City No. 18 is adjacent to City No. 10.
Two cities with non-adjacent serial numbers are only more than 200 kilometers apart geographically. This is simply because these cities are not ranked in order of importance, but in the order of establishment.
If the Federation is compared to a circle, then the urban circle formed by cities No. 18 and No. 10 is like the center of the circle.
Of course, this metaphor is not accurate. The federation is not a regular circle.
Qingchen once asked Li Shutong for a map of the Federation. It can be said that the maps of the outside world and the inner world are similar, only the coastal areas are different.
If these two worlds are really parallel worlds.
Then the crust of the other world must have experienced violent movements to become what it is today.
City No. 18 corresponds to Luo City, and city No. 10 corresponds to Zheng City. Whether in the inner world or the outer world, they have always been the land of the Central Plains.
Without the strategic importance of coastal ports, for example, City No. 7 corresponding to Haicheng would be far less prosperous than Haicheng in the world.
In the Federation, the most prosperous cities are No. 18 and No. 10.
No. 18 is the economic center and No. 10 is the political center.
One west and one east are called the Federation Twins.
The line segments connecting them seem to directly separate the south and north of the federation.
Countdown to another midnight.
More than a hundred kilometers south of City No. 18, a dozen people were gathering around a bonfire to keep warm. In the flickering light of the fire, eight men and four women were chatting and laughing.
There are branches intertwined on the bonfire, and an iron pot hangs on the branches, and the thick noodle soup inside is bubbling.
Someone took out a piece of bacon from his arms, cut a few pieces with a knife and threw them into the pot.
This is a small temporary campsite.
Nine dark green canvas tents were pitched in the open space near the camp.
The wind was very strong at night, and two dilapidated pickup trucks were standing on the wind vent to shield this small temporary camp from the fierce cold wind.
There seemed to be some cargo in the bed of the pickup truck that was covered with canvas, so you couldn’t see what was inside.
Beside the bonfire were piles of windproof stones, even so, the orange-red flame was still swaying.
"The things my employer wants to catch this time are not easy to find. We have been wandering around this area for a month and haven't seen one," an elderly man beside the campfire said: "How about that?" , let’s go to the edge of “that place” to take a chance. We don’t have to go in. The edge is not that dangerous. I have been there many years ago.”
The old man’s name is Qin Cheng. The leader of this team.
The people around the campfire are basically related by blood.
They were wearing combat uniforms that they had replaced from unknown sources. Some of them had patches on their elbows, knees, trouser legs, and buttocks, and the sizes did not fit them well.
"Dad, is the price offered by the buyer worth the risk?" a young man asked.
"As you know, the other party offered 200,000 yuan," Qin Cheng, an old man, rolled tobacco leaves with his mottled mechanical palm, and the nano-coatings on his fingers fell off piece by piece: "With this money, Then we can replace you and Xiaoyi with better mechanical limbs, and the energy will at least be enough to support one action."
"Dad, this is not what we urgently need, and there is no need to risk our lives," the young man said. said.
"Well," the old man took out a half-burned piece of firewood from the campfire, put it to his mouth and lit a cigarette: "The other party also promised a genetic medicine and a box of BVC antibiotics. Your brother He is almost an adult. There must be someone in our family who is not so dependent on mechanical limbs. I want to get him a genetic potion. This is a rare opportunity." As soon as he finished speaking, the young man looked at him in shock. The younger brother beside him opened his mouth but said nothing.
A middle-aged woman next to Qin Cheng said: "Xiaotong, don't think your dad is partial. He also wanted to get one for you back then, but he was deceived."
The young man Qin Tong thought for a while and said: "Mom, don't think too much, I don't mean that. I have mechanical limbs, but my brother doesn't have it yet. It would be normal if I gave him a genetic potion. And my brother has the gene." The medicine will also make it easier to find a wife."
As he spoke, the sound of breaking dead branches suddenly came from the woods outside the camp.
Old Han Qin Cheng suddenly fell backward into a pile of fallen leaves. In an instant, he quickly took out a pistol from his arms and pointed it at the source of the sound.
This vigorous skill does not look like that of an elderly person at all.
The others quickly left the campfire and each found tree trunks to hide themselves.
"Hello, no offense intended."
A voice came first outside the camp.
In the woods at night, two figures slowly walked out. They were both wearing black jackets, one was a middle-aged man and the other was a young man. The young man was carrying a tall mountaineering bag behind him.
The two of them zipped up their clothes, and the raised collars covered most of their cheeks.
The middle-aged man in a jacket raised his hands and said with a smile: "Passers-by, I see you have two cars here that can block the wind, so I borrow a place."
As he spoke, , the middle-aged man glanced at the young man beside him.
Unexpectedly, the young man took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and threw it next to the bonfire: "It doesn't matter if you don't agree. I'll give you the cigarettes and we'll leave."
But I saw Creeper. The old Han Qin Cheng who was on the ground hesitated for a moment, then slowly stood up, pointing his gun at the two people in front of him nonchalantly: "Come from the city?"
"Well, No. 10 From the city," the middle-aged man said with a smile.
"Where to go?" The old man was wary.
“I don’t know yet, I’m just going out for a walk,” the middle-aged man continued to answer.
The old man pointed to the open space more than twenty meters away: "You guysYou can camp there, but not near us. If you want to borrow a place, a pack of cigarettes won't be enough. Do you have any medicine? "
"Yes," the boy in the jacket responded, and then threw a small white bottle next to the bonfire, as if he had prepared it a long time ago.
This It's hard currency in the wilderness.
After throwing it away, the two people went to the open space aside.
A girl looked at the boy in the jacket and lowered her head. He said to Qin Tong beside him: "Brother, that boy is very good-looking.
Qin Tong glanced at the young man's back: "The jacket covers most of his face. Do you think he looks good?" ”
The girl said: “Some people can tell that they are beautiful even without looking at the whole face. "
"Stop thinking so much," Qin Tong added two pieces of firewood to the campfire: "Have you seen the assault jackets they are wearing? These two pieces of clothing can replace the two pieces of machinery I am wearing. The limbs are gone. This kind of people come to the wilderness and call it traveling, while we call it survival in the wilderness. We are basically people from two worlds. "
The girl curled her lips: "I didn't say anything. "
"I'm worried that you will be seduced by this kind of rich kid," the young man said seriously: "None of those rich people living in the Upper 3 District is a good person. "
"Okay, okay, I got it," the girl said impatiently.
While speaking, she still looked at the boy from afar.