Enclave in the mountains
Chapter 36
The rooms on the seventh floor are empty.
The two walked into the house and soon saw what was left on the dining table.
A half-eaten bowl of meat porridge and fried rice noodles, covered with a thick layer of broken glass and dust, was still warm to the touch.
There was a piece of paper under the rice porridge, with a line of words written on it in a flamboyant style.
[Compensation will be split 50-50 between us and the group downstairs. Send the bill to my email.]
Below is the email address.
The soldier who came in later was the tall, thin and talkative one.
He took off the iron mask, revealing a slightly childish face, and said, "Quite responsible..."
A large number of security guards came in one after another at the door behind him and blocked the scene.
At this time, the masked man also exited the soldier king state, revealing his particularly eye-catching hooked nose. He walked to the window and made a phone call.
"...When we arrived, they were already gone. We didn't see any carriage return signs at the scene, so we're sure they left reality..."
The baby-faced man walked back and forth behind him twice, listened to his report, and curled his lips.
As he was making faces, he heard the hook-nosed man say, "...Continue tracking? Escort to the destination? All the way to the southwest?"
Baby Face was happy: "Go, go, hurry up, or the person will run away if you are slow."
"How do we chase them? Chase them with our bare hands?" The hooked nose looked at him. "Contact Team Five, have Xiao Yi calculate their direction, and then request satellite tracking. I'll go get some transportation."
Soon, after the escort system was fully mobilized, the destination of the target mission was locked.
This time, the two of them got off the elevator and just walked out of the building, outside the cordon, they saw Zhou Xian, who was calm and smiling gently.
Zhou Xian, Mu Zhong's mother and Commander Mu's wife.
The two men obviously knew Zhou Xian. After looking at each other, they walked in front of Zhou Xian.
The hook-nosed man said, "Hello, Professor Zhou."
Zhou Xian smiled lightly and nodded: "Hello Captain Wang, hello Xiaotian, this is my house. If you need any cooperation or compensation, just tell me."
"Xiaotian" is a baby-faced, talkative man, his name is Liu Xiaotian.
Liu Xiaotian spoke enthusiastically upon seeing the person: "Is Mu Zhong feeling better now? He should have taken the endurance potion after entering the Challenge World, right? I saw the text message last night and was wondering if it was Mu Zhong? By the way, did Mu Zhong really marry this Wei Huan? He didn't even inform us of his marriage. I can't believe he married a necromancer. No, he married Wei Huan, right?"
The confident young man couldn't stop talking once he started, and all the questions in his mind came out like pouring beans.
What was rare was that Captain Wang, who always thought Liu Xiaotian was noisy, did not interrupt him this time.
Zhou Xian's eyes were filled with a smile, and she exuded an intellectual and gentle aura. Her words were soft and sweet. "Thank you for your concern for Mu Zhong. At least he seems to be doing well now. Challenging the world is full of dangers, and I am already very happy that he can survive. I won't delay your work. Come to my aunt's house for dinner when you are free."
"Professor Zhou..." Captain Wang hesitated to speak. He didn't understand why they wanted to let Mu Zhong go. Mu Zhong was a prodigy cultivated by their Northeast Army since childhood. Even if he had lost his legs, couldn't such a big Northeast Challenge Army have room for one person to shine?
Zhou Xian looked at him with a smile.
But in the end, Captain Wang didn't ask, he just nodded and said, "We'll go first."
"Okay, good job."
As they walked further away, Liu Xiaotian scratched his head. "Why do I feel like something's weird? Tell me, what's weird?"
Captain Wang shook his head, but he was certain: "Professor Zhou is a prophet. Her predictions about the future will not be wrong."
…
A self-driving online taxi is leaving Beijing, and the two people at the center of the topic are sitting in the back seat of the car.
Before setting off, they had confirmed with the Southwest Army the coordinates of an airport where a helicopter would be arranged to pick them up.
Before we knew it, the online taxi had arrived in the suburbs.
The suburbs of the capital had always been prosperous before the advent of the Challenge World.
Even in rural areas with only a hundred or so people, after the country develops rural tourism, every household has escaped poverty and become rich, and the average annual income per person may be higher than that of some office workers in fancy office buildings.
However, after the advent of the Challenge World, the world's population dropped sharply. In order to facilitate management, the population of towns and villages were all moved to cities.
The suburbs became deserted.
In addition to some flat land that is convenient for machine farming, some traces of civilization can be seen on the edges of the fields.
Some of the terraced fields, villages and resorts that were once very tourist-friendly have now all turned into ruins and are overgrown with weeds.
