When Li Ye opened his eyes again, a new day had already arrived.
He remained lying on his side, narrowing his eyes as he felt the faint tremors in the room.
The tremors came from the movement of the Tomorrow as it traveled. Its Power Engine was running steadily, and the vibrations traveled through the brass pipes carrying steam and hot water, spreading along the steel behemoth's veins until they reached every corner of the city.
Li Ye had long grown used to the sensation. The tremors meant the city was moving steadily through the wilderness, and they gave him a sense of security.
He dressed, folded the bedding, and washed up simply.
When Li Ye stepped out of his room, he saw the wilderness awakening beneath the pale-gray light of dawn.
The last lone star in the sky still hung above the horizon. The night dew condensed on the tips of the green grass looked like tears reluctant to part with it, while the entire plain seemed to have been scattered with fine Glass Shards.
A hazy blush began to seep across the sky. The red light flowed over the river and spread across the earth, gradually awakening the entire wilderness.
Birds poked their heads out from their nests among the branches. Gerbils crawled out of their burrows amid rustling sounds, their whiskers still flecked with fresh clumps of soil.
Before long, the sun finally leaped above the horizon. Golden sunlight gently bathed the gears and pipes of the Mobile City, warming and illuminating it along with the entire wilderness.
At that moment, the people aboard the Tomorrow had already begun their daily work.
In the lower-level Power Engine Zone, mechanic Lin Wu pressed his ear against a hydraulic pipe and listened intently with his eyes closed. He had not yet changed out of the leather apron he had worn while repairing things the previous night, and it was covered in oil stains and coal dust.
On the newly cultivated fields of the upper level, the residents were carefully tending the Sun Fruit Trees and Cloud Dream Cotton they had just planted.
Along the outer shell of the city on the middle level, several residents hung from ropes and began their aerial cleaning work.
From time to time, residents could be seen leaning against the railings on the decks and in the corridors, admiring the scenery. They were usually residents responsible for gathering resources outside, or combat personnel taking a break between shifts.
After finishing breakfast, Li Ye walked into the upper-level Watchtower as usual.
The lookout, Lin Xia, was steadfastly holding her post. The young girl clearly had not recovered from the pain of losing her father and home.
When Li Ye approached, she glanced at him in surprise. Then, as though realizing something, she handed him the telescope.
Li Ye nodded at her before taking the telescope and gazing into the distance.
The morning breeze swept past the copper railings of the Watchtower, gently lifting the hems of their clothes before letting them fall again. The entire Mobile City slowly turned beneath their feet, the muffled clanking of interlocking gears resembling the heartbeat of some enormous creature.
Lin Xia leaned against the railing, tapping it lightly with her fingertips without seeming to realize it.
"What kind of feeling do you get when you miss home?" she asked softly.
"Hmm?"
Li Ye turned to her in surprise.
He had refrained from answering out of consideration for her feelings. He had even been careful when taking the telescope from her. He had not expected her to take the initiative and speak.
Missing home?
He slowly savored the phrase. His thoughts were like a small box accidentally opened in some corner, and memories came flooding out.
He was twenty-five years old that year, an ordinary white-collar worker in a major city. Like most office workers, he had lived a nine-to-five life.
He had rented a small apartment in the outskirts of the city, and commuting to and from work every day had been a long ordeal.
His family had been ordinary as well. His father had worked for a state-owned enterprise, his mother had been a middle school teacher, and his younger sister had been attending university.
His life had once stretched out before him in a long, predictable path.
He would work hard for a few years and save some money, find a blind-date partner he found pleasant to look at, buy a car and a house, then get married and have children.
But his sudden transmigration had disrupted all his plans.
Compared with the sorrow and regret of never being able to return home, Li Ye felt more ambition and anticipation.
This was a wonderful world.
The surviving humans relied on Mobile Cities as they migrated with their wandering homes, making a living and fighting along the way.
He could meet countless people along the journey and see countless beautiful sights.
As he gazed at the distant scenery, the furrow between Li Ye's brows gradually relaxed.
"Dad, Mom, and my little sister. If you knew that I'd come to such a marvelous world, you'd surely be happy for me."
"It's strange and dazzling here, with plenty of wonderful things to long for."
"I'll live an exciting life here, and I'll leave behind many stories."
When he returned to himself, Li Ye found Lin Xia still looking at him, waiting for his answer.
"Probably melancholy, sadness, and happiness all at once, along with a sense of acceptance," he answered slowly.
Lin Xia nodded lightly and brushed back the short hair beside her ear.
"So that's how it is?"
