Gene from the 13th Department of Bright City

The warm breath hit his face, and Gene stopped the car. In front of him was a large grassland covered with weeds that could not be seen ending. The sun shone on the grassland, and some animals could be seen from time to time.

In the distance on the grassland, you can see some low shack buildings, which seem to be inhabited by people. Jean and the others continued to drive along the road for a certain distance before the road ended.

They began to drive the car slowly into the grassland. Everything in front of them was unknown to Jean and the others. Sure enough, as soon as the car drove a certain distance, many people came over. It seemed that there were more than ten people, and they came one by one. The hand-held weapon is an older musket, which is fine for hunting, but is too crude for combat.

Rose went directly up to communicate with the old man in charge. The other man seemed to be very wary. After all, some scrapped cars could be seen here, including dead and eaten corpses, and there were also traces of crossfire.

The negotiation didn't seem to go smoothly. Jade looked at the aborigines in the distance in a daze. Many of them seemed to have a relatively primitive lifestyle, and their eyes were completely different from those in the city.

"They probably won't allow us on this land."

Jade said, and Witte shook his head with a smile.

"Not necessarily. Although they seem to be very wary, as long as we do things seriously, they will naturally eliminate their hostility towards us."

Some low bungalows can also be seen in the distance, and other people are approaching one after another. It seems that no one has come to this place for a long time. Maybe some people have been here when the apocalypse happened, but more people went down there. Two cities.

The negotiation finally ended after half an hour. Rose came over and made an OK gesture, and then everyone got out of the car.

Rose began to tell everyone that they could stay here, but they were absolutely not allowed to approach their shack, otherwise they would be shot. Everyone knew this, and there were still more than 40 people left. Even with such a small number of people, Not enough, but perfectly adequate for clearing land.

Witte and Ellie took out some simple equipment they had made and started testing some nearby land. Today they planned to start reclaiming the land as quickly as possible.

Gene and Deguna and their people planned to use some things on the truck to build some simple tents for everyone to rest at night.

"Mr. Jean, how about we give the locals something to get them involved. That way we will be more efficient."

Jean shook his head.

"If they don't see results, it's impossible for them to participate. Moreover, our supplies are only enough to last for two months at most, so we have to do everything we can to increase food production within these two months."

Jade nodded. It was indeed pointless to do so. After a while, eight tents were set up. This was designed by Jean and others using some steel when they were in that city. It is durable and convenient. Each tent There are independent personal rooms in them, which can accommodate 10 people, and there is also a small living room with a good area.

Moreover, this kind of tent has heat absorption. After receiving sunlight during the day, it will continue to slowly dissipate heat at night and has good warmth retention.

Gu Yi took Li Chu and a few others to install some small solar panels, which were an important source of energy for their daily lives. There was a huge lake in the distance, so there was no need to worry about drinking water for the time being.

Although some people proposed hunting, Jean and the others rejected such an approach. The planet was already not far from destruction. If the animals became extinct, then humans would not be far from extinction.

Moreover, animals are an important source of domestic livestock. There is plenty of water and grass in this place. It should be untouched all year round, so the natural environment is not bad. After all, it is a plain at the foot of the highest peak.

By the time they had lunch, Ellie and Werther had already selected an area as an experimental planting site. They would grow some vegetables and fruits, including some crops. These things could only be improved as they were planted.

After eating, everyone took their tools and planned to cut the grass first, throw away the soil, and then start planting directly after watering.

As long as some crops grow quickly in the land, they can temporarily stabilize and conduct more crop research here, so that their future can be guaranteed.

Except for the sky in this place, at first glance, the sky in the distance is a large area of ​​darkness. Because this place is located at the highest peak, the distance to the dark place is probably more than 2,000 kilometers.

When they see the black edge getting closer, it's a matter of life and death for them.

Within an hour, with everyone's hard cooperation, a piece of land of more than 30 square meters was cleared, and some weeds were placed to one side in an orderly manner. After the weeds dried, they would become good fire-making materials and burned. The dust left behind can also serve as nutrients for the soil.

The most critical thing is the production of ammonia, which is not difficult for Jean and the others. As long as the soil fertility is sufficient, they can continuously improve the varieties of crops and make the growth cycle of the crops faster.

Although this approach is risky and may cause uncertainties to the human body, the key now is food production.

Witte began to divide the land with some wooden boards, and then began to plant. The seeds of some crops were evenly placed in the divided land, all of which were fast-growing species.

After working hard all day, the planting area has basically been prepared. Fortunately, the temperature here at night is not too low, but to be on the safe side, Witte still bought some plastic films to keep warm.

Jean's plan is to cultivate a small piece of planting land every day and cultivate as much as possible. In this way, after a month or two, no matter how bad their harvest is, they can still produce a steady stream of food.

Ellie and Werther will continue to select some seeds, genetically improve them, and then plant them. What they need to do tomorrow is to set up a simple genetic improvement laboratory.

At night, everyone ate hot food and looked forward to a bright future. Jade also looked at everything outside the window comfortably. It was too quiet at night here.

"We still need to keep vigil tonight."

Deguna said again, many people suggested that it shouldn't be necessary, but Jade took the initiative to stand up and planned to take on the task of keeping watch. This is what everyone would do every night.

