Chapter 389: Silencing
Chapter 389: Silencing
Infirmary of Shelter No. 404.
Luo Hua, lying flat on the scanning bed, opened his eyes and saw the silver-white ceiling. He tried to sit up from the bed, but found that the effect of the anesthetic had not yet faded and his body was completely unresponsive.
Except for his left hand –
looking at the bionic prosthesis in front of him, he swallowed his saliva involuntarily.
At this time, a strange voice came from the side.
”Hey, awake?”
Luo Hua slowly moved his neck and looked at the strange man standing next to the scanning bed. Just when he was about to ask where this was, he suddenly saw a strand of silver wire as thin as a hair suspended on the man’s arm.
He recognized that thing. It was a “scalpel” used for minimally invasive surgery on neurons, commonly seen in some large medical devices used for prosthetic modification surgery. The
only people who would install this kind of thing on a bionic prosthesis are those who are obsessed with the technology of the Prosperous Era to the point of being almost paranoid… His
Adam’s apple moved, and Luo Hua squeezed out a word from his mouth.
”Are you from the academy?”
”Yes, I’m the dean of the Shelter Branch No. 404.”
Yin Fang made a joke to ease the atmosphere by using the cake that Chu Guang had drawn for him. He put the hair-thin knife back into the interface on the inside of his forearm.
Looking at the man lying on the scanning bed, he smiled faintly and continued.
”Welcome to Shelter No. 404. In addition to being the dean of the academy branch, I am also the head of the scientific expedition team here. By the way, the bionic organs on your body are quite interesting. I just opened them to study them. You shouldn’t mind, right?”
Luo Hua said helplessly.
”…Is it useful if I mind?”
”It’s really useless. It’s over.” Yin Fang teased and continued, “My name is Yin Fang. If there is any problem with your parts, you can ask me to fix it.”
”Luo Hua…an employee of the Silver Wing Group,” Luo Hua looked around, his eyes full of surprise, “Is this…Shelter No. 404?”
Yin Fang raised his eyebrows slightly.
”That’s right, you haven’t been here before?”
”I’ve been here before…”
But I don’t remember this room at all.
Luo Hua stared at the ceiling blankly.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered something and immediately looked at Yin Fang who was standing next to the scanning bed and said,
”Where is your manager?”
”Just outside the door. Do you want me to call him in?”
Luo Hua nodded, and just as he was about to say “please”, the door of the infirmary opened upwards with a bang.
A man and a woman walked in from outside.
The beautiful woman with long silver hair also looked unfamiliar to him, but the one standing next to her was so familiar to him.
”Chu Guang…”
Chu Guang smiled and nodded.
”We meet again.”
Compared to when they first met a year ago, the young man lying on the bed had aged a lot, and his face looked even more weathered. If Yin Fang hadn’t shaved his beard for him, his artistic temperament would probably be more obvious.
Luo Hua’s eyes were filled with excitement, and he struggled to sit up from the scanning bed, but Chu Guang raised his hand to stop him.
”Don’t get excited. You can talk while lying down. I finally woke you up. Don’t let you faint again in the middle of the conversation.”
Chu Guang smiled and asked with concern.
”How do you feel? Are you feeling better?”
”Much better…” Luo Hua swallowed his saliva and then said, “We found it!”
”Shelter No. 0?” Chu Guang asked thoughtfully.
”Yes!” Luo Hua said excitedly, “It’s in the Great Desert… We found the entrance to that place!”
”What does it look like?”
”I don’t know.”
”I don’t know?” Chu Guang looked at him unexpectedly, “Didn’t you go in?”
Luo Hua’s face showed a bitter expression.
”To be precise, we almost went in…” Chu
Guang pondered, “… because of the Legion?”
Luo Hua nodded with a heavy expression.
”We successfully found the coordinates of Shelter No. 0, and also got the key to enter the shelter from a key person… the one in your hand.”
Chu Guang glanced at the silver card in his hand and fell into deep thought.
Luo Hua, who was lying on the scanning bed, paused for a moment and continued.
”They are more difficult to deal with than imagined… Although we have power armor, their combat effectiveness is not weak, and the Falcon Kingdom in Oasis No. 2, which is closest to the Great Desert, is their vassal.”
