Chapter 78 Northland Plateau
Shu Fu once again felt the same chill in his spine and rust on his neck as he had that night before.
"What did you say? Say it again?" She was still afraid of disturbing him, so she slowed down her tone and lowered her volume, asking carefully.
But this time, Lu Zheng's face did not show that kind of broken and contradictory expression. He looked very sober, but his expression was overly shocked, as if at this moment, the values that had accompanied him for decades in his life encountered an unprecedented impact and collapse.
For him at this moment, the whole world became wrong. Some deeply rooted and natural concepts were replaced by others.
He looked a bit like her when she woke up in the morning and suddenly awakened the memories of her past original world.
Lu Zheng looked at Shu Fu hesitantly. There was no panic, disbelief or fear of him in her eyes. There was only worry, concern, and a little curiosity.
It was this curiosity that made him speak slowly again: "This seems to be... a backpack grid panel, with 20 grids in total, somewhat like..."
"Game interface?" Shu Fu asked.
“Similar, but without the complicated data and settings. It’s just a backpack slot.”
"Are there any tasks?"
Lu Zheng checked the air for a moment, stretched out his hand and clicked twice, and said to her: "Originally, there are main quests and side quests in the lower right corner of the panel, but the quest content is garbled. After clicking, a line of red text will appear, saying: System TKSE-21S is missing and there is an error. There is no quest yet."
System TKSE-21S?
Shu Fu was surprised. He actually had a system?
She thought for a moment, then suddenly stretched out her left hand to him, pulled up the sleeve of her waterproof coat, and asked, "Is my bracelet beautiful?"
Lu Zheng looked at the other party's empty wrist: ...
Shu Fu realized that he still couldn't see her bracelet. She asked again, "Is there anything on you that wasn't there before?"
"Yes." This time he nodded, and in an instant, a finely crafted axe appeared in his palm. "There are things in four of the backpack compartments. This is one of them."
Although Shu Fu was already accustomed to taking things from space, he was still shocked when he suddenly saw another person take out an axe out of thin air.
She immediately pulled him and walked a little further inside, fearing that the people below would see him taking something out of thin air. Fortunately, everyone else had returned to the warehouse, and there was no one under the platform.
"What's else in there?" Shu Fu motioned him to put the axe away first.
"A fishing rod, a filter-like thing, and - a raft." Lu Zheng put away the axe and listed them one by one.
He collected the items very quickly, seemingly without using any medium, or maybe he used a medium, but just like his panel, she couldn't see it.
Shu Fu was a little speechless.
What he said was exactly the basic configuration for players in that old stand-alone mini-game whose copyright was bought by the animation company.
She thought for a moment, said to Lu Zheng, "Follow me," and then led him down the platform quietly, bypassed the warehouse, and went to the back to find another building. This was like a small workshop with a small warehouse inside, and some moldy cardboard was piled up. After checking the surroundings to make sure there was no problem, she asked Lu Zheng to take something out of the backpack again.
The raft, fishing rod, axe, and filter appeared one by one. Shu Fu took out a flashlight from his backpack and carefully checked each item he took out.
Lu Zheng’s raft was twice as big as hers and more like a boat, but it was crudely made. It did not have a flat wooden deck in natural wood color like hers, but was made of logs tied together and assembled together.
There is a small flat-roofed house in the back half of the raft. The house has front and back doors and a small lattice window on the side. The lattice window is not frosted glass, so you can see inside clearly from the outside. It is also a wooden house. It looks a bit rough and simple, but it is still sturdy.
She tried to step onto the raft and opened the door, and found that the interior of the house was not a compressed space. The size inside was the same as it looked from the outside. There was also a very small compartment with a simple squat toilet, similar to a toilet, but there was nothing else, and there was no constant temperature and oxygen effect.
There are no water tanks, pools, wastewater tanks... any functional equipment.
Not only that, she also found that his raft and cabin did not restrict her and she could come and go freely at will.
The fishing rod looks similar to an ordinary lure rod, with a fake bait hanging on it and a line on the reel, so it seems that you can cast the rod and fish at any time.
The filter should be used to filter clean water. Compared with the real filter, its shape is simpler, and the water storage tank underneath has a capacity of about seven or eight liters.
