Late at night, beneath a bright moon and sparse stars, the city lights gradually dimmed as an inky night curtain shrouded the entire land.
Beyond the city lay a deserted silence. Only a few small animals moved through the boundless wilderness and forests.
This was the Wasteland, the "blank zone" between human cities that civilization could not cover.
Blank did not mean nonexistent, but inaccessible, and so it had been deliberately left blank. No one knew how long one could survive after entering the Wasteland, because almost no one had ever returned alive.
Over time, "the Wasteland" had even become a word used to scare children. Whenever children misbehaved, many parents would threaten, "Keep it up and I'll throw you into the Wasteland," and the effect was remarkably effective. Generation after generation grew up under such warnings, accustomed to the idea that the Wasteland was dangerous and never considering venturing outside.
Of course, human curiosity was boundless. As society's information networks became more advanced, more and more people grew fascinated with exploring the mysteries of the Wasteland. There was no shortage of internet celebrities chasing views who wanted to challenge themselves there. Yet these people often ended up disappearing into the Wasteland, adding further mystery and terror to this ancient legend.
To keep out the dangers within the Wasteland, people had built towering protective barriers outside the cities and established Landship transit routes between them. These routes were the only lifelines of transportation between cities. Like the veins of civilization, they connected the cities of the world, along with their supplies and information.
These protective barriers seemed to possess some miraculous power. As long as they stood, the cities were usually safe. People could still live and work in peace, as if everything in the Wasteland had nothing to do