Once We Lived in Nanjing

Bai Zhen unfolded a large-sized map of Nanjing City's traffic and tourism, using transparent tape to stick it to the wall, making the living room look a bit like a command center.

In various film and television works, there is always a battle map on the wall of the command center before war, a group of high-ranking generals with stars on their shoulders holding riding crops, pointing on the map and moving thousands of troops with a few words. This was the kind of command center Bai Zhen, an old chuunibyou, had dreamt of. Since he was young, he fantasized about becoming an important person. That's why Bai Zhen joined the military after graduating from high school, but reality is often cruel. After honestly spending two years in the army, Bai Zhen realized that he would never become a general in his life; at most, he could be a driver.

"This is Meihua Villa, our current location," Bai Zhen took out a black marker and drew a small circle on the map, "and also the location of BG4MSR."

Zhao Bowen, Wang Ning, and the others sat on the sofa, their eyes all focused on the map on the wall.

"The First Base is here." Bai Zhen located Drum Tower Park on the map, drew a circle at the intersection, "beneath the Zifeng Building."

Everyone nodded.

"The Second Base is here." Bai Zhen continued, finding Mochou Lake on the map, and encircled the blue Mochou Lake, "It's right here at Mochou Lake."

"At the Mochou Lake subway station," the reconnaissance soldier said.

The three black circles that Bai Zhen drew on the map formed a huge triangle, seven kilometers long and four kilometers high, spanning across three major districts of Nanjing: Drum Tower District, Qinhuai District, and Xuanwu District. The three circles were the three vertices of the triangle, Meihua Villa, Chinese Academy of Sciences Zijin Mountain Observatory, and the Mochou Lake subway station. According to the original plan, BG4MSR should head to either the First Base or the Second Base to retrieve the stored data, but this plan was interrupted before it could be carried out.

"Where is the location of that big eyeball?" Wang Ning asked.

"Not clear." Bai Yang came out of the room, looking a bit weary, yawning, "It's something that moves."

"It... is it really an eye with legs?" The reconnaissance soldier still couldn't believe it.

"Yes, it has legs, and it crawls all over the place too." Zhao Bowen looked towards Bai Yang, "Yangyang, how's the girl's mood? Still stable?"

"Stable." Bai Yang rubbed his eyes and yawned again, "But she's exhausted, fell asleep as soon as her mind relaxed."

Old Zhao looked up at the clock; it was already one in the morning. They had returned the radio today, but didn't expect that a series of troubles would ensue, keeping them busy until now.

"If you're tired, go to sleep," Zhao Bowen said, seeing Bai Yang yawn continuously, "Yangyang, are you going to school tomorrow?"

"Going!"

Bai Yang turned around and closed the door to his room; he too was exhausted.

The men continued their meeting.

"That big eyeball first appeared at the Zifeng Building."

Bai Zhen drew another circle on the map next to Drum Tower Square.

Zifeng Building, a famous landmark of Nanjing City and one of Nanjing's tallest buildings, with eighty-nine floors above ground and four below, reaching a total height of four hundred fifty meters. It's a super-tall building that stands out even from across Xuanwu Lake, surely offering a great view of Nanjing City from its top, no wonder the big eyeball wanted to climb up there.

"Zifeng Building is too close to the Zifeng Building," the reconnaissance soldier frowned, "How long does it take to walk from the office building at Zifeng Building to the base of Zifeng Building? Maybe five minutes?

"It might not still be at the Zifeng Building, after all, it's a moving entity," the reconnaissance soldier said.

"That's where the trouble lies. If it were a stationary object, it would be easier to handle," the reconnaissance soldier said, "Then we could just abandon the First Base and head directly to the Second Base. But once it starts roaming, neither base is safe, and the girl's life would be seriously threatened."

This is a ticking time bomb.

Everyone realized the problem—the BG4MSR was in a state of extreme danger, and a powerful monster was roaming around Nanjing City, searching for her.

"Hide?" Wang Ning spoke.

This was an option.

