MTL - How to Feed an Abyss!-Chapter 53 iron city

This time the special infected creature is named "Rock Snake".

Its pollution value is not high, but it mainly moves underground with swarms of snakes, which brings great difficulties to city defense.

Most importantly, people cannot go to underground shelters, they can only stay on the surface with doors and windows closed. A large number of troops have been deployed on the streets, setting up temporary outposts, ready for battle. Fleets of aircraft flew out of the city and carried out carpet bombing. Sometimes the sound of explosions continued all night, and there seemed to be the painful hiss of snakes.

Once another battle was over, Lu Tinghan took off his command optical brain, his black temples were slightly damp with sweat.

He came back to the office with half a cup of coffee on the table. He left in a hurry, he only drank half of that cup of coffee, it was already cold, and the aroma was four or five points less. He leaned against the desk, swirled the cup, and drank slowly.

There were several stacks of heavy documents on the table, Lu Tinghan thought of something, turned sideways, and pulled out a piece of paper from the folder in the far corner.

It was a sketch he drew.

On the screen, the young boy has devil horns on his head, scales at the end of his right eye, and his eyes are as black as an abyss, and he looks like he is smiling with his eyes bent.

"..." Lu Tinghan laughed silently.

There was a knock on the office door.

He put the sketch back and said, "Come in."

Su Enqi opened the door and came in: "I thought you went to rest."

Lu Tinghan raised his cup: "I remembered that there was still half a cup of coffee left, so I came back."

The current coffee production has long been discontinued, and only those of his level can drink it, which is considered a luxury.

Su Enqi laughed twice: "I was also addicted to coffee when I was young. I had to have a cup every day. If I don't drink it, I won't be able to cheer up. If you don't have enough, come to me to get it. I also have a lot of good ones. Black coffee and white coffee are available, keep your drink until you are satisfied." He took two steps and sat on the sofa, "But, are you going to the front line again?"

Lu Tinghan: "Yes."

He had to get close to the monsters to know what they were thinking more accurately.

"The 'Rock Snake' is different from other specially infected creatures. You know, it is difficult for us to attack the underground, and the front line is too dangerous." Su Enqi said, "This time is different from before. I don't recommend you go."

Lu Tinghan said, "I'm going."

"..." Su Enqi sighed softly, "You are still the same. I won't say anything, you should be more careful, don't take your own life seriously. No matter how powerful or genius, we are all just flesh and blood It's just a body, it hurts and it bleeds."

Lu Tinghan responded.

The room fell into silence. Su Enqi clasped his hands and rubbed his thumbs lightly, wondering what he was thinking.

After a long time, he said slowly: "'Echo' failed."

Lu Tinghan: "Well. In my opinion, this is a predictable result. The last time we had contact with the empire was before the fall of the capital of the empire. After that, we have not heard any news. It has been more than 70 years since the end of the world. We shouldn't have hoped there were other survivors."

Su Enqi asked: "You never believed that the 'Echo' project could be successful?"

"I don't believe it." Lu Tinghan said flatly, "If it can succeed, I will be happy."

Su Enqi raised his eyelids and looked at him with cloudy eyes: "What about 'Overlook', do you think it will be successful?"

Lu Tinghan: "It's difficult, but it's not like there's no chance."

Su Enqi smiled: "I'm so glad I didn't hear you answer 'impossible'. If you say that, there is still hope." He patted his sore knee after standing for a long time, "It's a pity that I Old things can’t go into space—I think when I was young, I could jump, jump, stay up late, run 20 kilometers with a load, live alive the next day, and fall asleep after drinking coffee. No matter what time, the greatest enemy of human beings is time. .”

Lu Tinghan lowered his eyes, and the coffee in his cup shook slightly.

Su Enqi continued: "The older a person is, the faster time passes, and everything seems to have happened yesterday. I still remember that when I first saw you, you were with Colonel Lu Zhun, Standing next to him, only this tall, ask me if I can teach you how to fight." He gestured to a height with his hand, his smile deepened, and wrinkles formed at the end of his eyes, "Who would have thought that you will be the mainstay of the entire alliance in the future , I can hardly even run."

