"Last month, one of my uncles was bitten by a monster and died. A few days ago, the other two uncles went out to look for resources. The temperature suddenly rose during those days, and there was a sandstorm, so they didn't come back." The boy named Xibei lowered his head, tapping the rolled-up lacquer leather on the table with his fingers, and said slowly: "Grandpa and I are the only ones left here, but Grandpa's illness is getting worse. He could still talk to me before, but his mind has been clear in the past few days."
"Sometimes he cried out in pain, sometimes he said I could understand him." Xibei looked at Lu Xun anxiously, "Can you cure him?"
Lu Xun said, "Back to the base, maybe we can find out the cause."
He did not make a promise that he could "definitely be cured." An Zhe lowered his eyes and looked at the text on the base monthly magazine. On a certain page, there was a notice saying that a gentleman who had been contributing to the base monthly magazine had passed away due to illness, and the serialization of "Mission" was discontinued.
In the base, at least in the city, few people can live to the age of fifty, and those who are lucky enough to enter the elderly face a series of diseases. The strength of the artificial magnetic field is weaker than the original magnetic field, and the human body is still affected by the tiny radiation, so the incidence of cancer as a genetic disease is still very high, taking away half of the elderly. And the years of hard-core life will make the survivors live in endless stress and psychological trauma, which is a chronic disease that cannot be eradicated.
"Thank you... Thank you," Xibei said, "My grandpa raised me. He taught me to read. He was the one who kept repairing our generator. Everyone said there were no other people in the world, but he kept asking us to wait. He said there were auroras in the sky, which showed that there were still human organizations in the world."
Lu Xun asked, "Has he always been an engineer here?"
"Yes," Xibei said.
Lu Xun narrowed his eyes slightly.
He asked, "Why do you know that the aurora represents human organizations?"
After thinking for a while, Xibei explained, "This is a magnetite mine. Grandpa is an engineer in this field. He said... he said that his teacher used to work in a research institute that has been studying magnetic poles. Grandpa's teacher told him that the cause of the disaster was a problem with the magnetic poles, but the institute is trying to find a solution."
"High-tech Research Institute." Lu Xun said lightly, "Artificial Magnetic Pole Research Base."
Xibei nodded, "It seems to be called that."
"We are temporarily in contact with the base," Lu Xun did not continue the topic, and said, "After the communication is restored, we will take you back to the base."
Xibei nodded vigorously.
Then, they stayed here. They knew when the communication would be restored. Xibei took them to understand the structure of the mine.
They were in the core zone. Before the disaster, this was a temporary rest area for workers and engineers. There were rooms for people to live in, basic living facilities, and some mining facilities left behind, including generators and many tools. Because it was deep underground and the surface was extremely hard ore, as long as the cave was protected, this would be a self-contained safety zone.
In the core zone, there are several deep mines, all of which are the products of previous excavation, extending along the mine.
"Although it is pitch black, there are no monsters inside." Xibei said, "Don't worry."
At noon, Xibei went to cook. Anzhe was interested in the kitchen here, but he was familiar with Xibei and didn't dare to break into other people's territory. He found something else to do.
Mushrooms like water, and humans need to drink water. Water is a very heavy thing, sometimes heavier than food, so the people in the mines have made a lot of efforts to collect enough water.
When it rains on the surface, it is time to collect water. A large amount of rainwater can be collected each time, purified with alum powder, and stored in large cement barrels. But the weather is unpredictable after all, and no one knows when the next rain will come, so over the years, the people living here have built a water collection system - they have carved complex patterns on the entire stone wall along the largest and deepest mine. The inside of the mine is extremely humid, and due to the temperature difference between day and night, dense water droplets will condense on the wall. When these water droplets reach a certain weight, they will flow downwards, and then slowly gather along the artificial scratches, falling drop by drop into the water collection bottles at the bottom. When hundreds of plastic water collection bottles are filled, the total can reach nearly 100 liters.
