Chapter 99.2 – Exploring the Underground
In the evening, the two of them had dinner with Di Wen.
The other mole people ate raw meat, while Di Wen and the others preferred cooked food. The canned food brought back from the Princess’ warehouse significantly improved the meal, and Lieutenant Bing sent over some compressed food from the aircraft.
Before dinner, Gerald and Morgan dragged a large bag of meat and threw it into each tunnel.
The mole people stretched out their claws and took the meat away with a “swish”. Their eyes turned against the light in the dark, and they walked through the tunnel, rustling, and soon there was the sound of gnawing bones.
Di Wen and Dorothy were cooking soup on the fire. There was long grass, grated bark, and mushrooms of unknown kind in an old copper pot. The brown soup was boiling, and one thick bubble after another emerged. The fragrance was quite unique.
Shi Yuan continued to drink root tea.
He liked the taste.
Lu Tinghan beside him asked, “Where did these monster meat come from?”
“We built some traps to trap monsters,” Di Wen replied while stirring the soup, “The Lambda Abyss is nearby. Its infection feature is ‘floating’, and all the infected groups have the ability to fly. Birds that are good at flying travel around after being infected. Have you heard of the Arctic terns?”
Shi Yuan looked at Lu Tinghan.
Lu Tinghan replied: “Is it the kind of bird that has a long migration route?”
“Yes,” Di Wen nodded, “Before the end of the world, they were the animals with the longest migration journey. Every year, they flew back and forth between the north and south poles to forage, breed, and survive the winter. Many years ago, a group of Arctic terns were infected by the Lambda Abyss and has stayed nearby ever since.”
“They can fly so much!” Dorothy answered briskly.
She picked up a wooden spoon and took a sip of the soup, blew it, and tasted the salty taste.
She continued: “Arctic terns fly around and don’t stop at all, infecting many other creatures. They seem to be nostalgic for the Lambda Abyss and refuse to fly too far, so there are a large number of infected creatures in the air here. They like to eat each other, and we soak the bird meat with the juice of the poisonous herbs and put it on the ground, and they will be poisoned to death after they finish eating.”
Chi Yongge said, “Then won’t their meat be poisonous?”
Dorothy smiled: “It’s poisonous. But we are not normal people either—”
She grinned her sharp teeth.
Shi Yuan thought of something and asked, “Is it the same with the schools of fish in the air in the city?”
“Yes,” Dorothy replied, “They were originally the princess’s pets. They escaped from the underground aquarium and have been flying in the air.” She put down the spoon, and propped her hands on her knees, cupping her face, “I quite like those dolphins and whales.”
She looked hideous and had a small yellow flower pinned to her hair. When she made this move, people thought of a beautiful young girl.
Or, if she hadn’t been infected, she would have been so beautiful.
“Don’t talk nonsense!” Di Wen scolded her hoarsely, “Those are monsters!”
“Mom, you always say that—” Dorothy’s voice lengthened, “Anyway, we can’t get rid of them, so just appreciate them—”
“Nonsense!” Di Wen slammed the spatula on the edge of the pot with a bang, “Go, eat.”
Each person got a bowl of hot, unknown bark mushroom soup. Shi Yuan tasted it and found it not too hard to drink.
Di Wen also opened several cans, including soybeans with tomato sauce and macaroni with tomato. The Empire’s sealing technology was mature. These foods had not deteriorated. They were served with hot soup and the Alliance’s compressed biscuits. It was actually a bit rich.
“Sigh…” Gerald sighed deeply, “It’s so delicious, I almost forgot what tomato tastes like. Ms. Di Wen, have you brought all the canned food back?”
“Hmm.” Di Wen replied, “There are not many cans. How can the princess eat canned food? Those are reserved for emergencies.” She laughed dryly, “it comes in handy.”
While eating, Chi Yongge flipped through the data on the terminal.
He was still racing against time to study the mole people, fusion agents, and inhibitors. Grinding the spear just before a battle, this was a war that could be won by biting the bullet.
At night, Chi Yongge was still studying with the lights on, and Dorothy accompanied him, holding an inhibitor and watching, full of expectation.
Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan slept in the “lair”.
Morgan took them to a slightly larger cave with a lot of hay, leaves, bird feathers, and animal skins on the ground. He said: “This is our bed.”
The natural bed was very soft, and there was the fragrance of leaves, and Shi Yuan was rolling on it with his tail in his arms.
Lu Tinghan spent more time observing the mole people moving outside.
His observations were different from Shi Yuan, they were rigorous and meticulous, with research. Shi Yuan knew that he was getting to know this group of people, so he didn’t bother him and continued to roll until Lu Tinghan returned to him and lay down.
With the flashlight turned off, the faint fragrance of the leaves became more obvious. They were clearly underground, but it was as if they were in the vast wild instead.
Shi Yuan said, “Lu Tinghan! Is this the feeling of camping?”
