Letting go, new life, starting from scratch.

Gu Xinzhi felt a trace of warmth on his arm, and his eyes glittered.

Try as he might, his hand could only move an inch or two.

He whispered, "I can't see you. Qiuyun, are you there?"

Ding Qiuyun leaned over to look at him, only to see the youth he had taken as a comrade in arms so long ago.

When they first met, it was in the recruit's dormitory.

In the dormitory, Ding Qiuyun arrived the latest. When he entered the dormitory, Gu Xinzhi was sitting on the only empty bunk and smoking a cigarette. When he saw him coming in, he stood up with a bite of his cigarette and moved to the neighboring bunk.

Ding Qiuyun noticed that he had left his cigarette case on the bed and bent down to pick it up.

Gu Xinzhi also noticed, but moved a little slower than Ding Qiuyun, and his fingers accidentally touched the back of Ding Qiuyun's hand.

He frowned and immediately drew his hand back.

Ding Qiuyun picked up the cigarette case and looked at it, "Bad cigarettes hurt your lungs."

Gu Xinzhi tilted his head slightly, not saying a word.

Ding Qiuyun would have understood that Gu Xinzhi's body language meant "none of your business".

But Ding Qiuyun at that time didn't know anything, he threw the half-empty cigarette case back to Gu Xinzhi , and said, "Smoke mine from now on."

The two new recruits secretly bought cigarettes from the captain of the battalion, but the battalion instructor found out about them and they were both punished by standing upside down on the side of the road where they were marching in formation.

The queue coming and going murmured at the two of them head down and feet up.

Ding Qiuyun, not at all embarrassed, whispered to Gu Xinzhi, "This time we did it too inconspicuously."

Gu Xinzhi: "Uh-huh."

Ding Qiuyun took his foot and touched Gu Xinzhi's: "Hey."

Gu Xinzhi: "Huh?"

Ding Qiuyun said, "Don't be sad. When I become captain, we can smoke as much as we want."

Gu Xinzhi looked at him sideways, for a long time, before nodding slightly, "Uh-huh."

It was only much later that Gu Xinzhi realized that Ding Qiuyun did not smoke.

It was also a long time later that Ding Qiuyun realized that Gu Xinzhi had never touched the half-pack of bad cigarettes that he had thrown back to him, and had kept them in his private warehouse, where they were treasured.

--It took them both so long to realize that they had fallen in love with each other at first sight.

Ding Qiuyun's hand rests on Gu Xinzhi's left wrist, shaking slightly.

Gu Xinzhi's bloodless right hand was moving closer to the only source of heat on his body by the minute, his fingertips trembling terribly.

He'd had realistic and gruesome dreams for so many years that Gu Xinzhi was afraid, and he didn't want this one to be his as well.

Gu Xinzhi's chest let out a hopeful gasp, his chest with three broken ribs rising and falling violently, "Qiuyun ......"

Three inches from his hand, Ding Qiuyun moved, in a way that even Chi Xiaochi could not have predicted--

Ding Qiuyun, who had almost zero control over his body, exploded out of nowhere, staggered away from Gu Xinzhi's hand, leaned down fiercely, wrapped his head around it, and covered Gu Xinzhi's eyes with one hand!

He too closed his eyes tightly and threw back his head and let out a hoarse cry of grief as his tears fell, dropping two drops of watery halos on Gu Xinzhi's shoulders.

Chi Xiaochi closed his eyes and three seconds later he reopened them.

The remorse value on the display, which had been kept at 99, jumped to 100.

...... End of mission.

Gu Xinzhi doesn't know what this hug means, exactly.

But he was suddenly at ease.

It had been 12 hours of agonizing pain for that hug, and he felt it was worth it.

He lay on his back in Ding Qiuyun's arms, feeling the sensation of his warm palm pressing lightly against his eyes, feeling caught in the middle of a sleeping dungeon, surrounded by warm soil that wrapped around him, gradually calming his restless, disturbed heart that had been restless and disturbed for several years.

But he still refused to die, and after a brief moment of peace of mind, there was an even stronger desire to live.

He coughed lowly and called out in a mute voice, "Qiuyun. ...... Qiuyun, I don't want to die, help me-"

However, Gu Xinzhi did not have time to finish his wish.

