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"Here," Hou Xiong swallowed hard, turning to look at the equally stunned Ming Junwei, murmuring, "It's different from when you came last time."
"It's a complete transformation." Ming Junwei forced a smile, feeling a whirlwind of emotions inside.
"What should we do now?" Hou Xiong gripped the steering wheel again, his eyes reflecting the brilliant lights flickering in the distance.
"Let's go over and take a look," Ming Junwei took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He cracked open the window, and the night breeze carried with it a faint hint of the city.
The highway rose and fell like a ridge separating the world from desolation. Ahead lay a dazzling display of neon lights and nightlife, while behind them was a scene of devastation and lonely graves.
The Wrangler roared to life again, moving at a speed so slow that one could easily outrun it on foot. The scenery outside retreated at an agonizingly slow pace, with solitary concrete utility poles standing like sentinels against the wind. The vast Gobi Desert stretched endlessly, and the brilliant lights at its edge resembled flames meeting the sea—connected yet distinct, their boundaries unclear.
Ming Junwei's mind flickered with memories; when he left this place years ago, Launch Base was the sole ruler of this barren land. Now, an unexpected Lonely City had risen abruptly before him.
The night deepened, and the wind grew colder.
Ming Junwei gazed out at the desert landscape; the poplar and red willow still clung to this land. In the darkness, low shrubs swayed gently in the breeze, and familiar camel thorns caught his eye, whispering to passing travelers that the Gobi Desert remained unchanged.
The journey wasn't far—just over ten kilometers—and driving wouldn't take long. As the road flattened out under their wheels, Ming Junwei discovered something new illuminated by the headlights.
"The road is newly paved," he said, holding an unlit cigarette between his fingers as he pointed at both sides of the road. "Wait, it seems like it's been widened."
"If they can build a city here, paving a road is nothing," Hou Xiong replied. After initially being shocked, he had begun to accept the reality before them. As he said, if they could raise skyscrapers from flat ground, laying down some asphalt wouldn't be much trouble.
Ming Junwei paused for a moment before breaking into a grin. "That's true."
"What’s next? Should we just drive straight into the city?" As they approached Lonely City on the edge of the desert, Hou Xiong felt a twinge of anxiety. From afar it looked fine, but as they drew closer, an unsettling emotion surged within him.
"It can't be that easy," Ming Junwei thought to himself, feeling uncertain. The Gobi Desert was no longer as he remembered it; his past memories and experiences seemed almost useless now.
After navigating the last slope, the Wrangler finally reached the foot of Lonely City. The speed increased and then slowed down again, the bright high beams switched to dimmed lights, and the car's audio system was turned off. Hou Xiong released the brake, allowing the vehicle to coast down the gentle slope. His eyes were fixed on the towering Giant Stone Wall a hundred meters away, as if a firecracker had exploded in his mind, shattering his understanding and common sense.
A black iron fence, about the thickness of a thumb, blocked the Wrangler a hundred meters from the city gate. Behind the fence, a moat surrounded the city wall, with a dry suspension bridge extending from the gate. There were no railings on either side, and it was impossible to see how deep the trench was. Directly facing the suspension bridge, the Arched City Gate stood five meters tall, with the Red Lacquer Giant Gate fitting tightly together and brass door studs gleaming brightly. There was none of the rustic charm he had imagined; no plaque or sign at the entrance. The battlements were starkly simple—straight up and down, square-shaped—brutally blocking any gaze that dared to peer into the city.
"I'm not dreaming, am I?" Hou Xiong rubbed his already fierce-looking face vigorously, disbelief filling his eyes as he exclaimed, "Those foreigners built a city here; it's become their damn colony!"
"It's neither a dream nor a colony," Ming Junwei controlled his surging emotions, lighting up the cigarette he had been holding for a while. The sharp smoke swirled in his lungs before he exhaled it slowly through his nostrils.
"Then what is this?" Hou Xiong struggled to find words to describe what lay before them.
Ming Junwei furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before replying, "It's just a city. Those foreigners you’ve seen are merely errand runners."
"Errand runners for whom?"
"For their boss."
The city walls could block invading footsteps, but there was no lid over the city itself; the brilliant lights and bustling voices could not be contained.
The two sat in the car for more than ten minutes without any zombies attacking or guards questioning them as they had imagined. The high beams shot out straight onto the solemn city wall, revealing nothing but dust and emptiness. Ming Junwei picked up binoculars and scanned along the wall. This set of defensive works seemed technically simple enough, but standing on the suspension bridge and feeling the unfathomable darkness and strange odors on either side still stirred an undeniable sense of unease within him.
