The golden sunlight penetrated the green leaves of the tree canopy and scattered on the road wall. In the early morning birdsong, the roar of the turbo fan cutting the air came from far and near. Qin Wenjing looked out, turned back and shouted to the open door of the basement,

"Haojun, it seems that your Maraiya has booked a special plane for you."

After a while, Li Haojun came out of the basement with a backpack on his chest and a suitcase in his right hand.

"Is Maraiya going with you?" Qin Wenjing came over and asked,

Li Haojun put his arm around Qin Wenjing's waist, kissed her lips and said,

"No, she just booked a trip for me remotely,"

"Oh, only you go to meet that Lily," said Qin Wenjing, looking into Li Haojun's eyes, smiling without saying a word.

Of course, Li Haojun would not ignore her. He put down his backpack, put his arms around Qin Wenjing's waist and back, one hand holding her waist tightly, and the other hand from the back to the neck, through her hair, holding her head against his cheek, and whispering in her ear, "Don't worry, I will protect myself." After that, he took a deep breath of her breath and kissed goodbye. The aircraft that Malaya ordered today is a single-passenger aircraft, with a wing-body fusion lift body, the nose facing up and sitting on the roadside, and there are multiple ducted fans at the tail. Li Haojun also felt very fresh when riding. The suitcase was under the seat. After getting on, he fastened his seat belt according to the instructions, confirmed the takeoff procedure, and then the seat turned upwards, and the passenger faced the front windshield. With the roar of the engine and turbofan, it gradually took off smoothly, but the acceleration in the air was extremely fast, just like an astronaut riding a rocket. Li Haojun was also curious about why Malaya ordered such a thing for him. He saw that it was already working time, so he sent a message to ask, and the reply was that the company arranged it. While feeling fresh, Li Haojun couldn't help wondering, is this what a business trip should look like? The aircraft quickly climbed to the stratosphere, the morning sunlight strongly contrasted with the blue-purple deep sky, and the ripples of the clouds below were delicate and dazzling. Pull up the sun visor and take out the computer to remotely view the virtual environment of the meeting place. Li Haojun likes to be well prepared and organized, and try to avoid putting himself in a state of aimlessness or chaos. The meeting place is located in Rocklin, a highland northeast of Sacramento. A 360-degree view of the surrounding area shows a hint of depression. There are no prosperous buildings, ordinary wooden houses, hotels, pubs, and car and ship machinery repair service points. According to the plan, Lily will be at the exit of the parking lot opposite the aircraft landing site. She will drive a Jaguar XJ from the last century. There are photos, four-door sedans, purple body, four round headlights, chrome headlight frames, front grilles, chrome trim on the bumper, white tires and chrome hubcaps, showing nostalgia, license plate NV382HT.

After getting familiar with the meeting place and procedures, he would occasionally see various aircrafts at different heights and directions on the route, as well as the mountains and coastline on the starboard side. Li Haojun was inspired and searched for information about the aircraft he was riding. This vertical take-off and landing lifting body has models suitable for both civilian and military use, so it is not surprising that it has high maneuverability, but most people may not feel comfortable. Fortunately, he can adapt. This is a single-person model, with a small size for high maneuverability. The byproduct of the short wingspan is the small riding space, and the passengers are like sitting in the cockpit of a single-person combat aircraft. Fortunately, the extremely high cruising speed made it approach the destination soon.

The aircraft has slowed down at a large angle and lowered its altitude. Looking down from the air, the Sacramento area has been invaded by seawater. The earthquake caused the southern part of the West Coast to sink, but due to the obstruction of the mountains north and south of San Francisco, the tides of the moon's gravity caused Sacramento to experience periodic tides. In this difficult environment, there are still people who are unwilling to leave. They used treated antiseptic wood to build groups of stilt houses at the original urban address, perhaps because of their attachment to their homeland or their yearning for freedom. The California government has long gone bankrupt and no longer exists. The large-scale transfer payments in the past were ultimately unsustainable, so there are no more government benefits in this area, nor are there government taxes. The collapse of the California government is an example of a social phenomenon. Since then, the large-scale transfer of social wealth for social welfare expenditures for people who do not create value has been regarded as bribery and prohibited by legislation.

