A Night of Desperation-Chapter 231: Puzzle 229

Inside the Second Aurora City.

Xin Zhilei and four other United Army committee members stood at the five corners of the conference hall.

Each of them was protected by individual barriers, with circles of guards stationed further outside.

This was the Life Conference Hall, where, after the Black Disaster outbreak, the leaders of the United Army met face-to-face with representatives from the lower and middle classes to listen to public opinions.

In Donghe, this was a unique form of communication, also known as the Mobile Conference.

The five committee members of the Second Aurora City were Chen Xiguang, responsible for the three major corps of the United Army;Zhao Xiang, in charge of medical health and epidemic prevention;Liu Chengpeng, responsible for construction and renovation design;Xin Zhilei, handling Black Disaster exploration and investigation;and Adili Muhe, overseeing internal affairs and scientific research.

Chen Xiguang, as the most important committee member of the New Second Aurora City, had been responsible for the Black Disaster security defenses of the surrounding cities. According to the division of labor, he managed the main force of the army, while a select few elite investigation units were led by Xin Zhilei.

However, Chen Xiguang was getting old, now nearly seventy, and his physical strength and energy were far less than when he was young, so often he did not concern himself much with the investigation units.

Just dealing with various Black Disasters was enough to make him overwhelmed.

At this moment, this tired old man was standing seriously in his position, reading his prepared speech.

His voice, full of rhythm and cadence, echoed throughout the quiet conference hall.

“….Based on feedback from the clearance operation, three high-risk Black Disaster clusters around the city were lured further away using induction liquid technology. Thanks to the sacrifices made by the Seventh Battalion of the Ninth Brigade of the Third Corps, it was your effort and fearlessness that maintained the final peace of the Second Aurora City. For this, I announce the award of….”

Listening to Chen Xiguang’s voice, Adili Muhe, also a committee member, suddenly frowned as a report came through his earpiece.

“Committee Member Adili, from our monitoring markers outside the city, we’ve discovered that group of mysterious black-armored individuals again. They’re attacking another group that appears to be a reconnaissance unit.”

Adili raised his hand, covering his mouth with the pretense of rubbing his face, and spoke in a low voice.

“No response from Xin Zhilei’s direct units?”

“None.”

“That’s odd….” Adili was puzzled. In the current situation, each committee member who could stand their ground within the city had their own armed forces, regardless of the field they were in charge of.

As someone overseeing logistics and research, he naturally also had his own armed forces and sources of information.

Recently, through his informants, he noticed that Xin Zhilei’s investigation units suddenly had a lot of small actions.

This piqued his curiosity somewhat. The Black Disaster investigation was of great importance, and Xin Zhilei managed to take on this role mainly because she previously provided a lot of confidential information. Her investigation units, from the start, had her own direct subordinates as the main force.

After the Black Disaster outbreak, she continuously provided a large amount of top-secret information, preventing multiple major casualties of the United Army, and thus made significant contributions, leading to her rapid promotions.

This ultimately resulted in Xin Zhilei being the youngest among the city’s five committee members, only in her thirties, while the others were all over fifty.

“Keep observing, report at any time if necessary,” Adili instructed.

“Understood, the second piece of news, starting from yesterday, the rechargeable micro-sensors we deployed outside the city detected a living being moving toward Aurora City from 30 kilometers away, following the standard Rift route.”

“Are there still survivors? How many people? Maybe they can bring us more Black Disaster intel.” Adili showed interest.

Now that the Black Disaster Investigation Team encountered issues and all external exploration had paused, even though Xin Zhilei provided some intel again, anyone could see it was merely going through the motions.

*How to suppress the Black Disaster, securing more survival resources for humanity, had become a vexing problem for everyone.*

And the biggest key to suppressing the Black Disaster was still information.

“It’s one person, no vehicles detected, initially estimated to be a strength-enhanced individual, traveling while carrying a lot of luggage. In this environment, to struggle alone and find the Rift, breaking through the Black Disaster’s encirclement, shows extreme courage and skill. Send someone to meet them, see if we can recruit them into our origin units,” Adili said softly.

“Understood.”

Being the one among the five committee members with the widest detection range, he also used such methods to recruit the most enhanced individuals.

It was precisely because of this that he couldn’t figure out how Xin Zhilei suddenly had so many enhanced individuals under her command.

Recalling what Committee Member Yang from City No. 1 said when she came over, Adili was half-doubtful in his heart.

*Even if Xin Zhilei really had issues, the people she saved with the information she provided were still there, and they were all her staunch supporters.*

*Together, there were tens of thousands of them, including many direct relatives of various officials, and this network of connections meant anyone thinking of moving against her had to weigh their own capabilities first.*

*

*

*

The black-crushing Baihang Mountain Range lay like a giant caterpillar crawling in the dark night.

Its edges were lined with dense, charred forests.

These forests, once lush before the Black Disaster, had long withered due to insufficient sunlight. The fallen leaves left nothing but claw-like bare branches, a scene of desolation.

