Because the radios received news from the higher authorities, the heavy mood that everyone in the subway tunnels had been feeling due to the riots at the central shelter was somewhat alleviated.
At least for now, the state apparatus is still functioning, and as long as the state continues to act, they believe that the state will never abandon them.
There was relief but also worry – they were in the Central Plains, hundreds of kilometers away from the capital. Now, almost all modes of transportation, such as trains and airplanes, were unusable. Even if there were still usable modes of transportation, it was impossible for people to walk during the day or at night when the temperature was too high. How were they going to reach the underground city of the capital within a month?
This was a dilemma not only for the subway tunnel survivors who heard the broadcast, but for everyone in Washington state who heard it. It was especially difficult for those in remote mountainous areas, who were even less likely to make the long journey to the capital.
"...Sigh, it seems like people in the capital have it pretty good." Someone couldn't help but sigh.
"That's why it's called the capital. All the talented people and leaders are there. But I think with such a large area as Huazhou, it's impossible to build only one underground city for the capital. Maybe after the underground city for the capital is built, that special machine will be used in other cities." Master Pang was quite optimistic:
"Moreover, if special equipment can excavate a huge underground city 500 meters underground within a month, then once the capital's underground city is built, excavations will definitely radiate outwards from the capital. Since our Central Plains is so close to the capital, we will surely have a Central Plains underground city soon as well."
"Old Pang, what you said makes a lot of sense, but there's a premise to it."
"What?" Master Pang looked at Wang Daqiang, whose face had darkened, with a smile.
"Of course, you have to live until the Central Plains Underground City is completed! I'm going to wake you up now, Lao Pang. How much food did our three teams find last night? Less than half of what we found the day before yesterday! We only found twenty-four bottles of drinkable mineral water."
As Qiang Ge spoke, he started pulling at his hair: "We can be lenient about what we eat. We can eat steamed buns, corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes—things that keep well and can fill our stomachs—without meat or vegetables. But we can't skimp on water!"
"This damn weather is terrible! Even the little kids underground who don't have to do any work drink at least five bottles of mineral water a day. Our team, who digs tunnels, works, and goes out to find food, each of us drinks at least ten bottles a day! And that's with us already being careful with our water intake. If we let our guard down, the number will double!"
"If we eat the food we've collected these past few days sparingly, it should be enough to feed more than a hundred people for two or three months. But what about water? The water we've found isn't even a third of what we consume every day!"
"People can go without food for several days, but in the current situation, if we don't drink water for a day, we'll get dehydrated from the heat, and if we don't drink water for two days, we'll die of thirst. How many more days can our water reserves last? Let alone waiting for the underground city in the capital to be built and come to support the local areas, we might not even survive the month before the underground city in the capital is completed!"
By the end, Qiang Ge's tone had become quite aggressive. He wasn't actually angry at Master Pang, but as one of the leaders who went out to collect supplies every day, he was the one who could most clearly feel the shortage of food, especially water.
If it were up to his temperament, he might have tried to hoard more water for himself and ignored these people or simply left. But at least now he feels a sense of belonging to this small community in the subway tunnel, and he wants to do something more before he reaches his wit's end.
That's how this kind of impulsive talk came about.
Master Pang was also one of the team leaders, so how could he not know about the urgent water supply issue that Brother Qiang mentioned?
But he was naturally optimistic and didn't get angry. He patted his much thinner belly and said, "Then let's not look for food and just look for water. Can we go to the waterworks?"
Qiang Ge almost rolled his eyes: "Do you even know where our city's water plant is located, or how far it is from here?! Do you really think you can drive there?!"
Master Pang was a little embarrassed.
Listening to their conversation, Gou Fugui began to think about how to get some of the stored water out. But at that moment, Xu's mother, who had been squatting beside Xu Lei taking care of her son, suddenly looked up and spoke:
"Well, I know a place that's relatively close to here, and it has lots of water."
Everyone turned to look at her.
Most people would feel uncomfortable being stared at by so many people at once, but Ms. Xu wasn't intimidated. She was just a little doubtful whether her words would be helpful to everyone. She glanced down at her son, and seeing him nodding vigorously, she smiled slightly: "It's a warehouse for storing beverages. There are probably tens of thousands of bottles of mineral water and other drinks in there. That should be enough for everyone to drink for several months."
