Chapter 97: Cooperation (1st Update, Asking for Monthly Tickets)

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The moment he finished speaking, the few people in the laboratory tensed up, their gazes all turning to Ding Junyi. After much thought, they certainly knew that there were no conditions in this broken laboratory that they could offer. Thus, they could only listen to Ding Junyi’s analysis. Ding Junyi stepped forward at this moment, and without much hesitation, spoke directly.

“We have P3-level management permissions for the underground city. Apart from a very small number of specific areas, we can cooperate with you to enter and obtain supplies from the residential areas, commercial areas, entertainment areas, industrial areas, storage levels, flora and fauna and cultural asset protection levels, research levels, and various express passages. Although it has been evacuated, in the case of an emergency abandonment of an underground city of hundreds of thousands of people, there must still be a lot of valuable supplies left.”

“In addition, we also know the location of a Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive. The small micro-nuclear power DRX generator on this electric locomotive has a thermal power of 290 megawatts. Besides that, if you need the research data from our biological laboratory, we can also provide it, but it will require mutual confidentiality to prevent us from facing political judgment from the federal government.”

She directly stated all the bargaining chips she had analyzed. Beside her, Xu Wen looked nervous and whispered, “That third point… should we mention it?”

Although she had sounded very resistant at first, when it came to the actual negotiation, she wished she could lay out all the conditions, just to survive.

“No need.” Ding Junyi’s finger left the response button. She said calmly, “If they rescue us, we will not only gain the right to live, but we will also lose other rights. At that time, whatever they want to do to us will not be something we can decide.”

The few people here were all ordinary people, one could even say they were completely powerless. In this situation, they had to both see Lin Xian’s group as saviors and also consider the possibility that they were bandits and marauders.

Han Qiming looked grim. “Is it possible it’s not that exaggerated? Look, those three women don’t look like they would do anything to a man like me. They don’t look like vicious people.”

Zhao Yan looked at him with a strange expression.

“Professor Han, are you confused? Do you think Director Ding was talking about those three girls? Why don’t you take a look at that 2-meter-tall big guy?”

“What?!”

At these words, Han Qiming’s face turned green, and his legs trembled. “N-no way.”

Ding Junyi rubbed her temples, truly unable to understand why these people always focused on such unimportant points.

…

On the Infinity, Lin Xian and Kiki’s eyes lit up when they heard what Ding Junyi said.

“My god, a Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive, wow!” Kiki exclaimed. “Lin Xian, that sounds pretty good.”

Lin Xian showed a look of surprise, looked at Chen Sixuan and the others, and gave a strange smile.

“This woman is so smart. But according to her, they don’t have any material resources. All they have is a bit of permission and information.”

A huge underground city would definitely have a lot of supplies left after an emergency evacuation, but such a statement was too general and had little value for Lin Xian and his group. They certainly knew they would gain something inside.

However, these unknown gains could not be assessed for risk, and were far less meaningful than the Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive the other party mentioned. It was just that Ding Junyi bringing this up directly gave Lin Xian the feeling that the other party understood his purpose.

“If that’s the case, then we don’t need to go through them at all. Just give me some time to hack into this system, right?” Kiki said directly.

“How long would it take?”

“I’ll only know after I connect. But in a situation like this, the main control AI must have been removed. What’s left should be a subsystem. I estimate… five or six hours.”

“Then there’s no need.”

Lin Xian said, “It might be even simpler to just rescue them. And if this group of people is really a research team, they might have a lot of information we need. Plus, they are more familiar with the current internal situation of the underground city. In this case, the efficiency of cooperation is definitely greater than that of confrontation.”

“Then could they be tricking us?” Chen Sixuan knew Lin Xian’s intention, but she also said with worry.

“Let’s check first. Chick!”

Lin Xian pointed to the roof of the train, and Kiki immediately understood.

Soon, two drones rose from the roof of the Infinity and flew quickly toward the sky above the underground city.

“The snowstorm is too heavy, the imaging effect is not good.”

In the information center, Kiki complained while operating the drone.

“It’s okay,” Lin Xian said. “Let’s observe while it’s not dark yet. It can help us judge the general situation. Let’s look down first…”

“Okay~” Kiki pouted, looking at the completely silent underground city pit on the screen, and said, “It looks about the same as what they said. No signs of living people.”

“It would be great if we had a thermal imaging system. This kind of place is perfect for it.”

Lin Xian nodded. “The large aerial night-walker they mentioned just now might be the atmospheric jellyfish we saw last night. I just don’t know what that subterranean creature is.”

Chen Sixuan said, “It looks much more dangerous than we imagined. Even if we go in, we can’t stay for too long.”

