Chapter 32: 32

Chapter 32: One Bag of Potato Chips

 

 

Zhao Huasheng settled in the place arranged by Meng Zhuo. The living environment here is much worse than before in the capital city; for example, there are no convenient supermarkets, no shopping malls, no cheap and delicious restaurants, and no entertainment venues, but Zhao Huasheng is still satisfied with his current life. Zhao Huasheng is not a picky person when it comes to living conditions.

Especially after knowing the living conditions of the people in Equator City through news programs, Zhao Huasheng even felt a sense of guilt for his current living environment.

The people in Equator City usually live in crowded multi-person rooms, the air is polluted and food is rationed, there is no entertainment, and during the day there is heavy work, and at night there is no way to relax with entertainment. But this is the best condition that human society can provide. Living like this is better than freezing to death.

Zhao Huasheng has been keeping close contact with the subordinate departments of the Sun Crisis Coordination Center, and any latest discoveries will be presented to Zhao Huasheng first. But Zhao Huasheng's work has not yet made a breakthrough.

A vague idea has emerged in Zhao Huasheng's mind, but this idea still lacks some key evidence, which makes Zhao Huasheng unable to effectively link them together. To solve the mystery left by Li Qi's superior, it is not just a matter of coming up with an idea by tapping one's head, coming up with an idea is great, but you must have evidence, otherwise, the idea has no meaning and no value.

For example, Zhao Huasheng can come up with the idea that "there are creatures on the sun", but what's the evidence? Without evidence, what kind of change can this idea bring to mankind?

Zhao Huasheng has been perfecting his idea, continuously trying to combine the existing evidence into a coherent whole, but some key parts are still missing, which prevents Zhao Huasheng's work from being completed.

The weather is getting colder and colder. Even though this is Zone C, one of the closest areas to the equator, Zhao Huasheng still needs to wear a coat when going out during the day.

Zhao Huasheng had a vague feeling of unease in his heart. This feeling was not from some news report about how many people had died here and there, nor was it from worrying about human fate. This unease was from his real life. Even while walking in the relatively peaceful environment here, Zhao Huasheng could detect a kind of smell in the air, like gunpowder. It was as if there were a barrel of gunpowder, filled with gunpowder, and the fuse was already burning, and the barrel was ready to explode at any moment.

Four months have passed since the sun crisis broke out, and two months have passed since the launch of the Crimson Heart Spaceship. According to the latest report from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Zhao Huasheng knew that the Crimson Heart Spaceship had passed the orbit of Venus and was approaching the orbit of Mercury. During this time, Zhao Huasheng had been paying attention to the movements of the Crimson Heart Spaceship every day. It was proven that the spaceship made by humans was quite reliable. During this period, there were only a few minor faults that could be eliminated manually, and no accidents occurred.

Today is still an ordinary day. Zhao Huasheng remembered that since he arrived in Equator City, he hadn't gone out to see the scenery of the city, so he temporarily put down the materials in his hands and went out with Meng Zhuo. Li Wei did not follow because of her slightly uncomfortable body.

Even though the weather was cold, the streets were still bustling. This was very different from the hustle and bustle of the capital city. In the capital city, the streets were filled with laughter and relaxation, with neon lights on both sides of the street, shops everywhere, and people wearing fashionable clothes with smiles on their faces. Although there were still many people on this street, it seemed to be shrouded in a depressing tone.

Zhao Huasheng felt a sense of heaviness and numbness here. The sky was gray, and the streets were gray. There were no twinkling neon lights, rows of shops, or even people wearing brightly colored clothes on this long street. People were wearing dark, heavy clothes and hurrying along, and no one had a smile on their face.

The heavy work and oppressive life had already deprived them of the ability to laugh.

Zhao Huasheng and Meng Zhuo were strolling along the long street, feeling the varied states of humans struggling to survive in these end times.

When they passed by a small square at the side of the street, Zhao Huasheng saw many people sitting in an orderly queue on the cold ground, each person holding something that looked like a doll and the other hand making weird gestures, eyes closed, and faces full of piety. In front of the queue, there were a few people in blue robes walking around, seemingly murmuring something. The whole square was filled with solemnity, seriousness, and even a slightly eerie atmosphere.

