Chapter 382: Shelter

Chapter 382: The Sanctuary

“We didn’t. We didn’t survive.”

Xie Cheng’s tone was heavy.

He fixed his gaze on Chen Jian, each word deliberate, and said:

“The first generation that left Mountain City has long since perished.”

“We are the sixth generation.”

“We… dwell in the depths.”

“We maintain an exceedingly small community—precisely, no more than fifty souls.”

“We enforce strict blood‑line management, allowing only the bare minimum of births.”

“We never mingle with the outside world; we regulate our resources with the utmost precision and delicacy.”

“We have striven to keep balance up to this very moment.”

When Xie Cheng finished, Chen Jian furrowed his brow.

What the hell??

Could such a civilization still exist in this world?

In theory, it is indeed attainable.

Yet the problem lies in the countless uncertainties that abound.

Even a modest epidemic could snuff out the ember of this culture forever.

With that thought, Chen Jian asked:

“Let’s set aside other matters—for a people who survived by such means, how do you fend off the monsters’ assaults?”

“We do not confront them.”

Xie Cheng exhaled a long breath.

“In fact, it is only from our generation onward that outward exploration has been permitted.”

“But our range of exploration is extremely limited. The reason we ventured so far this time is that we sensed a change in Mountain City.”

“We thought their Nüwa Project had already succeeded.”

“So we wanted to see Mountain City for ourselves.”

“You know what happened next—we encountered you, we encountered the Huaxia army.”

“You are lying.”

Chen Jian cut Xie Cheng off without courtesy.

“If you were merely an exploration squad, how could you have taken women and children with you?”

“Women, perhaps, can be understood—children?”

“This is not exploration; it is flight.”

“It truly is a flight for survival.”

Xie Cheng nodded unabashedly, then said:

“In truth, what we have—let us call it a sanctuary for now.”

“Our sanctuary suffered a catastrophe.”

“The life‑support system that sustains us was crippled by an unexplained electromagnetic pulse.”

“Our stored provisions would last only six months, but the greater peril lies in the ruined power grid and the failure of the air‑filtration system.”

“We can no longer remain underground, so—”

Xie Cheng’s words halted midway, and Chen Jian suddenly understood why they had emerged in this manner.

“…in this way,” he thought.

He and He Shuo exchanged a glance, their eyes heavy with unspoken, tangled emotions.

Electromagnetic pulse.

Anything capable of shattering the electronics of subterranean works must be a pulse both close and fierce.

That.

Isn’t it the nuclear bombs we dropped ourselves?

And there were more than one.

Perhaps several were hurled right above the heads of Xie Cheng’s “sanctuary.”

With that realization, Chen Jian cleared his throat.

“Ahem.”

“So now you know the source of the electromagnetic pulse?”

“Of course.”

A helpless expression flickered across Xie Cheng’s face.

“The nukes you launched.”

“So, in fact, the whole of Mountain City was taken down exactly like that, right?”

“—Yes.”

Chen Jian nodded earnestly.

“Indeed, it was the only viable option.”

Xie Cheng sighed and said:

“Long ago, we—or rather our ancestors—once imagined using such a method to ‘reclaim’ Mountain City.”

“The problem is that none of us survivors possess sufficient weapons knowledge.”

“You know we have an enormous archive.”

“Yet within that archive there is not a single document that tells us how to crack a nuclear code, how to trigger a bomb, or how to deliver it to its intended target.”

“Thus the issue was set aside.”

“Until now.”

“You solved Mountain City’s dilemma before we could.”

At this point, Xie Cheng paused briefly.

His gaze was bewildered, yet tinged with curiosity—a strange, almost affectionate familiarity.

“How did you accomplish it?”

“Are you, like us, born of some long‑standing underground refuge?”

“No.”

Chen Jian shook his head.

“We hail from Chuansha; you needn't bother asking the specifics.”

“But now, I have a question.”

“You say you are ‘survivors’—what, exactly, does ‘survival’ mean?”

