Chapter 951 Chief and Manager
Chapter 951 Chief and Manager
On the granite steps.
The old man in a robe looked at the young man at the bottom of the steps, and a trace of nostalgia floated in his turbid pupils.
It’s like…
It’s too similar.
But it’s not…
People who have lived too long will have a rotten smell on their bodies that can’t be smelled by the nose but can be seen with the eyes. If it is an old monster who has lived for more than 200 years like himself, he must be able to see it.
But obviously, the young man in front of him doesn’t have that smell.
So there is only one possibility…
Thinking of the only possibility, the old man’s eyes can’t help but have a little more melancholy.
While the old man was observing Chu Guang, Chu Guang was also looking at him.
Just looking at the wrinkles on his face, he couldn’t tell how old this guy was.
Perhaps for this chief gentleman, life has become a concept of nothingness.
But he didn’t have any envy in his heart.
There is life only after death.
The immortal is the stone, and it is also a curse on the living.
The Great Rift Valley exists like this. People living here, young and old, are all depressed, like gravel rolling down from the top of the mountain.
And it is precisely because of this stale smell that the resistance of the Free State and the extreme yearning for freedom have been aroused.
No one wants to be born in a coffin and be buried with the dead in the future.
Compared with the Origin City that witnessed the entire Wasteland Era, Bugla, composed of wastelanders, is undoubtedly the baby.
A jumpy idea suddenly emerged in Chu Guang’s mind.
This guy is like the undead in a fantasy novel…
”I came to the Great Rift Valley at your invitation,” Chu Guang nodded to the old man, and then used his eyes to signal a filial son who came to make connections without explanation to go play, and then continued, “Like you, I have wanted to visit you for a long time.”
Zhou Xianlin scratched his head and could read the air. This was not an occasion for him to interrupt.
Looking at the leader of a survivor force who left tactfully, the old man looked at Chu Guang again with a smile on his face and said in a gentle tone.
”A very energetic young man.”
”…Are you talking about me?”
”No,” the old man shook his head and said with a smile, “I’m talking about your apprentice.”
Chu Guang was slightly stunned, and then realized who the old man was talking about, and hurriedly denied it.
”You can eat whatever you want, but you can’t say whatever you want! I have never accepted an apprentice, and I have never taught anyone!”
Looking at Chu Guang who hurriedly denied it, the old man laughed and said in a joking tone.
”The master leads you to the door, and the practice is up to you. If you don’t practice well, it’s your fate. How can you blame the teacher if you don’t learn well? Don’t worry, no one will blame you.”
Seeing that the old man didn’t listen to what he said, Chu Guang gave up the idea of explaining to him.
Fortunately, there are no reporters here.
Otherwise, he couldn’t wash himself clean even if he jumped into the water.
The old man didn’t continue to make fun of him. It seemed that the joke was just to ease the strange atmosphere.
The old man standing on the steps waited for a while, and when Chu Guang walked up the steps, he walked beside him and continued to talk in a chatty tone.
”… Actually, you don’t have to blame yourself. The king fell a horse, lost a war, and lost an empire. It seems regrettable, but there is nothing to regret if you look at the whole story. Even if the horse didn’t fall, the war might not be won, and the decline of an empire is also the beginning of another rise and fall.”
Seeing that the old man and the story of Water Dam City couldn’t get over, Chu Guang couldn’t help but say something back.
”So the fall of the Human Alliance doesn’t matter to you, anyway, it’s also the beginning of another rise and fall.”
Chu Guang thought the old man would be speechless, but he didn’t expect him to be so thick-skinned that he simply nodded.
”I do think so, and I am more and more sure of my thoughts… The Wasteland Era is becoming history. Aren’t you the continuation of the past? Different from us, derived from us, more advanced than us, more open, and full of dreams for the future. Soon you will have your own children, and by then you will understand my feelings.”
Chu Guang looked at the old man with some surprise. He didn’t expect to receive such an evaluation.
Should this be considered a compliment?
After thinking for a moment, he spoke.
”But I don’t want to understand it this way. It will turn the study of history into fortune-telling and justify suffering.”