The raft and hut can be used to drift on the water to avoid wind and rain, the fishing rod can be used to obtain food resources, the filter can be used to obtain clean water resources, and the axe is a weapon and tool to protect oneself. These four things may look simple, but they are actually very useful in the apocalypse of the water world.
It's very much like the basic configuration for a gamer or a doomsday survivor.
At this moment, he and she were so close that they both became aliens in this world, but in this infinitely close similarity, there were also great differences.
So, what kind of world is this?
Why are there such big differences between them when they both have golden fingers, or in other words, what is the difference between her and him?
Lu Zheng looked at Shu Fu who was carefully checking everything, and spoke again: "The scenes of me drinking with you last time were not dreams, but really happened, right? You and I... have we met in another world?"
If it weren't for these memories, and the inexplicable sense of trust he felt when facing her, he would never have revealed his abnormal behavior to anyone else.
He always felt that as time passed and as they met more and more recently, his trust in her was rising again.
Shu Fu turned around and saw Lu Zheng standing in the darkness outside the flashlight. The white light bar that reappeared above his head was particularly eye-catching.
The light bar was no longer flickering, as if it had completely stabilized. She looked carefully and found that the white progress bar was full, and a number appeared behind it - "91".
The light bar and the number seemed to be fixed above his head. No matter how many times she looked at them, they were always there.
She didn't know what this number meant, nor did she know whether his golden fingers appeared because of the stability of the white light bar, but it was obvious that in today's increasingly harsh doomsday environment, these golden fingers could completely reverse his fate.
Shu Fu looked at him, nodded first, then shook her head: "Actually, I can't be 100% sure that we have met in another world. I have some impression of what you said, but as for you - or your current face, I have never seen it in my world."
Lu Zheng's eyes lit up, a light of hope after his worldview suddenly collapsed. "So, you are indeed the same as me! Such a strange thing happened to you too!?"
"I don't really want to call these abilities weird, I prefer to call them golden fingers. But you're right, I'm the same as you." Shu Fu said, smiled slowly, and then raised his other hand.
Instantly, a cup of coffee appeared between her fingers. She looked at his stunned expression and handed the cup of coffee to him. "Here, the iced Americano you wanted."
Lu Zheng: ! !
**
Chen Fa always felt that something had quietly happened between Shu Fu and Lu Zheng since last night.
Girls' intuition is usually very accurate. After the group watched the stars yesterday, Shu Fu and Lu Zheng disappeared alone for a long time. This morning before packing up and leaving, when they met under the car, they secretly exchanged several glances.
Chen Fa was not a person who liked to make random guesses. When the three of them sat there with the car door open and had breakfast, she asked Shu Fu directly, "You and Lu Zheng...did that happen?"
"Puff——" Shu Fu spat out a mouthful of instant noodles. The noodles went into her nose and she coughed like crazy.
No wonder Chen Fa had such an outrageous guess. She and Lu Zheng had indeed stayed alone in the small workshop for a long time last night. He had just appeared with a golden finger, and he knew that she was the same kind, so he had all kinds of questions to ask her.
For example, the details and upper limit of the backpack compartment, how to move the raft on the water...
Shu Fu couldn't answer many questions, after all, the two people's cheat codes were different, so she asked him to verify it in practice. She originally thought that his backpack compartment was similar to the "compressed display cabinet" she had just drawn, but in practice, there were still many differences.
For example, her "display cabinet" cannot keep food fresh, but time stands still in her backpack, which means that food can be kept fresh after it is collected.
The size of the backpack slot has an upper limit. Except for the "raft", one of the starting equipment, other objects larger than one cubic meter cannot be stored. The same items smaller than one cubic meter can be stacked, with a maximum of 10. Once all boxed items are filled with things, no matter whether they are opened or in their original boxes, they cannot be stacked again after being stored in the backpack slot...
Also, his raft seemed to be bound to him. Even if he did not actively put it into his backpack, the raft would be automatically put into his backpack when the distance between him and the raft exceeded a certain level.
Shu Fu also took this opportunity to experiment with the storage limit of the "compressed display cabinet" that she had wanted to try before.
There happened to be some large discarded machines in the workshop, and she chose a machine that was about the size of a car, which she actually successfully put away. This also meant that the two empty positions in the "compressed display cabinet" could accommodate two vehicles.
