It was a statement that left one at a loss for how to respond.
Chu Ci’s tone was exceptionally calm, as calm as ever, making it impossible to discern any joy or sorrow.
But Chai Yuening felt as if something had just struck her heart.
It didn’t hurt, yet it made her momentarily forget to breathe.
The silence in the darkness lasted for an unknown length of time.
When Chai Yuening came to her senses, she wanted to say something, but she found that the breathing of the person beside her had already become even and slow. She had most likely fallen asleep.
She slowly closed her eyes and involuntarily took a nearly silent deep breath.
The dreams that night were chaotic.
After waking from the dream came the morning of the next day.
But morning should have a sunrise. The Base had no sunrise, only the warm yellow glow of the lights.
Chu Ci was still asleep. Chai Yuening gently closed the bedroom door before fumbling in the dark to turn on the pendant light in the living room.
At this hour, there were no public address announcements in the Base, but one could tune in to the morning music radio station.
Chai Yuening turned the volume to its lowest setting and lay back on the sofa, staring blankly at the white ceiling.
From outside the room came the sound of You Lan asking Lu Qi to run an errand for her.
Chai Yuening came back to her senses, subconsciously sitting up straight and looking ahead.
On the coffee table, the book of poetry Chu Ci had been reading last night lay facedown before her.
As someone who had given up on her studies long ago, Chai Yuening usually had no interest in such literary things.
But for some reason, in that instant, as if guided by some unseen force, she reached out her hand.
She saw the page where the book had been turned over.
The Last Rose
—Pablo Neruda
I am a desperate person,
the word without an echo.
Having lost everything,
and yet possessing everything.
The last hawser,
my last hope creaks a song for you.
In this barren land of mine,
you are the last rose.
Last this, last that—Chai Yuening didn’t quite understand it.
Poets, she thought, always loved to write this kind of incomprehensible stuff that most ordinary people couldn’t grasp.
But for some reason, the originally soothing piano music seemed to suddenly carry a few more notes of sorrow.
In the bedroom, the old bedframe let out a creak.
Chu Ci must be awake.
Chai Yuening placed the poetry book back where it was, facedown.
She stood up, walked to the door, and pulled it open.
You Lan, who was just about to close her own door diagonally opposite, saw her and quickly waved a greeting. “Captain Chai, you’re up so early?”
Chai Yuening said, “Did you just ask Lu Qi to buy something for you?”
“I haven’t had any fruit in days. I was dreaming about it last night,” You Lan said. “They say the fruit in the main city is fresh, so I asked Lu Qi to buy some for me to try.”
“That must be very expensive, right?”
“When you’re alive, you should enjoy the moment.” As You Lan spoke, her eyes happened to catch sight of a disheveled, long-haired Chu Ci walking past behind Chai Yuening. She immediately raised her eyebrows with a suggestive look. “Captain Chai should understand better than I do.”
“Ahem…” Chai Yuening cleared her throat twice and steered the conversation back. “If you bought a lot, could you sell some to me?”
“How could I sell it? We’ll all eat together!” You Lan said, then gave Chai Yuening a wink. “Enjoying the moment can happen any time, day or night. I won’t disturb you any longer.”
With that, she closed her door with a flick of her wrist.
The corner of Chai Yuening’s eye twitched. She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of the hot water she had boiled when she woke up.
After washing up, Chu Ci came out of the bathroom and asked casually, “What did Boss You tell you to enjoy?”
“She’s treating everyone to fruit later,” Chai Yuening said.
“I’ve never seen you buy any. It must not be cheap.”
“More expensive than eggs,” Chai Yuening said with a small smile. “But this time, it’s free.”
“Boss You is so generous.”
“Yeah, back when I was haggling with her over that small commission fee, I really didn’t see this generous side of her,” Chai Yuening muttered under her breath.
A little over an hour later, Lu Qi returned with two large bags of fruit in the vehicle.
The bags of fruit were large and heavy. When Lao Xiang heard Lu Qi shouting downstairs, he hurried down to lend a hand.
As the items were being carried up, his constant exclamations could be heard throughout the entire corridor. “Is this a wholesale operation? All my life, when I wanted a treat, I’ve bought them by the ‘piece.’ I’ve never seen so much fruit. Boss You is really willing to spend!”
Lu Qi: “It’s great to be rich.”
Lao Xiang: “It’s great to be rich!”
Amidst the chorus of exclamations, the fruits that most outer-city residents could rarely afford were peeled and cut into slices by You Lan and Ren Dong, then arranged into one beautiful fruit platter after another.
The Base’s fruit production was far from sufficient. If a platter like this were in an outer city, just one would be enough to feed an ordinary person for a month or two.
Everyone was very hesitant at first, but in the end, amidst You Lan’s brainwashing chants of “enjoy the moment,” they finally dug in.
Although no one mentioned it, it was true that no one knew what tomorrow would bring for the Base.
And so, in a daze, another day passed.
At noon the next day, Chai Yuening, who was in the middle of cooking vegetable soup, received a communication from the military.
Xue Zhou: “Captain Chai, that locator from the Floating City has been successfully repaired. Considering the Base is located deep underground, and without surface signal towers or any means of signal amplification, communication waves of all frequencies could be blocked. The Base has decided to send people to the surface to await rescue.”
