Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1361: Wish Me Luck

As the target destination drew nearer, the scenery outside the car window became increasingly desolate.

The launch base occupied vast land and had to be located in a remote area, which was naturally only feasible in economically underdeveloped regions. As Nu Yue drove deeper into the area, the bustling city had long disappeared; she raced past towns and countryside, witnessing dilapidated mud houses still hanging laundry outside, plastic bags soaking in black sewage on both sides of the road, and elderly people sitting by the roadside, engaged in handwork while scolding nearby children who weren’t even wearing pants, their faces dry as if devoid of any flesh and blood.

There always seemed to be a faint haze between the sky and earth. Whether it was pollution or despair, she didn’t know. It wasn’t until nightfall that she felt somewhat relieved: most outlines were obscured, and in the pitch-black silence of the night, only distant mountains and sparse stars silently observed the world below.

On the screen of her phone, Wan Qingge’s steady figure continued to run, his silhouette unchanged. However, even in the darkness, it was evident that his clothes were drenched with sweat.

Using satellite maps, Han Suiping continuously sent Wan Qingge’s location and image in real-time to the phone Nu Yue had acquired, ensuring they wouldn’t lose track of him due to speed or unforeseen circumstances.

The two of them had been running tirelessly without eating, sleeping, or resting for forty hours straight, and now they were only about four hundred kilometers away from the satellite launch base—the rocket carrying the satellite was scheduled to launch at precisely ten in the morning, and it was currently four-thirty in the morning.

“You should take a break,” Nu Yue said through the earpiece. “If you keep running like this, you’ll be exhausted by the time you reach the base. What’s the use then?”

“I agree,” Han Suiping’s voice chimed in.

This was the fourth time Nu Yue had advised Wan Qingge to rest tonight, and the first three times had been met with a firm refusal. However, this time, Wan Qingge’s silhouette on the screen gradually slowed until he came to a complete stop, sitting down with a thud.

“Such a small distance… in the past, it wouldn’t have been anything at all,” his voice, hoarse to the point of almost cracking, sounded through the earpiece. “Is there any water?”

“Yes, hold on,” Nu Yue said, pressing the accelerator and increasing the speed.

She had been trailing far behind, not because she didn’t want to get closer, but because driving on the rural roads was incredibly inconvenient, with many areas not qualifying as roads, just flattened dirt. Wan Qingge had to advance quickly to navigate the towns and countryside in order to the base before nine o’clock in the morning. He had to have at least an hour to make preparations.

The safe distance they had originally planned for was gradually getting farther and farther away. The good thing was that no one seemed to be tracking them. No one knew where they were, and there was no need for Nu Yue to follow him too closely if Wan Qingge was not in danger.

“If you rest now, by the time Nu Yue catches up, you can set off again and even pick up the pace,” Han Suiping said over the earpiece. “I’ve done the calculations, and time-wise, it should be fine.”

All communication between the three of them was handled by Han Suiping, manipulating communication station signals. He had been monitoring and coordinating in real-time for forty hours straight. Occasionally, he would project his image onto the phone screen, but it was impossible to discern his current location, always appearing as a dark blur; the face illuminated by the desk lamp from below never failed to startle Nu Yue.

Finally, when she reached him, Wan Qingge, pale-faced, was sitting by the roadside in the darkness, a row of cypress trees rustling in the wind behind him. Beyond the cypress trees lay a dark expanse of fields with no end in sight. He had removed his shirt and windproof glasses, his runner’s lean and slender muscles glistening in the moonlight from being soaked with water.

“I smelled sweaty,” he chuckled. “Felt like there were little bugs around me, so I went and found a pond to wash up.”

Perhaps there were many mosquitoes in the rural wilderness; Nu Yue remembered him saying something similar yesterday when they slowed down the uphill road.

“The water outside isn’t clean,” she said, handing over a bottle of mineral water. Wan Qingge tilted his head back and poured the entire bottle over himself. Water dripped onto his hair, splashed onto his shoulders, and fell into his mouth.

“After all, when you arrive at the base, we still have to rely on you to blend in. If you look too miserable, people will get suspicious,” Han Suiping cautioned.

Thinking about this made Nu Yue uncomfortable. She had asked Han Suiping if she could also help infiltrate the base, but she received an answer that left her feeling dissatisfied: according to the employee data, there weren’t many female employees at the base, and most of them worked in auxiliary units like hospitals and hotels; it would be difficult for her to enter the core departments.

“Girls aren’t good at science and technology,” Han Suiping had casually reassured her. “So, there are fewer of them.”

“Let me warn you in advance,” Nu Yue replied. “If you still say something like that in the Twelve Worlds, the female posthumans will teach you how to behave.”

That remark had startled him for quite a while, and he didn’t dare speak for several dozen minutes.

Wan Qingge wore dry clothes, donned his windproof glasses, and prepared to set off again.

