Chapter 947: The Dissonance of Everything Being Normal
Because this stretch of road fell within the key monitoring range of W37 Base City, the journey went smoothly without encountering any Xenomorph attacks. Instead, they ran into a few groups heading from the base city to the training grounds. Shangguan Xi used some items and potions to slightly modify the vehicle's appearance, which didn't draw any attention from these people.
If anything, these individuals were more preoccupied with matters at the training grounds and paid little heed to passing players.
"Did Gao Xiaoyan not notify the base city about us?" Shangguan Xi was somewhat surprised. They still had a contaminated Xenomorph corpse in their possession—wasn't Gao Xiaoyan worried they might seek revenge?
"Could there be a trap?" Zhu Feiyun thought more cautiously.
"Such a large base city wouldn't go to that much trouble for a few outsider players," Kuang Wenjun said rationally.
She made a good point. Throughout the journey, Xu Huo and his group faced no pursuit. As they neared the base city, they didn't spot any base city players lying in wait ahead. Instead, there were scattered opportunist players lurking in unexpected spots, but since Xu Huo's group was sizable, most only tested the waters rather than actually attacking.
W37 Base City was essentially a semi-old city situated on a plain. Tall protective walls obscured most of the city, with only a few buildings in the city center rising above the walls, their tips just visible from a distance.
To expand the field of view, the trees around the city—except for a few wide straight roads—had been cleared, leaving behind fan-shaped fields that looked specially treated.
The vehicle drove all the way to the protective wall. Surprisingly, the base city's gates were still open, allowing people to come and go freely. The gatekeeping players barely conducted any inspections.
Most of those entering and exiting were players. To get in, one only needed to pay a fee, and the base city players generally didn't interfere much. However, if ordinary people came seeking refuge from afar, they would register their identities and take them for quarantine checks.
"Isn't such lax defense inviting disease transmission?" an outsider player ahead struck up a conversation with a gatekeeping player.
The gatekeeping player smiled. "This virus can barely infect players. Ordinary residents all live inside the city, far from the gates."
Xu Huo's group drove through. For safety, they had altered their appearances, but the gatekeeping players only gave them an extra glance, collected the fee, and let them pass.
It was so simple that Shangguan Xi and the others found it hard to believe.
"Could something really have gone wrong there?" Shangguan Xi looked at Xu Huo with suspicion. "That's a lot of people!"
"I've been watched the whole time. Where would I find a laboratory?" Xu Huo didn't seem particularly surprised and signaled Teacher Ai to find a place to park.
Inside the base city, it wasn't as desolate as it appeared from the outside. Though the edges were mostly old buildings, there were plenty of trees and plants, and the environment was decent. Vegetable-like plants were everywhere along the streets and roadsides. Residents came and went normally, and children returning from school played by the roadside.
Xu Huo looked into the distance. The closer to the city center, the more rebuilt the buildings became. Among them were a few structures that clearly exceeded the base station's technological level. Tree-branch-like pillars elevated these buildings mid-air, forming a connected walkway where figures could faintly be seen moving.
The layout was roughly circular, though somewhat irregular.
Too far away to see details, but it was clear that from this ring of buildings onward, the two halves of the city showed a stark contrast.
"Hey!" A woman leaned out from a small building by the street and shouted at them: "You can't park here. Drive a few hundred meters ahead—there's a dedicated parking lot!"
The vehicle, which had been about to stop, slid forward again. After moving a distance, they could still hear the woman talking to a neighbor: "Oh, these outsider players don't know any rules. They just dump their cars anywhere. Without the startup code, how are we supposed to move these vehicles? They just make work for the Enforcement Team. Don't those young people train hard enough all day..."
The street they were on was about three hundred meters long, but there were three players in uniform patrolling it. The same setup applied to the side streets—an Enforcement Team player every two hundred meters. From nearby residents' conversations, this high-density defense had been in place for half a month, called B2-level alert, with no sign of being lifted.
"Players and ordinary people living together—the atmosphere seems pretty good," Kuang Wenjun said, watching the ordinary daily life outside. She suddenly sighed. "After wandering through such an abnormal world for so long, I've almost forgotten what normal life looks like."
The fact that ordinary people here dared to argue with outsider players showed that the government's authority gave them considerable confidence, which also reflected W37's strength.
Up ahead, a sign appeared. Under the watchful eyes of five surveillance cameras on two streets and a building, Teacher Ai drove the car into the "parking lot"—an open space filled with abandoned vehicles, with a large operating platform nearby dismantling unwanted cars.
"Vehicles can only stay for half a month. If no one claims them by then, they become property of the base government," a worker in a hard hat said as he approached.
Leaving the parking lot meant going their separate ways. Zhu Feiyun left first. Kuang Wenjun and Pan Qiao lingered briefly, asked about places frequented by outsider players, and then followed.
"As agreed, I've brought you to W37 Base City. Do you have somewhere to go?" Xu Huo asked Teacher Ai.
Teacher Ai touched the wheelchair armrest. "Thank you. I'll register with the Enforcement Team myself. Once the government approves, I might be assigned a room."
"Good," Xu Huo nodded, not lingering, and headed toward the city center.
Shangguan Xi followed behind him, observing the surroundings with keen interest. "Compared to other base cities mentioned in Under Dimension, this one is really decent. Ordinary residents can still live normally, and the benefits seem good too. Look at that notice board—working in the government's experimental fields comes with room, board, and a salary."
"No wonder people are willing to come when they hear the news. But this policy has been in place for a while—do they really have that much farmland to tend?"
This was just one of the government's welfare policies. There were also many other jobs suitable for ordinary people, like road construction, forest clearing, or seed identification.
Slogans encouraging childbirth and emphasizing education were plastered everywhere. Having children came with rewards; newborns were supported by the government until age ten, basic education was free, and children with talent for becoming players would receive focused training.
"Are you hungry?" Xu Huo suddenly turned around and asked.
Shangguan Xi grinned. "I'm fine. Are you hungry, Brother Xu? If you're hungry, let's eat—my treat..."
"If you're not hungry, do me a small favor," Xu Huo interrupted. "Follow Teacher Ai. Watch what he does, who he meets, and record every detail, no matter how small."
(Chapter End)