Chapter 116 Entering the ruins for the first time (Part 2)
The roar of Brett's mechanical chariot finally stopped in a slightly dim street lined with tall buildings.
After parking the chariot in an inconspicuous alleyway, covered with spider webs and food and body remains contaminated with various molds, Brett breathed a sigh of relief, fumbled for his uniform shirt, and approached the escort "Long Sword and Hammer"
In a pocket near the medal.
Then, he took out a pocket watch with a copper color.
Gently pressing the top button, Brett easily opened the cracked glass cover of the pocket watch, which was stained with mold lake stains, revealing the exquisite hour hand, minute hand and second hand inside, as well as the interior.
Dial with some mechanical gears.
"It's seven o'clock in the evening, Laite." Brett's rich voice floated into Laite's ears.
"Yeah, it's getting late. But along the way, I only saw the city scenery, and I didn't see any human beings, or...even the lost and careless." Laite said with emotion.
"No matter what, it's always a good thing if there is no one. It's also a good thing if there are only unintentional people. After all, they can speak with fists and weapons. If we win, we will move forward. If we lose, we will mutate. It doesn't matter if they are the Lost, they are the enemy after all.
, just engage in a life-and-death struggle. If it were a human being... I shouldn't say this from the level of education and morality I received, but I still need to think about the problem this way." Brett lowered his head, pondered for a few seconds, and said
:
"Humans are dangerous creatures, especially in places that have lost or are about to lose the control of the empire. In fact, now that I think about it, this place is not subject to any imperial laws. The 'ruin hunters' and the lost ones are obviously capable of attacking us.
Creatures with consciousness, and those members of our own legion may also be a source of danger. After all, I have heard that the salary of many legion members is only about 10 Singapore dollars a month, which cannot even be used to replace weapons."
"That's really too little, and I think I heard Moros chatting that time in Migov. The salary of non-staff employed by the army and cities is even lower, only 6-8 Singapore dollars, and even only 5 Singapore dollars in some small cities.
I'm afraid buying food will be a problem," Laite added.
"This is still a small problem. Many non-staff personnel and some low-level legion members are infected by the Wuxin virus, but they cannot be recognized as superpowers. Some may have stronger combat abilities, but it is difficult to enter big cities and can only be found outside the cities.
Districts and small cities are struggling to survive. Many of them have underlying stubborn diseases, and some still need to take care of the elderly and hungry children. And they themselves, who don’t know which day their whole bodies will be filled with burning fluid due to the virus, will eventually be regarded as unintentional.
People are executed." Brett stared at the sky that was gradually turning orange and said with emotion:
"In fact, they envy those factory workers who work three shifts. At least they don't have to put themselves into dangerous situations. The journal "Imperial Medicine" once published an article, which made statistics. Most people living in the city have a life expectancy of 50-70 years.
Years old, of course, the data does not count people with superpowers, they are strictly not considered human beings." Brett teased a little.
"Not human, haha, not human." Laite laughed twice, then stopped abruptly.
After all, he himself is now a superpower.
"Yes, not considered human." Brett repeated in a low voice and continued:
"You just talked about the life span of humans in the city, right? That report also calculated the average life span of legions and escorts in various places, which is about 40-60 years old. These are officially established soldiers, that is, people like you and me.
Those non-staff personnel are generally 25-30 years old, and they will die at the age of 35 at most. Even if they are willing to survive due to many difficulties, they will be expelled from the city and live in scattered villages everywhere, and some small towns will bear the burden of
The wages are low and the body is tortured by heavy manual labor.”
"It's really... miserable. It reminds me of a proverb." Laite's black eyes briefly became dim, then he scratched the black hair on the back of his head and said:
"Natural selection, survival of the fittest. Both humans and nature follow similar laws, except that human laws are called law and order, and nature's laws are called survival and reproduction. Right, Brett?"
"That's right." Brett nodded slightly.
Then, he suddenly laughed twice, and then turned his head with a smile on his face, trying to relieve the heaviness caused by the question just now.
"Want to see this pocket watch, Laite? It was left to me by my mother. It was made by a famous craftsman in the empire. At that time, my mother wanted to put some diamonds in it, but I said that thing is made of the same material as coal.
, it’s almost enough for industrial cutting. It’s better to use gold to make some alloys. You know, gold is a gorgeous product made in the dream of the Creator, but she likes to play pinball games and let the planets made of gold crack and scatter into every corner of the universe.
.Gold is romantic and a divine product.”
Brett said, holding the pocket watch in his broad and heavy palm, and handed it to Wright.