His hand fell helplessly from his left arm and fell to his side, his forehead resting against Ding Qiuyun's bosom without another sound.

Chi Xiaochi put the man down, raised his hand, carefully wiped away Ding Qiuyun's tears, restrained the great mourning that came from the depths of his body, and stood up, just in time to meet Yan Lanlan, who had come at the sound of his voice.

He inclined his head, "Find a place and bury him."

Yan Lanlan's tears that were swirling in his eyes came out like a dike, and after opening his mouth and saying only the word "Gu", he crouched down and sobbed uncontrollably.

Chi Xiaochi walks out of the resting place and leans against the doorway, looking up into the gray, endless sky.

Outside ......, people who had died because of Gu Xinzhi were weeping for him.

As far as they are concerned, Gu Xinzhi, though inexplicably intruding into their lives and being cold, aloof and unsympathetic, is also their second-in-command.

...... The lieutenant who has been with them for over a year and has never known what it means to flinch or be afraid.

Everyone thought of him as an invincible god, so no one expected that Gu Xinzhi would become the first and only person to die in Ding Qiuyun's squad.

Chi Xiaochi gave himself two minutes to disengage from the effects of his original master's churning emotions, and then pulled Sun Bin to the main base station.

There wasn't much time left for him to stay here, so he had to grab every second: "Position, fire."

Sun Bin sobbed and huffed, taking off his glasses to wipe his eyes as he asked, "Locate ...... launch, what?"

Chi Xiaochi leaned over and wrote a coordinate value on a sticky note and slapped it in front of Sun Bin's eyes, "AI's total base station."

Sun Bin's brain is still spinning: "This is ......"

Chi Xiaochi said, "Blow me up."

Sun Bin: "......"

This news impact is too strong, Sun Bin this kind of mental capacity is poor, directly dumbfounded: "Ding team, how do you get this ......"

Chi Xiaochi lied, "This is the information that Lieutenant Gu got, cherish it."

Upon hearing about the Valley Vice Squad, Sun Bin finally mustered up some spirit, but as soon as he put his hand on the console, he snapped back to his senses, "No, no, no, Team Ding, we can only activate the internal external defense system here. Any change in data will be observed by those AIs, and if the network is connected, and they catch a gap and invade from the signal source in one fell swoop, it'll be the end of the line-"

Chi Xiaochi leans over and feeds a high-precision hard disk redeemed from the warehouse into the mainframe.

Only after the dense streams of data light roped together a dense protective net did he say with certainty, "Don't worry, I have arrangements."

Carried within the hard disk are the results of more than three years of 061.

If it hadn't made the crowd of AIs feel extreme oppression, 061 wouldn't have been positioned as an S-class threat by the still-active AIs.

But apparently the AIs are still underestimating the threat of 061.

In the past few years, he had gone through many attacks and pursuits, and still didn't stop for a moment, repeatedly deducing and tinkering, finally completing a perfect set of defense procedures, and sifting through the many tracking feedbacks to find valid information, and reverse launching the base station where the main system was dormant.

Everything for this moment.

Only by destroying the AI's main system will Chi Xiaochi be able to leave in peace.

Human strife may continue, but humans don't need any extra referees.

......

Upon realizing that the arsenal had been breached, the AIs also began a 24-hour watch on the arsenal.

But in reality, they're not very worried.

In the past, those who guarded the warehouse didn't dare to use their weapons easily because they knew too well the horror of the AI, and they would rather have their weapons sealed and frozen than risk the slightest bit of danger again.

This group of old humans, I'm afraid, will be no exception.

Sure enough, after three days passed, the direction of the weapons depot was extremely quiet, and the Neo-humans who had originally been killed and discarded their armor stirred up, once again surrounded them locust-like, licking their wounds while intending to wait for an opportunity to launch their next attack.

In their eyes, it was pathetic and ridiculous that this group of old humans who took the opportunity to pick up the pieces got the treasure trove but didn't have enough strength to squander it.

The weapons stockpiles of these old humans may not even be as plentiful as their predecessors.

So what if you get a highly sophisticated weapon, it's just another trapped animal.

However, as the crowds and AIs on the periphery settled down, the old humans, moved.