The old man shook his head.
”I never said that the Wasteland Era was correct. I just want to tell you that it is the ‘fruit’ planted by the Prosperous Era. A long time ago, I discussed this issue with a guy named Professor, and this is actually part of his point of view.”
Chu Guang frowned.
”Professor?”
He suddenly remembered a recording.
It was obtained from a guard’s room in Area B2 a long time ago. It recorded stories other than those mentioned in the “Blood Hand Diary”.
The professor seemed to have a deep friendship with the first generation manager of Shelter No. 404, and it might even be the same person as him… and this was also his guess at the time.
Looking at Chu Guang who was lost in thought, the old man seemed to have some kind of expectation and continued in a very light voice.
”Many people have forgotten his name, or may not know it at all, but people in the wasteland have been helped by him to some extent, or indirectly influenced by him. People in the academy should still remember him. If you are interested, you can talk to them… Unfortunately, the most authoritative ‘Conclusion’ did not come here, but only the chief technology officer he appointed.”
Chu Guang pressed his brows with a headache.
”… Your names are too unique. Is it like this in the era of the Human Union?”
The old man laughed.
”That era was too avant-garde. A person may have two names in his life. One is the high hopes that their parents have for them, and the other is their expectations for themselves and the future… Of course, only a small number of people are like this. Most people are still more traditional, and can even trace their cultural origins through the structure of their names.”
When he said this, the old man was silent for a while and continued in a very light voice.
”In fact, it’s not just the name, many things are like this. The Post-War Reconstruction Committee tried to use the experience of the Human Union to save the dying world, but we soon discovered that we are still us, but you are no longer us. Some people tried to use unplanned methods, and some people tried to finish the unfinished things, but most of their efforts failed. Instead, the seeds we never expected blossomed.”
”Take Julius for example. Every officer of the War Reconstruction Committee who opposed him angrily accused him of being compassionate and weak and would destroy human civilization. But in fact, human civilization is not as fragile as they say. It is only themselves who went to hell – those criminals who firmly believed in “necessary evil” and the War Reconstruction Committee who indulged them.”
”As for Julius, who was looked down upon by them, he became an iron-blooded marshal admired by thousands of people… Including the residents of the shelter, there were many people who supported him, otherwise how could the Iron Heart fly? It would be impossible to accomplish it with the knowledge reserves of the Weyland people alone, including the recovery of their own gene source code. Although the child was indeed confused about the matter of Yavent City later, that is a story for later.”
Chu Guang listened to his story patiently and asked thoughtfully.
”What do you want to express to me?”
The old man looked back at the apron in the distance behind him, looked at Xiao Zhou who was standing in the crowd at a loss, smiled faintly and continued.
”I just want to tell you that the Human Alliance is too far away for you. You have your own history to refer to.”
”Another thing, don’t be bound by fear of failure, and don’t blame yourself for the mistakes that have already happened. The reason why history repeats itself is that mistakes are inevitable. If they don’t happen today, they will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. The memory of falling will become the fuel that supports you to keep moving forward. Even if you can’t get up after falling, you can also be the fuel for your children to help them go further.”
”You are still young, and it is time to show your edge without reservation. Don’t live like an old man like me who can’t get up after falling.”
The turbid pupils seemed to see through himself.
When Chu Guang met the old man’s eyes, he suddenly saw his own reflection in the turbid “mirror”.
The self who was bound by his hands and feet.
However, he did not think that what the old man said must represent the right, and there was nothing wrong with his choice.
The only unconstrained existence in the alliance is himself, and his self-control is also an indispensable part of the plan.
The old man complained that his car was too slow. Maybe he was not doing it for his own good, but hoped that he and the Alliance would be like the Human Alliance and become the fuel for future children.
Just like what Julius had done, the disintegration of the Legion made the Willant people glorious. He was not as arrogant as Julius, which obviously made the old man anxious.
Looking at the old man with a hint of instigation in his eyes, Chu Guang, who gradually understood everything, was glad that he was not fooled. He laughed freely and exposed the trap set by the old man.
