Chapter 81 Chapter 81 Coincidence
Polluted area b4981, after passing multiple environmental tests eleven years ago and confirming that the index meets the standards, can be considered for lifting the ban.
After another five years of vacancy observation, it was fully opened.
That place is now called Huilang Mountain Scenic Area. In its core area there is a real-life simulation exhibition park of a polluted area, and surrounding facilities include amusement parks, pedestrian streets, homestay hotels, and other supporting facilities.
It was the scenic spot that distributed flyers at the entrance of the community two days ago.
Huo Lin stood at the door, clutching the almost crumpled document in his hand, and uttered a sentence that almost made Chen Luan's heart stop:
"Huilang Mountain...the pollution index is abnormal."
"It has now returned to a low-risk level and is still climbing. The pollution index in the core area once peaked at medium-high risk."
"Boom—"
The clouds outside the window suddenly exploded with a thunder that shook the windows, and the pale flash illuminated Huo Linchen's cold eyes.
Chen Luan's fingers hanging at his side suddenly tightened a little, pinching into his palm: "Then——"
"Someone."
Huo Lin knew what Chen Luan was going to ask.
Her throat rolled, and she managed to utter a few syllables in a hoarse voice with some difficulty: "There are people in the scenic area."
At this moment, heavy rain poured down with a "crash".
Suddenly, a strong wind blew, and a cold gray rain curtain suddenly exploded between heaven and earth.
The atmosphere in the military academy quickly became cold and solemn as orders were issued one after another.
The sharp assembly whistle pierced the air and went straight into everyone's eardrums, and the sound of rapid and dense footsteps began to echo in the corridor.
By the time all the students of the Mecha Department had gathered at Training Ground No. 4, Chen Luan and Huo Lin on the platform were already soaked.
Figures, soaked in dark grey by the rain, stood silently in the rain curtain. Huge raindrops kept hitting the raincoats, making crackling sounds.
Huo Lin's eyes swept across the silent, young faces in the audience. The megaphone in her hand amplified her voice, which was then shattered by the raging wind and rain.
"The Huilang Mountain Scenic Area, formerly the polluted area B4981, has seen an abnormal increase in pollution index!"
"The flora and fauna in the area may have been devastated, and it has been confirmed that a large number of tourists and staff were not evacuated in time!"
"Your mission: Cooperate with local emergency response forces to complete the search, rescue, and evacuation of personnel within the scenic area as quickly as possible!"
"All students, obey the on-site commander's orders! Do not approach the core ecological area! The highest principle is to ensure the safety of the masses! Ensure your own safety!"
"Do you understand?"
"clear!"
"Get in the car, let's go!"
The exhaust from the troop carrier created a white mist in the rain, and the trainees quickly boarded the vehicle in groups.
Chen Luan sat in the carriage of the last car, silently looking at the scenery that was constantly receding outside the window, which was blurred by rain and fog.
The bustling city streetscape has been declining, turning into a low-rise new district under construction, and then into an undeveloped urban ruins and wasteland just a few years after the ban was lifted.
Until I saw the vague outline of the long mountain in the distance in the rainstorm, and it was dark and looked like a ferocious giant mouth.
A safety zone and medical station have been set up at the foot of the mountain. A large part of the local troops have already set out into the mountains, and another part will be temporarily integrated with these graduating student soldiers.
The leader of the mecha unit looked at the trainees jumping out of the car one after another and punched Huo Lin on the shoulder. It seemed like they were old acquaintances.
"They're all standard B-class mechas commonly used in school training. The communication bands are already connected, so you can go directly to the aircraft. Leave them to us, and I promise to return them to you in one piece."
Huo Lin nodded: "Thank you, take good care of them."
Chen Luan watched the familiar young faces boarding the plane one after another, repeating "Be careful" and "Be safe" over and over again.
Until he stopped in front of Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling.
The mechas behind the two people are painted with the numbers B098 and B099 respectively.
In the cold rain and fog, Chen Luan looked at the two tall alphas standing beside the cold black mecha and preparing to enter the cabin. In a trance, he saw the shadows of the two 15-year-old kids helping to enter the cabin with the assistance of the instructor in the experience class many years ago.
He curled his eyes slightly without even noticing it.
Now they can carry out tasks independently.
"elder brother."
"Chen Luan."
"Yeah." Chen Luan blinked and came back to his senses. He raised his hand and rubbed the two people's heads: "Go."
After a pause, he added, "Come back safely."
"good."