At dawn on the third day, as the allied forces of the New Humanity gathered once again in their tents for a meeting, a strange, strange sound was suddenly heard resonating through the valley.

Clunk.

This was followed by several consecutive strange sounds.

Clunk, clunk, clunk.

The launch pads of the ...... arsenal were surprisingly activated.

And there are four of them, facing in four directions.

The new human leaders were horrified and turned pale, thinking that these old humans had gone mad, realized that they could not escape, and were planning to die together.

I don't know who shouted "Run!", and there was complete chaos in all directions.

Everyone in the disorganized camp was asking what had happened, and everyone was talking about what they had heard.

Between word of mouth, the more the news spread, the more evil it became, and most people chose to flee outward, after all, once all the things in this arsenal were detonated, they would all be burned into flying ashes, without exception.

As a result, no one listens anymore to the vocal instructions that the AIs are giving them.

The AIs lost control of their slaves, and in their shocked rage, some of them began to frantically attack the re-networked weapons systems, while others sent frantic signals to the missiles' targets, pleading with the main system to move on quickly.

However, the attacking AIs despaired as a dragnet completely blocked them out.

And the AI that sent the signal realized, with equal desperation, that it was too late.

Those old humans in the base had simply planned this for a long time, and just in the instant of connecting with the network, the missile had already completed a series of operations such as aiming, positioning, and confirming the launch.

Within seconds, the four base stations fired their missiles simultaneously, three in a row, to ensure that even the underground base stations were blasted to pieces.

The roar shook the sky and the fire meandered.

The missile, like a meteor, disappeared into the sky, hissing and popping and scattering light where the crowd could not see it.

The AIs watched as the place they were supposed to be arching over went to pieces, jealously.

The plan they had constructed was destroyed at the hands of a group of old humans they despised the most and who should have died long ago when the plague struck?

Chi Xiaochi These twelve missiles sent three signals to all the displaced people:

Please see us.

Please fear us.

Please lean on us.

That afternoon, three teams of Neo-humans arrived outside the base with a hundred pounds of meat, all their guns, and raised white flags to signal their surrender.

Chi Xiaochi did not turn them away, and while arranging for them to stay in the perimeter, he instructed Sun Yan to check the food and firearms they had brought in for any problems, and himself to return to his room to rest, saying he was tired.

In these three days, Chi Xiaochi accompanied the people to light lamps and boil oil, climbed up and down to maintain the weapon racks, to make sure that all kinds of data are correct, and stayed up for three nights, and his face has long been pale.

Sun Yan was distressed by Ding Qiuyun's health, but Ding Qiuyun himself was unwilling to rest, so he could only scratch his ears anxiously at the side, and now that he heard him take the initiative to take a rest, he was simply relieved, and opened his mouth and shouted, "Lanlan, take Team Ding back to his room!"

Chi Xiaochi practically threw himself on the bed, and Coalman jumped on the bed right after him, getting down noiselessly on his side.

All things being equal, it was time to leave.

Chi Xiaochi had been feverish for a day and a half during three full days of labor, and even if he had fainted now, he would not have aroused suspicion.

The coal boss licked his burning, floppy ears, obviously anxious.

061 is also urging, "Xiaochi, come on, you're burning up."

Chi Xiaochi rolled over and wrapped her arms around Coalman's neck.

It was the last thing he had left and held on to in this world.

He whispered to 061, "Give me a minute."

After saying that, Chi Xiaochi put his mouth to Panther s ear and whispered, "Boss, I will sleep for a while, don t be afraid, when I open my eyes again, I may ...... not be me, but he will be good to you, you can stay here if you want to, and leave if you want to. It is cold here, live well."

He nuzzled Coalman's paw and pressed it gently against his face, giving him another kiss.

But instead of the usual, fluffy fluff and soft paw pads, the paws looked like a man's hands, with long knuckles that felt cool and cozy against his face.

The hand also gently pinched his face, like some kind of gentle chastisement and prodding.

...... Chi Xiaochi thought he must be burning out of his mind.

He closed his eyes hard, "Mr. Six, teleport."

Mission accomplished, data reviewed for accuracy, transmission initiated.

