The safe area in City B is very large, unlike the shelter in City S.
In City S, if you look down from above, the northern area occupies nearly half of the area. However, the base in City B is different because City B has a larger population, and the surrounding towns’ shelters collapsed one after another after the apocalypse. Being the capital, most residents in the vicinity fled in this direction.
Using the original airport in City B as a reference, with the help of earth-elemental abilities from military personnel and cooperation from other elemental abilities, they built tall walls and a new city. Now, although the area of the base in City B is not as large as the original urban area of City B, it is almost equivalent to the size of a second-tier city in the pre-apocalyptic era.
Unfortunately, due to the presence of mutant animals, the urban area still cannot be reclaimed. Groups of mutant rats, mutant cockroaches, as well as lurking undead and various mutant plants inside the city, have caused wave after wave of explorers to return empty-handed.
Carrying the base map, Xu Song and Yue Zheng walked towards the Information Hall.
The function of the Information Hall is similar to the one in City S, but with some differences. Here, you can find people, search for information, publish messages, issue tasks, and handle some procedures.
However, if you want to take on tasks, you need to go to the nearby Task Hall. It is the place specifically for the various exploration teams to receive missions. Once you become an exploration team, you must complete a certain number of corresponding tasks every month. At the same time, the team will receive corresponding rewards and preferential policies, or some information.
In the layout of the base in City B, the central position is the commercial center of the entire base, with shops lined up on both sides offering various goods and supplies. Along the parallel road to the main street, there are some scattered vendors. Most of them are not permanent stalls but rather individuals from various teams selling and exchanging various supplies and daily necessities, just like the street vendors before the apocalypse.
The two of them walked quickly towards the main street. Along the way, they saw many people riding yellow tricycles soliciting business. The base in City B is not small in size, and it would take a considerable amount of time to walk from east to west. Therefore, some people have found these old-fashioned means of transportation in the abandoned city area of City B and started a new round of human-powered cart work.
Since Xu Song and Yue Zheng were not clear about the current currency situation in City B and also wanted to familiarize themselves with the area, they decided to walk all the way. Fortunately, the location where they lived in the G District was relatively close to the main street in the north, so they didn’t take long to arrive.
The Information Hall was bustling with people coming and going, mostly registering tasks or searching for lost family members. The two of them asked the lobby manager, the young man wearing a suit and a work badge, who was indeed the legendary lobby manager from before the apocalypse, for directions to the window specifically responsible for registering missing persons.
The queue in front was not too short because many people who were separated from their family members could not be sure when their loved ones would arrive here, so they would come periodically to inquire about the situation.
Yue Zheng stood at the back of the line while Xu Song went to fill out the form, stating their personal information and his mother’s information. He quickly returned to the line. Up until now, the line had only moved a short distance.
“Brother Yue, don’t you need to find someone in City B?” Xu Song stood beside Yue Zheng, holding the form.
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.
Yue Zheng shook his head. “No need.”
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Well, that’s it. It’s unlikely that they would even recognize each other if they were to meet.
After about half an hour, it was finally their turn. Xu Song handed the form to the attendant at the service desk. The attendant entered the information into the computer and checked it before asking, “Xu Song, male, 21 years old, from City Y in Province F, studying mechanical engineering at C University in City B as a sophomore. Father’s name is Xu Wei, 47 years old. Mother’s name is He Shuhua, 45 years old. Both were individual business owners in City Y. Is that correct?”
“Yes,” Xu Song nodded quickly.
“Are you looking for information about your mother? Your mother was confirmed to be at the waiting hall of the B City airport when the incident occurred, right?”
“Yes.”
The staff member checked the information and handed Xu Song a form with a smile. “Congratulations, your mother should be in the B City base now. Go to Window 4, they can help you find her.”
As Xu Song took the form, his hands were trembling. He had suspected that his mother might still be in B City, but now that it was confirmed, it was still somewhat unbelievable.
“Did you find her?”
“Yes, I found her!”
“Oh, the person in front found their relative!”
The crowd behind them murmured with excitement. In the early days of the apocalypse, and when the Information Hall was first established, it was common to hear about people finding their loved ones. But as time went on, such news became increasingly rare.
The efficiency of the staff was high. The authorities, in order to demonstrate their humanitarian care and motivate the survivors to continue living, fully supported the work of the Information Hall, especially in finding and reuniting people. Xu Song and Yue Zheng went to Window 4 and found that it was not an actual window but a door with a small window.
Seeing them approach and checking the form, the staff member opened the door and let them in. After confirming the location of Xu Song’s mother, they led the two of them to the back.
“You’re really lucky. The last time someone found their family was half a month ago. It was different from your situation that time. Both sides got separated while on a mission because they didn’t have a fixed residence or means of contact, so they had to find each other through the Information Hall.” The person said as they walked, and then they got into a solar-powered electric scooter.
Xu Song felt his mind going blank, his hands slightly trembling, and even his responses were not very smooth.
