Chapter 521, Contaminated Zone 24 (Part 9)
According to the outside time, the two returned around 6 PM.
Xia Mingang had already gotten up and was leaning against the window, holding a bag of bread in his arms. He was checking the situation outside while stuffing bread into his mouth.
Sentinels naturally have a large appetite.
Xia Mingang had been starving for three days. He didn't dare to eat too much at noon, only three bowls of noodles. The first thing he did after waking up was to find something to eat.
Qi Shiqi had recovered by now and was recording data with a pen and paper. When he looked up and saw his expression, he was immediately furious again.
"There are five of us now. At this rate of eating, how many days can the food last?!"
Xia Mingang was speechless: "...Can't I even eat?"
"It's alright. You need to be well-fed to have the energy to look for clues. If you don't have enough to eat, I can go out and get some more," Qi Ling advised from the side.
Qi Shiqi was momentarily speechless, then looked astonished after realizing what he had said: "You can get out?"
Qi Ling nodded and said truthfully, "Yes, but I can only go out by myself; I can't take you with me."
He is a mutant; he doesn't need a key to get out of the contaminated area.
Qi Shiqi suddenly became excited, his eyes burning with desire, "Tell me in detail, how do we get out? Are we being controlled by the gatekeepers...?"
Qi Ling looked puzzled. "Didn't you see my data report?"
He recalled that the research institute would send reports to the Hope Base every week.
Many people saw him come out of the contaminated area last time. He went back and had another check-up, which should be written in the data report.
Qi Shiqi paused, the heat in his eyes quickly dissipating, without telling Qi Ling that he hadn't read the rest of the report.
Just then, footsteps could be heard outside.
Xie Tu pushed open the door and appeared at the entrance with Yun Zhao.
Xia Mingang wiped his mouth clean with a flourish, turned around with a flourish, and asked, "So? Did you find anything?"
"Some unusual things have been found."
Xie Tu gestured for Yun Zhao to go inside and rest first, saying, "I need to go over and confirm this tonight."
“Okay, I’m all rested. Let’s go together tonight,” Xia Mingang said.
Yun Zhao sat down on the sofa, bent over and rubbed his legs, and said thoughtfully, "There might be danger. You should stay here."
Unexpectedly, after he said this, he was met with opposition from three people.
"No, I have to go with you."
Xia Mingang didn't want to wait until he got out and people asked him what happened, only to find out that he had relied on two other people to eliminate the contaminated area.
Where does he put his pride?
Qi Shiqi was even more direct: "I need to record data. Now I have food and drink, and my safety is guaranteed. I don't have to watch anything. Do you expect me to come in here and suffer for nothing?"
Qi Ling also said, "I am familiar with things from the old era, so I can be of some help."
Yun Zhao had no choice but to tell them about the Memory Hotel and let them think it over before making a decision.
Qi Shiqi became even more excited upon hearing about "memory storage," exclaiming, "We absolutely have to go now! You know, memory was a difficult subject to study in the old days..."
The mad scientist talked non-stop, from instant memory to visual memory, episodic memory, and motor memory, without ever stopping.
Yun Zhao was exhausted and just wanted to lie down and rest. "Okay, let's go together after dinner."
Xie Tu stood by the window to confirm the route, then turned and instructed, "Qi Ling, please cook some rice. I'll go down and bring the car over."
"OK."
After Xie Tu left, the room fell silent again.
Yun Zhao took this opportunity to sort out his thoughts.
Given that the gatekeeper is a non-human object, what kind of object could be related to the obsession with this cyber city?
First, we can rule out daily necessities.
These kinds of items are one of the key targets of the sentries' searches; once found, they are loaded onto vehicles and taken out.
Secondly, those neon signs have been investigated by the base multiple times, and the fact that they are recorded in the information file indicates that they have been verified.
Finally, Yun Zhao was unsure, so she suddenly looked up and asked Xia Ming'ang, "Why do you think the terrain is strange?"
Xia Mingang replied, "I've never seen a three-dimensional city building in my entire life. Isn't that bizarre enough?"
A building, a street, with varying heights in all directions, not only in all four directions but also up and down, not to mention the parking lots and gas stations built on the rooftops...
Unheard of!
"Anything else?" Yun Zhao asked again.
