Chapter 69 Chapter 69 The War Begins
After the farewell banquet, many people left, and the elevator became empty. Even during peak hours, there were still vacancies. Meanwhile, her duties gradually became more demanding, and the number of visitors increased. Some were pulled directly back from the front lines, unable to fight anymore, and were receiving treatment in the rear.
This scene reminded her of the monsters in the game, a patchwork of human bodies and deformed limbs, which was horrifying to look at. This person took too long, and she was not sure if she could solve it. The man's eyes were open, he was conscious, and his mottled carbonized limbs seemed to be shattered at the slightest touch.
They tied the man to the bed, restrained him, and injected him with anesthesia, but he remained awake. They couldn't increase the dosage. It was her turn. They were shielded from outsiders, their presence blocked by a circular isolation chamber. Only the two of them remained in the room. She wore goggles, magnifying the image, and could see the moving spots on the man's face.
When she tried to reach out her hand, the black color gathered, but was isolated outside the latex gloves. This made the people waiting outside worried, as the disease was highly contagious.
"fine."
She stood far away. Ever since her last training session, she had suddenly discovered that she could not only see but also control her mental power. A white ribbon, formed from tiny dots, snaked from her fingertips, up the man's charred arm, like lotion dispersing ink, swirling in circles, fading to the inner layers and edges.
It worked, and she breathed a sigh of relief. But seeing that he looked in pain and agony, with his face flushed red and veins bulging, she was afraid that he couldn't control himself, so she let the little mushroom give him an illusion, and only continued to go deeper until the man's body relaxed.
When she encounters pollution that is clumped and cannot move, she will wrap it up and eat it in one bite. Anyway, she has a strong tolerance for this and there will be no serious consequences.
After the whole counseling session, both she and the patient were sweating profusely, their clothes were completely soaked, but it was a good thing, there were no accidents and no serious sequelae. She breathed a sigh of relief and gestured outside. Seeing that everyone was moved, excited and encouraged, she chose to stay and wait for him to wake up.
After he had passed the difficult period and calmed down, he untied the restraints and let the person outside in. Even so, when the strange breath came in, he still frowned and tried to attack in a state of stress.
It was so normal, she wasn't surprised. With a few words of advice, she got them all off, leaving Carl and her to clean up the mess. After a short break, the next person arrived.
Sometimes, she would be woken up in the middle of the night because there were people on the verge of alienation. She would have given up in the past, but she always created miracles and, adhering to the principle of "those who are capable should do more work", sent them to her. She would even wake up in the middle of the night and wake Carl up to go to work, but there were no visitors.
She missed her friends terribly and wondered when they would come back. Even after the crackdown on the reform organization ended, several months had passed without a trace of them. Fortunately, the communication was not cut off and they were still able to contact each other.
It was not until Wu Ke returned to the tower on vacation and everyone gathered again in the residential area that she suddenly realized that prices had risen.
This is understandable. Land pollution and water degradation pose a major threat to food security. She just didn't expect it to develop so quickly because she had been staying in the tower, eating in the cafeteria, and oblivious to what was happening outside the window.
The fighting on the front lines was intense, and vacations were rare. They might get a half-month break every six months. Wu Ke and Clara would also set out after resting, but they would stay at a slightly further-back outpost, where there was no threat of death.
At night, at the dormitory door, when she saw Shan Hao waiting in the elevator hall, she knew that she was most likely to come. She smoothed her hair, bravely went up to him and said hello. The man looked down at her, and also at Karl beside him.
"Let's find a place to talk?"
"OK."
Her leader explained the severity of the situation. A wealth of information was laid out before them. While they could do much, there were also times when they felt powerless. Initial progress had been made in their research into land pollution, which stemmed from a common source. Guides were already in short supply, but if they weren't sent, even if the front lines held, the supply chain in the rear would become a challenge, ultimately forcing a retreat.
It was probably when one guide served as two. She understood what he meant and asked directly: "Do you want me to go outside?"
Shan Hao: "If you like, I'll take you to the laboratory tomorrow." That plain was two hundred kilometers away from the actual war zone, behind the field hospital.
She agreed without hesitation, "If you need me."
After the conversation, she and Carl returned to the dormitory. Carl began to pack his luggage. She leaned on the bed, and the coolness spread from the backrest to her shoulders and penetrated into her spine. When the nest is overturned, no egg can remain unbroken. Of course, it is best to control the crisis at the beginning.
The next day, she was led by her superior to the laboratory. Amazingly, the little mushroom actually did the job. The expressions of those present were indescribable, and even she herself was astonished. What kind of magical mushroom had appeared? Since the effect was so good, it was decided that this was it. The two of them were packed up and sent to the contaminated area.
A few days later, the transfer order came down.
The two of them sat in a transport vehicle, along with many other researchers. She held Carl's hand. His palms bore the marks of training, but his fingers lacked the calloused, shell-like texture she'd felt on her grandmother's hands, those of farmhands, her own fingers never touched a day's work.
I heard that his family background is pretty good. He's such a good young man, but now he wants to accompany me to farm. I always feel like I'm a burden to him.
Xu Shanshan: "Are you nervous?"
The man shook his head. Actually, he was excited. Guidance and restraint were two sides of the same coin. He was protected by his family, but he also had to meet everyone's expectations. Going out with her was a legitimate reason.