The big eyeball was an overwhelmingly powerful monster that could not be confronted, and it was even more unrealistic to expect BG4MSR to face it alone, which would put her in great danger.

If we can't confront it, can't we at least avoid it?

"We should plan a route for her that avoids areas where the big eyeball might appear. It's better to take a detour and ensure her personal safety isn't threatened," Fan Jiangshu nodded in agreement. "What Director Wang said makes sense. We can't match force with force; that would be like throwing an egg against a rock."

"But how can we predict where that eyeball might show up? We know almost nothing about it," Che Di Mouse raised a question. "If it's a creature capable of thinking, then its movements are unpredictable. This isn't a game with fixed NPC patterns that you can memorize. We don't have the opportunity to learn through trial and error. One small mistake could mean total defeat."

"You can hide on the first day of the lunar month, but what about the fifteenth? You can run away from the monk, but not from the temple. We might be able to hide for a moment, but can we hide for a lifetime?" Chuanshan Mouse also believed that hiding was ineffective. "If you don't deal with it, it's like having a bomb always sitting there, ready to explode at any moment. It's a huge security risk. If we can't resolve this completely, it's bound to lead to disaster sooner or later."

"Resolve it? How? There's no way to resolve this. Are you suggesting a girl under twenty go and duel with a ten-meter-long monster? That's just sending her to her death."

"We can provide support, provide weapons."

"If that were Schwarzenegger, I would agree. But sending a young girl with a rocket launcher to fight aliens, are you joking?"

"Taking the initiative is better than sitting duck. If we don't solve it, we'll be on tenterhooks every day."

"Taking the initiative is a dead end."

The discussion heated up among the crowd, dividing into two camps. Wang Ning, Bai Zhen, and Fan Jiangshu believed that a direct confrontation with the big eyeball was too dangerous and unacceptable for BG4MSR; it was both foolish and risky. Meanwhile, others thought that hiding was not a long-term solution; the big eyeball was a creature that couldn't be hidden from by BG4MSR for long. Without addressing the issue, this significant threat would persist and eventually lead to severe consequences.

"Stop arguing, everyone stop!" Zhao Bowen lowered the voices in the living room, "Hear me out!"

Everyone fell silent, their gazes converging on Old Zhao.

"What's your opinion, Old Zhao?" Bai Zhen asked.

"My opinion is to think long-term. This issue certainly isn't easy to resolve. Even if we discuss it all night, we won't come up with a practical plan and conclusion," Zhao Bowen said. "Everyone's right. We don't have the chance for trial and error, our margin for error is extremely small, and one wrong step could result in complete loss. So we need to act cautiously and take our time. Don't rush things. Let's leave it here for tonight, it's nearly two in the morning. Everyone should get off work."

Zhao Bowen was right; it was already 1:40 in the morning, and they could go on arguing until dawn.

Everyone started getting up, ready to go home.

Bai Zhen sat on the sofa, watching as people left one after another, waving goodbye to them. He was too exhausted to bother getting up to see them out.

Zhao Bowen was also ready to leave when Bai Zhen suddenly called out to him.

"Old Zhao."

"What is it?"

Zhao Bowen was at the entrance putting on his shoes.

"Do you have any ideas?" Bai Zhen asked.

"Ideas?" Zhao Bowen put on his shoes. "What ideas could I possibly have?"

"My intuition tells me you have an idea," Bai Zhen said. "You've been scratching your head, grinning and grimacing at the same time. From what I know about you, the most expressive you get is when you're thinking."

Zhao Bowen stood straight and looked at him.

"I do have an idea, but if it doesn't go well, it could potentially start a world war... However, it's too early to talk about that now. We have too little intelligence, practically groping in the dark. Under the current circumstances, we can't do anything. Every successful military operation in the world is based on sufficient and accurate intelligence. So the first step should be to send a reconnaissance soldier over."

Bai Zhen was startled.

"A reconnaissance soldier?"

Zhao Bowen nodded:

"That's right, a reconnaissance soldier with good eyesight, equipped with binoculars."