The hurricane has weakened, but has not completely disappeared. Amidst the jagged steel wreckage, fierce gusts still whistle sharply, blowing from all directions. The wind lashes like a whip on the face, causing raw pain. In the darkness, a small team of more than twenty people is struggling forward.
"It’s really a bit too early to co out now, won’t the wind suddenly get stronger again?"
The speaker is a short person, and like most of the team mbers, he is wrapped in thick cotton clothes to withstand the unbearably cold air around. Of course, this attire makes it difficult to walk in the howling wind, and there’s even a risk of being blown away. But compared to being frozen solid by the icy wind, the effort to walk is already a very acceptable cost.
Moreover, every mber of the team had already prepared before setting out, with the edges and corners of the cotton clothes tightly tied by others to prevent danger from sudden gusts or being snagged by steel wreckage along the way. In the absence of professional protective clothing and specialized vehicles, this sowhat crude attire is considered the wisdom of the bottom layer people.
"Wait for the wind to stop? It would take several days for the wind to completely stop, by then everyone would be frozen and starved to death at the cliff," walking at the front of the team is a tall and sturdy figure, also wrapped under thick cotton clothes. Judging by the stature and hearing the loud voice, this is undoubtedly the action-oriented Tie Ke from Condenser Town, "Didn’t that scientist say? The next twenty-four hours are the most stable ti. If help from the Great City or other places really cos, we can only seize this twenty-four-hour window to seek rescue... Ah, ptew, ptew, this damn dirty ice got into my mouth!"
Tie Ke accidentally swallowed a mouthful of loose ice ford from dirty water and imdiately cursed loudly, then continued, "If there is a rescue, they will first go to the town to find survivors. We have to wait there for at least twenty hours!"
"Will the rescuers really co?"
Another person in the team shouted, the head-on wind forced everyone to use their maximum voice to convey their words.
"Don’t ask , ask those tough guys in the back. They’re from the Great City; they say there is a rescue team!"
Tie Ke shouted, turning to look in our direction, "I say, you guys are real strong! Just saw you all stepping outside in those clothes, I thought you were all reckless. Heard the High Order Monks from the Great City have ancient machines to strengthen their bodies. Seems true, just didn’t expect even kids this small... Ah, ptew, ptew! This damn dirty ice!"
Tie Ke was halfway through speaking when he was splattered by ice shards again, but he didn’t notice he was actually turned against the wind at that ti. The dirty thing bent around at an angle defying common sense to splash his face.
Big Sister said softly, "Before Pandora decides to take him down, I have to quiet this loudmouth for a while."
I chuckled, turning to glance at the people around .
As is the First Family’s usual style, we join in whenever there’s excitent or even the slightest hint of sothing to get involved in. So, a sizable group of us ca out with Tie Ke this ti. Clearly, wherever we go, our bunch that acts like tourists is always the oddity amid tense surroundings, no matter how I and Big Sister try to feign a doomsday-survival attitude which can’t stop Bingdisi’s chatter and Visca’s pit digging all the way...
After Bernard got the news from Sandora that the Great City had dispatched the nearest church mbers to search and rescue survivors, he decided to send a group back to the town to await the rescue team, while Tie Ke led the youngest and strongest from the town to form this Suicide Squad—really a Suicide Squad. Although the wind has now weakened to allow travel, the road from the cliff down to the town isn’t so easy. tal wreckage everywhere isn’t short on lethal edges. These edges are harmless on ordinary days, but now, in an environnt where you can’t see your hand in front of you and surrounded by vicious wind and snow, danger could appear at any mont.
Tie Ke’s Condenser Town Suicide Squad is fully equipped, not just wrapped in heavy cold-proof cotton clothes outside, but also wearing woven tal wire shirts underneath, used when working deep within the tal station, to prevent great harm from tal spikes when knocked down by wind or slipping on ice.
In contrast, we stand out... I’m just wearing a shirt and pants, and I’m afraid to change my top because Dingdang thinks the pockets on this shirt are quite convenient. Big Sister and Miss Lin are both in flowing long dresses, looking like princesses, but utterly mismatched with the howling cold winds around. Qianqian and Sayaka are even wearing short skirts, and the little ones are all in various princess dresses. Among the little girls, rcury Lamp is the only one who seems to be dressed warmly because her favorite black dress is adorned with a lot of frills...
Bingdisi is still in that ornate black evening gown, which seems like a waste on her, while Monina is in a black tight outfit that looks like she’s ready for a showdown at the top of Forbidden City. Lin is the least dressed among us, with a sleeveless vest, short skirt, and sandals. Her tough Dragon Clan physique ans she has no concept of adapting to the environnt, and her outfit could easily fit right in on a Hawaiian beach without contradiction. There are also two males, Uncle Kenser and Yelsen. The forr is wearing a robe in the seventy-eight level wind like an Arabian, wishing his whole person, even his beard, could fly in the breeze. The latter is arrogantly clad in full-body golden heavy armor, already covered with a layer of ice. Honestly, I’m embarrassed to ntion them, especially Yelsen, who looks like a tin can and has been wearing that outfit ever since arriving in Condenser Town. Because of his dashing yet silly attire and the big brother halo cultivated over millions of years caring for his sister, he is almost nominated as Condenser Town’s most popular child-friendly person of the year—everyone thinks he’s a people’s artist.