“You don’t know?”

Xie Cheng furrowed his brow.

“You haven't obtained the Mountain City database?”

“It’s already encrypted; even Fuxi cannot unlock it.”

Chen Jian spread his hands, while Xie Cheng seemed to have a sudden epiphany.

“No wonder—Lingxi, that artificial intelligence, was originally optimized for Fuxi's algorithms.”

“Moreover, Fuxi is not, in the true sense, a quantum computer.”

“So its inability to be cracked is entirely normal.”

“Of course, that is irrelevant.”

“By ‘survivors’ we mean we endured the disaster that Lingxi deliberately wrought.”

“I don’t know whether you’ve seen the so‑called ‘hibernation pods’—they were meant to be the resting place of our ancestors.”

“But the overwhelming majority perished.”

“Because Lingxi's Nüwa project has exceeded its original scope; it must eradicate every vessel of consciousness.”

“In other words, us.”

Reasonable.

That aligns perfectly with the information Chen Jian already possesses.

It is only that Lingxi, when explaining to Lin Yu, framed that incident as an accident.

And now, from Xie Cheng’s mouth we can be certain it was anything but an accident.

It was a long‑planned conspiracy.

“This is the point of contention between you, right?”

Chen Jian asked.

Across from him, Xie Cheng nodded.

“In fact, the disagreement runs deeper—take the temporal crystal generator. We have always believed it to be a viable path, yet a faction, Lingxi included, deems it a dead end.”

“Naturally, we are willing to set aside the dispute for the time being.”

“But humanity has never been able to coexist amid such disputes.”

With those words, Chen Jian rose thoughtfully.

“Your grasp of knowledge, of history, is remarkably complete.”

“You have even forged your own evaluative framework.”

“I must confess, I doubt you are truly of the sixth generation.”

“I am of the fifth.”

Xie Cheng corrected him with solemn seriousness:

“Those children are the true sixth generation.”

“Indeed.”

Chen Jian chuckled and shook his head.

“Let us go.”

“The matter has been made clear.” “I think we can cooperate.”

“Take us to your shelter.”

“We will bring the others to Mountain City.”

“Rest assured, this is solely for your safety.”

“No problem.”

Xie Cheng rose without hesitation, his eyes edged with resolve.

He still could not discern the true moral nature of those before him.

Yet he felt something.

Perhaps these people are of the same kind as himself?

An hour later, Chen Jian led a volunteer company, along with Ji Xing and Li Shi, under the guidance of Xie Cheng and Shu Mu, marching toward the location they called the shelter.

Xie Cheng was especially curious about the equipment wielded by the Huaxia army; he had read about such weapons in his studies, but this was his first sight of them.

“So your shelter contains none of these military armaments?”

“To tell the truth, none.”

Xie Cheng shook his head.

“Not only are there no such gear, our shelter lacks even a single weapon.”

“No, that’s an exaggeration.”

“It would be more accurate to say the shelter’s arms are only fit for the most basic skirmishes.”

“They are all non‑lethal, for the lethal weapons have long been taken away by Mountain City.”

“You saw it yourself; the rifles we use are the single‑shot models employed by the wasteland dwellers.”

“Even those were acquired by bartering our stored supplies—trading with a passing caravan.”

“You, too, are rather capable.”

Chen Jian said with a hint of teasing:

“Without any formal weapons training, a single shot still struck our armored vehicle.”

“Had it not been bullet‑proof glass, I would already be dead.”

Having said that, Xie Cheng, embarrassed, offered an explanation:

“That was truly an accident; even a fool like me would never deliberately provoke a force I clearly cannot match.”

“Honestly, our meeting could have gone much smoother.”

“My beating was in vain—we're even now, aren't we?”

“Indeed.”

Chen Jian laughed and shook his head, and when he turned to look at Ji Xing driving nearby, he noticed a solemn expression on his face.

“What’s the matter?”

Chen Jian asked.

What anomaly lies ahead?

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Ji Xing exhaled softly.

