Chapter 65: A Thousand People
's matter-of-fact counter-question made feel like his worldview was collapsing all over again.
He stood frozen for a good several seconds before he snapped back to his senses.
At this moment, his heart was filled with a surreal feeling: "Weren't we all supposed to be survivors muddling through the apocalypse together? How are you guys this insane?"
still remembered that brutal encounter all too well. He knew exactly how terrifying that white-winged creature was.
When that white lightning bolt—capable of slicing through steel like paper—had descended, they hadn't even been able to mount any effective resistance.
Bullets only sparked off its body. It moved like a ghost, and a single backhanded claw swipe could tear through the reinforced steel plates of their modified trucks.
If the monster hadn't stopped after killing a dozen or so people, choosing not to hunt them to the death, they never would have escaped.
Even today, that elegant yet lethal white figure remained a nightmare pressing down on the hearts of everyone who had lived through it.
A monster maxed out in offense, defense, and speed—how the hell were you supposed to fight that?
But now, this young man named had told him, in the most matter-of-fact tone imaginable, that they'd taken down more than one of those things.
At that moment, the last shred of doubt in 's heart dissolved like smoke.
After all, aside from the official government, who else could boast firepower this fearsome?
"Let's go, Old Gu," clapped him on the shoulder, breaking the awkward silence. "Don't overthink it. Whatever it is, we'll talk about it on a full stomach."
"Mm." nodded mechanically, forcing the storm in his heart to settle.
A few minutes later, when the massive convoy of over three hundred people and more than forty assorted vehicles followed 's armored detachment to their destination in a grand procession, everyone was stunned by what they saw.
The wall stood twelve meters tall, its entire surface a cold matte black, the smooth face reflecting a metallic gleam under the sun.
Along the top of the wall were six-barreled rapid-fire turrets that looked like they hit hard. Facing their direction, an even more sci-fi-looking cannon with a hair-raising bore diameter was slowly swiveling their way.
Blue-black launch rails, dense electromagnetic acceleration rings, and heat-dissipation fins on either side glowing with a blue-white standby light.
Even though and his people had never seen anything like it, just looking at it was enough to tell them: if that thing hit you, you probably wouldn't even feel the pain.
"Oh my... god..."
The young man craned his neck back, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
"Boss, look at the sky!" leaned out the car window, pointing upward.
Several sleek black drones were cruising at low altitude along the outside of the wall, weapons pylons faintly visible beneath their wings.
This wasn't just impressive—this was science fiction.
In these people's imagination, a bit of land fenced off with bricks and layers of barbed wire was already what a secure looked like.
But this thing before them... this was straight out of a sci-fi movie?!!
"This... how long did it take to build this wall?!" muttered to himself. He couldn't fathom how much manpower and material it would take to complete such a monumental project in the apocalypse.
"How do we get in?" took a deep breath, pushing down his shock, and voiced the question on everyone's mind.
Before them was nothing but an unbroken black wall—not even the crack of a door was visible.
Yet the infantry fighting vehicle leading the way showed no sign of slowing or going around. It simply drove straight at the wall.
"Relax, this is cutting-edge tech!" chuckled, then spoke into his : " , open the gate. We're back."
[Received! Opening temporary quantum-state passage.] A calm, gentle electronic voice rang out right on cue.
[Everyone, welcome home!]
The voice made and the others freeze for a moment. Even though had told them along the way that the 's administrator was a super AI named " ,"
every back-and-forth with this " " still gave them a strange, era-spanning sensation.
And what happened next upended their understanding even further.
Just as the first infantry fighting vehicle was about to slam into the wall, a pale blue glow, like a ripple of water, spread across the wall's surface ahead of its nose.
The next second, the vehicle drove "in" without a single sound of impact.
When it was 's turn, they caught more details.
The instant the vehicle's nose vanished on this side, it reappeared simultaneously on the other side of the wall, as if the wall's thickness simply didn't exist.
That massive, impregnable wall had, in that moment, become a purely two-dimensional plane.
