CHAPTER 25

Xiang Chenxi walked up to the third floor. The walls were painted with clean silver-white color, and the doors, with wooden patterns, had a dark brown hue. They were neatly arranged without any unnecessary stains, as if they were regularly cleaned, which matched her judgment of He Ran.

With a sweeping glance, Xiang Chenxi noticed that the doors to the storage room and the washroom were different. The washroom was slightly larger in size, while the other rooms, a total of nine, were evenly arranged.

He Ran walked ahead, and Xiang Chenxi noticed that she had a habit of keeping both hands in her pockets while walking. When she took out the keys, a coffee stain was revealed on her cuff. A strand of hair fell over her forehead, and her eyes were lowered, devoid of any vitality.

Occasionally, the corridor echoed with the creaking sound of old wooden boards, as if someone was scratching the door. But He Ran seemed oblivious, inserting the key into the lock and gently turning it, halfway...

Xiang Chenxi had often encountered people like this. Of course, the place where they appeared most frequently was the retired military personnel resettlement facility, gathering individuals who had made significant contributions to humanity but were now half-dead. If you needed them for a mission, they would stand up and follow you, but if you asked them to do something, they wouldn't show any interest. They would droop their eyelids, preferring to live a listless life rather than a good death.

"Have you served in the military?" Xiang Chenxi asked casually as the door opened.

He Ran nodded, thought for a moment, and handed her a key. She demonstrated a complex unlocking pattern and said, "There's no need to go out wandering if it's not necessary. Rest well."

Xiang Chenxi felt even more at ease.

Some polluted areas had very specific rules that represented certain events caused by pollutants. For example, never look in the mirror at midnight, never leave your room when the dormitory supervisor checks attendance, and absolutely avoid riding roller coasters. Violating these rules would result in a gruesome death—beyond the level of pollution.

But He Ran was a gentle, mild-mannered veteran without any resentment. She openly discussed pollution, although she was a bit taciturn. Each reminder was practical and considerate, standing up to Xiang Chenxi's careful analysis of every word and phrase. "Rest well" implied that although she had come in just to take shelter, the other person provided her with a dry towel. "No need to go out wandering" meant that it would be foolish to roam around in poor visibility at night, risking one's life. "If it's not necessary" indicated that in urgent situations, as a supply officer, she could judge and take action freely.

What polluted area would have such lenient rules?

In front of He Ran, Xiang Chenxi looked at the furnishings in the dormitory—a row of hooks behind the door for hanging clothes, a single bed against the wall, a desk with four drawers, a desk lamp hanging above it, and an ordinary chair in front of it.

After receiving the key, Xiang Chenxi demonstrated in front of He Ran and successfully opened the door. She closed it back securely.

He Ran said, "I'm in the last room over there. There's my name on the door. If I'm not downstairs reading, I'll be there."

Xiang Chenxi looked in that direction, made an OK gesture, and smiled kindly at He Ran. "I want to inspect the things in the room."

He Ran made a sound of agreement, showing no signs of displeasure on her face.

Xiang Chenxi reached for the lamp's light tube and felt that it was intact. She turned it on, and the room was bathed in warm and cozy light.

Xiang Chenxi opened the drawers one by one and inspected them. Inside were some old clothes—t-shirts, shorts, mostly in black, white, and gray. From top to bottom, they were arranged as underwear, tops, and pants. In the last drawer, there was a heavily worn pair of old leather shoes, approximately size 43.

Finding a solitary shoe in a polluted area was never a good sign. Xiang Chenxi lifted the shoe, and He Ran reached out to take it, a slightly embarrassed and shy smile on her face. She said, "We ran out of fuel earlier, so we collected the shoes and burned them."

Xiang Chenxi looked at He Ran, who put the shoe away and leaned against the door, watching her continue the inspection.

Her awe for the veteran surged again, so she asked, "Was it because there wasn't enough supplies before?"

"It's alright." He Ran replied.

Xiang Chenxi opened her mouth but decided to deliver the news anyway, "I respect you a lot, but the communication was cut off... After the Daomiao base fell, the Changhe..."

"Hmm?" He Ran seemed distracted and didn't catch what she said. Xiang Chenxi realized she had almost blurted out classified information and stopped herself, continuing the inspection.

After closing the drawers, lifting the sheets, and using a dagger to pick at the wallpaper—a series of impolite inspection activities—Xiang Chenxi felt embarrassed herself. She lowered her voice and smiled at He Ran as if explaining, "That's the last one."

She squatted down and looked under the bed. The area beyond the reach of the light energy was filled with floating dust. She took out a flashlight and shook it, but there was nothing else.

He Ran rummaged in her pockets but couldn't find anything. She put her right hand, which she had been rummaging with, on the back of her neck and gestured behind her, saying, "I've turned on the light energy in the washroom. If you don't want to go downstairs, you can use the toilets and showers on the second floor."

"No, there is no need to waste energy." Xiang Chenxi finally felt relieved and said she had nothing else to inspect. He Ran turned to leave, but after taking a couple of steps, she turned back. "I have a question."

"Please ask."