Xu's mother's words invigorated everyone present!
"Oh my god, that would be wonderful! Auntie, you're such a lucky star for us!"
"Tens of thousands of bottles of mineral water would be more than enough! Auntie, could you tell us where that warehouse is? If it's not far from the train station, we might be able to go check it out tonight!"
Everyone started asking Xu's mother questions all at once, making this elegant woman, whose hair and clothes were a little messy, feel a bit confused.
With a wave of his hand, Brother Qiang pushed away the people surrounding Mrs. Xu, saying, "Don't crowd around her. Can't you see that this lady's face is all red from being surrounded by you?"
Mrs. Xu: "..."
Mrs. Xu smoothed her hair and then gave the warehouse its exact location: "It's on the old street about 1,500 meters north of the train station. There are many factories and warehouses in that area near the northern suburbs, and our warehouse is there too."
It's 1,500 meters from the train station, which isn't far at all. Under normal circumstances, it only takes about ten minutes to run there.
Even though it's very hot now, if everyone walks quickly that way, it will definitely take about twenty minutes to get there. A round trip will only take about forty minutes.
Thinking of this, everyone looked at a spot inside the cave, near the top of the cave, where there was a very ornate wall clock that, importantly, glowed in the dark, showing the time as 9:15 PM.
Brother Qiang rubbed his palms together and looked at Master Pang. Master Pang patted his belly and turned to look at Xiao Yun.
At this moment, Xiaoyun stood up from beside her father and looked at Gou Fugui.
The wealthy and beautiful woman found the silent exchange of glances rather subtle, but she fully understood what these people meant. So the long-haired youth shrugged and said, "Those who are strong enough should come along. Although it won't take much time to go back and forth, we can go tomorrow night, but it's always better to do it sooner rather than later, and every trip is worthwhile."
Everyone agreed.
This time, the cave housed a total of 109 people, including Lu Xuesi's family and Xu's mother. Only five elderly people, more than ten people in poor health, and six children remained. Everyone else carried their largest backpacks and headed towards the beverage warehouse.
Gou Fugui, Xie Tianlang, and Song Sanchuan were naturally among them.
Even the dozen or so larger, healthier cats and dogs, as well as the alpaca that had become familiar with everyone after only three days of being brought back, followed along.
The animals seemed to know that they couldn't expect to gain something for nothing at this time; they would seize any opportunity that would allow them to survive.
When everyone climbed out of the subway tunnel, Gou Fugui felt the sweltering heat rushing towards him.
It was the third day after the hot rain ended. It felt like the slight cooling effect of that bowl of soup was just a dream. Gou Fugui looked up at the 55-degree temperature displayed on his watch and felt like he was having trouble breathing.
He closed his eyes, then walked at the front of the group with Xie Tianlang.
Xie Tianlang was in charge of controlling everyone's speed and reminding them of their breathing rate, which made the journey much easier for the group who were having some difficulty moving forward.
It took them half an hour to "walk fast" to the warehouse in the old street that Xu's mother had mentioned.
Fortunately, the warehouse had a clearly visible supermarket sign, which caught everyone's eye under the excessively bright moonlight. However, when they approached, they discovered that the warehouse door had been broken open, indicating that either someone living nearby or survivors who knew there was water there had found their way there.
No one said anything about it; in this environment, survival was the primary objective.
Too many people are willing to do anything to survive. Nowadays, as long as they don't kill each other, no one will even flinch.
Fortunately, not much water was taken from the warehouse. Although the high temperature had slightly warped and deformed many beverage bottles, at least the water inside was still there. Seeing the various cases and boxes of mineral water and drinks piled up like a small square mountain, everyone couldn't help but cheer with delight.
People started stuffing bottled water into their backpacks, because there were many kinds of bottled water and drinks available here. Many people also mixed in different flavored waters such as orange juice, coconut juice, energy drinks, and sparkling water.
"Everyone should be careful not to bring water with a short shelf life or a lot of additives, as it might taste different at high temperatures," Chef Pang reminded everyone.
