After a month and a half of trekking, the green vegetation on the ground gradually withered, and the surface temperature rose day by day. A large expanse of golden desert appeared before them. The loose sand made it difficult for the mechs to move. Fortunately, they soon found an almost abandoned road, and the mechs were able to continue on their way.
Bretta sat in the driver's seat, looking out the window at the swirling yellow sand, feeling the coarse sand slapping against his face. He reached out and touched the window covered in a layer of sand. This was his first time seeing a desert, and everything was so new and exciting.
In reality, their drinking water sources are running low, and if they can't get out of this desert soon, it's not a good sign.
During the break, Lin Dao took out everyone's water and distributed it. Blaita received a 50ml glass of clean drinking water. He carefully took it from Lin Dao, said "thank you," sipped it slowly, and finally drank it all.
"How much longer until we reach Mechanical Sky City?"
Cheng Cheng drank the last bit of water in his water bag in one gulp, feeling somewhat irritated by the heat. The mecha vehicle was cramped and stuffy due to the large number of people inside, but if they opened the top window to get some fresh air, the yellow sand would give everyone in the vehicle a good shower in less than fifteen minutes.
Lin Dao took out his compass, glanced at it, and estimated in his mind, saying in a low voice, "Almost there, a little over a hundred kilometers." At the current speed of the mecha vehicle, as long as the direction is right, they might arrive in a day.
Unfortunately, in the afternoon, the end of the road was completely buried in yellow sand, and they had to walk to the bus station.
Everyone else was carrying backpacks full of supplies. After getting off the bus, Lin Dao grabbed Bretta's backpack and slung it over his own shoulder, saying, "I'll carry it."
Bryta was a little confused and felt quite embarrassed. She stammered, "Then what should I carry?"
Lin Dao slightly raised his chin at him, gesturing with his eyes to the person in the driver's seat who had long been forgotten by the world—"Qiao Song".
After entering the desert, Qiao Song, who automatically absorbed solar energy to recharge, was already fully recovered, but no one remembered to turn him on. He had been severely injured, and his mechanical limbs were now just for show; he was indeed unable to stand or walk on his own.
Bretta strapped him to her back like a doll and carried him on her back, then, with a rather wicked sense of humor, dressed the now miniature version of Joe Song in a beautiful dress.
After carrying Qiao Song on his back, Britta reached out and pressed the power button on the back of Qiao Song's neck. Qiao Song, who had been asleep for more than ten days, slowly opened his eyes and woke up to the mechanical sound—then he saw Britta's head of small golden curly hair, and Chu Hui standing next to him with a wary yet curious expression.
“Mr. Josh, you’re awake?” Bretta sensed that he had moved.
Qiao Song was stunned for two seconds, then took in the surrounding desert and realized something was wrong: "Wait, what's going on?"
Xiang You shrugged: "The road is buried by yellow sand, we have to walk back to your happy old home."
Bleta nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes! So I'll carry you on my back."
Just as Qiao Song was about to say something, she suddenly noticed her pink dress—!
He was so terrified he almost popped his mechanical eyes out, and exclaimed in a raspy voice, "—What is this?!"
Being turned into this dwarf robot is embarrassing enough! What on earth is this dress?!
Xiang You finally couldn't hold back and burst into laughter: "Hahahaha! Returning home in glory, hahahaha!"
Qiao Song struggled on Bretta's back in embarrassment and anger, wishing she could strangle Xiang You with both hands: "What the hell is this 'returning home in glory'?! Why are you dressed as a woman?! I'm a man!"
Cheng Cheng, standing nearby, chimed in, "Huh? You robots have male and female distinctions? Didn't you forget all about them?"
"Who said there isn't!"
As Bretta approached Yu, the bewildered and innocent Bretta whispered, "This guy used to idolize Colonel Klindall, and in return, he got a delicate female voice and beautiful bionic skin... Guess what Colonel Klindall said when he first saw him?"
"Huh?" This was the first time Bretta had heard them mention Colonel Klindall. She subconsciously glanced at the person in question, then asked curiously in a low voice, "What do you mean?"
"Ahem," Xiang You deliberately glanced at Lin Dao, who was noticeably more stiff, and ignoring Qiao Song's protests, whispered teasingly in Bretta's ear, "Colonel Klindall said, 'Who are you?' Hahahahahaha!!!!"
