Chapter 799: They Actually Dug It Up?!

Chapter 799: Did They Really Dig It Up?!

"MMP! There are way too many people here!"

Dawn City, the train station in the northern suburbs.

A grumbling complaint was swallowed up in the clamor of voices, as the surging crowd flowed from the platform toward the exit of the security checkpoint.

It was December now, the coldest time of the year in Dawn City.

Yet perhaps because of the increased number of people, or maybe because the air conditioning was running full blast, the crowded station felt nothing of winter's chill—instead, a certain restlessness stirred in the air.

"Damn it all... finally squeezed out."

Having finally made it to an open space, [No Family] let out a long breath, then stretched his limbs, which had nearly been crushed to pieces.

In the distance, the streets and square were gilded golden by the sunlight, and the colossal hammer statue, symbol of order, stood in the very center of the square.

Squinting as he gazed at this familiar yet unfamiliar scene, a pleasant smile crept across No Family's face. Not only did his mood improve, but the bad luck clinging to him seemed to vanish entirely.

Three days ago, during his beach landing on the Death Coast, he had been unexpectedly taken out by a suicide mutant hiding in a trench.

As a few of his teammates put it, he had shot straight up into the sky like a rocket, and when he came down, not even a complete corpse could be found.

No wonder no matter how he tried to reconnect, he couldn't get back.

And so, he had spent three days offline, scratching his head and pacing restlessly, until now, finally, he was back online.

He took a few deep, greedy breaths of Dawn City's intoxicating air, feeling much better, and then, with a satisfied expression, [No Family] headed off toward North Street.

Before transferring to an airship bound for Fries Harbor, he planned to grab some food on North Street and take a stroll to see the sights.

Ever since the Battle of Paradise began, he had been active around the southern sea area; it had been over half a year since he last came back to look around.

Now, walking along this familiar yet strange street, listening to the hawkers' cries from both sides, he felt a strange sensation—like "returning to his hometown, only to find himself a stranger."

"Fresh tropical fruits! Durians bigger than washbasins! Cold-chain airlifted from Baiyue Company! Don't miss out, folks~"

"Grilled cold noodles! Fresh off the grill!"

"Smart wearables from Ideal City! Featuring the latest holographic projection tech, letting you switch your mood anytime—one outfit beats a whole wardrobe!"

"Free State's bionic companions are the most practical in the entire wasteland! Our products can satisfy all your needs, and they can even learn autonomously from the image data you input—come take a look!"

The cries of vendors rang out endlessly.

No Family strolled leisurely along the street, looking around with keen interest, checking if there was anything new and novel he hadn't seen before.

"...Dawn City really has more and more good stuff."

Just as he wandered back near the square, he suddenly noticed a group of strange people.

They were dressed in white robes, holding stacks of flyers, handing them out to everyone they met.

Perhaps because they looked too suspicious, the passersby they targeted dodged away, so that even after a long time, they still had a big pile in their hands.

But even though they hadn't handed out many flyers, they weren't discouraged at all, and kept stubbornly trying to shove them into the hands of pedestrians.

Seeming to notice [No Family]'s gaze, the young men in white robes exchanged a few brief words, and soon one of them came over with a stack of flyers.

"Friend, would you like to learn about the Equality Society?"

"Let me have a look."

Curious about what these guys were up to, No Family took the flyer from them with interest and began reading it carefully.

At first, he thought this so-called "Equality Society" was probably just another grassroots "Administrator fan club"—after all, Dawn City was never short of irrational fans of the Administrator, and similar things had happened plenty of times before.

But halfway through reading, he suddenly realized that the "Equality Society" had nothing to do with Dawn City at all. It was an "overseas salvation organization" spontaneously formed by survivors from the Brahmin Province.

The flyer contained not only the Equality Society's governance philosophy but also a concrete action plan for achieving their grand goal of "building an equal society in the Brahmin Province."

Whoever wrote this stuff was a real talent!

The more [No Family] read, the more astonished he became, and his eyes involuntarily lit up.

He never imagined that on that land of man-eat-man, such a progressive voice could emerge!

And while he was reading the flyer, the young man who had handed it to him wasn't idle either; he kept tirelessly promoting his organization.

"...The wasteland is undergoing unprecedented changes. We cannot continue to sleep—we must unite! Only when all of us act together for the same goal can we overthrow the decadent feudal empire and march into a new era alongside our other friends on the wasteland!"

As he spoke, the young man's eyes shone brightly, and his impassioned voice stirred a surge of heat in No Family's heart.

Just then, he noticed a triangular emblem at the bottom of the flyer and asked out of curiosity.

"What's this?"

Seeing his gaze fall on the triangular emblem, the young man eagerly explained.

"This is the emblem of the Equality Society!"

No Family was surprised.

"You even made an emblem?"

