Chapter 230: Entering the Base
As the students were put to work, complaints began to surface among them.
“Aren’t they here to rescue us? Why are they making us do all this work?”
“We’ve suffered so much already, and we thought the rescuers would take good care of us. Who knew they’d treat us like laborers?”
One student approached Wu Chengyu and whispered, “Monitor, this isn’t what you told us would happen.”
Wu Chengyu looked embarrassed. He had always boasted about his father, Wu Jianguo, being an important leader in the West Hill organization. But now, it seed like the situation wasn’t quite as he imagined. His father didn’t seem to hold a very high position in the West Hill organization. However, with the soldiers around, it wasn’t the ti to discuss such matters.
Wu Chengyu whispered back, “This is a critical ti. They won’t keep idle people around! Just do your work. They’re just short on manpower. Once we reach the base, we’ll be able to rest.”
With no other choice, the students complied.
The soldiers outside loaded the supplies onto the sleds. Unexpectedly, there were still quite a few supplies left at Tianqing Academy, enough to fill the sleds completely. The soldiers nodded in satisfaction. After a brief arrangent, so of them set off first with the sleds, escorting the supplies back, and Wu Jianguo was also sent along to escort the supplies. Given his condition, he wouldn’t make it back without a ride.
Only two soldiers remained to escort Liang Yue and the students back to West Hill Base.
“Let’s go!” one soldier commanded.
Watching the sleds disappear into the distance, the students were stunned.
“You an we have to walk there?”
“Where are the vehicles? Why didn’t they bring any?”
These students pampered their whole lives, and they had never walked such long distances before. The journey from Tianqing Academy to the West Hill organization’s base was at least ten kiloters. After being hungry and cold for so long, they didn’t have the strength to walk such a distance through the snow.
Hearing the students’ protests, the two soldiers exchanged a glance, their eyes full of mockery.
“Shut up, all of you!” one soldier shouted, his military authority and air of killing intent imdiately silencing the students.
“If you want to live, follow . If anyone doesn’t like it, you can get lost right now!” the soldier added impatiently before turning and walking away without looking back.
The other soldier coldly remarked, “Let remind you, whatever status you had before, it’s gone now. The apocalypse has co, and your previous identities an nothing. If you want to survive, you’d better obey.”
After saying this, he tossed them a bag of energy bars and then turned to leave.
The students were left speechless, clearly unable to accept this new reality. Liang Yue spoke up, “Let’s follow them.”
The students were clueless, but the teacher knew better. Even though Liang Yue said so, the panic-stricken students had no choice but to stick close to her. Once again, Liang Yue beca their greatest source of support.
A ten-kiloter journey felt like an eternity to them. Cold and hungry, the wind howled around them, and many students collapsed along the way. The two soldiers didn’t bother to help them, only pausing briefly if soone lagged behind. If anyone couldn’t get up, they had no intention of offering assistance.
Liang Yue organized the students to help each other.
“Listen up, we have no other choice. We must reach West Hill Base if we want to survive,” she urged. “Everyone, hang in there. We’re almost there!”
With Liang Yue as their anchor, hope slowly rekindled in their hearts. They trudged forward, encouraging each other step by step.
It took them most of the day to cover the ten-kiloter distance. They'd eat an energy bar whenever they were on the verge of collapse. These military-grade energy bars were remarkably effective, keeping them from collapsing in the snow—a scientific marvel indeed.
After so ti, they finally reached West Hill. The West Hill organization’s base was located in the West Hill range near Tianhai City. Its entrance was at the foot of a mountain. Following the two soldiers, Liang Yue and the others struggled to reach it. A massive iron door slowly opened at the mountain's base, revealing a deep staircase leading underground.
The two soldiers didn’t say a word. They just stood guard by the door and signaled them to enter. Despite their exhaustion, the group mustered the strength to head inside, seeing this place as a safe haven—their beacon of hope for a better life.
Liang Yue and the others descended the stairs, not knowing how long they walked until they finally arrived in a spacious room resembling a bomb shelter. Several corridors branched off from the room, each sealed by thick green tal doors.
“What now? What are we supposed to do?” The students were filled with anticipation and fear, unsure of what awaited them.
“Don’t worry, they wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble to bring us here if they ant to harm us,” Liang Yue reassured the students.
At that mont, the door to the right corridor suddenly opened with a loud rumble. People wearing protective suits and carrying equipnt similar to pesticide sprayers erged. As soon as they appeared, they raised their spray guns and began dousing Liang Yue and the others with heavy disinfectant mist, enveloping them completely.
The students coughed repeatedly but understood that this was necessary for entering a shelter, so they gritted their teeth and endured it.
After the disinfection, a middle-aged woman approached them.
“Everyone, line up in two rows!” she instructed.
“I need to explain sothing to you. To ensure the safety of the shelter, we must conduct thorough disinfection and health checks. Please cooperate with our procedures.”
dical personnel brought over two tables and set them up in the room. Liang Yue and the others had no choice but to obediently line up as instructed. The dical staff took blood samples from each of them and then led them to an empty room to wait for the test results.
By this point, Liang Yue and the others were so exhausted that they simply followed instructions without question, lacking the strength or courage to speak up. They were locked in the room, where soone in a protective suit brought them food. The food was served on plates—so kind of thick, white liquid. No one knew what it was, but they were too hungry to care and devoured it quickly.
The substance had a texture sowhat like yogurt, though it definitely wasn’t yogurt. After eating, they regained so strength, and so of them began to sleep.
After an unknown amount of ti, a plump woman in her fifties appeared, wearing glasses. Wu Jianguo accompanied her.
Wu Chengyu, upon seeing his father, was overjoyed. “Dad!”
Wu Jianguo shot him a glare, signaling him to keep quiet. The woman with the glasses glanced at Wu Chengyu, a hint of amusent in her eyes.
She asked Wu Jianguo, “Is this your son?”
Now sowhat hunched, Wu Jianguo replied obsequiously, “Yes, Director Xu. This is my son, Wu Chengyu.”
Director Xu nodded without further comnt. She addressed the group, “The tests show that you don’t carry any infectious diseases or suspicious pathogens. That’s very good! Next, you’ll co with for a thorough cleaning and then be sent to The Fourth Life Pod.”
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