My girlfriend died in the past

Chapter 340 I've Made Up My Mind

Zhuang Xiao followed Ling, making many twists and turns, and had gone a long way without arriving at their destination.

He was quite curious, "Just how big is this place?"

Come to think of it, he's never even left this building.

Lingbian led the way with elegant steps, explaining, "The exact size is unknown, as this place has undergone several expansions and renovations, but one of the goals after its final completion is to be able to accommodate the normal lives and work of more than 500,000 people."

Zhuang Xiao nodded, "That's definitely big enough."

Back then, the headquarters of large companies were also very large, and it is said that they could accommodate tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people to work and live.

But 500,000 people. He had only heard of similar things in science fiction before.

"So, are we just going to walk there? Aren't there any conveyor belts or moving carts or anything like that?"

Ling shook her head slightly, "They used to exist, but due to the lack of maintenance over time, those machines are no longer usable."

Zhuang Xiao clicked her tongue. "Then shall we walk there?"

Upon hearing this, Ling stopped and turned around, tilting her head slightly to look at Zhuang Xiao.

Zhuang Xiao felt uncomfortable under her gaze, and her first reaction was to look down at her pants to see if she had forgotten to zip them up.

But he was wearing a tight-fitting shirt and his pants didn't have a zipper, and he didn't have time to puff out his pants right now, so it shouldn't be a problem.

"What. What's wrong?"

“I’m thinking,” Zero calmly explained. “I’m thinking, could you carry me on my back and I carry you across?”

Zhuang Xiao's eyes lit up. "Is that okay?"

He has ridden bicycles, motorcycles, and electric scooters. He has also ridden horses and cows while traveling, but he has never ridden a bionic robot.

Zero nodded slowly. "Okay."

After it finished speaking, its body suddenly swayed, and then sparks flew from the exposed mechanical parts where the bionic skin was destroyed.

At this moment, it seemed to have become a flickering candle in the wind.

"bring it on."

It turned its back slightly, bent its knees, and even stretched its broken arms behind it, as if to say, "I can do it."

As it was speaking, its petite and slender body swayed again, as if it would collapse to the ground at any moment and never be able to get up again.

Zhuang Xiao: "."

How the hell are you supposed to ride this?!

"Never mind, let's keep going."

Ling straightened up and asked, "Are you sure you don't need me to carry you?"

"No way, I'll probably have to carry you then." Zhuang Xiao rolled her eyes.

Zero calmly replied, "Without activating the micro-levitation field, I weigh 1.5 tons. You probably can't carry me."

"..." Zhuang Xiao sighed helplessly, "Then you still say you can help solve physiological problems? I'm afraid you'll just crush me to death."

Zero calmly explained, "I have a micro-levitation position."

So that's what you're using your micro-levitation stance for!

"Forget it, let's hurry up and finish this as soon as possible."

After a pause, Zhuang Xiao asked suspiciously, "Don't tell me you're trying to stall for time? Do you not want me to see them? Or is there some problem on their end?"

"everything is normal."

Zero's expression vanished, and countless green data streams flashed through his electronic eyes. "According to the data, you tend to overthink unnecessary things, so based on our judgment, this is your conjecture."

"Okay." Zhuang Xiao decided to remain silent for now. "Let's go over there first and talk about it later."

Ling bowed slightly, "Your will."

They walked in silence for more than two hours before finally arriving at their destination.

Zhuang Xiao rubbed her arms and looked at the alloy gate at the end of the road. "It's suddenly gotten much colder here."

"This is normal because there are a large number of dormant cryogenic chambers here."

Ling turned around and pressed a few times on Zhuang Xiao's clothes, and Zhuang Xiao instantly felt her body warm up.

"This is?"

"This is the temperature control system of your nano combat suit. Since you haven't undergone physical modification, you can't activate it with your mind."

After explaining, Zero stood in front of the alloy door. "Then, I will open the door to the hibernation chamber shortly. Please be prepared."

Zhuang Xiao nodded, "It's been prepared for a long time."

Upon hearing this, Zero operated the control panel next to the alloy door for a while, and then a bright blue light shone down from the door, scanning their bodies.

A moment later, with a "beep" sound, the alloy door slowly opened.

"Please come with me."

Ling nodded and led Zhuang Xiao into the hibernation pod.

