The Source of Chaos

Desolate, deserted streets were littered with uncollected trash. Broken-down vehicles lay abandoned across overgrown thoroughfares, and the dark stains on the metal lamp posts made it hard to tell whether they were rust or dried blood. Shattered storefront windows could be seen everywhere. Paralyzed android mannequins still wore the tattered remnants of styles that had been trendy two centuries ago, yet not a single living soul was in sight. This area had never suffered bombardment from heavy artillery, and the main structures of most buildings remained intact. Even so, it had ultimately fallen into ruin. "...It should be just up ahead." Holding a map and checking it against the surrounding buildings, Sesame Paste led the way at the front of the group. According to the Scientific Expedition's intel, the entrance to Shelter 79 was located at No. 79 Xiangling Street in the Eastern District of Ruigu City—a municipal library. As for the exact entrance, the documents provided no specific details, stating only in brief text that residents arriving at the evacuation zone should follow the administrator's arrangements and enter the shelter under the guidance of security personnel. Presumably, this had been done out of safety considerations. Walking beside Sesame Paste, broad-framed Rourou poked her head around to scan their surroundings and muttered softly, "What a pity..." "A pity?" Sitting on her shoulder, Tail tilted her head. "It just feels like the city itself is still fine, but the people are gone." "Oh, right," Tail said, rubbing her chin with an index finger in deep thought. "Why didn't everyone come back to live here after the war ended?" Sisi pondered for a moment. "Ummm... maybe because there were no people left?" Rourou: "..." Sesame Paste: "Ah... haha." Although Sisi had merely repeated Rourou's words, she didn't consider it nonsense. Just as she had seen upon entering the city, what destroyed this place had not been the war itself, but the chaos triggered by it. The scarcity of a whole host of resources—including food, water, electricity, and fuel—had turned this place into a concrete jungle far crueler than any primeval forest. In particular, the third year of the war had plunged the planet into a Little Ice Age that lasted half a century. Once most people evacuated the cities, mutants quickly moved in, nesting inside high-rises, roaming among the ruins, and hunting in the dark. Wastelanders walking through here never knew whether opening a door would reveal a cockroach longer than a human leg, a swarm of bloodsucking rats grinding their teeth, or... Something even more terrifying. "Shh..." The cat ears atop Sesame Paste's head twitched slightly. She raised a finger to her lips, gesturing for her companions to be quiet. Keeping her footsteps light, she crept to the intersection at the end of the street, crouched behind the door of an abandoned car, and peered toward the corner on the left. In an instant, the colossal creature that met her eyes made her hold her breath. A Deathclaw! Dark green scales covered its entire body. A frame nearly six meters tall stretched across the street, its tail coiled in front of it. Judging by size alone, this beast was considerably larger than the "Neko" outside Shelter 404, and its claws were much sharper. It was likely a different breed. Its heavy snorts bent the nearby shrubs back and forth, and the deep, rumbling snores suggested it was asleep. Sesame Paste's expression stiffened slightly as she noticed two mangled, bloody corpses lying beside its razor-sharp claws. She wasn't sure whether an RPG could inflict meaningful damage on a monster like this. If an ambush failed, their party could be wiped out in an instant. Tiptoeing back, she returned to her companions and whispered nervously, "It's a deathclaw... It's blocking the library entrance." Sisi rubbed her chin, looking grim. "No wonder we didn't spot any other mutants nearby." Rourou asked anxiously, "Then... what do we do?" "Don't worry, that's not the only way in," Sisi said, pulling out a paper map and studying it for a moment. "A frontal assault is too risky... Let's circle around to the parking garage behind the library and climb over the wall from there." A Deathclaw's instincts for danger were extraordinarily sharp. She had seen one with her own eyes once: fast asleep one second, leaping up the next to swat aside an incoming RPG rocket with a single swipe of its paw. Yeah, she had been the one who fired that rocket. Immediately after, she and Tail had been obliterated by the charging Deathclaw. That was several game versions ago. Creatures with such absurd combat prowess couldn't be measured by common sense. If they had been near Dawn City, they would have called in an airstrike. Unfortunately, this was Ruigu City, far away from any save points or respawn spots. They had to avoid taking even the slightest risk. The group altered their route, following an adjacent street around to the parking lot behind the Municipal Library. To Sisi's surprise, however, the area wasn't as