As the altitude decreases, it can be seen more clearly that in the daylight of a sunny morning, the stilt houses are either in groups of three or five, or connected together, standing on the black water, and the crests and troughs below them reflect strong sunlight into the cabin from time to time at appropriate angles.

Just before landing, a new company notification arrived, "Hello Ethan, the original plan has changed. Please take Lily Brent's vehicle and follow her to Nevada to provide technical training for customer personnel. During this period, Ms. Lily Brent will provide living supplies. I wish you a safe journey." After confirming the order, Li Haojun checked the electronic identity verification terminal again. At this time, with the roar of the turbofan, the aircraft had landed smoothly. The hatch opened, and the heat and humidity hit us. Following the surrounding instructions, we walked out of this simple aviation hub quickly. A large number of people have died, and there is no longer the prosperity of the first half of this century. Rocklin Heights relies on air passenger flow to maintain a few commercial buildings, hotels, restaurants, and parking lots. They are all made of antiseptic wood. The dark brown wooden buildings, coupled with the depressed street scenes, seem to have traveled back to the gold rush era. Across Highway 80 is the purple Jaguar. Walking across a wooden pedestrian bridge, Li Haojun was wondering if he could confirm his identity. The driver's door opened, and a blonde woman got out. She was wearing a dark green plaid short wide-collared windbreaker, which was impressive compared to her long golden wavy hair. She was wearing tight blue jeans and black leather shoes.

"Ethan Lee," she greeted first, with a heavy British accent.

"Yes, Lily Brent?"

"It's me."

"Nice to meet you." While greeting, Li Haojun put the suitcase in the trunk of the car, took a look at the identity confirmation information on his watch, and looked around. There were no other people or suspicious situations, so he opened the front door and prepared to get in the car.

"No, no, no, you sit in the back," Li Haojun heard Lily's words, but Li Haojun had already opened the front door. Only then did he see that the passenger seat was filled with her clothes, shoes and hats.

"Oh, sorry," Li Haojun closed the front door and glanced at Lily, who smiled knowingly.

After driving for a while, we turned right in front of us and found a restaurant on a slightly remote branch road.

"We'll have lunch here. We need to travel in the afternoon," Lily said as she got off the car.

"Where are we going? The company didn't tell me,"

"Nevada,"

The two of them walked into the restaurant, which was also a wooden building. There was no municipal power supply. The lights were dim inside, and a large paddle fan blew the coolness of ice cubes. They chose a table by the window and sat down. Li Haojun glanced around the room. There were not many people, but there was someone who caught his attention. He seemed to know him. He had seen him somewhere before. He had a long face and white lips, a strong body, and a round belt of the same style as his pants wrapped around his waist.

Lily held the menu in her hand. She noticed Li Haojun's attention shifting from the corner of her eyes. She glanced at him and looked in the direction he was looking at.

"Genetically modified people," Lily explained in a low voice,

"Oh, but I think I've seen him before," Li Haojun was a little confused,

"They all look like this, mixed with donkey genes, and have good physical fitness and endurance,"

"Oh," while listening, Li Haojun looked into Lily's eyes, hoping that she would introduce more,

"But there are some side effects, face shape, skin color, and what he wears around his waist, you can compare the corresponding parts of the donkey."

"Oh," Li Haojun faced the lady and tried not to laugh. He wanted to say that maybe the other things were side effects, but he didn't say it.

Lily handed the menu to Li Haojun and said,

"Take a look and see what you want to eat,"

Li Haojun randomly chose a Kung Pao Chicken and began to pay attention to the guests in the restaurant. There were two guests in the opposite corner, one with pale skin and light blue skin. He had narrow eyes and long ears, and his hair was like a small tuft like the Buddha. The other one had dark skin, round eyes and a big mouth, a thick beard, and looked like a fierce monster. The two seemed to be friends. It was unclear whether they were genetically modified or had plastic surgery out of personal preference.

There was a person at the table diagonally opposite. He was fatter and more neutral. His gender could not be seen. He had white skin, red lips, a big round face, flaming red hair, and nails and rings on his nose, ears, eyebrows, and lips. However, it did not seem to affect his enjoyment of steak.

Li Haojun glanced back again. There were three people, two men and one woman, wearing the same uniform. They finally looked a little more normal. It seemed that the staff nearby were having lunch here. There were very few diners, few tourists, and they all looked locals.

It seemed that although the California government no longer existed, the diversity and anti-traditionalism that it once promoted were still deeply rooted here.