"Of course!" The young man said with a proud expression, and continued, "We want to build a society like an equilateral triangle! In this new society, there will be no distinction between high and low. Every side and every angle is equally important to every other side and angle!"

No Family stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and said.

"Sounds interesting... but even an equilateral triangle has to have one side facing down to stand steady, right?"

The young man smiled.

"Why does it have to have one side down? We can lay it flat, like drawing it on paper—then there's no up or down, is there?"

No Family was stunned speechless, his mouth hanging open for a long time before he finally spoke.

"What a talent! Did you come up with all this?"

But as soon as he said that, he quickly realized that this argument smacked a bit of sophistry.

After all, not just an equilateral triangle—if you draw a circle or a square and lay it flat on the ground, there's no up or down either.

But pointing that out would sound like he was nitpicking, so he kept his mouth shut and didn't mention it.

The young man, however, only heard the compliment and didn't notice the subtle expression on his face. He puffed out his chest and said proudly.

"That wasn't my idea—it came from our revered Holy Father!"

"Holy Father?"

No Family was taken aback and was about to ask who this Holy Father was, when a unfamiliar voice came from not far behind him.

"Those are just some empty titles my friends kindly gave me. Please don't take them to heart."

Hearing the voice, No Family turned around and saw a man in a white robe walking toward him with a smile, politely extending his right hand.

"My name is Zaid, from Golden Harbor."

"Oh, oh, Mr. Zaid... a pleasure." No Family shook his hand, but didn't give his own ID.

The man named Zaid didn't press for his name either, just smiled warmly like the sun and then explained.

"My compatriots still have a very abstract understanding of equality, so I thought of using some concrete methods to make it easier for them to grasp. In essence, equality is nothing more than those few words: let the tiller have his field, the laborer have his house, let industrialists and merchants develop freely, and let intellectuals gain dignity... We intend to share equally among all people the things they need, rather than letting what should belong to everyone be hoarded by a small handful of nobles."

After hearing his words, No Family couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"I never thought the Brahmin Province could have a thinker like you."

Zayid chuckled and said.

“You misunderstand—I’m no thinker. I suppose… I belong to the doers. The Equality Society I founded upholds the principle that action outweighs empty ideals. Rather than writing our visions in newspapers, we prefer to practice the equality we preach through deeds! Of course, we’re still too weak now and need the support of a wise friend like you.”

Hearing this, No Family couldn’t help but smile shyly, cleared his throat, and said.

“You’re too kind. Compared to a fun-seeker like me with no real ideals, you are the true wise ones.”

With that, he took a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket and, under the excited gazes of the young men, stuffed it into the donation box.

“A small token, not worthy of respect. Hope it helps you out… Also, my name is Family. You can just call me Family.”

“Family…” Zayid pondered the word, his eyes suddenly lighting up. “That’s a good name…”

Words like friend or comrade still felt a bit distant.

But the word family was different.

It seemed to hold some magical power, instantly drawing two complete strangers into an intimate bond.

The more Zayid thought about it, the more he felt the person who coined this word was a genius.

Then, without hesitation, he turned to the young men standing nearby and said.

“We need to change our rules. From now on, members of the Equality Society shall address each other as family. We must unite like one family!”

All the young men looked at this “Holy Father” with renewed spirit and shouted in unison.

“Yes! Family!”

Standing aside, No Family was stunned by their repeated cries of “family,” utterly flabbergasted, and quickly explained.

“I meant my name is Family, not what you’re thinking… Hey! Listen to me for a moment!”

He tried to correct them, but it seemed too late.

These people learned fast—they had already fully embraced this new setting. In the end, he had to give up persuading them.

Really, what they called each other was secondary; what mattered was what they did. As long as their hearts were set on uniting everyone, what difference did it make whether they called it the Equality Society or the Family Society?

No Family convinced himself of this in his heart.

Besides, this guy named Zayid seemed a bit more reliable than that Rasi.

The latter, though capable, was indeed a bit rough in his methods.

For the sake of the suffering survivors on the wasteland, he sincerely hoped his name and that hundred-yuan bill would bring them a little luck…

If only they could really succeed.

…

On the other side, the abandoned district of Haibei City.

Ever since the Torch that had occupied this area was crushed, the place had grown noticeably lively.

Around the twisted remnants of concrete buildings came a clatter of sounds.

Vallant soldiers with shovels worked with their backs to the sky and faces to the ruins, as if determined to dig up the entire area.

Fafri refused to believe his luck was so bad—that the ruins beneath his feet held nothing but concrete rubble.

Finding nothing under the mutant-built fortress, he ordered the excavation range expanded.

Short on manpower, he requested another thousand laborers from Corway.

The whole construction site was choked with dust, looking from afar as if they were at war with the Alliance.