Even the main road leading to Jingang has fallen into disrepair.
Mu Zhong said in a heavy tone, "Every time the Monster Lord expands his territory, our Blue Star's land will be plundered and disappear. People in the suburbs must move away. This is an important buffer zone.
Occasionally, dark beasts would stray into the Blue Star, and it was the Challenge Legion's job to eliminate these dark beasts.
I remember when I was a child, every winter and summer vacation, my mother took me to climb mountains and go to the sea, wherever was far away from the city.
Those days are gone now. Even if there are no dark beasts in the wasteland, there are many more dangerous wild animals."
Wei Huan's gaze had already moved down and landed on Mu Zhong's legs.
I was just about to ask him why his leg was gone?
Suddenly, a "quack, quack" sound came from above my head.
Wei Huan instantly became alert.
"Something is approaching quickly."
Wei Huan turned around and saw two people chasing after him.
They were wearing soldier king armor that covered their faces, and were standing on a one-meter-wide flying vehicle, flying at an altitude of about ten meters above the ground, moving at a speed far exceeding that of a four-wheeled car.
The aircraft is the product of the advent of challenges. It has an oval shape and looks a bit like a balance car, but it is much larger.
Originally it was powered by wind energy, but in the past two years it has been integrated with some challenging technologies, and now the winds required for it to fly are much smaller.
It is a purely military product and is not available for purchase by the public, nor will it be for the next 11 years.
Wei Huan has ridden this bike many times and has become very skilled at it.
The aircraft was moving very fast and was about to catch up. Wei Huan was already prepared for the battle.
The two men suddenly stopped.
They received a call, and then disappeared in a flash.
The aircraft automatically left and returned to the camp, revealing a blue beacon in the air. The two men didn't even have time to get off the ground and went straight back to the car.
Falling from this height wouldn't kill a fourth-level soldier king, but the moment of weightlessness after teleportation would be painful enough.
Wei Huan didn't quite understand their hurried coming and going, and looked away thoughtfully.
He looked at Mu Zhong, who was also confused.
Mu Zhong hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "They are from the special operations team. They rushed into the challenge world so hastily. Perhaps something happened."
"What?"
Mu Zhong shook his head, seemingly lost in thought.
After that, Wei Huan saw Mu Zhong constantly browsing the Challenger APP, seemingly asking about the Northeast Challenger Army.
Wei Huan pinched the bridge of his nose and realized for the first time that he had to have a frank talk with Mu Zhong. Their relationship shouldn't be like this. What went wrong?
Wei Huan jerked himself out of such memories and said, "Mu Zhong."
"Um?"
"You and your father..."
The smile on Mu Zhong's face disappeared immediately. He lowered his eyes, refusing to look at Wei Huan or answer.
Wei Huan rarely spoke much. "Just because I'm willing to join Commander Dong's Challenge Army doesn't mean I have to hand over my supplies. I'm not that selfless. I also have to consider my own interests and future, and I don't mind exchanging supplies that I don't need for the time being.
The situation was urgent when your father called. Afterwards, I kept wondering if something was not expressed clearly, or if there was some misunderstanding between the two parties, which caused the conflict to escalate so quickly?
Mu Zhong, I need to know the relationship between you and your father, or rather…" He looked at Mu Zhong deeply and asked, "Are you someone specially trained by the Hong faction?"
"Ladder training" will always be the eternal core of the long-term development of a force or organization.
What's more, for a large organization like Challenge the World that sends batches of people in every year, a visionary one would probably have started targeted training as early as the first year.
If a legion has been providing targeted training to a group of children for seven years, giving them everything they need, including ideals and glory, then when these children grow up, it is natural for them to "give back".
There is nothing unacceptable about this.
If someone had been willing to cultivate him in his previous life and given him the fourth-level potion on the first day of his advancement instead of wasting five full years, he would have been willing to repay this kindness of cultivation. A gentleman will die for his friend.
Mu Zhong might have been branded with the "Hong faction" mark early on, which was exactly why he had been feeling so out of place recently.
yes.
How to refute, argue with reason, and...take the initiative and convince a person who gave up his car, gave up his self-esteem, and chose to live a mediocre life in order to survive?
Mu Zhong finally nodded under Wei Huan's gaze.
His face was tense, and he said with difficulty, "My... Mom didn't want me to join the Challengers. She said I would die. I remember when I was 13, my parents were always arguing, but in the end, Commander Mu took me to the barracks.
My life started a new journey from there, my ideals and my values were redefined from there, and what made me happiest was his recognition.
He was very strict with me, but I knew he was doing it for my own good. He hoped that I could survive the disaster that my mother talked about and live with dignity.