Through the rearview mirror, the young man noticed that the other person’s eyes were slightly red. The staff member who was driving ahead smiled. He had seen seekers in even more emotional states. After all, in this post-apocalyptic world, where people witnessed living beings exploding, corpses coming back to life, and animals and plants devouring humans, finding a living relative was not an easy feat.
In the E District, there were various planting bases and factory buildings. Many people without special abilities would find work here to make a living. Although the pay was low and the living conditions were not great, at least they could have enough to eat. It was still better than having these physically weak ordinary people going out with axes and knives, desperately fighting against terrifying creatures.
In the areas with good lighting, multi-level greenhouses were built, cultivating various crops. Most of the crops were mutant plants, and the produced ingredients would be supplied to several canteens and sold to the survivors in the B City base.
In areas with poorer lighting, there were various factories.
He Shuhua had been working here for over two months. Because of her previous experience in a cotton mill, she was placed here after surviving the initial days of the apocalypse.
On October 11th, she followed her usual routine of waking up, getting ready, getting food, and having breakfast before starting work. Then it was lunchtime and back to work. The rest time here was relatively short because winter was approaching, making the clothing factory particularly busy. There were only eight hours of sleep and one or two hours of rest time per day. The remaining time was spent working.
In just three months, the woman who still didn’t look old had become exhausted, with wrinkles crawling all over her face. But she persisted. Unlike other women who were just getting by, at least she still had a glimmer of hope in her heart.
“He Shuhua, He Shuhua, Ms. He Shuhua from the textile department of the clothing factory, please come to the reception room upon hearing this notification…”
The female workers who were busy working looked up in confusion as He Shuhua stood up and walked towards the reception room.
Because they were too busy, her dormitory colleagues only glanced at her before continuing to work with their heads down.
She reported to her team leader and walked outside, unsure of why someone suddenly wanted to see her. But He Shuhua instinctively clenched her fists and her steps became unsteady.
The reception room had a nice environment, with the exception of the lack of green plants that were common before the apocalypse. The overall layout and furnishings were not much different from before.
The door opened, and Xu Song quickly looked up at the entrance. A woman walked in, devoid of the grace and elegance she had before the apocalypse. Her once well-preserved face now bore the marks of exhaustion and hardship.
“Song… Xiaosong?!” Seeing her son, He Shuhua’s steps paused for a moment before she stumbled forward and threw herself into his arms.
“Mom…” She had aged. A lot.
Mother and son embraced each other, sobbing uncontrollably. The reception manager in the room took off his glasses, symbolically wiped the corners of his eyes, and looked at Yue Zheng. “Oh my, it’s really not easy.”
He gestured with his finger, “Since the beginning of the apocalypse until today, only eleven people in our factory complex have found their relatives. I’ve received six of them.”
Yue Zheng nodded. “Indeed, it’s not easy. We encountered an earthquake halfway, and all the cities we passed through were completely overrun. It’s rare to see people on the roads.”
The manager began to ramble on about the base and the factory. Yue Zheng paid attention to Xu Song’s side for the most part, while dealing with the manager’s incessant chatter. After a while, he stood up and walked towards the two of them, patting Xu Song’s shoulder. “Let Auntie have a seat. We can talk slowly.”
Xu Song sniffled. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing to sob and cry in his mother’s arms at his age, but now that he had vented his emotions, he felt much lighter.
He Shuhua’s eyes were swollen, making it difficult for her to see Yue Zheng’s appearance clearly. She simply nodded in gratitude and sat down with Xu Song.
“I kept my phone on every day, and whenever I had free time, I would call you… The signal station broke a long time ago, and I knew I couldn’t get through, but I still had hope, just in case,” He Shuhua sighed and shook her head.
“When the Information Hall was established, I lined up to register for information on finding people. There were so many people in the queue, almost everyone went. It was impossible to finish filling out so many forms in just one day… Fortunately, I had the phone call from you back then. Otherwise, after the base was completely built, I would have signed up and joined the team to search for supplies.”
Xu Song, recovering from his daze, had a black line on his forehead. “Mom… You’re not thinking of joining an adventure team, are you?”
He Shuhua smiled, regaining some of her former elegance. “So what if I did? Don’t you know? Our base has a Widow Legion. It’s composed of unmarried women in the base. The oldest one is already sixty-three, and the youngest is only fourteen. If it weren’t for the fear that you wouldn’t be able to find me once you arrived, I would have joined them too.”
“Widow… Widow Legion?! How can a fourteen-year-old be considered a widow?!” His mother’s change of topic was too abrupt for Xu Song to accept at once.
Thanks for the update ❤️❤️❤️
They met each other!!! 😭❤️
Thanks❤️
A 14-year old widow? Glad that they’re finally united. Is time to meet the in-law and the kids?
I also bugged when I saw the 14 years old widow owo But yeah ! Mother has been found !