Chapter 34
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Chapter 34: Freedom and Safety
The living area at the visitor center was quiet and comfortable at night. After washing up, Luo Yu fell asleep and had a sweet dreamless night. She slowly opened her eyes when she felt something furry brush across her nose; it was already bright outside.
She glanced down at her chest and saw a squirrel. Looking further afield, she noticed multiple squirrels; they seemed to have discovered the plate of nuts provided in the guest room and were having a picnic around her blanket.
The squirrel sitting on her chest noticed she was awake and turned to look at her. Its mouth curled into a slight smile as if it was grinning at her.
“Am I… finally losing my mind?” After locking eyes with the squirrel for a moment, it ran to the edge of the bed to eat.
She sat up and scanned the floor of the room. There was a small golden-brown panda lying on the carpet, elegantly nibbling on a fruit. Two other unidentified creatures that looked a bit like dogs but not quite were rummaging through the basket of wild fruits she had placed on the table.
She squinted her eyes and observed for a while, realizing this might be a badger, but her knowledge of wildlife was truly pitiful; it was far beyond her understanding.
She reached out to lift the blanket, causing the squirrels to scamper away all at once. Just then, she heard Zhu Huai’s voice from the next room: “Luo Yu, are you awake?”
She replied with a soft “mm,” and then saw the built-in door connecting their two rooms open. Zhu Huai peeked her head out. “Is it this lively in here too? I opened my eyes and found a beast invasion.” She extended her hand, and in it was a small black monkey with tufts of white hair on its cheeks.
Zhu Huai complained, “This little thing grabbed my eyeball and woke me up!”
The little monkey squirmed in her grasp just then, and as Luo Yu was getting out of bed to check, another slightly larger black monkey dashed out from behind Zhu Huai, grabbed the small monkey from her hands, and then slapped Zhu Huai before leaping off her shoulder.
The entire sequence happened in just three seconds, leaving both Luo Yu and Zhu Huai stunned. Zhu Huai eventually reacted, “What… what’s going on? Why did it hit me?”
Luo Yu looked into her room and noticed many monkeys rushing out, each one carrying something. The two creatures that looked like badgers nearly took the entire fruit basket, but their arms weren’t long enough, so they dropped it at the doorway, taking only the fruits inside, leaving a few behind that were quickly snatched up by the monkeys coming from the other room. The scene was quite chaotic.
“What happened over here?” Ying Zhao, hearing the commotion from the next room, walked out and was puzzled by the sight of the small migration.
What she saw was startling; it looked as if the two rooms had just experienced a great battle. Ornaments on the table lay scattered on the floor, chairs were turned over, there were numerous messy footprints on the sheets, and fruit cores and pine cones were strewn across the carpet. Luo Yu and Zhu Huai stood in the hallway, both seeming half-asleep.
“It feels like we’ve been robbed?” Zhu Huai’s tone was uncertain.
Luo Yu looked out towards Ying Zhao and caught sight of the pillar of the laser barrier nearby, suddenly remembering, “We turned off the ‘small beast barrier’ inside yesterday, and didn’t turn it back on when we entered the room.”
Ying Zhao glanced down and confirmed that indeed the small beast barrier outside their two rooms was closed. “No wonder! I heard the in-room service system announce that small beasts might visit early in the morning. It also mentioned if there were any uneaten fruits or nuts, we could open the barrier and share them on the terrace. This can’t be considered robbery; they probably got used to coming here for food.”
“But they can’t poke someone’s eyeballs and hit them!” Zhu Huai rubbed her face and then asked Ying Zhao, “Have you had breakfast yet?”
Ying Zhao shook her head. “Not yet. The two professors went into the forest to pick mushrooms early this morning and asked me to wait here for you to wake up. Then we’ll share breakfast together outside when they return. There’s said to be a type of white truffle in the forest that tastes especially delicious.”
Luo Yu and Zhu Huai nodded and went to their respective bathrooms to wash up and change clothes. They came out with Ying Zhao, calling the butler robot to report the morning commotion. The butler seemed quite accustomed to such situations. “Alright, I’ll dispatch the cleaning robot shortly.”
The three of them sat under the tent for a while when Mo Chuan and Ti Ran walked in from the direction of the woods, each carrying a small basket and chatting happily.
Mo Chuan was dressed in a fitted dark gray bodysuit, equipped with various outdoor tool pouches around her waist, while Ti Ran wore a light-colored sun-protective bodysuit, topped with a small automatic sunshade flying umbrella.
As soon as they saw the girls, they approached, revealing their baskets filled with numerous white mushrooms and some wild fruits.
Actually, the visitor center had staff and robots responsible for harvesting in the woods, but most people preferred to pick their own during their leisure time, as it felt more rewarding.
Mo Chuan and Ti Ran walked while handing their baskets over to the accompanying robot, allowing it to take them for cleaning, and then they sat down with the girls in the large tent to rest and drink water.
Upon hearing about the commotion in Luo Yu and Zhu Huai’s room that morning, everyone shared a laugh. Mo Chuan then discussed the day’s travel plans.
They were still separated from Qingqiu Mountain by a river and a mountain range. The route to the river took them along the creek through the forest, which was the most direct path. Therefore, they would leave the off-road vehicle at the visitor center and walk along the pebble path beside the creek to the river, from where they would take an aircraft to Qingqiu Mountain.
