Chapter 11
Could she be hallucinating? She touched her ear. Aside from a slight bump on her forehead that had just come out with a little blood, she wasn't injured anywhere else. Just a few bumps and bruises at best.
She lowered her head and put her ear close to the pile of pages. She asked tentatively, "Are you talking?"
“Ahhh!! She understood what we said!!”
"It's so good not to be illiterate!"
Jiang Fei wondered, is this the reward? Being able to understand the words of the book? But what good would that do? She asked again, "Do you know what the reward is?"
"The reward is us—!"
"There's also a cat as a reward!"
"Go check on the cat!"
What cat?
The pages enthusiastically pointed out a path for her and told her, "Follow this path and you will find the cat!"
Jiang Fei walked forward along the path they had opened with half belief and half doubt. The belly of the pollutant was more like another space, because even if the pollutant was huge, it was not so big. She walked to an exit, which was in the shape of a unique arch. She walked outside and saw a black cat curled up in the center of the small space.
This cat was not a huge black cat like a hill. It had a normal body shape, even a little thin. Based on Jiang Fei's experience in feeding cats, it might not have reached adulthood yet.
As soon as she approached, the black cat opened its dark green eyes and stared at her without blinking. It stretched and walked slowly to her feet. It meowed at her and wrapped its jet-black tail around her calves. It looked as well-behaved as possible.
Is this the nature of pollutants? Jiang Fei carefully bent down and gently stroked its head. It even rubbed its head against her palm, as if acting coquettishly.
【Successfully recovered pollutants [Black Cat]】
Pollutant Collection Progress [1/99]
So saving the world also involves recycling pollutants? It makes sense, though. Humans live in a harsh environment, affected not only by the natural environment but also by the rampant pollution.
But since the pollutants are collected, it should be of some use, right?
Jiang Fei rubbed the black cat's cheek again, listening to its comfortable purring, and clicked on the introduction page of [Black Cat].
[Black Cat]: Danger Level C, Intelligence Level A, Overall Assessment B]
[Black Cat] Skill: Claws
Is this level of pollution only a C level? This made Jiang Fei even more curious about what a level A pollutant would be like, but beyond curiosity, she was also afraid. This time, she was brave and lucky, a typical example of a bicycle turning into a motorcycle.
I'm afraid it won't be so smooth next time. She picked up the black cat and thought that Anna and the others were still outside. They must be very worried. She asked the black cat: "Where is the exit? I still need to go back to the base."
The cat licked the back of her hand with its tongue, which felt slightly rough with its barbs. Then it jumped out of her arms, raised its tail and led the way.
Anna and the others that Jiang Fei was worried about were now sitting in the back of Bill and his group's transport vehicle. The three of them were silent and the atmosphere was dead silent.
Bill sat on the other side, transmitting the footage of the pollution explosion he had just filmed to Sky City. The transmission progress jumped to 100%. The team member sitting next to him had a precision instrument on his knees, and the screen displayed the movement of the red dot marked as pollution.
Suddenly, the red dot flashed, then disappeared from the map. The team members were puzzled, "How could this happen..."
Bill's eyes also fell on the screen. "Lost it?"
No, Sky City started building a monitoring network for pollutants decades ago. Today, the technology has become extremely mature, and such an error is impossible. There is only one possibility: the pollutants have disappeared.
Logically, Bill's mission from Sky City was to eliminate the pollutants, but his intuition told him it wasn't that simple. He didn't even feel any joy. Instead, he frowned and stared at the screen. "Look for it again. The pollutants can't just disappear out of thin air."
Pollutants can only be killed and can never disappear for no reason unless someone is playing tricks.
Jiang Fei's face flashed through his mind, but he had just seen it clearly. It was impossible for her to survive such an explosion, let alone a woman who looked so weak.
Could it be that they had colluded? Bill looked at Anna and the others suspiciously, but the sadness on their faces didn't seem to be fake.
When there is doubt about something, the most direct way is to go and see what is going on. Bill withdrew his gaze.
When Jiang Fei came out of the polluted belly, she was dumbfounded. Looking around, all she could see was yellow sand. She thought she could find Anna and the others, but now it seemed that not only could she not find them, it would be difficult for her to even return to the base.
The protective suit she was wearing was also tattered and could only provide basic protection. She stood there in a daze for several seconds.
The black cat stayed at her feet very obediently. She said distressedly, "It's really difficult to move without any means of transportation." The only thing to be thankful for was that her half-broken optical computer could still give directions, but there was no hope for contacting people. She pulled up the map and found that she was near the South District, which was a million miles away from the North District.
