42 South District
◎South District 1, a remnant of the old times◎
As always, when she was nervous, Kong Wei would reassure her that it was okay, just a minor problem. After all, she had been on the surface so many times and had seen many dangerous situations, so she was indeed very calm.
This time, however, Officer Kong didn't offer any promises. He simply told her to wear the exoskeleton. "We're in the southern area, and exoskeletons are less prone to breaking down there. Don't take it offline unless necessary."
The second half of this sentence is pure nonsense.
Exoskeletons offer a lot of advantages, the most obvious being that machines are always more resilient than weapons. It doesn't matter north or south; as long as you're on the ground, no one wants to be offline unless absolutely necessary... who has the time to waste their lives?
Yan Xunzhi sensed something was amiss. Kong Wei had never said such a thing before. He nodded, "I understand."
Under the influence of experimental drugs, her mental power's ability to connect was continuously strengthened. As she gradually became familiar with it, she almost never encountered a broken link at a critical moment.
I was curious again, "Why is it not easy to spoil in the south?"
“There’s no sandstorm in the south.”
Outside the assembly area was a narrow steel corridor, mottled with dents and scratches of varying depths, minute and dense. Stepping outside, the lobby was old and cold, the lights dimmed, the walls oxidized. Though people were constantly moving through it, it felt deserted and desolate.
The purple-black dome was divided into several parts by the silver-white steel columns with peeling paint, reflecting the brightly lit lobby with extraordinary clarity. In the double image, one could vaguely see some flickering that did not belong to the light.
Ning Yue raised her head and came closer. "It's not black, it's reinforced glass, transparent."
"What?" Yan Xunzhi was unconscious.
Ning Yue pointed to the top of her head. "It's covered with glass. We are no longer underground. There is the sky outside."
It turned out that the subway had already silently driven out of the ground, and they were already standing on the ground.
Yan Xunzhi looked up again. What were those twinkling stars outside the dome? Stars? She had only seen the southern sky on the screen during Chinese New Year. Back then, fireworks would burst into a dazzling brilliance across the sky, as beautiful as a moving picture. How could the real sky be so desolate?
Walking forward, there is a huge sand table model in the center of the lobby.
South District 1 is the first military district established by humans after the disaster. As a ground military district built in the early stages of the disaster, it was originally conceived to be used as a human base. It is one of the few large-scale comprehensive areas that integrates military districts, white tower districts, and living areas.
It is also one of the few military regions that was not affected by the tide of foreign objects and was not rebuilt. Its planning is still in use today.
There are sand table models in every military district, but the sand table in the underground military district is half buried and is always composed of countless horizontal and vertical winding passages. One room is connected to countless corridors, like an ant nest.
On the sand table of the South Area 1, military areas, white towers, ground control towers, residential areas, instruments... are scattered all over the place.
No longer were there densely packed passages, the southern section was wide and vast, with no submerged layers of earth or rock to represent it, only the empty, dark night. With the power on, the architectural model flickered on the sand table.
Yan Xunzhi suddenly understood why the southern area was said to have high radiation and high risk, and could only be transferred in rotation and not permanently stationed in the military area, but there were still countless sentries rushing to sign up, wanting to take root and stay in the southern living area.
Human beings have lived on the earth for generations and naturally yearn for the earth.
Living underground for a long time is really no different from being a bug.
The dormitory we were assigned had never been rebuilt and was quite old. The overall facilities were rather...outdated.
Those from the same area are distributed together, and the extra ones are scattered and randomly inserted into empty spaces.
Yan Xunzhi and her friends were assigned to a six-person room.
There were only six bunk beds made of iron frames, a layer of bedding on the wooden board, and a light bulb without a lampshade hanging in the center of the room. Apart from that, it was empty.
Yan Xunzhi was a little dumbfounded. Sang Wanyin was used to it. "Actually, people like us who are transferred to other posts all live in similar conditions. Even if it's a new military area, at most the bed frame is new and the paint won't fall off, and there's a shade on the lamp."
It's just for one night's sleep, so I can just deal with it, and it's easy to clean up.
After a while, a sentry from the Southeast District 2 and a guide from the East District 3 came in.
They and Kong Wei and Ning Yue were all students from the Central White Tower. They were not familiar with each other, but they had heard of each other - especially Kong Wei, who was matched with a low-level sentinel with a high degree of matching and decided to link.
We greeted each other and quickly got chatting since we had a common background.
Only the South District is built entirely on the ground, in the most remote location in the entire federation, far away from other military districts.
The Southeast is still underground, and the Southeast sentry is quite unusual. "It feels like it was built a long time ago, so it's a bit old. It's no different from other military areas. It's pitch black outside, just like being underground."
Ning Yue sat on the bed, hugging the quilt, with the corners of her mouth raised high. The discerning sentry Yan could see the ill intentions in her words at a glance, "There is still a difference."
She tucked the corner of the quilt silently, and four big words popped up in her mind - it must be something bad.
Before going to sleep, he rubbed against Sang Wanyin and asked, "What's the difference between this and the Northwest?"
Sang Wanyin shook her head, "I don't know." Then she bared her teeth, "She's full of nonsense, don't trust her."
She must have known that Officer Kong was beneath her, but she didn't really want to ask at the moment. She always felt awkward in waves, and it was a bit hard to remember.
Thinking that he would not alert the two sentries, even if something really happened, it should not be a big deal, Sentry Yan temporarily believed the nonsense answer and fell asleep with an uneasy mood.
I slept until the alarm went off in the morning. I felt refreshed and nothing happened.