She continued to experiment with the size limits of the machines and discovered that machines larger than an ordinary C-type RV could no longer be stored. In other words, the upper limit of the number of cars she could store in the "display cabinet" was a C-type RV.
This size limit already made her very satisfied.
Afterwards, Lu Zheng mentioned the memory of not being in this world. When he thinks back to that day now, he can hear the flaws just from what he said, such as taking a taxi, the director, the heroine, etc.
But at that time, even though he said these unconventional words, he was still confused, as if he had lost his judgment and didn't realize what was wrong.
And now, these memory scenes have become clearer and clearer, and he can clearly distinguish that they are not memories of this world.
"I don't know how to describe that state, it's like..."
"It's like when you look in the mirror and find that the mirror is covered with thick dust and you can't see yourself clearly." Shu Fu continued for him, describing how she felt on the day of awakening. "And now, it's like a stream of water suddenly rushes over, washing the mirror clean, and everything in the mirror is clearly visible."
"Yes, that's it..." Not only that, this time, he found that there were more memory fragments in his mind that did not belong to this world.
In that world, people didn't call him Lu Zheng. He didn't live in Suicheng, but in a big coastal city. He often took planes and was very busy every day. Many people chased him and called his name...
But all the images were messy and fragmented. Every time he insisted on recalling a memory, he found it was futile. He couldn't even remember the name that others called him...
"Don't worry. Since the golden finger has appeared, it means something has begun." Shu Fu patted his shoulder. "Give yourself some time. You will definitely find all the answers."
Just like her, she will definitely find all the answers that belong to her.
**
At nine o'clock in the morning, the off-road vehicle and bus that had reached a dead end had to turn around and return to the abandoned factory.
The road they originally thought could lead directly to the south of Youcheng was destroyed. The terrain of that road was not thin and narrow, and it should not be a problem even in today's weather conditions. Looking at the damaged appearance of that section of the road, it seemed to have been destroyed by humans.
The problem now is that that road is the only one that leads directly to the south of the city.
Youcheng has a special terrain with large fluctuations in altitude. The lowest is 800 meters and the highest is more than 2,000 meters. The higher it goes to the south, the higher it is. They are currently in the northeast of Youcheng. If they cannot go to the south of the city from the road outside the city, they can only choose to enter the city, pass through the entire northern area, and cross the bridge after reaching the river in the center of the city.
But the problem is that there is only one cross-river bridge left in Youcheng, and the north of the city is now occupied by several forces, causing extreme chaos.
When Lu Zheng and Xu Tingfeng were surfing the Internet at the Lucheng Trading Station, they had seen several photos sent from Youcheng. The photos were sent one or two months ago and were from residents living in the north of Youcheng. They said that several forces had seized a batch of weapons that the north of the city had not had time to withdraw, and were sweeping around the north of the city like crazy, trying to seize all the supply points.
They were very scared and wanted to cross the river and escape to the south of the city, because the south of Youcheng was close to the border of Lankou Province and close to Xiangzhou Province in the south.
Although the small cities and towns in Xiangzhou Province were also in chaos, there were still several large cities that maintained urban operations and order because of the presence of large troops. These troops also maintained several provincial roads, national roads and expressways heading west to Fengshang Plateau.
In other words, if there is a way to get to Xiangzhou Province, there will be a way to get to Fengshang Plateau, where the Huaguo troops are currently the strongest.
It is the safest place in Hua State today.
But at the same time, Lu Zheng and Xu Tingfeng also found that several bridges across the river in Youcheng were completely destroyed, which should be published after other photos. The people trapped in the north of the city finally rushed to the river, but found in despair that there was no way to cross the river.
Don't they understand why the people in the south of the city want to blow up the bridge? To protect the people in the south of the city? The lives of the people in the south of the city are lives, but the lives of the people in the north of the city are not?
…
When Lu Zheng and his colleagues saw these photos, they could understand the despair of the people in the north of Youcheng, but they also didn't quite understand why these people didn't just leave Youcheng and go through the road outside the city when they could escape to the river in the middle of the city.