The two leaned against the railing and watched the scenery, chatting intermittently about this and that.
Half an hour later, a sight in the distance suddenly caught their attention.
Several kilometers away, more than a dozen Mobile Cities of wildly differing styles were coming from all directions and gathering together.
To Li Ye's surprise, all of these Mobile Cities were tiny, measuring no more than a few dozen square meters.
They were usually made up of several small houses pieced together, equipped with miniature Mechanical Arms and cranes, along with awnings, viewing platforms, gardens, warehouses, small water towers, and a series of other facilities.
When the whistle of one Mobile City sounded, the Mobile Cities began linking up one after another.
Telescoping bridges of all sizes, fitted with articulated joints, snaked out from beneath the Armor Plates. The rivets on their surfaces were old, yet reliable.
A device in the very center of the Mobile City split apart. As it rose, it automatically assembled itself into several floating platforms, whose serrated interfaces precisely meshed with the telescoping bridges.
The people aboard the Mobile Cities stepped onto the walkways formed by the telescoping bridges and gathered on the floating platforms.
They shared the snacks, drinks, and food they had brought, chatting happily. They were all elderly, their hair white or streaked with gray, and they seemed to have known one another for many years.
The Mobile Cities also began to move.
First, a Mobile City surrounded by flowers and plants took action. It sprayed fragrant steam through steam pipes, filling the reunion of old friends with a hazy atmosphere.
A Mobile City with several enormous wine barrels mounted around its exterior provided fine wine.
A Mobile City with half its area devoted to fields supplied fresh vegetables and fruits.
The last Mobile City provided music. Its appearance was the most distinctive of all. On either side of the city were rows of pipes resembling the stops of a pipe organ, with dozens of metal pipes spreading outward in overlapping layers. The city's lord was an elderly woman with white hair, dressed in a pale-yellow gown. At that moment, she was seated before a piano.
As she struck the keys, an elegant and melodious tune rang out. The sound gradually spread through the metal pipes before finally being played through the massive speakers installed atop the city.
"Now that's wonderful." Li Ye could not help but sigh sincerely.
Even without an enormous body, the longing for a free life could set the tiniest gear turning.
"These are Level 0.5 Mobile Cities," Lin Xia said, turning to look at him.
From the daughter of this fortress lord, Li Ye learned what Level 0.5 Mobile Cities were.
Not every Mobile City started out at Level 1.
Some lords had terrible beginnings. At the start, they possessed nothing more than a steam engine, a boiler room, a Production Workshop, several small houses, and tracks and tires—in other words, a Level 0.5 city.
Everyone had to diligently gather resources in the wilderness and slowly build themselves up before they could gradually develop into a Level 1 city.
But some Level 0.5 city lords were exceptions.
Unlike most people, who focused on increasing their city's level and expanding its space, these lords focused on their lives in the present and patiently refined their Level 0.5 cities.
They built viewing platforms, small gardens, little fields, and fruit sheds according to their own preferences, and planted flowers and plants in the gaps between their city's structures.
Level 0.5 cities had limited space and could usually accommodate only a dozen or so people.
The residents of Level 0.5 cities were often a single family.
The father drove the city, the mother handled repairs and obstacle removal, and the young children tended the fields and small gardens.
There was no need to worry about their safety. Because Level 0.5 cities were so small, they were also extremely fast. In the wilderness, they could even reach speeds of more than two hundred kilometers per hour.
Some Level 0.5 cities even planted vegetation across their outer shells as camouflage.
Level 0.5 cities were small and had few residents, so they required very little coal fuel, food, or Freshwater for daily operation.
Since they rarely collected blueprints, Level 1 Items, or other resources, the Predator Cities could not be bothered to regard them as targets. This made it easier for them to survive in the wilderness.
"So that's how it is?" Li Ye slowly nodded. "Then this gathering of theirs is..."
Lin Xia rested her chin in her hand and tilted her head with a smile.
"These Level 0.5 cities in the Wasteland Zone have an organization called the Captain's Club. Every so often, they gather at an agreed-upon location."
The Captain's Club?
Li Ye was surprised at first, then nodded lightly.
Thinking about it carefully, these Level 0.5 cities really did resemble small boats. The name was quite fitting.
At that moment, more and more people on the deck noticed the Level 0.5 Mobile Cities.
Everyone gathered along the edge of the deck, gripping the railings and discussing them excitedly.
Li Ye thought for a moment before speaking to Lin Xia.
"Should we go over and take a look?"
Lin Xia shook her head dejectedly.
"Level 1 cities like ours aren't welcome at the Captain's Club. You saw them yourself—all their lords are elderly grandpas and grandmas. Don't make them angry."