Now you see, I am like this, I have nothing, and then he said he was wrong, he regretted it..."
Mu Zhong gritted his teeth and endured it, with redness at the corners of his eyes.
…
He recalled the night when he was dying and his father was holding his hand, sobbing and crying like a child.
I also remembered that the man who had always cared about face went to the Wei family in person to propose marriage with a betrothal gift in order to save his son's life, and his humble appearance was so flattering.
On the day of the challenge, the man came into the ward with a bouquet of white chrysanthemums to see him off, but was beaten out by his cruel wife and cried miserably.
Because they cannot repay kindness with enmity, cannot turn the tables and manipulate their benefactors in a self-righteous manner, they can only test cautiously and pray humbly.
But I'm really sad, as if even the last bit of my self-esteem is about to be lost.
Perhaps this matter could have been handled better, but it somehow turned out like this.
At this point, I don't even know how to start expressing that incredible... Yes, I just think Wei Huan's choice is very strange. Why did he give up the idea that Commander Dong must be chosen?
So, firmly, eagerly, I believe Commander Dong is the best.
Mu Zhong gritted his teeth and finally said, "Since the advent of the Challenge World, Daxia has been the country that has preserved its territory the most intactly. Is this all due to the Southwest Challenge Legion?"
The Northeast Challenge Legion protects a quarter of Daxia's territory. It not only has to face the invasion of cold, but also has to be vigilant against the covetousness of powerful neighboring countries. In the challenge battlefield, it also faces powerful high-star dark beasts.
If it were really bad, how could the people in the city be so happy and carefree today?"
Wei Huan: "So you want me to go to the Northeast Army?"
Mu Zhong: "Yes, that's what I mean. I know you don't..."
"I'll consider it." Wei Huan looked at Mu Zhong and said word by word, "Tell me clearly, I will seriously consider everything you say."
…
Commander Dong told them the coordinates of a military base built in the mountains.
"In Daxia's uninhabited areas, there are many military bases like these 'enclaves,' primarily to facilitate the quickest elimination of Dark Beasts that stray into Blue Star."
The two of them had already gotten off the back of the Earth Beast. Mu Zhong, who had been interning in the Dragon Group for two years, began to explain directly.
“Usually, when we go out on missions, we team up by car to ensure we can work together in harmony both inside and outside the challenge world.
Such a base would at least have a full three-person team of Level 2 vehicles. Within a 10-minute flight distance of every three primary bases, there would be a Level 3 team.
Do you think there are three intermediate bases and one advanced base? That's wrong. There are very few level 4 extraordinary professionals, and they usually have special missions.
The military region's special operations team is responsible for challenging the world's frontal battlefields, the Dragon Team's main mission objective is to enter random challenges to hinder the opponent's development, and the Special Protection Team's goal is to capture illegal professionals."
Outside the primary base was a large forest, which concealed Wei Huan and his men very well.
The two chatted casually while waiting for the plane to arrive.
Not long after, a twin-propeller helicopter flew over from the horizon.
Wei Huan and Mu Zhong watched the plane descend and saw the person who got off the helicopter making a call on his cell phone.
Immediately afterwards, Wei Huan's cell phone rang.
Mu Zhong had already composed himself. He glanced at the caller with a smile on his face, then looked at the person making the call at the base, and was surprised: "Commander Dong came in person!?"
No one had expected that Commander Dong would come to pick us up in person.
When I looked at him face to face, he was actually not as short as I had imagined, but he was really thin, with deep wrinkles on his dry and dark face.
While Wei Huan was sizing up the other person, Commander Dong was also observing Wei Huan.
Finally, he glanced at Mu Zhong seemingly casually, but this glance was deeper and more hidden.
After a brief greeting, Commander Dong got straight to the point in the open space of the base. "Let's trade now. The Dark Beast Leader's level 5 territory upgrade is about to be completed. He will definitely start a battlefield immediately. We must stop him."
Wei Huan nodded and picked up the phone.
Then a message came from the Challenger APP on my phone: [Dong Chujian agrees/rejects the transaction you initiated]
Just like Wei Huan’s rich inventory cannot be brought into the “Random Challenge”, the things in the warehouse cannot be brought into the real world either.
This is probably the only mercy the gods have shown in this challenge.
It is conceivable that once chariots can appear in the human world, the whole world will be in chaos.
War, plunder, and the resulting terrorist acts are enough to destroy a civilization in a short period of time.
In order to protect the present world, the gods also imposed restrictions on transactions.