Now they knew that because the road outside the city was blocked, the bridge over the river in the center of the city was the only route leading to the south of the city, and it was also the route for these people to go to Xiangzhou Province.
"What should we do?" Everyone gathered in the factory warehouse for a meeting.
It had taken them several days to get here, and they were running low on water, supplies, and fuel, so there was no way they could turn back.
Shu Fu couldn't go back either, because her mission check-in point was at the dock in the south of Youcheng, and she had to go there.
Finally, everyone decided that since they were already here, they might as well give it a try. They decided to go to the north of the city first, find a high ground, check the current situation of the north of the city, and then plan how to cross the north of the city.
After all, the photos that Lu Zheng, Xu Tingfeng and others saw were all taken one or two months ago.
No one knows what the situation is there now.
After everyone finished their plans, they drove off again. However, the situation had changed and everyone felt a little heavy-hearted.
Chen Fa was the same. He didn't ask about Shu Fu and Lu Zheng anymore. He drove quietly with a frown on his face.
Shu Fu had decided to reveal something to Chen Fa last night. A white light bar had also appeared above her head. If her guess was correct, when the light bar above Chen Fa's head appeared stably, she would most likely also have a golden finger.
But things have their priorities, and this matter will have to wait until they successfully pass through the north of Youcheng.
The high ground they chose for observation was a small hill on the northeast side of Youcheng. It used to be an ecological park, located on the edge of the city, with few buildings around. There was an observation deck and a homestay on the hill, so the car could drive directly up, and then find a commanding height there, so that they could use a telescope to observe the situation in the city.
However, when the two cars drove to the homestay area one after the other, they keenly noticed something unusual nearby.
Compared to the abandoned construction areas we passed before, the doors and some intact windows of the houses here were too clean.
Although the ground around the building was full of garbage left over from the storm, the doors and windows of an abandoned house that had been uninhabited for a long time shouldn't be so clean. Could there be survivors here? Are they people who escaped from the north of Yucheng?
But this place is not big, and even if there were supplies, they would have been looted after such a long time. What's more, this is on the northern edge of Youcheng. If someone really escaped from the city successfully, why would they stay so close and not leave?
There are only two possibilities - either the other party is one of the forces occupying the north of the city, or he is someone with the same purpose as them.
No matter which possibility it is, in troubled times, non-travelers represent danger.
Sure enough, almost at the moment the bus stopped, a crossbow arrow shot out from the second floor of a homestay. The crossbow arrow was so powerful that it hit the reinforced windshield of the bus with a bang and got stuck in the middle of the metal railing.
At the same time, a voice came from the window where the crossbow arrows were fired: "Leave immediately! There are already people here!"
Inside the bus, except for the big guy driving the car and the thin guy sleeping on the bed, everyone else had picked up their weapons.
The other party's warning implicitly revealed their identity. They were not from the northern city forces, and they looked like another team of survivors.
The other party shot arrows and issued warnings, indicating that they did not want to conflict with them. They did not seem to be vicious criminals, so perhaps they could try to talk to them. After all, they just wanted to use the vantage point to check the situation in the north of the city and had no intention of staying.
However, before Lu Zheng's men got off the bus, an off-road vehicle nearby drove towards the front of the bus. Chen Fa even lowered the window a little, as if he could get a clearer look at the crossbow arrow nailed to the front of their bus.
A moment later, Chen Fa, wearing only a waterproof suit, got out of the car in the rain. She hid behind the SUV and shouted towards the B&B building while making sure she would not be shot by a crossbow: "Yue Dong, is that you?"
The sound of rain was noisy all around, but Chen Fa's voice was powerful and penetrating.
Soon, there was movement at the window on the second floor of the B&B. Someone seemed to be moving a heavy object that was blocking the broken glass. A moment later, the same voice came again, this time with surprise and surprise: "Is it, is it Deputy Captain Chen?"
In the heavy rain, Chen Fa appeared from behind the SUV, and cheers were heard from the guesthouse: "It's Deputy Captain Chen! It's really her! She's not dead yet!"
In the passenger seat of the SUV, Shu Fu looked at Chen Fa in the heavy rain through the windshield.
As if sensing some kind of fateful reunion, a small white light flickered slightly above her head. This time, it appeared for about seven or eight seconds before disappearing again.
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