"call--"
Outside the window, the wind and snow howled past, and a layer of snowflakes floated on the road leading to the shelter. The sound of tires rolling over the snow was completely masked by the roar of the engine. The warm and cozy driver's cab felt like a small world, insulated from the cold and snow outside.
This is the cab of a heavy-duty truck. Unlike large trucks on Earth, this truck is five meters high and ten meters long, making it look like a behemoth when it drives on the road.
Rather than a driver's cab, this place is more like a small shelter—besides the driver's and passenger's seats, there is a considerable amount of space behind for storing supplies, and several protective suits of different colors are hanging on the wall. Several boxes of instruments are stacked in the corner, with lights flashing green.
Xu Milu even saw a row of cut-open mineral water bottles on top of the instrument, with several garlic cloves that had already sprouted inside. Their tender green color added a touch of greenery to the space.
I am a seaweed, seaweed, swaying with the waves—seaweed, seaweed, swaying with the waves—
An elderly man driving was swaying his head to the music; the cheerful and catchy rhythm was quite addictive and even dispelled a sense of desolation.
"Look at those garlic cloves, Old Han treasures them so much. He takes them with him wherever he goes on missions. — Hey Old Han, how many years have you been listening to this song? How come you're still not tired of it?"
A Black man in an orange protective suit grinned, his face revealing only his eyes and a set of large white teeth, yet he spoke fluent Chinese, creating a striking incongruity.
"Little sister, you've really suffered a lot, but you're lucky. Those rebels only took your equipment and protective suit, and we happened to be on a temporary mission. Otherwise, you would have lost your life! Come on, drink some hot water to warm yourself up. Oh my, your family must be heartbroken to see you like this. My name is David, you can call him Lao Han, don't be so polite with us!"
Xu Milu, holding a cup of hot water, had a strange expression on her face.
I see, this is a fellow Black man with a Northeastern accent.
The jokes I heard before have come true.
Is the end of the universe really Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning?
The driver was an elderly man with gray hair, whose round, chubby face always wore a smile. He steered the spherical steering wheel recklessly across the snow, all the while offering words of comfort to Xu Milu:
"Don't be afraid, kid. Everything will be fine once we get to the base. Judging from your age, this must be your first time on a field mission, right?"
Xu Milu glanced discreetly at the nameplate hanging on his right arm and noticed a line of small print on it:
[Senior Driver: Han Zi'ang]
Knowing full well that saying more would only lead to more mistakes, she nodded vaguely.
"Yes, this is my first time out here too, Uncle Han. Is the situation outside really that bad?"
At this point, both Han Ziang and the black man fell silent.
"The situation outside is indeed getting harder to bear every day. Recently, the surface temperature has even dropped below minus thirty degrees Celsius. No wonder these villainous troops are so arrogant, daring to rob people on the road—"
Han Ziang sighed, skillfully steered the spherical steering wheel to avoid a large rock, and then continued:
"Anyway, I'm too old to understand what they're up to. Why not stay in a proper shelter and instead rebel and create digital life? If you ask me, when a person dies, they're dead. Even if they can be uploaded to a computer, they're still just a bunch of data. If someone doesn't like you one day, they can just delete you like a computer virus. You're still dead, aren't you?"
David nodded in agreement: "Who cares what those guys think? It's freezing outside, you could freeze even if you just went out to pee. Those bastards who stole my sister's supplies deserve to freeze to death!"
Xu Milu touched her nose somewhat guiltily.
I've heard that the rebels do all sorts of things—burning, killing, looting, and arson—so it probably doesn't matter if they take the blame for something else.
—Since she had neither protective clothing nor an energy pack, she couldn't think of any other excuse besides being robbed.
"Hey Lao Han, I heard the dungeon lottery is starting in the next couple of days. Did your family get a spot?"
David, the Black man, picked up his phone again and couldn't help but sigh deeply.
"This is the 34th round of the lottery. I hope I still won't get a spot. If it weren't for the fact that lottery tickets are non-transferable, I would sell everything I own to send my wife to the underground city. I heard that once we get there, we can live like we used to."
In the rearview mirror, a bitter look appeared on Han Ziang's face:
"Not yet. We're just thinking about whether we can pull some strings and find a way to get Liu Qi a spot. Isn't it said that minors can bring a guardian when they go to the underground city for refuge? You know about Duoduo's illness. If she stays on the surface—sigh!"
The old man sighed again, then, as if remembering something, his face lit up with a smile:
"David, let me tell you, during the Chinese New Year a couple of days ago, I saw that Duoduo was in much better spirits. I'm planning to work one more shift these next couple of days to see if I can get her some canned fruit to take home—how's your dad's health?"
"Brain cancer, so what if it doesn't work out! It's just being kept alive by machines. Our family has come to terms with it. As long as my wife can win the lottery and she and the baby in her belly can enter the underground city, we don't care about the rest. Let fate decide."
David, the Black man, grinned widely, turned his head and saw Xu Milu listening intently, and couldn't help but ask:
"Hey sis, I think you're old enough to participate in the lottery. Did anyone in your family get a spot in the dungeon? What do your parents do? How many people are in your family? I heard that this spot is extremely difficult to get, and there might even be some behind-the-scenes manipulation!"
Xu Milu seemed to understand but not quite, and shook her head, pretending not to want to talk.
"No, my family isn't in this world anymore..."
In a sense, this wasn't a lie.
Upon hearing this, Han Zi'ang, for some reason, began to look at her as if she were a "poor little thing."
David, in particular, who had been asking the question, wanted to slap himself, and immediately changed the subject:
"Cough cough cough cough, aren't we here? We were really fast this time, Lao Han, your driving skills have improved again! Awesome!"
"Of course! Back in the day, I was a little white dragon in the waves—hold on tight, I'm about to accelerate."
Han Ziang stepped on the gas, and the steel behemoth roared as it accelerated toward the shelter.
...
...
Xu Milu lowered her eyes and pretended to drink water, but she was actually talking to Xiao Qi:
"Xiaoqi, what did you find out? Share it with us!"
[Good host.]
Xiaoqi's voice sounded slightly excited:
This planet is simply, simply too perfect!
It seemed overly excited, even the usually calm electronic sound fluctuated.
Xu Milu glanced silently at the blizzard outside the window, then at the dark, gloomy sky: "..."
Why don't you look at the sun that's about to explode and say it again?
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