The food was served, and he ate and drank absent-mindedly, chatting with Lily for a few words. Li Haojun did not like this environment. For some reason, he felt depressed and insecure.

The golden afternoon sun shone through the glass window of the wooden lattice window frame onto the table and the floor. The not-so-flat glass distorted and refracted the light and shadow, as if throwing the illusion into reality. In the shadow of the light dust, new guests entered the restaurant one after another, three or two waves, all middle-aged men, dressed differently, with a sturdy appearance, as if they came from everywhere. Lily seemed to notice them, but she just glanced at Li Haojun and didn't say anything. The two of them ate hastily and left.

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After leaving, Li Haojun turned his head and talked to Lily about the taste of the food. He glanced at the back with the corner of his eye, and no one followed him out. Before getting in the car, he took the backpack from the trunk, carried it with him and sat in the back seat. Li Haojun didn't like this place. He knew that this was a free zone without law enforcement, but he had experienced it personally before he had a personal experience. It seemed to leave calmly, but the car had only driven out of a block, and from the rearview mirror, he saw a black car following from the parking lot.

"A black car followed behind, not sure if it was the same way." Reminding, Li Haojun looked at Lily, but she didn't react. Although she was an outfielder, it was not her style to expect a woman to protect herself. Li Haojun didn't know if he was too sensitive. He pulled his backpack over and looked at the rearview mirror to assess the situation.

Lily said nothing, turned right at the next intersection, and then accelerated. The roar of the large-displacement engine was low and powerful. It soon arrived at the next intersection and turned right again. The car did not catch up. Li Haojun thought about the situation in front of him. You are now 180 degrees in the opposite direction. How do you drive next and in which direction? At the same time, he reviewed how he got here and how he got to this situation. He had to communicate with the company when he returned. As a technician, is it necessary for him to come to such a place without law and order to take risks?

Lily turned right again, but the car was not going fast. Seeing that the situation had eased, Li Haojun asked with a smile, "Are we safe? I have never been here before, so I am not familiar with it and cannot make a judgment. It's just that those people in the restaurant can't make me feel safe." Lily glanced at Li Haojun in the rearview mirror, "Don't worry, they just look a little scary." Her strong British accent made Li Haojun feel as if she was communicating from another world. She couldn't grasp the clues, and there seemed to be a common sense cognition deviation between her and her, so she asked again, "So, do you often meet people like this here?" "Yes, I come here often." "So how do you judge whether they are threatening or safe?" "I know some people, and the rest are based on my feelings." "Oh, then is your feeling accurate?" As soon as the words came out, Li Haojun realized that it was not appropriate for her to ask a lady like this, but how could she not take things that were life-threatening seriously. "We have some equipment that can detect whether the other party has weapons, and can also roughly judge the other party's intentions."

"Oh, that's great," Li Haojun also quickly took the opportunity to end the topic.

"Are you relieved now?"

"Haha, yes, thank you for your explanation."

While talking, Lily turned right again and returned to the original direction, continuing to drive while talking to Li Haojun,

"Is this your first time here?"

"Not really, John and I have been to the San Francisco ruins before."

"Oh, it's okay over there, there are still some industries and businesses, and there needs to be order, and the composition of the residents is relatively simple. It's complicated here, the transportation hub of the free zone."

As the car gradually drove onto Highway 80, Lily saw that Li Haojun was still looking at her solemnly in the rearview mirror, so she further explained, "We are a technology company. Although we have competitors, we are not as fierce as the arms and drug business." "Haha, that's true," Li Haojun agreed while smiling, "But..., will there be other forces that want to obtain or acquire our technology?" Li Haojun asked tentatively, Lily glanced at him and smiled slightly, "Indeed," she added after a while, "But it won't be too extreme," "Is there an order that secretly controls this world?" Li Haojun got to the point in one sentence, watching Lily's reaction, trying to get more information about this strange world after he woke up. Lily didn't answer, had no expression, just concentrated on driving. After a while, he sighed, "It's everywhere," Along Interstate 80 winding eastward into the mountains, the strong afternoon sun shone on the bare sand and rocks without vegetation, and the strong reflection was a bit dazzling. Lily took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, and then took out a single-sided headset and put it on. Li Haojun thought she wanted to listen to music while driving, but it didn't seem to be the case. She seemed to be muttering some digital codes. Unconsciously, Lily seemed to increase the speed of the car, and this interstate highway no longer had the glory of the past. Due to the lack of traffic flow and maintenance costs, only half of the lane was left. Under such road conditions, Li Haojun had to tighten his seat belt. Lily finally broke the silence,

"Reno is ahead, but we have some partners, so we will not go forward along Highway 80. But you don't have to worry, we have drones supporting us at high altitude and monitoring the frequency."