The young man whose beastly ears had not yet faded lay under Chi Xiaochi, took him by the waist, held the man about to fall into slumber face to face in his arms, and whispered in his ear, "Wait, I'll be right there."

A few moments later, he spoke to no one in particular, "Listen, I'm giving you something, it's still up to you to choose."

Not long after, only one person was left in the bed.

The man struggled to open his eyes and coughed low twice, his hyperthermia grating his voice, but he managed to put up a good fight and raise his voice, "Lanlan ......"

Yan Lanlan jingled in, silver handbells tinkling crisply on her wrists, "Oi oi oi oi, here it is."

...... is there.

There she is, everybody.

Ding Qiuyun pulled up the corners of his mouth and smiled silently, then closed his eyes and peacefully fell into a dark and sweet dream.

When he regained consciousness, Chi Xiaochi was lying in the furnished cabin with an ice pack on his forehead.

He felt quite comfortable and curled up under the covers without moving or talking.

While he was resting, 061 took care of him quietly, and when he woke up, he didn't rush to ask how he was feeling, but only patiently broke down and vaporized the droplets of water seeping out of the ice packs, so that they wouldn't run onto the pillow and make him sleep uncomfortably.

Chi Xiaochi reviewed his performance this time for a long time and sighed slightly.

061 spoke up then, "You did well. Don't blame yourself."

Chi Xiaochi put his hand on his forehead, "Not this quarter's performance." He should have given Ding Qiuyun more choices than death or life.

061 let out a soft chuckle, "It's okay, your performance isn't working, there's still me."

Chi Xiaochi picked up on the implication contained in his words, "...... Mr. Six?"

061 explained gently, "It's like this, I gave Ding Qiuyun a thing ......"

......

Three years later.

With the arsenal at its center, Ding Qiuyun has built a city.

Radiating away from the arsenal, the city covers an area that stretches over a thousand kilometers, and the outermost cities have even bordered the original town.

Some of the residents chose to stay in their town, while a group of people, including Ding's father and mother, He Wanwan, and the Jing family's mother and son, moved with Ding Qiuyun to the center of the arsenal's range.

The construction was so rapid because of the influx of old and new humans who heard the news and were eager for shelter, and because of the assistance of the AI.

Some of the AIs that had no hope were still fighting back against the massive human attack, while others had lost all will to fight, and simply chose to submit to the humans again to ensure that the base station they were living in would not be destroyed.

Of course, Ding Qiuyun won't let them get their hands on important systems again, especially weapons depots.

That 061-written system runs day and night, maintaining the long-term stability of the entire arsenal.

Previously, the arsenal in this post-apocalyptic world was a fancy but useless decoration, those without ambition would not easily touch it, while those with ambition regarded it as a delicious cake, only wanting to snatch it into their hands and use it as a bargaining chip, but they would not really want to utilize it.

But when it did become operational, it became the most reassuring thing to lean on throughout the post-apocalyptic world.

More and more people are coming into their cities, the destroyed sense of morality revives somewhat as the crowds gather again, and simple legal norms begin to be rebuilt.

Ding Qiuyun did not seize power, only taking the management of the center city, while the other towns built and earned their own livelihoods, but because he held the master key to the arsenal in his hand, his words still carried a lot of weight.

The only goal he set for the congregation was development.

Because they were busy with development, they had no time for infighting, planting for planting, hunting for hunting, selling for selling, and all kinds of goods circulated in each city, with occasional friction and overall prosperity.

Ding Qiuyun watched it all and felt at ease.

And for Yan Lanlan, there's been a bit of joy in town lately.

Shu Wenqing has come to the center of town, this time to deliver medicine, as well as to look for Yan Lanlan.

Yan Lanlan holds Shu Wenqing's hand as she tours the town, rambling on about a new sewing store here and a new butcher's store there.

Shu Wenqing said very little, but looked into Yan Lanlan's eyes and nodded gently every time she spoke.

As they walked, the two came to a street.

Yan Lanlan's eyes occasionally turned to see a familiar figure in front of a mechanic's store.

The little guide dog turned his head as her eyes lit up.

Yan Lanlan surprised, "It's you?!"

