Chapter 1: Happy City, your first choice for wasteland refuge!
July is the height of summer and the sun is hot.
The asphalt road surface curled up into scales in the high temperature, and thick and hideous vines were embedded in every crack.
The man held a short knife and struggled to cut through the vines blocking the road, then followed the sign on the side of the road.
"Happy City, your first choice for wasteland refuge!"
"Happy City, the hope of the next human era!"
"Happy City, we have endless food and energy!"
"In Happy City, everyone can be respected!"
"fortunate..."
The further you go, the denser the slogans on the roadside signs become. They are nailed to crooked telephone poles, sprayed on collapsed bank walls, and even carved on the weathered surfaces of shop signs.
Like some kind of bewitching spell, the man, although clearly very tired, suddenly felt a surge of strength in his body, and even his trembling legs and feet seemed to become much lighter.
Following the signs and turning several corners, the shadows of the city receded like the tide, and the scorching sunlight poured down. The dividing line formed by the flickering light isolated the ruins of the buildings behind me.
Although the description of Happy City on the radio was extremely exaggerated, when the man saw this scene with his own eyes, he still couldn't help but open his mouth and exclaimed in surprise.
The first thing that catches your eye is the legendary 'Wall of Happiness'!
According to the broadcast, this huge wall is about 30 meters high and stretches for more than ten kilometers, forming a giant living area of 10 square kilometers.
But the reality should be far more than that, because the shape of the giant wall is an irregular oval.
According to the population density of the wasteland refugee settlement, it can accommodate at least one million people!
In front of the giant wall is the isolation buffer zone set up in every sanctuary city.
The difference is that the isolation zone of Xingfu City is like that huge wall, about ten kilometers long and five kilometers wide, and is equally neat and huge.
Although most of the buildings inside are old buildings preserved from the old times, and even a few dilapidated pedestrian streets can be vaguely seen interspersed among them, the checkpoint at the front of the isolation area exudes a heart-pounding sense of majesty.
Divided by regular iron nets, the checkpoint is divided into three areas: front, middle and back, corresponding to preliminary screening, isolation observation and resident procedures respectively.
In the screening area, after passing through the double metal doors at the front, you enter the isolation iron cage placed on the conveyor belt, and are transferred by the conveyor belt to the prosecutors at different windows to undergo epidemic inspection.
After the screening is completed, survivors who are confirmed to be free of the disease can directly enter the rear area to complete the resident procedures.
Survivors in doubt will need to go to the central observation area and spend three days in a canvas tent.
[You have entered the Happiness City warning area]
【Please follow the yellow marked line to undergo quarantine】
[Those who trespass will be killed without mercy]
As you approach the quarantine area, the style of roadside signs also changes significantly.
The man swallowed a little nervously, picked up his backpack and continued forward, quickly blending into the queue.
"Please queue up in an orderly manner, avoid crowding, and enter the isolation cage as a family unit for inspection!"
A hoarse electronic synthesized sound echoed over the screening area. Eight bunker-like guardhouses were entrenched like giant beasts, and the loudspeakers on the walls kept repeating instructions.
The survivors lowered their heads, moved silently, and moved forward in an orderly manner under the watchful eyes of heavy machine guns.
However, when entering the isolation cage, the survivors have a chance to choose a prosecutor.
From 1 to 8, eight rusty conveyor belts extend side by side, corresponding to eight prosecutors of different ages and genders.
The man's eyes flickered as he glanced at the windows pretending to be indifferent. He soon fixed his gaze on Prosecutor No. 8, and the corners of his mouth curled up imperceptibly.
Although all the prosecutors were wearing masks, it was easy to tell from the skin on their necks that Prosecutor No. 8 was the youngest, so it should be the easiest for him to pass the inspection.
...
"Name?"
"Edmund Lake."
"Where are you from?"
"Sark Federal City."
In front of the man, Prosecutor No. 8 spread out a map and searched for a long time before asking in surprise, "Oh? That place is nearly 3,000 kilometers away from Xingfu City. How did you get here?"
