Chapter 272 Taking a Shortcut
Qiao Lan first called Yin Wanying to ask about Xiao Tang's situation.
It had been more than two hours since she left the underground laboratory, and Xiao Tang was still asleep when she left.
"Mr. Tang is feeling a little better than yesterday. I just fed him some rice soup with the help of the nurse. He said it was delicious."
Yin Wanying's gentle voice came from the communicator, which made Qiao Lan feel much more at ease.
In the few days since Xiao Tang regained consciousness, his condition has recovered rapidly. Yesterday he was still relying on intravenous nutrient solution to survive, but today he was able to eat. That's really great.
"Don't worry about your work, I'm here." Yin Wanying said.
Qiao Lan gave Yin Wanying a kiss and hung up.
He called out to Pigeon Huihui, "Lead the way, let's collect the nearest few supply points first."
Now that Xiao Tang is in stable condition, she can focus on her work.
"Gugu!"
Pigeon Huihui dismissed a large number of his brothers and only took a few of the smartest and strongest ones, leading Qiao Lan to the supply burial site they discovered.
The two senior guards, Chen Hua and An Hua, were stunned. After watching for half a day, they had never expected Qiao Lan and the mutant bird to not only know each other but also have a master-servant relationship. They also had no idea that a mere flock of pigeons could have such a clear internal organization, a hierarchy, and a measured approach to action.
Later, I saw Qiao Lan and the pigeon find unknown supplies buried deep in the ruins. There was food, drink, clothes, and two sports cars. Qiao Lan just stretched out his hand and made everything disappear...
The two were shocked to the point of numbness.
"Hehe, to be honest, I got a portable space due to a strange opportunity. Although it's not big, it's still enough to store some things. If the time comes, I will introduce this opportunity to you so that you can also have a space."
Qiao Lan did not hide the space from the two guards.
In fact, she planned to disclose this to someone close to her whom she trusted. Otherwise, it would be very inconvenient for future battles or construction. She couldn't work side by side with others while trying to conceal any traces of the space. It would be too tiring. She should just be with her companions; there should still be some trust.
However, she was vague about the details, not revealing the specific size of the space, its special abilities, or the abundance of supplies within. When a relationship isn't particularly close, some reservations are advised.
After spending the past two days with Chen Hua and An Hua, she had noticed that they had good character. They were also very powerful, and if she had the chance to carve out two subspaces for them in the future, it would be even more powerful and a great help to her.
"Space? Let us have some too?"
"No, no, how dare we take such a precious thing..."
The two guards were shocked, moved, and a little guilty. They had tried to kill Qiao Lan in the first place...
After a month with Major General Zhao Bing, they were treated like servants, their rations often stolen by him. But Qiao Lan, they'd only been with him a few days, and they'd already had several feasts. Qiao Lan treated them with special respect, calling them "big brother." Now they were even being given space. What kind of treatment was that?
This made him even more determined to protect Qiao Lan's safety.
After Qiao Lan collected a wave of supplies and saw that it was almost noon, she walked towards Feng Feng's residence.
Feng Feng is an external liaison special agent with no fixed residence. He returned to Beijing yesterday and contacted Qiao Lan, saying that he would rest in Beijing for two days and then go to City C. He asked her if there was anything she needed help with.
Qiao Lan originally didn't have any, but after talking to Ye Qi today, she wanted Feng Feng to send a gift. According to the temporary address Feng Feng gave her, Qiao Lan walked through the streets and alleys and headed to a military settlement.
"You can take a shortcut there, but you have to go through an unrenovated neighborhood with a lot of people around," said guard Chen Hua.
At this time, the three of them were still about five kilometers away from their destination. The place where Pigeon Led collected supplies was a little away from the core urban area. The surrounding environment was far worse than the core area. The ruins had not been cleaned up, the infrastructure had not been built, and the security patrol team only came once every few days. Therefore, the safety was not very high. There were no frightening conflicts on the surface, but vicious incidents still happened from time to time in places where no one could see.
"How about we take a detour? Just like when we came here, we can take the officially cleared ring road." Another guard suggested.
Qiao Lan thought about it. The last time Feng Feng flew her to Beijing, he took her to several military arsenals along the way. She secretly accepted a large number of arms and weapons from them. Feng Feng turned a blind eye and pretended not to see it. Afterwards, he just jokingly asked her for a barbecue dinner.
However, after arriving in Beijing, she was busy sending Xiao Tang to the laboratory, and Feng Feng was busy on a mission, so they had no time to sit down and have a big meal, so she still owed Feng Feng a favor.
Seeing that it was lunchtime, he hurried over and arrived before Feng Feng started eating so that he could treat him to a meal. Otherwise, it would be insincere to wait until he had finished his meal before treating him.
So I wanted to take a shortcut.
"Two big brothers, with the strength of the three of us, it shouldn't be a problem to travel through this area, right?"
"Hmm... Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any. The high-level awakened ones among the survivors have all been recruited by the authorities, so there are basically no riots in the neighborhood."
"Even if there are still some who haven't applied, their level shouldn't be higher than ours."
After a few people discussed it, they took a shortcut.
The unrenovated neighborhood was indeed dirty and messy, with ruins, foul odors, toxic sewage, and people lying on the roadside, gasping for breath with their hands covering their hideous wounds... Since entering here, the three of them had seen only the devastated apocalyptic scene, and heard weak cries from far and near, coming from nowhere.
The streets were littered with abandoned vehicles, broken rebar, and small piles of bricks and stones, occasionally with the remains of humans and animals. The ground and walls were covered with dust, mud, large, irregular stains, and dried, blackened bloody handprints.
Suddenly, a huge mutant rat would cross from the front, or a fast-moving insect would suddenly appear and then disappear into the cracks in the wall, the ground or the pipes.
"If you stay in the core district for too long, you will forget what the real outside world is like." Qiao Lan sighed.
The cleanliness and tidiness of the capital's core area was rare. In fact, this chaotic neighborhood was the most common sight in towns in the apocalypse.
"There are not enough survivors, so infrastructure can only be built bit by bit. I heard that the city is not expected to be cleaned up until the end of this year, and this block may not be cleaned up until autumn," said guard Anhua.
It's just early spring now, and the chaos here will last for another half a year.
This messy place makes people feel depressed. Walking here, it seems that the sunlight above their heads has dimmed a little.
"Let's go quickly." Qiao Lan quickened his pace.
The guards protected her from the front and back, and they also increased their speed.
With the three of them walking fast, they reached the edge of the block after more than ten minutes.
Just as they were about to leave, guard Anhua stopped in front of them.
"It felt like someone was spying on us," he said.
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