This was yet another advanced function of the defensive barrier—it had completely abandoned the old "gate versus wall" debate.
It simply chose to open a suitable "gate" for authorized targets at any time and place, without weakening any other part of the structure.
If anything unexpected happened, the temporary gate could vanish in an instant, ejecting anything in the process of passing through back outside the wall.
After driving inside, couldn't resist reaching out and touching the wall to confirm it was really there.
"Holy crap! That's cutting-edge tech too?!"
The sheer shock finally broke through 's composure and made him blurt out loud. He felt that even if he saw them whip a warp drive out of their back pocket right now, he probably wouldn't be surprised anymore.
"Easy, easy," 's voice rang out again, his tone extremely modest. "Our Dawn technology is just a bit more advanced than everyone else's. Nothing special."
Apart from the smile he couldn't keep off his face, he really did look quite modest.
Inside the barrier was a whole other world.
Vast, neatly planned ecological farming zones stretched out, lush with green. Many survivors were working in the fields, some looking tired, but none with fear or panic in their eyes.
Machines called Sentinels patrolled the roads. Above, several smaller, nimbler swarm drones skimmed by at low altitude, forming a three-dimensional that looked impressively strong.
The three hundred-plus people in 's convoy had gone completely numb by now. They felt they had no energy left for shock.
...
That morning, the cafeteria, which had been hastily given extra rations for the newcomers' arrival, was steaming hot.
When basins of glistening braised pork, fragrant steamed pork with rice flour, and mountains of white rice were set on the tables, most of the survivors in 's convoy went red-eyed on the spot.
How long had it been since they'd seen this much meat, this many hot, properly cooked meals?
For a while, the cafeteria held nothing but the sounds of ravenous eating and muffled, happy sobs.
Only after everyone had eaten and drunk their fill did find leaning against the wall, contentedly burping.
"Old Gu, what are your plans next? If you're just looking to trade supplies..."
interrupted him with a look of utter bewilderment. "Trade? What trade?"
He wiped his mouth and said with total conviction: "Aren't we survivors rescued by the authorities?"
Are you kidding? They'd been looking for a all along. Now that they'd finally found one, why would anyone want to leave?
Besides, even if he wanted to go, the three hundred-plus people in the convoy probably wouldn't follow him anyway.
Hearing this, and exchanged a knowing smile. Everything was understood without a word.
This outcome was no surprise to at all. This was what you called competitiveness!
"Great! Then welcome, officially, to the Dawn family!" clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, I'll take you all to the for formal registration."
"There's... an too?" 's eyes went wide again.
Man, just how many surprises were hidden in this place?
Then, after a full vote (which passed unanimously, without a shred of suspense), 's convoy, along with and the several children escorted back by a squad had dispatched, totaling 313 survivors, were formally incorporated into .
When led them down the sci-fi-style elevator platform into the even more advanced , these new members' worldviews were refreshed once again.
Meanwhile, in 's consciousness, a string of system notification chimes had him rather excited too, his reactor practically radiating warmth (the desilting machines were hard at work).
Adding the five hundred-plus from , the scattered survivors rescued since, and 's three hundred-plus people,
's total population had finally broken through the thousand mark, reaching 1,180 people.
[Ding! Detected that the number of survivors housed in the has exceeded one thousand.]
[Calculating rewards...]
[Obtained : 10,000.]
[Unlocked building: .]
[Unlocked technology: blueprint x1.]
[Current : 12,130.]
[Ding! Detected that the 's development phase has met the standard. One triggered: A Trade for Every Craft.]
[Mission description: Humans may not be born with knowledge, but training can turn rotten wood into pure gold.
There are no incompetent people—only training systems that are not yet advanced or powerful enough.
Please establish at least three mature vocational training systems within the (e.g., combat, production, research), and have 100 survivors pass the assessment and obtain basic vocational certification (0/100).]
[Mission rewards: 5,000 , unlock "Guardian" Individual Exoskeleton x10, blueprint x1.]
Just as expected, another wave of generous rewards! But he didn't rush to count them. Instead, he focused all his attention in another direction.