At the edge of the mountain range were scattered small, unmanned sentry posts.

These posts were standard templates, consisting of a helipad and a small box-shaped house.

The bright lights at night were once the only refuge for nearby survivors.

But as the Black Disaster deepened, there were no more survivors outside.

Sentry posts held only isolated white lights, situated amidst the thick black fog.

Yu Hong stood in front of a sentry post, peering inside through the barbed wire.

He had already unlatched the iron ball and hidden it in the outer forest.

After all, ordinary people couldn’t take it, and there were no living people outside anyway.

He had also tidied himself up, making himself look more like a survivor seeking shelter.

*After all, his main purpose in coming here was to investigate the real situation inside Aurora City.*

*If he made his intentions known directly, given Xin Zhilei’s power, if she truly had major issues, a remote bombardment would not be impossible.*

*He wasn’t afraid of trouble, but he didn’t want to cause unnecessary casualties.*

*So, he needed to assume a different identity first…*

With this in mind, he tossed a bag of nutritional paste into his mouth, biting through it and sucking out the contents before spitting it out.

‘From now on, I’ll be called Lin Lan.’ Lin was taken from Stammering Yiyi’s surname, and Lan… Red and Blue, simply a homophonic switch.

Reaching out, he patted the barbed wire in front of him, glanced around, and soon found a surveillance camera slowly rotating under the eaves of the only gray-white small flat-roofed house.

He waved at it.

The camera clattered and made a noise.

Soon, a surprised voice followed.

“Haven’t seen scattered survivors for a long time, where did you come from?”

“From near Baihe City, I’m called Lin Lan. Where exactly is the New Aurora City? I can’t find it,” Yu Hong replied.

“Someone has to pick you up to get in, you can’t come in.” The person replied, “You’re really lucky, in this temperature, this environment, still able to walk that far alone….”

“I’ve always been lucky.” Yu Hong nodded in agreement. “Along the way, I came across a car, and there was fuel inside, so I drove here…. It was just the last stretch that the car ran out of fuel, so I had to walk.”

“Wait a moment.”

The surveillance voice went quiet.

After waiting for over ten minutes, a faint hum could be heard in the night sky.

Soon, a rectangular drone over two meters long descended from the night sky.

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Underneath the drone hung a black plastic seat equipped with a safety buckle.

“Hop on, this will take you into the city. One word of caution, entering the city requires going through several procedures. If you’re unable to pass….” The voice from the drone spoke.

“I understand.” Yu Hong nodded and sat on it abruptly.

The entire drone dipped heavily.

“….You’re too heavy…. Wait, I’ll switch to another one,” the voice said helplessly.

After fiddling around for over half an hour, finally, under the suspension of a new large drone, Yu Hong slowly took off, flying into the night sky shrouded in black fog.

He was tense all over, worried that the drone might lose control and crash.

But fortunately, the technology of Aurora City was quite reliable, with no malfunctions occurring along the way.

After flying through the black fog for several minutes.

Soon, the aircraft began to decelerate and descend.

The mist ahead started thinning, and gradually, a massive circular city appeared in Yu Hong’s sight.

The city seemed to be surrounded by towering mountains, forming a giant basin.

Its top was covered by a thick, transparent glass dome.

Through the dome, one could see bright lights illuminating the buildings within.

Distinct spotlights with special functions emanated from inside the dome, sporadically lighting up the surrounding black fog.

The aircraft landed Yu Hong on a gray landing pad extending outward like a tongue on the outer side of the transparent dome.

“Now, after you descend, there are five detection gates ahead. Walk through each one;if all the gates light up green, you may enter,” the electronic voice said again.

Yu Hong acknowledged, unbuckling the safety harness and stepping down to stretch.

Looking around, there wasn’t a single person, only the lone passage ahead.

The passage featured five round arched mechanical gates, each adorned with various runes and patterns.

The five silver metal gates seemed to welcome all outsiders.

He walked through without hesitation, one by one, passing through all the gates, all lit up green.

At the end of the passage was a square glass door.

Inside the door could be seen two figures in white protective suits, waiting with weapons in hand.

“Alright, congratulations, you’ve passed the most troublesome review. Now please disarm all weapons and walk to the door,” the electronic eye spoke again.

Yu Hong readily took off a single dagger;the rest of his weapons had already been hidden with the iron ball.

All he had on him now were some Vortex Talisman Plates and radiation bombs.

These were for use against Black Disasters, not harmful to people.

The only thing he was a bit worried about were the two black water balls he had just taken in, fearing they might be detected by the gates.

But it seemed everything was fine for now.

Hiss…

As he reached the glass door, it automatically slid upward, and the two figures inside quickly came out.

Both were over two meters tall, and judging by their muscular build through the protective suits, it was apparent they were quite burly.

But when they stood in front of Yu Hong, even with their over two-meter height, they were still slightly shorter than him.

Moreover, their body width was noticeably thinner.