Legend of District Nine
Ying Yungui hung up the phone and met two pairs of inquiring eyes. He shrugged and said, "I can't help it. Time was tight and we only approved the cross-region landing. The branch base landing application was submitted, but I don't know what's going on over there and there's no news. I can only come here first."
This is a private estate in the southeast of District 9.
——
When Shi Youchen woke up, he heard Ying Yungui say, "We're almost there." He tilted his head towards the window and saw the mountains covered in green. Although it was already winter, it felt like spring here, full of vitality under the afterglow of the setting sun.
So he asked confusedly, "Is the association branch base in District 9 in the mountains?"
Yan Zhiyuan: "Obviously, not here."
At that time, Ying Yungui just smiled and said nothing. It was not until the plane stopped and the three of them landed that Shi Youchen realized that there were buildings that looked like post-war ruins around him, and under his feet was a brightly lit apron.
As the sky gradually darkened, the embedded lamps on the ground shone brightly into the sky. The red and yellow lights crisscrossed, making the surroundings look more like a battlefield after a disaster.
Ying Yungui led the two confused people around several piles of strangely arranged rubble, passed through several precarious earth walls that seemed like they would collapse at the next second, climbed more than ten steps of the earth slope, and finally arrived at a pitch-black door made of unknown material.
After Ying Yungui entered the password three times and received three incorrect prompts and a warning tone of "Locked, self-defense program will be activated if forced to open", he finally made a phone call with a grim face, which led to the previous scene.
Ying Yungui kicked a stone on the steps. It flew through the air and landed on the ground with a clang. It rolled for a while before he calmed down a bit. "This is a friend's private residence. My private jet can only enter after it's logged into the system here, but this idiot actually changed the gate password without telling me."
He sat down on the front steps and said unhappily, "Now we can only wait for him to come back."
Shi Youchen recalled the friendly terms used between male friends during their phone calls and felt that his friendship with Ying Yungui must be quite strong...
"Maybe you can make another call to ask for the password?" Yan Zhiyuan glanced at the distance where the light could not reach. It was about to get dark. The more lively the day was, the more desolate and eerie the night became. He was actually not used to such an environment.
Ying Yungui waved his hand: "It's useless. This crappy place is locked and only the owner can open it. Let's wait for him to come back. It will probably take at most twenty minutes."
Twenty minutes?
Yan Zhiyuan was still doubting that this hidden mountain place didn't look like a place that could be reached quickly, but his doubts were dispelled a moment later because -
A dull but pleasant bass sound just hit the mountain forest. But before the sound even reached the ears of the three people at the door, a black armored car spun beautifully and stopped next to the crumbling wall, only about ten centimeters away from the wall. Its level was comparable to those drivers in a certain place in District 8 who were keen on competing with each other in parking skills in the alleys.
After the car stopped, its roar seemed to still echo in the distant woods.
Shi Youchen narrowed his eyes slightly to confirm that his vision was not blurred by the night - that was indeed a modified mission vehicle specially used by the association.
The car door slid open, and a man with a half-ponytail and a very good head-to-body ratio jumped out from the driver's seat. He locked the car door and walked towards the door while swinging the controller with his index finger. When he got closer, Shi Youchen realized that his appearance and figure were somewhat mismatched, and his face looked very small.
After receiving a call from Ying Yungui, He Xian had to cancel his original dinner plan and drove back to his residence. His originally messy mood instantly cleared up when he saw the black-haired beauty leaning against the lamp at the door.
He put away his playful demeanor, put the controller safely into his pocket, and then extended his hand as he rushed forward to greet Youchen: "Hello, nice to meet you." His Zone 8 dialect was not particularly standard, mixed with some of the euphemisms of Zone 9, but fortunately, his voice was in good condition and very friendly.
Shi Youchen looked at the fair right hand stretched out in front of him, not reacting to this sudden scene, and then another hand appeared in his sight. "Pa!" Ying Yungui shook it with his big hand and said in a bad tone, "Hello, you are not happy. Open the door quickly."
He Xian suddenly pulled his hand out, rubbed it back and forth on his trouser leg several times in disgust, and spat at Ying Yungui and said, "Get out of the way!" Shi Youchen and Yan Zhiyuan turned their backs tacitly, but Ying Yungui stood there with his hands folded across his chest, watching people enter the password and verify the fingerprint to open the door.
The interior, in stark contrast to the post-war ruins outside, boasts a technologically advanced feel, dominated by gray and blue tones. You can even see a number of robot-like furniture and ornaments.
He Xian smiled at Shi Youchen and Yan Zhiyuan: "Please come in, you can order whatever you want to drink." He deliberately ignored someone.
Ying Yungui strode in without hesitation and lay down on the unusually spacious sofa: "Let's have something refreshing."