Chai Yuening: “Can’t they hide somewhere on the surface?”
Xue Zhou: “The black vines are growing frantically, and beast packs appear from time to time. There are no truly safe corners on the surface. Before reinforcements arrive, the Base must ensure this fingernail-sized device is not damaged a second time.”
Chai Yuening: “Then how many people does the military plan to send?”
Xue Zhou: “Captain Chai, the military can’t spare many people.”
Chai Yuening’s breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”
“We’ve lost contact with the Ninth District, just before the Base was preparing to send people to the surface,” Xue Zhou’s heavy voice came through the communicator. “If there is truly hope, then before the dawn arrives, the Base does not want to abandon another outer city.”
He said that all remaining military forces, along with any mercenary teams willing to answer the military’s call, would devote all their efforts to rescuing the Ninth District before the Floating City’s reinforcements arrived.
He said that the Thirteenth Mercenary Team’s experience with surface operations was far superior to that of most military squads. If manpower was so tight that only a few people could be sent to the surface for this mission, then the Thirteenth Mercenary Team was the one the Base trusted the most.
He said that if the Thirteenth Mercenary Team was willing to accept this mission, the Base would provide them with the best equipment and the most ample supplies.
The vegetables, cooked to a soft mush, stuck to the pot. A burnt smell wafted from it, and Chai Yuening quickly turned off the heat.
She gripped the military communicator tightly in her hand and replied in a low voice, “The Thirteenth Mercenary Team is willing to fight for the Base.”
After a long silence, a helpless instruction came from the other end of the communicator.
“On behalf of the Base, I thank you for stepping forward. All necessary items, including the locator, have been sent to the main city’s elevator.” Xue Zhou’s voice was utterly exhausted. “Captain Chai, I’m entrusting Lu Qi to you.”
Chai Yuening couldn’t help but think that before receiving her reply, the Major General might have selfishly hoped she would refuse.
But the selfishness some people were allowed to have was destined to be limited.
Chai Yuening turned around to look at Chu Ci, who had appeared at the kitchen doorway at some unknown point.
She spread her hands and gave a helpless smile. “There’s always some trouble that keeps a person from eating in peace.”
Chu Ci: “Are you going to call everyone now?”
Chai Yuening: “Of course. Time to get ready. We’re heading out.”
As she spoke, Chai Yuening slung her small waist pack over her shoulder, pushed open the door, and knocked on the door to Lu Qi and Lao Xiang’s room.
She shouted, “Back to work! Everyone out, time to get busy!”
“Back to work? We’re going to the surface?” Lu Qi rushed out excitedly.
“What’s going on?” You Lan opened her door a crack, a shocked look on her face. “You’re going to the surface? What for? The broadcast has been saying for the past two days that giant mutated beasts have been appearing frequently above the Base. The surveillance cameras recorded it, it’s terrifying! Ah, the Base isn’t sending you to get samples of those things, is it?”
Lao Xiang also opened his door. “Aren’t the samples from the outer cities enough for Dr. Ge’s research? Do they have to be from the surface?”
“We’re not killing mutated beasts this time, and we don’t need samples. The mission the military has given us this time is probably…” Chai Yuening paused here, then said seriously, “to go for a drive on the surface.”
“Huh?” Lu Qi scratched the back of his head.
“For how long?” Lao Xiang asked.
Chai Yuening thought for a moment. “Until people from the Floating City arrive.”
Lao Xiang: “Well, I’ll be. They’d better give us an extra tank of fuel for that.”
Chai Yuening: “That’s a must.”
Lao Xiang: “We’re going now?”
Chai Yuening: “We’re going now.”
Just as Chai Yuening’s voice fell, Ren Dong’s door next to them was gently pushed open.
“Captain, I’m going too.” The girl in the wheelchair had a resolute gaze.
“You…”
“With Du Xia gone, the team can’t be short a gun.” Ren Dong curved her brows into a smile. “I can take her place, Captain.”
“…” Chai Yuening couldn’t help but fall silent.
Lao Xiang patted Chai Yuening’s shoulder and said softly, “Let her go. She hasn’t been to the surface in years. It’ll be good for her to get some fresh air.”
Chai Yuening stared at Ren Dong’s expectant gaze and contemplated for a long while before finally nodding.
In that instant, a flash of joy appeared in Ren Dong’s eyes, as if a long-suppressed sorrow had been eased at this moment.
In the face of danger, no one wanted their existence to be meaningless.
“You’re all leaving? Then I’ll…” You Lan blinked, hesitating, then made a fist at everyone. “I’ll cheer you on?”
“Thanks. We’ll come scrounge a meal off you when we get back,” Chai Yuening replied, turning her back and waving as she walked on ahead.
“It’s been a long time since we went to the surface.”
“Yeah.”
“Captain, do you think we’ll run into a super-huge mutated beast?”
“If we do, the first thing I’ll do is throw your jinxing mouth out of the car to get stuck in its teeth.”
“…”
The team, which hadn’t left the Base in a long time, chattered away as they boarded the vehicle, just like they did before every other trip.
They sped toward the surface, to keep watch for the dawn.
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