deserted as it appeared from outside—a survivor settlement was actually tucked away here! Easily two to three hundred households lived here, forming a settlement of considerable size. Right under the Deathclaw's nose! "Halt!" Standing atop a perimeter wall reinforced with steel bars and wooden planks, a man in a studded jacket barked down at them in a low voice. He clutched a shotgun, his eyes fixed warily on the thick-furred white bear, as well as the ammunition belt and light machine gun mounted on its back. Anxiety and tension flickered across his face. Although only three women stood outside the wall, he wasn't naive enough to believe that women capable of taming such a formidable beast and traveling the wasteland on their own were pushovers. "Easy there, we don't mean any harm." Sisi glanced at the shotgun in the man's hands, then at the iron pipes held by the survivors behind him, paying them little heed. After resupplying, she had equipped a new set of body armor. Crude pipe rifles whose bullets moved practically in Brownian motion posed no threat to her at all. "Who are you? The Legion? Or Enterprise?" the man atop the wall demanded nervously. "Neither. We're wastelanders from neighboring Qingquan City." The survivors behind the man exchanged startled glances. "Qingquan City?" "I went there when I was young... There's a Boulder City over that way. They use plastic chips as currency, and you can buy peppermint-scented soap!" "For real?" "Really! I heard you get three full meals a day just for doing ordinary work!" "There's really a deal that good?!" Listening to the murmurs behind him, the man eyed Sisi suspiciously, but he lowered his barrel and softened his hostility. "The Legion doesn't seem to have women... Well, whoever you are, as long as you're not with them, that's fine." Pausing, the man introduced himself briefly. "I'm Wu Tao, a hunter from Xiangling Town... and the mayor here." "What happened here?" Sisi asked, looking up at him. "A lot has happened. You really picked the wrong time to come... Did you see that airship to the northwest?" Sisi nodded. Not only had they seen it, but a few days ago they had fought against the people who came down from it. "The Legion came here?" "More than just came here," Wu Tao sneered. "Just the day before yesterday, over a hundred of those bandits showed up, claiming Enterprise troops were looting and burning nearby, telling us to move to their camp for 'protection'... Like hell anyone would believe their garbage. "We've lived here for over a century. Even if mutants showed up, let alone Enterprise, we wouldn't budge! So those bastards started torching the place..." The man cursed vehemently. Frowning, Sisi prompted, "And then?" "Then that thing showed up..." With that, Wu Tao cast a fearful glance behind him, though his gaze wasn't on the library, but past the building's roof. Knowing what he meant, Sisi asked in slight surprise, "That Deathclaw?" Wu Tao nodded with a complicated expression. "Yeah. No idea where it crawled out from, but thanks to that beast, the Legion left behind a few corpses and the rest ran for their lives." Sisi asked, "Aren't you afraid of the Deathclaw...?" "Of course we are! But that airship is still up there, and we're worried the Legion will come back." Wu Tao sighed, his tone helpless. "After watching it pick those corpses clean, we tossed it some mutant hyenas and rats. The beast isn't picky, so it set up camp right by the library entrance... We don't know how long it'll stay, but every peaceful day counts. None of the scouts we sent toward the Legion have come back, so it's hard not to wonder if they ran into trouble." Sisi figured the Legion was probably reluctant to waste a 400mm shell on the beast. Otherwise, even a Deathclaw couldn't survive a direct hit from a weapon meant for army-scale destruction. "Our story's done. Now it's your turn," Wu Tao stared at Sisi and pressed, "Since you aren't Legion, Enterprise, or merchants... what are you doing here?" "We're looking for Shelter 79." Sisi didn't hide anything and stated their purpose plainly. She thought the man might know something, but upon hearing the word 'shelter,' his face went completely blank. The reaction clearly wasn't feigned; it was an instinctive response. Not only him—even the young survivors behind him wore expressions of complete ignorance, having never heard of it. "A shelter... There's no shelter around here." Wu Tao looked at Sisi strangely. "This is Xiangling Town, and that building is the Municipal Library. Who'd build a shelter inside a library? Did you get the wrong place?" "Huh?! It's not here?" Tail unfolded the map in shock, repeatedly verifying that the coordinates and street number matched. Sisi frowned slightly. "That shouldn't be... We came here based on reliable intel." "Well, I wouldn't know. I've lived here since I was a kid, nearly thirty years now," Wu Tao said, shaking his head. "A few days ago, our former mayor packed up his valuables and ran off with a caravan heading west. If he were still here, maybe he could have told you