How to Feed an Abyss!

Chapter 52.2 – Echo

In the evening, Shi Yuan got off work, and Lu Tinghan picked him up.

In the past half a month, Lu Tinghan has rarely been free. At least his work and rest were the same as normal workers, and he could often pick him up.

In the car, Shi Yuan shared what he had seen and heard for a day as usual. Lu Tinghan put his arms around Shi Yuan with one hand, and skillfully deleted the “Great Torrent! The little wolf dog is absolutely amazing XXXXX”, “XXXXXX commit the following crimes! XXXXXX” and “Milky XXXXXXXXX!”.

The black car stopped downstairs in the old house, and the two went upstairs, fed the wretched fish and the white bird, and nested on the sofa together.

Lu Tinghan buried his head in sketching, Shi Yuan curled his tail and put his chin on Lu Tinghan’s shoulder, watching him outline the scenery and characters so vividly.

He didn’t know much about art and he sincerely praised his human every time.

When Lu Tinghan finished painting the lake, Shi Yuan said again that there was an Abyss Watcher working in the welfare center who wanted to introduce someone to him.

Lu Tinghan: “How did you answer?”

Shi Yuan: “I refused.”

“And the reason?”

Shi Yuan was very happy: “I said I have 1 at home.”

Lu Tinghan: “……”

Shi Yuan couldn’t hold back his words at all and went on again. Lu Tinghan interrupted him and pulled back to the topic: “What do you mean, there is 1 at home?”

Shi Yuan looked at him: “Aren’t you 1?”

Lu Tinghan: “……”

Obviously, Shi Yuan’s understanding was off. Both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ would make the issue…subtle. Lu Tinghan held Shi Yuan’s shoulder and asked, “What do you think ‘1’ is?”

“Just a very powerful person,” Shi Yuan said.

As expected, Shi Yuan’s understanding was completely off.

—Shi Yuan had been in the city for so long, and Lu Tinghan was the first person to discover this problem.

Lu Tinghan: “Who told you that? Is it that girl again?”

Shi Yuan said, “No. It’s a friend of mine named Lu Bafang.”

Lu Tinghan asked calmly: “Which team is he in?”

Shi Yuan recalled for a while: “It seems to be from the 34th logistics team, what’s the matter?”

Lu Tinghan: “Nothing, I’m just asking.”

At the same time, Lu Bafang, who was in the main city, sneezed fiercely: “Achoo!”

“What’s wrong with you, have a cold?” a soldier turned his head and asked.

“No,” Lu Bafang rubbed his arms, “It’s just that my back is cold, and I feel like I’m being targeted. It’s so scary, so scary, so scary…”

Soldier: “You must have done something wrong, so someone is looking for you.”

Lu Bafang murmured: “I have been doing good deeds all my life, how can I do something wrong? That can only be an unintentional offense. I will immediately become a Buddha and try to reflect on my mistakes and reform myself…”

And Shi Yuan also realized that it was wrong: “Is this word bad, did I use it wrong?”

Lu Tinghan replied: “It’s really not right.”

Shi Yuan asked, “Then what should I do?”

Lu Tinghan said: “Next time you encounter this situation, if you want to refuse, just say ‘I have a man’.”

“Okay,“ Shi Yuan said, “I’ll remember.”

Lu Tinghan said, “Now I ask you, if someone introduces you to someone, how do you answer?”

Shi Yuan: “I have a man.”

The answer was correct, Shi Yuan got a touch and let out a satisfied purr.

It wasn’t until before going to bed that Shi Yuan realized that they hadn’t talked about the “Echo” plan.

Unlike everyone’s celebration tonight, Lu Tinghan didn’t say anything about it, nor did he take the initiative to mention it.

Shi Yuan rolled the quilt on the bed and asked Lu Tinghan, “Alice has found the electromagnetic wave frequency. Are you unhappy?”

Lu Tinghan’s tone was faint: “If there is a breakthrough, then I must be happy.”

This didn’t sound happy at all. Shi Yuan said again: “We will be able to contact other people soon, such as the Empire. Mr. Lin said, the Empire may have invented some new technology that can change our situation.”

“Hmm.” Lu Tinghan rubbed Shi Yuan’s head and smiled lightly. “…maybe.”

—After that, Shi Yuan recalled that Lu Tinghan’s attitude was prescient.

He seemed to have known the result a long time ago.

On the first day, the electromagnetic wave channel did not respond.