Yan Xunzhi scratched his hair and got ready, when he suddenly felt something warm and heavy in his arms.
Looking down, a ball of fur curled up on her chest.
It’s Kong Wei’s lop-eared rabbit.
Everyone woke up naturally when the bell rang, and Kong Wei was no exception. The lop-eared rabbit woke up too, crawled out of her arms, and shook its ears.
Yan Xunzhi didn't want to be too cautious. He glanced at the bed next to him and saw a furry rabbit crawling out of Sang Wanyin's arms. It jumped to the ground with its ears wagging and ran back in the direction of Kong Wei...
"Oh my god!" His thoughts were interrupted by the people next door. The East Guide and the Southeast Sentinel both got up while rubbing their foreheads. The force of their rubbing proved that they were extremely uncomfortable.
The Southeast Sentinel was irritated, "Why does my head hurt so much after sleeping all night...I even dreamed about it in the middle of the night!"
Then she looked around and saw that everyone except Guide Dong was quite energetic and showed no signs of discomfort. She felt a little strange. "You guys don't feel anything?" She stared at Guide Dong. "What did we do when we slept last night? Didn't we sleep well?"
Ning Yue, who hadn't gotten up yet, silently pulled the quilt up a little to cover her mouth.
He yawned and mumbled in agreement, "That's really weird. I didn't sleep well either. I have a headache."
Kong Wei rolled his eyes at her, his eyes froze over, and he got out of bed. With a cold face, he instructed Yan Xunzhi and Sang Wanyin, "Pack up quickly. We need to gather on the surface today."
Perhaps because the instructor's residual deterrent power was too strong, not only were the two of them oppressed, but even the two sentries moved unconsciously.
The eastern sentry went to wash up, Ning Yue came out laughing, and stretched out her arm to put her arm around Kong Wei.
Kong Wei kicked her away and said, "Get lost."
Yan Xunzhi and Sang Wanyin exchanged glances, seeing clarity in each other's eyes. Well, these two high-ranking officers are either ex-wives or not, they're a perfect match...
While washing up, the two of them sneaked over to ask what was going on. Ning Yue smiled and said, "The radiation in the South District is too strong. Nothing can be used under natural conditions. The largest collision transmitter in the Federation has been built to interfere. Mental strength will be affected. But it doesn't matter. People who are not used to it may get a headache when they wake up. The impact is minimal."
Yan Xunzhi thought thoughtfully about Kong Wei's two rabbits. Sang Wanyin had already asked, "So Officer Kong left his spirit body with us? But you're fine too."
Ning Yue spit out the foam in her mouth and said, "I'm a defense department, so it's okay for me to sleep under the launch pad."
There were too many people on the ground and the assembly area was not big enough, so they gathered in the lobby. They arrived early and there were only a few scattered people in the lobby, so they strolled around and watched.
On the walls of the antechamber, a relief of a celestial being from the initial construction remains, half-recessed in the wall. Facing each other are Jesus and the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary holds a baby in her arms, looking forward, while other figures, such as angels, are arranged in order behind her.
The size gradually decreases until it reaches the center, where a miniature clay sculpture of an immortal with colorful flowers suddenly appears, and on the other side is a small golden Buddha holding a staff.
Turning around, the Buddha and the Queen Mother of the West are sitting in the center of the end, both with their eyes half closed, looking down at all living beings with a look of pity.
People in the underworld believed deeply in ghosts and gods, but they had never seen such large and numerous statues of gods. Yan Xunzhi was somewhat curious and examined the reliefs of the statues carefully.
"Are you interested in these?" Kong Wei came to her side without her noticing. "The South District has the most ground relics preserved. These are just statues carved by later generations. Many of the real surviving items are placed in the heavy warehouse. After the mission is completed, you can stay for another day to look around."
Yan Xunzhi hummed vaguely, not agreeing directly. However, he was genuinely curious and couldn't bring himself to refuse, so he asked, "Have you gathered yet?"
"It's almost time to register and get the equipment."
Yan Xunzhi took a deep breath.
She was about to get to the surface, so she knew her priorities. Her quarrel with Kong Wei was over, and if she delayed the mission over such a trivial matter, then she would be truly dissatisfied with her comfortable life...
It was different from what he usually wore. The South District ground activity suit was specially made, and Yan Xunzhi didn't have any, so he had to make do with the original one.
The exoskeleton is more tightly wrapped, with an inner insulation layer and an outer layer of various long and short lights with different functions. When fully opened, it looks like a colorful moving light bulb from a distance.
It also has two backup power supplies. In the event of an accident on the ground, the distress light can stay on for at least 120 hours.
I also carried a bunch of signal flares with me, such as reinforcement, retreat, danger... The signal in the southern area often had problems, but fortunately, unlike the north with year-round wind and sand, the vision was clear. These were the most primitive but convenient means of communication.
link, Yan Xunzhi opened all the spiritual images to share as usual, glanced at Kong Wei, who was only in spiritual form stepping on a small piece of grass outside, and moved back embarrassedly.
Forget it! Anyway, the level difference is here. Even if Kong Wei really shared it with her, she wouldn't be able to use it...
This time, there is no need to climb the ladder, walk through the steel corridor again, scan and register, and make the final confirmation.
The moment I opened the door, the world was dark, and there seemed to be no way forward, with only the stars twinkling in the distance.
【Author’s words】
Kong Wei: Who wants to hang out with her? I'm always cleaning her ass!
Pickled Fish (whispering: But I think... you're quite happy wiping it...
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