After that, the four of them quickly packed up the shop, locked the door, and went upstairs to the second floor.
The people who'd been hiding in their own shops saw them heading up and immediately followed suit, shutting their doors and rushing upstairs. After all, in the base, everyone knew the stories about Lan Jin and the other three. If people that powerful thought it was safer upstairs, there was no way ordinary folks would stay behind.
In just a few moments, the entire first floor was deserted.
But was the second floor really safe? Commercial Street didn't have that many levels to begin with. With so few people around, opening too many shops was pointless, so the whole block only had three floors.
That meant the top floor was exposed to acid rain and would corrode away, while the first floor would get flooded. The only real place to hide was the second floor.
…
Once they reached the second floor, Lao Gao immediately tried to call Captain Zhang. But Captain Zhang was overwhelmed with the wounded, far too busy to pick up. Lao Gao kept the line open for a long time. It wasn't until the rain finally stopped that Captain Wang and his squad struggled their way over and began the rescue.
The rescue, however, wasn't what Lan Jin expected. Instead of leading them out or back to their quarters, Captain Wang went down to the first floor, opened a hidden door, and led them underground.
As they descended, Lao Gao couldn't help but ask, "Captain Wang, what is this place? Don't we need to head outside for rescue? Why're we going down instead?"
Captain Wang explained, "When the base was first built, we constructed an underground city as backup. Normally, one bout of acid rain passes quickly. But we just got word that this time it isn't stopping, so we have to move people down here fast."
That meant they wouldn't be going back up anytime soon. Lan Jin quickly asked, "Captain Wang, my Qiao Qiao…"
Captain Wang reassured her, "Don't worry. As soon as we realized the acid rain was abnormal, we already moved the children down. You'll see her soon."
Huang Jinghe asked curiously, "So how long are we supposed to hide here? Don't tell me we'll be living underground from now on?"
"Who knows," Captain Wang said with a shrug. "But even if others stay down here, don't think you'll get to escape work. If things get dangerous, you'll still be called up to handle it." Then he added, "Relax. Nobody's lived down here before, so we don't know how things'll turn out. For now, your task is to stay put, keep everyone safe, and be ready. Only if things up top get completely out of hand will we call you back up."
Hearing that Qiao Qiao was safe, Lan Jin stopped worrying about anything else.
…
There were a lot of civilians along Commercial Street. Maybe because Captain Wang was so stern, no one dared to speak while following him. They just walked in silence as he led them further down.
They didn't take any elevators. After going down about seven or eight flights of stairs, they finally reached a massive door.
Captain Wang pulled out a card and swiped it at the panel on the right. The heavy door opened instantly.
But to actually enter, each person had to swipe their own residence permit. Captain Wang said, "This card only unlocks the outer gate. Once inside, the system's the same as up top. Swipe your permits one by one here to verify your info. Inside, wherever your permit allows access, you'll be able to go freely."
That included places like the residential area and work districts. But if something wasn't linked to their permit, it'd stay locked. It worked just like on the surface, and no one objected.
Captain Wang stood at the entrance, watching as people verified their permits one by one. "Once you're in, someone will arrange things for you. Lan Jin, if you want to see your child, just head to the kindergarten. There's one down here too. The layout matches the surface base almost exactly, just without sunlight, so you won't get lost."
Everyone understood immediately. It was basically like building a mirror version of the surface base underground. The higher-ups really had planned ahead. The only question was, would living down here bring some kind of unexpected danger?
…
Following the familiar route, Lan Jin went straight to the kindergarten.
Inside, all the children were playing and laughing together, completely unaware of what was happening outside.
That was only natural. No matter how dangerous things were, the adults wouldn't let the kids get involved. Even if they explained, the little ones wouldn't understand. It was better just to bring them down and let them keep on as usual.
So the children thought they were just playing a new game.
Hearing their laughter, everyone's tense nerves finally eased a little.
Lan Jin let out a soft sigh. "Kids really are lucky. They don't know a thing, and that's why they can smile so happily."
Ling Jiang asked, "It's not dismissal time yet. Do you want to take your child out?"
Lan Jin shook her head. "No. Since they don't know, why give them something to worry about?"
Just as the four of them were about to leave, Captain Zhang's call finally came through.
"Hey, how're you doing? Did Captain Wang get you down there?"
Lao Gao answered, "Yeah, yeah, we're already down. We've seen Qiao Qiao too. How's it up there?"
Captain Zhang's voice grew grim. "Not good. The acid rain still hasn't stopped. Too many people went to watch out of curiosity. They're badly injured, and it's not just untreatable, it's contagious."
The contagion seemed to spread when acid burns came into contact with other things. As long as you didn't touch the injured, you were fine. But if you couldn't touch them, how could you treat them?
And the acid's corrosion was brutal. Gloves didn't help. Those who had wide exposure didn't last long, their lives eaten away in agony. Those with lighter burns weren't spared either. The infected area kept spreading, their suffering drawn out until death felt like mercy.
For the base, for humanity, this acid rain was another unforgettable catastrophe.
But Captain Zhang had a thought that was almost out of place. "You think… with acid this strong, would the mutant beasts fear it too? If this rain wiped them out, maybe it'd actually be a good thing for us."
As terrible as the losses were, the mutants were far too many and too dangerous. Wiping them all out was impossible. But if they weren't eradicated, the world would never know peace.