Chapter 138 - 136: Entering Downtown

Words : 1124 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Two days later, the truck from the city stopped steadily at the entrance of Chen Xin’s refuge. With Qin Lan’s "help," a total of six geothermal heat pump units had been completed, so Chen Xin would go with Qin Lan to the city this time to help with the installation of the geothermal heat pumps. "Sister Qin, we’re here to pick you up." Two young special police officers jumped off the truck and greeted Qin Lan, who stood at the entrance of the refuge to welcome them. "Thank you for your hard work. The items are inside. Let’s load them onto the truck first." Qin Lan nodded, not bothering with pleasantries as she instructed the two officers to start loading the equipment. She didn’t forget to introduce: "This is Chen Xin. He will join us later to help install and debug this batch of equipment." Upon hearing Qin Lan’s introduction, the two officers greeted Chen Xin before starting to load the equipment. Six geothermal heat pump units were not easy to manage. Despite coming with a fairly large truck, fitting six units and pipeline parts onto the truck was not an easy task. With the two special police officers carrying the equipment, along with Qin Lan and Chen Xin’s assistance, they made six trips back and forth before moving all the equipment into the truck. "Sister Qin, there are only two seats in the truck. You and Mr. Chen can sit in the front, and I will watch the equipment in the back." Seeing all the equipment loaded, one of the officers volunteered to stay in the back. This type of truck has a single row in the cabin. While squeezing in three people would be fine, four would be too tight. Since someone volunteered to go into the back, Qin Lan and Chen Xin did not object. They nodded and climbed into the driver’s cabin, while the officer headed for the rear compartment. Once everyone was seated, the special police officer responsible for driving started up the engine, turned the steering wheel, and drove the truck towards the city. The last time Chen Xin went out was after the snowstorm to Mo Qingyan’s home, and it hadn’t been long since, but the road conditions were even worse than when he last went out. Strong winds howled, with large snowflakes slamming directly onto the windshield, while everything by the roadside was covered in thick snow. Only the scorched remnants of buildings still stood, but they too were covered in snow. Don’t get it wrong; what hit the windshield wasn’t new snowfall but snow blown up by the wind before it was firmly frozen. Watching the grayish-black snowflakes hit the windshield making soft knocking sounds, quickly swept aside by the wipers, Chen Xin couldn’t help but remark, "The weather is getting worse now!" "Yeah, the wind is getting stronger. We don’t dare drive fast when patrolling, fearing a slide caused by the wind." The officer driving echoed Chen Xin’s sentiment. Hearing this, Chen Xin asked in confusion, "What about the city’s people going out usually? Surely not everyone stays inside the refuge, right?" "People in the refuges generally don’t leave them. Only special police officers like us who need to go out for tasks and search teams looking for supplies frequently go out." The officer driving explained, with a hint of hardship in his tone: "It’s better for us on patrol with vehicles, at least we’re not exposed to the cold, but it’s tough enough. Those search teams really suffer, braving wind and snow to scavenge ruins just to find usable items." Saying this, the officer couldn’t help but shake his head. Next to him, Qin Lan and Chen Xin both felt the sympathy, with Qin Lan herself being one of the patrolling officers, naturally understanding the difficulties. Despite discussing this, he quickly changed the topic: "As for the transportation issues between various refuges, it’s better now. Ever since the apocalypse hit, the city has been digging tunnels. Now the underground passage between the municipal bureau and city hall is open, and the one to the shopping center side has also been dug through. Currently undergoing final repairs, it should be completed soon. With these underground passages, it’s unnecessary to brave the elements outside when traveling between refuges. Tunnels connecting other refuges are also being gradually built and opened, soon forming an underground transport network. If the city had a subway, we’d have a ready-made transport network by relying on the subway lines." Upon hearing this, Chen Xin couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows, showing a surprised expression: "Already dug through? It seems the city’s construction efficiency is high!" "Oh, saying that! It’s the apocalypse, with plenty of idle workforce in the refuges, digging the tunnels gives them something to do, preventing trouble from idleness." The officer shook his head immediately, seemingly quite empathetic about this. Next to him, Qin Lan chimed in, "There are too many people and too few tasks in the refuges now. If most people aren’t kept busy, idleness can easily breed various social issues." Qin Lan spoke with emotion, having dealt with many such issues within their special police team over the last few months. Of course, Chen Xin understood the problem: idle people cause trouble. That’s why street wanderers make mischief—they’re bored. If put to work from dawn till dusk with no free time, each one would settle down. The three continued chatting as they proceeded. Although the truck wasn’t fast, it didn’t take long to enter the city. Chen Xin turned his gaze outside the window, and by chance, he suddenly glimpsed a light shining from one of the buildings by the road. He surprisedly asked Qin Lan, "Are those survivors?" "Yes, they should be independent survivors," Qin Lan nodded. "Are there many like them?" Chen Xin found it rather incredible. Although he knew there must be people in the city surviving outside official refuges, he originally thought those were few. After all, even he and his survival group prepared well enough beforehand to survive. Qin Lan merely shook her head, "There are quite a few. Before the temperature dropped, we transferred a batch of survivors across the city into the official refuge system, receiving many requests for help. But still, many are surviving in the city in family units or small groups." At this point, Qin Lan couldn’t help but glance at Chen Xin, saying, "If Xiao Long really wants to set up a black market, he could certainly do so since there are quite a number of survivors exchanging supplies in the city." Chen Xin nodded in understanding, and at this moment, the truck drove into the former courtyard of the city public security bureau.

Chapter 138 - 136: Entering Downtown

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