Chapter 85 Underground Shelter
The Han officer finally realized what was happening and quickly ordered his soldiers to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, he ignored the dusty, dark passageway outside and excitedly walked over to shake hands with Xie Tu.
The moment Xie Tu reached out his hand, he naturally raised his hand and gave him a military salute.
Their hands just missed each other.
The burly officer paused for a moment, then instinctively returned the salute.
His gaze swept over the six people and he noticed a little girl in combat uniform staring intently at his forehead.
The burly officer was puzzled and his eyes became blank.
Xie Tu took two steps back, silently blocking Yun Zhao's path, and spoke again: "Comrade, we have come from afar and need to rest. Also, you need to tell me in detail about the situation inside the shelter."
The burly officer snapped out of his daze. "Oh, okay, okay, you can come with me first."
The group was finally able to enter the dark Shelter No. 28.
The long corridor was dimly lit, with only a few simple oil lamps, barely kept afloat by chemical fuels, casting a faint glow on the walls.
The burly Han officer led them along the passage.
Along the way, you can see the iconic signs of the old subway station.
The signs of alteration are everywhere.
This building seemed to be entirely occupied by soldiers; everyone who walked by was a soldier carrying a weapon and wearing camouflage uniform.
The soldiers seemed to see hope in their arrival, their eyes shining.
It seemed... even the gray-black will-o'-the-wisps on his forehead had brightened a bit.
When you reach the end, you'll see a ring of iron railings ahead, revealing two openwork iron gates, like a giant iron cage.
Inside is a large disc with a rotating chain. By turning the disc left or right, the cage will go up or down.
——Manual lift.
Dark matter is unusually active on sunless days, constantly eroding the power system and causing a complete shutdown of power supply equipment in shelters everywhere.
On days without electricity, underground buildings almost always used this type of transportation.
Apart from Yun Zhao, the others were not unfamiliar to him.
The team members remained vigilant, surrounding Yun Zhao in the middle.
Song Liang glanced at the captain walking ahead and talking to the burly officer, and quietly asked, "Do they have them on their foreheads too?"
Yun Zhao nodded, "Yes, they are all gray-black."
Including that burly male officer.
The flames are about to go out...
The group followed the burly officer into the manual elevator.
The iron fence has three sides of dark, cold walls, limiting the view. Standing in the cage-like iron cage, one feels extremely oppressed.
The soldier turned the iron disc, and the iron chain began to roll.
— Clang.
The elevator descends as the iron chain rotates.
Yun Zhao felt a tremor beneath his feet, followed by a feeling of falling.
Xie Tu didn't turn around, but reached out a hand to support her and continued talking to the burly officer.
He deliberately or unintentionally asked various questions, extracting a lot of information.
for example.
Xie Tu pointed to the watch on his wrist and asked casually, "There's no difference between day and night now, isn't it a problem for you to wear a watch?"
The burly officer gave a wry smile. "It's alright. After being locked underground for three years, if I didn't look at my watch, I wouldn't know what year it was every morning when I woke up."
The team members felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this.
No wonder no sentries or guides were found; it turns out that time flows so slowly here that the Dark Apocalypse has only been going on for three years.
It is 198 years away from the outside world.
In the fifth year of the Dark Apocalypse, the first Sentinel appeared; in the fifteenth year of the Dark Apocalypse, the first Guide appeared.
Therefore, the people in this shelter now are all ordinary people.
Shelter No. 28... It fell so early!
"That's right."
In front of the burly officer, Xie Tu raised his wrist to check the time on his watch. "Comrade, the Central Committee is very concerned about the situation in various places. What is the current situation of Shelter No. 28 in terms of population, food reserves, and military equipment?"
"Yes, sir. I'll explain everything to you in detail once we get to the resettlement point..."
The Han officer was a major general, surnamed Qin.
According to him, he was the highest-ranking officer in the shelter.
The dark apocalypse arrived suddenly, and ordinary people had no chance of winning against the various mutant species.
The military received orders from the central government to enter the city for rescue operations. Initially, they successfully intercepted the monsters using a group of robots, rescuing many civilians before urgently evacuating underground.
While fending off monster attacks, the soldiers also worked diligently to renovate the underground structures.
Later... the power system completely failed and could not be repaired, because even if it was repaired, it would only last for a few seconds before being corrupted by dark matter and failing again.
The robot could not be charged, and as its power ran out, it gradually became scrap metal.
Shelter No. 28 had a batch of robots modified and powered by diesel fuel. These robots were then responsible for going out to search for and rescue people and gather supplies. The other survivors, like rats, hid deep underground, too afraid to venture out.
As Yun Zhao listened, he pondered the attributes of the gatekeeper.
He looked like he was daydreaming.
Suddenly, a creaking sound came from below, and the manual lift abruptly stopped.
The sudden braking caused her to stumble and almost fall.
The man who was talking seemed to sense something and reached out his arm to steady her.
The rabbit was standing next to Yun Zhao, and was about to help her up, but the captain beat her to it, and her hand froze in mid-air.
She withdrew her hand blankly and looked back at Song Liang.
Song Liang met the rabbit's confused gaze, then turned his head away, clearly not wanting to talk any further.
The elevator has stopped.
The black wall that had blocked the view disappeared, revealing a huge space outside.
The oval-shaped plaza stands in the center like a courtyard.
The vast underground structure is connected by a circular corridor. Every so often, an oil lamp hangs on the wall, and at both ends are densely packed rooms that seem to stretch on forever.
People with blank expressions are everywhere.
Those people had thin, haggard faces, rough and scarred hands, and had been engaged in arduous underground labor for a long time. Their palms had thick calluses and new wounds, and their fingernails were filled with dirt.
His cheekbones were high and prominent, his eyes were deeply sunken, and there were thick dark circles around his eyes.
Living underground for extended periods without sufficient sunlight causes the skin to appear sickly pale.
Upon seeing unfamiliar faces appear, the people standing outside all turned around and stared at them.
Three years of hardship had worn away all his brilliance, leaving his gaze appearing particularly dull and empty.
Yun Zhao saw the gray-black will-o'-the-wisps again, on everyone's foreheads.
The eerie flames flickered in the dim light, on the verge of going out, giving off a sinister aura.
Yun Zhao didn't look at it for long and quickly looked away.
The square was filled with neatly arranged tents, each with a sign hanging in front of it.
—Registration desk, information desk, etc.
Clearly, they have reached the core area of the shelter.
The group followed Major Qin out of the elevator.
Xie Tu also kept an eye on the scene outside, fixing his gaze on those people, and said, "Comrade, could you please show me around? We need to understand the local situation."
"Okay," Major General Qin replied hastily.
He believed Xie Tu's dubious statements without question, ignoring all the illogical points, as if he truly regarded them as people sent by the Central Committee to provide rescue.
Before Xie Tu left with him, he turned back and gave the team members a meaningful look, instructing them, "You go and settle in first."
The crowd responded, "Yes!"
Clearly, the captain was going to familiarize himself with the terrain and retrieve the key by himself.
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