What's worse is that after all this trouble, it's already afternoon. As it approaches dusk, the temperature difference between day and night on the ground is very large, and it can even drop to dozens of degrees below zero at night. It's impossible to return to the base for a while, so the most urgent thing is to find a place to rest.
She sighed, and the black cat at her feet raised its head as if sensing something. In the blink of an eye, it turned into the size of a cheetah. It rubbed its head against Jiang Fei's arm, motioning her to sit on its back.
She had tried riding a horse before, but this was her first time riding a cheetah. She sat on its back, and her hands had to find a foothold, finally landing on the back of its neck. She lowered her body to reduce air resistance.
Jiang Fei had to find a place to stay temporarily before dark, and the best choice now was the base in the South District.
The black cat ran very fast, almost as fast as the transport truck's top speed, but sitting on its back was a bit bumpy, making Jiang Fei dizzy.
After running for a few kilometers, Jiang Fei finally saw some people in his field of vision, but they did not look like people from other bases, because generally speaking, the exploration team sent by the base would not have too many people, and it was even less likely that there would be elderly people and children. They looked more like wanderers.
Jiang Fei had heard Lucian say when she was at the base that many small bases could easily fall into trouble due to insufficient supplies. At that time, the elderly, children, women and children were the most pitiful. If they were a little luckier, they might be taken in by a nearby base, but if they were unlucky, they would die on the way.
The team she met now seemed to have just escaped from the base. No one had a sad expression on their face, but more trust in their leader. Even the children were very quiet.
Jiang Fei asked the black cat to stop. It turned back to its small size and snuggled into her arms. She hid behind a sand dune and observed the leader of the team. The man sitting in the driver's seat was only in his early twenties. His facial features gave off a bandit-like aura, and he looked like someone who was not easy to mess with.
She wanted to bypass this group of people, but the other party caught a glimpse of the footprints that had not been smoothed out on the yellow sand. They were left by Jiang Fei just now.
Oh no, I’m going to be discovered, Jiang Fei thought to himself.
The leading man looked out the car window and it didn't take him long to find Jiang Fei hiding behind a sand dune. She heard the sound of the transport truck stopping and then the sound of the door opening.
She took two steps back holding the black cat, wondering what her chances of escaping were.
The man was already standing on the dune, looking down. He frowned, "Woman... Hey, what are you doing hiding there? Which base are you from?"
Not knowing if he was friend or foe, Jiang Fei couldn't reveal her true identity to him. Her attempts to hide the black cat were so obvious that he asked, "What are you doing?" His hand was already on his waist. He had a gun. If Jiang Fei made any rash moves, he'd probably shoot her.
Jiang Fei stopped what she was doing, and the man continued, "Put your hands up."
She raised her hands reluctantly, but was surprised to find that the black cat had disappeared. Where had it gone?
The man was relieved when he saw that she had nothing in her hands, but he didn't completely let down his guard. "Answer my question."
"As you can see, my base has also been destroyed. I'm looking for the next shelter." Jiang Fei's tattered protective suit and her messy hair were very convincing.
He looked at Jiang Fei for a long time, as if assessing her danger. Finally, he put down his gun and said crisply, "Come up."
Jiang Fei climbed up the sand dune using her hands and feet. The places where she had stumbled just now were now bruised, and it hurt when she moved a little. She gasped in pain, and the yellow sand under her feet began to flow again. Seeing this, the man grabbed her arm, and she almost stumbled and fell.
"What are you doing!?" Jiang Fei spoke immediately.
His reaction was very calm, "Quicksand will soon appear in that place. If you want to die, I won't stop you."
Jiang Fei looked back and saw that the sand in that place was indeed sinking. Well, it seemed that she had misunderstood him. She apologized swiftly: "Sorry, thank you for what happened just now."
"Get in." He gestured for Jiang Fei to sit in the back of the transport truck.
Jiang Fei couldn't understand what he was thinking. Should he take along any unknown person he met on the road?
She sat in the back of the car, surrounded by people of all ages, women and children. One of the elderly women said with a smile, "Captain Allen has saved someone again."
"Were you also saved by him?" Jiang Fei asked.
"Yes, we all came from different small bases. When the base collapsed, we had nowhere to go. When we were waiting to die on the road, we met Captain Allen. He was kind-hearted and was willing to take us in."
According to them, Alan is really a good person, but Jiang Fei also knows that she can't just listen to one side of the story.
What's more, are there really pure saints in this world?
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