Chapter 11: What a chaotic mess! Are all your imparts this exciting?! ...
"Intern Employee No. 300!"
"arrive!"
"Intern Employee 301! Intern Employee 301?"
There was no response. The supervisor put down the roster and sternly asked the person next to him, "Where are they? Why are there still people missing? How did you find them?"
Er Mao was standing right behind Pei Qing. She remembered that this person seemed to be number 301, so she quickly nudged her and whispered, "Is it your turn? Answer quickly!"
Pei Qing then realized she had been called on and quickly raised her hand, "Yes, here!"
The supervisor glanced at her; if it were anyone else, she would have already told them to pack their bags and leave. But this person was personally chosen by the Second Master, so she couldn't make a scene. She simply put her hands behind her back and gave a curt reply, then said, "Remember to tell me earlier next time."
"Hmm." Pei Qing silently returned to the line. Er Mao, who seemed to have ADHD, nudged her again, "What's wrong with you? Did you not wake up properly last night?"
Pei Qing shook her head, then nodded.
She slept relatively peacefully for the first half of last night, but in the second half, something kept making a rustling sound. Even with earplugs completely covering her ears, she could still hear the sound.
This morning, Pei Qing came to report for duty, and for some reason, I could still faintly hear the same rustling sound as last night. I guess she has tinnitus, probably due to some change in environment.
Er Mao wanted to say a few more words to her, but the supervisor had already given everyone infrared buckles and then told everyone to go to the equipment room to get their protective suits.
Pei Qing gripped the key and went to the locker with the corresponding number. She opened the locker door, and inside was a very heavy protective suit.
She took out the protective suit and then tried to take off her own clothes, but someone next to her stopped her, saying, "No need to take them off, just wear them on the outside, there's enough space."
Pei Qing turned around and thanked her. The person who spoke had already changed into a protective suit. Through the not-so-clear mask, all that could be seen was the crisscrossing wrinkles on her forehead and her messy, tangled yellow and white hair.
But her voice sounded quite young. Pei Qing's gaze shifted downwards, and the person did not have an internship badge on her chest, so she should be a full-time employee.
Pei Qing changed into her protective suit, but before she could ask any more questions, she heard the person speak again: "You're still an intern, right? Work hard, and you'll be a full-time employee in a few weeks."
"How many years have you been working here? Why is our company short-staffed and hiring so few people?" Pei Qing followed closely beside the man; her number was 103.
"Of course, it's because it won't last long. Guess how old I am this year?"
Pei Qing hesitated for a moment. To be honest, she felt this person was at least seventy or eighty years old. In the interstellar era, the metabolism of all species has slowed down, and the average lifespan is around one hundred and twenty or thirty years.
But since they asked that question, it implies her age...
"Judging from your appearance, you should be in your fifties or sixties?" After careful consideration, she came up with a relatively moderate number.
"Haha, how many years older are you making me out to be? I'm only 30 this year."
"30?! How can a 30-year-old be in this state?!"
"Ha, you didn't know that the company's number plates only become available when someone dies?" The man patted Pei Qing on the shoulder, then turned into another intersection and disappeared.
The person had already gone far away, so Pei Qing gave up the idea of asking any more questions. Having signed the contract, leaving now was impossible. She sighed and followed the signs towards Tunnel No. 5.
Upon arrival at their destination, the ten-person teams quickly assembled, each led by a full-time employee, and set off for the energy extraction site.
Pei Qing's team leader was a tall and agile female A. Her voice was cold and sharp. Before setting off, she scanned the team members one last time.
"I'll say it one last time: no one is allowed to leave the group without permission. Strictly obey orders to move forward or stop, and do not take off your protective suits!"
And most importantly, no item is allowed to be taken out of the gathering area!
"You don't want to know what serious consequences will come if you disobey orders."
Pei Qian secretly made a mental note of it and repeated it several times in her mind. She was here to make money, not to die, so there was no need to violate the principles here.
The leader glanced with satisfaction at the silent group, then turned and led them into the long tunnel.
As they neared the end of the tunnel, the team leader reiterated the rules. After successful iris recognition, the heavy door opened.
Before going in, Pei Qing glanced at the words engraved on the gate one last time:
Entry is strictly prohibited due to radiation hazards.
Pei Qing tugged at the protective suit. She had initially found it too heavy, but now she couldn't help but worry whether the suit could really protect her from being completely destroyed by radiation.
Before entering, each person was given a cylindrical energy detector about one meter long, as well as a small, heavy metal suitcase.
Pei Qing carefully walked across the land with the detector in hand.
Buildings collapsed on a large scale, abandoned screens dozens of meters long flickered with static, broken billboards, and a large, dark hole in a beautiful face, shimmering with a pale blue fluorescence...
Shockingly, the technology existing in this abandoned land is far more advanced than the technology currently existing on this planet.
This must be the technology that existed on this planet before the cataclysm. The current builders did not destroy it, but buried it thousands of meters below the surface and built a new city on top of it.
Pei Qing had thought there would be plenty of energy stored here, but now that they were at least several hundred meters from the entrance, the detector still hadn't made a sound.
What's going on? She suppressed her anxiety and peered out little by little.
Persistence pays off. After walking for about twenty more minutes, Pei Qing's detector finally showed a faint response, and the screen displayed that it was a safe and collectable energy source.
She held the detector and slowly explored the reaction area. The detector flashed once at the last moment. Pei Qing, having finished reciting the employee handbook, knew this meant it was underground and they had to start digging.