He was answered by a disembodied, mechanical voice: "Yes, sir."
After He Xian asked a few people to sit down and rest, he went into a cubicle and did not know what he did there.
Ying Yungui opened his eyes and looked at the one-way perspective tiles above him, from which he could see a small piece of the night sky. "Old Yan, you should have heard of the Helan couple, right?"
Yan Zhiyuan was shocked. "The Helan couple? The heroic couple who were willing to sacrifice themselves to maintain peace in the border area?"
That was nearly ten years ago. Yan Zhiyuan didn't know Ying Yungui at the time, nor had he experienced his partner's defection. He was just an ordinary points collector who had just started his mission.
The world situation in those years was particularly sensitive. The seemingly friendly situation between regions was in jeopardy due to some reasons that could not be described directly. At the same time, the activities of fugitives were rampant, and they specifically chose to cause trouble in border areas.
The Helan couple's original status in the association was not very high, because they were just middle-to-low-level psychics and had no prominent political or economic background. So when they applied to the association and volunteered to go to the border area to help maintain order, many people thought that they wanted to use this to establish a good reputation and then achieve a class leap.
The association was not bothered by such an application and approved it promptly.
But no one could have imagined that at the end of the year, a wave of protests would erupt among ordinary people. They protested the regional branch's disregard for the border region, the backwardness of the system, the disregard and inaction regarding the frequent incidents, and were angry that the people there were not able to secure their lives.
The association's branch initially hoped to brush off the situation, suppressing it for a while while they worked on other solutions. However, within a few days, the people on the other side of the border erupted in anger. Chaos reigned in the border region, and since the two district centers were so far apart, sending supplies and manpower to the border region was perceived by the other side as a declaration of war.
As a result, not only the people in the border areas, but also those in the heart of the region began to panic. Meanwhile, the conspiracy instigators were watching the show behind the scenes.
Faced with internal and external troubles, the selfish branch managers were at a loss, daring not to make any rash moves. Some even proposed sending high-level psychics to suppress the unrest violently, claiming that "if the source of the unrest were eliminated, peace would be restored in the border region, and perhaps even relations between the two regions could be repaired."
Such words spread quietly in the circle of people with special abilities, and gained the support of a group of people.
As word spread, most of the few psychics assisting with security in the border region lost confidence and requested to be transferred back. In the end, only the Helan couple remained, steadfastly believing that the people were misled and had believed in slander, thus losing control of themselves.
But they insisted, and they were the only ones who insisted.
The branch base was almost on the verge of giving up on regulation, and the restive people took out their anger on the couple who were superpowers. They were the last two shields in the ruins of war, yet they were still being stabbed from both sides.
That night, the Herlands went to a gathering center and, amidst a chorus of abuse and accusations, gently but firmly declared their commitment to restoring peace to the border region. However, no one believed them. The next day, they traveled to the other side of the border to comfort the equally vulnerable and sensitive people in other regions.
The command center that monitored their movements ordered the two to stop and not to cross the dividing mountain, otherwise they would be expelled from the association.
Faced with the threat of becoming fugitives and being wiped out, they did not climb the mountain or cross the border, but stopped at the top of the dividing mountain.
A warm field enveloped the border region of over three hundred miles. Helan's voice echoed simultaneously in the minds of the people living along the border of the two districts: "In exchange for my own slumber, I will transform all of our energy into this field of light that envelopes you. May wars cease, hostility dissipate, and people of different races live in peace."
Helan, a Level 4 mental soothing psychic;
Zhang Hao, a level 4 light-type mutant;
They are in the place closest to the sun and the moon, using themselves as lighthouses to bring light to the hearts of every disappointed person and to every inch of dark land.
Darkness has nowhere to hide under the light.
The longer the light domain exists, the longer the energy of Helan's spiritual comfort will be transmitted, and the longer the peace in the border area will last.
The conspirators were furious and wanted to go to the top of the mountain to kill the two people who disrupted their plan, but when they arrived, they found no trace of them.
The moment this area of light unfolded, the bodies of Helan and his wife turned into light spots and dissipated. There was no longer any flesh and blood of Helan and Zhang Hao in the world, but the area of light that enveloped the border area was their eternal spirit.
Fortunately, the fugitives who were unable to eliminate the source were forced to abandon their original plans for this place;
Sadly, the light realm that the Holland couple opened at the cost of their lives only lasted for three years.
During these three short years of peace, their deeds spread throughout the thirteen regions. Although the results were minimal, the world began to pay attention to the security of the border areas, and the precarious situation was temporarily alleviated.
The descendants of the Herlands also received the highest treatment from the association.
Ying Yungui recalled the little boy he met in District 9 during the second year of his mission, who would quietly gaze at the southern mountains every night.
"He Xian is the only child of the He Lan couple." He said with his eyes closed.
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