Chapter 440 Acid Rain. Snakes
The night fell, and the city used to be brightly lit, but now it was all dark, with not even the moon or stars in the sky. Gu Ye turned on the car lights, becoming the only beam of light in the darkness.
Chu An finally decided to go to the base. Even if he couldn't contact Yin Tianlin and Zhuona, he could still find out the current situation.
During the day, Chu An noticed that the vegetation in the suburbs grew very fast. He didn't expect that the same was true in the city. The shopping malls, schools, and supermarkets he passed by were all surrounded by weeds, but many of them had yellow roots and broken leaves due to acid rain erosion.
The grass occasionally stirs, and snakes, insects, rats and ants run around in it. This situation will become more and more frequent in the future. In the previous life, the first animals to invade human territory were wild boars.
Chu An sat in the back seat, leaning on the window to look out. The more he looked, the sadder he felt. The streets that he used to be familiar with became strange and even a little scary.
Everyone has a hometown complex, and she is no exception. She hopes that her hometown will get better and better, but things often go against her wishes. Lao Chu also sighed in the passenger seat, probably thinking the same thing as her.
When the car drove near the base, it was blocked by a two-meter-high stone wall, which had never existed before.
There were three entrances in the stone wall, each about thirty meters apart. There was no one guarding them, but a searchlight was on, and there was a circle of flies buzzing under the lampshade.
As they approached, a pickup truck drove into the middle entrance ahead of them, and Gu Ye followed the pickup truck in from the middle.
Inside is a continuous shantytown, with a few second or third floors occasionally, arranged in a disorderly manner in front of the original base without any rules.
The shantytown is not completely dark. There is still plenty of sunlight during the day, and there are solar panels on the sheds, so you can see a small light every few houses.
It was these small lights that allowed Chu An to see two-thirds of the shantytown, which was at least the size of hundreds of small fishing villages.
The road in the middle of the shantytown is passable, but it has to turn around. Fortunately, the car in front was heading to the base, so they followed it and did not get lost.
The car in front is not going fast, and it can't go faster even if it wants to. There is a basin on the side of the road in the east house, and there is a bowl with a chipped tooth in the west house.
It is not yet time for people to rest, and many people gather together to enjoy the cool air. Children are moving around under the supervision of adults. They don't run far, but they will suddenly jump out.
When people here saw the car, they didn't rush forward to try to scammers it like people in the suburbs would. Instead, their eyes followed the car's movement woodenly, with no expression on their faces.
Chu An saw several people burned by acid rain, the most serious of whom had half of his face destroyed.
The Grand Cherokee followed the pickup truck to the entrance. The guards were no longer temporary employees like those from Luoyang. They were all members of the joint defense team wearing combat uniforms and holding hot weapons.
None of them were people she knew, and of course she knew relatively few of them.
Pika showed the guard a small notebook and was allowed to pass. As expected, they were stopped.
The joint defense team members were very well-mannered. They did not make things difficult for them and did not drive them away. Instead, they patiently told them that the base would hold a lottery for admission on the 1st of every month, and that those whose numbers were selected could move into the base if they paid enough supplies.
"You came at an unfortunate time. This month's occupancy review has just ended. You can get a number first, and then find a place to rest inside the wall. A month will pass quickly."
The three of them looked at each other. It had only been a few months since they last saw each other, and the rules of the base had changed a lot. However, why did they vaguely feel like a sunny community?
"If you don't check in, how do you find someone? Or you can apply for a temporary card to get in." Chu An asked.
"The temporary cards have been cancelled a long time ago, but there will be an open day every 10 days, and people in the base can go out for a day. You can register first, write down the name and address of the person you are looking for, and your address. In a few days, a special person will count and notify your family members. If they want to see you, they will come to find you on the open day."
“When is the next open house?”
"Seven days later."
Chu An frowned. After a few days meant that they would not collect registration information every day. Most likely they would only organize it and notify one day before the opening day.
She believed that as long as Yin Tianlin or Zhuona knew that she was outside, they would definitely find a way to get out or contact her.
"Is there any way to see him quickly?" Chu An could only use his trump card, took out two boxes of cigarettes from his pocket, and stuffed them into the hands of the joint defense team members when no one around was paying attention. "It's okay if I can't see him, just help me pass on the message. I really have something urgent and can't wait until the open day."
The joint defense team members were shocked. Bribery happens all the time, but no one would give two boxes, just one or two.
He never accepted it before. Smoking one or two cigarettes would not satisfy his craving for cigarettes. They were difficult to preserve and sell, mainly because the price was so low that he didn't want to take the risk.
But... now there are two boxes.
Lao Chu was a smart man. He instantly sensed the dilemma of the joint defense team member. He quickly transferred the two boxes of cigarettes from his hands to his pocket and made the decision for him.
"Little brother, please show us a way. We will never cause you any extra trouble."
The joint defense team member cleared his throat, looked around, and sighed, "Ah, I'm just soft-hearted. How about this, you tell me the address of the person you want to see. There are two hours before the shift change, and I'll go find them for you, but I can't guarantee whether they can come out."
"No problem, just help me notify them." Chu An hurriedly took out paper and pen from the car and wrote two letters to Yin Tianlin and Zhuona respectively, with their addresses attached.
When the joint defense team saw these two names, their eyes lit up slightly, "Are you looking for Director Yin and Zhuona?"
"Yes, it's them." Chu An was a little surprised. It would not be surprising if he knew Yin Tianlin, after all, he held an official position and was an outspoken person, but how did he know Zhuona?
"Okay, I'll definitely help you with this." The joint defense team member smiled innocently, "You guys wait over there for a while."
The direction he pointed to was not far from the gate. It was the back of a three-story building. The building and the base wall formed a triangular area that could accommodate a car.
"Okay." Chu An agreed.
Two hours was still a good time to wait, so the three of them got in the car and drove over. Chu An didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble, so he waited in the car.
After a while, the window of the small building opened, and a thin man wearing a black T-shirt stood in the window.
There was no light in the room, no moonlight outside, and only some light from the joint defense team members shone through, so the man's appearance could not be seen clearly.
However, Chu An felt that this person was a little familiar, but he couldn't remember what was familiar about him.
The man also saw the car and closed the window after standing there for a while.
This behavior is very strange. Even at night the temperature is 37 or 38 degrees. Is there air conditioning if the windows are not opened for ventilation?
As they drove along, everyone was very economical, even strict, in their use of electricity.
Chu An looked at the rooftop and saw a whole row of solar panels. Maybe he was overthinking it. The other person really had the ability, but was just unlucky and didn't get a number.
"ah--"
Suddenly a woman's scream startled everyone, followed by more screams.
"There's a snake."
"Get out of the way, there's a snake."
Chu An frowned. Are the animals starting to occupy the city so soon?
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