”It seems that people will become nihilistic when they get old. I have to take this as a warning.”
The old man’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and he shook his head to refute.
”This is not a matter of aging, but related to the information received. Some people are dying and still can’t let go of their obsessions, while others have just begun their lives and have already entered the age of forty. I don’t think this is a good thing. You are excellent, even better than the other you. I am quite optimistic about you.”
”… Another me?”
Chu Guang frowned, but the old man’s face changed, and he closed his mouth as if he had let something slip.
”Well… It’s too early to talk about this now. I have something else to do. I’ll take you here and talk later.”
After saying that, the old man turned around and was about to leave.
Looking at the guy who stopped talking halfway, Chu Guang had a face that didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
They talked for so long, and this guy didn’t even tell him his name.
”At least tell me your name.”
The old man paused, stopped to think for a moment, and then tilted his head slightly.
”Name… Call me Qian Wu, but I haven’t used this name for many years, and I may not react if you call me that.”
Chu Guang nodded.
”It doesn’t matter, it’s just a matter of courtesy.”
Chief: “…”
Watching the two-hundred-year-old man leave, Chu Guang looked at the follower arranged for him by the Great Rift Valley, and nodded to the big guy in power armor to continue leading the way.
The two walked forward for a while and entered the silver-gray building at the top of the Great Rift Valley.
The whole building is like a spaceship lying flat on the valley, with a streamlined shell integrated with the transparent dome.
This seems to be the core of the Holy Shield system, and it is said to be the safest place in the entire wasteland, even safer than the shelter.
After all, the latter still needs to consider the supply of fuel, while the former lies at the feet of a vast sea of energy.
A long time ago, players came here and brought the photos they took back to the official website.
Chu Guang had seen those photos at the time, and he had seen the version without filters, so he was not too surprised by the magnificent and exaggerated scene here.
However, when he walked through the silver movable door and into the hall, he was stunned by the scene in front of him.
A heavy and bloated “gold can” was standing in the center of the hall, and a familiar face was set above the gold can.
That guy was none other than his “double-ace pangolin” –
the battlefield atmosphere group!
Standing next to this guy at the moment was the former ambassador of the Legion to the Alliance and now the important official of the Triumph City Civilian Group, Captain Bennot.
Although this guy had quarreled with him many times in the Sticky Community Conference before, it was purely because of the position issue. Even if he quarreled with him, it had nothing to do with personal grudges.
Since the incident in Xifan Port, the Alliance has helped the Civilian Group.
Since then, Triumph City has been very close to Dawn City, but the Southern Legion, which has trade relations with the Alliance, has gradually drifted away from the Alliance due to geopolitical conflicts.
As for now, due to the establishment of the Willant Alliance and the Alliance’s unconditional assistance to Triumph City in fighting the “death agent”, Triumph City and Dawn City are also in a honeymoon period, and Bennot’s attitude towards the Alliance has naturally changed 180 degrees.
As soon as he saw the blue tin can walking into the hall, the old man’s eyes lit up and he came up to him with a smile on his face.
”Haha! Dear Manager, it’s been a long time! You are still as handsome as before!”
”You too, you are still as strong as before…” Chu Guang’s expression was a little subtle. It was not because of the contrast with Bennott, the commander of the army, but because he did not expect to see his little player here.
Obviously, he was not the only one who was embarrassed. Someone squatting in the golden can had already smiled at him embarrassedly.
However, Benoit was not embarrassed at all, and he did not notice that the big toe of the boss behind him was already clenched, and he was still talking enthusiastically.
”Please allow me to introduce you… The person next to me is the governor of Triumph City, the successor of the golden armor, and the hero of the survivors of the provinces of Willant and Battoa! Mr. Pangolin!”
After speaking in a rhythmic tone, he looked at Chu Guang with a bit of show-off and continued to speak.
”He is an amazing person! There are endless stories about him in three days and three nights–”
Looking at Chu Guang who was almost unable to hold back his laughter, the battlefield man coughed hard, interrupted Benoit’s words, and then spoke quickly.
