199: Chapter 199 That Stinky Poop is Lying Again!

The first image that appeared on the screen was a military base.

But it was not an ordinary base.

Viewed from high above, the entire mountain range had been sliced open—seven continuous mountains had been completely hollowed out and connected internally to form a huge underground project.

The reinforced concrete dome was as high as an inverted sky, transport tracks crisscrossed, and heavy machinery was densely arranged underground, looking like a city had been stuffed into the belly of the mountains.

The camera continued to push forward, passing through thick isolation gates one after another, and finally stopped at the core area deep inside.

Several huge gates of light stood in the center of the entire military base.

Everyone present fell silent.

The narrator's voice came out of the speakers, very steady, sounding like news broadcasting—

"This base is the highest-specification base of Daxia, the Tianmen Base."

The narrator paused, the tone still steady, but every word carried weight—

"What you are about to participate in is the first and most important project since the founding of Daxia."

A line of text appeared on the screen—The First Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Daxia Otherworld.

Before everyone could react, the image switched.

The second footage—gray sky, abandoned city, the streets densely packed with... people?

Not people.

Their skin was gray, their eyeballs turbid, mouths wide open, surging in one direction by the thousands.

The camera zoomed out, and the entire city was writhing.

A scene flashed by—an overturned bus was covered with those things, and the roof had been stepped into a large dent by a zombie protruding a big belly.

The image switched again.

The third segment—another world.

A huge humanoid creature lay on the ground, its height visually estimated to exceed fifty meters, and the tanks parked beside it looked like toys in front of it.

There was a huge crater on its chest, the edges charred black and still smoking.

But what made people most uncomfortable was that thing's face was completely identical to that of a human.

Someone gasped, and a chair scraped backward with a sound.

Yet no one turned to look at him.

The fourth segment—the third world.

Scorched earth after a nuclear explosion, the ground burned into black glass.

In the distance, a radiation cleanup fleet was operating, and figures wearing fully enclosed protective suits shuttled through the ruins.

Further away, the framework of a base was being erected.

The lights of the engineering vehicles shone on the scorched earth, casting very long shadows.

The narrator kept talking, but no one in the conference room was listening anymore.

The whole place was dead silent.

Someone had their mouth open and forgot to close it.

Someone stared intently at the screen without blinking once, not even noticing that the water cup on the table was knocked over by their elbow.

The conference room was quiet for about ten seconds, but to these veterans, it felt like ten minutes had passed.

Zhao Dragon, sitting in the row behind Zhang Lei, leaned over and whispered, "Damn it, this is even more absurd than a sci-fi movie."

Zhang Lei didn't answer; at this moment, he didn't know what to say either.

The screen turned off, the lights came back on, and white light instantly flooded the entire room.

Everyone unconsciously squinted.

The colonel walked back to the podium, looked at the expressions of these people offstage, and smiled.

"The above is the work you are about to participate in."

His tone changed.

"Of course, even if you want to quit now, you can't."

It was quiet for three seconds, and then the whole room laughed.

The tense atmosphere suddenly relaxed, and someone spoke up—

"Sir, when are we setting off? This is too thrilling. I thought this time we were going to deal with those Japanese bastards, but I didn't expect it to be actual beasts."

The colonel waved his hand, suppressing the laughter in the venue.

"Specific work arrangements will be notified to you later. Now—go collect your equipment."

The warehouse was in the next building, very large, with a ceiling height of four to five meters.

The air conditioning was cranked up high, and a blast of cold air hit them the moment they walked in.

Rows of metal racks were hung with brand-new camouflage uniforms, sorted by size: 170, 175, 180...

Every single piece was folded neatly into squares, and the plastic packaging hadn't even been removed yet.

On the racks against the wall, combat boots were also displayed.

The tread on the soles showed not a shred of wear, and the rubber smell hadn't even completely dissipated.

Zhang Lei reported his size and took a set of camouflage uniforms.

His hands were trembling slightly, and the feel of the fabric was very familiar.

Polyester-cotton blend, a bit rough to the touch, the exact same feel as what he wore eight years ago.

He glanced down—epaulets, armbands, chest badges, the whole set was complete.

The changing room was behind the warehouse, filled with rows of iron lockers.

Pushing the door open and going in, a dozen people were already crowded inside.

They changed their clothes silently, no one uttering a sound.

Someone diagonally opposite had put on half of their camouflage jacket and stopped.

Head lowered, both hands braced on his knees, motionless.

After several seconds, he squatted down to tie his shoelaces—the back of his hand brushed against the corner of his eye, the movement very fast.

The people present were all retired veterans, and not a single person exposed it.

In those years after taking off their military uniforms, who hadn't dreamed such a dream?

In the dream, they were still wearing that uniform, still standing in formation, and the squad leader was still cursing.

Waking up and lying in bed, their hearts felt hollow, as if they had lost something, tossing and turning in thought, yet unable to articulate what exactly had been lost.

After getting dressed, everyone spontaneously walked out of the changing room and stood in a row in the open space at the entrance of the warehouse.

Zhang Lei stood in formation and subconsciously touched his left arm.

His fingers touched the fabric surface of the armband.

The national flag.

On the day he took off his military uniform a few years ago, that was the exact spot he touched last.

Now, it was back.

After giving a few instructions, the colonel dismissed the team, telling everyone to go to the temporary camp to rest, without any extra words.

The temporary camp was a row of single-story houses, four people per room, with bunk beds, white walls, and concrete floors.

The paint in the corners was peeling slightly, showing that it was not a place where people lived permanently.

Zhang Lei pushed open the door and had just put down his backpack when Zhao Dragon opposite him walked over.

"Brother, which unit are you from?"

"Reconnaissance company, served for eight years. And you?"

"Armored brigade, twelve years."

Zhao Dragon rolled over. "Which world do you think we'll go to?"

"I don't know."

"I want to go to the one fighting bugs," Zhao Dragon said.

"The zombie one is fine, and the giant one is fine too. Anything is fine."

Zhang Lei didn't answer, because his cell phone had just been handed out—saying it would be open uniformly for two hours at night for calling home.

He sat on the edge of the bed, found his wife's number, and pressed dial.

It rang three times and was answered.

"Hello, hubby? Why are you only calling now?"

"I'm busy."

Zhang Lei said, "I need to tell you something, I might have to go on a business trip, and it will take a relatively long time."

"Where to?"

"I can't say."

The other end of the phone fell silent for two seconds.

"...Is there any danger?"

Zhang Lei didn't answer immediately.

Holding his phone, he heard the sound of the television on the other end of the line, his daughter calling for mom, and the humming of the kitchen range hood.

"If you don't speak, I'll take it that there's no danger."

His wife's voice calmed down. "Alright, stay safe, I've got things covered at home."

"Mhm."

"Our daughter wants to talk to you—"

There was some rustling on the other end, and then a milky little voice squeezed in.

"Daddy! Where are you going?"

"Daddy is going to fight monsters."

The corners of Zhang Lei's mouth twitched, and his voice softened unconsciously. "Listen to Mom at home, okay?"

"Stinky Daddy is lying again! The teacher said there are no monsters in the world at all!"