"I took a freight train, a car, a short boat ride, and walked 300 kilometers to reach Happy City."
"Okay, that was a long one. See that first thermometer on the table in front of you? Please pick it up, press it against your forehead, and tell me the reading."
"clear."
There is a fixed small square table in each isolation cage, on which are placed three types of testing instruments.
According to the prosecutor, Edmund picked up the thermometer and soon saw two numbers displayed on the LCD screen.
47.02.
"Sir, this thermometer seems to be broken. How could my temperature be 47 degrees?"
"Yeah?"
Prosecutor No. 8 poked his head out in confusion, and after confirming the number, he gestured:
"It seems the equipment is indeed malfunctioning, but that's okay, we'll move directly to the Q&A session. Once you pass the test, you can go to the back to complete the resident registration procedures."
"That's great, please tell me, sir."
"Between Sack Federation City and Happy City, where did you take the water route?"
"It should be... a tributary of the Linjiang River?" Edmund tried to recall. "A large-scale outbreak of infected people occurred in Yun City, and the only way to bypass this section is by water."
"What time?"
"June 15th."
"You remember it so clearly?"
"Of course, that day was the founding day of Happy City. I listened to the celebration broadcast on the radio for a full three hours." Thinking of the solemn bells and the cheers of the crowd coming from the sound of electricity, Edmund's face showed an expression of incomparable satisfaction.
Apparently, the broadcasts from Happy City provided him with a lot of "happiness" during this long journey.
"Well, okay, then do you remember the surrounding natural disaster report after the founding day broadcast?"
“Is there such a link?”
Edmund's smile froze, his pupils shrinking violently in the shadows. "I... don't remember. Maybe it aired too late?"
"Of course you don't remember."
The metal countertop made a harsh friction sound, and Prosecutor No. 8 opened the drawer and pulled out a few photos.
The river in the photo is like a muddy python, rushing out of the river channel and flooding a large area of wilderness.
"On June 14th, a flash flood struck a tributary of the Linjiang River in the early morning, causing the water level to rise by seven meters. The bodies of all the drifters were trapped under a broken bridge 30 kilometers away from Yun City."
"And your journey by water was a full twenty-four hours later than the Grim Reaper."
"What?"
As if a special button had been pressed, Edmund stood up suddenly, the blood color on his face quickly faded, and his facial features twisted into a ball of gray wrinkles in the blink of an eye, like wood ear mushrooms that had been soaked for many days.
"Flash flood...broken bridge...I..."
Edmund's pupils suddenly dilated, and his jaw dropped to his chest as if dislocated. Then three gray-purple tentacles burst out from his throat, their gray-purple skin covered with suction cups.
But before the front one could get out of the gap in the iron cage, a small red dot suddenly lit up on his forehead.
boom!
The 7.62mm caliber bullet had an excellent "exorcism" effect. It tore off half of the head at the same time as it tore the tentacles apart.
Edmund's upper body flew backwards, revealing squirming tumorous tissue on the back of his neck. But strangely, the remaining half of his face still maintained a ferocious smile, and from his broken throat he kept screaming: "Fake... happiness... fake..."
"Codename: Deathrattle Tentacle, Infection Progress: Phase 2. Killed by Trainee Inspector Cheng Ye, assisting with a tower inspection."
Looking up and seeing the OK gesture from the watchtower window, Cheng Ye sighed and pressed the communicator to report.
Soon, a reply came from the communicator, "Received, the cleanup team will arrive in three minutes. Inspector, please continue to maintain stability at the scene!"
Is the scene stable?
After hanging up the communicator, Cheng Ye suppressed the nausea in his throat and looked around.
The survivors on the other seven conveyor belts seemed to be accustomed to this scene. They just looked over subconsciously when they heard the gunshots. No one was surprised by Edmund's miserable death and the tentacles.
As for the other seven prosecutors, they were terrifyingly calm and no one turned their heads at the gunshot.
If the entire scene is stable, perhaps only he, the inspector who has just traveled through time for two months, needs it.
...
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