According to Xibei, the latest batch of water collection bottles is almost full and ready to be harvested.
——So Anzhe and Lu Xun each took a plastic bucket and a gas lamp for lighting, walked into the main tunnel of the mine, and went to help Xibei collect water.
Anzhe first picked up the plastic bottle at the entrance, poured the water into the bucket, then put it away and continued to move forward to find the next one.
At this time, he noticed that Lu Xun did not move, so he looked back.
——This man was leaning against the stone wall, looking at him leisurely. After being looked at by him, he took a few steps forward and collected water with him. An Zhe was puzzled by his attitude just now, but he did not ask since the colonel was very serious in his next actions.
The mine extended deep underground, with metal tracks in between. He and Lu Xun were on each side, each concentrating on filling their own buckets.
This was a magnetite mine, with a rugged surface and traces of excavation. The body was wet and gray-black. The light of the gas lamp dimmed in the humid environment, and it was foggy.
Humans may not like this kind of environment, but this water vapor makes Anzhe feel very comfortable. He even feels the spores rolling comfortably in his body. He was amused, slightly curled his eyes, and gently rubbed his belly as a response to the spores - putting the spores here makes him feel safe.
As he walked along the mining track, the water in his bucket became more and more. When he finally reached the end of the water collection system, this plastic bucket full of water had become the heaviest thing in the world.
The last bottle of water was poured in, and An Zhe turned around with the bucket in his hand.
In front of him was a long, dark, deep mine. When he came here, it had become a faint light point like a spark.
The bucket in his body was so heavy and the road was so far. He had to walk back. He was almost unable to lift it now, and carrying the bucket back was almost impossible.
An Zhe was suddenly stunned.
Footsteps echoed in the cave, and Lu Xun walked up to him.
The colonel said, "You left?"
The last tone of his voice was slightly raised, as if with a mockery.
As An Zhe spoke, he looked at the end of the mine and felt that his IQ was extinguished bit by bit.
Lu Xun glanced at him and said lightly, "If you walked here first and then started to fill the water--"
An Zhe: "."
He was too nice.
If he came here with an empty bucket, and then walked all the way back, collecting water as he walked, then he only needed to carry the bucket and walk once. But now-he only carried the increasingly heavy bucket all the way here, and then carried it back again.
He finally knew why Lu Xun didn't move when he saw him move.
This person, this person -
this person clearly anticipated the consequences from the beginning, but he just watched him do it as if nothing had happened.
An Zhe decided to get angry. He was a self-respecting mushroom, so he carried the bucket and walked back, trying to speed up.
But Lu Xun had long legs and could walk side by side with him without any effort. In fact, after walking a dozen steps, Lu Xun stretched out his hand and pressed his shoulder.
"Look over there." Lu Xun said.
An Zhe looked to the side.
There was a two-meter square cart parked on the metal track, with several pieces of ore inside. It was obviously a mining cart used to transport stones. There was
a sudden lightness on his body. It was Lu Xun who took his bucket and put it in the car, and then put himself on it.
When An Zhe thought that the colonel just wanted to save energy by using this means of transportation, he heard him say lightly: "You get on."
An Zhe looked at the mine cart and hesitated a little. He always felt that Lu Xun wanted to play some strange games.
——In the end, because he did not obey but did not refuse, he was carried up by Lu Xun.
The interior of the mine cart was very spacious. He turned his back to Lu Xun at the back and sat down with his knees hugged. Lu Xun hung the car lights on the front of the car, and the mine car was slowly pushed forward along the track. The rumbling sound echoed smoothly in the mine.
An Zhe looked ahead. Mushrooms are comfortable and like to move by nature. They don't dislike being pushed. Although he saw Lu Xun, he felt that this man was very happy now. Mushroom's happiness was obviously based on laziness. He knew very well what the colonel's happiness was based on.
He looked ahead and snorted in his heart.