Once We Lived in Nanjing

"At this point, what more can you consider? Are you still fantasizing about finishing work, having a drink of Wuliangye and going for a foot bath on the weekend? Brace yourself for the tough struggles ahead," Bai Zhen said, "It's always better to live another day, no matter how tough life gets. Live one day at a time."

"No, no, this won't work," Wang Ning shook his head. "To use a cliché, a defeatist attitude will ultimately fail. If you scrape by today, you won't necessarily make it through the future."

"When did he ever say that?"

"Anyway, it's not going to work. We need to repel the enemy from outside, wipe them out. That's the correct strategy," Wang Ning stated firmly.

"Do you even know what kind of enemy we're facing? Creatures with giant eyeballs as tall as three- or four-story buildings, with six long legs that can step across the Moat in three strides, impervious to blades and fire, utterly ruthless and murderous," Bai Zhen said, even rhyming as he spoke. "Planes and tanks are like paper to them, how can we possibly fight such things?"

"How do you know they're impervious to blades and guns?"

"The people from the future know because they're all dead."

Wang Ning was silenced.

He knew that humanity had failed in the future.

The military was completely destroyed, leaving nothing behind. This indicated an overwhelming disparity in power. In the face of such a massive gap, any preparation was in vain.

Thinking of the gigantic black moon hanging overhead, that was despair.

How could humanity possibly stand up to such colossal forces?

If this weren't the reality, Wang Ning would never believe that humanity's future would have two moons. It's nonsensical. If there really were gods in this world, Wang Ning would like to have a chat with them; how could you be so unreasonable? We live our lives happily and peacefully, how could a black moon just appear out of nowhere one day!

"Just honestly come and dig a hole with me, start early and dig deep, go down a few dozen meters, uphold the fine traditions of tunnel warfare," Bai Zhen said. "Do your best and leave the rest to fate."

"Can you get your hands on any weapons?" Wang Ning asked. "Like a 120mm mortar, for instance."

"What are you thinking, where am I supposed to get a 120mm mortar?" Bai Zhen rolled his eyes.

"This is only because the country bans guns, if it didn't..."

"Even if guns weren't banned, you wouldn't be able to get a rocket launcher. In the Middle East, you might deal with guerillas to get a 107mm rocket launcher," Bai Zhen said. "But even then, you couldn't bring it here."

Despite their idle chatter, neither of them had ever stopped working.

Wang Ning had Xiao Zhu find a Philips CRT monitor suitable for a museum, a massive thing with a big backside, sitting on the coffee table.

BG4MSR didn't find any functional LCD monitors; she said that plugging them in wouldn't turn on the screens but only produce smoke. The only possibility was a couple of hefty CRT monitors that might still be useful. So, Wang Ning and Bai Zhen instructed her to take apart the casing and leave them out in the sun.

The cathode ray tube monitors had high voltage inside and couldn't be damp; therefore, before powering them on, it was necessary to dry out any moisture.

"Besides fiddling with these electronic scraps, what else can we do?" Wang Ning straightened the monitor and fiddled with the buttons.

"This is all we have," Bai Zhen said helplessly.

When the Reverse Future World-saving Amateur Radio Emergency Communication Command Center was first established, they were full of confidence, vowing to contribute their part to saving all of humanity. But day in and day out, sifting through piles of trash, as time passed, both men became increasingly aware of their limited abilities—two middle-aged, balding, overweight men. What could they really achieve after all?

Even as the apocalypse drew closer day by day, all they could do was hole up inside their homes and tinker with electronic junk.

The tragedy of the insignificant ones.

The deeper they delved into their efforts, the more powerless they felt. At this point, Wang Ning and Bai Zhen could only pin their hopes on some external force, hoping for someone to bring a turnaround, a powerful aid, a glimmer of hope.

"When will that damn Zhao come back?"

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(Author's note: Added a chapter for the new alliance leaders, consider it a bonus update.)