”Okay, let’s not talk about my little thing… Alliance manager, there is something I want to talk to you about. Is it convenient for you now?”
”The closed-door meeting before the human meeting?” Chu Guang said in a joking tone.
The battlefield atmosphere group said with a smile.
”That’s right…”
This play can be played to this point purely because of his improvisation. He really doesn’t know how to play it next.
Chu Guang nodded, then looked at the attendant beside him.
”I need a separate meeting room, can you arrange it for me?”
The attendant in power armor nodded respectfully.
”No problem.”
…
On the other side, there was a commotion on the tarmac.
The landing of the plane from the enterprise caused quite a stir, so much so that the leader of the Red River Alliance accidentally stepped on the leather shoes of the leader of the Dam Alliance, and the two almost caused a diplomatic incident.
Fortunately, the soldiers of the Great Rift Valley separated the two in time and politely invited them back to their respective rooms.
Unlike the “rose with thorns” of the Alliance, Ideal City is the purest wealth!
Especially for those guys who only want to get rich quickly and don’t want to make progress, they are much more attractive than the Alliance.
For example, Mayor Odo.
Seeing the representative of the Ideal City Council coming down from the tarmac, his eyes almost glowed with gold.
And the chief of the Great Rift Valley, who was standing in the distance and watching them, smiled with relief on his wrinkled face.
Although the “Human Conference” has not officially started yet and is still a warm-up before the meeting, it has actually begun from the moment the first plane landed. Those
standing here are the people who can decide the future fate of the wasteland, whether it is the fate of hundreds of millions of people or the fate of hundreds of thousands of people.
Rather than saying that his invitation letter brought them here, it is better to say that the survivors in the wasteland pushed them to the front.
As the night watchman of the old era, he will fulfill his last duty here-to build a stage for these trendsetters of the new era.
This is what he really wants to do.
As for the last meeting, there is nothing to look forward to. The things that are really worth discussing are often decided before the meeting…
Just as the old man was admiring his masterpiece, footsteps came from behind him.
”Old sir, are you the chief of the Great Rift Valley?”
Abusek looked at the old man’s back with a respectful look.
When Chu Guang was chatting with this person before, he had been paying attention to this old man.
When everyone gathered in front of the tarmac, he saw that there was no chance to squeeze in, so he came here on a whim.
His intuition told him that this person was also a heavyweight who could influence the situation in the wasteland.
If he couldn’t climb the tree of the enterprise, it would be great to reach the branches of the Great Rift Valley.
The people of Boro are all extremely smart, but their smartness is different.
The old man turned around, looked Abusek up and down, and then smiled gently.
”It’s me, what’s the matter?”
The casual tone was like a spring breeze blowing in the face, and it was like two different worlds with the undercurrent under the steps.
Abusek stood in awe,
”I have heard of your great name for a long time. I am Abusek, the general of Boro. Please allow me to extend my most sincere greetings to you on behalf of hundreds of millions of people in Boro.”
Boro…
The old man’s eyes fell into memories.
So, this person should be the descendant of General Lowell.
He can still use the word “child” to call Julius, but that guy must be his peer…
Thinking of this, the old man smiled friendly and said in a gentle tone.
”Hello, the great commander of Borneo, please also say hello to the hundreds of millions of survivors of Borneo for me.”
Abusek was very impressed by this great man who was so approachable.
The world outside Borneo was much bigger than he had imagined. It seemed that he still had a long way to go…
”I will definitely convey your greetings to them!” Abusek smiled and bowed, skillfully establishing a relationship, “Speaking of which, the survivors of Borneo and the survivors of the Great Rift Valley have some origins! I only learned later that General Lowell, who led us through the difficulties, was actually a registered officer of the Human Union! We are like two buds growing on a tree, one fell in the south and the other fell in the north, but the roots are the same.”
The old man was amused by this statement, laughed, paused for a moment and continued.
