Dark Moon Era

Su Yao’s words rang clearly in Tang Ling’s ears, but it became nothing but meaningless buzzing.

Tang Ling’s mind was overwhelmed by what he saw. He could no longer receive or understand the words Su Yao was speaking to him.

Behind the gate, the lights shone like the brightest star in the night. The starry lights were accompanied by a merry and lively atmosphere, enveloping Tang Ling entirely.

The door behind them closed quietly.

Su Yao lit up another cigarette with a shadow of a smile on his face. He leaned beside the gate and quietly watched the overwhelmed Tang Ling.

Squinting his eyes, Su Yao seemed to have thought of something in the distant past. He said, “Back then, I and…” Nothing but four words came out of his mouth. Unfortunately, he did not continue after that and allowed the smoke to blur his face.

Tang Ling could not even care about such detail anymore.

It has been more than ten seconds, yet Tang Ling found it hard to accept the “fact” before his eyes.

Back when his grandmother was collecting scraps in the dump, he had seen the so-called tall and beautiful buildings of the old civilization in pictures before, and now they really existed before his eyes, they were all well-preserved inside these walls of Safety Sector No. 17.

On top of that, there were also some never-before-seen weird buildings amidst the skyscrapers.

The night seemed to be the best reason for the buildings to “celebrate”. A myriad of bright lights decorated the exterior, and fronting the glamorous scene was a big crowd on the street.

All the people outside the metallic wall were dressed dully as if black, gray, and blue represented their lives.

Nevertheless, behind the wall, for the first time in his life, Tang Ling understood that clothes were actually used to decorate oneself. The people that casually strolled the streets here all appeared proud and elegant.

There were also many indescribable and strange noises mixed in the air. Some were noisy while some were enchanting, yet all of them converged into an alluring melody in the night.

“No one was able to calm down after seeing this place for the first time.” With a cigarette in his mouth, Su Yao rubbed Tang Ling’s head kindly.

Tang Ling came back to his senses. He wanted to say something to Su Yao but all the words were stuck at his throat.

Only his Precise Instinct was working, and it helped Tang Ling discern the most precise distance between the spot in the settlement closest to the sector walls and the center of Safety Sector No. 17.

If a straight line was drawn between the two areas, it would be no longer than 5,127 meters.

However, there were two sets of walls forming three vastly different circles of life.

People in the outer circle could never imagine life inside, but the people inside could simply stomp everywhere outside the circle.

The distance in a straight line did not mean anything. Tang Ling understood for the first time that behind the icy cold numbers were nothing but inanities.

“Let’s go.” Su Yao flung the cigarette butt away and tapped on Tang Ling’s back.

Tang Ling nodded silently.

******

Less than 20 minutes later, Su Yao brought Tang Ling to a peculiar-looking building.

The building was not big, but it was more than a hundred meters tall. Several white and crooked pillars supported the rhombus-shaped main structure. The whole building was catching the light as reflective materials covered the entire exterior, lending it a sense of mystery.

“Training Base,” Tang Ling read the words in front of the door of the building, and he instantly understood what the building was.

Su Yao did not show a trace of surprise when Tang Ling revealed his knowledge about one of the languages of the old civilization. He calmly said to Tang Ling and dragged him in, “Let’s go in.”

Tang Ling also noticed that the familiar tower that pierced the sky stood on the left side of this training base no more than 20 meters away.

Being so close to the tower for the first time, Tang Ling felt a strange trembling inside him. It made every drop of his blood vibrate and accelerated his blood circulation.

It shook Tang Ling, but the feeling came and went like the wind. After he stepped through the door, it completely vanished.

“Come here.” Su Yao’s call woke Tang Ling from his absent-minded state.

After regaining his senses, Tang Ling finally got a clearer look at the interior of the training base. Warm white light shone down and reached every corner but he could not spot the source of the light.

The place that he and Su Yao stood in was a spacious hexagonal hall. Other than an obscure round metallic counter in the middle, there was nothing else in the hall.

All six sides of the hall were connected to their respective corridors, and many hexagonal doors lined up neatly along with them.

The center had the most doors. The doors on the highest and the lowest spots were the largest, but there was only a handful of them. It looked a little like a beehive but was entirely different.

Su Yao stood in front of the metallic counter and simply spoke to the beautiful lady behind it, “I want a basic training room.”

The lady revealed a smile that lacked joy and delight as she said coldly, “500 credits.”

The numbers staggered Tang Ling again. He had never earned so many credits for as long as he lived.

Credits were the general currency in Safety Sector No. 17. They were made into small round metallic chips and were not possible to replicate.

The credits that the settlement used were all released by Safety Sector No. 17. One round chip equaled to one credit.

Looking at Su Yao’s big black fur coat and bare chest, where could he hide the 500 credits?

Su Yao seemed to have seen through Tang Ling’s thoughts. He curled his lips into a rather evil but delightful smile. Then, he took a crystal badge out, similar to the one that he had given Tang Ling before they came here, but his was a lot clearer.

The beautiful lady took Su Yao’s badge and touched it against a certain spot on the metallic counter. Her actions were followed by a clear beep. She then passed the badge back to Su Yao together with a metallic card.

“Room 6F-019,” she announced.

Su Yao took the things and pulled Tang Ling away.

Even though he had calmed himself down several times, Tang Ling still could not hold back his urge to ask, “Uncle Su Yao, did you pay her?”

“Hahaha!” Su Yao laughed out loud amusedly as he strongly rubbed Tang Ling’s head and said, “What do you think? Do you expect me to carry a big back of small metallic chips around? Here in the Safety Sector, credits are all stored in the identification badge like the one that I gave you. I’ve saved a thousand credits in your badge. You’ll know more about your identification badge later on.” Su Yao habitually skipped the explanation and as he talked, he brought Tang Ling through a big hexagonal door.

The soft white light remained bright behind the hexagonal door, but the space behind it was empty and could only hold three to five people.

Nonetheless, Tang Ling did not care about all that. His breath was hurried because of what he heard. A thousand credits?!

The number was like a blazing flame that burned his mind to the point that he skipped all the details. He clutched the identification badge in his pants pocket tightly.

He would never skimp being courteous with Su Yao, and he had his own way of repaying a debt of gratitude.

A soft tremble later, the hexagonal door opened again.

When they came out of the door, they were already in the corridor labeled 6F.