After about 300 meters of descent through a spiraling tunnel in the ice, the van finally arrived at the end of the trip: Rezhen Ohara. It has been a cultural, industrial, and military center since ancient times, and its rich mineral resources, especially coal, which can provide heat, have helped it survive the cold winter and become one of the largest of all the surviving "hot towns".

The city has a central high and low periphery, where the cold air moves to the lowlands, while the high ground has many "high-efficiency combustion towers" to provide heat to the surroundings, and all residential areas are concentrated in the combustion towers and heating pipelines. In the middle of the city is a scramble boiler that normally stays on and is fully powered on when extremely cold weather occurs. A shielding diaphragm is installed on the top of the scramble boiler, which can be spread out to cover the entire city like an umbrella to form a protective layer for the greenhouse. The first job of the whole town is to fight the cold, and everything else has to make way for that.

Due to the cold weather, there was very little interaction between hot towns and hot towns, and only a few daring caravans dared to make long treks across the ice fields. For such caravans, each hot town will welcome it with a wary attitude. So when the van of the White Flag grocery store entered the tunnel, Ohara's guards had already assembled, put guns on mounts, fences, and hands on the mine's detonation switch, and then guided the vehicle to stop at the designated location.

"Oh, they don't wear much. Is that kind of leather trench coat a portable heater?"

"No, Qian Jing, the leather trench coat only plays the role of heat preservation, wind protection and bulletproof, and the portable heater is the leather jacket they wear inside. Captain Han Qi pointed to the people outside and said, "Their clothes, shoes, and gloves are all connected to their leather jackets to form an energy cycle. When people here are going to the ice fields outside, they can bring a hat and a mask, and they can also be connected to a leather jacket, which is very convenient. ”

Qian Jing leaned on the window, staring wide-eyed at the guards' equipment. They wrapped their bodies tightly with leather hats, clothes, gloves, and boots, and covered their faces with black masks, looking around through two round black sunglasses embedded in the masks. They were on high alert for those coming from the tunnels, never letting go of their weapons. Due to the difference from the historical trajectory of the earth, although the weapons here are firearms, they look more rugged, and the caliber and length of the gun are large, giving people a heavy and powerful feeling. Qian Jing estimated that if he was fired by this black rifle, even an elephant would have to fall, right?

Different environments will inevitably lead to different cultures, customs, and styles of behavior. Qian Jing wanted to know what their tempers were, whether they were more cold or particularly enthusiastic, both of which seemed likely. Unfortunately, when the enemies are wearing sturdy and heavy masks, they look like robots, completely hiding their expressions. Qian Jing looked at the mask for a while, then moved his gaze down and looked for his stickman.

The extremely cold weather is a test for all creatures, and Qian Jing is curious to know if it has any effect on the stickman, so he hides the stickman inside before driving. The White Flag grocery store's scanning system didn't alert the stickman and didn't overcharge the toll for the stickman as a separate sapient being, which was all good news. Even better, the cold has very little effect on the stickmen, who only move slightly clumsily after inflating themselves into three-dimensional. With a stickman, Qian Jing's confidence is a little stronger.

The car followed the guide in front of it slowly, and soon came to an open field, which was within the common suppression range of the three machine-gun positions. The guide signals to stop and removes the mask. It was a young girl with small black eyes, thin lips, burnt yellow hair, and tiny freckles on her face. She asked, in Chinese with a dialect accent, "Who are you?" and get out of the car to explain your intentions and get checked. ”

"It's time to take off the hood, but don't turn off the heater. Han Qi said so and did so. She opened the side door and was the first to step out, pulling open the sealed bag she was carrying with her, and pulling out a rolled-up metal plate from inside. From the earth to the dark sun, neither paper nor wood can stand the cold here, and the stone can shatter, but this special metal does not deform.

"We are people from the relevant departments of the Origin Earth, I am Han Qi, and this is the seventeenth time I have come here. This time, we will continue the last negotiation with Mayor Zhuang Xing. At the same time, the White Flag Grocery Store, a neutral commercial organization on the Origin Earth, ......"