”Faced with the soldiers pouring in like a tide, we had no choice but to abandon the Pioneer, and some of us hid in the temporary shelters near the wreckage of the space elevator.”
Chu Guang was stunned.
”…Space elevator?!”
”Well, don’t you know?”
Luo Hua looked at Chu Guang strangely, and seeing the latter nod slowly, he continued.
”Near the equator in the middle of the Great Desert is the site of the space elevator in the Human Union era… That thing collapsed two hundred years ago, and its fragments are everywhere in the Great Desert, and the farthest piece even fell to the east coast. But these are not the point, the point is that Shelter No. 0 is in the Great Desert!”
He took a deep breath and looked at Chu Guang seriously.
”Lu Yang… our captain told me to go all the way east. No matter what, I must not let the people of the Legion get that card.”
”That is our last hope to end all the suffering on this land.”
Chu Guang pinched his brow with his index finger and thumb, and took a moment to digest this huge amount of information.
”I will do my best to help you, but the current situation is that the Legion’s airship has already arrived right under our noses. If we don’t get rid of them, our people will have to go a long way south to enter Luoxia Province… Do you have a way to contact the East Coast?”
Luo Hua’s eyes showed a hint of anxiety.
”We have reported the situation to the enterprise. Haven’t they arrived yet?”
Hearing this, Chu Guang’s expression became a little subtle.
”They are here, but there are only more than a hundred people… Are you sure that number is enough?”
Luo Hua was obviously stunned.
”More than a hundred… How can there be only more than a hundred people?!”
Seeing Luo Hua’s eyes gradually filled with anxiety and disbelief, Chu Guang nodded silently and continued.
”That’s the truth. The one who came is the 26th Commando, with a staff of just over 100 people, and the captain is Yun Song. Although they have 20 power armors, they are seriously lacking in heavy weapons… To be honest, I think that number of people is not enough.”
This is also one of the reasons why he did not call those people back to help deal with the Iron Heart. Those more than 100 people are of no use at all. It is better to let them go to the west to help first.
What he needs is more powerful support.
Whether it is weapons or technology, he wants as many as he can get.
Luo Hua gritted his teeth and said.
”One commando is definitely not enough! Not to mention the two 10,000-man teams deployed by the legion on the west side of Luoxia Province, the standing army of the Falcon Kingdom alone is around 100,000! Even with 20 power armors… it is impossible to deal with so many people.”
Chu Guang sighed.
”I think so too.”
Especially after seeing the power of the 400mm main gun, he was more convinced of this idea.
To be honest, he even had some doubts about whether something happened on the east coast, otherwise why only so many reinforcements came.
However, now is obviously not the time to discuss this.
After a pause, Chu Guang continued to ask.
”Don’t you have any large transport planes or airships?”
Luo Hua showed an embarrassment on his face.
”Yes, but this place is nearly 3,000 kilometers away from the east coast… This distance has far exceeded the maximum range of our “Electric Ray.”
”Electric Ray” is a twin-engine transport aircraft equipped by the enterprise. The flight mode can be switched between fixed-wing and vertical take-off and landing, and the maximum range is only 500 kilometers.
Otherwise, Yunsong and his people would not have come by land.
For a long time, the enterprise has only had one survivor settlement, Ideal City, and only maintained trade with other survivor settlements in Yunjian Province. There is no need for ultra-long-distance deployment and combat, nor overseas military bases, so there is no technology for large aircraft.
It is not impossible to start research and development now. With advanced power technology and energy storage technology, it is not difficult for them to design a practical equipment.
However, whether or not he can catch up with the current crisis is a question.
Luo Hua fell into deep thought.
After a long time, he spoke.
”In short, no matter what, we must find a way to contact the company first… I must tell the people over there about the situation here!”
Chu Guang asked.
”Do you still have the ‘migratory bird’?” “Such
a big thing
… How can I carry it with me?” Luo Hua coughed dryly and continued, “But in addition to the migratory bird… There is actually another emergency method.”
Chu Guang asked immediately. “What method?”
Yin Fang, who had been standing aside and had not spoken, suddenly interrupted.
”Another orbital satellite?”
Luo Hua showed a surprised expression on his face and nodded.
”…How did you know.”
Yin Fang showed an intriguing expression on his face, with a hint of undetectable sarcasm in his tone.
”This is not the first time you have done this.”