“Keep going,” Nu Yue cheered him on through the earpiece. “By ten o’clock in the morning, we’ll start our journey on our way back. By then, you can take a good nap in the car and sleep for as many hours as you want.”

Fortunately, the journey ahead proceeded smoothly.

They had initially thought that crossing a valley ahead would be difficult for a car to climb, and they were prepared to part ways with Wan Qingge here. However, unexpectedly, Han Suiping discovered a nearby river, and they took a detour over a bridge, again bringing Nu Yue closer to Wan Qingge.

As they gradually approached the satellite launch base according to the scheduled time, the countryside shrouded in mist had long disappeared from sight. Smooth and wide roads cut through the canyon, and road signs, warning signs, and the facilities around the aerospace city gradually came into view. Wan Qingge slowed as they approached a checkpoint, saying through the earpiece, “Nu Yue, the first checkpoint is up ahead. According to the road sign, it’s about a kilometer away from me.”

In the early morning hours, there wasn’t a single car on the road leading to the base.

“Can you find another car?” Nu Yue asked, glancing at the time. “Otherwise, wait for me, and you can take this car.”

Wan Qingge needed a car to blend into the base; otherwise, he couldn’t explain how he got there. Initially, they thought he could get another car once he reached the vicinity, but now it seemed they had overestimated the traffic flow in this area. Fortunately, they had discovered a shortcut in time, or Wan Qingge would have been stuck.

“Perfect opportunity to freshen up your appearance, to avoid raising suspicions,” Han Suiping said.

Fake credentials had already been stored in the employee system of the satellite base, sufficient to pass the peripheral checkpoints; when Wan Qingge arrived, he would claim to have lost his wallet and his ID along with it, but his personal data and facial recognition information were already in the system, enough to prove his identity as a base employee. If necessary, he would even request the checkpoint to call the base to confirm his identity—Han Suiping could intercept the communication signal so the person making the call would hear his voice.

“Okay, I see you,” Nu Yue said, slowing down the car, and a figure on the roadside in the distance waved to her. She pulled the car closer to the side of the road, suddenly feeling that the car was too quiet, and couldn’t help but call out, “Han Suiping?”

A long, steady breath answered her.

“Han Suiping!” Nu Yue raised her voice a bit.

Han Suiping took a sharp breath, “Huh?” he said, his voice returning to the earpiece. “What? Who… oh, oh. Did I just fall asleep?”

“You can’t fall asleep at such a crucial moment. We’ve reached the first checkpoint.” Nu Yue became anxious and said, “Go wash your face!”

“I don’t have water here,” Han Suiping muttered, the drowsiness still thick in his throat. “Wait… I think I accidentally lost the satellite signal while I was asleep. Let me find you guys.”

As he spoke, Nu Yue had already stopped the car next to Wan Qingge. She grabbed her phone and backpack, exited the car, and handed him the driver’s seat. He closed the door, waved to her, and drove off onto the road ahead.

“Oh, found it. It’s right before the first checkpoint. I see his car,” Han Suiping said, sounding slightly nervous. “I’m ready. Once they make the call, I can intercept the signal anytime.”

Just one more minute and Wan Qingge would reach the checkpoint.

Although Nu Yue’s speed couldn’t match Wan Qingge’s, a kilometer was not far, and she had never lost sight of the silver car. Wan Qingge parked his car outside the checkpoint and got out, currently talking to a soldier-like figure. Several fully armed individuals had also opened the trunk and doors of the car, even inspecting underneath it meticulously.

Through the earpiece, Wan Qingge explained to the checkpoint personnel that he was a base employee, why he had lost his wallet, and why he needed to rush back to the base. Clearly, everything was proceeding according to plan.

“You can make a phone call to the base to confirm my identity.”

“No need,” the soldier said after scanning Wan Qingge’s face with a machine, tapping a few times on the screen. Then, he nodded at Wan Qingge, saying, “Hmm, you’re in the system. A Level Two researcher, huh? But you must get a new ID card as soon as you get back. This won’t be tolerated again.”

He called out to his colleagues, “Is the car checked?”

“No issues with the car,” the others replied as they returned. “You’re good to go.”

Nu Yue, hidden in the roadside bushes, couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

The silver car restarted and passed through the checkpoint, continuing along the road ahead. Nu Yue couldn’t go any further; the electrified barrier had blocked the way, with cameras and spotlights leaving no room for anyone to approach—Wan Qingge had just passed through the only entrance, the road he had just traveled.

She crouched in the bushes, listening to Wan Qingge and Han Suiping occasionally converse through the earpiece. She watched as the silver car gradually became smaller, about to disappear from view.

“Wish me luck,” Wan Qingge chuckled softly.

The next moment, a sudden explosion echoed from the distant road. A shattered silver car was thrown like a matchbox, flames soaring into the sky.