Chapter 125 They're Here

Hao Ren and the others arrived at the subterranean shelter city, but after their initial surprise, they quickly realized that it was just as desolate as everywhere else.

There were no pedestrians on the streets. The tall, imposing buildings were brightly lit, but no figures could be seen behind any of the windows. Some vehicles could be seen busily scurrying along the city roads and in the air, but when Izhaks waved down a vehicle, he discovered that it was unmanned.

"So?" Lily spun around in place, looking at the brightly lit but deserted city. "What about the survivors you promised?"

The more Nangong Sanba thought about it, the more uneasy he became. He looked up at the sky and loudly questioned some unknown "observer": "Hey! We're at the shelter! What's next? There's no one here!"

No one appeared. Only the whistling of unmanned vehicles speeding through the air served as a response.

"This planet is getting weirder and weirder," Hao Ren muttered, remembering the image of the middle-aged man he had seen in the lobby earlier. "That guy upstairs told us to find the civil affairs investigator after we came down..."

"I don't know what that guy's up to," Vivian said, casually summoning a group of small bats to fly around her as she cautiously moved forward. "We have no grudges against him... He wouldn't play such a big joke."

The group explored the eerie shelter city, trying to head towards the most brightly lit and heavily trafficked areas in the hope of finding the survivors who lived there. Hao Ren and the others now knew that there really were survivors on this planet - the middle-aged man who had appeared in the image was undoubtedly one of them, but something had happened, and the city was deserted.

Had the survivors all hidden themselves?

As Nangong Sanba walked, he observed the facilities along the road. He might have been a mediocre fighter, but precisely because of his half-baked skills, he was unusually adept at the meticulous observation and logical reasoning expected of a hunter. Now he analyzed the situation like a seasoned hunter: "The streets are very clean. These things have been maintained, and don't look like they've been abandoned for over ten thousand years. The city is located in a cave, so theoretically a lot of dust would accumulate, but look at these railings... They're as good as new."

"Because 'someone' regularly wipes them," Nangong Wuyue patted her brother on the shoulder and pointed not far away, where a small robot floating in the air was diligently cleaning. The little robot was also an inverted triangle, and its job seemed to be to constantly polish the streetlights and railings on this street. It held a brush in one nimble mechanical hand, while the other mechanical hand was responsible for spraying water mist. Noticing someone approaching, the little robot whirred over and blindly circled Hao Ren and the others.

Lily tensed up for a moment, but quickly realized that the little robot was no threat. She reached out and knocked on the latter's steel shell: "It doesn't seem to talk..."

As soon as Lily finished speaking, the little robot suddenly emitted a series of bright music, followed by a cheerful male voice from inside: "Viejie Kali Company, cleaning equipment manufacturing expert, provides meticulous hygiene services for you and your beloved home. The latest model of household robot Alpha Type Three is now on the market, welcome to order..."

Lily looked at the little robot in surprise: "You can talk?"

The music and cheerful male voice inside the little robot sounded again: "Viejie Kali Company, cleaning equipment manufacturing expert, provides..."

Then it left the group while broadcasting this advertisement, continuing to busy itself wiping the streetlights and railings.

"It seems to be just an advertisement," Vivian shrugged. "But at least we heard something with a 'human touch'."

Izhaks said in a low voice: "If there's a robot company, there should be people running it."

At the next intersection, they saw a large building that looked like a shopping mall. Neon lights flashed on the building, and huge billboards and commercial mascots stood at the entrance. A series of exaggerated cartoons were playing on a large screen above the mall entrance—although they were very different from Earth culture, it was still possible to tell that they were some kind of advertisement. Hao Ren was the first to enter the mall, and he was greeted by an empty hall and neat, orderly shops all around.

"It's really creepy," Lily muttered beside Hao Ren.

A burst of music came from nearby. Hao Ren followed the sound and saw an advertising screen embedded in the wall. After the music ended, images of men and women appeared on the screen, with a voiceover in the background: "...The comfortable environment of the shelter requires the joint maintenance of you and me. Let us work together to create an eternally peaceful home..."

Nangong Wuyue climbed over and fiddled with the screen. She didn't know what she had pressed, but the screen suddenly changed, and a young man with a stiff face appeared in the center of the screen: "...reporting the latest news from the shelter. The cause of the fire at Dan Ding Station yesterday has been investigated. The shelter负责人(fù zé rén, person in charge) announced that the incident was caused by a short circuit in the electrical wires of a department store's daily necessities warehouse... The routine maintenance of the engine group has been completed. The planet's thrust is stable. The Great Leader expressed his gratitude to the engineers. A spokesman for the Commander's Office said that the smooth operation of the planet ark to this day is the result of the efforts of all the engineers... The Development Affairs Department released news that the planet ark is approaching the expected 'supply area'. The route ahead will pass through a rich asteroid belt. At that time, the ark will decelerate for the first time since its departure, and will carry out resupply after reaching the secondary cruising speed. It is expected that it will take one year to decelerate to the target speed. We will collect enough resources from the asteroid belt to replenish fuel for the plasma engine. There may be slight tremors in the shelter during deceleration, please don't panic..."

This seemed to be a news program. When Hao Ren heard the last piece of news, his heart suddenly stirred, and he immediately connected to the data terminal waiting in orbit: "Terminal, scan the route ahead of this planet. Is there an asteroid belt ahead?"

The terminal quickly sent a message: "There is indeed an asteroid belt ahead. It may have broken away from another celestial system. It's very large. What's wrong?"

"...We're watching alien news."

The data terminal didn't understand: "Huh?"

Hao Ren hung up the communication and looked at the others around him: "There really is an asteroid belt ahead... These aren't recordings."

Vivian looked at the news program still broadcasting on the screen next to her: "...That is to say, these news are real-time, and someone is really broadcasting these programs."

Hao Ren looked at the empty shopping mall around him: "That's right, but they're not here."

At this time, Nangong Sanba suddenly frowned, and an unusual look appeared on his face: "Wait! I feel some aura..."

Almost at the same time as Nangong Sanba finished speaking, Wuyue also raised her body, using her long tail to support her and pulling her upper body up to two or three meters high, looking hard in a certain direction: "It's water element... it's water element..."

Everyone looked at each other in amazement, and then suddenly understood what was going on!

Nangong Sanba bent down and pressed his hand on the ground, using the demon hunter's talent to trace the flow of aura in the vicinity. Then he suddenly looked up at the depths of the mall: "In that direction!"

The siblings looked at each other, and the look of astonishment and ecstasy on their faces was unconcealed. Then they rushed towards the source of the aura at the same time. Hao Ren and the others reacted half a beat slower, but immediately followed. The crowd ran wildly in the deserted shopping mall, as if they were afraid that the target would disappear out of thin air if they were even half a step late. Finally, they came to a shop filled with daily necessities. Everyone stopped outside the shop at the same time, holding their breath and watching the movement inside.

At this moment, the Nangong siblings didn't dare to move forward. They just stared blankly at the shop, even stopping their breathing.

Behind a shelf, two figures were shaking slightly. A woman's arm flashed through the gap between the shelves, taking away a few items.

Then the two figures seemed to sense something, and stiffened at the same time, slowly walking out from behind the shelf.

Nangong Wuyue gripped her brother's hand tightly, as if she would faint at any moment. Her voice trembled: "...Dad, Mom?"

They had finally found them.