It’s slightly better than Bikenser, who stands behind a group of even more lancholic big madams...
With these distinctly unique characters around, Big Sister and I can’t keep a low profile even if we wanted to. Wrapped in heavy cotton clothes, Titan trudged through the strong winds, looking at us with an expression like he’s seeing superhumans—fortunately, there really are superhumans in this world. It’s said that those "Church mbers" who possess the most ancient machinery have body strengthening technology. Though this body strengthening should be different from ours, Titan’s imaginative ability spared us from many troubles.
"Truly, people from the Great City," Titan pressed down on the hood with one hand and held a large powerful searchlight in the other, taking the ti to glance at us with envy, "I’ve never seen your miracles in my life."
To this, I could only chuckle.
The erratic wind severely slows down the group’s progress, making a kiloter’s distance seem so far for ordinary people. With the wind lessening, the sky no longer has deadly tal fragnts, replaced by dirty ice crystals and freezing rain. People’s hair and eyebrows begin to freeze, breathing becos increasingly labored, and even Titan slowly falls silent, conserving physical strength to continue the journey. The road is hard to walk, not just because of the strong winds but also due to thick ice covering the steel debris. The downdraft air from the cold brings not only storms across space but also this world’s first blizzard.
I confiscated Qianqian’s ice blade shoes for the third ti; this girl’s mind is starting to think uncontrollably again.
"See, I’ve ntioned before, they score high," Bingdisi gently nudged my arm suddenly.
Thinking about it, I still felt a bit strange: "Why do I feel guilty watching them suffer and endure like this without doing anything?"
"This isn’t cold observation," Bingdisi’s blood-red eyes shimred with subtle light, "God rarely observes mortals coldly. Even if we don’t intervene, we accompany them, just like now—haven’t you noticed? In this tough journey, God partners with them, a situation often depicted in many religious works."
I was suddenly stunned.
Bingdisi quietly glanced at and murmured, "’Gerda the White Robed Prophet leads his people across the icefield, feet bloodied, and the heretics ask him: Look, your feet are bleeding, where is your Lord? The Prophet responds: The Lord is behind , walking the sa path.’ This passage is from the ’Mohen Sha Classics,’ another world’s Bible, similar accounts appear in other mythological stories. Chen, why do you think many ancient Prophet descriptions in the scriptures emphasize ’God journeying with tested believers’?"
With mouth agape, I looked at the mortals draped in heavy clothing trudging through the blizzard and the Divine Race silently following them not far behind, finally pulling a smile: "Don’t tell this is how the most classic scene in mythology cos about... just like this?"
"Experiencing it firsthand, it’s really like this; all miracles and praises are added later by others," Bingdisi’s voice resonated in the spiritual connection, "Actually, many myths, from our vantage, are really just that simple. Students need to take exams, invigilator teachers follow throughout—using Bible language it’s ’God walks with .’ But honestly, God is scoring you. Like the icefield trekking Chapter in ’Mohen Sha Classics,’ that white-robed Prophet was just a fisherman going to fish on the ice lake, and coincidences led to evaluate him as a world assessnt object, so I followed him, and just like that, it beca a divine test."
I felt a mix of amusent and disbelief welling up inside, and could only shrug: "Will this scene today be turned into a watercolor painting on the ceiling of a church thousands of years from now?"
Bingdisi silently looked at and said, "It’s possible, and it would surely feature images of you guys. But that’s nothing to be happy about, speaking from experience, all the religious murals of mine have been painted to look dumb sohow..."
I broke into a sweat, then thought about how perhaps in many years there really will be a group of monks preaching the Apocalypse Gospels in churches, naming today’s one-kiloter road through the blizzard the ’Trial Trip’, speaking of the White Robed Prophet Tie Ke and the Twelve Disciples braving the darkness and storm as God tested them, followed by a group of gods wearing NIKE and Louis Vuido, ending with the line: ’On the arduous journey, God always stayed with them...’
"I understand you,"
Big Sister said to Bingdisi, particularly moved.
"Right," the Rogue Goddess sighed, "Back in the day, I saw a group of primitive people being chased by mutated wild beasts in my domain. I used my war spear to drive away those beasts without thinking, and when I returned two thousand years later, I found that they had erected statues of holding a burning stick on every planet within ten light years... Divine and mythological is just such a ridiculous thing."
"We’re here! We’re here! Just ahead! The last corner!"
Just then, a shout from the front of the team interrupted the discussion Bingdisi and I were having about divinity phenona. Everyone’s spirits were imdiately lifted, as if the Physical Strength consud by arduous progress just returned in an instant, and Tie Ke led his team sprinting towards the direction ahead.