The two parties in a real-life transaction must trade face-to-face using their mobile phones, and the trading party must also use a valuable item to apply to start the transaction.
Wei Huan clicked [Agree] and opened the transaction box and warehouse at the same time.
The supplies in the warehouse were organized very neatly by Mu Zhong. Supplies of the same grade were placed together, and the more precious ones were placed at the bottom.
Soon, Wei Huan saw the star beast skin under the warehouse.
This is a very precious material that has not been obtained even with the current efforts of mankind. It was obtained by Wei Huan after he won the championship and opened the platinum treasure chest.
But even so, there are several supplies deeper under the star beast skin that are even more valuable.
One of the stones is an inconspicuous ochre-colored stone. If you hold it in your hand and look at it with silver goggles, it will look like a piece of ochre.
【Eternal Gold Stone】
"A gift from the stars and the Titans, a sacred stone from the other side of the universe"
[Sacred Covenant of Greed]
"A Gift from the Stars"
【Constitutional Sacred Covenant】
"A Gift from the Stars"
【Omniscient Holy Covenant】
"A Gift from the Stars"
No one knows the use of these things, but just looking at the descriptions with suffixes is enough to prove their preciousness.
Wei Huan placed the precious star beast skin on the trading column and clicked the transaction button.
The moment the transaction was completed, the heavy weight on my heart and the unspeakable sense of urgency suddenly dissipated.
"Thanks."
The transaction was completed. Commander Dong saw that there was indeed an extra star beast skin in the warehouse. His expression was confused for a moment.
Then he raised his head, and a thousand words turned into another choked voice, "Thank you."
Finally, he hugged Wei Huan and said, "I'm about to enter the Challenge World. I won't take such precious supplies for nothing. Wait until I come out."
As soon as he finished speaking, Commander Dong and the two guards he brought with him hurried into the challenge world.
Among those who stayed behind were the helicopter pilot, a secretary, and five soldiers stationed in this small base.
The three groups of people looked at each other, and finally the hunter with the black-backed wolfhound said, "I don't know when the commander will come out. Why don't we go inside first?"
"good."
"Um."
The "enclave" is a unified row of two-story buildings with a total of six rooms downstairs and upstairs.
Each room is the same size and is a dormitory that can accommodate four single beds.
There is not even a toilet in the house, and you have to go to a separate house on the left to wash up at night.
The toilet is at the left end of the building, and the kitchen is at the right end. A concave U-shape encloses a concrete square the size of a basketball court.
A flagpole rises in the middle of the square, and the national flag sways brightly in the sun.
Wei Huan fell behind, observing the environment, with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.
In the past, he was also a member of such an enclave and spent many unforgettable days and nights with his comrades.
Mu Zhongze was already carried by the hidden cat and walked to the front. After Wei Huan promised him that he would seriously consider it, it was as if a bright light had been lit up in his life. He became cheerful and talkative to an extreme.
"Are there only five of you here? Do you cook your own food? Who's the chef? This black spaniel is so handsome, can I pet it? Hey, is it a little scared of kittens? It's already dead, what's there to be afraid of?"
It's because they can still move even after they die that we're more afraid, okay?
The five soldiers stationed in this garrison range in age from 45 to 21, and of course they are all challengers.
The highest-ranking one is a 28-year-old "warrior" who is the squad leader.
In a later conversation with Mu Zhong, almost all his past was exposed.
His name is Guo Xiang. When the challenge came, he was just 20 years old and was dragged into the road challenge in a daze.
At that time, everyone was completely blind and knew nothing. They finished the challenge at the last place in a daze.
"...After the challenge was completed, the world was in chaos. The government shut down, universities suspended classes, and walking down the street at night was filled with cries and the pungent smell of burning paper money. For nearly six months, as far as I can remember, the world was gloomy and I lived in a state of confusion.
My parents are gone, and my grandmother is the only one left at home. For nearly a year after that, she lived on government welfare.
A year later, order was barely restored and the university reopened. I returned to the university and found out that some of my classmates not only returned successfully, but also became challengers and were lucky enough to be promoted to the second level.
At that time, the government had not yet unified the regulation of challengers, nor had challenger universities and challenger corps been established. The challengers of that era were more like bounty hunters.
Those with no future go into the Challenge World to work hard, while the rich sit back and reap the benefits. Having said that, becoming a Challenger is indeed very lucrative. Many of my classmates have made fortunes through this, and some have even become Rank 4 professionals.
"But there are many deaths, right?" Mu Zhong continued.
Guo Xiang nodded, his expression painful. "It's half and half. Some people got rich, while others never showed up in the classroom again. I was afraid of death at the time, and I was also afraid of what would happen to my grandma if I died. So after that, I wasted nearly three years."