“Then let’s prioritize the Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive as our target. We can decide on the rest based on the situation,” Lin Xian said at this moment. “Can we locate their position on the 52nd sub-level?”

Kiki shook her head. “No, we’ll lose the signal once we leave the horizon. It’s too dark down there, can’t see anything. But look, there’s a tunnel leading down ahead. After opening the door, the train can go directly down into the underground city.”

“It’s normal for such a large underground city to have underground tracks for cargo transportation.”

Staying on the train, the certainty of dealing with zombies would be higher. Plus, if they needed to move supplies, having an elevator inside would be more convenient.

But driving the train into a sealed, fallen underground city was somewhat risky.

Lin Xian pondered for a moment and looked at Kiki. “What do you think?”

“There’s definitely a risk.” Kiki rested her chin on her hand and looked at Lin Xian. “But what the other party said sounds very much in line with our expected goals. The only problem is we don’t know what kind of anomalies are inside, and that subterranean creature that sounds a bit scary…”

Lin Xian nodded. “Energy is a big problem. It’s the key to our subsequent survival. But I had already set aside 1-2 days for this place, with the purpose of improving the Infinity’s protection and detection systems before going up to the high-altitude corridor. The life support system and weapon system are also very crucial…”

“So?”

“I think this risk is worth taking,” Lin Xian said in a deep voice.

An empty underground city was laid out before him. If he didn’t even try to explore it, it would be a great disservice to his mechanical ability. What’s more, he already had information about a nuclear-powered electric locomotive. For such an apocalyptic artifact, he had to test the waters!

“Okay!” Kiki raised her hand enthusiastically. “I agree.”

Hearing Lin Xian’s words, Chen Sixuan and the others also exchanged glances, looking at Lin Xian with approval.

Everyone knew that the key to their current survival was the Infinity train, and as a mechanical metahuman, Lin Xian had the absolute say in this regard. If there was an opportunity to improve the train’s safety, the effect would definitely be greater than obtaining ordinary living supplies.

On the other side, in the laboratory, Zhao Yan, Xu Wen, and Han Qiming were in extreme torment. They had finally waited for a team that could provide rescue before the polar night, seeing a glimmer of hope. But the other party had no obligation to risk their lives to save them. So they could only pray that the conditions offered by Ding Junyi could move the other party.

“Will they really agree? There’s no food or drink here, and we don’t know if there are still weapons in the military area. Will they really come to save us for that nuclear-powered electric locomotive that we don’t even know if it works?”

Xu Wen’s face was filled with despair. Although Ding Junyi’s analysis seemed logical to the group, upon careful thought, it didn’t sound like much of a condition at all.

The other party had metahumans and might not need their help to enter the underground city at all. What’s more, that Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive was just a theoretical piece of information. In reality, the 95th sub-level had been disconnected from the system for many days, and they had no idea what the situation was like down there.

It seemed that all of this was less likely than the prospect of food and weapons.

Even the possibility of offering sexual resources or hoping for the other party’s savior-like conscience to burst forth and save their fellow human beings seemed greater.

Thinking of this, the group’s expressions became even more panicked.

Xu Wen paced back and forth anxiously. Seeing that there was no reply from the transponder, she became frantic and was about to rush to the transponder.

“What are you doing?” Ding Junyi asked.

“I… I’ll tell them that there’s a lot of food here, a lot to drink, and a large number of weapons. Maybe that will move them!”

At these words, Zhao Yan and Han Qiming also cast complicated gazes over.

They all knew that Xu Wen was acting out of desperation, but they themselves were also in turmoil and couldn’t calm down at all.

Ding Junyi looked at her coldly. “I know what you’re thinking, but I suggest you’d better not do that.”

“Why?!” Xu Wen was somewhat hysterical, her eyes red. “The conditions you mentioned, I don’t think they can move them at all. If there’s nothing more practical…”

“Then are the things you’re making up very practical?”

“But… but…”

Ding Junyi’s gaze swept over the other two. “Judging rationally, if the other party has no interest in the first condition, then we essentially have no rescue value. And even if we guess correctly and the other party is interested in the first condition, and we reach a temporary friendly cooperation, this seemingly friendly cooperation is actually very fragile. Because our existence is not necessary or essential to the other party. In other words, they can completely use us and then kill us all, and we have no choice. In a negotiation where our subsequent survival depends entirely on the other party’s moral standards, you still want to use lies to lure the other party to save us. Do you think that’s rational?”

Xu Wen was rendered speechless, her face filled with terror, her lips dry. The hand reaching for the transponder button trembled in mid-air and then slowly retracted.

“Clear your head,” Ding Junyi said bluntly, her arms crossed. “We do not have combat strength. In this situation, maintaining friendliness offers a glimmer of hope. Deception and wishful thinking will lead to certain death.”