Chu Guang frowned slightly, not quite understanding.
”Orbital satellite? What do you mean? Isn’t the low-Earth orbit already filled with space junk–”
”It’s because the outer space orbit is full of space junk, so we can always find one or two things that can still be used, right?”
Yin Fang put down his arms and continued in a teasing tone.
”As long as a part of the data is uploaded to the satellite that can still work, and then the remaining fuel is used to guide the satellite to fall near the east coast, the person who picked up the satellite can just take a crowbar or an axe and smash the iron lump like a coconut shell, and then they can see what is written inside… Only they can do such a thing of burning the piano and cooking the crane.”
Chu Guang was stunned.
What the hell?
It can be like this?
Not only Chu Guang was stunned, but He Ya, who was standing next to him, also showed a dumbfounded expression.
Finally hearing the sarcasm in that sentence, Luo Hua blushed and said.
”We don’t use it to make calls, we only use it for emergency situations.”
Chu Guang couldn’t help but say.
”But… why must the satellite fall, can’t it just be used as a signal repeater?”
Yin Fang shook his head.
”You think too simply. First of all, the satellites that can be used in this way are not low-orbit communication satellites, but scientific research satellites with longer flight time and more reliable quality. We generally call them… T series satellites.”
”Such satellites are usually located in higher and wider synchronous orbits. They usually remain relatively stationary with the ground and can only communicate with the research facilities directly below…and the method of communication is not radio, but lasers with a narrower illumination range.”
Chu Guang: “Laser?!”
Yin Fang nodded and said concisely.
”That’s right. When information needs to be exchanged, the ground research facility will shoot a beam of light up, and the sky will shoot another beam of light down. You can roughly understand it as hitting a coin-sized transmitter with a pistol across 36,000 kilometers… The confidentiality of this communication method is very reliable. Except for the research facility associated with the satellite, you can hardly contact the satellite from other places, let alone learn the specific coordinates of the satellite.”
”Generally speaking, if the ground communication base station loses connection with the satellite, such satellites will enter a dormant state until they are awakened again. Therefore, in theory, these satellites usually have residual energy, and the residual energy can at least meet one orbital switch.”
Chu Guang said thoughtfully.
”So you only need to find a ground base station that can communicate with such satellites, you can write data to the satellite, and then guide the satellite to fall…”
”Yes, so these people are burning the piano and cooking the crane. The use of the pre-war civilization relics by those people on the East Coast can be said to be destructive. They don’t understand what sustainable use is. Crashing a scientific research satellite costing tens of millions just to say hello, tut tut…”
Yin Fang clicked his tongue in a sarcastic tone.
Although this sentence was directed at the enterprise, not at Luo Hua who was lying here, it still made the latter blush.
”Aren’t we discussing the issue of the legion? Or do you have a better idea?”
Yin Fang said simply.
”No, but do you know where to find that kind of research facility?”
”Of course! There is one in the southern part of the River Valley Province. I remember the coordinates!” Luo Hua looked at Chu Guang and said sincerely, “It is a research institute, about 70 kilometers away from Qingquan City… The information inside should be useful to you. Can you send someone there?”
Chu Guang nodded.
”No problem.”
This was easy for him.
The distance of 70 kilometers is less than an hour’s flight for the “Dragonfly” transport plane, and a few parachutes can be thrown over.
As for crashing a satellite…
Anyway, the satellite is not his. It
is enough to get the information in the research institute.
Now the top priority is to let the enterprise send more reinforcements. Of course, it would be better if more weapons could be sent.
The airport in the north of Shuguang City is spacious enough, and any large transport plane can land.
Luo Hua’s eyes were full of gratitude.
”Thank you.”
Chu Guang smiled and said.
”You’re welcome. The Legion is our common enemy.”
”Just focus on healing, and we’ll take care of the rest. By the way, I got a few more barrels of good wine. We’ll have some when you recover.”
Luo Hua smiled weakly.
”Haha… that’ll have to wait a while.”
His tense shoulders finally relaxed, and he leaned on the scanning bed, finally showing a relieved expression on his face.
Although his companions in the desert were still in crisis, Chu Guang’s supportive attitude gave him hope.
Heya, who was standing by the door with her arms folded, suddenly spoke.
”Since the operation is done… can you arrange for him to be transferred to another hospital? This is not a place for healing.”