”Lowell… I remember this name, so I’ll shamelessly call him an old comrade! To be honest, the War Construction Committee is actually quite sorry for him. We didn’t lend him a helping hand when he needed help the most.” ”
There’s nothing we can do about it. We understand. You have your own difficulties,” Abusek sighed lightly, pretending to be generous and letting go of the past. “Let the past go. The Brahma people are ready to move on to a new era. We are more concerned about our own and our children’s future now.”
This was originally a beautiful and polite remark. The speaker didn’t need to take it too seriously, and the listener didn’t need to take it too seriously.
However, after hearing it, the old man looked at him and smiled meaningfully.
”Are you really ready?”
Seeing that smile suddenly changed, Abusek was stunned for a moment, looking at the chief gentleman in confusion.
”Of course… If I wasn’t ready, how could I be standing here?”
Hearing this, the old man smiled and nodded, and his eyes suddenly passed him and looked into the distance.
”Lowell… I know the story of this comrade. He is probably the earliest savior in this wasteland, and a savior in the true sense. Unlike us disaster relief agencies, what we do is just to minimize the losses and preserve the last spark of human civilization that is only a breath away. But he is different. Whether his idea is smart or not, we have to admit his courage to try to save a group of people who are doomed to die… and this courage is not what we have.”
”In order to keep as many people alive as possible, we abandoned the fantasy of never giving up on everyone very early, whether it is me or the ‘professor’.”
Abusek looked at the old man blankly, not understanding what this sentence meant.
However, as a smart man, he naturally would not sing a different tune from the “giant” in front of him.
Researching Lowell is the work of “Mr. Rat” Niyang and Commissioner Kabaha. The right and wrong of 200 years ago has no meaning to the great commander of the country of Borneo.
”…We think so too. He is the real savior.”
Abusek thought the old man would nod with relief, but he didn’t expect the latter to laugh out loud.
What confused him even more was what the chief said next.
”The managers of the alliance said I was a nihilist, that my understanding of history was like fortune-telling, and that we should learn from it… This young man looked down on me, haha. In that case, I will tell fortunes for the close relative of this nihilist – the pragmatist.”
Abusek looked at him blankly, not understanding what he wanted to do, and even not knowing who the pragmatist he was talking about was.
The 200-year-old man closed his eyes and thought for a while, and suddenly opened his eyes in a mysterious way.
”How many people are there in your country of Borneo?”
Abusek swallowed his saliva and didn’t want to tell him, but after thinking about it, it would be easy for Old Deng to know, so he confessed honestly.
”Less than 200 million.”
”That’s terrible,” the old man shook his head, “At least 20 million people will die.”
Abusek held his breath for a moment and quickly retorted.
”How is this possible! Twenty million?! The Weilants can’t kill so many! There are not so many people in the three northern continents combined! Do you mean that Laxi is going to start a killing spree? No, wait…”
He suddenly calmed down.
He was the leader of a faction after all, and there was no need to lose his composure because of a few nonsense words from an old man.
Maybe this was the strategy of the Great Rift Valley…
They saw through that he didn’t want to fight this civil war, so they deliberately used words to provoke him.
But why? !
Abusek’s eyes were blank, as if he had fallen from the peak of his life into a dry well, with thick walls on both sides and unreachable clouds above his head.
Except for Laxi’s sudden madness, he really couldn’t think of where the 20 million heads would come from.
Famine
?
They are no longer short of food. Flood?
Again, there are not so many people along the Tasang River!
Plague?
This is possible, but also impossible. After all, the province of Boro does not have a road network as developed as the province of Batua. The Weilants have proven that their virus can only kill a village or a town at most, and then it will not spread far…
Besides, the medical technology of the Alliance is the best in the world!
And there are enterprises! If something like that really happens, the enterprises will help!
A trace of anger appeared on Abusek’s face, as if he was teased.
If it weren’t for the fact that this old man was the leader of the Great Rift Valley and he really couldn’t afford to offend him, he would have wanted to turn around and leave!
In fact, he didn’t understand what the Great Rift Valley was like, and subconsciously used the thinking of his hometown.
If he saw the essence of the Great Rift Valley like Chu Guang, he wouldn’t care about face or not, and he wouldn’t come to curry favor with this group of people.