Carl: “Take it as a challenge.”
She looked out of the car, past the crowds of people, and saw an increasingly desolate scene. They passed an abandoned town square where there was a sculpture of a woman with a human upper body and a fish tail.
Carl reminded her that it was a memorial statue of a hero, and she remembered that she had seen it in a book. The other party's spirit was a carp, and he was a guide who died on the front line. This should be her hometown.
"When we get back, we'll go see her." Carl was afraid she'd think of herself and feel sad, but the guide herself hadn't thought that far. She was worried: if she died, how would they carve an image of her? A mushroom on her shoulder, or a head, or perhaps a great mushroom god, covering the world with a dazzling light bulb under its umbrella.
No matter how she thought about it, it was too weird. She immediately started laughing, leaving everyone in the car to watch her giggle. She realized it and covered her mouth. At this time, people in the car started chatting, and everyone told each other their names, experiences and positions.
When she arrived at the experimental field, her computer lit up. She thought someone was looking for her, so she excitedly clicked on it. It was that "ghost" again, with a chibi pattern he'd found somewhere. She'd originally told him to farm, but now it had backfired on her. The ghost was fine, but she was the one who became the vegetable farmer.
She asked rudely, "What's the matter?"
"I've been studying agriculture lately," the ghost observed the surroundings through the camera and asked in confusion, "Where did you come from? In this wilderness."
She thought this was perfect; with a large database and AI, things would definitely get done faster and better. So she detained him, essentially saying, "I need you, I can't do without you, come and help me." In this way, she unwittingly transferred part of the hacker's consciousness into the robot, thus acquiring a cheap labor force.
After that, the boring days were not so boring with him as companion. After all, he had little stories that he had come up with from who knows who’s mind.
Xu Shanshan: "Ghost, turn the ground over."
"Why doesn't he turn over?"
Nonsense, this is her future partner, what should I do if I am exhausted? She stood up and said, "Then I will do it."
Ghost: "You just sit there, who told you to get up?"
She took an apple, which was grown on this moderately polluted farmland. She took a bite and her teeth felt so sour that she vomited. She held her stomach and rolled into the recliner, thinking that Carl was going to murder her. After she swallowed it completely, the strange taste disappeared, and she always felt that she had eaten something unclean.
Ghost: "What did you feed her?"
Carl put down the backpack and looked over. "This is for feeding chickens. It's covered with a cloth." There is a no-eating sign, but it's okay for people to eat a little. It just tastes bad, not to the point of being poisonous.
The ghost drove over in a rototiller, stopped, and asked, "How about I induce vomiting in you?"
"Forget it." She threw the core back, pinched her throat, drank a few sips of water to suppress the taste, and stood up again. In fact, she hadn't rested well, but in order to have green food to eat in the future, she still had to work harder. The taste was too bad.
After the task was completed, she felt drowsy and looked at the small mushroom beside her. It had grown into a "giant among mushrooms", as tall as her calf, and its body was black, as if it had been painted. It stood beside the field, not going anywhere, with its mycelial roots digging down and spreading into the soil. Because of its working characteristics, she also moved nearby.
Facing this endless plain, she initially felt lost and daunted. Could she really do it? This negative mindset was overcome by small victories. From moderate pollution to light pollution, and finally to excellent pollution, it is hope that inspires people to persevere.
But her job here is not entirely this. Sometimes she has to take on other jobs. It’s a long story.
One night, the ghost monitored a stranger approaching. After Carl knew about it, he told the guard team and went to capture him. Seeing their combat uniforms, they were far away from the combat zone. He thought they were sentries who were afraid of fighting and fled, so he prepared to report them to the patrol team for disposal.
But no, they had legal procedures and were accompanied by a nurse for a sentry who was half-alienated.
They heard through the grapevine that she had arrived, not far from the combat hospital, and rushed a day to bring her teammates in. Carl and the director severely criticized their behavior, saying it was against the rules, and she didn't have the energy to ask them to go back to the hospital or apply for permission.
But it was so dark, and they were covered in dust, like potatoes covered in mud, with dust all over their collars, wrists, and fingernails. When they noticed her gaze, they clasped their hands behind their backs.
The person on the stretcher secreted mucus from his eyes, the color was rich and bright. The nurse squatted down and wiped it with a cotton ball held by tweezers. The purple color quickly faded to brown and yellow, fell to the ground, and the dead leaves shrank.
Just for the safety of her teammates, she leaned against the door frame. The light was a little dazzling, and she saw the pale face and his swollen throat.
This person is dangerous, Xu Shanshan knows. If he is completely alienated and loses control, he will be like the black rhinoceros that once charged recklessly.
Although there were risks, she was willing to give it a try and keep him.
Because there were no professional equipment, they handcuffed him anywhere. Without the conditions, they asked those people to hold him down, and then forcibly cut off part of the "knot". After his shape stabilized, they released him. That person waited here for further counseling, and the others were deported that night.
She felt lucky for her talent points, which could be useful to others. Even if she was a little tired, she could persist. Moreover, Karl and the director always made nourishing soup for her, which made her nose bleed. It was definitely not for looking at naked men.
Once her reputation spread, it was like opening a number of expert appointments. People came one after another. Not long after, the ghost told her that someone recommended her as one of the top ten people who moved the White Pagoda this year.
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