Soone gave Yong a thumbs up, but there was no visible reaction on his face. With that Level 4 zombie dead, the imnse pressure weighing on everyone’s hearts instantly dissipated significantly. Among the remaining zombies, aside from two Level 2 zombies and one Level 1 zombie, the others were all un-evolved zombies.
"Conserve your energy—once it’s gone, there’s no replenishing it."
Faced with the remaining zombies, the group decided not to use their laser weapons. Aside from their currently loaded energy magazines, they only had two spares at their waists. If they ran out, there was no way to resupply.
Drawing their cold weapons, they charged at the zombies. Relying on their top-tier equipnt, it didn’t take long for the group to clear out all of the remaining zombies.
By now, the sky had completely darkened. After thoroughly checking the gas station to ensure no zombies remained, they decided to spend the night in one of the offices on the second floor.
Because zombies are particularly sensitive to light at night, the first thing they did upon setting up their sleeping quarters was seal all the surrounding windows tightly with whatever materials they could scavenge. Once this was done, they finally began to rest. However, for so unknown reason, Crooked Neck remained silent the whole ti, becoming as dazed and disconnected as Yong.
None of them paid much attention to this, though. As the ti approached nine o’clock at night, the group gathered around the campfire to begin their long night.
What Brother Shi didn’t know, however, was that the video he uploaded to the internet was gaining views at an astonishing pace.
Thousands of kiloters away at Cloud Gorge Base, Su Sigui stood silently in front of a massive machine. If Tang Ye were here, he would find the machine remarkably familiar.
"Mayor, we’ve entered the testing phase now. We estimate completion by midday tomorrow."
At this mont, a man in work attire approached Su Sigui, holding a stack of docunts. His deanor toward Su Sigui was one of utmost respect.
"Be more precise. I want more than just a flawless appearance—there’s ample ti to ensure that this machine is entirely free of defects."
"Understood."
The man nodded, but after a brief hesitation, he suddenly asked Su Sigui, "Mayor, may I ask what the purpose of repairing this machine is?"
Su Sigui did not answer. Her gaze didn’t shift even slightly. She kept staring ahead silently. After about half a minute, the man seed to realize he’d overstepped. Quickly, he apologized, "Forgive for speaking out of turn. I’ll head back to work if there’s nothing else."
Su Sigui waved her hand dismissively. The man fled as though escaping, while she remained rooted to the spot, her eyes still fixed on the enormous machine. Her thoughts were unfathomable. After a while, she sighed—a heavy sigh filled with unresolved worries. Then, she turned and walked toward the elevator at the exit.
In this expansive space, apart from the countless tree-branch-like components sprawled across the machine, barely anyone else could be seen. She stepped into the elevator, listening to the cold, emotionless robotic prompts coming from above.
She didn’t respond to the machine prompts. Yet, even though she remained silent, this man-made contrivance seed to understand her intentions. The elevator doors slowly closed and began ascending, carrying her up via the sky-lift, all the way to the "Sky Continent."
She didn’t return to her residence but instead headed toward the edge of the Sky Continent. She stopped at a familiar spot, gazing southwest—where the entirety of Cloud Gorge Base could be seen below. As always, she stood observing everything down below. The countless moving dots were like ants, utterly insignificant. Yet those black dots were countless individuals.
The illumination piercing through the night turned the city into a dazzling golden landscape. Overhead, thousands of stars ford a magnificent galaxy, but in this era, their beauty brought no joy—only made the night feel even deeper. The winds carried the remnants of last season’s essence, brushing against her skin with a faint sting. And yet, for Su Sigui, the wind was almost imperceptible, though it seed to scatter her thoughts.
It was here that she had spoken with that person twice before. But even those conversations seed futile. Her sense of crisis was overwhelming—she felt as lost as a teenager, unsure of where the future lay.
What effect would her current efforts have in the future? She wasn’t a prophet. She couldn’t foresee what lay ahead, and this ignorance brought her a piercing sense of unease. If she had to identify what she was afraid of, it was failure—a failure whose consequences no one could bear.
The wind slipped away from her, yet in that fleeting mont, she suddenly yearned for freedom—to be like the wind: carefree and unbound. The wind might never stop running, but it could go anywhere and couldn’t be tethered by trivial concerns.
"All at once, I find myself a little envious of you..."
After a while, she suddenly spoke, but there was no one around to hear her words. It was unclear whom she was addressing, and naturally, her voice fell into an unanswerable silence.
With a shake of her head, she took out her phone. Perhaps the only ways to escape one’s worries temporarily were through alcohol or entertainnt. But regrettably, she had no alcohol, so she chose the latter.
As she tapped on a video app featuring funny skits, her eyes landed imdiately on one particular video with over 170,000 likes. Despite the number of likes being irrelevant, what drew her in was the srizing sky in the thumbnail image. She was instantly captivated.
Her fingers moved almost involuntarily, as if driven by so unseen force, and she tapped to open the video. There was no narration. The sun, on the verge of setting, emitted its final rays of light for the day. The ethereal glow pierced through the clouds, bathing the red-gold clouds in light. Yet the clouds couldn’t completely obscure the sunlight; scattered beams broke through and painted the sky in hues of soft pink. To the east, the pink sky transitioned gradually back into its original color, creating a breathtaking panoramic view that felt like a scene from a different world.
Nurous birds soared through the skies, their flight composing an unspoken lody. Su Sigui’s eyes locked onto the scene, her gaze slowly losing focus as she beca imrsed in its beauty.
The video never showed the ground, nor did the filmmaker possess any particular expertise. Still, with a sky like this, no additional artistry was needed. It was already perfect.
In this mont, she found herself unable to conjure flowery language to describe the video’s contents. Only two words ca to mind: "so beautiful."
Perhaps, when she found a mont of quiet, she should also take ti to appreciate the fleeting beauty of nature at certain monts. Sadly, leisure was sothing she didn’t even know if she could ever afford—for now, it was impossible.
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