"What is their purpose?"

"Business competitors, just want to understand our activities and confirm personnel, there will be no personal harm to you."

"Oh, no, I still want to live my peaceful life." Li Haojun said with a self-deprecating smile, thinking that as a technician, it is really not worth it to be involved in commercial conflicts of interest that I have nothing to do with.

"Hehe, be a man, okay? There is no free lunch in this world."

Hearing such a slightly sarcastic tone, Li Haojun was a little dissatisfied, but it was not easy to do anything to a lady, so he suppressed his anger and said calmly,

"Yes, but it is not a good deal to sacrifice my life for a lunch, is it?"

"It's not worth it, but you were not like this before, resolute and brave,"

With inner doubt, Li Haojun asked eagerly,

"Do you know me before?"

In the rearview mirror, Lily's red lips raised,

"Yes, I have had several missions with you."

Although he didn't believe that a few missions could make a person understand another person, Li Haojun still wanted to hear what she said about her experience,

Chatting, before a town, Lily turned right to leave the interstate highway, the elegant body tilted ungracefully, and the tires slid and rubbed against the ground, making a low buzzing sound. Obviously, this luxury car is not suitable for sports driving. Li Haojun held the door handle with one hand to prevent his head from falling on the door frame.

After leaving the bend, Li Haojun asked curiously,

"So, how long have we known each other? Can you tell me?"

"More than ten years,"

"So, me and,...Qin Wenjing, do you know each other?"

Under the sunglasses, Lily's red lips almost raised to her ears,

"Hehe, you are still the same, you have known each other for decades."

Faced with such a confidante, Li Haojun was embarrassed to ask her about another woman, so he had to sit in the back seat silently, observing the surrounding situation from time to time.

This is an alluvial river valley area, with wide flat areas on both sides, and then mountains. There are no vehicles on the road, and there are still sand and sparse shrubs on both sides of the road.

"Ethan, look here," Lily took off her sunglasses and turned on the central control display to display real-time information. Li Haojun noticed that there were moving targets on the screen, different types, with vectors showing their speed and direction.

"When we were driving on Highway 80, there were vehicles from the other side in front and behind. And they also had drones, but fortunately they haven't come up yet, so we have to get off the main road and avoid them here for a while."

"So, how do you determine that they are hostile vehicles?"

"There are some judgment indicators, and they are using the same communication frequency."

"Oh, that's it. I'm sorry that I don't remember the previous things or even the skills. I still need you to explain to me, and I can't help much."

"Don't mind, you are welcome,"

"Thank you, I'm a little flattered. May I ask, was I also a field worker like you before?"

"No, you are just doing technical work like now. Um..., but sometimes you can help out."

"Oh, great, I'm still happy to serve at any time now."

"Humph, you are so smooth-talking, don't come here, it's not time to need you yet." After saying that, Lily's big eyes stayed on Li Haojun's sight for two more seconds.

The road ahead is narrow, and there is a small lake after passing it. Lily drove the car off the road and hid in a bush. Then he pointed at the screen and said, "Look, they have already joined up in Reno, but they didn't find us. They are just guarding the outskirts of the town. This is the drone they released, searching along the north-south highway, so we need to hide for a while. The one coming from the southwest is their larger drone, but fortunately it hasn't arrived yet, so we have to stay here for a while, or a little longer, not necessarily." "Well, it looks like the one in the north will take some time to get here." "Yeah, that's right." Before Lily finished speaking, Li Haojun had opened the door and got out of the car, holding a polymer-handled wilderness survival knife, walked around in the bushes, cut off large and small branches, and threw them at the car. Lily smiled and shook her head, so she had to get out of the car to cooperate with him, picking up camouflage from the ground and throwing it on the roof. Fortunately, the purple color is a darker tone, just the chrome decoration on the front of the car. Li Haojun looked at the direction of the sun, took out a camouflage raincoat from his suitcase and covered it, and then took out a bottle of water and sprayed it on the hood. Lily was watching everything he did with a smile on her face. When Li Haojun noticed it, they smiled at each other and returned to the car. This time, Lily did not sit in the driver's seat, but sat in the back seat with Li Haojun, watching the situation on the screen together.