After chatting for a while, the visitor center’s service robot arrived with breakfast. The main courses consisted of the mushrooms and wild fruits that Mo Chuan and Ti Ran had picked in the woods, accompanied by some meat, vegetables, and grains, making for a lavish meal.
Once they finished eating and tidied up a bit, they set off along the creek.
Luo Yu and her companions wore their freshly cleaned summer self-cleaning thermal bodysuits and ankle-protected outdoor boots, each equipped with tool pouches at their waists, as they leisurely walked towards the creek.
On the way, Mo Chuan kept reminding them to follow the creek and not venture into the woods, as wild boars and bears could be inside. It was safer to walk along the creek.
Luo Yu walked beside her and asked, “Are there forest rangers here? You know, those who protect visitors?”
“No, we don’t have security personnel or patrols like those in your world. No one has the responsibility to risk their lives to rescue strangers. Of course, we admire such heroic acts, but it’s not an obligation. So it’s best to always stay alert in the wilderness,” Mo Chuan explained. She had been chatting with the silly robot lately and learned more about their world, understanding that they had law enforcement personnel.
Luo Yu was momentarily puzzled. “So this world has absolutely no security personnel?”
Mo Chuan patted her outdoor tool pouch. “That’s right. So, in case of danger, you can only rely on yourself and your companions.” After saying this, she noticed Luo Yu looking down, lost in thought, and smiled, “Freedom and safety always require trade-offs. We value freedom and equality and don’t believe anyone should bear the responsibility of protecting others. Besides, whatever protects you may also control you, which can lead to forms of violence.”
Luo Yu nodded thoughtfully. “So, children here must start wilderness training from a young age?”
“Yes. Survival in the wild is a required subject for every child. We also develop many protective gadgets and jungle detection devices. With regular outdoor experience, the chance of encountering real danger is still quite small.”
Ti Ran added, “We still voluntarily help the children and the elderly around us; it’s just that we don’t have specialized roles like security personnel.”
As Luo Yu, Mo Chuan, and Ti Ran chatted while walking ahead, Ying Zhao quietly listened behind them, while Zhu Huai lagged behind. She quickened her pace to catch up with Ying Zhao.
“Hey? Where did you get that peach?” Ying Zhao turned to see Zhu Huai holding a large peach and asked curiously.
“A big fat monkey brought it to me just now.” It turned out Zhu Huai had fallen behind to wash the peach in the creek. Now, she pulled out a food cleaning cloth from her tool pouch and wiped the water off the peach’s surface. “I don’t know why; it just handed it to me and ran off.”
The others ahead, hearing their conversation, turned to look. Ti Ran smiled and said, “It’s likely the visitor center staff communicated with the monkey tribe’s elder. Someone there can talk to the monkeys, so this must be an apology gift from that monkey mother this morning.”
“Impressive! The monkey sister is reasonable! This peach is quite heavy!” Zhu Huai finished wiping it and took a bite, juice splattering everywhere.
“How does it taste?” Ying Zhao leaned in to look, only to get splashed in the face. “Ah! It’s in my eyes!”
Zhu Huai laughed heartily, bit into the peach again, and then used the cleaning cloth to wipe Ying Zhao’s face. “So delicious! The monkeys really know how to pick peaches. That slap was worth it!”
As she spoke, the others burst into laughter together. The birds in the nearby trees seemed startled by the laughter and flew up en masse before them.
They walked for nearly an hour, following the stream before leaving the dense forest and arriving at a broad riverbank.
They still had to walk east along the river to reach the nearest aircraft hangar. After emerging, they turned right, revealing a stretch of mudflats and a vast river that seemed to go on forever. Coming from the deep woods into this open area was another grand sight.
After walking for another fifteen minutes, they reached a helipad by the river. There were two rows of six hangars, and the lights at the hangar entrances indicated three aircraft were available.
Mo Chuan scanned her palm for a vein recognition at the hangar robot and unlocked access to one of the hangars. The group entered, boarded the aircraft, and soon took off toward the north, crossing the river they had just seen and climbing over a range of mountains.
Two hours later, they finally spotted a twin-peaked mountain in the distance, standing tall among the heavens and earth, shrouded in mist at its summit, with lush greenery in the valley. Mo Chuan pointed ahead and said to Luo Yu and the others, “That’s Qingqiu Mountain.”
While traveling through the woods, Mo Chuan had told Luo Yu and the others about their trip to Qingqiu Mountain. The main purpose was to visit a genetic research facility built among the peaks. She mentioned that Ji Shu had been here for several days and that the Old Director of the Biological Research Station, Ao Ci, was also present. There had been some new developments in their cross-temporal genetic research, so she brought them along to take a look.
Luo Yu and the others vaguely guessed the genetic research she mentioned might involve the blood and genetic information extracted when the super crystals were implanted after their forced landing.
However, since Mo Chuan didn’t elaborate further, the three exchanged glances and decided not to ask more questions, waiting until they arrived to uncover the purpose of their visit.
Before long, they approached Qingqiu Mountain, flying over its slopes, and gently landed on the helipad between the two peaks.
People at the genetic research facility had already received news from Mo Chuan and were waiting in the lounge near the helipad. As their aircraft smoothly landed, the staff came out to greet them.
Luo Yu stepped off the aircraft and raised her eyes to see several people approaching, with Ji Shu at the forefront, looking cheerful as she said, “Luo Yu, we meet again so soon!”