Only after the students were organized into groups into the existing mecha unit did Chen Luan return to reunite with Huo Lin.
The core of the anomaly is mainly near the Chaoxue ruins, and the fleet has already sent a team there.
The primary task of the local forces is search and rescue. Instructors such as Huo Lin and Chen Luan, together with the vanguard of the mecha troops, will take the lead and clear out the mutant creatures from multiple directions towards the core area.
Dusk gradually fell with the rain.
Several flares were launched into the sky, illuminating the ground beneath our feet as bright as day.
In just a few hours, the outer ground was covered with a thin layer of polluted crystal dust. The further inward one went, the more intense the strange blue color became, and desolate and mutated vegetation could be seen everywhere.
The pollution index in the corner of the console was ticking. Chen Luan once again swiftly killed a recently mutated desolate beast, and controlled the mecha to lift up the park facilities that had fallen down due to being entangled by the mutated vines.
In the thin blue dust mist, there are several human figures huddled together. Their skin has been eroded into a strange gray-blue color, with tiny blue crystals and fungal mats growing on it. They are silent and quiet in the darkness.
He pursed his lips and shook his head slightly at Huo Lin behind him.
This is close to the core area. According to data, the pollution index quickly climbed to its peak within two minutes.
In other words, if you cannot escape the core area within two minutes, all living things here will be quickly devoured and corroded by the high-concentration burst of contaminated crystal dust and spores.
Animals and plants will become desolate and mutate, and humans will die if they are exposed to too high a concentration of pollution at close range for a short period of time.
There won't be any survivors here.
The search and rescue lasted for six days.
The good news is that because the pollution outbreak lasted too short a time, these mutant creatures have not had time to grow and are not difficult to deal with for the time being, which has reduced a lot of pressure on the search and rescue operation.
The bad news is that no one survived in the core contaminated area within a radius of three or four kilometers centered on the ruins of the Wild Beast Nest.
The temporary hospitals and resettlement sites at the foot of the mountain were overcrowded. Survivors were constantly being brought down the mountain, and seriously injured people were constantly being transferred to hospitals in the city.
A large number of reporters holding cameras were stopped outside and crowded around like sharks smelling blood, wanting to conduct interviews and get first-hand news, but they were all turned away by the person in charge on the grounds that "a press conference will be held in a few days."
During this period, Chen Luan only returned to the safe zone outside once to replenish food and fresh water, took a short rest, and never came out again. Only the slightly hoarse and steady voice in the communication band continued to report the location.
"Three desolate beasts were discovered at the west gate of the paradise and have been eliminated."
"Two desolate beasts were discovered in the northwest corner of the paradise and have been eliminated."
"Six desolate beasts were discovered northeast of the exhibition garden and have been eliminated."
“…”
"Four people were found trapped in the basement of shop B19 on the pedestrian street. Two survived and have been sent to a resettlement site."
"A wild beast was found in the C03 B&B on the pedestrian street. It has been cleared out. Three people were trapped and have been sent to a resettlement site."
“…”
He was like a sleepless machine, constantly flashing and leaping in the contaminated area, from east to west, from north to south.
Monsters died under his blade one by one, and survivors were brought out by him one by one.
It’s not that no one advised him to take a break, but Chen Luan remained silent and continued the search and rescue.
No one could stop him.
On the seventh day, the signal was interrupted.
Chen Luan’s mecha signal suddenly disappeared in the control center, and even the communication frequency band could not be connected.
The first to receive the news were Jiang Ling and Jiang Xun, who had just come out of the search and rescue operation with the local troops and were taking a break.
The red dot on the screen was moving at an abnormally slow speed.
Jiang Ling and Jiang Xun looked at each other and saw a hint of suppressed panic in each other's eyes.
"If you don't rest for a long time, you will easily become exhausted."
"Could it be that he's injured?"
At this time, Chen Luan had just finished a battle.
On his way to the resettlement site with two survivors, he was besieged by four desolate beasts. To ensure the safety of the survivors, he had to use the flanks of his mecha to withstand several attacks. After he dealt with the monsters, he discovered that his communicator seemed to have some problems after being attacked.
He could hear people calling him on the frequency band, but the other party could not receive the message he replied.
Chen Luan decided to take the survivors out first.
This place is in the middle area of the entire region, close to the edge of the core area. Along the way, there are wildly growing mutant plants everywhere, and occasionally you can see corpses torn apart by desolate beasts.
The survivors were not in good condition. They wore the protective suits given by Chen Luan and sat together on the shoulders of the mecha to breathe oxygen.
