RotA – Chapter 5

The old vehicle jolted along the road, and Chai Yuening did not sleep soundly.

She dreamed of an uninhabited wilderness, of giant mutated beasts, of fleeing alone through a dense fog with no glimmer of hope in sight.

With a violent lurch, the jacket covering her slipped off, and Chai Yuening woke from her dream as if jolted by an electric shock.

“Lao Xiang, can’t you drive a little steadier!”

“When did this pothole get here!”

“Come on, we drive this road every few days. How are you still not familiar with it?”

“This pothole wasn’t here yesterday when we passed through. You, kid, stop your yapping. If I’m such a bad driver, you drive next time.”

“Fine by me!”

“Yeah, right. Don’t think I don’t know you got your heavy vehicle license through the back door. Don’t you dare break my car.”

“Is there even anything left on this piece of junk to break!”

The terrible quality of sleep left Chai Yuening’s mind groggy.

But upon waking, the voices of Lao Xiang and Lu Qi brought her an immense sense of peace.

She subconsciously glanced to her left.

The young girl was still curled up in the small corner beside her, her thin arms wrapped around her knees, her chin resting on them. Her eyes were closed, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly with the vehicle’s shaking.

She, too, was asleep, but anyone could see it was not a peaceful slumber.

Chai Yuening gently placed the jacket—which someone had draped over her—onto the girl.

She stood up, stretched her arms a little, and looked down through the small window.

The scene before her was no longer the old-world skyscrapers from before. In their place was a boundless, sandy plain.

Gradually, solitary, scattered towers began to appear in twos and threes across the plain.

To stop the frenzied spread of the black vines, the Base had spent a great deal of time turning the land above it into a sandy plain where it was difficult for any vegetation to grow.

And these towers were the signal towers the Base had erected on the surface.

But this year’s growth season rains had been too incessant. Some of the more drought-resistant black vines had used the rain to spread into the yellow sands, blooming with bizarre yet vibrant flowers atop the towers.

The armored vehicle’s wheels rolled over a black vine, jolting twice more.

“These days, life just gets harder and harder.”

Lao Xiang grumbled casually, but no one responded, long accustomed to it.

Chai Yuening withdrew her gaze, turning to meet the bright eyes of the girl in the corner.

“We’re almost at the Base,” Chai Yuening said.

The girl nodded, her gaze drifting quietly out the window, as quiet as a little mute.

The vehicle continued onward and soon arrived at the Base entrance.

It was a closed security checkpoint, like an air-raid shelter. The left side was for entry, the right for exit, and both tunnels were wide enough for at least two large armored vehicles to pass through at once.

There were no black vines at the entrance; the military kept it meticulously clean.

Base guards stood on both sides of the entrance holding rifles, their military uniforms neat, their posture ramrod straight.

The armored vehicle drove into the entrance. After its license plate passed through an automated scanner, the first heavy iron gate began to slide open.

Behind the iron gate was another iron gate.

The vehicle door opened, and two guards came aboard. One carried a cylindrical, electrified detector on his back, while the other held a small electronic scanner.

Chai Yuening gestured for the girl to get out with everyone else to undergo the inspection.

This was the Base’s rule. Anyone returning from the outside had to have their ID card scanned to confirm their identity and be checked for any signs of infection, especially around wounds.

If one failed the former, it had to be reported, and they would have to undergo a series of rather complicated procedures to replace their ID card under the strict supervision of relevant personnel.

If one failed the latter, the Base would detain them for observation until they safely passed the longest possible incubation period for infection—that is, one month without mutating—before they could regain their freedom.

The four people at the front were checked very quickly. They had no wounds and all passed in less than two minutes.

When the girl stepped forward, the guard’s expression clearly grew more solemn.

Personnel with numerous wounds usually had a high chance of infection.

The guard with the detector frowned, checking the girl’s wounds, large and small, while asking about their origin and whether they had been properly treated.

The girl said nothing, so Chai Yuening had no choice but to act as her temporary spokesperson.

“They’re all just superficial wounds, nothing serious. They were treated properly right away. We did a reagent test, and it didn’t show any infection.”

“The reagent tests aren’t very accurate,” the guard said impatiently, clearly tired of hearing such excuses.

Chai Yuening pursed her lips and, after scanning her ID card, stood silently to the side, waiting anxiously for the results.

A few minutes later, all the wounds had been checked, and the girl was allowed to pass.

The guard with the scanner saw that she didn’t present an ID card and so scanned her from head to toe with his device.

Chai Yuening almost thought the young girl had lost her ID card, but unexpectedly, the scanner emitted a “beep” she had never heard before.

That wasn’t the sound a Base ID card made when scanned. For a moment, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the girl.

The girl looked bewildered. Following the source of the sound, she reached into the bloodstained, tattered pouch at her waist and pulled out a small, blue magnetic card.

Chai Yuening subconsciously glanced at it.

On it was written—A0027, Chu Ci.

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Underground City, Sixth District, Population Management Sub-bureau.

Behind the glass window, a female clerk in a work uniform rapidly typed on a silver-white keyboard.

Click, clack. The sound was crisp and continuous.

Chai Yuening stood beside Chu Ci, waiting for the Base’s identity verification results.

