Silent.

There was a long silence.

Under the glare of the light, the straight spine of the outer pavilion seemed to be broken.

Little by little, it bent down.

After a long time, a mournful voice responded.

So, the cabin in the woods nodded happily and waved behind him. The black market doctor, who had been waiting for a long time, snorted unhappily and turned to leave.

Run for nothing, bad luck!

It wasn't until the hand finally left his head that the outer pavilion finally gasped for breath.

It's like being stuffed into the deep sea and enduring a long suffocation.

Greedily breathing every bit of air, tears and snot flowed out of his breath.

Wail.

"Yes, good boy. ”

The cabin in the woods reached out to untie him, squatted in front of him, smiled and picked up his hand, and shook it: "From today onwards, let's be good friends." ”

"Hmm. The outer pavilion nodded sluggishly, like a walking corpse.

The hut in the woods bowed his head and took out a mobile phone and handed it to him: "Remember to tell your friends not to rob the truck anymore - although we have already taken back the medicine that was stolen - the part that can be hidden will also be sent back to me quickly." There are sixteen types of special drugs, and for those with different beast characteristics, if you fight indiscriminately, you will really die.

Of course, it is also necessary to persuade them to turn themselves in and explain the source of the information and the instigators of the information. ”

"Hmm. ”

The numb jaw of the outer hall.

"Finally, from today onwards, learn to watch the news...... Earlier I changed this bullshit behavior of you Yingzhou people. ”

The hut in the forest tilted his head, took off the cigarette at the corner of his mouth, shook his hand and stepped on it, and said disdainfully: "This thing was distributed for free in Tanbo yesterday, and if you register, you will get two courses of treatment for free! If you don't register a box of 5,000 Yingzhou coins, it's almost cheaper than cold medicine! Calculate for yourself, how much can you get for the train you blew up......

Quiescence.

Long, long, long silence.

The outer pavilion raised its head with difficulty, dumbfounded, unable to understand what it was saying.

"Huh?"

"Name?"

The staff behind the window looked up.

"Standing stones. ”

The embarrassed middle-aged man sat on a chair and pinched his crumpled border passport: "Shinya Tateishi, thirty-one years old, this, this is my daughter, Tateishi Sonoko......"

He dragged the sluggish girl next to him over and shook her shoulder, and the girl who seemed to be dozing quickly raised her eyes, as if she had rehearsed, and smiled a little nervously behind the window.

"She's healthy, she's healthy, she's capable. Standing Stone nervously explained: "Don't look at her small, she is already seventeen, she can do more work than some adults, she can do laundry and cook, really, she, she ......"

Under the scrutinizing expression of the staff, the middle-aged man's expression gradually became compromised, and he said incoherently: "Please, she can really work...... She could...... I can do it, I can do more, I can do anything. ”

"Hey, hurry up!"

The people behind were urging, and the sound of a child crying sounded.

Tateishi's lips twitched, unable to speak, and his face gradually turned pale.

In the hustle and bustle of the office hall, the long queue has already lined up from the hall to the square, and many people are lined up outside, preferring to be exposed to the scorching sun rather than go to the nearby free drinking water to blow the air conditioner.

I'm afraid of delaying for a while.

Behind the window, scrutiny from the staff continued for a while, and soon, a calm voice came from the loudspeaker.

"Mr. Tateishi, I see you wrote on your form that you have experience playing musical instruments, right?

“...... Yes, yes!" Standing Stone nodded in a panic: "Although I haven't practiced for many years, I can pick it up again, it will be soon!"

"In that case, you can later fill out a new application form for art practitioners after you have registered, and go to the B2 counter to register through the special recruitment route of the Tamba Music Center, where they are short of manpower recently and the salary will be much higher. ”

The staff calmly took pictures, stamped the form, handed it over, and finally reminded: "Every family has a residence qualification for immediate family members, including spouse, children, and parents, and it is recommended that you go to the next window and tell the truth." ”

She withdrew her gaze from the confused girl and told the handler, "Tamba doesn't need a little girl under the age of twelve to do the laundry. ”

What happened next was like a dream.

But it's not like those nightmares.

Smoothly like those ridiculous fantasies on the train.

Standing Rock held his daughter sluggishly, holding the thick form in one hand, tossing and turning between the windows, and finally, came to the front of the temporary infirmary.

Stood in front of the counter and swallowed and foamed.

"This ...... This is my family registration certificate......" he asked uneasily, "injection...... Is the injection here? The special drug, the free one, is it real?"

"One adult, one girl. ”

The busy nurse didn't have time to pay attention to his emotions, so she snatched the test sheet in his hand, flipped through it, stamped it again, and handed over the two sheets neatly: "Turn right inside, just line up, the next one." ”

Tateishi was pushed by the people behind him, but he mustered up the courage to ask again, "Is it really free?"

"It's not free, sir. ”

The nurse looked up in surprise.

She said, "The injection fee of 200 yen per person is to be paid by yourself, so please go to the queue inside and pay the fee, and the next person will ......."

