The middle-aged man with dirty mud on his body smoked a cigarette and looked at the bustling and clean streets and the luxuriously decorated shops around him.
This reminded him of his old life. In the past, he would occasionally go shopping in the commercial street with his wife and children. Although his income was not high, he could come at least once every two months.
But in this underground shelter, he could no longer bear this kind of consumption. Of course, there was no need to come. His wife and children died outside the shelter.
Watching a wealthy family happily cutting and grilling large pieces of smoked beef in a shop, he recalled the smiles of his wife and children.
The ventilation system of the shop didn't seem to be very good, and there was a faint smell of barbecue coming out. It was the smell of apple charcoal barbecue that his wife once loved most, where large pieces of beef were roasted for five hours with apple cider vinegar and various seasonings.
.
He couldn't help but take two more puffs, and then took another puff of cigarette.
There was a slight satisfaction in his expression. Since entering this shelter, he has never smoked again. It's not that he has quit, but that he can't afford it. Cigarettes have completely become a luxury product. One cigarette can be exchanged for thirty nutritional blocks, or you can
In exchange for five pounds of seasonal bread.
The half-pack in my arms is still used as a reserve since I brought it in. After all, who knows when I will fall ill.
"call."
He exhaled a puff of smoke and watched the smoke disperse on the busy street.
Behind him, more and more people emerged from the sewers, all of them in their fifties, middle-aged men and women wearing workers' uniforms, all carrying large bags, like rats emerging from the sewers.
They walked out of the alley nervously, like mice walking onto the street, nervously looking at the incompatible bustling shops.
The middle-aged man turned his head and glanced, walked over, and said with a smile: "Don't be nervous."
"Come on, let's all have a cigarette."
He took out the remaining half pack of cigarettes in his arms, broke one into two, and stuffed it into the hands of these people.
"I have remembered it all." He whispered while lighting fires one by one: "Don't be nervous, pretend you are here for shopping, spread out, spread out on the road."
"Slowly approach the Rockefeller Building."
"Wait for the gunfire and rush in together."
"Yeah." Someone took a puff of cigarette and felt calmer.
Some people are still nervous, looking at the clean road outside the alley, their fingers are trembling.
There was a woman who did not smoke and coughed due to the cigarette smoke, but she still managed to take a big puff.
"Also." The man continued to lower his voice and urged: "We don't have bracelets, so don't attract other people's attention. Put your hands in your pockets, and don't let anyone notice that we don't have bracelets."
"Okay, pretending to be husband and wife holding hands, that way you won't be suspected."
"When someone asks, just say that you are buying a violin for your child, or that you have saved up money to have a meal. Tell more about how determined you are, so that it seems more real... After all, we can't afford it here.
The place was really not working, so I told the construction workers that the sewer was leaking."
"Okay, disperse."
At this moment, middle-aged men and women wearing work clothes walked out of countless alleys on this bustling street, wandering slowly and inconspicuously under the cover of the crowd.
He was carrying a bit of mud and stench, and he was carrying a big bag with a shovel and a hammer on his back, as if he had just returned from work.
In fact, it's not even remotely eye-catching. Their outfits are incompatible with their surroundings.
But no one wanted to take another look. Even if someone passed by them, they would subconsciously hold their breath, speed up their pace, and quickly move away.
And these people looked at the food in the exquisite shops around them with greedy and narrow eyes, swallowing their saliva.
In the sewer.
"Hurry up!"
Mu Wanxia stood at the entrance of a passage, urging in a low voice. There were boxes of ammunition in the mud at her feet.
People ran past her quickly. Each one looked deeply at Mu Wanxia and nodded in greeting. Then they quickly picked up the weapons and ammunition in the wooden box and stuffed them into their own bags, deliberately leaking the factory information in the bags.
Tools as cover.
Then like a mouse, he crawled into the branches of the sewers and went to the sewer mouths.
Rockefeller Tower.
Top floor conference room.
The "sunlight" outside the window gradually becomes weaker, and the lights on the dome become dim. This is to simulate the normal day and night lighting design.
"Wow." Mr. Carnegie yawned, looked away from the battle scene on the screen, lit a cigar, and took a puff: "It's so late, it's half past six."
"Everyone, my child's equestrian class is about to end, and I have to go back to have dinner with my child."
