Traveling in the snow wasn't a good option, but they had no other options. In fact, the power line from Panda City was down, and the entire mining area was in cold storage.
They had originally planned to stay in the mine's surface workshop, awaiting rescue, but unfortunately, the internet connection went down along with the power outage. It was safe to say that if they stayed there, they would likely end up like the dozen or so bodies buried deep within the mine in a matter of days.
But they were practically no different from corpses now—a dead horse after running too far. The mountain road Huang Lun had chosen was truly terrible. Several sections had been covered by avalanches, and in some places the roadbed had collapsed. If Li Xiang hadn't reacted quickly, he would have fallen off the road.
They underestimated the difficulty of following the man-made route and overestimated how fast they could move.
They walked for three days and had covered about half the distance.
In the distance, the snow-capped mountains remained unreachable. They had already seen them the day before. Locally known as Five Claw Mountain, the mountain's former green forests had been replaced by strange reddish-purple creatures, their surface covered in a thin layer of snow. These unknown creatures would actively shake off the snow, and they had mistaken them for animals that grew in the ground.
However, they no longer had the heart to appreciate the magnificence of the mountains, as the sky in the east was getting brighter.
Qin Le never dreamed that he would see such a scene again. The sky suddenly brightened, and he heard a huge explosion, followed by a violent tremor from the other side of the mountain. The shock wave pushed the heavy clouds away, revealing the sun that had not been seen for several months, and a long ring of clouds appeared in the sky.
"Run! There's an avalanche!"
Someone shouted, and suddenly, on the sunny side of the hillside to their west, shear marks appeared. The snow covering it, no longer able to bear its own weight, began to collapse downwards. The speed of this snowfall increased, and other snowpacks along the way that had been disturbed also responded and joined in the revelry.
"Run south, in a tangent direction! Human legs can't outrun an avalanche!"
Li Xiang, leading the way, was carrying half a ton of supplies, yet he ran faster than anyone else. He left behind a trail of deep footprints, causing the others behind him to stumble several times.
Fortunately, this avalanche did not come towards them. The powerful white waves were blocked by a ridge. Only a small amount of snowflakes broke through the boundaries of the rocks, rushed into the sky, and splashed onto the road at the foot of the mountain.
They were soon out of breath. Breathing through the canisters of their protective suits was no less uncomfortable than oxygen resistance training. Their exhaled air clung to their helmets, forming a layer of white mist on the inside of their visors. But they were, after all, the sifting of the sands by the waves. Only when the sound of the avalanche died away did they gradually slow their pace.
"What happened? Why was a nuclear bomb launched again?"
"It's not a nuclear bomb, it's a neutron bomb! We're a long way off. Is anyone left behind?"
"Xiao Li, Xiao Xi? No one is left behind... Yes, we are all here."
"Listen to me, everyone." Li Xiang's voice suddenly became very calm, as if he had become a different person. "We can get out of the valley in half a day. Some of us... may die. When that happens, don't be afraid."
"I'm sorry, everyone. I lied to you." Huang Lun realized the worst had happened, so he stopped hiding it. "We didn't have much of a chance from the start. Honestly, I didn't think we could get this far. The drones had already spotted us, and they were hovering right above us. We tried many times, but couldn't get rid of them."
"Why are they..."
"The underlying protocol," Huang Yi interrupted the others' questions. "We've been in the Red Zone. The drones will automatically search for and kill any living creatures near the urban area. No one can leave or enter the surface."
"They were originally a powerful weapon against mutants, but now they have become a scourge that isolates us."
Huang Lun's voice trembled slightly, and he continued: "We originally had a chance. Their battery was not enough, and we might be able to break through the strike zone. But just now..." He looked up at the sky, and the sunlight shone on his retinas.
"Stop talking. We will survive."
Qin Le tried to encourage them, but his words had no effect, and they began to collapse in despair. Almost at the same time, they all squatted on the snow. Xiao Li pinched a handful of snow in his hands. He wanted to cry, but his tear glands were frozen by the low temperature, and he couldn't squeeze out a single tear.
"Everyone, get up! All of you, get up! You're scared and crying after hearing a few words? Can a few words knock you down?" Li Xiang kicked away a snow pile. He was unwilling to give up so easily. "You are all trash, idiots, and termites! You are people from Country Z, confident people from Country Z who will never be defeated! People from Country Z will not be like you!"
"It's useless. Times have changed. Iron wills are no match for steel. We will die, we will all die! They will record our heat signatures and sync them to the mainframe. They will hunt us to the ends of the earth. They only cost a dozen dollars. Can you believe it? They're only a little more expensive than the bag of emergency food in your backpack. Woohoo~"
"Fuck it!" Li Xiang also squatted on the snow. His exoskeleton had little energy left, and he couldn't waste it like this.
"Wait, a heat signature?"
"Do they sense anything besides infrared? Optical? Sonic?"
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