...
After splitting from , led Team One and Team Two, continuing down the highway toward .
Yet the closer they got to the reservoir, the tighter everyone's brows drew together.
The vegetation on both sides grew sparser, replaced by an indescribable desolation. Dead trees leaned crookedly along the roadside, their trunks crawling with dark red filamentous substances.
The stench in the air grew heavier, seeping through the cracks around the windows and stinging everyone's noses.
"This smell is like a septic tank exploded." cursed and shut his window tight.
Soon, scattered monsters they had never seen before began appearing along both sides of the road—the "water ghosts."
Their bodies were twisted, their movements slick and swift, and strange "heh-heh" sounds came from their sacs.
"Brother ," said as he watched a team member blow a monster's head apart with a controlled burst, then asked into his , "have you done any research on these things?"
[Type-01 underwater biological weapon—that's my official designation for them.] 's voice came through.
[Of course, you can also follow the children's lead and call them 'water ghosts' for short.]
"Got it." nodded, then frowned. "But if they're underwater combat weapons, how did they get onto land?"
"Could it have something to do with that mysterious woman by the lake the kids mentioned?"
[Insufficient intel. Unable to analyze.] 's voice betrayed no emotion.
[But anything that can mingle with monsters is most likely another thing like .]
[Or even if it is a person, it's definitely not a decent one.]
"Yeah, I think so too." nodded in agreement. "Either way, we'll head to the reservoir and see what's what first."
[Attention: 300 meters ahead, density is rising sharply.]
"Roger!" 's eyes sharpened, and he immediately gave the order. "Everyone! Prepare to engage!"
The convoy shifted formation in an instant, and the infantry fighting vehicles' gun barrels began to traverse.
The next second, piercing screeches and the roar of heavy gunfire once again resounded across the land.
...
, inside the .
stood before the massive holographic screen, rapidly flipping through sets of complex genetic sequence data.
Not far beside her, in the sterile cultivation chamber, many of the lab mice in a row of cages had already begun to mutate.
In one group, several mice had visible malformed bulges on their abdomens. In worse cases, strands of dark red, velvet-like fibers had pierced through the skin of their bellies and were quivering faintly in the air.
"The preliminary results are in," summarized, looking at the screen. "With a single intake of up to three grams, most of the mice's stomach acid can dissolve this substance, with only a few individuals showing infection symptoms."
"But once it goes over three grams, virtually none escape."
"It should be related to the fact that once this 'algae' reaches a certain scale, its internal homeostatic regulation ability leaps up."
[You mean, the more there is, the more dangerous it gets?]
"Exactly!" replied with conviction.
[But according to the water samples the system has been monitoring, the 'algae' concentration in has already risen by another order of magnitude.]
"Then we're in trouble!" slid off her chair and stretched, continuing with a worried look on her face.
"And I suspect we haven't even seen what this thing really is. The current algal form might just be its 'juvenile stage' or 'vegetative stage.'"
"Once it accumulates enough biomass..."
[What will it become?]
"I don't know." shook her head frankly. "But whatever it is, it definitely isn't anything good."
[If we let it keep spreading freely in the reservoir, it'll only be a matter of time before that thing appears.] 's voice carried a rare hint of irritation.
[It's already annoying enough that they clog my filter screens every single day.]
The constantly clogged screens had genuinely left on edge.
[If only we had proper underwater cleaning tools. If it really comes down to it, I'll just drop a reactor down there—then nobody gets to have a good day!]
What gave him the biggest headache right now was that the had almost no effective means of underwater combat or cleanup.
"Wait!" 's eyes lit up like she'd just thought of something. "Who says we don't have that kind of equipment?"
She hurried over to the desk, dug a detailed map of City out from a pile of documents, and quickly ran her finger across it.
"Notify . After he's done with the cleanup work, have him make a detour to... mm... right, here—Anlan Environmental Protection Company."
Her finger came to rest on a spot—"Anlan Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd."
"There should still be some useful stuff there."