The journey south was boring and grueling.
Every aspect of eating, drinking, and relieving themselves was a miserable experience.
But for Zhang Tianyuan, however bad it got, it could not be worse than his days on the island.
On top of that, they occasionally encountered roads blocked by heavy snow, and in some places they even had to shovel their way through.
At first, Zhang Tianyuan and the others got out and shoveled the snow by hand. Only after they passed through a city and obtained three snowplows did that stop being a concern.
Their pace picked up at once.
It took only ten days for Zhang Tianyuan to see the outline of the Imperial Capital again.
They stopped for a short rest.
Everyone in the convoy gazed at the hazy high-rises in the distance.
The people from the "2012" spacetime were merely curious about what the Imperial Capital in this parallel spacetime looked like, while the natives of Legend World recalled the past and silently shed tears.
Zhang Tianyuan took out the radio station information Tong Wenshi had given him to confirm its location.
Station 897.
It was in the southwestern district of the Imperial Capital, in a place called Pingliuzhuang.
This was a shortwave transmitting station with an extremely broad signal coverage. Not only could it cover essentially the entire country, but it could also reach everywhere in the world except North America and Central Siberia.
Before the apocalypse, this transmitting station had been the country's main station for overseas broadcasts.
"We'll enter the city now, head straight through to the southwestern district, find the transmitting station, eliminate any Darkseekers that might be holed up inside, then go in, replace the tape, and leave the city. It's that simple."
At the operational briefing, Zhang Tianyuan laid out the plan directly.
Instructor Yin and the others had no objections, because this was the best approach.
Once they had finished resting, the group headed straight into the city.
Even in winter, with the ultraviolet light weakened, the Darkseekers still did not dare venture outside.
The Imperial Capital was desolate during the day, with only Zhang Tianyuan's convoy bringing it a little life.
The main force drove through the middle of the city with music playing. Apart from stirring up a few hibernating Darkseekers, they gained nothing.
That afternoon, Zhang Tianyuan and the others reached their destination without incident.
The enormous antenna array arranged in a ring was clearly visible from outside the transmitting station. As they drew closer, Zhang Tianyuan and the others discovered that the area enclosed by the antennas was large enough for them to drive around inside.
In the middle of the antenna array stood a main control station.
"We need to get in there and replace the tape inside."
Zhang Tianyuan pointed at the main control station as he spoke.
Besides the main control station
, there were also staff dormitories and an emergency power station inside.
Mie Juan, who was driving, brought the command vehicle to a smooth stop, and Instructor Yin took out a pair of binoculars to look toward the main control station.
"The curtains are drawn. There's a high probability that Darkseekers are sheltering inside."
Mie Juan leaned over the steering wheel, a little puzzled. "If there are Darkseekers inside, won't they damage the equipment?"
Zhang Tianyuan shook his head. "Probably not. A few days ago, the scientific research team at our main base sent over their latest research report.
"They found that during the day, Darkseekers find somewhere to huddle together, or face a wall, then sleep standing up. At night, they come out to forage."
"So they do very little damage to facilities and equipment, unless the location contains a large amount of food."
As he spoke, he pointed at the radio in the vehicle, which was playing the apocalypse broadcast. "The signal we're receiving right now is clear proof."
At that moment, Instructor Yin lowered his binoculars.
"President, it's time for us to act. We have roughly three hours until nightfall."
Zhang Tianyuan nodded and picked up the radio handset. "All teams, begin the operation."
At his command.
A large number of soldiers in white coats immediately jumped out of the convoy behind them. They took their equipment off the vehicles, quickly sawed through the transmitting station's gate, then swarmed inside.
Five hundred men passed through the outer antenna array and swiftly assembled outside the main control station building.
Ding Jingye's palms were sweating. He felt the cigarettes tucked into his belt, then took out the ultraviolet flashlight strapped to his thigh and quietly asked the teammate beside him:
"Brother, are we charging in next?"
He was already prepared to rush into the darkness and fight the Darkseekers!
But the soldier beside him shook his head, signaling him not to rush and to focus on watching the men up front work.
A row of cases was dragged in front of Zhang Tianyuan and opened one by one, then several soldiers hauled out their contents.
They were remote-controlled vehicles trailing cables.
On top of them were not only cameras, but also several particularly conspicuous...
Flashlights!
And they were the super flashlights specifically designed to deal with Darkseekers.
Moreover, these remote-controlled vehicles came in different sizes. Not only could they adapt to various environments, but they could also climb stairs.
These were special modifications made on the "2012" side during this time.
Only after a simple test confirmed that the machines had no faults did Zhang Tianyuan give the order. "Begin the operation."
Several soldiers carrying a battering ram smashed open the ground-floor door in two blows. Then the remote-controlled vehicles, operated by soldiers outside, began to enter.
Zhang Tianyuan and the others had a map of the main control station, drawn from the recollections of its former staff, and the operators had kept it with them throughout the journey.
So after entering the main control station, the remote-controlled vehicles began searching the rooms with their 300,000-lumen lights switched on, bright enough to illuminate an entire room so intensely that people could not keep their eyes open.
"Roar!"
The first victim appeared.
A Darkseeker facing a corner in a dark room inside was startled awake by the remote-controlled vehicle. The moment it turned around, the vehicle's flashlights shone directly on it.
As the camera recorded, the Darkseeker's skin rapidly showed a reaction to ultraviolet exposure under the lethal dose of radiation. It looked as though it were burning, with wisps of smoke rising.
The Darkseeker's flesh rapidly began to evaporate. In less than twenty seconds, it was reduced to a pile of dry bones, utterly unable to resist.
"How's it going?" Outside the building, everyone was keen to know what was happening inside as they listened to the Darkseeker's agonized screams.
Zhang Tianyuan waved a hand and personally reported the result. "The first Darkseeker is dead."
It was that simple.
They did not even need to go in and shine the flashlights themselves.
Monsters like Darkseekers were even easier to deal with than zombies.
Standing in formation, Ding Jingye's eyes widened.
Nobody had even gone inside, and a Darkseeker was already dead?
He scratched his head, then looked down at the flashlight clenched in his hand...
The Darkseekers in the main control station could not withstand the intense ultraviolet light at all. In less than an hour, the remote-controlled vehicles had taken every last one down with their flashlights.
Throughout the whole process, Zhang Tianyuan and the others never even saw what the Darkseekers looked like except on the screens.
This was technology's crushing dominance over Darkseekers.
"Let's go. It's clear inside. Let's head in and replace the tape now."
Holding the new tape prepared before their departure, Zhang Tianyuan switched on his flashlight and walked into the main control station.
Instructor Yin and the other soldiers hurried ahead of him.
The other communications experts followed close behind.
Following Tong Wenshi's instructions, Zhang Tianyuan found the locked secure broadcast room.
It had remained closed ever since the apocalypse broadcast began.
After entering the passcode and going inside, Zhang Tianyuan quickly located the tape under the communications experts' guidance.
Click.
He ejected the old tape.
The new tape was inserted.