CH 79.1

Chapter 79.1 – Return

The sound of electric current came from the communicator.

“Shaaa—Shaaa—please—Shaaa—hear—”

The soldiers were taken aback and looked at each other. They saw the lights of the dispatch center on the roof flickering, it was faint but clear.

Someone was still in the research center and had turned on the permission!

Before they had time to think about who stayed there, the correspondent immediately called: “This is Unit 21, please respond if you can hear me, please respond if you can hear me!”

“Shaaa—Shaaa—”

“Please respond if you can hear me!”

“Shaaa—hear—” The signal stabilized, and a calm male voice came, “This is the dispatch center, I’m researcher Lin Yeran. I restarted the dispatch tower from the console of the first dispatching room, but I did not have more advanced permissions to increase coverage and enable more advanced channels. Please give instructions for the next step!”

“Copy that.” The tip of the correspondent’s nose was sweating, “Can you go to the main control room? Go there, if you follow my instructions, I can get you to unlock the permissions.”

“Yes, the way to the main control room is safe for the time being, I will go there now,” Lin Yeran replied.

“Okay, please pay attention to safety.”

Lin Yeran was not from the dispatch center. Fortunately, he often ran at both ends of the data center and the dispatch center, and had some basic permission. It was this permission that allowed him to go to the top floor and turn on the dispatch system.

Currently, only the most basic public channels were available.

The signal on the non-military channel was particularly unstable, but through the layers of electric sound, the scattered troops in the city got in touch.

When Shi Yuan heard it, the communication channel was ringing non-stop.

The signal was so bad, the channels were confusing, and everyone was pulling their throats and repeating conversations in a mess. They located another team – just 10 kilometers away, at the bottom of the Northern District wall, a convoy transporting energy cores was trapped.

Lu Tinghan decided to support immediately.

Shi Yuan didn’t follow him into the car.

He told Lu Tinghan, “I want to go to the data center.”

“To find Lin Yeran?” Lu Tinghan asked.

“Hmm.” Shi Yuan said, “If I don’t pick him up, he will die there.”

Lu Tinghan: “The data center is 33 kilometers away from here, and the other team is in an urgent situation. I’m afraid there is no way to send someone to take you there.”

“Oh…” Shi Yuan froze and dropped his tail.

Lu Tinghan looked at him: “Turn into black mist and go there so that you can make it in time.”

“Huh?” Shi Yuan was taken aback for a moment, “Won’t my infection signal affect the battle? It just brings interference, chaos, and so on.”

“It’s okay, I’m here,” Lu Tinghan said, “Go and save Researcher Lin, make sure he can reach the main control room, and then come back safely. When you get back to the street, I’ll find a way to pick you up.” He stroked Shi Yuan’s head, “Go on, before the next rain comes.”

Shi Yuan’s tail swayed happily.

Lu Tinghan’s convoy left.

Shi Yuan didn’t dare to touch the monsters in the form of mist. Fortunately, the butterflies on the street temporarily calmed down, and he still had a little bit of time before the huge storm cloud came.

Shi Yuan found a corner, and thick black mist gushed out from his body.

He flew over the long street of Fengyang City.

Twenty minutes later, Shi Yuan came to the bottom of the data center.

This time, he finally didn’t have to climb the stairs, and the black mist rushed directly to the roof. He thought, it would be great if he could do this at work since the elevator in Tower 4 was always broken, and he was always sweating from climbing the stairs.

When he got to the top floor, the access control had already been opened. He changed back into his human form and shouted in the corridor: “Mr. Lin—Mr. Lin—”

The corridor was empty, and his voice echoed.

He saw that the screens in every dispatch room were flashing, where the circuit was destroyed, black smoke was billowing, and the smell was suffocating.

He continued to shout: “Mr. Lin—Mr. Lin—”

“Mr. Lin, where are you?”

“Mr. Lin—I’m going to come late and leave early!!”

There was a sound from the end of the corridor: “I’m here! Shi Yuan, come here!”

Shi Yuan trotted over, passed through two heavy doors, and found Lin Yeran in the main control room.