The Battlefield Guy thought this fellow was a bit mad and silently cursed his own comrades for being too ruthless.

And indeed, Fafri was just that.

He was like a gambler who had lost everything, locked in a stubborn struggle with the ruins, making his subordinates miserable.

Just then, a joyful shout rang out from the site.

A Vallant soldier with a shovel, covered in mud, limped over, shouting as he ran.

“Sir! We’ve found something!”

Fafri, who was chewing on dry rations, brightened at the news. He quickly stuffed the rock-hard beef jerky and cold bread into his pocket and hurried toward the soldier.

Ignoring the soldier’s filthy mud, he grabbed his shoulders and asked in an excited, trembling voice.

“What did you find?”

“An underground space!” The soldier swallowed nervously, eyes full of excitement, gesturing with his hands. “About this big… big enough to fit hundreds of tanks!”

He didn’t know how to describe the vastness, so he used this abstract example.

Watching the man gesture vaguely for a while, Fafri felt an itch of curiosity and simply pushed him forward.

“Take me there now!”

The soldier nodded hastily.

“Yes!”

Watching the two hurry into the depths of the ruins, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group, sitting nearby chewing on dry rations, showed a surprised expression.

“Damn… could they actually have dug up something?!”

With that thought, he couldn’t sit still. He patted his pants, stood up, and quietly followed the two, intending to see for himself.

The group soon reached the destination.

Hundreds of laborers with shovels stood beside a half-collapsed concrete building.

In the very center of the crowd was a sloping passage extending downward.

The passage was wide enough for two vehicles to pass side by side without crowding—no wonder the Vallant soldier had used tanks as an example.

Moreover, the concrete walls here had a different formation time from the outer concrete buildings. The latter were clearly over two centuries old, while the former were at most a hundred and fifty years.

Seeing the two chiliarchs approaching, the technical officer standing by the ruins quickly stood up and saluted Fafri and Pangolin respectively.

“Sir, you’ve arrived!”

Returning a simple salute, Fafri stared intently at the man-made passage and asked impatiently.

“What’s the story with this passage?”

Seeing the excitement in Chiliarch Fafri’s eyes, the technical officer quickly explained.

“We just discovered this passage. We don’t know the specifics yet, but we can confirm that this tunnel was built around Year 50 of the Wasteland Era… and was buried around Year 70.”

“Around Year 70 of the Wasteland Era…”

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group repeated this phrase and suddenly realized.

Wasn’t that exactly the time when Vault 20 stopped operating?

In other words…

Was the first shutdown of Vault 20 related to this facility?!

Realizing this, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group was utterly stunned.

Damn!

So his words had indeed proven prophetic!

Not noticing the change in expression on “Pangolin’s” face, Favri, upon hearing the technical officer’s conclusion, merely furrowed his brow instinctively.

Year 70 of the Wasteland Era?

That must have been a very long time ago.

The Torch Church only emerged in the last decade or so; if so, this ruin probably has little to do with the Torch…

But since this ruin was after all dug up by his men with great effort, he still asked with keen interest.

“What lies buried beneath this passage?”

The technical officer standing at the entrance exchanged a glance with the engineer beside him.

Seeing the former pass the buck to him, the engineer looked at Chiliarch Favri and made a helpless expression.

“We’re not sure either… There must have been a large-scale collapse here before, and we’ve only just excavated this passage. It’s piled with construction debris that needs clearing. We’ve already sent a reconnaissance team down, but they need some time.”

As if worried that Favri might be impatient, the engineer added another sentence.

“However, from the batch of debris we’ve cleared just now, we can preliminarily infer that below this should be a survivor settlement.”

Favri was taken aback.

“A settlement?”

The engineer nodded earnestly.

“That’s right… A settlement roughly over a hundred years old! And most likely one of those that emerged in the early Wasteland Era! There might even be a shelter nearby, since many early Wasteland Era settlements were built near shelters, or even right at the shelter entrances!”

Although the ruins of a survivor settlement held no interest for Favri, if a shelter were added to the picture, the significance would be entirely different.

Favri’s face immediately lit up with excitement, and he urged them on.

“Then what are you waiting for! Dig quickly! Everyone go down and dig!”

Hearing this reckless outburst, the technical officer quickly interjected to advise.

“There are already people digging. Only so many can go down at a time. If more go down, something will go wrong!”

“Alright, alright! Then hurry up! Make any requests you need, and I’ll do my utmost to secure them for you!”

Favri rubbed his hands excitedly, unable to suppress the elation on his face.

In contrast, Lord Pangolin, standing behind him, maintained an expressionless composure that was admirable.

Yet no one knew that although Lord Pangolin’s face was expressionless, in his heart he was cursing everyone present’s mothers.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

All he could do now was silently pray that what lay beneath this passage was truly just a grave…