He stood up, adjusted his custom-made shiny suit and black tie, and bowed to everyone with his top hat in hand.
"That's pretty much the end of today's meeting."
Other Jishihui members also nodded.
"Old man, let's finish it. I've been in meetings all day and I'm exhausted."
"Yes, according to the current situation, if the gods want to break in one door at a time... it will take at least more than 200 hours. Haha, I guess Daxia will soon lure them away."
Mike also yawned a little tiredly, stood up from his seat, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window as if strolling.
Look down.
On the street below, inconspicuous workers in work clothes were seen wandering among the crowd, faintly approaching here.
He glanced vaguely at the pendulum clock in the corner, and then said: "It's indeed getting late, father, let's adjourn the meeting."
Downstairs of the Rockefeller Tower.
There are a large number of soldiers stationed around the Rockefeller Tower, even equipped with tanks, armored vehicles and other weapons.
The soldiers were not nervous, most were chatting in a relaxed manner, and several patrol teams were also relaxed.
"Ender, go on." A soldier standing guard ran back and threw a bottle of red wine to a young soldier. Then he glanced at the temporary camp nervously: "The squad leader didn't notice that I left, right?"
"No, the monitor went out to eat." Ander said helplessly, "You sneaked out just to buy this thing?"
"Don't underestimate this red wine, but it cost me half a month's military salary! You can only buy it here!" The older soldier whispered: "I just asked around there, and there is a business doing that nearby...
"
As he said that, he straightened his back and said with a somewhat lewd smile: "I will take you to see the world tonight. Hey, you don't know, those pretty women outside are here, and they only need a few pieces of bread."
…”
Ender was a little confused and looked in the direction of the Steel Gate: "This is not good, it's still over there..."
"What are you worried about? Your brother will definitely come back safely. I heard that there are evacuation passages over there." The older soldier laughed, "Besides, your brother is in the 235th combat area, what the hell is he afraid of?
Can the gods really open the door on the 235th floor? Now forty minutes have passed and we are only on the second floor!"
"If you ask me, let's just relax while we're stationed here."
"After all, there are not many opportunities to be able to garrison a place like this... If you ask me, there is no need to garrison a place like this at all. Who is crazy enough to dare to attack here? And now is the time when the gods are coming!"
"Behind us is the Jishihui Building! By the way, you know Jishihui, right? I didn't know it before, let me tell you..."
The older warrior spitted like stars.
Ender turned around helplessly. He was thinking about how to refuse this veteran's invitation. He also wanted to save his military salary and take his parents, who always ate sour bread, to a birthday party at a star-rated hotel on this street. He didn't want to
Take money and go out to be cool.
"Huh?" Ander suddenly felt something was wrong.
"Have you noticed that there are a lot of workers on the street?" Ander asked, pointing to the busy street ahead.
"Why," the veteran pressed his nose, "you still don't allow other workers to take to the streets?"
"Things here are very expensive." Ander frowned and said, "We don't even dare to wander around here..."
The veteran grinned and didn't take it seriously: "Maybe he saved his money for several months just to have a good meal."
"But... there are too many workers." Ander frowned. At some point, most of the streets were filled with workers, all carrying bags of tools!
Just as he was talking, a group of people in work clothes were approaching the cordon!
"What are you doing!" Ander shouted, walked over quickly, and said in a deep voice: "Don't come near here!"
"Ah? Why?" The worker was stunned and said nervously, "I, let's go in for construction... Someone called and said that the sewer is leaking."
"You can't come in!" Ander said solemnly: "Ask the people upstairs to call us! Only after we receive the order can we let you in!"
"Oh, it's really troublesome. We are really here for construction." Another worker came up and chuckled: "Look, we brought all the tools."
He took off the backpack on his back and slowly opened it.
But Ander's expression suddenly changed: "Don't move!"
The worker paused slightly as he opened his backpack.
Ander pointed his gun at the worker who reached out to open his backpack and stared at the worker's wrist: "Where's your ID bracelet?"
As soon as these words came out.
All the workers on the street fell silent, and the whole street was silent.
The soldiers who were still resting also looked here.
Time seemed to have stopped for two seconds.
The worker suddenly smiled: "The bracelet... I thought it hurt my hands, so I stuffed it into my bag. Look, I'll take it out for you right now..."
