The city was desolate, with not a soul in sight on the streets, only endless yellow sand swirling in the wind.
The streets and the top floors of buildings are covered with a thick layer of sand.
In such an environment, there would normally be no sound except for the wind, until the occasional sounds of rummaging and rummaging came from a small shop whose signboard had fallen off.
These sounds, blocked by the walls and mixed with the wind, are almost undetectable unless you listen carefully.
A while later.
A man wearing an orange protective suit and a white helmet walked out of the store.
It was Finch Weinberger.
If Zhang Tianyuan were here, he would recognize this old man at a glance.
Behind him followed a four-wheeled intelligent robot with a basket on its chassis containing tools and the items it had found.
He closed the shop door again and then drew a big X in the most conspicuous place at the entrance.
Then a wave of dizziness hit him, and Finch had to lean against the wall, gasping for breath.
At the same time, the monitoring system inside the protective suit began reporting his body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and other data.
Finch had long since stopped paying attention to these numbers.
He knew everything.
He leaned against the wall for a while, but the dizziness did not subside. It wasn't until he slowly sat down against the wall that his blurry, throbbing vision gradually returned to normal.
Whew!
Finch pressed his hand to his chest, making sure he was slowly recovering, before shuffling over to a huge minecart.
This is a mining dump truck, model Komatsu HD465-7, which he found after the apocalypse and gradually made some minor modifications to.
Finch casually lowered the landing gear that had been added to the side of the chassis.
" Dewey, it's time to go home," he said weakly, knowing that his voice couldn't possibly carry beyond his helmet.
But it's okay.
After the camera on the four-wheeled vehicle Dewey detected that the landing gear had been lowered, it intelligently located itself and started up automatically, smoothly driving into the designated parking space.
Then Finch opened the door and got into the car.
"Ultraviolet radiation is strong, and the current ambient temperature is 69..."
Accompanied by the mechanical whirring of the in-vehicle weather monitoring system, Finch, panting heavily, started the massive mining truck and rampaged across a sandy road.
Using the minecart's large size and sturdy build, it smashed through all the obstacles in its path and quickly returned to its base.
This is his former workplace—the factory of TAE Technologies, which is naturally a processing workshop.
Struggling back indoors, Finch put down his helmet and lay down on the floor. Flashbacks of the past began to appear...
When the solar flare occurred, he and his colleagues, who were engineers, were working in the factory.
The electromagnetic pulse destroyed all electrical appliances, and it took them quite a while to figure out what had happened.
His colleagues then left to find their families.
Having a less-than-ideal relationship with his colleagues and living alone, he naturally became the owner of this factory building.
And then...
"Woof woof!"
Faint barking came from the basement.
Finch remembered that he also had a dog.
He took a deep breath, leaned against the wall, and forced himself to stand up again. He walked step by step to the cleaning area and used an air gun to dry the sand off his helmet, protective suit, and the intelligent robot Dewey.
Then, following his usual routine, he took a shower before dragging his weary body to see his only companion in the apocalypse.
Goodyear.
That's the dog's name; it's an Irish Terrier.
Finch stroked the puppy, memories flooding back.
In the early days of the apocalypse, he searched supermarkets at night.
He encountered a mother and daughter with guns, but fortunately he hid beforehand and was not discovered by them.
Then he witnessed a scene he would never forget.
The mother and daughter who forced him to hide were targeted by a man wielding a shotgun, and then two shots were fired, ending their lives forever.
Their supplies were also taken away by that man.
After the man who committed the crime left.
He had just stepped out from behind the supermarket shelves when he witnessed the tragic state of the mother and daughter.
In the little girl's backpack was Goodyear, who had just been born.
The dense barrage of marbles pierced the little girl's chest, but miraculously missed the whimpering puppy.
It's hard to imagine that a mother and daughter would still be raising such a small dog, such a fragile little life, during the apocalypse.
And until the very moment of their deaths, the mother and daughter did not fire a single shot.
Their guns were only for
To protect themselves.
That man, however, was after others.
Some people still have a conscience, but others have already fallen into hell.
He has kept the puppy ever since.
