The current situation in the city is far from optimistic, especially with the severe insect infestation problem. And this is still in the winter before the insects have completely subsided. If they wait until spring when the insects start reproducing vigorously… Xu Song and Yue Zheng can’t even imagine what that scene would be like.
Originally, they had decided that when they returned to the city later, they would go to a bookstore to choose some beginner books for their children to teach them some knowledge. But if the city is truly overrun by insects by then, it’s uncertain whether people could even enter, and even if they do, there’s no guarantee the books won’t be devoured by the insects.
Now that they have the opportunity to explore the library, they naturally won’t miss such a good chance.
Colonel Lu seems particularly understanding. After reaching the library and dispatching two active zombies inside, he leads a few people to the third floor to organize the necessary materials to take with them.
Afterward, apart from those responsible for guarding a few key locations, the remaining people are free to move around.
Xu Song and Yue Zheng excitedly navigate through the enormous library. The library is taller than most buildings, and even the highest shelves require ladders to reach. The library has been cleared of any strange creatures.
At this moment, not only Xu Song and Yue Zheng but also the soldiers are curiously examining various books. Colonel Lu had previously said, “You can take a few books to pass the time.” Of course, he was referring to the books on the first floor. After all, all the books, especially precious ones, were scanned and stored before being placed here. As long as they could find the hard drives, there was no need to worry about the content of these books being lost forever.
The books on the first floor are mainly literature, and there are, of course, some foreign-language original editions. After Xu Song and Yue Zheng circled the area, they couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated. There are plenty of books, but the problem is that there are no children’s books suitable for early education.
“It’s okay; just pick some that you think will be useful and grab one or two dictionaries,” Yue Zheng reassures Xu Song as he gently strokes his soft hair.
“We don’t need the children to learn according to exam standards, do we? Knowing how to read, understand the content in books, and have basic math skills should be sufficient. If you’re worried about them, just pick a few books with general applicability, and we can figure out a way to make flashcards for new words. True enlightenment books may not necessarily be suitable for them in this unique situation.”
In the current circumstances, introducing children to pre-apocalyptic books might not be the best approach.
Xu Song realizes he might be overthinking things. After hearing Yue Zheng’s perspective, he breathes a sigh of relief and starts focusing on some thick dictionaries and a few well-known classic works. If the children can read and understand these, their basic knowledge will be in good shape.
As for mathematics, it’s a bit of a shame. The library is filled with literature and academic-related books, and even if there are some mathematics books, they are all so advanced that neither of them may understand them. They decide to wait until they return and teach the children the basics, like the multiplication table, and create some practical math problems based on their memory.
With Xu Song’s exceptional intelligence, he quickly identifies the books they need to take with them. Unfortunately, the number of these books is quite large, and it’s impossible for both of them to carry them all in their backpacks. So, they each choose a few novels and classics to put in their bags, and the remaining books are marked. When it gets dark, the two of them will discreetly release the little tree on the second floor.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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…
“Captain, there seemed to be some kind of disturbance last night, like… like ghosts!”
Colonel Lu, who has collected all the materials, returns in high spirits with the soldiers to have breakfast on the second floor. When he hears the soldier’s words, he pauses, “What kind of disturbance?”
“Just, just…”
“Report to the commander! Last night, when we were on duty, we heard some commotion in the first-floor library, so we took a look inside…”
“We saw a huge shadow! It stretched all the way to the ceiling!”
“And then it disappeared!”
Everyone was stunned, and they all turned to look at those two individuals.
“A shadow?”
“Yes! A big shadow that seemed to cover the entire library’s ceiling!” Both of them nodded vigorously.
“Did you get a clear look at what it was?”
“No! When we looked again, there was nothing, so we thought maybe we were seeing things…”
“Was there any noise last night? Were there fewer people or things around?”
Everyone quickly checked their equipment and supplies, and then they shook their heads.
As for the missing books…
Since Colonel Lu mentioned that they could take some books yesterday, nearly every bookshelf had been ransacked. Besides, the books in the library were not neatly organized, with some even scattered on the floor. Who could keep track of exactly which books were missing? Even if some were missing, what if other soldiers had taken them to pass the time?