Lin Yeran was still wearing his researcher’s white coat, and his hands were full of dust and machine oil.

The buttons of the main console were densely packed, he quickly glanced at Shi Yuan, but he didn’t have time to explain. He followed the instructions in the communicator and continued to turn on the permissions.

Communicator: […In the last step, enter the temporary operation password 2889SA42Z93 to bypass the fingerprint unlocking system]

[I am giving you authorization remotely, after getting authorization, open all military channels immediately]

Lin Yeran did as he was told with a sweaty head and finally pressed the start button.

The screen and signal lights lit up one by one, illuminating the control room.

The crackling current exploded, and a sound came from the headphones placed on the countertop: [This is Unit 23, please respond!]

[We are at the temporary outpost in District 6, requesting support!]

[All unit, listen to the command, give priority to the team that transports the core of energy! We must evacuate now!]

[General Lu Tinghan ordered that the transport ship take off in 45 minutes. All units pay attention!]

—Communication has been restored.

Lin Yeran took a long breath and sat down as if relieved, leaning against the wall. The thunder clouds outside the window pressed down, the rain fell majestically, and the butterflies spread their wings again.

Shi Yuan said, “Mr. Lin, let’s go to the bottom of the tower first, a car will pick us up later.”

Lin Yeran didn’t speak, he clenched the metal plate hanging on his chest.

Shi Yuan: “Mr. Lin?”

Lin Yeran suddenly asked, “Shi Yuan, do you know why I stayed here?”

Shi Yuan shook his head.

Lin Yeran said: “The signal is messed up during thunderstorms and the channel is full of noise. I just suddenly felt that something would come back this night, such as a message from…an old friend.”

“…” Shi Yuan’s eyes widened slightly, realizing something, “Ah.”

“Yes.” Lin Yeran raised a black flash drive in his hand and smiled. That smile was real and brilliant. Shi Yuan had never seen him smile like this before.

He said: “I found Yan Xin’s message.”

Three hours ago, the researchers and dispatchers were all evacuated, and only Lin Yeran stayed.

He couldn’t tell why.

Did he want to die? He was not desperate for that; did he want to protect the data? The data had been transferred and backed up, there was no need for this.

He went to the top floor and sat alone in the empty dispatch room. Someone forgot to cut off the power supply, and the equipment was damaged too much. The screen was full of snowflakes, and the channels were full of noise. Whenever lightning exploded, many images flashed across the screen, and human voices came from the channels.

[July 1, 229, the fifth record, this is the third team, preparing to perform the “Alpha Assault” and launch an attack on the Abyss Infection Group No.4.]

[Calling the dispatch center, calling the dispatch center, please respond! We need support! The outpost can’t hold on anymore!]

[The “Bee Swarm” aircraft team requests a forced landing, the right engine of one aircraft was damaged…]

[This is Second Lieutenant Mo Yuan, the commander of this operation. For the urban reconstruction plan in March 201, I have the following orders…]

[Good evening, audience friends, here is the weather forecast. July 28, 191, there will be moderate to heavy rain in Fengyang City, and the temperature will be 21 to 26 degrees Celsius. Please prepare rain gear and be prepared for strong winds to cool down.]

[Good morning! Welcome to “The Sound of Music”. The first piece of music today is the pure music “Iron City Sunset” ordered by Miss Zou for Mr. Jiang. Please enjoy it—]

Voices from different periods and from different channels blended together, making a lot of noise.

If data was compared to the ocean, in this night of thunder and waves, the turbulence was surging with the city’s past. Every time there was lightning and thunder, they whistled and roared, almost deafening.

Lin Yeran was responsible for audio and video processing, these were the things he was most familiar with.

He sat in his seat and listened silently as the tidal wave of audio swallowed him up. It was raining loudly outside, and he thought absently that it was a miracle he hadn’t died by now.

So, why should he stay?

He didn’t know, just as he didn’t know why he couldn’t say I love you to Yan Xin.

He was such an awkward and peculiar guy.

He kept sitting.

Until the bright blue lightning exploded, and in the chaotic audio, he heard a man’s voice: [Lin Yeran, I actually don’t know what to say…]