He turned his head and coughed twice, his cough was very muddy: "I'm glad to see you grow up, but it would be great if we could go back to the past. At that time we still had countless cities, sky, sea and land, the whole world The world is ours. Everything can be redeemed."

He laughed again: "It would be great if the time in Abyss No. 0 could be allocated to me. I can return to the most energetic moment and the most prosperous era."

Lu Tinghan took another sip of coffee.

The cold coffee seems a little sour, mixed with bitterness, blooming on the tip of the tongue. He said: "Without what if, we can't go back."

"... also." Su Enqi said, "I can't go back, and there will be no 'echo' again."

It was getting late, he leaned on the armrest of the sofa, stood up with difficulty, stopped suddenly before the door, turned back and said: "But I still hope that some things never happened."

Lu Tinghan was silent.

They all know what this sentence refers to.

—Jiang Huachi, who smuggled inhibitors, was supposed to be taken to the main city by an order, but Lu Tinghan forcibly detained him in Fengyang, awaiting trial. Five years ago, a corpse and 1,000 injections of inhibitors that he sank into the river have been revealed.

Who covered up Jiang Huachi?

There is no conclusive evidence, but the two people in this office know it well.

Teachers and students have fought side by side for many years, and any cover-up is self-deception.

Only one light in the office was turned on, and the light enveloped Lu Tinghan, his upright body was like a sword that refused to return to its sheath.

And Su Enqi stood in the shadow of the door, his skin was old, his back was slightly bent, and he said slowly: "Even if you can't go back to the past, maybe there are some small mistakes that you can let go of. What do you think?"

Lu Tinghan put down the cup, looked into his eyes, and said word by word: "...that's someone else, not me."

The contrast between light and dark cuts out two worlds, like a gap.

Su Enqi was not surprised, and said with a smile: "General Lu, be careful on the front line, I will wait for your good news."

He closed the door and left.

…

There was a thick fog on the wasteland, thick and thick, Shi Yuan couldn't see the direction clearly, and felt that he should be close to Iron City.

He doesn't have much confidence.

—The last time he went out of the city by feeling, he got lost in a mess, lost his way from the east of the city to the west of the city, and was drenched in cold rain for nothing.

He was struggling with what to do when he suddenly saw blue light shining in the depths of the fog.

Those are dancing, ocean-like jellyfish.

They are still wandering in the wasteland, floating near the iron city, refusing to leave.

It must be no problem to go in the direction of the jellyfish, Shi Yuan went there.

Soon, the ground trembled slightly, and a huge white deer appeared. Most of its body is immersed in the mist, and its antlers are weird. Every time it takes a step, a thick white mist gushes out from the whole body.

Deer outside the high forest.

Lu Tinghan once stared at the city wall for a long time, waiting for its arrival.

Shi Yuan guessed that there was some connection between them. He raised his head and asked Lin Lu: "Hello, do you know Lu Tinghan?"

Of course Lin Lu would not answer.

It paced slowly and walked silently into the distance, its figure completely covered by the mist.

Shi Yuan followed the jellyfish and continued walking.

After an unknown period of time, there were a few ruined walls by chance, and gravel and rubble began to appear under his feet. Shi Yuan also kicked half of a rotten soldier's helmet, which was covered with wet soil.

and after that—

He saw the city wall.

Black vines crawled all over the wall, twisting the metal until it deformed. If you get close, you can see the vines rising and falling like breathing. The entire city wall is riddled with holes, so you don't need to bother to find the entrance. After walking a few steps forward, Shi Yuan climbed into the city through a huge gap.

A second difficulty arises.

Today's fog is too thick, he can barely see the abandoned buildings nearby, and he has no idea how to get to the communication tower.

Turning into black mist will be much more convenient, but it may interfere with the Alliance Army's detection of pollution values ​​and affect operations.

Shi Yuan was hesitating, but the mist on the high place lit up a ball of light.

That is not the gentle light of jellyfish, it is much brighter and has a warm tone.

Like thunder on the ground, a burst of gunshots erupted, and unknown monsters screamed in the mist! Immediately afterwards, several dead flying insects the size of half a human fell on Shi Yuan's feet, and black blood gushed out from the bullet holes.

Shi Yuan never expected that there are still humans here!