On Bretta's back, the impotently furious Joe Song gritted his teeth, enunciating each word clearly: "To... You!!!"
Bretta was taken aback when she heard this, then imagined Mr. Lin Dao asking the question meticulously and earnestly, and suddenly burst out laughing as if she had been struck on a sensitive spot.
Lin Dao was taken aback when he saw his smile; it seemed to be the first time Bretta had ever shown such a vivid and lively expression. In the past… he was always dull-witted, exuding a sense of naivety and cautiously observing the world.
And now, he has unwittingly become one of the participants.
Chu Hui stood next to him, and was stunned for a moment when she saw his smile. She unconsciously tightened her grip on the backpack strap at her side.
Xiang You smiled and asked, "How was it? Wasn't it hilarious?"
He continued to reveal: "Later, Qiao Song angrily rebuked Ju Jin, and then changed his tune again. When that guy Klindall saw him, he said, 'Who are you again?' Hahahaha!!! I'm dying of laughter! He even said that the Asia Alliance isn't a place where you can just slip people in through the back door, and told Qiao Song to go back to where he came from, and even asked where Qiao Song went, hahahaha! I can't take it anymore, it's too funny!"
Qiao Song: "Xiang, You! Shut up!"
As Bretta listened, she exclaimed from the bottom of her heart, "So this is what Mr. Klindall was like before."
Seeing that Bryta had taken an interest in Klindall, he deliberately said, "Yes, who would have thought that the highly respected Colonel Klindall had this side to him?"
Bryta nodded, and as he trekked forward into the desert with the others, he couldn't help but quietly ask, "Mr. Xiang You, are you very familiar with Colonel Klindall?"
Xiang You smiled and said, "Of course, we've known each other for over twenty years. I know all about his dark history. Ask me anything you want to know."
Upon hearing this, Lin Dao, who was walking at the back of the group, suddenly raised his sharp eyes and said in a deep voice, "Discussing the privacy of the deceased with Lieutenant Colonel Xiang You is against public morality."
Xiang You knew someone was displeased, so he shut up. Less than half a second later, he quietly spoke to Bryta again: "Then let's talk about living people. Are you interested in our Captain Lin Dao? I've known him for over twenty years. I know all about his dark history—no, I mean his glorious years. Want to know? Little Bryta."
A surge of curiosity welled up within Bletta, who glanced furtively at Mr. Lin Dao's displeased expression before turning back and quietly nodding. Behind him, Qiao Song eagerly egged him on, "I know too! Let me tell you! Let me say it!"
In this boundless expanse of yellow sand, a few people chatted amongst themselves, leaving behind a trail of footprints of varying depths, which were quickly covered by the wind and sand.
As evening fell, the group found a cave in the desert, clearly dug by man, serving as a makeshift shelter. After distributing food, the exhausted group, having walked all day, managed to fall asleep, with Lin Dao, a chronic insomniac, once again taking the lead in keeping watch.
Outside the cave, the wind howled relentlessly. Bretta, with her keen hearing, leaned against the cave wall, wrapped in her sleeping bag, unable to fall asleep. During the day, she had heard many stories about Colonel Klindall's past, gradually merging the Colonel Klindall from those stories with the Mr. Lin Dao she knew into one person.
Right now, all he could think about was Klindall.
In the darkness, he suddenly opened his eyes and remembered what Mr. Lin Dao had said to him in the driver's seat of the mecha vehicle half a month ago.
He said, "You don't understand what 'like' means. Don't say that to people so casually in the future."
Bretta opened her sleeping bag a crack, then, wrapped in the sleeping bag like a caterpillar, laboriously moved toward the man sitting at the cave entrance keeping watch.
The cave was mostly blocked by a large rock, which shielded it from much of the wind and sand. Lin Dao was sitting at the cave entrance, looking up at the moon shining with a soft, white light over the desert.
With great effort, the caterpillar Blaita shrank back and finally "quietly" appeared behind Lin Dao.
"Mr. Lin Dao..."
Lin Dao, who had already sensed him moving over, turned around and looked down at the little guy, whose face was only showing outside the sleeping bag.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Bretta thought for a moment and asked, "Did a lot of people like you before?" After all, he remembered that a girl once spent ten donation points to buy him a white rose.
Lin Daowei frowned: "Why do you ask that? Don't listen to Xiang You and the others' nonsense."