As the small drone on the screen got closer and closer, Li Haojun even held his breath, trying not to make any noise, and carefully identified the trajectory of the drone to see if it had been discovered. Lily on the side didn't pay attention to the screen. Maybe she was used to it. She kept watching Li Haojun until the drone left, then she pushed him and asked, "Are you nervous?" Li Haojun turned his head and saw Lily looking at him. "Oh, no, I don't want to cause you more trouble," "Hahaha," Lily said with a smile, "This is commonplace for me," she said, glancing at the screen and reminding, "Look at the movement patterns of these drones. They are blocking this area. We can't leave for a while." In this way, the two of them spent an afternoon. It was dusk when they got on the road again, and it was nightfall soon. In the dark desert, the headlights seemed to be swallowed up by the dark night, and only the reflective tape on the road not far in front of the car guided the driving direction. The dim dashboard light reflected Lily's face and lip contours. Li Haojun stared at her appearance in the flickering night, as if he wanted to travel through time to evoke memories of Lily in the past. "Can you tell me some of your memories about me?" Li Haojun lay on the backrest of the passenger seat, chatting with Lily to kill the monotonous time.

"Oh, not much, about ten years ago, when we fought with competitors in the market, life and death, you were busier and more aggressive than now."

"Maybe I was younger then, right?"

"Maybe, maybe you have changed now, getting older, no longer young and passionate." Lily laughed. Then she added,

"Actually, I don't know you very well, because the company will also arrange different field staff to work with you in turn, and many people have come and gone over the years," Lily sighed, feeling the changes of time.

The self-driving tour on Highway 5 in the afternoon when the sun was shining brightly ended up traveling at night due to the interference of potential opponents, and the speed of traveling was naturally not as fast as during the day.

It was late at night, and Lily was a little tired after driving for a long time in the monotonous night. She lowered the car window and let the whistling evening breeze blow her hair to refresh her spirit.

The messy hair in the wind seemed to add a bit of feminine charm to her. Li Haojun watched from the side, and couldn't help but pity her and volunteered to drive for her for a while.

Lily agreed very readily, projected the navigation screen on the corner of the front windshield, and the two exchanged positions.

Li Haojun was a little excited when he just sat in the driver's seat. The fuel-powered, front-engine, rear-wheel drive large luxury car has a different driving experience. The navigation is also very special. It is gradually loaded according to the driving progress. It does not display the destination name, the remaining mileage, and the place name. The surrounding status perception display and alarm of the central control screen are dead silent, without any waves.

Li Haojun looked at Lily in the back seat again. She was lying on her side, with slender legs and plump thighs. Her hips were leaning against the central backrest, her waist was twisted and her back was flat, with a flat abdomen and not very plump breasts.

The seat blocked her face. Maybe she was taking a nap. But it was good not to see her, so as to avoid the embarrassment of looking at each other and admire her without any scruples.

Because he had just taken over the car and was not familiar with its driving characteristics, Li Haojun drove more cautiously, and there was a lady in the back seat who wanted to rest, so he drove steadily. But it didn't take long for this smooth and monotonous feedback to make Li Haojun sleepy. Only then did he realize that he had made a wrong decision and that he was not good at long-distance driving.

After trying to open the car windows, turn on the air conditioner, and make various deep breathing adjustments, he finally found a way to distract his attention from the monotonous visual feedback. He sprayed glass water and watched the glass water under the light flow on the windshield in an unpredictable path, which perfectly took away his sleepiness.

However, the good times didn't last long. The windshield washer fluid was gone. Li Haojun sighed, "Women, treat machines the way they do. If it were me, I would definitely fill up everything that needed to be filled and check everything that needed to be checked before going out." With an irresistible sleepiness, Li Haojun found a flat land, drove off the road, and parked the car behind sparse bushes. The night in the desert, there was no moonlight tonight, and the sky was full of stars. Li Haojun folded down the front seat, and behind him was Lily's even breathing, and the smell of her faint body odor and perfume.