No matter where it is, whether it's an air-raid shelter or a parking lot, underground buildings always give people a feeling of oppression and gloom.
"Buzz—"
The massive underground elevator was running smoothly, and the sudden feeling of weightlessness from the descent did not affect Xu Milu, who was intently observing her surroundings.
As the Earth's rotation slows down, seawater floods the continents, and the number of continental plate collisions increases. Under the onslaught of extreme cold, tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural disasters, the humans in the Wandering Earth dimension choose to live in underground cities.
In order to better leave the Milky Way, more than 10,000 planetary engines have been built around the world. Five kilometers below each planetary engine is the underground city on which humanity depends for survival.
The elevator arrived at its destination, and bright red numbers flashed on the black digital screen, while a gentle female voice played on a loop over the loudspeaker:
"Welcome to Exit 12 of Beijing Underground City No. 3. It is now 49:32 Beijing time on April 16, 2058."
"Beijing transportation authorities remind you to check the oxygen content of your protective suit before leaving the underground city. Improper operation will bring tears to your loved ones' eyes. Go out happily and return home safely..."
"Crack—whoosh—void!"
With a hiss, the power system activated the robotic arm, and the elevator doors slowly opened, finally allowing Xu Milu to see the true face of the underground city:
The underground city was not as dark as she had imagined. Looking up from below, giant lights, as big as a football field, illuminated the underground city as bright as day.
Thick cables climbed up the wall like lifeless mechanical pythons, and manhole covers were placed every so often on the gray cement floor, but they always looked wet.
[Please be careful while reversing!]
[Please be careful while reversing!]
A minivan painted yellow slowly moved along the planned circuit on the ground. The boxes stacked in the cargo hold were marked with words such as "For Plantation Use Only," attracting a group of small children who ran after it, their eyes practically glued to the boxes.
Here, you rarely see vehicles or large vehicles. The roads are all two lanes, and the traffic lights at the intersections seem to be just for show. Perhaps due to the limited underground space, all the buildings appear exceptionally small.
Hardware stores, supermarkets, furniture stores, digital product stores, bookstores, beauty salons, clothing stores, community clinics, seafood and specialty product stores, police stations, post offices, express delivery collection points...
The area is filled with all kinds of shops that are closely related to the lives of residents, with signs of all sizes placed horizontally and vertically. If Xu Milu didn't know that this was an underground city, she would have thought that she had accidentally wandered into some small town.
"Old Zhang, you're back from up there? How was it?"
"Hey! Are you kidding me? It's freezing outside, even a sneeze will freeze, and that's it—"
"Xiao Liu, working the night shift tonight?"
"Hey, Aunt Wang, have you eaten yet? If not, come to my house for something to eat. We're having braised noodles today. Could you watch my child for me after you finish eating? I still have several hours left on my night shift!"
"Hey, hey, watch your eyes! Can't you see anything?!"
The underground elevator doors opened and closed, and the technicians, dressed neatly, lined up anxiously behind the railings, ready to leave. Residents coming and going in the underground city greeted each other as usual, instantly injecting vitality into the otherwise cold scene.
"Hurry up! My second cousin's third aunt's son's wife's neighbor's wife told me that the supermarket near Gate 7 just received canned Antarctic tomatoes today, and I heard they also have apples!"
"Oh my! That's good stuff. It's amazing to find fruit here, even though it's not a holiday. I'll tell the kids at home later..."
"Dried earthworms, roasted dried earthworms! Delicious dried earthworms!"
"Qingming Festival is coming soon. I need to download some e-paper money online to burn for my grandparents. Sigh, my mom said that when I was a child, we used to eat rice cakes during Qingming Festival."
"Rice cake? Isn't that made of glutinous rice? Wait a minute, I'll buy two skewers of dried earthworms to coax my daughter; she loves eating that."
Humans are an exceptionally resilient species. No matter what difficulties they face, as long as they can survive, they will take root like weeds.
Xu Milu watched all this with her hands behind her back, seemingly realizing something. Perhaps it was because her group was so conspicuous that passing residents would occasionally glance over, as if trying to guess her identity.
—In order to help her understand the underground city environment and deepen the cooperation between the two parties, Hao Xiaoxi warmly invited Xu Milu to visit the Beijing No. 3 Underground City Laboratory.
Two well-dressed young women, followed by a small squad of United Government troops—anyone with a brain wouldn't come looking for trouble.
"At the very center of the underground city is an underground elevator and energy system leading to the surface. Other buildings extend outward from this center. There are joint government troops patrolling every transportation line, so there is no need to worry about riots or man-made damage."
Hao Xiaoxi noticed Xu Milu's expression and considerately began to explain:
“Every underground city built by the Chinese operates according to this model. Above the underground city are rail transit, pipeline systems and various refuge facilities, and below that are underground agriculture and material reserves.”
Our destination is the deep science laboratory located at the lowest level, where an underground ecosystem is set up. Powered by planetary engines, it simulates a normal climate, and oxygen produced by plants enters the underground city through a circulation system, thus artificially creating an oxygen circulation system.
Xu Milu nodded and continued to ask:
"Could the plant production from the underground ecosystem meet the needs of an underground city?"
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