Although this place is called the infirmary, she has actually used it as a laboratory, and the only scanning bed in the entire alliance is an indispensable research tool.
Luo Hua showed an embarrassed expression on his face.
”Sorry to bother you.”
Chu Guang said with a smile.
”How could that be? But this place is not suitable for recuperation. I will arrange for someone to transfer you to a ward with a better environment.”
After saying that, he called in the medical staff waiting at the door and ordered them to transfer Luo Hua to the Alliance First Hospital on the ground.
The ward there was spacious enough, and the few injured people left by the Enterprise Expedition Team were also staying there.
As for medical expenses…
it would be too polite to mention that.
Yin Fang, who was standing next to him, crossed his arms and kept muttering until the medical staff transferred the injured to the door of the infirmary.
”I knew it…”
”These guys from the East Coast must have a treasure map in their hands!”
…
That evening.
A transport plane took off from the north of Dawn City, carrying 25 players from the Burning Legion, and flew towards the research facility 70 kilometers east.
At the same time, in Ruigu City, 150 kilometers west of Dawn City, the White Bear Knights and the Death Legion’s attack on Shelter No. 79 had also entered the final stage.
The main road leading to the central research area has been cleared.
Although the aliens and “savages” continued to rush in from other areas, the offensive was obviously not as strong as in the first few days.
After all, the aliens active in this shelter were not the slime mold fruiting bodies dominated by the “hive consciousness”.
Their attacks on players were more motivated by protecting territory and hunting. There was no tacit cooperation between different populations, and there would be no large-scale “waves”.
If it were the city center of Qingquan City, all the aliens on the street would rush in at the sound of a gunshot, and they would not be able to withstand it even if their numbers doubled…
”My God… This guy is quite strong!”
Shaking off the blood on the engineer’s shovel, the construction site boy and the brick looked at the mess in the room and clicked their tongues, holding the assault rifle hanging on their chests again and changing the magazine. There were
forty or fifty corpses lying in a mess in the wide hall, and primitive weapons such as spears and bows and arrows were scattered on the ground, as well as shells with green smoke on the ground.
A skirmish had just broken out here.
The opponents were a group of savages, who seemed to be lying in ambush nearby, and suddenly launched an attack after the players entered the room.
The skin of these people was sickly pale, but their limbs were unexpectedly strong, and their strength attribute was about 13~15, which was equivalent to the level of the first awakening.
Not only that, they were extremely fast, their toughness was also amazing, and their dexterity in using their body muscles was like that of wild beasts.
Or to be more precise, they were wild beasts, and almost none of their internal organs were the same as those of humans, but they just happened to look more like humans.
Fortunately, these savages only knew how to use bows and spears.
Otherwise, it would be really difficult to deal with them.
”There is only one ‘level’ left to the research area. The front is suspected to be the nest of the Death Claws. We don’t have much ammunition…”
With a rifle on his shoulder, he walked to the front of the White Bear Knights and continued.
”I suggest that we continue the strategy tomorrow.”
”Tail agrees! Huh, I’m almost exhausted!”
Tail, who was sitting against the wall, panted heavily, raised his arm and rubbed it on his forehead, but the sweat didn’t get rid of it, but the blood on his forehead was rubbed.
Sisi, who was also panting, looked at the remaining magazines and nodded.
”Well… let’s continue tomorrow.”
There is a day and night cycle in Shelter No. 79, and it will be night in a while.
Looking around, she continued.
”There are still many rooms here. Since the monsters have been cleared, why don’t we explore a little before going back.”
This is the last building away from the research area, which seems to be an administrative building or something like that. When searching other areas before, she found some interesting clues.
Before leaving here, she plans to verify them.
Hearing Sisi’s proposal, Bianbianhuashui readily agreed.
”Okay, then meet in an hour.”
”OK.”
After reaching an agreement, the players dispersed and searched in the room.
Weiwei, who was exhausted a second ago, jumped up from the ground with a thud, and took Rourou to an unknown place.
Sisi, who had already thought of the target, looked at the floor diagram, and went straight through the hall and went upstairs along the stairs to the office area.
This place was unexpectedly not occupied by aliens.
The whole corridor was quiet.
What surprised Sisi was that, unlike the areas they had passed before, the doors of the rooms here were all open.