"Romantic things, no wonder I saw the brilliance of gold from the pocket watch." Laite agreed.
He carefully looked at the pocket watch that belonged to Brett. The surface was made of copper and had a bronze luster. Although the glass surface was turbid, it felt smooth to the touch.
A circle of tulips made of fine lines is engraved around the front glass. On the back, there is a double-headed eagle representing the empire, and the name written in Zine Empire language at the bottom - "Brett.
Klein".
"The material and style of this pocket watch..." Laite murmured in a low voice.
He looked at the glass front and suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
Is it a sense of déjà vu? Or have you really encountered this in a dream?
There seem to be some sporadic hints in my incomplete memory fragments. In the wasteland world, especially in the Zine Empire, pocket watches are one of the symbols of identity and status, just like aristocratic women like diamonds that symbolize love, and aristocratic men like diamonds that symbolize love.
, generally like pocket watches.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! People in the steam age generally regard time as money. After all, the non-stop operation of factory machines can bring sustained and considerable profits to those factory owners, and owning a pocket watch that symbolizes status,
Being able to calculate how long your machine has been running and how much money you have made at all times is a wonderful thing to be immersed in.
Of course, due to the collapse of order in the early New Yuan Dynasty, the empire adopted military and economic control measures. All industrial production was placed under the unified arrangement of the empire and the committees of each city, and factory owners went bankrupt collectively.
Except for those hung on street lamps, most of them silently climbed up abandoned buildings and chose to go to the underworld to continue their business.
It was only in the past two hundred years that as the empire gradually restored order, those factory owners and entrepreneurs came back again, returning to the empire that they were intoxicated with and loved so much.
After vigorously shaking his slightly sleepy head and letting out a deep, sharp yawn, Laite felt that the previous feeling of intimacy and familiarity with the pocket watch was just a sense of déjà vu.
Since it is a dream, according to "The Interpretation of Dreams", a book that interprets dreams in the previous world, I must have subconsciously paid attention to the pocket watch from reading in newspapers or talking to other imperial soldiers.
And then extended into dreams.
After all, some of the intentions that appear in dreams, in addition to things that are of particular concern to you all the time, also include things that you subconsciously pay attention to, and sometimes you don't even notice them.
Opening the cover of the watch, Laite glanced at the time. Laite handed the watch back to Brett and said with a hint of resentment:
"I seem to have almost forgotten your aristocratic status, haha. This watch is so beautiful, I want to own one too. But having said that, it's 7:15 now, we have to find a room to stay. Since this place has been occupied
It’s abandoned and not subject to the laws of the empire, so we can live wherever we want?”
"That's not the case." Brett took the pocket watch, put it in his uniform jacket pocket, and said with confidence:
"This is the place I'm interested in. I just said that we should spend the night near the lake as much as possible. Now it seems that the buildings here are quite intact, and there are not many traces of plant invasion. Laite, do you know?
, when we were on our way, when you and Miyu fell asleep, Moros warned me not to spend the night at the city ruins."
"Why?" Laite wondered as he looked out the window at the tall buildings that were old and dark but had a relatively well-preserved appearance.
"He said that most of the places here are ruins and the houses are crumbling. In addition to being regularly injected with the No. 15 drug and being careful not to be infected by the unintentional virus, living here also has to worry about the collapse of the houses. And those 'ruin hunters'
They will kidnap us imperial soldiers at any time in exchange for ransom. To be honest, I was really worried at first. After all, to complete a task assigned to me by the Socra Committee, we would have to stay in the city for at least a day or two. But now I
I feel that Moros is either too cautious or has old information. This place is not dilapidated at all, but full of life, isn't it?" Brett said with a "nothing more than that" smile.
"Yes, that's right, you're right." Lai nodded "three times" and said:
"And apart from a few chariots, there are no traces of other humans along the way. The so-called ruins hunters may not focus on the inside of the ruins, but on the periphery. After all, fighting in the city is restricted by terrain factors, which is very difficult.
It’s complicated. Once a battle occurs, it is very likely to turn into a street fight and evolve into... a game of cat and mouse. And if it is outside the ruins, it will be a head-on confrontation, without even a chance to escape."
As Laite spoke, his mind suddenly flashed to the Order 4 Lost One Yolan whom he met a day ago, and the "Hope" sandworm he summoned after releasing his evil soul.
It is indeed a head-to-head battle, a lose-lose battle, a draw game.
"Your analysis makes sense. So I decided to go to the building on the left. I just took a quick look and found it to be about seven or eight floors high.
