Chapter 1224: Tianshu

“You want to go up?” The staff immediately stopped him. “Director Sun, it’s too dangerous for you to go to the surface. You are the backbone of this entire underground project; nothing must happen to you!”

“I know, I won’t leave the Half-Mountain Hotel’s vicinity,” Sun Zhongliang paused for a long time. “I just want to see what it’s become like outside… If possible, we could also treat some of the wounded on the surface and then transport them down with those two elevators. There are always people whose injuries are too severe to use the stairs to enter the underground project, aren’t there?”

The staff were speechless.

In the end, the few of them followed Sun Zhongliang’s orders. They immediately welded the bottoms of two elevators and began ascending to the ground.

The Half-Mountain Hotel was a scene of utter devastation; shattered glass and dust were scattered everywhere. Sun Zhongliang walked directly over them and out of the hotel, looking down at Wushan Town below, and was momentarily stunned.

A vast river of stars flowed across the dim sky, stretching from a distance all the way to above the hotel. The brilliant starlight shimmered like a dream, like ribbons from a fairy tale. Beneath it, in the ravaged urban ruins, there were traces of battles and slaughter everywhere. Strange roots and flesh were strewn across the ground, resembling horrifying alien species that made one’s scalp tingle at a glance.

At this moment, a large group of survivors, protected by the starlight, was steadily approaching the area.

“Director! There are so many survivors in this group!”

The staff’s eyes lit up upon seeing this wave of people. “In that case, the total should be close to 40,000 people…”

Forty thousand, yet even that was less than half of Sun Zhongliang’s original estimate…

Sun Zhongliang’s attention was currently fixed on the brilliant river of stars. The starlight was reflected in his eyes as he murmured:

“Stars… Is that Lu Xun? Has he also come to Wushan?”

“Everyone, we’re almost there.”

Lu Xun walked among the people, pointing towards the Half-Mountain Hotel ahead.

Lu Xun, enveloped in starlight, had become the backbone and spiritual pillar of these survivors. They had miraculously survived the nuclear strike, endured the disaster, and ultimately lived.

Just as Lord Tian Shu had said… none of them would die.

“Lord Tian Shu, that just looks like a hotel… Can it accommodate all of us?” someone asked worriedly.

Lu Xun smiled slightly. “It’s not just a hotel. Beneath the mountain, there’s a large base that can accommodate all of you for a period of time.”

As soon as he said this, everyone’s eyes lit up!

“That’s great, it’s a base!! We’re safe!!”

“We survived… We actually survived!!”

“Thank you, Lord Tian Shu!! Thank you, Lord Tian Shu!!!!”

Having endured all their hardships, the people finally smiled upon seeing a sanctuary that could shelter them. They excitedly called out to each other, quickening their pace significantly.

At this moment, Lu Xun’s figure slowly came to a halt.

“It’s just ahead… You all go on first.”

“Lord Tian Shu, aren’t you coming with us?”

“I still have something to take care of.”

“Understood, Lord Tian Shu must be going to save more people!”

Lu Xun smiled but didn’t answer. He simply stood quietly, allowing the excited crowd to run past him and rush towards the Half-Mountain Hotel.

As the crowd surged forward, Lu Xun slowly raised his head and looked at the hotel entrance from a distance…

His gaze met Sun Zhongliang’s across the distance.

Seeing Lu Xun among the crowd, Sun Zhongliang felt an inexplicable wave of guilt. Although the research concerning the Nine Monarchs was not initiated by him, nor could he interfere with it, he feared that in Lu Xun’s heart, he had long been seen as a hypocrite and that Lu Xun had become completely disillusioned with Bureau 749.

He wanted to explain something to Lu Xun in person, but the next moment, Lu Xun turned and walked away.

Sun Zhongliang let out a long sigh.

Sun Zhongliang knew he owed Lu Xun, but he didn’t know how to explain or how to make amends…

As the last large group of survivors approached the Half-Mountain Hotel, the river of stars flowing in the sky gradually dissipated, leaving only scattered remnants of starlight, drifting like fireflies above the ruins. The desolation of the apocalypse intertwined with the dreamy stars, as if civilization had sunk in war but found eternal life in spirit.

Staff members stepped forward one after another, guiding the survivors into the underground facility. During this time, Sun Zhongliang heard the name “Lord Tian Shu” repeatedly.

“Excuse me, who is Lord Tian Shu?” Sun Zhongliang asked, stopping a young man.

“Lord Tian Shu? He’s the person who just left, the one who led us,” Brother Pao said, pointing in the direction Lu Xun had gone. “He sheltered everyone in the refuge and then led us all the way out…”

“Yes, if it weren’t for Lord Tian Shu, we would have died hundreds of times over.”

“Lord Tian Shu must be an envoy sent by God, specifically to rescue us from this sea of suffering…”

“He also has many other companions, who must also be ‘Monarchs,’ but unfortunately, we still don’t know their names…”

“I just chatted with Lord Tian Shu for a bit. He said he lived in Wushan when he was a child, so he’s half a local!”

“What a coincidence?? No wonder he specifically came to save us…”

“If we can go back this time, I’ll have to set up a memorial tablet for Lord Tian Shu… Otherwise, I truly wouldn’t know how to repay his life-saving kindness.”

“Forget a memorial tablet, we could all build a temple for him in Wushan.”

When discussing Lord Tian Shu, the people around them all brightened up, chattering excitedly. The survivors who had come from other shelters knew nothing of Lord Tian Shu. Upon hearing this, they were astonished… Only then did they realize that the widespread starlight that had protected them was, in fact, Lord Tian Shu’s power.

“By the way, is this base big enough to accommodate all of us?”

“Yes, it is,” a staff member beside them patiently explained. “We just finished surveying it. There are thirteen underground levels here, and the space on each level is enormous. Accommodating 40,000 people will be no problem at all.”

“There’s also enough food and water here, normally enough for this many people for more than half a month.”

“That’s good.”

Brother Pao in the crowd suddenly asked, “Does this base have a name?”

“Seve—” Sun Zhongliang was about to say “7012 Underground Project,” but he suddenly realized that the underground base had completely changed. The original 7012 area was now less than one percent of the entire complex.

This was an unregistered, brand new super shelter, and the last haven for all Wushan survivors.

“…It has a name.”

Sun Zhongliang looked at the scattered stars above Wushan and slowly spoke:

“Let’s call it… Tian Shu Base.”