Rather than saying he was raising a dog, it would be more accurate to say he was nurturing his own conscience.
As long as Goodyear lives, his conscience lives.
Finch cuddled his dog and fell asleep, embraced by his conscience.
San Francisco.
Valentine Halun is hunting in a jeep.
He was tall, thin, and had a sinister appearance. He held an automatic rifle in his hand, leaning out of the car window with the muzzle pointed at the prey running ahead.
The prey were exhausted, their mouths agape, their hands clutching their bellies, their legs numb as they moved forward.
Yes, his prey is people.
A group of people dressed in rags.
Bang!
Halun pulled the trigger, and a single shot hit a man trying to sneak into the building; the unfortunate fellow's head exploded.
The splattering red and white matter startled the exhausted prey, prompting them to charge again, but they collapsed after only a few steps.
They had been chased for half a day, and in their extreme panic, their physical strength had long since reached its limit.
Seeing the dozen or so survivors lying on the ground like puddles of mud, Halun had his men slowly drive the car up to them, rolled down the window slightly, and lit a fifteen-year-old cigarette.
He lowered his head, squinted, and said, "Welcome to San Francisco. We will offer you a well-paid job."
With that, Halun waved his hand.
The convoy following behind quickly stepped forward, tied up all the dozen or so people on the ground, and put them into the vehicles and took them away.
The convoy, packed with people, began to return, with Halun's car leading the way.
They soon arrived at a piece of land in the suburbs of San Francisco.
The area is completely surrounded by high-voltage barriers, and there are armed guards at every corner.
A sign hangs above the main entrance.
[ Newt Gang - First Labor Management Camp]
As soon as Halun got out of the car, amidst a group of underlings calling him "Boss," he accurately located his assistant.
The assistant recounted an incident. "This morning someone tried to escape."
"And who wants to leave this paradise?"
Halun wasn't surprised by this; people wanted to leave every day.
As he spoke, he took the pistol from his waist, checked its ammunition, and after confirming that everything was in order, loaded the gun.
"It's Puppy Number One," the assistant replied.
" Puppy Number One?" Halun thought for a moment, somewhat uncertain. "The girl?"
The assistant nodded.
A strange smile immediately appeared on Halun's face.
He holstered his pistol and said with a wicked grin, "Then let's go see her."
Following his assistant, Halun quickly arrived at the middle of the labor management camp, which was a field.
A lovely-looking girl, dressed in tattered clothes, was hanging from a withered branch of a large tree by the edge of a farmland, sweating profusely under the scorching sun.
Even though the sunshine and temperature are more normal than in other places, you can't just bask in the San Francisco sun anywhere.
According to the assistant, the little girl had only been hanging there for two or three hours, but by then her exposed skin was already as red as a steamed crab.
Strangely, despite the intense heat, she was shivering uncontrollably, as if she were in Antarctica.
With an umbrella held by his subordinate, Halun walked up to the little girl. His hand gently stroked the girl's neck, and his eerie smile grew more and more pronounced.
Meanwhile, the Puppy Number One on the other side, who was actually the little girl, was trembling more and more violently as she tried to dodge and avoid Halun.
Halun wasn't angry about this and continued, "It was our Newt Gang that created this paradise, giving you the opportunity to stand in the sunlight, and instead of cherishing it, you want to run away?"
"What a bunch of fools!"
"Let her receive the baptism of holy light here!"
After saying that, Halun patted the timid face of Puppy Number One, then ruffled her long golden hair, before smiling and leaving with his men.
The "laborers" working in the surrounding fields all lowered their heads silently upon seeing this scene, not daring to speak or even glance at it.
The hanging Puppy Number One, became a taboo subject.
It cannot be looked at directly, nor can it be discussed.
As time passed, Puppy Number One felt that his skin was getting more and more painful, as if the parched earth was cracking open piece by piece.
Even just being blown by the wind or run through your own sweat can feel like being cut by a knife.
Moreover, her throat felt like it was on fire, and even her breath was hot.
In this state, the puppy
Number 1 quickly fell into a coma.
When she regained consciousness, it was a cold night.
She sensed that someone was standing in front of her.