Pei Qing took out the shovel from her toolkit and chipped away at the hard black soil. Soon, a fluorescent teddy bear appeared. She picked up a dagger, cut off the fluorescent part, and put it into a metal box.
[Attention Squad 11 members, the exploration time has reached one hour. Please return to the starting point as soon as possible... Exploration time is up. Please return to the starting point as soon as possible.]
The leader's voice came through the helmet's headset: "Today's energy exploration is over. Staying any longer will put an unbearable strain on your body."
Pei Qing glanced at the faint glowing light a dozen meters ahead, but ultimately decided to turn back first. She couldn't exhaust the resources; she needed to ensure her own health first.
Without further hesitation, she returned the way she came.
Just then, a shrill scream suddenly came from not far away. Pei Qing looked in the direction of the sound and saw a figure rushing towards them with a frenzied roar. This person had actually taken off his protective suit!
Seeing that the person was getting closer and closer, only a dozen meters away from the gate of the starting point, Pei Qing didn't dare to delay and ran towards the gate!
The leader had clearly noticed the situation as well. Her voice was short and forceful, but she remained calm. "Now I need to check if any of your protective suits are damaged. Those who are not can leave."
In less than a minute, all the protective suits were inspected.
The leader opened the door and let them go out first, while he slowly drew the high-rate-of-fire laser gun that he had been carrying on his back.
"Listen up, you guys! Stop at least ten meters away! Anyone who crosses that line will be killed!"
The person, who had long since removed their protective suit, was now disheveled, their hair disheveled, clearly having endured some terrible ordeal. Their face was filled with terror, their hair in disarray, and they were screaming incoherently, completely oblivious to what their leader was saying.
The leader narrowed his eyes. The source of radiation must not be allowed into the residential area! It must be dealt with on-site!
Seeing that the person had entered within ten meters, the leader raised his gun and fired a powerful laser continuously.
The man's body was pierced by the laser, and a burnt smell emanated from him, but he still did not fall down, and continued to roar from his throat.
When the two were less than three meters apart, the man finally struggled and collapsed.
The leader checked her protective suit and then pressed an unknown button, which wrapped her entire body in a light blue film.
She walked quickly toward the person who had already died and lifted the person's eyelids.
Several black lines, startled, burrowed into the eyeball. The leader took out a metal bottle and tweezers he carried with him and swiftly grabbed the tail of one of the black lines that had not yet fully entered.
"Strange... the energy sources here haven't experienced any disturbances for a long time, so why is it happening today...?"
Without time to think further, the leader pressed the internal communication button: "A small-scale energy riot has occurred in Energy Field No. 5. The host has lost its life activity. Come and deal with it immediately."
After finishing the communication, she checked the gate and left quickly, as she still needed to hand over what she was carrying to the research institute.
The hurried leader didn't notice that a black line was quietly escaping from the concealment of her protective suit and disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel.
This black line also seemed different from the previous ones, as if it was consciously swimming rapidly in a certain direction.
Five or six days have passed since that sudden incident, and nothing like the last time has happened during that time, so it's probably just a coincidence.
After a full week of work, Pei Qing checked the number of star coins she had earned, and she had almost saved up enough for this month's rent.
However, even though she had only worked there for a week, she felt that all the other employees who had joined at the same time as her were visibly tired and aged. Was this the harm caused by energy radiation?
Pei Qing is now starting to believe the person she met earlier who said he was 30 years old. He's only been working for a week and he looks like this; what if he'd really been working for several years…
I really can't imagine it.
There was no work on Sunday afternoon, and soon Pei Qing learned from her coworkers that a big party would be held that evening.
"Don't you know? It's a company tradition to hold a party every week to prevent excessive stress. You know, the kind of..." The person next to Pei Qing winked.
She hadn't planned to go, but these past few days, whether it was from spending too much time in the energy field or the constant, bothersome rustling noises at night, she couldn't tell.
Pei Qing was more anxious than usual, and her head was always throbbing. She should go and relax.
She went home and stayed for a while, took a shower, and her eyes were a little dry and itchy because she hadn't been resting well for the past few days.
Pei Qian scrutinized herself in the mirror. Strange? When did this thin black line appear in the whites of her eyes? The black line was so small that it was indistinguishable from the red blood vessels next to it, so she didn't pay much attention to it.
At 7:30 p.m., Pei Qing arrived at the gathering place.
As night fell, the luxurious club was filled with laughter and chatter, with waiters moving about and glasses clinking, creating a lively atmosphere.
Pei Qing was still wearing a t-shirt and shorts. She was stopped by the security guard when she entered the room. If it weren't for her coworkers inside, she probably wouldn't have been able to get in at all.
She had previously wondered why Gu Fei was so openly doing that kind of thing, but it turns out everyone here is the same.
The first thing she saw was a sea of white. As soon as she entered, a handsome dancer came over and took her arm. The strong fragrance made Pei Qing want to sneeze.
Seriously, those three-piece outfits can hardly be called clothes, can they?
Fine wine, delicious food, and beautiful women were everywhere, and the variety of skin tones dazzled Pei Qing.
The familiar faces were either lounging on the sofa, seemingly doing some kind of post-meal exercise, or swaying with pretty women on the central round platform, uttering vulgarities.
So this is what everyone calls relaxation...
Is this what the adult world is like? Pei Qing's eyes have been truly opened now.
A note from the author:
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My darlings! I think it would be better to change the chapter summaries to titles, and I'll gradually change it over the next few days!
I could have written something really outrageous, but I've already exceeded the word limit. I'll definitely finish it tomorrow! (Clenches fist)
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