"I just looked at the supply list... There's a lot more supplies this time."

"Ah, yes."

"Is there a combat mission?"

He Ran asked in a roundabout way. When there was a combat mission, it was difficult for the supply officer to arrive on time. She was inquiring about the next supply mission.

The words were stuck in Xiang Chenxi's throat, but she couldn't bring herself to say them. She inserted her fingers into her short hair by her ear, hesitated to speak, but He Ran seemed to understand already. She nodded slightly and said, "It's alright, I wish you a successful mission."

It wasn't because of combat... Xiang Chenxi swallowed her words.

He Ran turned and left. Xiang Chenxi wedged her wristwatch in the door crack, using its reflection to watch He Ran's figure until she confirmed that she had gone downstairs. She locked the door from the inside, sat on the edge of the bed, hesitated for a moment, and then took off her shoes and lay down.

As per her habit, she would usually sleep without taking off her shoes or outerwear during missions. But she thought about her dirty shoes staining the bedsheet, and He Ran would have to clean it, which seemed like someone who would maintain cleanliness in any impoverished environment. Given the scarcity of resources, she didn't want to cause any trouble.

She pressed her wristwatch, and her mental value was 94, within the normal range. The nervousness of entering an unfamiliar environment would cause the mental value to slowly decrease, but once familiar, it would stabilize or even rise.

After thinking for a moment, she turned off the light energy and closed her eyes.

Xiang Chenxi had something on her mind. She particularly wanted to confide in He Ran. He Ran had an unfriendly face, but when you saw her, you instinctively knew she would never harm you and would instead protect you. But the more Xiang Chenxi felt this way, the more she didn't know how to start the conversation.

The Changhe base hadn't fallen yet, but humans had already decided to retreat.

After the war, large expanses of land had fallen. It had been difficult to establish small bases, which then turned into fragile lines through the repair of road networks. It was on the verge of becoming a surface, and some of the initial bases began to collapse, rendering the original plans useless.

The latest plan was to consolidate all humans into seven areas with fewer collapses, gather all manpower and resources, and start solidifying these seven circles. From these circles, they would expand outward in a circular pattern.

The old outposts had been abandoned. After the new plan began, there would no longer be any supplies here, nor would anyone come to collect samples or assess progress.

The order from above was absolute secrecy. Many people in the base were unaware of this evacuation plan. The secure core couldn't accommodate everyone due to limited resources, so they could only select high-quality citizens to enter.

But what about those hardworking sentinels... Xiang Chenxi couldn't sleep. He Ran seemed like a gentle person, and whenever she thought about those who had been watching for so many years, persevering without being polluted, only to die alone in the wilderness, she felt a bit uneasy.

However, she had to harden her heart. There were limited spots, and there was little she could do.

Deciding not to dwell on it, she took a deep breath and let herself fall asleep.

She opened her eyes again, deciding to inform He Ran the next morning about the method of sneaking into the base. If He Ran had the ability to sneak into the base alone, then she surely had the capability to find her own way into the selected evacuation list.

She was satisfied with this decision. Sleep quickly overcame her, and she drifted off.

She was awakened by the sound of a broadcast in her ears, "Lieutenant, mental value 79, mental value 79."

What happened? She abruptly sat up and drew her knife, pressing her wristwatch. She saw the mental value drop from 79 to 78 in an instant.

She remembered the location of the light energy and quickly switched it on. She didn't sense any malice, there were no new objects around, and no changes. It emitted a warm glow.

She pressed her wristwatch, and the mental value stabilized at 78.

Everything was calm again.

Was there something in the darkness? What was it? She regretted underestimating this area, causing her mental value to silently drop by 15 points. This wasn't a dream!

But it seems the harm value is limited... so He Ran has always locked it, which is also fine since she can't feel it.

She sat on the bed, contemplating, pressing her wristwatch three times, and her mental value didn't drop further.

In other words, it was a problem with the darkness.

She was only here for the night and had no intention of encountering pollutants and eliminating them. Currently, the most effective method of eliminating pollution was to violently level the area, obliterating any spiritual pollution with a barrage of artillery shells.

If the light could coexist peacefully with her, then it wouldn't be a problem to sleep with the light on. Come to think of it, it was strange. She would never casually turn off the lights in unfamiliar places before, but this time she was unusually relaxed, as if she were at home. Almost involuntarily, she turned off the light according to her usual habit.

Just as she was about to lie down, she suddenly noticed that something was off with her shoes by the bedside.

She had taken off her shoes while sitting on the bed, and the heavy boots had fallen vertically to the ground. In other words, no matter how messy it was, the shoe tips should be facing outward.

But now, both shoe tips were facing inward, as if someone had walked over wearing them, facing the bed and standing neatly by the bedside.

She walked barefoot on the floor, thinking about the connection with the shoes, while cautiously shining her flashlight under the bed.

It was still empty, just like when she first entered.

She pressed her wristwatch, and the mental value was 77.

After pondering for a moment, she turned off the light energy and in that instant, swiftly waved her flashlight towards the bottom of the bed.

The beam of light shot straight into the darkness.

A pair of large black eyes were looking at her.

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