Once We Lived in Nanjing

After dark, the temperature dropped, and the wind continued to howl. Ban Xia emerged from the building entrance, pulling up the collar of her hoodie, and stood at the doorway looking up at the sky. The sky was somewhat overcast, obscuring the moon.

It was estimated to take three hours to walk from Meihua Villa to the Zitai Office Building. The command center recommended she take Route 2 to avoid the Xinjiekou area as much as possible. Route 2 meant following Zhongshan East Road to Yixian Bridge, where she would turn right, head north along Longpan Middle Road, turn left onto Beijing East Road, and continue straight to the Zitai Office Building near Drum Tower Park, covering a total distance of approximately eight or nine kilometers.

She was to take only the straight and broad roads, as per the command center's requirement. Firstly, because it's pitch-dark at night, complex routes are easily confusing and lead to getting lost. Secondly, the small paths under the state of overgrowth are unsafe. The year 2040 could be regarded as having the highest plant coverage Nanjing has ever experienced since its birth. Seen from high above, it almost looked like a city growing within a jungle, already fraught with peril before the emergence of "The Big Eyes."

"Young Miss, this is the command center. Have you set off? OVER."

"I've departed." Ban Xia hung the walkie-talkie on her backpack strap, flashlight in hand, and turned around to close the electric gate door, "Contact again in five minutes."

Reporting in every five minutes was the agreed communication frequency, only with regular check-ins could the command center ascertain her exact location.

On the other hand, the command center was also predicting the location of "The Big Eyes."

At 6:41 this afternoon, the exact location of "The Big Eyes" was on the rooftop of the New Century Building, but as it was a moving entity, it wouldn't remain static there. According to remote sensing satellite estimates, "The Big Eyes" lactancy on the rooftops of tall buildings varied, ranging between ten to fifty minutes.

The more time dragged on, the higher the probability that "The Big Eyes" would move.

The computer group had a set of estimation algorithms. They believed that within twenty minutes, the activity range of "The Big Eyes" could be confined within a one-kilometer radius centered around Xinjiekou. Within sixty minutes it could be limited to a two-kilometer radius. Beyond sixty minutes, its activity range was unpredictable.

And from Xinjiekou to Yixian Bridge was precisely two kilometers.

"That means, Young Miss, you have to arrive at Yixian Bridge within forty minutes, then continue north along Longpan Middle Road," said Bai Yang. "Can you make it there in forty minutes? OVER."

"Yixian Bridge... Where is Yixian Bridge?"

Ban Xia, with her backpack on, jogged ahead, tilting her head to hold down her shoulder walkie-talkie PTT to talk.

"It's by Panda Group. OVER."

"And where is Panda Group?"

Bai Yang scratched his head.

"It's a bridge, you'll know it when you see it. There's water flowing underneath it. It's the only bridge you'll come across. Remember, turn right when you hit the bridge, got it? OVER."

"Got it, I remember, turn right at the bridge." Ban Xia nodded. "How far is the bridge from me?"

"Three kilometers."

"Then forty minutes is plenty."

Ban Xia hurried along in the dark; midway, she stumbled over something - "Ouch!" She lost balance for a moment and turned to look. It turned out to be a clump of cow dung dried hard as a rock.

The teacher used to say that one should not venture out when the twin moons rise, but tonight not a single moon could be seen.

Outside, the wind was strong, howling against the walkie-talkie microphone, and the intense wind noise made Bai Yang feel as if she wasn't in Nanjing City but at Mount Everest Base Camp.

The only good thing about the deep winter was the absence of flies and mosquitoes. Reptiles and arthropods are quite sensitive to temperature changes; they all become lethargic once the temperature drops. Most of the deadly creatures in Nanjing City belong to these two categories. Without medicines and serums, a venomous snakebite meant certain death.

"BG, it's so dark outside," said Ban Xia, "but I daren't use the flashlight... I think I might be at Ming Palace now. I can see the crashed fighter jet behind the gates."

"Good. Do you need to take a break?"

"No need, I still have plenty of energy!"

Ban Xia gave a hop.

"Okay, Miss, stay alert at all times, OVER." After Bai Yang finished speaking, he took off his headset and shouted out, "Ming Palace!"

"Ming Palace." Old Zhao repeated into the walkie-talkie.

In front of him were numerous maps—an assortment of Nanjing City's present and future, both flat and three-dimensional—spread out over a huge display screen. A thick blue line started from Meihua Villa, snaking along the roads until it reached Drum Tower Park, marking the girl's intended route. Currently, the locator BG4MSR was tagged at the Ming Palace site.

To the north of the map, there were two gigantic red circles, one inside the other, with both of their centers at Xinjiekou, indicative of the estimated range of "Big Eyes". The smaller circle, with a one-kilometer diameter, was a darker shade, while the larger two-kilometer circle was lighter. The computer team's current estimation was that "Big Eyes" was active within the larger circle, covering an area of 13 square kilometers.

The computer team kept warning Zhao Bowen that, with time, it would become increasingly more difficult to predict the range of "Big Eyes" activity. An hour after the telemetry satellite had confirmed its position, they would no longer be able to provide a safe range.

"There are so many tall buildings around Xinjiekou; let's hope it's tempted to linger here for a while." Bai Zhen said, "Why don't you enjoy the sights of World Trade Center, Golden Eagle, and Xinhua Building, there's no hurry to leave."

"Staying at Xinjiekou, where might it possibly linger to the north?" Old Zhao asked.

"From Xinjiekou to the north, the next stop might be Junlin International and Golden Eagle area," Wang Ning stretched his finger around in a circle, "To the south, it could go to Zhongyin or Construction Bank, but it's hard to tell; there are too many buildings around here."

"Using the Inner Ring East Line as a boundary, once past that line there are plenty of skyscrapers—like the China Life Insurance, Shangmao Century, New Century Square—all over there, each a towering skyscraper," Bai Zhen said as he tapped on the keyboard, "If we could still use the satellite, it would be convenient; just one scan and everything would be clear."

"Even with satellites, it can only pass over once every hour or so. Besides, it can only see 'Big Eyes', not people," Wang Ning cautioned, "Satellites won't be much help."

Old Zhao pressed hard on the center of his brow.

"To be honest, that remote communication system she has hasn't been tested over such a long distance as Drum Tower Park; can it hold up?" Bai Zhen suddenly remembered and asked, "What do we do if she loses contact midway?"

"What can we do?" Wang Ning spread his hands, "Our resources are limited; we can only make do. It all comes down to luck."

"Does she know where the entrance to First Base is?" Bai Zhen asked.

"She knows," Zhao Bowen answered.

"Where?" Both Old Bai and Old Wang asked.

"I can't tell you guys," Old Zhao glanced at the pair.

"As a deputy team leader, I don't have the right to know?" Bai Zhen was clearly discontented.

"No," Zhao Bowen said, "Your son knows; if you can, have Yangyang tell you."

Bai Zhen snorted and remained silent.

The entrance to First Base was beneath a manhole cover; this much Bai Yang knew. He had told the girl so, but he himself did not know under which specific cover.

In reality, even the construction crew didn't know which manhole cover was the correct path. During the construction, they had made six identical deep wells, and once finished, concrete was poured into all six wells to seal them off.

However, this wasn't the truth. Only a very few knew that one well had not actually been sealed; it was the sole passage into First Base, but exactly which one it was, no one really knew.

This was because it was randomly selected by a machine.

"That would be a bit troublesome to find," Bai Zhen commented.

"When we're setting up barriers for this world, we are also erecting barriers for ourselves," Zhao Bowen said, "To resist interference from this world, such things are never easy, are they?"