something." "There really isn't one..." A troubled look crossed Sesame Paste's face. Refusing to give up, Sisi asked, "Could you let us go inside and take a look?" "You can, but you'll have to leave your weapons behind," Wu Tao said warily, eyeing the assault rifle in her hands. "There's no way we're letting you carry that kind of firepower into our homes." Without a word, Sisi tossed a heavy pouch of gold coins onto the wall. "That's not happening. Let's make another deal. Here are a hundred dinars. We won't use your food or water. All we need is a room to stay in. We'll leave at first light tomorrow morning and won't disturb anyone." She had looted this pouch from Legion soldiers. Searching containers and looting corpses was practically a sacred tradition for players. As detestable as the Legion was, those gleaming gold coins—one of the wasteland's two major circulating currencies—were impossible to hate. Staring at the pouch sitting on the wall, Wu Tao swallowed hard and exchanged glances with the residents behind him. "Should we let them in?" "It's only for one day... shouldn't cause any trouble." "What's there to be afraid of? They're just three young girls... plus a bear at most." "Right, that bear! We can't let that thing inside!" Wu Tao turned back toward the group outside the wall. "Fine... but your pet will terrify our people. It has to stay outside." "She isn't a pet, she's our companion," Sisi corrected him. "But that's fine. We weren't planning on all going inside anyway." With that, she turned to her companions and smoothly switched languages. "Rourou, Tail, could you two wait for us outside? Sesame Paste and I will head in and take a look. It might take a bit of time, but we should be out before eight tomorrow morning." "I don't think those people are lying," Sesame Paste hesitated. "Could something be wrong with our intel? Maybe Shelter 79 really isn't here." "Whether it's here or not, the last clue pointed to this spot. Following standard RPG conventions, the key to the next dungeon is most likely here. Let's head in and check it out first." A shelter didn't necessarily have only one entrance. Shelter 404 had two—one connected to the subway, and the other to the sanatorium in the park. Perhaps Shelter 79's entrance at the library was sealed and never used again, and the residents had departed through another exit. Of course, that was merely her speculation. She simply felt the game developers wouldn't design a completely pointless scene. "Right! No problem!" Tail nodded eagerly, thumping her chest. "Leave it to Tail!" Rourou said worriedly, "If you run into danger, remember to shout for help." Sisi smiled warmly and gently patted the furry head. "Don't worry, nothing will happen." ... The reinforced wall had no gate, only a wooden ladder lowered from above to climb inside. Entering the unfamiliar survivor settlement, Sesame Paste felt slightly tense, but seeing the elderly and children around the camp helped her relax a little. The presence of the elderly and children proved this wasn't a marauder den or a slaver outpost. The people here might not be as open-minded as those in Dawn City, but they at least possessed a baseline moral compass. Following Wu Tao's lead, the two crossed a parking lot piled with household trash and supermarket shopping carts, entering the library through the back door. The library's interior was remarkably spacious, framed by concrete structures resembling a fortress. At the center lay a courtyard nearly a hundred meters wide, topped by a skylight framed with crisscrossing rebar that had likely once held large panes of glass. The square, enclosed layout allowed ample sunlight into the center of the library, where local residents cultivated various crops. In addition, clotheslines holding freshly washed garments hung along the walkways surrounding the courtyard, and rows of shacks constructed from sheet metal or wooden boards lined the perimeter. While privacy was practically nonexistent, the residents living here didn't seem to care. Sesame Paste glanced around inquisitively, fascinated by the locals' lifestyle, while the residents eyed her curiously in return—especially the pair of cat ears atop her head. They had seen plenty of strange people before. Yet having ears on top of one's head was a first. Walking ahead with his shotgun slung over his shoulder, Wu Tao explained the situation to Sisi, describing how they had survived over the past century and what supplies their settlement lacked. The woman had mentioned earlier that she was from Qingquan City. Though he had never been there, he had heard that survivor settlements in major cities were usually wealthier, not to mention that Boulder City where anything could be bought. If they passed by this way next time, they could bring more soap and fertilizer to trade for local game or specialty crops. While now wasn't the time to discuss business, he was the mayor now, and he had to look beyond immediate concerns. He believed that one day the Legion would leave this godforsaken wasteland, and when that time