The suspension bridge stretched over a hundred meters long, while the moat spiraled outward like a coil. The soil layer between them was only about two meters thick, yet the trench itself was around four meters wide. Not only would zombies struggle to cross it; even if a tank tried to come through, it would likely get stuck in that massive gap. If that supporting soil layer couldn't withstand such pressure and collapsed, it would mean certain burial alive.
Both Ming Junwei and Song Jiu had considered ideas regarding trenches and even put some into action. The roundabout fence and brick wall were surrounded by circular water channels; outside Riverside Camp, they had also dug two trenches. However, compared to this grand scale before them, their achievements were negligible. The roundabout water channel offered little defensive utility due to terrain limitations; it could only serve as drainage for water storage purposes. Riverside Camp was even more disappointing—the front and back trenches hadn’t even been fully excavated yet. While some zombies fell into them during their siege of the city, those that fell could still climb out; even if they couldn’t escape, they could fill in gaps for others to continue advancing—ultimately proving futile.
Looking down at the circular abyss beneath him, Ming Junwei truly wished he could measure its depth right there; with such scale, it seemed like there was nothing terrifying about zombies surrounding a city after all.
Thoughts aside, the journey could not pause. The purpose of this trip was not geological exploration, and besides, it was too dark to see anything clearly; there would be plenty of time to observe during the day.
Hou Xiong was the first to cross the suspension bridge. The moment his feet touched the ground, he suddenly realized that his calves were trembling. He turned back to glance at the bottomless ditch, a wave of fear washing over him.
“No wonder this city is so ostentatious while there are no Zombies outside. Could it be that they all fell into the pit?” Hou Xiong's tongue felt a bit tied, and his racing heart had yet to calm down.
Ming Junwei nodded, recalling the burnt smell he had detected earlier. “It’s possible. Such a massive ditch could trap a large number of Zombies. If too many Zombies pile up, there will be a smell. When the weather gets hot, it will attract flies and insects, affecting normal life in the city. So after dealing with the Zombies, they would likely set it on fire.”
“How did they dig this pit?” Hou Xiong asked in astonishment.
“Those people have resources and power,” Ming Junwei replied.
Hou Xiong was stunned for a moment, shaking his head as he sighed, “What kind of person is their boss? He’s too crazy.”
“Indeed. But now I finally understand why he has that name,” Ming Junwei said with a hint of boredom in his smile, narrowing his eyes slightly.
“What name?”
“Pit You.”
The two infiltrators took a brief rest before gathering their spirits and walking toward the tightly sealed Giant Gate. There were no defensive structures at the entrance; the road was paved with neatly arranged red bricks, flat and sturdy, marking a clear boundary from the Gobi Desert land.
Ming Junwei reached out to push the large door; it felt icy to the touch. The red paint was smooth and flawless, and the copper nails were polished to a rounded finish. When he lightly tapped with his knuckles, it produced a crisp sound.
“Look at this,” Hou Xiong said as he patted Ming Junwei on the shoulder. The beam from his flashlight illuminated the smooth wall on the left side of the doorway. A well-preserved Carved Frame hung in the center, and as the flashlight swept over it, the reflection was blinding.
Ming Junwei froze for a moment before quickly shifting his flashlight to the side and leaning in to carefully discern the writing inside. He saw four large characters in clerical script at the top: City Gate Curfew.
"Fuck," both of them exclaimed in confusion, their gazes dropping down to read in unison, "The city gates are closed from ten at night until eight in the morning, entry and exit are prohibited." A brief sentence, followed by an English translation.
Ming Junwei felt a bit dazed; if he hadn't just seen the familiar Launch Tower and the vertical testing facility, he might have thought he was dreaming.
"I'm really not dreaming," Hou Xiong murmured to himself, his expression vacant.
Ming Junwei didn't know what to say either. He continued to shine the flashlight upwards, and as he neared the arched ceiling, the beam swept across something that seemed out of place.
Ming Junwei's pupils dilated suddenly as he opened his mouth in shock and said, "It shouldn't be."
"Yeah."
"And besides, we've already been exposed." Ming Junwei forced a bitter smile as the beam of light froze at the edge of the arch.
Hou Xiong looked up towards the illuminated area; a spherical surveillance camera was aimed directly at the two people in the doorway. A barely noticeable fluorescent signal light was blinking on its side.
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