The next day, there was no response.

On the third day, there was no response.

The fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day, the seventh day… there was no response.

The speed of electromagnetic waves was the speed of light, and even if they were disturbed by the abyss, they would have already touched every corner of the planet. Like the radio silence during the war, there was no sound in the channel.

[This is the Alliance, please reply when you receive it]

[This is the Alliance, please reply when you receive it]

[This is the Alliance, please reply when you receive it]

A call disappeared into the radio waves.

It took three months for people to go from eager anticipation, to anxious disbelief, to utter despair.

“How could this happen?” they asked over and over again, “Where did the Empire go? Where did the other survivors go?”

“No, the world is so big, and there is a continent on the other side of the ocean. Someone should still be alive! The Empire has so many armies and so many forts, so they should be living a much more comfortable life than us.”

“Could it be that they can’t receive the signal?”

“Didn’t you also listen to the professor? People who are still alive must have military power… If they don’t even have electromagnetic waves, can they really survive?”

“Wait a minute, maybe there is not enough time.”

“It’s already enough, if they haven’t replied by now, there won’t be any later.”

There were still only the light dots of two cities on the pitch-black map, drifting alone.

They tried again and again.

No response.

No response.

No response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response, no response

It took them 49 years to throw a stone at this silent world. The stone splashed with ripples, and the crisp sound pierced the heavy curtain, but the expected echo could not be heard.

Maybe in a certain corner, there were really other survivors.

But, so what?

If they couldn’t contact, if they couldn’t talk to them, if they couldn’t see each other’s faces and share common suffering, then there was no point whether they exist or not, they couldn’t reach them after all. In this silent radio frequency, they were isolated islands and the only survivors.

It was in the past and it will be in the future.

For a while, the atmosphere fell to the bottom.

Lu Tinghan was as calm as ever. He held a meeting when it was time to have a meeting, and commanded when it was time to command. After resisting several high-level warnings, he deleted the p*rn files in Shi Yuan’s mobile phone when he was free, such as the ej*c*lation series of male college students.

Shi Yuan understood that Lu Tinghan knew the result of the “Echo” plan from the beginning.

Lu Tinghan told him: “There is still ‘Overlook’, find a habitable planet, and do everything in our power to let a spacecraft set off with fertilized eggs and seeds. ‘Overlook’ cannot save us, but if it goes well, human civilization will continue there.”

Shi Yuan said: “I have heard others say that it will take many, many years for ‘Overlook’.”

“Well, it is very difficult to observe the universe. It would be much simpler if the Aerospace Center was still there, but we can’t go back.” Lu Tinghan said, “Moreover, the ‘Overlook’ project has suffered a huge blow.”

Shi Yuan’s tail bent out a question mark: “What is it?”

Lu Tinghan: “There was a temporary aerospace center in Iron City that aided in the research of ‘Overlook’ and collected very important data. When Iron City fell, it was lost along with much other data.” He paused for a moment. “Lu Zhun and Yan Xin were both killed in battle at the communication tower, and before they died, they tried to transmit the data out.”

Shi Yuan: “It didn’t work?”

“Not really. They protected a large amount of data, including the battle data of the defense facilities in each area when the city fell, as well as the marching route of the infected creature riot, which gave us a great reference value for the subsequent defense of the city,” Lu Tinghan replied, “They just ran out of time.”

—Time, everything takes time.

Abyss No.0 had an endless, cycle of time, but humans must always race against time, and fight for one moment.

Shi Yuan asked, “Then if you go back to the communication tower, can you still retrieve the data?”

“It’s hard to say, the data is indeed there, and the storage hard disk is probably scrapped.” Lu Tinghan took a sip of clear tea. “Besides, no one can go back.”

That night, before going to bed, Shi Yuan kissed Lu Tinghan’s side face.

Lu Tinghan said, “Why are you so active today?”

“No, reason.” Shi Yuan wrapped his arms around him and took another big kiss.

Then he was pressed by Lu Tinghan, making Shi Yuan’s tail completely roll up and his toes curled up.

The next day, the Level I warning sounded, Lu Tinghan rushed to the front line, and people fled to underground shelters.

The infection wavelength of Abyss No.0 reappeared, lasted briefly for 2 minutes, and disappeared again.

There was a huge sunrise in the wasteland. Today’s sky was a blend of navy blue and orange. The wind howled, the stratus clouds surged, and Shi Yuan headed towards Iron City.