Bretta hesitated for a moment, her mouth slightly agape, before asking again, "Then... what about Colonel Klindall? After all, many people miss him."
Lin Dao paused, then looked up at the dark desert: "No, people just see it as a moon hanging in the night sky during the apocalypse. That's why the abyss was so unbearable when this illusory moon fell."
"However, the abyss has always existed."
He said with a deep gaze, "He is just a weak human being."
Bryta only half understood, and struggled to get closer to the man's wriggling sleeping bag. Following his gaze to the bright moon, she said, "But when the moon disappears, it also means that the sun is about to appear, and it will be dawn soon."
"The world cannot be in darkness forever; there will always be light."
Lin Dao was stunned by what he heard. He turned around and looked at the innocent-looking boy in front of him. Before he could say anything more, the boy had already found a very comfortable position and fallen asleep with his head on Lin Dao's lap.
As the first rays of dawn rose over the desert, the once pitch-black night sky gradually turned bluish-white and brightened, and the wind that had howled all night ceased.
Bretta felt a layer of light outside her eyelids, and groggily opened her eyes. Just then, through the opening, she saw the half-sun rising over the distant desert, slowly illuminating the entire dome.
Lin Dao sensed the movement, opened his dark eyes, and looked out in the direction of his gaze, his face bathed in a slightly yellow light.
Cheng Cheng, who was on night watch in the latter half of the night, yawned lightly, moved the large rock blocking the cave, and shouted to the people inside: "Get up! Get up! Hey Chu Xiaogui! Get up! If we hurry up today, we can reach Mechanical Sky City!"
After a quick bite of dry, hard compressed biscuits, everyone set off again, braving the wind and sand to continue their journey.
With solar power, Qiao Song was full of energy and chattering incessantly on Blaita's back the whole way. Lin Dao would occasionally take him off and carry him himself, at which point the guy would practically shut down on the spot, clamoring that he wanted Blaita to carry him.
Perhaps because they were almost at Mechanical City, Chu Hui clutched the bag containing his sister's chip tightly, walking with a brisk pace. He finally paid attention to the silly jokes Qiao Song told along the way, though he mostly responded with retorts.
As evening approached, the sky was ablaze with color, and the clouds on the horizon were dyed a fiery red. After crossing a sand dune, they finally saw a mechanical forest in an oasis from a high vantage point.
From a distance, countless giant machines in the city center slowly operate in gears and axles, with rows of steel buildings densely packed in between. Several drones with flapping wings patrol and circle around the city. The overall style is magnificent and cold, which is difficult to describe in human language, and it unfolds before them like a postmodern industrial painting.
"Great! We've finally arrived!" Cheng Cheng exclaimed.
Bretta stared blankly at the city before her, her eyes filled with curiosity as she took a great interest in the mechanical birds that flew around in the sky.
They, who were originally exhausted, seemed to have regained their energy and quickened their pace.
"What's that sound?" Lin Dao sensed a huge air fluctuation approaching them from not far away. He stopped alertly, looked back into the distance, and whispered a warning to everyone, "Be careful, a large number of unidentified flying creatures are approaching us."
Upon hearing this, Blaita turned around and saw some dark clouds looming over the half-lit sky.
Xiang You looked back hesitantly. Although he couldn't see anything, he vaguely knew that what Lin Dao said was true.
Lin Dao made a decisive decision and shouted, "Quickly—! Run towards Mechanical Sky City!"
Without a second thought, everyone immediately grabbed their backpacks and ran!
Bretta was always fast, and even carrying Qiao Song on his back, he covered over a hundred meters in just a few seconds with light steps, Chu Hui close behind. Bretta paused and said to Xiaobai in his arms, "Xiaobai, go help Chu Hui!"
Xiao Bai reluctantly agreed, then stretched out a vine and tightly wrapped it around Chu Hui's waist, quickly following in Blaita's direction.
Chu Hui was a little flustered when she was first tied up, but she quickly realized what was happening, reached out and grabbed Xiao Bai's vines tightly, biting her lip awkwardly: "...Thank you."
"You're welcome~" Xiaobai replied cheerfully.
Chu Hui was stunned, thinking he was hallucinating. The next moment, his feet slid across the yellow sand and he was rushing forward.