Regardless of whether he gave face to the Great Rift Valley or not, the oldest man in the wasteland would not embarrass him.
And the old man was willing to say it so directly, which was actually a kind of kindness.
This was entirely for Lowell’s sake.
As a “chess spectator”, he would never raise his little finger to the chessboard unless he had no other choice.
”Mr. Abusek, a wise man selected by the country of Borneo, answer me a question. There are 100 million sheep on the prairie. 100 million of them froze to death in the wasteland era. How many are left now?”
Abusek answered subconsciously.
”Of course there isn’t a single one left–”
”You calculated wrongly,” the old man shook his head and said with a smile, “I tell you, there are still 100 million left.”
”How is that possible?” Abusek widened his eyes in surprise, then calmed down, “Old sir, is this some kind of sophistry?” ”
It’s not sophistry, it’s the law of nature,” the old man said slowly, “The Wasteland Era is not a gust of wind, but sand blown by the wind. You only feel the pain when you rub your eyes. The war came quickly, and when we realized that winning or losing was a serious matter, everything we missed was over… For some people this process is one day, for others it is 200 years, and for you who live on the prairie it is about half a century.”
”The most severe winter lasted about 43 years, maybe 46 years, I can’t remember the details… If there were no predators, no alien species, and there was enough water and food, even if the sheep were starved to death and only 10,000 were left, the remaining sheep could recover to 100 million in the next century and a half.”
”You thank Lowell for saving at least 100 million people, but how do you explain the interruption of your civilization? Is it just that the father did not teach his son his knowledge?”
”Is there a possibility that he was so self-righteous that he killed people who should not have died. There should have been 10,000 sheep left on the grassland, but there were only 5,000, and his red soil did not have any obvious effect in the cold winter. However, the Borneo Province is not a desert after all. It is a natural refuge with no alien species and slime molds, and it is not easy for outside predators to come in. In the end, the number of sheep not only did not decrease, but doubled…but the credit was attributed to Lowell.”
”Perhaps only Red Earth can tell you the correct answer, but I can tell you responsibly that if that generation really survived because of Lowell, it would not be the turn of the Weilant people who have nothing to teach you a lesson. Instead, you should shoulder the mission of ending the Wasteland Era, saving the River Valley Province, saving Triumph City, and then I will award you the medal of victory… Of course, at that time, you will probably be like that kid, sneering at dregs like me.”
Looking at Abusek who held his breath, the old man smiled and said.
”You should actually have a more objective evaluation of Lowell. This is the only chance to survive. Some people have realized it, but it is far from enough. Otherwise, I am not kidding, he will really come back to find you, continue to play his savior game with you, and then become the new Lowell and take you to the next examination room.”
The old man regretted it again.
In fact, he shouldn’t have “leaked the questions”. If these people really found that Lowell, buried him hastily like they did two hundred years ago, and then put the unpleasant memories behind them, the next Lowell would be more ruthless and kill more people.
However, it was rare for the Great Rift Valley to be as lively as it was today. He was indeed a little too excited, and he really liked this young man. Who
knows, maybe he could save a life?
Although this life might have to be exchanged for countless lives, he really didn’t care much.
”Are you talking about Janus…” Abusek’s voice trembled, and a drop of cold sweat ran across his forehead.
The guy was undoubtedly dead, but he became an indelible nightmare in his head.
He had nightmares for a while, and later he believed in the Silver Moon Goddess and it got better.
As a result, the old man’s two words reminded him of the bloody man who stared at him with his eyes open.
The guy seemed to be telling him that he would come back, return to the bloody throne, and ask him to take back everything that was stolen.
Not wanting to scare the child too much, the old man hesitated for a while between saving and not saving, and finally sighed softly.
”I don’t know the Janusz you mentioned. It doesn’t matter who he is or what his name is.”
”You think I’m saying this to tell you that Rowell has caused you a lot of trouble, but that’s not the case.”
”I want to remind you that every resident of Shelter 404 is Chu Guang, and every Poro is Rowell.”
(End of this chapter)