Lu Tinghan replied: “Everyone usually lives in tents. But it’s a bit like it.”
Shi Yuan rolled around a few times and rolled into his arms: “Then what will we do tomorrow?”
“I just discussed with Di Wen about going to a small nearby city to see the situation. She is afraid of light, we have to leave before dawn.” Lu Tinghan rubbed Shi Yuan’s head, “So go to sleep.”
Shi Yuan: “Purr, purr, purr…”
He fell asleep with satisfaction.
Outside was the sound of mole people crawling. At night, it was the peak of activities, collecting mushrooms, cutting down tree roots, organizing supplies, learning words, and standing guard…
What they did made this place like a small village.
This was indeed the territory of mankind.
The next day, Shi Yuan was awakened by Lu Tinghan very early.
Di Wen and the others returned to the ground. Before dawn, the aircraft headed to the west in a dense darkness.
Thirty minutes later, the ruins of a small city appeared in front of them. The broken walls were swallowed up by the night, like the body of a dead beast.
Di Wen said that this used to be a very important gateway city, guarded by heavy troops.
Di Wen: “The last time I came here, it was still intact, but it was occupied by a group of moles.” She smiled sharply, “Now that the moles are gone, and the place is destroyed, those monsters are more annoying than I thought.”
“Let’s go down and take a look at the situation,” Lu Tinghan said, “Maybe the underground has not been destroyed.”
The aircraft landed slowly, and several infected birds opened their gray eyes, looked at them, and flew away again.
When they arrived at the city, it was also a mess.
Some unknown creature came and knocked the building into pieces.
Di Wen: “It’s that group of fish again. They are always looking for food everywhere, like the reincarnation of starving ghosts.” She sat on a piece of gravel a little tired, “You guys take your time.”
Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan each took a flashlight and shuttled between the ruins. Schools of fish swam here aggressively, and the walls were knocked through. The tall city hall collapsed into ruins, and it must be the whale’s credit.
However, even if the city collapsed like this, traces of past battles could still be seen.
Bullet holes, guns, shell casings, grenade fragments, black marks from the flame…
There was a fierce battle here.
Lu Tinghan thought thoughtfully. He took Shi Yuan to the ruins of the outpost.
“What are you looking for?” Shi Yuan asked him.
“See if we can find combat records,” Lu Tinghan said, “Most soldiers have their own recorders on their helmets.”
Shi Yuan also helped him find it.
After looking for it for a long time, there was nothing. Fragments of helmets and terminals were everywhere, and they were useless.
Until his tail opened a slate and saw a small… walkie-talkie?
He rolled up the walkie-talkie with his tail and waved to Lu Tinghan: “Look!”
Lu Tinghan took it, asked Douglas for a screwdriver and battery, pried open the deformed back cover, cleared the dust and broken rubble, and replaced the battery.
Everyone surrounded him, and he turned on the walkie-talkie.
Its line was miraculously intact, making a “Kshhh—” sound. Soon, a recorded conversation came：
[…First team copy! First team copy that!]
[Second team copy that!]
[Third team copy that!]
The team seemed to have received some orders.
Lu Tinghan stepped back for dozens of seconds and began to replay.
[…Ksshh, ksshh! Ziii—This is General Liszt, all teams pay attention, we will retreat to Elton!]
After decades of time, the explosion continued, and the man almost roared.
[Repeat, we will retreat to Elton!!]
[First team roger that! First team roger that!]
[Second team roger that!]
[Third team roger that!]
[……]
Di Wen’s expression changed instantly.
She murmured: “General Liszt…I, I thought he was dead a long time ago!”
“It looks like they have retreated to Elton.” Lu Tinghan looked at her, “Do you have any recollection?”
“No, no, not at all.” Di Wen replied in a hoarse voice, “I don’t know about it. At that time, the king ordered the mole people to be killed to prevent panic from spreading… We were too busy to survive and couldn’t pay attention to the war.” Her hand shook, “I really thought General Liszt was dead! He died a long time ago!”
She opened her cloudy eyes wide, froze for a few seconds, and asked eagerly: “Next—when will the next communication from Elton come?! I want to hear it! Let me hear their voices!”
Before, Di Wen never believed that Elton had survivors.
This was the first time she had actively asked to listen to the “Echo” channel.
Lu Tinghan replied: “Three days later.”
Di Wen was so excited that her whole face twitched. She whispered: “Liszt is the greatest general of the Empire,” she rubbed her hands vigorously, “Is there really anyone in Elton…? Is there…”
Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by the communication.
Chi Yongge stayed alone in the “lair” and stayed with the mole people. At this moment, his voice came, echoing in the ruins of the city.
He shouted, “Can you hear me?! The ‘lair’ needs support!”
“The monsters are coming! We need support!”
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**TN
grind the spear just before a battle – make last-minute preparation that would [might] prove too late
bite the bullet – to force yourself to perform a difficult action