Tomorrow they still need to temporarily transform the truck into a water storage truck. After all, the truck has no use now. There are cars everywhere on the nearby roads, and everything on it can be disassembled and used.

Everyone slept soundly all night, and early the next morning, Gene and Deguna started busy taking down all the items used to make water purification equipment from the truck.

They plan to directly filter some impurities out when extracting water, and then build a small particle sedimentation device. In this way, the water transported back can go through two treatments and only needs to be heated before it can be drank directly. There is any danger.

The temperature during the day was a bit hot, and many people were sweating and weeding on the grass. Their behavior attracted the attention of some locals. Some locals ran over, but they were dozens of meters away from them, just watching. .

Rose saw the right moment and walked over.

"What are you doing?"

“Build an agricultural base here and survive on the land.”

Rose said, and the leader of the old man laughed.

"It's impossible. It's difficult to grow food on this land."

Rose just smiled. She did not refute the old man's statement, because it is true that the altitude here is too high and the sun will kill the crops very quickly, but it is different now. Because of this disaster, the sun's radiation has actually weakened too much. , so the current amount of solar radiation can only promote the growth of crops and is not a threat, because there are so many weeds here that speak for themselves.

This was also the reason why Rose and the others were willing to try higher places. The old men left with the people. They obviously didn't believe that Rose and the others could grow crops.

After a busy morning, a water pump with a filter device was completed, and the particle adsorption device at the bottom of the truck was also ready. Gene and Deguna drove the truck directly towards the lake.

“It feels like we’re on solid footing this time.”

Deguna happily took out a pack of cigarettes and handed one to Gene.

"It'll be good to plant some tobacco leaves when it's almost ready."

Jean said, and after they lit the cigarettes, they both smiled. Thinking carefully about it, their idea at that time was really correct. Instead of going to the other side of the sea, they came directly to this peak. Although there were still many obstacles along the way, They have encountered a lot of things, but what they see now is hope.

"Gene, what do you think the world's population is now?"

Deguna asked, and Gene shook his head.

"I'm not sure, but from the looks of it, it should be less than one-tenth of the original size."

"Isn't it less than 800 million? There is still a lot, but this number will further drop sharply."

Both of them knew that in those areas where the sun disappears, the only thing humans can do is to survive desperately, and if they want to survive, they must compete with others for all resources, so they will inevitably fall into a fight. I went through countless hells to get here.

Soon the two drove the truck to the lake. They took some simple devices and checked the water quality. It seemed that the condition was not bad. Then they started pumping water. Not far away, some locals were at the water's edge. While washing things, they looked at Jean and the others with strange eyes.

"When it's almost done, take off the tires on those cars and build a water storage pipe to facilitate irrigation."

Gene nodded. This would indeed save a lot of effort. After a while, a truck full of water was pumped out. The water in such a truck was enough for more than 40 people to use for a week.

Soon the two drove the truck back. They drove very slowly because the road was too bumpy, Deguna said with a smile.

"By the time we develop this place, it will almost be dead."

"maybe."

Jean glanced at Deguna. He knew that this was not an illusion. Deguna seemed to be younger again. He smiled.

"What do you think the future will be like here?"

"Maybe there will be a city."

After the two drove back, everyone became happy. They first irrigated the reclaimed planting land, and then everyone planned to take a bath. After all, no one had taken a good hot bath in so many days, but the water It must be boiled for a period of time, otherwise the microorganisms and parasites inside will enter the human body.

For several days in a row, Jean and the others worked hard to cultivate the land. After half a month, some crops grew in the first piece of land that was reclaimed. They looked good in size, and some vegetables also looked good. .

Everyone was eager to harvest and taste these vegetables, but Werther and Ellie decided to check them carefully first. After the inspection, there were no problems. Everyone cheered, and some local residents also came over. They looked in disbelief at the crops growing in the land.

"It was really planted by you guys."

The old man said with some emotion, and Rose laughed.

"Yes, they were planted by us. As I said at the beginning, we came here to reclaim the land and survive. Do you want to join us? We can work together to build this place."

The old man said that he would gather people and discuss it when he got back. Rose brought some fresh vegetables and gave them to the old man. After a group of them left, everyone took out some dried meat and made some extravagance today. hot pot.

It had been a long time since many of them had been so generous, and everyone slept soundly that night.

Early the next morning, two to three hundred people came over. Many people heard that vegetables were grown here and were very interested. Rose explained some things to them, and these locals also eliminated their hostility towards Jean and the others. , some people immediately expressed their willingness to join Jean and the others and to help.

Soon at noon that day, hundreds of people were busy working on the land. Everyone also felt an unprecedented hope. Jed led the people to teach these locals how to reclaim the land, how to put grass, etc. .

The originally silent grassland became lively. Many local people made a living by hunting and grazing. But now that they saw the food situation, they immediately joined in. Gene also warned them as much as possible not to If you hunt any more, don’t kill even your family’s livestock.

Because in such a place, transportation often relies on livestock. The locals also agree very much. Looking at everything in front of him, Jean feels that this time is an excellent start. They can take root here and then take root. .

Because this time it was a scene that Jean and the others had never seen before after traveling to many places, which made people full of hope.