
After a long time, she said, “…Okay, you guys will wait for me. I will take you home.”
The next day, Di Wen got on the aircraft.
She also brought 10 mole people. According to her, they were best at exploring the underground, which could save a lot of time in finding the city.
One of the mole people was willing to try the inhibitor – Chi Yongge told him that he could record the effect along the way. If it was effective, it would be able to help other mole people in time.
“However, I want to emphasize again,” Chi Yongge said, “It may be life-threatening.”
“It’s okay,” the mole-man replied, “I want to take a look at the sun.”
Dorothy, Gerald, and Morgan stood between the mole people and waved goodbye to them.
Soon, the mole people had to move to a new location.
When the aircraft took off, Shi Yuan lay down by the window, watching the hills getting farther and farther away, eventually drowning in the hazy morning sun.
The weather in the Empire was bad, and the aircraft was slowing down at times, being delayed for a lot of time.
Along the road, they explored 2 large cities and 3 small cities, all of which were severely damaged and uninhabitable.
A few days later, they approached the area affected by the Delta Abyss.
Delta’s infection was characterized by “thunderstorms”, which was matched by the rainy and typhoon-prone climate of the Empire, and it was even more like a catastrophe was approaching. Thunderstorms and rains continued, and the sky and the earth were without light, covered with dense black clouds. The snake-like lightning tore the world apart, blazing white flashes, and exploding thunder.
The rain curtain was so thick that it looked like a solid, and the current was rushing wildly. Even aircraft of this level had a faint sense of stagnation when traveling.
What was even more terrifying was that there seemed to be countless pairs of eyes coveting in the black clouds and deep in the rain curtain.
They did not dare to fly too high and too fast, so they could only move forward at a low speed.
The thunder was so loud that people’s ears would ring for two or three seconds if they got too close, and it was impossible to guard against. Even the mole people began to curse.
Shi Yuan was so scared that his tail scales exploded several times, and he spent a lot of time taking care of the scales every day.
At night, Lu Tinghan lay down with him and said, “There is something called noise-canceling headphones. When you put them on, you can’t hear anything.”
“Really?” Shi Yuan’s eyes lit up, “That’s great, where is it?”
Lu Tinghan was silent for a while: “In my dream.”
Shi Yuan: “……”
Lu Tinghan received Shi Yuan’s death stare and quickly explained: “It stopped being produced a long time ago. The only ones left are only used by helicopter pilots.”
“Oh.” Shi Yuan was very sorry, “Then I’ll still cover it with the quilt.”
There was another thunderous explosion, and the rain hit the glass like a waterfall. He covered his ears with a quilt, Lu Tinghan stretched out his hand to help him press it tightly, and the two embraced and fell asleep.
That night, Shi Yuan dreamed again.
There were monsters on the stage and below the stage, all looking at him.
“What do you want?” For the Nth time, Shi Yuan asked, “Do you want eternal life? I won’t do that.”
No answer.
Shi Yuan found that there were too many “audiences” in the audience area.
There were the empress bee, the blue butterfly, the various kinds of infected swarms that he had frozen in the main city, and other monsters that he had never met before. They were silent in the darkness.
Watching him.
A quiet, eternal gaze.
They were still waiting for him.
“……!”
Shi Yuan woke up suddenly and sat up from the bed.
There was still thunder and lightning outside the window, and it was extremely noisy.
He woke Lu Tinghan up with this, the man’s hand was still on his waist, and he asked drowsily, “Woken up with a fright?”
“No,” Shi Yuan was stunned for a while, “Did you hear anything?”
“Hear what?”
“Someone is calling me,” Shi Yuan said.
How could there be someone in a place like this? Lu Tinghan said, “You might be dreaming.”
“I heard it,” Shi Yuan said.
He looked into the distance, and the dark clouds hung low, as if the sky was collapsing.