As Bryta ran, he glanced back and was shocked – the dark mass was a flock of falcons! Their size was clearly beyond normal; one falcon had mutated to nearly two meters in length! Some were even over three meters! Their huge, dark brown wings whipped up yellow sand as they flapped, creating a truly astonishing effect.
The yellow sand made it impossible for him to see where everyone else had gone, and the scene was quite chaotic for a time.
Among the many falcons, one falcon, nearly four meters long, circled in the sky, surveyed for a few seconds, and then seemed to have caught something. It fixed its eagle eyes on one spot, then swooped down and flew straight toward Blaita!
As Lin Dao drew his gun to kill the troublesome falcons, he noticed something. He turned around and saw the huge falcon suddenly swoop down with its sharp hind toes and claws to grab Blaita, who was carrying Qiao Song on his back, and then soar into the sky!
"Tata—!"
In a fit of shock and rage, he raised his hand and pulled the trigger at the monster! Several shots rang out, but to no avail. He could only watch helplessly as Britta was grabbed and flown away into the sky, while the other falcons, as if they had completed their mission, quickly returned to their cages and flew away with the dark mass of that falcon.
Bleta was caught in the air, the wind whipping up yellow sand against her face, and the hoarse cries of the birds overhead made her too scared to move, fearing she would be thrown off.
He vaguely knew that these falcons also fed on rodents, but at this moment, a mix of emotions made him more afraid of falling from the hundreds of meters in the sky than of being eaten.
Lin Dao stared intently at the flock of birds flying away, and after clearly seeing the direction they were heading, his expression darkened.
The little white dog clinging to Chu Hui, seeing its master being taken away, was both angry and resentful, and had no choice but to shrink back into Chu Hui's clothes to hide. Xiang You and Cheng Cheng also saw that Blaita and Qiao Song had been taken away, and were extremely anxious.
Xiang You whispered worriedly, "Qiao Song has West's brain synthesis chip..."
They were almost at Mechanical Sky City when this happened, and everyone was furious.
Seeing the captain's grim expression, Cheng Cheng asked anxiously, "Those birds wouldn't be trying to eat Tata, would they?"
Chu Hui, who had been silent with his head down and clutching the obsidian on his chest since returning, suddenly looked up upon hearing this and shouted, "Impossible!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Dao stared intently into Chu Hui's eyes with his deep black eyes. After a long while, after Chu Hui looked away, he said, "These alien falcons came prepared. Their initial target was Qiao Song... or rather, Blaita."
“So, they are safe for now,” Lin Dao said in a low voice.
Xiang You frowned and asked, "But where are we going to find them?"
Lin Dao looked at the steel forest that was almost in front of him and said in a deep voice:
"Mechanical Sky City".
During the drowsy flight, Britta heard Joe Song's voice calling him several times. A quarter of an hour later, he was surprised to find that the other falcons dispersed after approaching the Mechanical Sky City, while he was grabbed by the falcon behind him and flown to the top of a tall building before being abruptly released and falling to the ground.
Before he and Qiao Song could react, the falcon in front of them suddenly landed and rapidly transformed in front of them. A pair of black wings wrapped around a body that was gradually taking on a human form. Then the wings unfolded, revealing a tall, black-haired man.
"Bang—" As if by magic, the black wings dispersed and floated in the air. The handsome man opened his eyes and stared at the beautiful boy with golden curly hair on the ground, as well as the strange and short man in a pink dress who was sitting on his back, looking on in disbelief.
A few seconds later, he frowned almost imperceptibly, his cold gaze sweeping over the two of them before he asked emotionlessly:
"Which of you is Qiao Song?"
Qiao Song was shocked. She exchanged a glance with Bryta and timidly raised her hand: "...You were looking for me?"
The man then turned his gaze past Blaita to Joe Song, his eyes flashing with a complex mix of emotions, and stared at him as he said:
"I am Wei Tang, and I have been looking for you for ten years."
Qiao Song and Bleta stared wide-eyed: "Huh—???"
Author's Note: The last important character has appeared. I believe you've already guessed it—it's Qiao Song's (Qiao Song's) couple. (I won't go into detail; I'll focus on the main couple.)
Also, I've noticed many people don't quite like Chu Hui's character. I can only explain that he's a character who goes from black to white; he won't turn black again, he'll turn white, haha. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2022-02-07 22:29:19 and 2022-02-08 23:10:12!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Golden Green Wind (2 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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