Pushed, urged, scolded.

Like duckweed, Tateishi went with the flow, dazzled by everything in front of him, but he didn't react to anything, and was finally pushed into the injection room, still sleepwalking.

Ants.

Blankly staring at everything in front of him.

Even when I was injected, I didn't feel any real pain, just a slight pain, like the pain that I could see everywhere in my daily life.

“...... Adults should eat enough food within a week, and if minors have cold symptoms, please go to the nearest designated hospital. ”

Next to him, the nurse who was instructing noticed his trance and frowned: "Sir, sir, are you listening?"

But Lishi still looked at his daughter in the injection room blankly, and the whole person was stuck to the glass, not daring to let her out of his sight.

"It seems to be better than before, you see, a lot of energy......"

He muttered to himself, not knowing who he was talking to, and couldn't help but smile: "It doesn't look so sleepy anymore, does it? It's much better than just now......

"Just injected, and it hasn't worked yet, sir. The nurse reminded.

But Tateshi still looked at his daughter stupidly, staring at him for a long time, before he returned softly: "But, it's going to be fine, right?"

The nurse was stunned for a moment, then slowly bowed her head.

“...... yes, it's going to be fine. ”

She smiled and replied, "It's going to be better than before, Mr. Tateishi." ”

Didi's call came, and she put the notice sheet printed with precautions in her hand into the middle-aged man's hand, and turned to leave.

Under the gentle sunlight outside the window, the thin paper rolled slightly in the wind, and the handwriting seemed to spread its wings and flew into the blue sky.

A hallucinatory shimmer of light rained down from the sky, illuminating the last part of it.

It's not printed in bold, but like someone hurriedly grabbing a pen before leaving, writing down a blessing for a traveler who arrives from afar.

Tell everyone who comes here.

- Welcome to Tamba.

.

"Name?"

Outside the emergency room, the chief surgeon grabbed the medical records in his hand, followed behind the emergency team, and checked the patient's information with the patient's family, but before entering the operating room, his footsteps paused and reminded solemnly: "The patient is already old, and he suddenly has a high level of failure, this kind of major surgery is risky, I hope you are prepared." ”

"Please, please. The emaciated man bowed repeatedly, pleading expectantly, "Please." ”

"I ...... Do all in one's power. ”

The doctor looked away, no longer looking at his expectant face.

Six hours later, Hiromi Nakamura, an emergency patient, survived the operation and was breathing in the room. The cause of death was postoperative myocardial infarction, at the age of 54.

After two minutes, the cry of a baby sounded from another operating room, and the mother and daughter were safe.

"Have you figured out what to call it?"

In the ward, the nurse solemnly reminded: "This is a big deal, don't give the child a strange name, Mrs. Matsuda in front has to be very long, it seems to be an album of some band, no matter how much you persuade it, it's really urgent." ”

The pale wife leaned on the bed, held her husband's hand, and stared at the sleeping baby of Masaka, and couldn't help but smile.

"Future. ”

She thought for a moment and said seriously, "Her name is Future." ”

So, in the dark, Huai Shi heard the name.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Applaud.

Future.

.

"Name?"

Before the checkpoint, the nervous girl replied in jerky Yingzhou language: "Jin Suyuan." ”

"Name?"

During the interview, the young man plucked up the courage to look up: "Shizune Kohori." ”

"Name?"

On the street, the violin seller handed over his identity credentials: "Chen Cheng." ”

"Name?"

The trendy girl stuck out her tongue, "Big field hope ......"

In the darkness, Huai Shi raised his head and heard the voices from afar emerge in a steady stream, like countless small points of light, dancing in front of his eyes, illuminating the long and lonely road.

There are more voices on the way.

More prayers, more thanksgiving, more callings.

Guide him, little by little.

It wasn't until he opened his eyes from his stupor, that countless broken souls reunited, following those guidance, staring at the countless rays of light that passed before him.

Before you know it, the darkness has been illuminated by the endless light.

The lonely long road is already full of pedestrians.

In the lively crowd, the hustle and bustle rises one after another.

When they passed by, the souls who had never met him smiled gratefully, told him their name, and returned to the sea of people again.

One name after another overlapped, holding up his soul and guiding him upwards from the cold and empty universe.

He was in the brightly lit streets, he was in the uninhabited alleys, he listened to the cries in the hospital room, and he gazed at the sleeping faces of children in the warm light.

When Huai Shi raised his head, he saw the vast rain of light falling from the night, falling on the empty hands, bit by bit, with the smiling faces of friends in each streamer.

It was as if I had finally woken up from a long dream since I had been parting.

"It's good to see each other again, my friend. ”

Huai Shi stared at the light and rain in the sky and smiled.

After a long time, he bowed to say goodbye, turned and walked deeper into his dream.

Gritted his teeth, forbearance, and didn't go to Night City all day for the sake of renewal, so ...... I'll ...... tomorrow

(End of chapter)