This mystery was treated as a case of the two soldiers possibly having hallucinations – it was better to ignore it than to make a big deal out of it.
Xu Song and Yue Zheng remained silent, and when asked, they had no answers, reinforcing the idea that it was just a figment of their imagination.
Colonel Lu and his team had finished collecting the data, and there was no need to continue special lockdown measures on the third floor. After breakfast, they still had some time before leaving, so Xu Song and Yue Zheng curiously went up to the third floor for a look.
Just like the second floor, the third floor housed various specialized books. However, it covered a larger area, though the floor’s height was relatively lower than the second floor.
From the structural layout, it seemed like the rooms were divided into different sections based on different historical periods. Xu Song and Yue Zheng still remembered that when Yue Zheng left the A zone before, he had heard from Elder Wu that the inscriptions on the tablets resembled oracle bone script and seal script, so they headed directly to these two areas to see if there were any remaining documents or records.
The answer was affirmative. In fact, the expert scholars who had escaped from the base remembered some of the documents, data, and even some of the deciphered texts. The items they were sent to find this time were mainly documents with the analysis process, reasoning basis, and other reference materials that had been previously compiled. Of course, there were also other reference materials.
These items had multiple backups, and the extras, as well as some already deciphered and turned into academic reports, were naturally left behind.
Upon finding them, Xu Song and Yue Zheng casually stuffed them into their pockets.
The two of them, regardless of whether these materials would be useful or if they could genuinely decipher the texts, were driven by human curiosity. Solving this mystery would also be a satisfying achievement.
After collecting some document data, they looked at the still remarkably huge third floor. Inside were numerous original ancient texts, even inscriptions on bamboo slips and imprints from stone tablets excavated from tombs. These items were treasures of human history.
“Let’s go,” Yue Zheng patted Xu Song’s shoulder. They couldn’t possibly take all of these items with them, and the truly valuable ones were probably already collected and organized by Colonel Lu and his team. They also couldn’t let the little tree revert to its original form in broad daylight – even if it did, it wouldn’t be able to take everything with them.
With the mission successfully completed, several metal boxes were added to Colonel Lu’s team, containing the results and computer hard drives from their expedition into the city.
They were fully geared up and once again headed towards the N University gate.
On the way back, the journey was relatively smoother, except for a surprising encounter with a swarm of insects in the middle of the road.
However, what they didn’t expect was that after spending the night at N University, when they walked out of the library the next morning, they were astonished to find that the mutated plants that had been dormant under the snow were now “awake.”
The menacing vines and roots, and plants that could shoot bullets, proved to be formidable opponents. Even with Xu Song’s fire-based abilities clearing the way, the situation didn’t improve much.
In the presence of the white flames, the plants only kept their distance from Xu Song, but they didn’t give up hunting for other “prey.”
One soldier was dragged into the grass by his leg, and the advantage of speed from the kinetic powers was immediately nullified. Two limb-mutated abilities users rushed to rescue him, but he had already lost a leg to the incredibly agile plant flower.
The battle began quickly and fiercely. When Xu Song realized what was happening, he promptly erected a white “web” to shield against the attacks from one direction. When the ferocious plants touched the “web,” not only were they unsuccessful, but they ended up burning off many of their own tendrils before reluctantly retracting.
The entire winter had taken a toll on these mutated plants. While they could sustain their lives by absorbing nutrients from the soil, the nutrients and moisture in the soil were insufficient for their mutated forms to absorb and replenish nutrients.
“Retreat! Head toward the East Gate!” Colonel Lu shouted loudly, instructing the awakened abilities users to retreat toward the East Gate where they had entered.
“It’s as if they’ve become more aggressive after sleeping a night,” Yue Zheng remarked.
Finally retreating, the entire team had lost three members. Xu Song supported his legs, panting heavily. These plants had suddenly become aggressive, and there was barely any sign of this aggression when they entered yesterday. However, now they seemed ravenous after a winter’s hibernation, attacking anything that could be considered prey with ferocity.