But the rich young master didn't have this concern. He could make chicken wings from soda, so what was he afraid of in high temperatures? When no one was paying attention to him, he secretly collected them one by one.
Then, Xie Langren saw it all.
Rich young master: "..."
Xie Tianlang smiled and said, "It's okay, Jianjian. I know you like this drink. Take some more with you."
Fu Guijian immediately got angry: "Jianjian my ass! Wasn't she round and square before? How come she's pointy now?"
Xie Tianlang's face showed a look of reminiscence and nostalgia: "Oh, don't you think the Sand Dune Cat's big, pointy ears are especially cute?"
Fugui Jianjian: "..."
He suspected that this werewolf might be a furry friend. A serious one at that.
In the end, everyone left carrying at least dozens of bottles of mineral water and several other drinks, with Brother Qiang carrying almost a hundred bottles by himself.
Each of the dozen or so cats and dogs carried at least ten bottles of mineral water on their backs. The most impressive one was the alpaca, which could barely carry people. It carried two backpacks on each side, with more than fifty bottles of mineral water.
At least this way, everyone's water supply will be guaranteed for the next two or three months. That's what everyone who returned to the subway tunnel tonight and finally got their fill of water thought.
They can hold out for another two or three months! By then, the underground city of the capital should be finished, right?
Everyone went to sleep with anticipation, and their dreams tonight were wonderful.
However, just as the dream was about to end, a sudden surge of heat turned it into a nightmare—
Xie Tianlang suddenly opened his eyes the moment the temperature changed, and then Gou Fugui and Song Sanchuan also sat up at the same time.
At this moment, the animals inside the cave woke up even faster than they did. A shrill cry from the black cat startled everyone who was still fast asleep, and then they felt the sudden increase in temperature.
"Mom! I'm so hot!"
There was no need for Gou Fugui to check the temperature; Song Sanchuan shouted as soon as he heard the alarm coming from the real-time monitoring computer: "The temperature inside the cave has exceeded 45 degrees Celsius!! The air conditioner outdoor unit suddenly exploded! The temperature is continuing to rise! According to the detection, the external temperature... has exceeded 70 degrees Celsius!!"
Song Sanchuan paused here, his face pale: "It's only five in the morning."
This time of year is usually when the temperature is relatively low.
Xie Tianlang and Gou Fugui both felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.
Xie Tianlang quickly spoke up: "Xiao San, go develop the motor and refrigeration! Everyone get up, each person take a bottle of ice water to cool down. Pay special attention to the elderly, children, and the injured. If that's not enough, open the freezer and refrigerator, and those who can't tolerate the heat should go over there!"
After Xie Tianlang finished speaking, he planned to go out of the subway tunnel to take a look, and Gou Fugui gritted his teeth and followed him.
The moment he peeked out, Gou Fugui was so overwhelmed by the sweltering heat that he took a big step back.
He didn't even have time to see what the outside world looked like before Xie Tianlang yanked him off.
Then the two of them quickly closed the wooden door of the underground cave, blocking some of the heat. When they returned, they saw everyone in the cave gathered around the ice maker and the refrigerator/freezer, all in silent silence.
It was a terrifying silence that made everyone feel suffocated.
In this silence, Gou Fugui could even know what everyone was thinking—
If the temperature continues to rise, will they still be able to survive?
Because that's what he thought too.
Gou Fugui closed his eyes.
Then he turned and walked deeper into the cave tunnel.
Xie Tianlang stopped him and looked at him questioningly. The long-haired youth smiled and said, "You stay here and reassure everyone, and try your best to survive. Fate is not being kind to us right now, so I have to do my best."
Xie Tianlang didn't know how he was going to do his best, but he still didn't let go. Just then, the big black cat on the other side let out a meow, and people found a fat groundhog under its paws.
At this moment, the groundhog was squeaking at the rich young master, as if something important had happened.
The rich young master heard it bark a few times, and then suddenly grinned.
He looked at Xie Tianlang: "This groundhog said it would take me to the underground kingdom it found. Do you believe it?"
"Whether you believe it or not, I believe it."
Xie Tianlang met the young man's incredibly bright eyes and finally slowly let go.
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