Chapter 948: I Swear by Time
Shangguan Xi quickly adjusted his emotions and said seriously, "I'll handle it properly! But Brother Xu, is there something fishy about Teacher Ai?"
"It's not clear yet, that's why I want to follow and see," Xu Huo said. "Don't get too close, to avoid being discovered. You can use the communicator to contact me. If you can't reach me, wait for me at the No. 1 Tree Crown Pillar."
The Tree Crown Pillars were those branch-shaped city pillars.
"You can count on me." Shangguan Xi patted his chest, then turned and walked into a nearby street.
After watching him leave, Xu Huo boarded a fast vehicle within the city. From the station information, this vehicle would pass by the incineration plant.
The incineration plant was a place specifically used to burn the corpses of xenomorphs.
Although electronic devices had not spread to every street in the city, paper media was still in circulation. From the information in the newspapers, it could be learned that when W37 was first built, there were three incineration plants in the city. Apart from burning xenomorph corpses, there were also plants specifically for burning mutated plants and infected natives who had died.
Later, as the base city's strength increased, the mutated plants and infected people within the city were cleared out, and two of the incineration plants were closed. Now only one remained on the southeastern edge, mainly used to dispose of discarded xenomorph materials.
This meant that no matter how xenomorphs brought into this base city were dealt with, most of them would eventually end up at this place.
The same went for the live samples sent over by players.
Although according to Gao Xiaoyan, live xenomorphs would first be sent to the laboratory for research, it was hard to say whether the samples could survive long or whether there were people in the laboratory related to the instance background. Apart from the samples needed for experiments, the W37 base city laboratory, which had begun accepting infected residents and had researched the virus that once destroyed ten base cities, would not store too many corpses. So, the xenomorphs successfully transported to the base city would most likely end up at the incineration plant.
Gao Xiaoyan's attitude toward live xenomorphs was strange. From the beginning, she had not shown any intention of killing the xenomorph, nor was she particularly concerned about its condition. Since W37 base city housed so many ordinary people, even if players were immune, for the sake of these ordinary residents, she should have shown more concern about a xenomorph that might spread the virus—unless she was already very familiar with the situation from the start.
Of course, it was also possible that the xenomorph was under her surveillance, but killing it before entering the city seemed contradictory.
Killing the xenomorph in advance and then not allowing them to bring the corpse into the base city—this seemed like a forceful obstruction, but in reality, after a brief confrontation, she let go and did not send anyone to pursue them. The defense on the base city side continued as usual... On the surface, it seemed like an unexpected incident, but the attitude of W37, represented by Gao Xiaoyan, had subtly shifted several times during the process, which was intriguing.
In Xu Huo's view, either this xenomorph, dead or alive, was irrelevant to W37 base city, or it had been given some other meaning, and W37 base city was aware of it and allowed it.
He leaned toward the latter. To repeat, the obvious use of the xenomorph was for vaccine research, but in reality, it was a virus carrier. The implication of bringing it into W37 was self-evident.
The original outbreak of this virus also started in a laboratory. But now, the laboratory in W37 was likely already taken over by players, which was why Xu Huo went to the incineration plant first.
"...Recently, there have been many foreign players. To avoid conflicts, citizens are advised to minimize going out. If needed, you can seek help from the Enforcement Team... Disinfection will be carried out in one minute. Citizens, please take cover." A patrol vehicle of the Enforcement Team drove past the fast vehicle.
"Disinfection every day?" Xu Huo struck up a conversation with an old lady beside him. "Hasn't W37 already mastered the method to cure the epidemic?"
The old lady had no teeth left and spoke a bit unclearly, but she answered enthusiastically, "No, no. It's a temporary fix, not a permanent cure. Getting infected is like getting a chronic disease—you won't die from it."
"But it's best not to get it at all, to avoid outsiders infecting the city people. The government disinfects the streets with vehicles every day."
This seemed like normal procedure. Xu Huo glanced out the window. "There don't seem to be many sick people on the streets."
One of the sequelae of infection was spots. W37 base city had been accepting infected people for quite some time, but there were no obvious infected people walking around on the streets.
"Those people have to be quarantined for treatment. They can only come out after they're cured," the old lady said with a smile. "It's over in the east, at the experimental fields. If you pass by, you can see many people working there."
Xu Huo pretended to be surprised. "I heard that this virus can contaminate plants and soil!"
The old lady got a bit angry. "Who told you that? I've never heard of it spreading to food crops. Saying that is discrimination, exclusion. If this gets blown up, how will those poor people survive?"
"I just heard it from somewhere and was curious. Please don't be angry, ma'am," Xu Huo said with a smile. "Actually, I'm asking for a friend. He wants to move his family here, but he's worried they won't be accepted."
"Our government is good," the old lady regained her smile. "There are new experimental fields being opened up. Tell your friend to come. Anyone who can contribute to the base city can enjoy government benefits. This city will keep growing bigger. Who knows, maybe soon, when we go out, we'll see fertile fields everywhere, just like in the old days!"
The old lady's words stirred the other passengers. Another elderly person said, "I take this vehicle every two days. W37 is much better than before. In the beginning, we couldn't even get enough to eat. Now, we can have a fruit every three to five days. Fruits are a luxury in other base cities—you can't always buy them even with money!"
"I love eating fruit too!" A ten-year-old girl shook her mother's arm. "Mom, can we buy a banana today? We haven't bought one in a long time. If we buy one, Dad and my little sister can all have some."
"We'll see if there's a discount later." The mother, with a slightly tired face, nodded gently.
These trivial, warm daily scenes showed that the city was on the right track. The residents inside and outside the vehicle all held hope for this city and looked forward to the future.
A siren sounded from the direction of the city center. A speeding car passed through a "Y"-shaped intersection. As the lights below lit up one by one with the train, static projections played in the air one after another. Apart from a few advertisements, the rest were current affairs announced by the government. The female mayor's voice echoed in every corner of the city:
"This city has once endured war, hunger, and disease. We survived through hardship and difficulty. Every footprint carries the blood and tears of the dead and the living. We keep moving forward, searching for hope, not only to dispel the darkness but also to create a bright future."
"I swear by time, from birth to death, I will coexist with this city!"
(End of Chapter)