The receptionist, a woman, gently handed each member a translation headset, which quickly helped everyone understand what she was saying.
Mako Mori and the others quickly followed, and at the same time, they realized where they were.
"We are currently located in BJ Dungeon No. 1, one of the earliest underground cities to be put into use, and also one of the most important technology cities. Many scientific research tasks are carried out in our city."
"Next, I will take you to the Academy of Engineering. You can also learn about our space-time along the way."
The receptionist seized the opportunity and led everyone onto the tram.
The reason it's described as "seizing the right opportunity" is because these open-air trams don't stop; they're like sightseeing buses in a tourist area, with no doors on either side.
If you want to go up, just climb on top.
Similarly, if you want to get down, just jump.
Of course, for safety reasons, these trams do not travel very fast, generally only around 12 km/h.
Carrying her luggage, Mako Mori jumped onto the bus and suddenly felt like she was back in her school days, the only time she had ever taken a bus.
The tram slowly passed through the streets, with strong traditional Chinese characteristics on both sides. Chinese knots and plum blossoms were very common, and occasionally you could also see some yin and yang symbols.
Mako Mori, clutching her backpack, carefully observed the pedestrians on both sides, especially those wearing heavy work clothes.
Because everyone else in the entire underground city, except for these people, was wearing short sleeves.
The contrast is quite obvious.
Seeing her curiosity, the female observer explained, "Those are the people who work on the surface, so their clothes are thicker than others."
Mako Mori suddenly realized.
She had reviewed the basic information about timeline No. 3 Spacetime before arriving there.
They knew that the surface of the earth in this time and space was extremely dangerous.
Watching the workers walk away, chatting and laughing, she said earnestly, "They are admirable people."
The female receptionist smiled, her eyes crinkling. "Actually, things are fine now. Since our timeline joined the Mutual Aid Society, we've had a new emergency rescue mechanism, and the dangers of working on the surface have been greatly reduced."
"A new rescue mechanism? What is that?"
"When surface workers encounter danger, as long as they do not die immediately, they can report the information to the Mutual Aid Society."
"Use Spacetime Tunnel to transport the trapped personnel to another time and space for rescue."
"This mechanism has greatly reduced the mortality rate for surface workers. Even in the last underground city lava leak accident, this escape mechanism saved everyone."
The receptionist still had that beautiful smile on her face, sincere and lovely, like a clear lake of water, without a trace of impurity.
In that instant, Mako Mori, who was initially surprised by this strange rescue mechanism, could clearly feel the hope and confidence emanating from the girl beside her.
This positive emotion deeply moved her.
In their time and space, such a smile was nowhere to be seen around her anymore.
Those faces that once smiled like that have all been crushed one by one by the monster.
She had read the materials; the people in this timeline faced a despair far deeper than that of monsters.
The disaster from the sun was simply unstoppable.
Why is it that, faced with such a desperate situation, this girl's emotions are more positive and optimistic than those of people in my own time and space?
wrong.
Out of the corner of her eye, Mako Mori suddenly saw a street corner where a child was being held by an adult. The adult was holding a bottle of soda and feeding the child little by little with the bottle cap. The smiles on their faces were exactly the same as the receptionist's smile.
The people in this time and space seem to be very positive and optimistic?
Mako Mori was confused.
She asked the question to the receptionist next to her.
The receptionist paused for a moment, her eyes glazed over, then sighed, "Two months ago, you could hardly find anyone smiling on the street. We were all terrified back then."
"Fear?" Mako Mori was puzzled; she couldn't see that emotion on the passersby at all.
The receptionist's smile turned wan as she recalled the past, when even though they lived not far apart, it felt like an eternity.
" The Wandering Earth Project was never driven by hope from the beginning; fear was."
"Back then, we feared the sun, we feared the future, we feared death, we feared that it could destroy everything we had. Fear was the only driving force that kept us going."
"At that time, we were just searching for hope in despair, and all our actions were simply driven by human inertia..."
Mako Mori didn't know what to say next.
Even when she witnessed her parents being killed by monsters as a child and faced the monsters alone, she had never had this kind of experience.
This comes from the depths of civilization
Despair had never existed in her time and space.
"I'm sorry..." Mako Mori put down her backpack, gently hugged the receptionist, and felt embarrassed for bringing up painful memories for her.
"It's alright," the receptionist responded gently, patting Mako Mori's back lightly. "Now we're no longer lost, we're filled with hope for the future, and the Wandering Earth is no longer our only path."
"I wish you all the best." Mako Mori said nothing more, simply observing quietly to avoid inadvertently reopening the wounds of this timeline.
Just as they were about to arrive at the engineering bureau and everyone was preparing to get off the bus, Mako Mori suddenly saw a group of people gathered together, shouting slogans.
"Spacetime merging is our only way out!"
"The agenda to promote the merging of space and time!"
Bright red banners were raised, and the people surrounding them were very excited.
Mako Mori was all too familiar with this kind of scene.
In her timeline, similar activities occur daily, with a wide variety of themes: there are shoe cults that worship monsters, those opposing the construction of mechs, and those opposing Anti-Kaiju Wall...
"Don't pay any attention to these people; they're just a bunch of clowns who were let in during a good time."
The receptionist's tone was extremely rude, and her eyes were filled with disdain as she looked at those people.
She whispered to Mako Mori, "These people were originally refugees who couldn't enter the underground city, or Spaceship Faction advocated escaping Earth using spaceships."
These people had been secretly plotting attacks on the underground city.
After we received help from the Mutual Aid Society and opened the dungeon for them to live in, they immediately stopped attacking the dungeon, but they had other plans.
"On the surface, they wanted to force the United Government to push for negotiations on the merger of timelines, but in reality, they wanted to prepare for the annexation of other timelines."
Mako Mori looked at the people holding the banners again, and indeed, she could clearly sense an unsettling aura emanating from them.
That was the fanaticism unique to invaders.
The receptionist glared at them through gritted teeth, muttering in a traditional, fragrant accent, "They're all a bunch of idiots, dreaming unrealistic dreams all day long!"
Mako Mori couldn't comment on this kind of "family matter," so she simply pretended not to see it.
"Ding-dong~ Passengers, we have arrived at the Engineering Bureau."
The tram's arrival announcement sounded...