And from the top floor, you can overlook the entire lake surrounded by steel. To be honest, this area should be a residential area in the past. Except for the 'Volga Tower', there are not many ridiculously tall buildings. If there are really ruins hunters, they
We can capture the roar of vehicles in time, and the group of 'loess vultures' can't enter the building, haha."
Brett said, turned off the mechanical chariot completely, kicked the key that looked like a small silver sword into the pocket of his tactical trousers, opened a small storage compartment near the seat, and took out a piece of pure black
mask.
After putting it on, Brett turned around and asked Wright:
"Do you and Miyou also need to wear masks? The remaining two were originally prepared by Moros for himself, but now it's easier for you two."
"I don't want it." Laite refused firmly:
"Moros's things... I'd better not take them anymore and give them to Miyou. By the way, I saw that you didn't even wear this thing when you got off the car just now. Why do you remember it now?"
"The Wuxin virus will be affected by the sun. This is basic common sense. Anyway, they erased a memory of you in the Lost Swamp. It should have affected other memories, right. I don't mind educating you more." Brett coughed.
Twice, he continued:
"The Wuxinren virus will be affected by the sun. The concentration will be strongest at sunrise, and will basically drop to the point of no harm to ordinary people at noon.
But as dusk arrives, the virus concentration will rise exponentially in just one hour. After dark, even just fifteen minutes of exposure to the air is enough to infect humans who have not been injected with drugs.
So Laite, of course you don’t need to wear it, and the same goes for Miyou, but I can’t. I’m just an ordinary human without any special powers.”
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"That's right, indeed." Laite nodded as if he understood.
"Wake up Miyou. He has been sleeping for most of the day. He will definitely be full of energy when the sun sets completely. It is perfect to leave the night vigil work to him. After all, humans are suitable for moving during the day, and vampires,
Night is their special event. And that woman, if she is willing to get out of the car, take her upstairs, if not, leave some food and lock it in the car." Brett ordered.
"No problem." Laite agreed, turned to look at Miyou who was huddled in the corner, shook his body and shouted:
"Miyou, wake up, we have arrived at the Donusk ruins."
"Oh, Laite...brother." Miyou's voice was a little low, with a slightly cold aura.
Immediately afterwards, he coughed slightly, turned around, stared at Laite with his eyes that turned blood red at some point, with scarlet liquid flowing from the corners of his mouth, and responded inarticulately:
"Are we here...are we here?"
"Uh, what's wrong with you? Are you sick?" Laite looked at Miyou worriedly and stretched out his right hand to wipe away the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"No, it's okay, I just...replenished some...energy." Miyou tilted his head to avoid it and explained, showing an apologetic smile.
It was precisely because of this smile that he opened his mouth, and an "energy" that he had not yet had time to swallow flowed out from the gap between his scarlet and dark yellow teeth, and all of it fell on the military green uniform top.
Wearing his uniform trousers and the cushions of his chariot seat, he looked extremely embarrassed.
Then, he glanced at Laite awkwardly, quickly swallowed half of the "energy" in his mouth, and randomly wiped the area contaminated by the scarlet substance.
"Brett asked you just now if you were wearing a mask. I think it's completely unnecessary. You are a vampire and a lost person, so you will definitely not be affected by the Wuxin virus. I suggest you not drink it secretly next time from the underground market...
Uh, I'm full of energy. It's great to be aboveboard and avoid embarrassment. After all, what kind of scenes have you not seen among the Imperial soldiers who are performing missions in various places? Brett." Laite turned to look at Brett and shouted:
"I think Miyou and I are ready. How about we ask Miyou to ask the [sacrifice] woman if she wants to follow. If she doesn't want to, just give the key to Miyou."
.Should we go up first and arrange temporary accommodation?"
"I think it's okay." Brett nodded and threw the chariot key to Miyou. Together with Laite, he opened the chariot door and stepped on the hard street floor filled with dirt.
Laite subconsciously glanced past a broken signboard beside him that read "No. 24, Eternal Silence Block" written in Zine Empire language, and looked up at the huge, orange-red sun that radiated golden brilliance.
Against the background of the setting sun, the dim streets seemed to have a brighter atmosphere of "blood color", and the entire city ruins seemed to have turned into a painting painted with gold or red paint that made people feel a tremor that penetrated deeply into the soul.
Sensational oil painting.
This reminded Laite of an ancient legend spread in the previous world:
"At dusk, it is neither day nor night, visible and invisible people can encounter unforeseen things."