After what felt like a long time, the clerk pushed up her glasses, held up the blue magnetic card, and spoke into the small microphone in front of her computer. “This is a credential from the Floating City, not an ID card. It’s like a work ID, but the Base can’t recognize it.”

“Does that mean she’s from the Floating City?” Chai Yuening asked, taking the magnetic card. “Is it possible she just happened to find something from the Floating City in the Fog Zone?”

“There’s no information related to her in the Base’s files,” the clerk said. “Considering that the newcomer has no place to live, the Base has assigned her a temporary residence. Have her press her fingerprint here.”

“Oh, okay,” Chai Yuening replied, having Chu Ci press her finger on the sensor pad.

The next second, she quickly asked, “Can’t you help contact the Floating City?”

“The Base’s signal towers are covered in black vines. We won’t be able to contact the Floating City for the short term. Reporting it now won’t get it processed, it’d just be a waste of time.” The clerk paused, then relented slightly. “How about I make a note of it for you here? Once the signal towers are reclaimed, it’ll be convenient for you to report it at any sub-bureau.”

As she spoke, the clerk typed on the keyboard for a moment, then slid a residence key card and a temporary ID card out through the small window.

“…Thank you,” Chai Yuening said, picking up the key card and giving Chu Ci a helpless look.

The moment she stepped out of the Population Management Sub-bureau, Chai Yuening couldn’t help but sigh.

Long, white energy-saving lights on the ceiling illuminated the street outside the bureau.

The Underground City had no sky, let alone any vegetation. All it had were lights of various colors and people who, like cogs in a machine, mechanically performed their duties to keep the Base running.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you get home for now,” Chai Yuening said, a hint of apology in her voice.

Chu Ci shook her head and, for the first time, spoke in a small voice. “It’s okay, I don’t remember anyway.”

Chai Yuening nodded, glanced down at the key card in her hand, and supported Chu Ci as they walked toward the Base’s district train station.

The surface was a very dangerous place, but many people who couldn’t find clerical work had no choice but to seek their fortunes there.

Many who went to the surface never returned. When a person was confirmed dead or had been missing for three months, their residence would be reclaimed by the Base and reassigned.

The residence the Base assigned to Chu Ci was in the Ninth District. Taking the Line 4 train from the Sixth District, the journey would take about two hours.

Adhering to the principle of seeing a good deed through to the end, Chai Yuening patiently took Chu Ci there.

She was afraid Chu Ci wouldn’t be able to find the way, or that she wouldn’t know how to use the key card, so she led her all the way to the residence door, opened it, and only then let out a long sigh of relief.

“You can stay here for now. Once the signal towers are reclaimed, you can go report it and contact the Floating City. Every district in the Base has a Population Management Bureau; you’ll find it if you ask for directions.”

As she spoke, Chai Yuening placed the key card and temporary ID card on the small table inside the room.

She thought, I should be going.

But the moment she looked up, she saw the girl’s lost and helpless eyes.

“You…” Chai Yuening paused, suddenly realizing something. “Oh, I almost forgot…”

She fumbled in the small pouch at her waist for a long time before finally pulling out a few crumpled bills.

It was all she had on her; even if it wasn’t much, it was all there was.

She roughly estimated it would be enough for one person’s food and drink for over half a month.

The young girl had her arms and legs. Once her injuries healed a bit, she’d be able to find a way to earn money.

Chai Yuening pressed the money into Chu Ci’s hand, walked to the doorway, and waved at her with a smile.

Chu Ci, who had been following right behind her, seemed to freeze for a moment. When she looked up, her gaze was dazed.

She opened her mouth, hesitating for several seconds before finally asking, “Are you leaving?”

“I don’t live here,” Chai Yuening said.

The next second, she saw Chu Ci’s eyes dim slightly.

This left her at a bit of a loss.

But Chu Ci quickly looked back at the small residence behind her and asked softly, “I live here?”

“Ah, yes…”

“I understand.” Chu Ci lowered her head, bowed to Chai Yuening, and said politely, “Thank you.”

With that, she turned, walked into the room, and rested a hand on the edge of the door.

It was as if she wanted to close it, but also didn’t.

Chai Yuening suddenly felt a pang of guilt and quickly said, “If you run into any trouble, you can come find me in the Sixth District. The train only takes two hours. I live in Building C9-D1207. If you can’t remember, you can go to the Sixth District and ask for the Thirteenth Mercenary Team. Everyone there knows us!”

“Mm,” Chu Ci responded softly, closing the door without looking up.

Chai Yuening stood stunned for two seconds, then walked to the stairwell, glancing back every few steps, before finally sighing and heading downstairs.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but in that very soft “Mm,” she thought she had heard loss and disappointment.

She could probably guess what the young girl was hoping for, but she didn’t quite know how to respond to that kind of expectation. After all, living in a world like this, she herself was just someone living from one day to the next.

She didn’t try to memorize the apartment number.

There were so many people in the Base, and every day people died without a sound. Relatives, friends, even partners you frequently faced life and death with could suddenly be gone.

The connections between people were just that fleeting.

She thought she would probably never see her again.

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Author’s Notes:

The author furiously raps on the blackboard: A bad example, deserving of heavy criticism.