And that person was raising their hand to untie their ropes, trying to lower themselves down...
With his chapped lips moving, Puppy Number One was about to thank the kind person when he suddenly realized that the person in front of him had a sinister face and a tall, thin build!
This person is hardly a kind-hearted person!
This person was Halun--
This is the head of the labor camp!
He was also a notorious sadist!
The "thank you" that was about to be uttered suddenly turned into a scream that echoed through the darkness.
The laborers living nearby, upon hearing this news, not only ignored it but also quickly closed their windows, not daring to meddle.
Further away, the laughter of Halun's underlings could be heard.
They appeared to be drinking; everyone was completely drunk.
Even Halun reeked of alcohol.
The knots loosened, and Halun's breath reeked of alcohol.
The Puppy Number One, thinking about the fate of its mother and the other women in the camp, grew increasingly panicked.
finally.
Suddenly.
The knot came undone, Puppy Number One fell to the ground.
At the same time, she touched a rock and smashed it down on Halun's head as he lunged at her.
A muffled thud.
The tall, thin Halun collapsed to the ground without making a sound.
The Puppy Number One was extremely panicked, looking around like a headless fly.
Until it was confirmed that nothing had been discovered here.
Trembling all over, she endured the excruciating pain in her skin and crawled away, burrowing into a nearby haystack and curling up like a real puppy to hide.
She felt hot all over, and there was no part of her body that wasn't in pain.
She even felt that her mother was right in front of her...
the next day.
The sun rose as usual.
A convoy of two thousand people quietly arrived in San Francisco.
"The outdoor temperature is 34 degrees Celsius, and the ultraviolet radiation level is slightly higher than normal. Outdoor activities are possible."
In the command vehicle, Zhang Tianyuan listened to the data transmitted back by the weather vehicle, and tentatively stretched his hand out of the window. Sure enough, he found that the sunlight outside was no different from that in other times and spaces.
It's just a bit hot.
They are currently on a grassy field in the wild, and this is the first time they have seen natural greenery since arriving in this time and space.
Their main mission this time is to conduct continuous detection of the composition of the upper atmosphere in order to determine whether the ozone layer is thicker here or whether the ice age will begin here.
As for the personnel composition...
That would be complicated.
A mere two thousand people, yet they comprised individuals from five different time periods.
The fundamental reason was that the Mutual Aid Society Second Division proposed sending Robert and his team to assist in this operation.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Tianyuan felt that Robert would likely have something in common with the survivors of San Francisco in this timeline, so he approved it.
Then, as soon as people from other timelines saw the announcement, they immediately signed up, not wanting to be outdone.
The force sent from the timeline in "2012" is an administrative team.
The team from Legend Spacetime and Space was led by Robert and was responsible for communicating with the survivors and carrying out rescue operations.
The Wandering Spacetime system is the main force in meteorological measurement, and meteorologists sent from other time-space systems are all under their jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Wang Lei Wandering Spacetime, is also responsible for security work and undertakes military tasks.
The Pacific Rim Spacetime dispatched a logistics and medical team.
The remaining personnel were North America research experts that Tan Mingda and his team had rescued from the agricultural building. They were responsible for providing local information and coordinating communication between Robert and his team to avoid misunderstandings.
Zhang Tianyuan picked up the communicator and began issuing orders:
"All systems, locate our current position. Also, be careful when getting out of the vehicle, especially when entering cities or buildings."
"This place is unlikely to be peaceful."
Inside the command vehicle, the leaders from all five timelines were present.
Robert was the first to agree with Zhang Tianyuan: "This place is definitely in complete chaos right now. I have plenty of experience with this kind of situation."
The documents in front of him reminded him of his past experiences.
"The situation in this spacetime is somewhat similar to ours, but there are still significant differences."
"There are too many people left in this timeline, and too few resources."
Not every post-apocalyptic world is as "good" as the Legend Spacetime.
When Robert was living alone in New York, he not only enjoyed the city's resources, but also planted a cornfield on the city's land.
In this timeline, however, tens of thousands of people are vying for resources, and the land is uncultivable...
It would be a miracle if they could get along amicably!