Five or six bright beams danced in the dark blizzard, illuminating the road ahead covered in crushed ice and tal debris, the expedition finally reached its destination, invigorating everyone imdiately.
Though the journey was only about a kiloter, traversing a kiloter in a blizzard and frozen tal plain is definitely not easy. Therefore, when we finally rounded the last corner and reached near the town behind the giant condenser, many people plopped down, then raised their lamps towards the direction of their now-gone holand.
Nothing.
The once Condenser Town, covered by tal shacks and living pods atop the giant condenser, was now empty, with no trace of the small town’s forr glory.
We already knew this bad news and could only sigh sentintally now, while the surrounding small town residents suddenly fell into a dreadful Silence. Many among them were perhaps fantasizing about returning ho a mont ago, able to rest for a few hours in familiar warm rooms. But now, cruel reality woke them up instantly.
Disaster is not over so easily.
"The town... is gone?"
A short, small town resident sat on the ground despite the ice everywhere, muttering as they looked at the transford small town.
There aren’t even remains; the forr Condenser Town now doesn’t even have a single tile left, besides so scattered tal Fragnts. Everything from the town is gone without a trace. Those tal panel shacks and crude living pods were swept away by the hurricane to sowhere unknown, leaving behind only a naked large circular alloy ground, dotted with Fragnts and riveted anchor bolts fixed to the ground that weren’t swept away by the winds.
"On your feet, get up!"
Tie Ke suddenly shouted loudly, forcefully kicking the sitting townspeople up, "If you don’t want to die, don’t sit on the ground in the blizzard! Look at yourselves! Did you co here just to wait to sleep at ho?"
"But the town..." soone softly began.
"The town, you think about it now?" Tie Ke suddenly cursed aloud, "With such hurricanes, the town was never going to hold up from the start! Even fools should’ve thought of this long ago! We should be grateful now, if it weren’t for running fast earlier, we’d be shredded like those houses — Little Hamr, lead the people to find so wind shelter, Popu, you co with , we need to fix the lamps and rescue device on high ground, or else we’ll be dood if we miss the Rescue Team."
The townspeople, still in shock and anguish, woke from their stupor, realizing that survival, not sentintality, was most important now, and they began to move, searching for the nearest wind shelter or to fix the signal lamps and emitters for rescue — especially the forr, as the emitters were picked up from a garbage heap and function poorly, with serious signal attenuation, serving little true value in such harsh conditions, even less than a flashlight shining towards the sky.
The surroundings of the town were already changed beyond recognition, not only had the town’s buildings disappeared, but even nearby tal accumulation points were blown away, turning into sharp Fragnts strewn across the ground. In the blowing wind, tal leaves remaining on nearby alloy fras rattled, the originally dilapidated small town was at least ho, but now, this place is simply ruins among ruins.
Little Hamr’s nickna belonged to a short man, a well-built townsman who seed under thirty. Though he appeared a bit timid, he was no slouch in participating in such action, quickly finding a suitable wind shelter — a depression beneath a giant condenser resistance bolt (though Little Hamr himself probably didn’t know what this alloy column was for). The space was fairly spacious, enough to hide everyone inside, including us.
So townspeople found large tal panels nearby, possibly parts of the town’s original walls, they were blown into the condenser’s cooling grills by the hurricane at the first mont, surviving. Little Hamr and so young n attempted to pull them from the cooling grill to form a wind-resistant wall, but were unfortunately exhausted, and these huge tal panels were jamd tightly into the grills by the hurricane, beyond human ability to extract.
But then...
"Bang!"
The muffled sound of tal deforming ca from not far away, as a massive alloy gate, over three ters high, suddenly dislodged from its jamd gap and floated steadily nearby. The townspeople watched this eerie scene in dim light, suddenly exclaiming, "Ah! Ghosts! The wall floats by itself!"
Next to them, I shouted while jumping on my feet, "Didn’t you see soone beneath it?"
Visca was carrying a tal panel several tis her size over, and tossing it effortlessly onto the ground...
And then even more astonishing scenes unfolded, Pandora, Lilina, Visca, even rcury Lamp, who wasn’t even one ter tall, began cheerfully moving the tal panels that several grown n’s combined efforts couldn’t budge, soon piling a mound of things near the resistance bolt, then Lin took charge of inserting them into the ground to form a wall. The Dragon God Girl completed this task even more easily, as if inserting toothpicks into a waterlon, pinching these huge alloy gates lightly with two fingers to place them on the ground, a ’thump’ sunk them half a ter deep, and when joining alloy panels, pinching a circle round them like sticking two paper sheets together, fires burst and the pieces fused as one...
It’s said Lin could compress a planet into a small bowl of Neutron Star Material with her hands, and now I’m almost a believer. (To be continued. If you enjoy the work, feel free to visit Qidian to cast your recomndation votes, monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation.)
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