Looking at the rows and rows of thousands of hibernation pods that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, Zhuang Xiao was astonished. "How many people are there?"

"376,127 people."

Zero uttered a cold, hard number: "But due to the passage of time, there are now less than a thousand people still alive."

Zhuang Xiao fell silent.

Then an indescribable sense of horror washed over me.

Perhaps it was a case of sympathy for one's own kind, but a sudden, inexplicable fear and sorrow arose deep within him.

Looking at this vast, seemingly endless hibernation chamber now...
This isn't a hibernation chamber! It's a giant graveyard!

Here lies a mass grave containing hundreds of thousands of corpses!
Taking a deep breath, Zhuang Xiao slowly asked, "So... Dong Zeyu and the others are still alive?"

"Please follow me, they are further inside, and they are still maintaining vital signs." Zero led Zhuang Xiao into the "mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood".

Zhuang Xiao glanced sideways and saw that everyone in those cryogenic chambers looked lifelike.

There were elderly people, young people, and children.

The elderly man had white hair and a kind face. He probably spends his time playing chess and exercising in the neighborhood, enjoying a leisurely retirement.

That young man had thinning hair and dark circles under his eyes; he was probably a corporate slave who worked overtime every day, and was probably still worrying about his mortgage and dowry.

And that child, he even had a tattered red scarf on his chest, and the two stripes of the Young Pioneers squad leader pinned to his arm.

In school, he would probably be a good student who is liked by the teachers.

But now, they are all dead.

Perhaps before they entered hibernation, they still harbored longings, fantasies, and hopes for the future, imagining that when they opened their eyes again, everything would be beautiful once more.

But now, they have no future.

Suppressing the indescribable feelings in his heart, Zhuang Xiao silently followed behind Zero through the vast number of corpses to a heavy metal door.

After being scanned, the two walked through the open door.

After passing through a kilometer-long corridor and seven or eight metal doors, the two finally arrived at a small room.

There are only five hibernation pods in this room.

Moreover, it looks very high-end; it's definitely much better than the ones you find elsewhere.

But it's probably not as good as the one Zhuang Xiao used.

As soon as Zhuang Xiao entered, he immediately bypassed Zero to observe the hibernation pods.

Through the glass, he saw several familiar faces inside: Shu Die, Dong Weirui, Gu Shiyue, An Lan, and Dong Zeyu.

They still had young faces, only more mature than Zhuang Xiao remembered.

"Great"

Zhuang Xiao suddenly felt a wave of weakness wash over him, as if all the energy that had been supporting his body had been completely exhausted.

Slowly sitting down on the ground, Zhuang Xiao didn't even realize that tears were streaming down her cheeks.

He simply murmured, "That's great."

A hand gently stroked his head and then patted it softly.

Zhuang Xiao could no longer contain his long-suppressed emotions and buried his face in Ling's arms, bursting into tears.

There was no one else here, so no one could see his weakness.

He no longer needs to hide himself and can freely express his emotions.

Just a few months ago, he was just an ordinary person who went to work and came home every day.

Then one thing after another came, and the immense pressure made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He cried for an unknown amount of time, his voice gradually weakened, and then his throbbing shoulders stopped heaving.

"Thank you."

He whispered his thanks, then stood up again, wiped away his tears, and his reddened eyes showed only his unwavering determination and resolve.

He just didn't see the look in Zero's eyes as he watched his back.

There was an uncontrollable, human tenderness in his eyes.

When he turned around, Zero had already returned to his original form.

Why didn't my parents go into the hibernation pod?

His voice also regained its composure.

According to Zero, Shu Die and the others actually uploaded their consciousness several years after his accident.

His parents should still be alive at that time, and they should have been in hibernation pods by now.

He originally thought that the elderly were not allowed to enter the hibernation pods because of insufficient resources, and the opportunity was to be reserved for the young.

But he saw many elderly people in the large hibernation chamber outside, which means that the elderly are actually allowed to enter the hibernation chamber.

“They gave up on themselves,” Zero replied. “They wanted to leave the opportunity to the younger generation, and because of you, they chose to give up and died during the first wave of deaths.”

Zhuang Xiao fell silent, standing motionless.

He can understand his parents' choice, but he finds it hard to accept.

My parents probably felt that they had become a family that had lost their only child, and had completely lost hope for the future, so they simply chose to give up.

