The next morning, the long-lost sun rose early in the sky, dispelling the gloom in Cui Xiao's heart with the morning breath.
Putting on the thin clothes, grabbing a well-worn but shiny cloth bag, Cui Xiao turned around at the door and shouted, "Aunt, there's some bread left. I've put your share on the table. Be thrifty, don't finish it all at once. I'll go out for a walk."
"Cough, okay, come back soon." The weak voice had long been unable to catch up with the teenager who was riding the wind outside the door. Looking at the slightly thin but determined figure with a height of 1.8 meters, a faint smile appeared on Aunt's face, recalling the events from more than a decade ago...
Back then, she brought the young Cui Xiao to the outskirts of the city. There, the food factories supplied the city. According to her sisters who came together, the patrols had loosened a lot recently, with noticeably fewer patrol robots. Thinking about the delicious food and fresh vegetables there, and looking at the little Cui Xiao crying from hunger every day, she made up her mind, "Let's go, let's do it!"
A few people soon arrived at the outskirts of the factory. As it had already achieved full automation, the vast factory area was deserted, with only various robots working tirelessly and a few scattered patrol robots conducting inspections. Perhaps people had already forgotten about the existence of the fallen, so AI, in order to protect the people in the city, withdrew many patrol robots from the city. This made the fallen feel there was a gap they could exploit.
"Aunt, I want to go with you. I'm already five years old! I can run as fast as you, and I'm as strong as you!" A pair of clear eyes like stars, coupled with a childish voice, came from a "little black egg" about one meter tall. He nervously looked at his aunt, hoping to be of some help.
"Little sweetheart, you're still young. Although you're almost better than me, in a team, we need not only soldiers but also a commanding general, right? I'll give you a different task. Can you handle it?"
"Yes!" The milk-like voice answered without hesitation. "You're a little man! I need you to stay here and not let anyone sneak up from behind. This task is very important and related to the safety of your aunt, me, and your uncles and aunts. The task is difficult. Do you have the confidence to complete it?"
"Yes!" Another unequivocal milk-like answer. With that, the few people sneaked into the hell of the fallen...
In the warm sunlight, next to the robot in charge of the garbage heap management center, Cui Xiao was entangled, looking at the screen on the robot's body.
"Cui Ge, why hesitate? This is a bag of apples. Although the task is a bit laborious, with Cui's cooperation, the work is not tiring. Although the apples are not fresh, they are still a hard currency in our area." A young man with a ponytail, about 1.7 meters tall, approached Cui Xiao, putting his hand on Cui Xiao's shoulder and pointing to the task rewards on the screen.
The ponytail guy, named Qin Yongcun, is Cui Xiao's iron buddy. The two have known each other since they wore open-crotch pants. From childhood to adulthood, whether it's something good or bad, the two are always inseparable. To put it bluntly, if you find one of them at a crime scene, without saying, the other is definitely involved. As a pair of troublemakers who are not afraid of heaven and earth, they have caused quite a bit of trouble. Once, facing a siege of more than ten fallen, holding half a steamed bun in their hands, they managed to break through with bloodshed. Because of this, the two have been given the title of "Evil Kings of the Fallen World" since childhood, and they have even gained some reputation in this area.
"Hey, Cui Ge, if you ask me, why choose one when we can take both? After all, this task is publicly available for anyone to take. Whoever assigns it is fine. Let's find the person and the doll at the same time."
"Alright, I've lost my mind," Cui Xiao said. Without further ado, the two grabbed a black canvas bag each and started wandering around the garbage area, flipping through the garbage piles with sticks while walking, looking for something valuable. They knew that tasks couldn't be completed immediately, and when they couldn't do tasks, they shouldn't forget their original intention – to find food and supplies. Therefore, they strolled casually, flipping and poking around.
As the sun was about to set, the two walked from the center to the residential area. Speaking of the residential area, it's just a place where fallen spontaneously gathered in a relatively neat and clean area. Those who cared a little would use bricks and cement to build a small house, while those who didn't care would find some plastic boxes and bags to make a nest, or even dig a hole in the garbage pile, put a door at the entrance, and call it home.
"Yongcun, we're lucky today. As usual, let's divide the loot?"
"Alright, I have a pillow, a bag of sealant, two short-sleeved shirts, and even a pair of scissors. The rest are some miscellaneous little things, nothing to eat. What about you, Cui Ge?"
"I have some food here. You take this salted fish and boil some soup. It should be enough for you and your younger siblings to eat." Before the other party could react, Cui Xiao had already stuffed a slightly short but clearly gnawed salted fish into the other's canvas bag.
"Alright, I won't be polite then. Cui Ge, what can I take from you?"
Cui Xiao thought of the gaps in the house and said, "The sealant might be useful. I might use a lot, so you take it first and give it back to me when you're done."
"Alright, let's meet at this time tomorrow, I'll come to your house, and we'll continue to look for the old man and the doll."
"Alright, see you tomorrow." With that, not overly polite, the two went in opposite directions.
At the place where the two separated, there was a pile of garbage about five meters high and stretched for hundreds of meters. After the two left for a while, the garbage pile seemed to come alive, undulating as if it had a life. Some garbage on it fell to the ground, and after a while, the undulation stopped. On closer inspection, one could see a pair of shining eyes looking through the thick garbage, surveying the outside situation. The owner of this eye had also noticed the two brothers.
With the sound of insects chirping, combined with the sound of the robots working, a unique symphony began, as if this space had fallen into an extremely peaceful state. The glittering starlight made even the most restless people feel a bit relaxed. Gradually, that anxious pair of eyes also closed, accompanied by this unique symphony.