Night’s Nomenclature

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 city 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, the No. 7 city corresponding to Haicheng would be far less prosperous than Haicheng in the world.

Within 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, known as the Federation Twins.

The line segments connecting them seem to directly separate the south and north of the federation.

Countdown to 96:00:00.

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 were branches intertwined on the bonfire, and an iron pot hung on the branches, in which thick noodle soup was 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.

There are nine dark green canvas tents set up in the open space near the camp.

The wind was very strong at night, and two dilapidated pickup trucks were standing on the wind outlet 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.

Windproof stones were piled next to the bonfire. Even so, the orange-red flames were still swaying here and there.

"What the employer wants to catch this time is not easy to find. We have been wandering around this area for a month and haven't seen one," said an elderly man by the campfire. "How about we go to that place?" "If you take a chance on the edge, you don't have to go in. The edge is not that dangerous. I have been there a few years ago."

The old man's name is Qin Cheng, and he is 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.

"You also know that the other party is offering 200,000 yuan." Old Han Qin Cheng rolled the tobacco leaves with his mottled mechanical palm, and the nano-coating on his fingers fell off piece by piece: "With this money, I can give it to you and Xiaoyi Replace it 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 we don't have to risk our lives," the young man said.

"Well," the old man took out a half-burned piece of firewood from the bonfire, 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 is almost an adult, and our family must There is a person who doesn’t rely so much 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 his brother next to him in astonishment, opened his mouth and said no more.

A middle-aged woman next to Qin Cheng said: "Xiao Tong, 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 them yet. It would be normal if I gave him a genetic potion. And my brother has a genetic potion, and he will be better." It’s easy to find a wife.”

While he was talking, 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 a tree trunk to hide themselves in.

"Hello, no offense intended."

Outside the camp, a voice came first.

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 faces.

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 said that, the middle-aged man glanced at the young man beside him.

But I saw 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."

However, he saw the old man Qin Cheng who was lying on the ground hesitate for a moment, and then slowly stood up, pointing his gun at the two people in front of him nonchalantly: "Are you from the city?"

"Well, I'm from city No. 10," the middle-aged man said with a smile.

"Where to go?" The old man was wary.

"I don't know yet, I just went 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 can camp there, but you can't get close to 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 threw a small white bottle next to the bonfire, as if he had already prepared it.

This is hard currency in the wilderness.

After throwing it away, the two people went to the open space aside.

On the side of the bonfire, a girl looked at the boy in the jacket and whispered to Qin Tong beside her: "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 their entire 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 clothes can replace my two mechanical limbs. People like this come to the wilderness. It’s called traveling, and we call it survival in the wilderness. We are basically people from two different 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 earnestly, "none of those rich people living in the Upper 3 District is a good person."

"Okay, okay, I got it," the girl said impatiently.

As she spoke, she still looked at the boy from afar.