Chen Luan silently stepped on the thrusters and glided slowly on the ground.
Many years ago, another small base near the S17 base also suffered a pollution invasion incident.
The isolation gate of their base was damaged by the beast tide, and the wild beasts attacked all the way into the base.
Even though they later defended the base until the beast tide receded, a large amount of highly concentrated contaminated crystal dust and spores still poured into the underground base through the damaged gap.
After receiving the distress signal, s17 immediately sent people to rescue.
At that time, Chen Luan had just officially joined the combat team and was just an ordinary member.
That day, he saw Doomsday at the base next door.
There were screams and cries everywhere, and strange blue corpses everywhere.
In that era, except for the inside of the underground base, the pollution index anywhere on the ground outside would be at least medium-risk or above today.
So they had nowhere to escape.
The base is hell, and outside the base is an abyss from which there is no return.
They rescued for four full days.
On the fifth day, everyone in Chen Luan's team was a little exhausted, so they took a half-day break.
It was during that half day that the beast tide returned.
They had to give up the rescue and return to S17 before the beast tide arrived.
Chen Luan still remembered that there was a man who had just been brought out. He was wearing a bulky protective suit and hugged the captain's legs in despair, crying and begging her to go in again to save his wife and children. They were still inside and had not come out yet. He had just seen them.
The same conversation keeps happening between different people.
But there is no time.
The dense red dots on the radar were approaching, and they didn't have time to go in again, otherwise they would all die.
In the end, the captain did not go to rescue people and the car started.
The man started cursing, and then started crying and apologizing.
After a long silence, the captain said "sorry" to him.
Later, the captain talked to Chen Luan and said to him with red eyes, if they had not rested for half a day, they could have rescued more people.
Save as many people as you can.
Chen Luan participated in many rescue operations afterwards, and he still remembered the captain's red eyes.
If we hadn't rested for half a day, we could have saved more people.
Once a person dies, he can never come back.
With the person on the mecha's shoulder, Chen Luan couldn't move quickly. He just slowly walked through the scenic area that was full of laughter and joy just two days ago, but became dead silent in the blink of an eye. His heart slowly sank.
Is the war really over?
No.
The situation is getting worse day by day, and even the No. 0 pollution area has shown abnormalities.
When the fleet carries out missions, it will be more dangerous than before.
Chen Luan lowered his eyes and gently pinched the palm of his hand.
What if my brothers still want to join the fleet even so?
The sound of thrusters not far away brought Chen Luan back to his senses.
Two standard mechas fell from mid-air.
Is it because his communication failed that he came to support him?
Chen Luan watched the two mechas approach before he could clearly see the paint on their bodies:
B098, B099.
He was stunned for a moment: "Jiang Ling Jiang Xun?"
Chen Luan's communication failed, and he had no way to talk to the two of them. By the time the three mechas and the two men returned to the foot of the mountain, it was already dark.
Huo Lin stood at the entrance and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Chen Luan safely jump out of the cabin:
"You're glad you're back. Your communication signal and radar signal disappeared at the edge of the core area. I thought you had an accident."
Chen Luan was stunned again.
Did he think that only the communication band was out of order, and even the positioning radar was damaged?
Then how did Jiang Ling and Jiang Xun find him?
Chen Luan looked at his two brothers who had just jumped out of the cabin. Before he could say anything, Jiang Ling hugged him tightly.
Alpha gritted his teeth, breathing close to his ear: "Chen Luan, if you dare to play hide-and-seek again, I will bite you to death. You scared me to death, you know? I thought—"
“…”
Chen Luan patted Jiang Ling's shoulder and said with some amusement: "Did I disappear on purpose? There's nothing I can do if the communication line is damaged. What did you think? Did you think I was dead-"
The unfinished words were covered by a warm hand.
"Shut up!" Jiang Ling glared at Chen Luan, "Don't talk nonsense."
Huo Lin continued: "We sent a lot of people to look for you, but we didn't expect that your two brothers would be the first to find you."
"Why don't you say you are brothers?"
Jiang Xun gently curled the corners of his lips towards Huo Lin: "It was just luck that we ran into him not long after walking in that direction."
Chen Luan frowned slightly.
Is it just luck?
What a coincidence.
But the warmth in his arms dispelled the doubts in his heart. Chen Luan rubbed Jiang Ling and Jiang Xun's hair and shook his head slightly.
impossible.
How is that possible?
How could he be so suspicious?
It must be just a coincidence.
Well, it must be a coincidence.
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