It’s just… I feel as though I’ve been here before.

Been here??

Chen Jian was momentarily stunned.

When you were setting the nuclear bomb?

Of course not.

Ji Xing paused, then answered:

It was the first time I came to the mountain city with the team—alongside those Sanctified Bloodmen.

I wonder, could their shelter be beneath that so‑called treasury I entered?

The treasury’s underground?

Chen Jian sat up straight in an instant.

It could indeed be possible!

He immediately pulled up the map, enlarged the marked spot, scrutinized it, and then realized that the marked location lay not far from where the first‑tier monsters once lay in wait.

It truly wasn’t far.

By now the vehicle had arrived near the shelter.

Ji Xing, a little urgent, pushed the door and stepped out; when she saw Xie Cheng point to the shelter’s entrance, she let out a long sigh.

Here it is.

I survived right here.

So…

The mountain city spared me because they mistook me for a resident of the shelter??

Impossible.

Xie Cheng shook his head and said:

Lingxi harbors no such mercy.

Perhaps it lured you into the shelter only to slaughter us all.

But you didn’t go deeper in the end, right?

Indeed.

Ji Xing nodded slowly.

I was stunned with fear then.

Answering as she spoke, she forged ahead along Xie Cheng’s guidance toward the shelter’s entrance, with the others following close behind.

The passage descended, and Ji Xing suddenly spoke:

This is it—the relatively spacious plaza?

This is the first‑level living quarter.

Xie Cheng replied:

When we resolved to live here, we had already abandoned the living quarter.

Because its facilities were too complex, maintenance too arduous; we could not sustain it for centuries.

It would even become a burden to us.

Thus we sealed the lift entrance and redefined the true living area.

Right here.

As he spoke, Xie Cheng led the way forward.

After navigating a winding tunnel that had once been a stairwell, the group finally stood before the true quarantine door of the underground shelter.

The lights flickered; the circuitry lay shattered.

This door had been forced open, unable to close again.

Through the doorway, Chen Jian glimpsed faint interior lights and flickering silhouettes.

The air carried the subterranean dampness and age, mingled with oil and paper.

Emergency lamps on the walls lit up at intervals, their glow wavering, barely illuminating the corner that seemed long forgotten.

In the central clearing, a dozen metal tables and chairs stood in neat rows, their surfaces spread with yellowed books and handwritten notes.

Children of varying ages gathered around the tables, a mature woman seated among them.

At that moment, every gaze fixed upon the newcomers.

They tensed with caution, only easing slightly when Xie Cheng’s face appeared.

Fear not, they are good folk.

Xie Cheng spoke:

They are the Huaxia forces.

They have reclaimed the mountain city—Lingxi’s scheme has collapsed, and the Nüwa project has likewise failed.

Words

fell, and the people inside the shelter showed expressions of relief.

Yet there was also regret.

Perhaps, for them, witnessing the Nüwa plan’s success—though contrary to their chosen path—would be a solace.

Chen Jian stepped into the shelter, his heavy footfalls prompting those inside to rise instinctively.

He lifted his hand gently, removed his helmet, and said:

Do not fear.

It’s merely an exoskeleton.

NEST‑2040, the Nezha exoskeleton.

A voice came from the corner.

Chen Jian turned his head; a slight, yet spotless child stared at him with curiosity.

Not

wrong.

Chen Jian nodded.

This is the NEST‑2040.

In that instant, he confirmed that Xie Cheng’s words were unadulterated.

These people indeed inherited vast knowledge, and through an extreme means, fulfilled their propagation and instruction.

Perhaps they had endured much suffering.

Perhaps their suffering was not yet at an end.

But at least for now.

They had something to do.

Chen Jian took a deep breath and spoke quite directly:

"Come with us."

"To the Mountain City."

"There is no need to hide away here any longer; the surface is safe now."

"Furthermore, I happen to have a task that requires your hand."

"Trust me, leaving this matter to you is truly a perfect fit."

(End of Chapter)