”Oh, an unexpected discovery…”
Sisi picked the nearest room, carefully confirmed the safety of the room, and walked in carefully with a rifle.
This was an office with a futuristic feel.
The furniture inside was very unique. In an area of nearly 20 square meters, there were only two tables, which was quite luxurious.
Walking to the nearest table, Sisi glanced at the messy desktop and casually opened the drawer on the right.
There were some personal belongings inside, including a work ID and a thumb-sized memory.
The interface of the memory just matched the VM.
”Is this… a USB drive?”
A hint of interest appeared in her eyes. Sisi took it in her hand and looked at it for a while, and then inserted it into the VM.
The signal light flickered slightly, and a light blue dialog box soon appeared in front of her, and the translation program built into the VM automatically converted it into a language she could understand.
[Research Log of Shelter No. 79]
[Experimental Log: 2129/February/7]
[Experimental Log: …]
The date of the last log is July 8, 2178.
Speaking of which…
2129 seems to be the first year of the Wasteland Era?
Rubbing her chin gently with her index finger, the interest in Sisi’s eyes became more and more obvious, and then she clicked on the first log in the list.
[2129/February/7: The hibernation capsule is opened, and it is not our compatriots who are full of joy who wake us up, but the program of the shelter, which means that we have finally reached the worst ending. The outside world has been destroyed, and this is our last home… Damn, it sounds like a dream, but the rubidium atomic clock will never lie. ]
[I will remember this desperate and hopeful day. We will fulfill the oath we made three years ago… But can such a whimsical thing really be done? ]
”… whimsical things?”
She muttered softly, and her brows frowned slightly.
That Yong did mention that Shelter No. 79 was conducting research on “restoring mutant creatures to their pre-mutation state.”
But did the alien species exist in the first year of the Wasteland Era?
She vaguely remembered that the official website’s setting collection mentioned that the time when the alien species appeared on a large scale should be half a century after the Little Ice Age?
”In other words…”
”Are other experiments actually being conducted here?”
She didn’t believe every word the NPC said. In fact, she had always doubted the identity of that Yong.
Since it was a completely real virtual reality game, it was possible that the NPC was lying, right?
However, just as she was about to turn to the next article, the alloy door behind her suddenly fell, cutting off the only exit.
Sisi’s face changed slightly, and she immediately rushed over and hit the door with her shoulder, but found that the door did not move at all.
Without hesitation, she stepped back a few steps, raised the assault rifle hanging on her chest, and pulled the trigger at the alloy door.
”Bang Bang” two thunderous gunshots echoed in the room. Jumping sparks burst into the ceiling, but there was not even a trace of bullet marks left on the surface of the door.
She took a deep breath, walked to the door and fumbled for a while, then cupped her hands into a trumpet shape and shouted against the door.
”Awei!”
”Can you hear me?”
No response.
She put her ear against it, but could not hear any sound from outside.
”Tsk… the sound insulation is too strong.”
With a tsk, Sisi gave up the meaningless attempt and moved her ear away from the door.
In the shelter, the authority of the administrator is absolute – at this moment she finally realized the meaning of this setting.
The crystallization of the strongest technology in the era of the Human Union is simply not something that the retro assault rifle in her hand can penetrate.
I’m afraid that even if she used the grenades on her body, it would be useless.
As long as the administrator of the shelter is willing.
He can even lock this door until the next century.
At this time, Sisi suddenly noticed that the air outlet above her head had stopped making any sound at some point, as if it had stopped working.
She understood in her heart, and she whispered,
”Are you planning to silence me…”
That guy must have been ready to kill her.
Otherwise, he could have locked the door before she came in.
”A normal adult consumes 0.75 kilograms of oxygen per day… A 20-square-meter room has a ceiling height of about three meters, which is 60 cubic meters of air.” If
the oxygen content is less than 10%, carbon dioxide poisoning will occur.
”In other words… I can live for about 5 days.”
Considering the metabolic rate of the awakened, maybe two or three days is enough.
Glancing at the log on the VM screen, Sisi’s mouth suddenly pulled up a barely noticeable smile.
The time left for myself is a bit…
too much.
–
(Thanks to the leader of “My name is Wang Laoji”, “NightChicK3n”, and “Little Dimple Accompaniment” for the reward!!!)
(End of this chapter)
