Embers Ad Infinitum

Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao and others, then looked at Qiao Chu again and said:

"Where is that lab?"

Qiao Chu, who was wearing a helmet and could not see the expression on his face, had not yet answered, and the desolate and hoarse roar echoed through the sky again:

"Ouch!"

This time, Shang Jianyao and others could hear clearly that the roar came from not far away, just a few streets behind the "City Intelligent Network Control Center".

It was so huge and so loud that it made Shang Jianyao and others' ears buzz and their heads felt dizzy.

It seemed to come from deep inside everyone's heart, from the memory of fear that could not be resolved. It made Long Yuehong's legs shake uncontrollably, and Bai Chen subconsciously tightened his scarf as hard as if he wanted to strangle himself.

Jiang Baimian's body trembled slightly, as if he was using all his strength to fight against the fear. Shang Jianyao shrank slightly, as if he was still a child.

However, he quickly returned to normal. No, not quite normal. He smiled and looked very excited.

His thoughts seemed to skip the word "fear" and come to "excitement".

Of course, this is more because the huge, hoarse and desolate roar has stopped, leaving only the remaining sound and the roars that come and go from all over the ruins.

At this time, Qiao Chu chuckled without any smile:

"That laboratory is where the sound came from just now."

Hearing this sentence, Jiang Baimian and others were shocked and thought:

A mysterious laboratory with a huge roar... A hydropower station that has been in operation since the destruction of the old world... A ruined city that is regularly maintained... Some of the wires and equipment that are still in use today... A device that can force people to sleep Cat-shaped monsters... Nightmare horses that can create real nightmares and lead to various serious consequences... The existence of "higher heartless people" is suspected, and there are certain areas deep in the swamp where there is no radiation pollution but there are many monsters...

When these pieces of information are connected together, the truth seems both close at hand and extremely terrifying.

Jiang Baimian was frightened but also a little excited.

That's one of the reasons she formed the "Old Tune Group"!

"I wonder if the research in that laboratory is related to the destruction of the old world..." Jiang Baimian said to himself.

Qiao Chu ignored the question and stepped out with his legs covered in black metal frames:

"It's time to power up."

Jiang Baimian chased after him and asked quickly:

"Do you have a layout diagram of this place?"

"First go to the underground machine room to close the switch and restore the power supply to this building, and then go to the power grid center on the 17th floor to complete the power supply." Qiao Chu seemed to have already figured out the situation of this "urban smart network control center".

Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao and others did not say anything more and followed Qiao Chu, who was wearing an exoskeleton device, through the left side of the gate and entered the courtyard.

The place is very spacious and well greened. Various abandoned cars are neatly parked in corresponding locations without blocking the road.

Clumps of tall or short, fluffy or messy dark green plants were scattered around, shadowy like monsters hiding in the dark, making the already frightened Long Yuehong's body become even more tense, as if he would respond at any time. Exciting action.

In his own opinion, the team should not have entered the "City Intelligent Network Control Center" at all, restored the power supply here, and tried to open all the doors of the mysterious laboratory.

Putting aside whether this would bring a new round of disaster to the already fragile human society on the earth, Long Yuehong felt that there was no way that she and others could withstand the dangers contained in that mysterious laboratory and this weird ruins.

He doesn't want to sacrifice at all, and he doesn't want to turn into an 80-month pension.

In front of the building where the "Urban Intelligent Network Control Center" is located, there is a pool. The water in it is turbid and there are a lot of debris floating in it, but it is not much more than expected.

Under the weak moonlight and starlight, Long Yuehong suddenly saw a black shadow flashing past in the water.

"There's something!" He aimed his "Berserker" assault rifle there in fear.

Qiao Chu looked back at him:

"A common fish."

Long Yuehong breathed a sigh of relief, but the residual excitement finally ignited the fear accumulated in his heart.

"No, it's not ordinary! Don't even the 'unintentional' eat fish? I, I don't want to go in! I give up! I'll go back to the jeep and wait for you!" He said all his inner thoughts in one breath.

At this moment, he actually felt that Qiao Chu was not that attractive.

Qiao Chu, who was wearing a helmet, was stunned for a second and then narrowed his eyes.

He silently raised the arm covered with the exoskeleton device and aimed the weird silver rifle at Long Yuehong.

Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen opened their mouths at the same time, ready to stop them, but they were a little hesitant. They didn't know whether to take action. They seemed to be in a fierce battle inside.

Qiao Chu didn't give them a chance to react and was ready to pull the trigger.

Suddenly, he found that he couldn't pull his fingers back!

In addition, his fingers can move flexibly in any direction.

All he seems to be missing is the action of pulling the trigger!

Qiao Chu subconsciously looked past Long Yuehong and landed on Shang Jianyao, who was further behind.