came, the people here would return to their regular lives. That was also why he had accepted the pouch of gold coins. "We've lived here since around Year 50 of the Wasteland Era. My grandfather told me this library had quite a history, dating back to the early days of the Human Alliance... Why did you think a shelter was hidden underneath? There isn't even a basement here." "It's fine. Even if there isn't, consider it just satisfying our curiosity," Sisi said, looking around. "By the way, are the books still here?" Wu Tao replied, "Most are gone, but some are well preserved. Past mayors followed ancestral instructions to keep surviving books on the second-floor shelves. Even though the last mayor ran off, I intend to uphold that tradition." Sisi's interest was piqued. "Could you take me to see them?" Wu Tao nodded. "Sure, but on one condition: you can't take them, and you definitely can't damage them. I'm not joking—if you do anything bad to those books, misfortune will find you quickly... Something like that happened before." "I swear on my life," Sisi said, blinking. "I'll cherish those books as much as my own life." Perhaps moved by her sincerity, Wu Tao stood stunned for a few seconds. Snapping back to reality, he cleared his throat. "No need to be so dramatic... Since you put it that way, follow me." ... Wu Tao led the pair to the second floor and left them there. Looking at the rows of aluminum alloy bookshelves and the wide array of books, Sesame Paste wore a hesitant expression. "Could clues about Shelter 79 really be hidden in these books?" Sisi shook her head. "I don't know, but these books are probably the only records that survived the catastrophe two centuries ago... Maybe we'll find something." Pulling a book off the shelf at random, Sisi flipped through it, but her expression soon froze. Although she could manage basic daily communication in halting Human Alliance language and recognize some of its characters, she was far from being able to read it fluently. Her camera had a simultaneous translation function, but in offline mode, the amount of text it could process was severely limited. Just as she was feeling stumped, an unfamiliar voice drifted faintly from behind the bookshelf in front of her. "I don't understand. Why are you so persistent in looking for Shelter 79? The residents here already told you—the shelter isn't here. "Besides, it's a shelter, not a vault. There are no valuable treasures hidden inside. Even if you went, you'd only come away empty-handed." The voice was raspy, like sandpaper rubbing against a wall, giving both of them a fright. "Who's there?" Sesame Paste gripped her gun nervously. Sisi reacted even more swiftly, darting around the bookshelf. Yet she saw no speaker, only an antique, crudely crafted radio sitting on a table. Surprise flickered across her eyes. She quickly looked left and right, searching for cameras in the room, but found nothing. "Don't bother looking around. I'm not here, and whether I am or not doesn't matter anyway." The person behind the radio let out a mischievous chuckle and continued in a teasing tone, "You'd be better off paying attention to my question. What if I'm the gate's security program? Your suspicious reaction just now is enough reason for me to lock the doors tight." "Si..." Stepping up beside Sisi and noticing the radio on the desk, Sesame Paste looked at her companion nervously. She couldn't understand a word coming from the radio, but the voice gave her a bad feeling. "Leave it to me..." Giving her a reassuring look, Sisi faced the radio and spoke. "We came here on orders from the Administrator." "The Administrator..." The radio hissed with static before continuing thoughtfully, "You're shelter residents?" "Yes." Sisi nodded, her tone sincere. "We're from Shelter 404 in Qingquan City... Do you have any information regarding Shelter 79? This is very important to us." "Uh-huh, very important... And what do you plan to do with it?" the radio asked glibly. Sisi answered solemnly, "If people are still inside, we'll help them. If they're gone, we'll continue their unfinished mission... and revive our civilization." A soft chuckle came from the radio, like fingernails scraping across a blackboard, grating on the nerves. Sesame Paste took an uneasy step back, and Sisi's brow furrowed slightly. Before long, however, the laughter turned into a faint sigh. "If what you seek is knowledge, the books beside you are enough to study for a lifetime. If you harbor such... naive ideals as reviving civilization, then you really shouldn't have come here." Before Sisi could speak, it continued: "Shelter 79 is not the kind of place you imagine. From the very beginning, it was never meant to shelter anyone." Sisi sensed an underlying meaning in those words. Swallowing hard, she asked earnestly, "What kind of place... is it really?" "It is the source of chaos." The raspy voice seemed lost in distant memories, though in the end, it dissolved into a helpless, self-mocking sigh. "At least half the savagery across this land can be traced back to me."