Back when she was still at the NASA base, Amelia often heard all sorts of rumors: tens of thousands of starving people had been driven there somewhere, a riot involving thousands of people had been brutally suppressed somewhere, or tens of thousands of people had died somewhere...
Although it's just hearsay, it actually came from within the official channels, so it's safe to say it's not fake news.
Every time Amelia heard these news stories, it saddened her, but also strengthened her resolve to save all of humanity and human civilization.
At times like these, she would imagine the hardships of those starving people, who had no food to eat, perhaps even killing each other, or perhaps eating dirt...
But in retrospect, she was ultimately too far removed from these starving people.
Words and pale imaginations appear so illusory under the lens of a drone's camera.
The world before her was just as she had imagined: people ate people, vultures, dirt, and anything else they could swallow... But it was also completely different from what she had imagined; the process was savage, bloody, and cruel... Xxs-2
Compared to reality, her previous imagination was far too civilized, so civilized that she thought these starving people could remain rational under the pressure of hunger.
But the desolate wasteland before her, filled with blood and rotting corpses, told her that humans cannot imagine hell, even if they could create it themselves.
Amelia, who had been staying at the base for most of the year, was like a newly hatched quail, trembling with fear.
Beside her, Sam and Laura, who had just graduated from high school, weren't doing much better.
Laura had already turned her head away, her gaze wandering, not daring to look at the screen. Sam was still looking at the screen, but his focus was clearly unfocused; he didn't dare to look closely at all.
A splash of red on the screen, upon closer inspection, might reveal a corpse torn to pieces, almost unrecognizable as human...
Although the two young people didn't come from extremely wealthy families, they had always lived comfortably and had never worried about food or clothing. Where had they ever seen such a scene before?
They were both so scared they could hardly breathe.
Only Zhang Tianyuan and his group behaved normally at the scene.
Having personally emerged from the city of the Legend Spacetime, Zhang Tianyuan and Wu Yisi were considered seasoned veterans, having witnessed countless battles fought against the city and the corpses devoured by the Darkseekers.
The ground was littered with discarded bones... these were far more disturbing than the scene before my eyes.
As for others like Wang Lei, they had also come through turmoil and had seen many big scenes, so they were naturally not intimidated by such a situation.
"I think we don't need to contact these starving people anymore. There's no need for it now..." Instructor Yin suddenly said.
Wang Lei also said, "This place is completely chaotic now. Unless we have a large amount of supplies to feed everyone, we shouldn't make contact with them easily, or we could easily be surrounded and attacked."
"These starving people must harbor immense malice towards everyone except themselves, especially those of us who are clearly not being expelled."
Wu Yisi also expressed her opinion.
Zhang Tianyuan agreed to their proposal.
Faced with nearly 100,000 starving people whose eyes were red and whose bodies were deformed, their few people, plus the elite team of twenty, really couldn't do much.
Even the moment they show their faces, they are mistaken for government officials and attacked.
"Let's move on to the next investigation site and inquire about the progress of the other investigation teams. Let's try to shorten the processing time as much as possible; only then can we possibly help them..."
Over the next two days, Zhang Tianyuan and his team traveled back and forth across North America, along with other investigation teams from other branches.
Everyone is investigating the true situation in North America.
In addition, Zhou Kun, who was at the space base, also cooperated by using satellite images to assist in the investigation.
Zhang Tianyuan led the group through deserts and cities.
North America cities are not much better than those in China. Developed countries that have already begun to experience de-urbanization have now turned their cities into gathering places for the Wandering Earth.
The Urban Order Cleanup Department, known as the Slave-Catching Team, patrolled the streets day and night. If they encountered any homeless person at night, their only fate was to be sent to the desert.
In contrast to the high-pressure search for starving and the Wandering Earth people, the investigation team's fully equipped vehicle drove around the city for several days, yet not a single person approached to inquire about their situation...
Apart from dealing with the Wandering Earth, most other departments in the city have lost their functions, especially the police department.
No.
After four days, the investigation was drawing to a close, and the investigation team had grasped everything that needed to be known and observed.
The rescue team's vehicles drove through the dirt road in the middle of the cornfield, followed by the sheriff's vehicle.
This is the agricultural region where the Cooper family lives.
Upon entering this agricultural area, the sheriff received the news immediately and rushed over to inquire about their situation.
Using the information Cooper had previously provided and the special access "code," they successfully passed the sheriff's checkpoint under the pretext of negotiating grain purchases, allowing them to penetrate into the agricultural area and meet Cooper's family.
Of course, perhaps because of their unusual vehicle or perhaps out of a sense of duty, the sheriff kept following them.
Amelia, already wanted by the authorities and unable to show her face, watched this scene through the rearview mirror and sneered, "These people in the agricultural areas are much more diligent and responsible than those in the city."
After spending a few days following the area and conducting some social research, Laura tossed her hair and said, "These areas are all wealthy neighborhoods now, so it's not surprising that the sheriffs are more diligent and conscientious..."
Their trip was partly on the way, and partly because Amelia had previously received a request from Cooper to find an opportunity to deliver a message to her family.
After hearing Amelia's request, Zhang Tianyuan also wanted to visit Cooper's house in person, so he naturally agreed.
More than twenty people in three large black cars arrived in front of Cooper's two-story house. The air brakes made a "pop" sound, and the cars came to a smooth stop.
Wang Lei changed into casual clothes and got out of the car. The first thing he did was look at the sheriff behind him. Although he had an Asia face, his tall stature and ruddy complexion made him look like an ordinary person. So the sheriff wisely parked the car some distance away and did not approach.
After confirming that the sheriff wouldn't be able to see Amelia from his angle, Wang Lei let everyone out of the car and then went to open the door himself.
However, as soon as he stepped onto the stairs and reached the door, a little girl's voice came from inside:
Who are you?!
Murphy stood on a chair inside the house, looking out through the peephole.
Since her father left, she often sits by the window, gazing at the distant road and observing every passing car.
So she discovered it before the investigation team's car even arrived at her doorstep...