After resting for about two minutes, Hesta stood up again and prepared to move forward with the cart.
"Well," Anna's voice sounded again, Hesta turned around and saw Anna holding another cigarette between the index and middle fingers of her right hand. She shook her right hand, her eyes narrowed into a line because of her smile, "Do you mind? Do you mind if I...?"
"...Whatever." Hesta looked away without caring.
The old-fashioned lighter clicked, and Anna lit the cigarette on her fingertips. She looked back and forth. The road leading to the dock was wide and empty at the moment. Most of the tourists had already chosen to evacuate due to the previous alarm and the strange explosion underground. Only Hesta was leading her along.
Anna looked at Hesta's back, "When you stood up just now, I thought you were going to rush down."
Hesta snorted, "With my... appearance, I can go... wherever I go. If I do, it will just... cause chaos."
Anna looked at Hesta's back and smiled: "You are very clear about carrying it. If they were able to escape unharmed, but you went down and they were dragged down, it would be bad if something changes again. .”
Hesta stopped and turned back with a red face, all the hair around her ears stuck to her wet face.
"Excuse me?" Hesta glared at Anna, "Who do you think is a drag?"
Anna blinked in time, looked away, and lit the ashes leisurely.
Hesta kept going.
"Your name is Jane, right?"
Hestad didn't look back.
"The little girl who carried me up just now said that your companions on the Shengming sent you a message, asking you not to linger outside, and to board the ship as soon as possible... It is for this reason that you wanted to go as soon as possible. Are you boarding the ship?"
Hesta still didn't answer.
Ana held up her face, "But are you sure the person who sent you the message is really your companion?"
Hesta was still walking forward, and Anna looked at her. For a moment, Hesta seemed to hesitate for a moment...but it happened so short that Anna was not sure whether she was wrong.
After another forty meters, Hesta stopped to rest again.
"There are... four choices," Hesta said suddenly, "Go down to find people, stay where you are, evacuate with the tourists... and get on the boat."
"uh-huh."
"Going down to look for people... won't work, as I said just now." Hesta's eyes were half-opened, "Staying where you are is not a good option. If... there is indeed a chelate underneath, it is very likely to come from Some escape route - even one from near us - is coming out... so we'd better... get out of that place."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
"Next, should we retreat with the crowd towards... the land, or... move closer to the ship..."
Hesta gasped and frowned. She stretched out her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead and threw a small piece of water on the ground. At this moment, Anna handed over a silver kettle.
"Thank you." Hesta unscrewed the lid, and just as he was about to bring it to his mouth, he suddenly sniffed the mouth of the pot, "...is it wine?"
"right."
Hesta glanced at Anna in disbelief. She screwed the lid back on and threw the silver pot back into Anna's arms.
Ana caught the kettle and took a big sip herself, "You haven't finished what you just said."
"If the text message is true, then...boarding the ship is the right choice; if not, then I...can't go towards land."
"Why?"
"The chelate alarm has... been ringing for so long, and no other mercury needles have come over... I should appear in a prominent position instead of hiding in a sea of people." Hesta looked at Anna, "Otherwise , do you want those ordinary people... to be... implicated because of my personal cowardice?"
Ana smacked her lips for a while: "...So you took me with you?"
"What do you think?"
"I thought you were trying to protect me from harm?"
"Am I familiar with you? I protect you from harm..."
Anna smiled and said, "Anyway, thank you for not leaving me where I am...you could have walked faster."
"You're welcome, and it's not because of you," Hesta stood up again and held the handle of the trailer again, "How did you and Si Lei... meet?"
"Si Lei? Oh, you said that police officer..." Anna thought for a while, "I think I don't know her, do I?"
"Forget it, when I..." Hesta started walking again, and she squeezed out two words through her teeth, "I didn't say it."
The ship in the distance gradually turned into a concrete behemoth. The crew on the deck obviously saw Hesta and Anna who were slowly approaching the dock. They separated some people and ran towards Hesta with the wheelchair on the ship. go.
"Do you know where the name 'Shengming' came from, Jane?"
"……have no idea."
"This is the reign name of an ancient emperor in the South Fourteenth District. He and everything of his time left a profound mark in the history of the South Fourteenth District," Anna said softly, "This passenger ship is named after him. The naming of the year is probably in the hope that the opening of this ship will revitalize the tourism industry in the Fourteenth District, just like Emperor Shengming opened a prosperous era during the Zhou and Jin Dynasties."
"Really?" Hesta responded absently.
"But actually, after this ship left District 14, it had another name, an unofficial nickname." Anna paused, "Do you know what it is called?"
Hesta stopped. She saw several crew members in uniforms not far away pushing wheelchairs towards her. She breathed a sigh of relief and squatted down next to Anna with relief.
"……what is it call?"
"The Alecto," Anna said with a smile, "is the mythical character you mentioned in the exhibition hall, the punisher, Alecto."
…
"Where have Si Lei and Turan gone?"
"They were in escape tunnels 2 and 16, at the very back of the queue."
"Is there a picture? Pull it up and take a look."
In a control room somewhere in the East Alpha area on the first floor of the seabed, Qianye was staring at the screen in front of him alone. Si Lei and Turan appeared on the screen at the same time with serious expressions - Si Lei was holding a child in his arms. .
"How many people are still underground?"
"Currently, there are no stranded people in the main body of the building, but there are still life signals rising in escape passages No. 1, 6, and 15."
"How long does it take to be cleared?"
"Including the time for everyone to reach safety, it will take at least four minutes."
"...So long." Chiba sat back on the chair behind her. She kicked off the cabinet and slid on the smooth floor of the control room. "Is Jane boarding the ship now?"
"It doesn't seem like it yet, because Anna is still on land, and I think they should be together."
"Okay, then just wait..."
The entire monitoring room fell into silence. Chiba stared at the second hand without saying a word.
Suddenly, she remembered something and raised her head, "By the way, what should I call you? Are you Eclipse, Paran, or someone else now?"
"Zero." A female voice sounded again from Chiba's headphones, "This is the name Ms. Anna gave me."
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