The little guide dog looked at her for a long time, not moving until he heard her voice, then he took a step forward of his own accord and said gently, "It's you, Miss Gas Station."

Compared to the last time she'd seen the little guide dog, he was cleaned up nicely, and his injured paw was surprisingly properly bandaged, so it looked like he'd been well taken care of.

Yan Lanlan crouched down, "You found your master?"

The little guide dog shook his head gentlemanly, "I was brought in by another young lady. She seems to need me badly. I need to get this young lady home safely before I go to my lady."

Yan Lanlan wanted to say something else, but was momentarily mute.

Because she noticed that the little guide dog's left eye was broken, and the light in his right eye was much dimmer, probably with only a glimmer of vision.

Slightly reluctant, she offered, "Do you need me ......"

But she soon heard a slightly anxious girlish voice, "Orr! Where are you?"

A young girl in a positively red trench coat emerges from the mechanic's store, clearly a Neo-human by the way she's dressed and the signs of necrotic stains extending from her wrists.

The little guide dog looked back, "Sorry, I ......"

The young girl picked up the little guide dog without a second thought and went into the mechanic's store.

Yan Lanlan thought about it, but followed, followed by Shu Wenqing.

The little guide dog was picked up by the owner of the machine store, still struggling politely, "Excuse me, miss, this is too much trouble ......"

The young girl interrupted it, "No talking, if you're told to go, you go."

The little guide dog sighed and politely said "thank you".

Only after sending the mechanical dog inside did the young girl, as if relieved, greet Yan Lanlan and the girls, "Hello there. You know Orr?"

Yan Lanlan responded, "Well, twice."

The young girl smiled, "It mentioned to me that it had met many people along the way of his wanderings, both good and bad people. You guys should have been good to it, otherwise it wouldn't have been so close to you."

Yan Lanlan rubbed the back of his head a little embarrassed, "No, it and I just met in passing ......"

Shu Wenqing, however, sensed something in her attitude, "Excuse me, who are you?"

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." The young girl says, "My name is Xu Jingyuan, I'm a friend of Orr's."

For the next hour, Xu Jingyuan told them about his life after leaving his little guide dog, Orr.

She had a tumor in her brain since birth, and was blind in both eyes under the pressure of the tumor. Her parents bought Orr to keep her company.

After the disaster, her parents only had time to take her, but forgot about Orr.

Later, her father and mother died while fleeing the country, and she lost control of her medication and her tumor deteriorated into brain cancer, dying of the disease and coming back to life again, and has been hunting with a team of Neo-humans ever since.

Then later, on a hunt, she found the Orr, which was on the verge of being damaged, in a hyena den.

The Orr is broken pretty bad, with the vision system near kaput and some malfunction in the cognitive system.

It has forgotten its own name, and its memory is somewhat inverted. In its impression, the young lady is always eight years old, and it can recognize Yan Lanlan, who it met in passing during its wanderings, by her voice, but not Xu Jingyuan, who is about to turn fifteen years old.

Xu Jingyuan couldn't prove to it that he was Xu Jingyuan, so he simply didn't explain more to it, picked it up, and went with the group to Ding Qiuyun's city.

She had heard that the technology in Center City was the most advanced, so she brought Orr here to seek "healing", but when she didn't notice, Orr escaped while she was talking to the owner of the mechanic store, and ran into Yan Lanlan.

Xu Jingyuan said, "The boss inspected it and said it wasn't too badly damaged and could still be repaired."

Hearing this story warmed Yan Lanlan's heart, so he accompanied Xu Jingyuan and waited with him.

An hour later, the owner held out Orr, the little guide dog.

Orr's eyes have been replaced with new parts, only that Orr needs to reorganize and debug its own data, as long as it is brought back to rest for two days, its original function will be fully restored.

Xu Jingyuan said several thank yous to the owner and reached out to pick up the little guide dog.

Orr is a fairly autonomous AI, and it's a bit confusing to be carried around like this.

It stomped its legs gently and courteously pleaded, "I can walk by myself, miss."

Xu Jingyuan flatly refused, "No."

...... It has been going solo for too long.

This time, she's going to hold it with her.

Yan Lanlan watched Xu Jingyuan walk out of the store.