There are more and more big bugs, flying around the lights and stirring up the fog. Shi Yuan hesitated for two seconds, rushed forward, stood under the light and raised his tail high, the scales opened and closed and rubbed—

Ringo Abyss!

The sound of Xiangweiyuan resounded through the fog, which brought great deterrence to the insects. Coupled with the constant gunshots, several waves of flying insects were shot through...

After a while, the swarm of flying insects retreated and disappeared into the mist.

Quiet around.

Shi Yuan couldn't meet other people, otherwise he couldn't explain how he got here and why he wasn't attacked by monsters.

Just as he was about to leave quietly, he heard a "squeak!", and the door of the building in front of him was suddenly pushed open, and a tall man rushed towards him with a gun!

Shi Yuan:!

He was so frightened that he almost turned into a black mist and ran away, but the man shouted in a low voice: "You are amazing!"

Shi Yuan:?

"You're amazing!" The man, covered in machine gun bullets, walked up to him and stared at him, "How did you do it? Make such a funny sound! Edward wants it too!"

There were a lot of bloodshot eyes in his eyes, and the eyeballs moved rapidly, erratically, as if in a state of excitement. But he doesn't look like he's attacking.

Shi Yuan replied hesitantly: "I make sounds with my tail, like this—"

He demonstrates once how his scales rub together.

"It's so interesting!" The man exclaimed, suppressing his voice, "It's so interesting! Which street do you live on? Did you come here to play?"

Tiecheng has long since fallen, and not only did the man stay here, but when he met Shi Yuan, who was unarmed and seemed to have a problem at first glance, he was able to ask such a question.

Before Shi Yuan could figure out how to answer, the man had already grabbed him: "Come on, come with Edward! Edward is going to take you to his house!"

Shi Yuan:?

He was inexplicably dragged into the building by the man, no matter how much he refused or how he struggled, it was useless, like a little monster kidnapped by human traffickers.

It used to be a watchtower for sentries, and the staircase spirals up and is very narrow, which is suitable for defensive measures. And it has obviously been modified, the man took out the homemade remote control, pressed it a few times, and the iron walls, barbed wire and laser mechanisms along the road were all put away.

Shi Yuan hesitated and asked, "Is your name...Edward?"

The man excitedly said: "Edward said yes!"

Shi Yuan was convinced that something was wrong with this human being.

They went all the way up to the top of the tower.

Edward pushed open the small door at the top of the tower, and turned on the light with a "snap": "This is Edward's home! Edward has always lived here!"

In a small room, there are piles of firearms, bullets, body armor, long/guns and short cannons thrown all over the place, and different sabers can be seen everywhere, just like an ammunition warehouse, and there is no place to stay. The workbench in the corner is full of screws and wires, wrenches and scissors, and a few things that look like bombs are placed on the table.

Anyone who sees this scene will believe that the owner of the house is an extremely violent and hopeless terrorist.

If there is something peaceful in this room—

Probably the small dining table next to the workbench.

There are three chairs at the dining table.

One chair was empty, and on the other two chairs sat human figures cut out of cardboard boxes.

Their skin is cardboard, their skeletons are thin iron frames, and they are covered with tattered clothes that don't fit at all. One is wearing a golden wig like a chicken coop, on the cardboard of its face, the facial features are drawn with stick figures, and a card with "Joanna" is hung on its chest; The facial features are also stick figures, with two vertical lines and an arc outlining its smiling face, and the card on its chest says "Mike".

At first glance, it is creepy.

Edward sat on the empty chair and pointed to himself: "Edward."

He pointed to the tall paper man: "This is Joanna, she rarely greets guests."

He pointed to the short man: "This is Mike. Like his mother, he doesn't like to greet people."

There are several bowls on the dining table, dirty, I don't know what they have been filled with. Edward picked up a fork, tapped the bowl twice, and shouted: "This is the Edward family! We will be together forever!"

The bowls and chopsticks clinked, and the paper man smiled strangely.

Shi Yuan said, "Okay, how are you all?"

Joanna: "…"

Mike: "..."

Mike's head drooped and fell to the table.

Shi Yuan was a little unhappy: "You guys are really rude."

He named them Rags and Ragged Clothes.