"What happened next?" Mu Zhong asked, "Why did you come back as a challenger?"
"After graduating from university, I couldn't find a suitable job. I kept hearing about how Challengers could get rich, and I struggled for a long time. Until the official establishment of the Challenger Corps, I signed up without a second thought." Guo Xiang finished, laughing. "At first, I just wanted to get a job as a member, but after joining, I realized how tense the confrontation between humans and dark beasts has become. I always feel proud when I come back from a mission. Big guys have big responsibilities, and a small soldier like me can only do as much as I can."
Several other garrison soldiers, young and old, nodded in agreement.
Mu Zhong looked at Wei Huan meaningfully, as if to say, look, the Northeast Army also defends the country well.
Commander Dong had not returned yet, and had lunch and dinner at the base.
The food is pretty good. There is a field in the base where you can sow rapeseed and let it grow freely, so you can always eat fresh food.
In addition, the Challenge Legion would send food every three days, and the leftover meat would be frozen in the refrigerator, which was full.
In the evening, Guo Xiang used the big stove to cook stewed potatoes with meat, mashed pork with garlic, scrambled eggs with tomatoes and stir-fried bok choy, plus a bowl of sauerkraut vermicelli soup with boiled meat, four dishes and one soup, both meat and vegetables.
Perhaps after a day of getting to know each other, Xiao Zhang, a young recruit in the base, also started talking.
"This isn't our squad leader's best dish. His garlic pork ribs are so delicious that I can eat a whole plate by myself.
Actually, if you think about it, it’s pretty good if those with ideas become challengers, and the others continue to work to keep society running.
Otherwise, who will raise livestock? Who will farm the land? We won’t even be able to eat pork.”
Xiao Zhang was hit on the head by Guo Xiang.
Others were also chatting about their ideas in groups of three or four, and Wei Huan smelled the pungent smell of smoke again.
Following the smell of smoke, I saw Lao Hang's back outside the door. He was squatting on the steps, his body hunched over, looking small and thin.
Smoke floated above his head, and in the dimming blue light of dusk, it gradually swirled around the light bulb above his head.
Perhaps Wei Huan had stared at Lao Hang for too long. After dinner, Guo Xiang came over and said, "Lao Hang is a veteran border guard. This area originally belonged to Fushui Village, Taoshan Town, Jingang City. He's from Fushui Village, and so is his wife.
The year the challenge came, he was already in the process of completing the retirement procedures and bought a house in the city for his children to go to school.
But when the challenge ended, his wife did not return, so he was left in the legion and his retirement procedures were suspended.
Last year, his son joined Challenge World and never came back, so Lao Hang started smoking more and more.
Challenging the world, how many people have been harmed."
After a moment of silence, Guo Xiang took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took out a cigarette and handed it to Wei Huan.
Wei Huan took it in his hand, lit it and took a puff, watching the embers left after the scarlet flames devoured it.
After a long while, he squeezed out a sentence: "Everything will end."
Guo Xiang took people to do evening classes and watched the evening news without fail.
Wei Huan didn't go over, so Mu Zhong came over and saw the cigarette butt at Wei Huan's feet. He took out a pack of cigarettes from somewhere and handed it to him.
Wei Huan didn't want it because he didn't know how to smoke.
Mu Zhong thought about it and asked him, "It's getting dark. Do you want to go to the Occupational Temple? It's quiet in the car. I'll stay outside and wait for news."
Wei Huan nodded.
Training when you are feeling irritable is the best option. It is best to close your eyes and fall asleep when you are tired, so that you will not feel irritable the next day.
In short, hold on.
Back in the car, Wei Huan made arrangements step by step.
He washed up, entered the Professional Temple, came back and went to bed, without leaving his room during the whole process.
It wasn't until a sudden knock on the door in the middle of the night that woke him up.
Wei Huan suddenly opened his eyes, as if he had never fallen asleep, and heard Mu Zhong say outside the door: "Wei Huan, something happened!"
"What's the matter?" The next second, Wei Huan opened the door.
The first thing Wei Huan thought of was that something had happened to Commander Dong. After all, judging by the time, it was time for the Dark Beasts to take action.
Mu Zhong said, "The dark energy detector rang again tonight. Guo Xiang took Lao Hang and Xiao Zhang on a mission and hasn't returned yet. We can't contact them. I..."
Without waiting for Mu Zhong to say anything else, Wei Huan breathed a sigh of relief and raised it again.
"Walk."
After saying that, he was teleported directly back to Blue Star.
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