Chapter 46 Chapter 46 The Fourth Wish
After daybreak, System 05 and Chen Mu rode Pegasus out of the central area and found the same car where they had just entered. They took off their coats, burned them, and then drove away from the mountain city.
The distance between the mountain city and Site No. 59 is about one thousand kilometers, and it normally takes about 12 hours to drive there. However, due to the lack of road maintenance, occasional encounters with zombies on the road, and changes in the terrain caused by plant growth, it took them three days to return to Base No. 59.
There are currently more than 200 bases in the world. Small bases have only a few hundred to a few thousand people, super-large bases have about 100,000 people, and Base No. 59 has 30,000 people, which is neither big nor small.
Base No. 59 was located in the middle of a flat, boundless plain, with a straight, open horizon. From afar, they spotted a low, square building, standing unassumingly on the plain.
This is the gate to Base 59. To protect against the virus, the entire base was built underground. The original pioneers dug a pit and installed a filter at the entrance. Functional buildings, including the power station, water supply station, and oxygen production station, were also placed underground. Over decades, Base 59 was built piece by piece to its present form.
The building looked like a small square from a distance, but it was actually very large. The two drove to the door and after confirming their identities, the door opened.
System 05 drove the car in and got out with Chen Mu. The car was left alone there and would be taken away for processing before being sent back to the base. Like Chen Mu, System 05 and Chen Mu entered the next room and underwent a check to ensure that neither of them was infected with the virus. Then they entered the next room, where they were fully disinfected. After that, they entered the third room and were isolated there for two hours before being allowed to go underground.
There are three rooms outside. Every time you enter a room, the virus concentration drops significantly. In the third room, the virus concentration shown is only 15%.
The rules of Base No. 59 are quite strict. Even though Chen Mu is the leader of the base, he must act according to the rules. Two hours later, the gate in front of them was opened to them.
The door is thick and bulky, and looks depressing, but it also isolates the cruel and hopeless environment outside.
[Current regional virus concentration: 3%]
It is impossible to have no content at all. Such a pure land does not exist at present. The human body can still withstand the range of 0-6%.
After the door opened, there was an elevator going down. System 05 and Chen Mu walked in. As the elevator was going down, Chen Mu said, "I still have a lot of things to do. Should we go directly to the central area?"
He had said before that he would find a reason to keep System 05 by his side, which would make it very convenient for System 05 to do some things.
System 05 said: "I need to go back first. The host has a younger sister."
Chen Mu said meaningfully, "——Sister."
It seems that the host's wish is most likely related to this sister.
Chen Mu asked him where he lived, and System 05 said it was in the southeast area of the 12th underground floor. The central area was located on the 5th underground floor. The top five floors were functional areas, while the lower floors were mostly residential areas. The living conditions worsened as one went down, and the lowest floor was the 17th underground floor. Although Bai Daqiu was poor, he wasn't the worst off.
But he was indeed born on the seventeenth floor underground.
The elevator stopped at the fifth floor. There were a few people waiting at the elevator door. When they saw Chen Mu coming out, they immediately went to greet him.
"Chief, you are finally back!"
There were also people holding documents, eager to stuff them into Chen Mu's hands. He had been away for nearly a week, and various tasks were piled up, waiting for his return.
Chen Mu made a soothing gesture, then turned back to System 05 and said, "Come find me in the central area when you're done!"
After he finished speaking, the others looked at System 05. Amidst their curious or suspicious gazes, System 05 nodded and closed the elevator.
The elevator continued to go down, and from here on, the outer layer of the elevator was transparent, and System 05 could clearly see the scene outside.
Each floor is only about three meters high. To save space, the buildings are packed so densely together that they maximize their floor space, creating a sense of oppression. Every household has lights on, and from the elevator, all you can see is a sea of light, a patchwork of different lights.
This is the foothold humanity has carved out for itself under the threat of a viral apocalypse.
The further down you go, the smaller, more crowded, dilapidated, and simpler the houses become, and the dimmer the lighting becomes. The twelve underground floors are home to approximately five thousand people, but only a fraction of them have lights on, leaving most buildings shrouded in dim shadows.
But this place is better than the seventeenth floor underground.
At least there is clean water and electricity, but they are unstable. You can even buy medicine from the boss occasionally, and robbers and thieves will not break into the house at any time.
The elevator stopped and System 05 walked out. He immediately noticed some malicious eyes staring at him from the shadows in the corner. System 05 glanced at them indifferently. He only brought back the box this time, so it seemed that he had gained nothing.
