The sky started to darken. Lin Qing didn't continue fighting and decided to rest for the night and continue tomorrow.
Ye Daying led the two of them to the base.
"How many ordinary people and Motorbots are there in your base?" Lin Qing asked casually on the way.
Ye Daying didn't reply immediately. He thought for a few seconds and only spoke after organizing his words. "There are about one hundred thousand ordinary people. There are also quite a number of Motorbots, more than two hundred of them."
"Where are the soldiers? Where is the main base? Why haven't you gone there?"
"The imperial forces have long since withdrawn. The newly established base is in Yang City, a few hundred miles from Jinpu. It's not that everyone doesn't want to go there, but they don't want the old and the weak, as well as women and children. They only accept Motorbots or special workers.
"Right now, our base is in a university. Most of the people here are the elderly, children, and students. Some of the Motorbots who stayed behind are teachers, while others are kind-hearted people like Captain Jiang."
"Are the imperial forces still human?" Huang Quan couldn't believe it and said coldly, "Why are they still dividing people into different levels during a time like this?"
Ye Daying smiled bitterly. "Second Boss, you don't know this, but it's good that people are being divided into different levels. At the very least, the treatment they receive is different. We are just afraid that we won't even be considered as part of the lowest level.
"When I turned into a motorcycle, I thought that the situation was slightly imbalanced at first. Later, I saw too many tragic cases involving ordinary people and felt that I was quite lucky. At least I didn't have to starve or freeze."
Lin Qing smiled at Huang Quan. "Look, he is truly aware. You should stop being such a good person as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will drag you down sooner or later."
Over the ten years of the Cataclysm, Lin Qing had seen more cruelty than Ye Daying. He had witnessed all kinds of tragedies.
Under such circumstances, a normal heart would gradually become numb and lose its senses.
The only thing that could allow him to support his beliefs was getting stronger. After all, only by becoming stronger would he have power and influence.
"No. Although my body has mutated, my soul is still human." Huang Quan shook his head slowly, his gaze firm. "If I don't care about anything, then what's the point of living?"
"Do you think that you're very strong? There are many steel beasts and Motorbots stronger than you. Live first before… Achoo!!"
It was rare for Lin Qing to sneeze. He touched his nose. "Who's talking about me?"
…
Three figures stood at the entrance of the research institute in Shenbei City.
They were a 15-meter-tall black mecha wrapped in a bedsheet, a human male wearing Hello Kitty clothes, and an untidy-looking Wang Xiaoming with bird's nest hair that reached his shoulders.
"Didn't you say that they didn't touch the equipment? Where did it go?" The man wearing Hello Kitty clothes glared fiercely at Wang Xiaoming.
"Big Brother, I don't know! They really didn't move the equipment when I left! They left them all behind!" Wang Xiaoming's face was bitter as he said speechlessly, "Also, Yang Feng, who the f*ck are you trying to fool by wearing a mask? You haven't even changed your clothes! If you want to act, you should at least act more properly!"
"See, I told you that your disguise skills aren't good enough." The black mecha pulled off the bedsheet on his body, revealing the retractable propeller on his back.
Yang Feng was exasperated. "F*ck, are you an idiot? He must be bluffing us. Hurry up and put on the bedsheet."
"Do you have a screw loose in your brain?" Yang Ao couldn't help roasting his brother.
"Alright, I admit it. It's my fault." Yang Feng took off his mask and said solemnly, "We must take the equipment with us. We must have them in our hands. Old Wang, could you please remember where exactly you hid then?"
"We really didn't hide them! I was forcefully seized by you right after we left. It's only been a short while, so how would we have had the time to hide the equipment? Besides, no one wants the equipment, even as scrap metal. It's useless to normal people even if they take them away, so we chose to leave them here and come back later to retrieve them."
Wang Xiaoming was on the brink of tears. Speaking of which, he was really unlucky to be attacked not long after leaving in the empire's helicopter.
Yang Feng had brought his brother Yang Ao to do it. They had destroyed the helicopter that Wang Xiaoming had been sitting in.
After the two kidnapped him, they went all the way back to the research institute to look for the equipment.
Yang Feng walked into the ruins of the research institute with his hands behind his back. He squatted down and looked at the traces of high-temperature burns on the cut steel. He said indifferently, "It's useless for ordinary people to take the equipment away. Those who would take them away aren't ordinary people.
"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Lin Qing, your hands are fast. I underestimated you."
Since the equipment had been sealed here, only Lin Qing and Huang Quan could have taken away the equipment in such a short time.
Yang Fang turned around to look at Wang Xiaoming and grinned. "But it's useless even if you have the equipment. Since Wang Xiaoming is with me, we'll have to work together sooner or later."
Yang Feng clapped his hands and stood up. "Let's go back to Qingzhou."
"Are you not looking for the equipment anymore?" Yang Ao asked.
He had taken the risk to attack the team sent by the imperial capital because Yang Feng had told him about the importance of the equipment. He didn't expect that they would leave after just walking around.
"No. Let's go to Qingzhou and wait."
…
Ye Daying brought Lin Qing and Huang Quan to a university in the suburbs. This was their safe base.
The originally two-meter tall wall had been reinforced into eight meters tall, transforming the entire university into a fortress.
"Whoa, you guys sure are extravagant!" Upon entering the campus, Lin Qing heard the sounds of many generators. He saw that the classrooms were brightly lit, while 18 or 19-year-old students were playing soccer on the soccer field.
A couple in love held hands as they walked down the road, and the elderly and children were laughing happily.
There was no sign of the desolation he had expected after the Cataclysm at all. Those who didn't know would have thought that it was before the Cataclysm.
Ye Daying stuttered, "Actually, I don't support everyone being like this either. But they can't deal with the steel beasts and are too weak to do anything. They can only eat in the cafeteria and sleep after eating."
Even the most trash Motorbots could handle the work of dozens of ordinary people. Furthermore, there were hundreds of Motorbots in the base, and they were very efficient, so these students didn't even have a chance to do manual labor.
They didn't even need to cook. Food was prepared in the cafeteria, and everyone could eat when it was time.
Lin Qing smiled and said to Huang Quan, "You're the boss of your family's business. Tell me, what do you think of this management style?"
Huang Quan furrowed his eyebrows. "The Motorbots are working hard outside, but they have to come back and raise a group of people. If this goes on, no one will be willing to work, and this base will be done for sooner or later."
"You're being too polite. If you ask me, this is how pigs are raised. No, pigs are still useful. On the other hand, these people are completely useless. They're still playing around at this time. Do they really think that they're ancestors to be served?"
As they spoke, the soccer ball from the soccer field flew over and landed by their feet. A few youngsters shouted, "Hey, brothers, kick it over!"
Lin Qing gently raised the ball to his feet, then bounced it onto his knees, arms, and back. His movements were smooth and natural.
He didn't know how to play soccer in the past, but after becoming a Motorbot, his movements were mechanical and precise, so he could do these movements easily.
"Big Boss is amazing!" Ye Daying laughed and clapped his hands.
Pa!
After bouncing the ball, Lin Qing stomped on it. Ye Daying's smile froze.
"Hey, what are you doing? Why did you step on our soccer ball?" Seeing their soccer ball crushed, a few youngsters were furious and ran over to argue with him.
"I'm sorry, he accidentally lost control." Ye Daying went forward to apologize. "You guys can find another one."
"Where else can we find one? We don't even have anything to buy right now. There were only a few soccer balls in the gymnasium, and this was the last one!"
"I'm sorry, I did it on purpose." Lin Qing smiled and bent down to look at the boys. "So what? Just come and hit me!"