"I don't understand...... the little girl stuffed the metal plate back into Han Qi's hand, "I don't want to hear that much." It says you can come, so just come. Get out of the car, we're going to check!"

Everyone got off the bus one by one and stood in a row under the watchful eye of the Ohara Guard. One of the guards walked over, scanned the crowd with a white-glowing instrument in his hand, and said, "That's right, it's all human, nothing malignant. ”

Five other people got into the van and used some kind of reddish instrument to scan it constantly. The stickman left in the car by Qian Jing was also within the range of being scanned by the red light, but the alarm was still not triggered. It is estimated that these scanners do not understand what stickman is, and will only treat them as harmless shadows.

The rear of the van is equipped with space technology, which does not look big but can carry ten tons of cargo. The red scanning light simply shone and passed, and the Qian Mirror almost laughed. Such a quick inspection seems too child's play, so the scanner can't be dressed up as a flashlight, right?

"What do you want to say?" The guide girl suddenly shone the white scanning light on Qian Jing's body: "What was your expression just now?"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, especially since the ten muzzles of the guns changed direction, all of them aiming at the money mirror. A low humming sound grows louder and louder, most likely a device that is charging, most likely the guns. Qian Jing blinked, she didn't laugh just now, why is this little girl so nervous?

"Uh......" He decided not to touch the mold, and found a random reason: "It's so cold here, my face is uncomfortable." ”

"Oh, I see. "The white scanning light moved away, and so did the muzzle of the black hole. The little girl hung the scanner back on her belt, then took out the pocket behind her buttocks, took out a toothpaste tube and handed it to Qian Jing: "Antifreeze oil, wipe your face, I've given it to you!"

Hey, what kind of routine is this? Just now, he was scared with the muzzle of the gun, but now he has become kind and enthusiastic? Qian Jing was a little uncomfortable, but he still took it and said thank you. He pondered that it would not be polite for the Venerable Master to come here as a guest and take the master's things first. He thought for a moment, patted his pocket, and pulled out a high-calorie (shape-changing) peanut chocolate bar from inside.

"It's a little frozen, but it's still delicious. Qian Jing handed over the chocolate bar: "This is a thank you gift from antifreeze oil." ”

The little girl first frowned and looked at the money mirror twice, then carefully took the chocolate bar and frowned at the instructions on the package. As you can tell from the various warning signs around it, the language here is Chinese, and the text has been somewhat simplified. The simplification is different, but it doesn't affect reading, after all, Chinese is a kind of text that can be understood even if it is reversed.

"There are ...... ingredients" The little girl's eyes suddenly widened, it turned out that she was not small, but habitually squinting in the cold environment. "Thank you!" she said, and quickly tucked the chocolate bar down her collar.

As the little girl whistled a particularly nice whistle, the speed of the inspection suddenly increased - of course, this could also be Qian Jing's illusion. She waved her hand and said to Qian Jing and the others, "Okay, you can go." There's only one good place to stay in town, the Burning Stone Restaurant, and I'll go there if I were you. ”

"Okay, I remember. Qian Jing nodded and followed everyone back into the car. Han Qi suddenly patted Qian Jing on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Yes, you are quite good at trouble." Deliberately attract attention and then take the opportunity to take advantage of the stubble, you are very skilled at this skill?"

"No, it was just a coincidence. When they turned the muzzle of the gun, I almost scared the hell. Qian Jing hurriedly shirked it. Heaven and earth conscience, he never had the idea of hooking up with other girls in front of Laisha. "Except for the enemy, I am very polite to anyone I meet! Besides, people have given me things, isn't it normal to return the favor?"