"Can you take me to see them?" Zhuang Xiao's voice was devoid of emotion.

"Okay, please come with me."

After taking one last look at the few people lying in the hibernation pods as if they were asleep, Zhuang Xiao hardened her heart, turned around, and left with Zero.

The gate closed behind them, and silence returned.

Just like it has been for over a hundred years.
-
On the low-altitude hovercar, Zhuang Xiao opened the window and stuck her hand out to feel the warm spring breeze.

Zero, who was driving, glanced at him and then asked, "Would you like some tissues?"

Zhuang Xiao was taken aback. "Why do you need tissues?"

"The database says that if you stick your arm out the window horizontally while sitting in a car with a piece of paper in your palm, you can feel the different textures of a woman's bra cups depending on the car's speed. Do you need me to speed things up?"

"..." Zhuang Xiao's forehead was covered in black lines. "Where the hell did you hear this bullshit theory? It's all fake! Also, I was thinking that the environment has become better than when I was here, and even the air is much fresher."

"Because there are no 'humans' around, the ecosystem has recovered a lot."

Zero responded to his question first, then asked curiously, "How do you know that theory is wrong? Have you experienced the real feeling?"

“No.” After a moment of silence, Zhuang Xiao simply gave up and said, “I tried your method when I was in a friend’s car before, and he told me that the theory was wrong and that it was actually very different.”

Zero-calm retort: ​​"That's very lifelike."

"Hmm?" Zhuang Xiao glanced sideways, then stared at it with a suspicious look. "Did you... load an emotion module? You seem more like a 'person' now."

"Perhaps it's just a misconception you have because you're lonely."

Ling met his gaze calmly and said, "If you have any physical needs, I can help you."

"This is a matter of life and death! Can we please stop talking about physical needs? It's like I only have lewd thoughts on my mind!" Zhuang Xiao almost lost her temper. "Girl! We're talking about saving the world right now!"

"Your will." Zero remained silent.

They remained silent for the rest of the journey, and before sunset, the two arrived at Panlong Cemetery.

This place is already very dilapidated.

Yet it is also brimming with vitality, a realm where all things flourish.

These two feelings are conflicting, yet surprisingly harmonious.

"Devastated" means that the human-built structures here have been reduced to mere ruins.

The vibrant life here refers to the fact that the area is now covered with a large amount of vegetation, including the tombstones.

After getting off the car, Ling led Zhuang Xiao through a row of tombstones and finally stopped in front of the largest tombstone in the cemetery.

It went forward and cleared away the vegetation covering the tombstone, and then Zhuang Xiao saw her parents' names on the tombstone.

And there are those black and white photos of my parents, seemingly faded by time.

The two people in the photo are smiling happily, and they look similar to Zhuang Xiao's parents in her memory.

"They chose this photo themselves, saying that if you wake up one day, they can see your familiar face when they come here to sweep your grave."

Zhuang Xiao remained silent, simply listening quietly to Ling's voice.

"Your parents left a will stating that they would only tell you when you wake up and come here to sweep their graves on your own."

Zhuang Xiao didn't even turn her head. "What last words?"

"First and foremost, it belongs to your mother."

Ling's voice suddenly changed; it was the familiar voice of Zhuang Xiao's mother.

“Son, all I want is for you to live a happy life. Don’t think about such grand things. It’s not your fault. You don’t need to feel guilty. As long as you live a good life, I’ll be satisfied.”

Zhuang Xiao pursed her lips, her voice trembling slightly, "Where is my dad's?"

"Next is your father's."

Zero's voice became Zhuang Xiao's father's voice, and even the tone was exactly the same as Zhuang Xiao remembered.

“What your mother said is what I also wanted to say, but son, your parents will not force you to live for us. Make your own choice, and whatever you want to do, your parents will always support you and will always be proud of you.”

Zhuang Xiao didn't speak, but turned her head to look at the setting sun on the distant horizon.

The setting sun seemed to bathe him and the tombstone in a warm golden hue.

A gentle breeze swept by, and Zhuang Xiao opened her arms as if she were being embraced by her parents.

After a long while, the wind stopped.

Zhuang Xiao turned around, a relaxed smile on her face like never before. "I've made up my mind."

He paused, then his smile widened. "Zero, I've already made my choice."

(End of this chapter)