"Shh~"
Qin Le loosened the breathing valve on his chest a little, and the fresh air immediately dispelled the dizziness under the mask.
As you can see, he's an ordinary deep-level miner. He's been working over a thousand meters underground for almost three months. In a few days, he'll be able to take over his shift and return to the surface.
Like his fellow workers, he was wearing an industrial exoskeleton. This second-generation exoskeleton was quite versatile, but ergonomics weren't considered when it was first designed, so it wasn't comfortable to wear.
Currently, he and his five men were inspecting the safety equipment in the hypoxic section of Area B5. These devices consisted of small iron boxes connected by pipes, roughly the size of a palm. Their shells were waterproof and pressure-resistant, and they contained numerous sensors.
If possible, Qin Le didn't want to operate the tool while wearing an exoskeleton. No matter how dexterous the exoskeleton was, as long as he put on an extra layer of shell on his body, many tools would become difficult to use.
He carefully removed a monitoring box from a height using an operating arm. This must be the problem. Since a month ago, various equipment in the mine has been malfunctioning. Of course, the problems will only increase in the future, as just yesterday, Comrade Zhang Linhai held another mobilization meeting, where the higher-ups issued another target requiring the mine to increase production capacity.
Compared to pre-war levels, the production capacity of this medium-sized chromite mine has increased by 50 percent. Previously, their production team would have been recognized as a glorious production team. Unfortunately, many mines now have similar performance indicators.
"Hey, Lao Qin, the replacement boxes I carry with me are almost used up... What's the dish for today? It won't be those porridge again?" Wang Renxing's voice came from the communicator, and at the same time, the laughter of his fellow workers could be heard.
Wang Renxing and Qin Le had been at odds for a long time, perhaps because the butt dictated the head. Wang Renxing was a native of Shuchuan, while Qin Le had been evacuated there by the army before the war. Whether it was due to urgency or some other reason, the relocated people were not scattered throughout Shu, but instead were gathered together and settled on the edge of Shu, like a moon surrounded by stars.
As a result, countless small groups emerged. Qin Le felt that this was going to be bad. Just a simple debate about sweet and salty rice dumplings on the Internet would make people's brains turn into dogs. Now if these people were forced to mix together, wouldn't the verbal battle turn into a real war?
"It's good to have something to eat! If you have the ability, you can cook for yourself!" Qin Le sneered, "You are not the only one who brought the replacement box. We are a group now. If you run out, help others."
It was strange that they voted to recommend him as the mining team's cook, even though he was clearly an "outsider." I wonder if they'll be able to eat anything after offending the cook.
There are a total of twenty-one people in the mining team, but only one-third of them are actually working. Mine regulations require everyone to wear an exoskeleton when going down into the mine. They only have nine exoskeletons, one of which is broken and still under repair. It's unclear whether Huang Lun's son, Huang Yi, can fix it.
It's hard to imagine, right? In the latter half of the 21st century, with artificial intelligence becoming increasingly mature, there are still biologically capable humans setting foot in this dangerous place. Of course, these aren't miners in the typical sense; they're actually repairmen who maintain and repair industrial robots.
Qin Le had never expected to return to this familiar place. If the pre-war sayings were true, those who had made great sacrifices to build the subway system should have been given a higher social status. Unfortunately, the reality was often the opposite. Those who had been drinking and eating meat continued to drink and eat meat, while those who should have been drinking and eating meat were still digging in the soil for food.
He shook his head and turned down the valve on his respirator. Soon, the chaotic thoughts disappeared from his mind. His oxygen-deprived brain could only focus on the task at hand. After all, the work was very busy now. Checking 500 boxes a day was too late, unless he increased it to 800 boxes - but then, there would be no sleep.
After a while, he began to hear the discussion of his fellow workers again. He just thought it was some kind of crosstalk and was too lazy to think about it.
"Xiao Li, isn't your family quite wealthy? Why do you want to work in the mine now?"
"Master Yu, you definitely don't know my family's situation. If I stay at home, I'll just be eating and waiting to die. It's better for me to rely on my connections and make a living."
"Ah~ The future of the rich second generation is different..."
"Have you heard? Hundreds of people were taken away from Panda City in the south yesterday. It's said they'd rather die than get vaccinated. If they die, they're dead. Vaccinations only have a one-tenth chance of death."
"Yeah, yeah... They're not from other places, are they?"
"How do you know? Let me tell you, many people from other places are resisting the compulsory vaccination policy here..."
"Ahem!" Qin Le couldn't bear it any longer and coughed, his ears suddenly quieted down. These local scoundrels were really gossipy and always spread rumors that were hard to tell whether they were true or not. As an outsider, he had been tired of hearing these local slanders for the past two months.
In fact, on the way to evacuate to Shu, under the influence of the state's propaganda machine, they completed the injection of gene stabilizers for all members, and many people were killed for this, Qin Le's mother was one of them.
Whenever he thinks about those things now, he gets a little angry. His mother is already very old, and even if she didn't get the vaccine, the chances of her becoming a mutant are quite low. Research at the time showed that the chances of becoming a mutant are related to the metabolic rate of the organism; the younger or smaller the organism, the more likely it is to become a mutant.
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