"What are they doing?" Zhao Huasheng asked.

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"A group of cultists are gathering," Meng Zhuo said indifferently. "This is the Church of the Sky God. They believe that the cold at the moment is the punishment of the Sky God for the disrespect of humans, and they think that offering wealth and devout repentance to the Church can make the Sky God forgive their sins and ascend to heaven after the end of the world."

"People actually believe this kind of teaching?" Zhao Huasheng was somewhat surprised: "Why are cultists gathering in public with no one to deal with it? Why is no one responding?"

"At the end of the world, even the most obvious lies will have people taking them as lifelines, and once they get in, it's hard to get out. As for why no one is responding...there are just too many, and it's hard to manage them all," Meng Zhuo's expression was somewhat gloomy.

Zhao Huasheng fell into silence. After walking a while, Zhao Huasheng saw a large crowd gathered on a street corner, and a man with an excited expression was standing on a high platform, hoarsely shouting something into the microphone.

"Don't you understand yet? The end of days has come, it's here! The government can no longer be relied upon; those idiots will only consider their own interests and they'll abandon us without a second thought! The only ones who can save us is ourselves; it's only us!"

This looks like a street speech, but the words of the speaker are full of emotional words and wild speculation, without any logical order. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the more absurd and shocking the words are, the easier it is to attract people's attention. In the frenzy atmosphere, people will lose their rational judgment.

At least it is so here. Every time that person shouted out a word, the crowd would respond with deafening shouts and applause. In stark contrast, there are still pedestrians who ignore this phenomenon beside the street. They seem to have become accustomed to the existence of this phenomenon; they did not stay here even for a second and were even too lazy to look back.

Zhao Huasheng felt that the world seemed to be different. In just a few months, the world on earth has undergone changes that Zhao Huasheng feels unable to adapt to. Madness, foolishness, heaviness, and oppression are intertwined here, as if the air has become so heavy that people can hardly breathe.

On this long street, among at least thousands of people, Zhao Huasheng felt that only he and Meng Zhuo were alive.

Zhao Huasheng shook his head in disbelief and then left, continuing his journey. Finally, he encountered a store still open for business, and Zhao Hua Sheng, feeling thirsty, went inside and picked up a bottle of water from the sparsely stocked shelves. Another person walked over and carefully blew the dust off a bag of chips before picking it up. This person ended up grabbing two bags. Zhao Huasheng paid little attention to the person. After paying, Zhao Hua Sheng left the store, and the other person followed. Zhao Huasheng noticed the person wanting to open one of the bags of chips, but, clumsily, the person dropped the other bag on the ground, making a crisp sound. The person bent down to pick up the bag, but before the person's fingers even touched the bag, it disappeared.

Although she was petite, her nails were not neat, obviously not having been trimmed for some time, and there were some black stains inside as well as some rough fingers that had snatched the bag of chips from the person before her. The person slightly puzzledly looked up and saw a young woman with a calm and indifferent face, yet her eyes seemed to be burning with flames. 

"That's mine," the young woman said.

The person replied, "Are you hungry? Then take it."

The young woman nodded and took the chips, then turned away.

At that moment, within a 10-meter radius of the person, at least a dozen people stopped at the same time. After confirming that the person had already given the bag of chips to the woman, a man walked up to the woman and said, "Give me some of it."

The woman held the chips in her arms and shook her head cautiously. The man suddenly stretched out his hand and pulled the bag of chips with force. Then there was a loud rip, and the bag of chips was torn apart. The contents inside dropped to the ground and scattered everywhere.

Time seemed to have stopped at this moment, and it seemed that something had been ignited within this short period of time. Zhao Huasheng saw an indescribable and absurd scene.

More than a dozen people rushed here at the same time. A young man rushed the fastest, he flew here and knelt on the ground, grabbed the chips on the ground and stuffed them into his mouth desperately.

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