Her long red trench coat was lifted by the wind, and inside it was wrapped around a small guide dog that didn't yet know it had found its owner.

When he returned, Yan Lanlan told Ding Qiuyun, who was watering the flowers, all about this happy event.

Ding Qiuyun put down the kettle, fished the small silver pot out of his pocket, and took a sip of his drink, "Orr is that why you must have a dog."

Yan Lanlan hemmed and hawed and laughed twice.

Indeed, after meeting Orr twice, Yan Lanlan always wanted a dog.

A few days ago, on her birthday, Ding Qiuyun brought a small, unaltered, coffee-colored puppy from somewhere and tied a bow around its neck.

The puppy is very well behaved and is extremely clingy, and won't let go of his paws when he cuddles with Yan Lanlan.

You know, getting a live dog in the end times is more complicated than getting a tiger.

After the boss ran away and lost it, no one dared to mention the raising of animals in front of Ding Qiuyun, until they watched him give Yan Lanlan puppies, and then everyone relaxed a lot individually.

After a few jokes, Yan Lanlan coughed twice, regained his proper color, and said, "Team Ding, Orr was able to find its owner, and Vice Team Gu will definitely return as well. Everyone is working hard and will definitely bring him back."

Ding Qiuyun smiled slightly, not commenting.

Three years ago, when his benefactor left him, the System 061 that had transformed into a black panther and stood by his benefactor's side told him that he had left two extra options for him.

He said that the creature's data was too difficult for the AI to manipulate, and only after Gu Xinzhi's death was 061 able to hack into his weakening brainwaves and retain all of Gu Xinzhi's memories, storing them in a memory crystal.

If Ding Qiuyun wants Gu Xinzhi to be resurrected, then let him be resurrected.

If he doesn't want to, then so be it.

Ding Qiuyun held the crystals and hesitated for a long time, eventually turning the choice back to the team and asking them if they wanted to do this themselves.

He didn't expect the team to act more excited than he did after learning that Gu Xinzhi was saved.

Without waiting for him to mobilize, everyone moved in.

The photo of Gu Xinzhi with them in the supermarket became a key prop in recovering Gu Xinzhi.

During the three years, they introduced the human simulation technology, Sun Bin operated the system, Sun Yan searched for the right materials, Yan Lanlan did the 3D restoration of the face and body, and Uncle Luo ran transportation to collect the rarest nano-materials.

Everyone was busy individually, working in unison toward a single goal.

Ding Qiuyun was stunned for a long time when he saw this, but in the end, when he figured it out, he still found it funny and ironic.

...... After all, he is the only one who is resurrected, and he is the only one who remembers those things.

Now, everyone wants Gu Xinzhi to come back to life, and they want to have the somewhat annoying, cool and tough Valley Vice Squad.

It's just a thing. It's just a thing.

Now that everyone had died once and started from zero, he had nothing to say.

Yan Lanlan stayed with Gu Xinzhi for a while, but suddenly received a short message, and did not even say hello to Ding Qiuyun. He ran away happily.

Ding Qiuyun took a sip of wine and thought helplessly, probably going to accompany Shu Wenqing again.

Having a daughter-in-law and forgetting the captain is a balding experience.

He put the little silver pot back in his arms, picked up the small kettle, and slowly watered the plum blossoms.

In the eternal winter, white plums bloom brilliantly, with a subtle, intoxicating aroma.

Not long after, Ding Qiuyun heard footsteps behind him.

He heard the footsteps sound familiar, and for a moment he couldn't think of who they belonged to, but this plum forest was only accessible to people in the base, so he didn't turn around and continued watering, "What is it?"

Instead of answering, the visitor put a slightly trembling hand on his shoulder.

Ding Qiuyun's movement was a beat, the water bottle in his hand was at a tilted angle, and a little droplet of water fell down, spilling onto the backs of the duo's feet.

The visitor opened his arms, trying to take the person in front of him into his arms, but then cautiously retracted as he was about to touch him.

Eventually, he slipped something into Ding Qiuyun's pocket.

Ding Qiuyun stared blankly for a moment and reached out to touch it, "This is ......"

"...... my controller."

There was infinite joy and suppressed longing in his voice, "After Team ...... Ding, please control your vice captain. Is that okay?"