Even so, Li Ye still did not want to give up.
He had Tang Fang sound two long blasts and one short blast from the steam whistle.
The Level 0.5 cities fell silent for a long while after hearing it. Finally, one of them sounded the same whistle in reply.
"They agreed!" Li Ye said excitedly.
Lin Xia was surprised as well, but she still looked at him worriedly.
"Aren't we currently hurrying toward the central region? Is it really all right to delay like this?"
Li Ye smiled and gently shook his head.
"We're on the road every day. It's inevitable that people will get tired. Taking a break now and then to enjoy the scenery isn't a bad thing."
As he spoke, he extended his hand toward Lin Xia.
"I'm guessing you want to go take a look too?"
Lin Xia nodded, and a rare smile appeared on her face.
"Mm."
The two rode an Off-road Vehicle slowly toward the Level 0.5 cities.
When they arrived nearby and got out, Li Ye saw all the Level 0.5 city lords watching them.
They were all elderly men and women. Even the youngest was over fifty, while the oldest was nearly eighty.
The floating platform seemed to be a tea gathering reserved for the lords. Their families were busy aboard their respective Mobile Cities.
"Damn it, Old Li! You never park your city properly! This time, those huge wine barrels on your exterior scraped away my rose bushes again!" shouted a refined-looking old man angrily.
The Old Li he mentioned was a bearded old man with a beer belly, wearing a white undershirt. He threw his head back and laughed.
"If you ask me, fine wine is far better than that carefully arranged floral art of yours."
"What about the music? Why did you stop playing?" another old man who was baking cookies asked in confusion.
The lord of the music city, the well-dressed elderly woman, leisurely sipped her tea.
"I only play one piece each time. If you don't listen carefully, you'll have to wait until next time."
As they chatted, the old lords all turned their eyes toward Li Ye and Lin Xia.
"What a young lord." The refined old man exclaimed in surprise. "You haven't taken over this city for long, have you? It's already developed so well."
"I hate these Level 1 cities the most." The old man baking cookies did not even turn his head. "They scurry around the wilderness like locusts, mining resources everywhere and causing trouble."
"Don't always be so prejudiced!" The white-undershirt old man laughed heartily as he stroked his belly. "Seeing young people always makes one feel better, as if we're seeing ourselves when we were young."
"How long have you known one another?" Li Ye asked curiously.
"Almost forty years," one of the old lords replied.
As he spoke, he waved at Li Ye and Lin Xia.
"Come, young people. Have some tea and chat with us old fellows."
The wilderness was especially tranquil in the morning. The Level 0.5 cities had gathered together, while the distant Tomorrow was keeping watch.
Li Ye drank tea and chatted with the old lords, gradually relaxing.
"As you can see, this is our life," said the refined old man. "No hunting, no fighting. We simply migrate with our families every day and occasionally gather with our old friends."
He set down the teapot and looked around at the Mobile Cities of his old friends before sighing from the heart.
"We think that true freedom doesn't lie in how much living space one possesses. It lies in fitting one's entire world into the romance of these few dozen square meters."
Li Ye nodded sincerely. He felt that such a life was quite wonderful too.
Soon, he realized something and hurriedly set down his teacup to warn them.
"By the way, the Wasteland Zone will be destroyed in less than three months. You need to leave as soon as possible."
The old men exchanged glances and smiled.
"In fact, we're preparing a competition to see who can reach the Basin Area in the west first."
"But aren't there mountains stretching across the west?" Li Ye asked in surprise.
The old man baking cookies gently waved his hand.
"It's fine. Old Li is an excellent mechanic. He can help everyone modify their tracks for climbing."
The white-undershirt old man put his hands on his hips angrily.
"So you're trying to work this old fellow to death?"
The lords exchanged glances and burst out laughing.
The tea gathering soon ended. The old lords returned to their respective Level 0.5 cities and retracted the linked floating platforms and telescoping bridges.
By then, Li Ye and Lin Xia had returned to the deck of the Tomorrow, gazing at the scene in the distance.
The Level 0.5 Mobile Cities lined up one after another across the wilderness, heading west. Steam billowed from their chimneys, and they seemed ready to spring into action.
With the sound of a whistle, they charged out together like contestants in a race, setting off toward the west.
"That's wonderful." As Lin Xia watched, her eyes lit up. "It seems these grandpas and grandmas have never grown old."
Li Ye nodded and sighed as well.
Soon, he waved his hand.
"Set off. We're continuing on our way."
The extra update would basically be posted around six or seven in the evening.
Before you continue