"People on the dark earth basically have a problem, that is, they are very repulsive to what others suddenly send over, they interpret the four words of self-reliance too much, and sometimes they are not close to people. You send a snack, this grasp is just right. She loves it and doesn't think you look down on her ability to survive on her own. Han Qi adjusted his sitting posture, buckled his seat belt as usual, and said, "Every time I come, the guide here will say let me go to the Jin Pavilion." It's also a hotel, but it's expensive and uncomfortable, and it rips off customers. When I came to Burning Stone Restaurant for the eleventh time, I heard about it from a local friend who was already familiar with each other and trusted each other. It's a nice place, welcoming, and nothing. You're good, you can know it the first time. ”

"Coincidentally, coincidentally. Qian Jing smiled politely, and then looked at the town outside. Strange compliments from his peers were obviously less important than curiosity, especially a city under snow that he had never seen before.

Rezhen Ohara is sunk deep underground, surrounded by towering ice walls. In order to prevent the "ice collapse", the inspection and reinforcement work has never stopped, and the lights moving on the scaffolding platform are the inspectors.

A city must obtain resources from its surroundings, especially coal, which is equivalent to life in the ice and snow. Qian Jing saw coal trucks coming out of the tunnels in the ice walls, running on the railroad tracks without the need for drivers. Coal mines can be hot, towns can be hot, but the transportation corridors in between can't be hot. Heating snow and ice tunnels will only cause flooding or landslides, so autonomous driving is a more logical option.

Along the route of coal transportation, Qian Jing set his sights on the "high-efficiency combustion tower". The burning tower next to the street is more than five meters high, which is a "node" of the entire city's heat collection system. The central heat tower usually provides only basic thermal energy, and these smaller combustion towers are needed to supplement it if you want higher temperatures. Coal trucks run regularly next to the combustion towers, and special personnel decide whether to add fuel or not. Qian Jing happened to see a manager swiping a card on the coal truck, then taking out three coal boxes with exactly the same packaging from inside, and then swiping the card to open the combustion tower and throw them in.

The black pipes connected by the combustion towers are easily recognizable, and they carry heat to every house. The buildings here need to be fully considered for thermal efficiency, so they are relatively small and low. In the cold of winter, being empty means freezing to death, and compactness means being able to warm each other. Therefore, all the buildings are layered and huddled together, like monkeys warming themselves in the ice and snow.

The complex system of air supply, fresh air, and waste heat collection that binds the entire city together is far more difficult to maintain than the earth, and is inefficient, expensive, and dangerous with human labor. Dark Sun Earth has long developed autonomous robotic systems, which were first used in thermal pipe maintenance and are now widely used in various aspects. They walk on the ground, they climb on walls, they drill through pipes, they can fly in the sky. However, if you look closely, you will see very thin metal cables erected between houses of different heights, on which autonomous robots glide – which is obviously more energy-efficient than flying.

There are very few people on the road, and there are many autonomous robots, which are responsible for all kinds of chores: cleaning, transportation, etc. However, Qian Jing found that all security work is performed by humans themselves, and robots cannot touch firearms. This may be specifically stipulated, you must know that in terms of efficiency alone, robot patrol duty and operation of artillery batteries are no worse than humans, and in terms of durability, they are actually more advantageous.

The people on the street walked in a hurry, all dressed in similar styles, and wrapped themselves tightly. When the van with the white flag drove by, they cast curious glances, but no one changed their original plan of action. Despite the highly automated robots, the city as a whole is still busy and orderly, with everyone having their own things on their way.

How is this done? How is the inertia of human nature overcome, by the terrible cold?

As a businessman, Qian Jing pays special attention to the business conditions here when observing the street scene. He saw the big cafeteria, he saw the concert hall and the dance floor, but he didn't see the shop. It is impossible for a stable society to be without exchange, so he asked Han Qi, "Where are the stores?"

"The main resources here, such as coal, food, clothing, are centrally distributed, as are health care and education. The commercial and service industries are all concentrated in Chema City, and stores are not allowed to open in other areas of the city. If you want to sell something, you need to go to the mayor for approval before you can go to Chemama. However, I would suggest that if possible, it would be better to sell directly to the city government to save trouble. The plum tickets in the hands of residents are only circulated in the city, and the value of the reservation is very low. ”

As he spoke, the car stopped in front of the Burning Stone Restaurant. The door is small, but the egg yolk light that peeks out of the window is bright and hot, and it makes you feel warm to look at.