Seeing her serious expression, Xia Mingang couldn't help but recall earnestly, frowning slightly. "I can't quite put my finger on it, it's just a very strange intuition."
Intuition?
After thinking for a moment, Yun Zhao turned to Qi Ling and asked, "Is this Chongqing?"
Qi Ling had said a long time ago that he had been to Chongqing.
Chongqing in the old days.
Qi Ling closed the rice cooker lid. "I had only been there twice back then. I only remember some landmarks and attractions. Moreover, I had only been to the main urban area and had no impression of the other streets."
The implication was that he was unsure.
Xia Mingang finally understood, "You suspect that the map here isn't of Chongqing?"
Yun Zhao shook his head. "I was just thinking about what items are related to cyberpunk."
"I've played games like this before."
Qi Ling counted on his fingers: "Mechanical prosthetics, holographic projection advertising, neural interface chips, electronic brains, bionic skin..."
He paused, then pointed to the flashing neon lights in the distance, "and those neon signs that are always lit up, and the old buildings with data cables exposed on the walls like blood vessels."
Neon signs have been ruled out, and there are no other types of technology available here.
Did we go in the wrong direction?
At that very moment.
In the distance, the intermittent sound of an electronic broadcast suddenly came through.
Everyone's expression changed slightly.
—The intelligence team instructed us to retreat immediately upon hearing the broadcast.
"Xie Tu hasn't returned yet?" Yun Zhao suddenly looked up, quickly got up, and went to the window to look down.
The next second.
The broadcast began, and a mechanical female voice recited the advertising slogans without any emotion, each syllable carrying an eerie echo.
"Welcome to Chongqing, where you can experience the most authentic cyber life! For just a small fee... you can get..."
The promotional text suddenly stopped, and the electronic voices began to overlap and become extremely shrill:
"Warning... Low stock... Need more... volunteers..."
"Warning... Low stock... Need more... volunteers..."
"Warning... Low stock... Need more... volunteers..."
Each word was accompanied by a noise like fingernails scraping a blackboard, exploding in my ears.
Yun Zhao quickly shielded Xia Mingang's five senses. Not seeing the armored vehicle, she hurriedly called out to Little Bluebird: "Go out and check quickly, Xie Tu hasn't returned yet!"
With her useless stamina, she definitely wouldn't have enough time to run out.
The little bluebird obediently flew down from the window to find Xie Tu and the Fire Phoenix.
The broadcast was still playing.
"Welcome to Cyber City, embark on a thrilling survival journey. Come on, deal with... and experience a familiar yet strange post-apocalyptic scenario..."
The sound grew increasingly shrill, as if it were about to pierce one's eardrums.
"Come on! Come on!!!"
"Come on! Come on!!!"
"Come on! Come on!!!"
Immediately afterwards, a strange electrical fluctuation spread through the air.
Everyone inside the room stayed behind Yun Zhao's barrier, covering their ears and crouching down with their backs to the window.
Xia Mingang felt that in an instant, his hearing and senses dropped to almost zero.
The world seemed to be isolated by a thick layer of soundproof glass, all sounds became blurred, and everything in front of us seemed to be covered by a hazy veil, losing its original clarity and color.
Yun Zhao had already closed the window, but it was no use; the screaming continued, echoing throughout the entire contaminated area.
I wonder how Xie Tu is doing.
In order not to affect his judgment in the contaminated area, he never built a barrier. Even she couldn't stand the sound, let alone the sentry with his keen senses.
No wonder the intelligence report said to retreat immediately upon hearing the sound...
＊
The flashing neon lights began to flicker and jump wildly, the frequency of the light increasing as if to tear the entire space apart.
The little bluebird circled in the air and soon spotted the armored vehicle.
It swooped down and saw Xie Tu holding the car door with one hand, his knuckles white from the force.
The heightened senses have become a form of torment.
Each note was like a sharp knife, cutting cruelly into his nerves.
The phoenix fluttered its wings restlessly on his shoulder, its feathers bristling, clearly trying its best to stabilize his mental state.
Yun Zhao breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that Little Bluebird had been found.
The sound lasted for about ten minutes.
Later, Yun Zhao could no longer hear the content clearly, but could only feel the waves of malice and threat contained in the voice.
Wait until the sound stops.
Qi Shiqi immediately picked up a pen to take notes, asking them as he wrote, "What is it saying? It's incoherent; did you hear what came next?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
