The wind and frost were as sharp as knives, wrapped in crushed snow and ice. The falling snow was like cotton wool, brushing past the frozen and numb faces, pressing on the backpack bit by bit. There was still the last fifty kilometers to the outpost in Hanzhong. Before they arrived, there was no time for them to rest.
Sentinels in winter suits walked beside the formation, scanning the vast expanse of white wilderness with vigilant eyes and muzzles. The machine gunner sitting on top of the armored vehicle breathed out white mist, leaning against the machine gun to kill time.
They were an army, belonging to the Northern Alliance Area.
Standing behind them were the residents of the Northern Alliance Area, the last group of residents to move from Lanzhou to Hanzhong.
Unlike Wanghai, winter here was more than a month earlier. Not only because of the latitude, but also because of the radiation clouds in the air. The radiation dust piled up like a quilt, but its function was not to keep warm, but to reflect sunlight back into space.
This year was very unusual. Even for the northwestern region, this year's winter came much earlier than in previous years.
However, for the wasteland, abnormality itself was a norm.
People may feel despair, but they would never be surprised.
After harvesting the last batch of mutated fruits, this group of residents had to embark on the journey to Hanzhong in the heavy snow. Perhaps a lot of people would die here, but if they didn't leave, more people might die.
Unlike Wanghai, there were not many zombies here, but there were all kinds of powerful and cunning mutants. And even in winter, hungry mutants would not hibernate, but lurked in dark corners, quietly waiting for the feast of blood.
For example, mutant jackals, they came like a gust of wind, and their claws were faster than bullets. When they left, they often left behind corpses and broken bones. There was once a lone migration team that encountered them. Although everyone had a gun in their hands, none of them survived.
These swift and strong creatures, even if the regular army encountered them, would be quite a headache.
In order to reduce the casualties of survivors, the commander of the Northern Alliance Area ordered that precious nuclear fusion cores and artillery shells be used to escort the migrants with armored forces.
Although they had inherited the armed forces of the pre-war regime, it was a pity that the lack of resources made it difficult for them to resume industrial production. They could only use resource recycling and small workshops to alleviate the supply pressure on the hundreds of thousands of troops.
The situation they faced was worse than the Sixth Street three years ago. Since the NATO Marine Corps had never set foot in the northwest of the Hua region, there was almost no battlefield here, and there were not many resources worth recycling.
Every bullet from the heavy machine gun was precious to them.
An assault vehicle painted in snow camouflage drove over from behind the team. When the assault vehicle passed by, the soldiers didn't stop, but they all performed a PAC military salute, offering the highest respect to their leader.
In the back of the assault vehicle, a man with a cold expression looked at the map without saying a word.
His name was Wei Bian. After Jiang Beihai, he served as the commander of the Northern Alliance Area. His status was probably similar to the General of NAC. Sitting next to him was his assistant, Luo Xugang, Deputy Commander of the Northern Alliance Area. This was the last team to go to Hanzhong and the last survivor team to move from Lanzhou.
After they left, the abandoned city was left with only ruins and wild beasts roaming the streets and alleys. Perhaps after a few hundred years, ivy would drill out of the cracks in the concrete pavement, and buds would emerge from the dead wood. It would naturally erase the evidence of human existence in its own way and dye the earth with its original color —
Barbarism and disorder.
"This year's snow came earlier than in previous years." Luo Xugang, who was sitting in the passenger seat, sighed and shook the cigarette butt that was about to burn out in the ashtray.
"Yes," Wei Bian said emotionlessly.
"It's so cold." Luo Xugang glanced at the commander from the corner of his eye. He burned out the last trace of nicotine on the cigarette butt and pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray.
"Do you want me to turn up the air conditioner?"
"No, there's no need. I can only be cold in another sense." Luo Xugang waved his hand, and his rough fingers took out another cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
"You're overdrafting your health."
As if he heard something funny, Luo Xugang suddenly laughed and blew out a smoke ring. "Fu * k your health."
Wei Bian didn't respond. His frowning eyes were still fixed on the paper map.
Silence continued in the car for a long time. Only the sound of the wheels rolling through the snow could be heard. Luo Xugang narrowed his eyes and silently smoked the cigarette made of mutated tobacco. He felt the spicy taste in his nose. He didn't know when it started, but only this feeling could make him feel alive.
Very abruptly, Luo Xugang broke the silence.
"There's not much time."
However, Wei Bian still had the same indifferent expression.
"I know."
"I heard a force called NAC rose in Wanghai. Its full name seems to be New Pan-Asia Cooperation."
"I heard about it."
"Those little guys seem to be sent by them. Although our missiles can deal with them, it's still a problem … Do we really want to go to war with them? "Luo Xugang scratched his head.
"Mhmm."
The car fell into silence again.
After a while, it was still Luo Xugang who broke the silence with a cigarette in his mouth.
"To be honest, I really envy you guys."
When he heard this sentence, Wei Bian's eyes left the map in his hand for the first time. Through the window, he looked at the white wilderness.
There, a sentry found the mutated wolves lurking in the snow and immediately raised the rifle in his hand. Soon, blood spilled all over the white snow. However, when he took out a dagger and was about to dig out the crystals, three wolves leaped out from the snow …
Gunshots were loud, but they soon stopped.
The medics carried the dying Sentinel onto the truck, but the Sentinel's condition was not salvageable, so he was quickly placed in a body bag. The bodies of the three wolves were carried onto the truck with an organic converter. After the crystals were dug out, they were refined into nutrient supplies. The team didn't stop from beginning to end. The people who passed by the bloodstains didn't move their eyes away from the road under their feet for even a second.
It was as if nothing happened.
Naturally, it was decided who would die and who would live.
"You won't be envious." Wei Bian put his eyes back on the map and said emotionlessly.
…
"We did it!"
The cells in the test tube were still alive!
The cheers of the girls echoed in the lab.
When Jiang Chen heard Lin Lin say this, he didn't know how to describe the excitement in his heart at this moment.
Based on Lin Lin's explanation, before the test tube was placed in the freezer, she dripped 20 ml of test solution mixed with human tissue cells into the test tube. After the test tube was placed in a special freezing device and simulated a dormant environment, the living cells in the test tube successfully passed the entropy reduction step when crossing the "door".
The key to solving the problem of interdimensional travel was antimatter!
Lin Lin used a bunch of mathematical and physical formulas to explain the reason to Jiang Chen. However, Jiang Chen was dumbfounded from beginning to end and didn't understand what she was talking about. Even if he repeatedly asked her to explain the principle in layman's terms, she could only helplessly pat the whiteboard full of scribbles, throw away the marker in her hand, and look at Jiang Chen with love in her eyes.
"Give up."
Just then, snowflakes began to fall from the window.
"Is it snowing already?" Sun Jiao looked out the window.
"Does it snow at this time in the past?" Jiang Chen, who was diverted from the topic, also looked out the window.
"Usually in November," Yao Yao whispered.
"Looks like this year's winter is earlier than usual." Sun Xiaorou sighed.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