Shang Jianyao's body was slightly bent, as if he was breathing heavily.

He responded to Qiao Chu's gaze with deep eyes, and said with difficulty but seriously:

"My mother said that even if you like someone again, you can't condone their bad habits."

…………

When Jiang Baimian fired a grenade at the "Sleeping Cat", causing a big explosion.

Somewhere in the ruins of the city, there is a square with many sculptures.

The mechanical monk Jingfa, who was wearing yellow monk robes and red cassocks, stopped what he was doing and looked back at the place where the sound came from.

In front of him were several tattered corpses of female "Heartless Ones".

Not long after, the roar that shook the sky sounded again from the direction of the explosion.

As the red light in the electronic eyes flashed a few times, the mechanical monk Jingfa abandoned the corpses around him and strode towards the place where the sound came from.

…………

In the dark ruins of the city, on a certain street or in a certain house.

Du Heng, a handsome middle-aged man wearing a dark black robe, long hair of the same color, and a beard around his mouth, said to himself doubtfully:

"Not here?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of explosion came from not too far away.

Du Heng didn't react much to this, but soon, a desolate and hoarse roar also sounded in that direction.

"Is it over there?" Du Heng thought for a moment and walked towards the stairs.

…………

Inside the ruins, in a shop on the street.

The blond Taoist priest Jialolan was lying on a soft black leather armchair, drowsy.

Unfortunately, she couldn't fall asleep and was woken up by a series of explosions and roars.

"Hey, my cultivation is still not enough. Master can sleep peacefully next to the factory... That's all. Now that you're awake, let's just go there peacefully. I don't know if I can meet a hitchhiker on the way..." Jia Luolan said. He blamed himself.

Even when she talks to herself now, she uses gray dialect.

Then, Garolan stood up slowly and walked step by step towards the location of the roar.

…………

On the other side of the ruins of the city, there is a square with many equipment.

A convoy of five vehicles is parked here.

Among those five vehicles, one was a gray-green armored vehicle.

Next to the armored vehicle, a strong man wearing a gray-green beret looked at the harvest and nodded with satisfaction.

"Brother Li, how long has it been since we filled up all the vehicles? How about we, brothers, look around for vehicles that can still be driven and repaired, and try to get one for each of us?" A man with a shaved head approached, delighted. said.

Lin Li, the "hyena" known as Brother Li, looked around, his eyes slowly scanning the faces of the twelve or three core members, and saw that everyone was equally happy and excited.

His nose is very straight, his forehead is somewhat raised, and his appearance is quite distinctive.

"It's okay." Lin Li nodded and agreed with the bald man's suggestion, "The main reason is that we haven't found any weapons that can effectively improve our strength this time, or technical information that can be exchanged for good things from big forces. We have to prepare for the future, Black There must be a big force behind Rat Town, and we must deal with it before they figure out what happened."

Just as he was about to add a few more words, explosions and roars sounded in the same direction one after another.

After listening quietly for a while, "Hyena" Lin Li smiled and said:

“It looks like there’s something good over there.

"Let's go over and take a look. If we have a chance, we'll do it. If we don't, we'll find something else."

This has always been the style of their bandit group, just like a group of hyenas that come after smelling carrion, but don't risk getting close, and only wait for opportunities in the distance.

"Yes, Brother Li!" His core members were about to take turns sleeping, but after hearing this, they all stood up energetically.

…………

Hearing Shang Jianyao's words, the corners of Qiao Chu's mouth moved slightly.

Only then did Long Yuehong realize that Qiao Chu wanted to kill her.

Suddenly, all the good things he had imagined fell apart at the same time, allowing him to truly return to "reality".

"He, he..." Long Yuehong discovered with horror that Qiao Chu was not a companion at all, not a very charming person worth following.

Along the way, I felt as if lard had deceived me.

This is so weird!

Before Long Yuehong finished speaking, circles of illusory ripples appeared in Qiao Chu's golden eyes.

Jiang Baimian, who had decided to stop Qiao Chu, suddenly felt a strong sense of frustration:

I clearly wanted to take Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong away from the dangerous area, but instead led them to the high-risk ruins; a field training that should have been ordinary has developed to this level. This is the team leader's dereliction of duty; Because of a mistake, I had to give up my dream, and my body almost collapsed...

It's better to die if you are like this...

At this moment, Jiang Baimian was completely disheartened, gave up struggling, and just wanted to wait for death.

Bai Chen, Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao also had the same reaction. They were all so frustrated that they were unwilling to do anything or say a word.

Qiao Chu did not attack, but instead put away his silver rifle, with cold eyes and a gentle voice, he said:

"Don't worry, it's all over."

Long Yuehong and others, who were trapped in a dark and depressing world, seemed to hear the angel's comfort.

PS: Please update in advance and ask for recommendation votes~