The lights in the southeastern area were particularly scarce. System 05 advanced under the dim light and soon spotted the familiar house in the host's memory. This house was located in a remote area and was very small. It had taken Bai Daqiu more than ten years to climb from the seventeenth floor and purchase this small space in this corner.
When he got closer to here, a warm current suddenly surged in his heart. This was a physiological reaction from Bai Daqiu.
There was no light coming from the house. Electricity was very expensive here, so they wouldn't turn on the lights unless absolutely necessary. System 05 knocked on the door, but no one answered. He raised an eyebrow and listened at the door for a moment, but there was no sound from inside.
But there was no message indicating mission failure, so Bai Xiaochun was still alive. System 05 knocked on the door again, then lowered his head to retrieve the key and open it.
After opening the door, it was also pitch black inside. System 05 fumbled to turn on the light, but it flashed for a moment and then went out. He had no choice but to walk inside in the dark. There were only two rooms in this house. The living room and kitchen were outside, and he also slept outside. The inner room was Bai Xiaochun's bedroom.
In the bedroom, Bai Xiaochun huddled on the bed, wrapped in the quilt, staring in horror at him as he walked out of the shadows.
"...Xiaochun." System 05 called out. This was the name Bai Daqiu often used to address his younger sister in his memory.
Bai Xiaochun's body shook violently, then he threw the pillow next to him over, choking with sobs, "You still remember to come back!... Do you know how I've been living these past few days?!"
System 05 looked down at the top of her head, motionless.
The light was broken, so System 05 took a flashlight and stepped on the table to replace the bulb. After the room was bright, System 05 looked down and saw Bai Xiaochun's appearance clearly.
She was wearing a tattered and ill-fitting dress, her hair was dry and messy, her eyes were big, her limbs were thin and bony, but she had no injuries on her body and her eyes were clear and stupid.
Bai Xiaochun was fifteen years old, and Bai Daqiu was twenty, a five-year age difference. Bai Xiaochun's mother died after giving birth to her, and her father was unknown. Bai Daqiu was only five years old, and he lived with his newborn sister.
Without Bai Xiaochun, Bai Daqiu might have died long ago. Bai Xiaochun was his spiritual pillar. No matter what difficulties he encountered, as long as he remembered Bai Xiaochun, he could persevere. However, even in Bai Daqiu's filtered memories, Bai Xiaochun's attitude towards him was hard to tell at a glance.
"This lamp broke as soon as you left!" Bai Xiaochun couldn't wait to complain to him, "The food at home ran out two days ago, and I didn't dare go out. If you hadn't come back, I would have almost starved to death!"
She didn't ask what happened to Bai Daqiu after he went out.
"There's still some money at home. You can exchange it for food yourself."
Bai Xiaochun glared at him: "Are you blaming me? Didn't you tell me not to go out casually?"
In the view of System 05, Bai Daqiu is too protective of Bai Xiaochun. In such a world, hiding Bai Xiaochun in the house is not a good thing.
She is already fifteen years old and should be able to support herself, but she can't even change a light bulb and she might starve to death by staying at home.
"Speak up!" Seeing that he didn't say a word, Bai Xiaochun shouted again: "Did you get anything good this time? It can't be a wasted trip. You bought so many medicines..."
"I'm going out to buy some food." System 05 said again: "Come with me."
System 05 certainly wouldn't treat Bai Xiaochun the same way as Bai Daqiu. Even if Bai Xiaochun couldn't help him, at least he shouldn't be a pure burden.
"Why? I don't want to go out. You can go alone." Bai Xiaochun hid behind. At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Without waiting for their response, a middle-aged man pushed the door open and walked in.
"My brother, you are finally back!" The middle-aged man spread his arms. He was tall and the shadow cast by this action almost covered the entire room.
"Brother Hao." System 05 nodded to him.
System 05's car was rented from the boss, and the medicines were also bought from the boss. On the entire twelfth floor, the floor master is the manager in public, and the boss is the real leader underground. Whether it is doing things or making connections, the boss is more useful than the floor master.
Brother Hao is one of the boss's thugs. When System 05 bought medicine, it was he who signed the line.
"I heard you were back, brother. I couldn't wait to come see you." Brother Hao said, "After all, not many people can come back alive from the mountain city. You must have gained a lot from this trip."
System 05 smiled.
Brother Hao continued, "Given our relationship, the relics you obtained should of course be handed over to the boss first. I will help you hand them over so that you don't have to make another trip."
System 05 understood his idea. Brother Hao wanted to make a fortune from it.
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