CHAPTER 223: CHAPTER 221: ENTERING TOWN 3

The situation turned out just as Chen Xin had anticipated. As they proceeded towards the Three Towns, the checks and defenses became increasingly stringent.

The first checkpoint was set at the former highway toll station. Although Flame Country had long abolished tolls on ordinary national and provincial roads, these toll stations built back in the day hadn’t all been dismantled, and now they served their purpose well.

Compared to the checkpoints in Xianning, the inspections here were obviously more meticulous. Those conducting the checks were not just ordinary personnel but police officers. Chen Xin was even surprised to see a police dog wrapped in a thick dog coat.

This was the only living animal Chen Xin had seen in the past half year, apart from mealworms, fish, and rats.

Although he usually wasn’t fond of pets like cats and dogs, seeing this police dog gave Chen Xin an immediate urge to pet it.

However, being a police dog, it didn’t act coy or cute. As soon as it got on Chen Xin’s vehicle, it began sniffing around, searching for any suspicious dangerous items or contraband.

However, Chen Xin’s vehicle was quite clean. The only potential issue might have been the handgun that Zhang Chengguang was carrying.

But the Aerospace Bureau’s badge turned out to be quite handy. Although the police officer conducting the inspection was thorough, upon realizing that they were from the Aerospace Bureau, he behaved very courteously and even proactively asked if they needed any assistance.

Chen Xin and Zhang Chengguang had already discussed this beforehand, so they naturally declined the officer’s help politely.

After they finished inspecting the vehicle, Chen Xin drove on, continuing towards Three Towns.

In fact, in terms of administrative divisions, they had already entered the realm of the Three Towns, but they were still on the outskirts and had not yet reached the urban area.

As the only megacity in the central region of Flame Country, Three Towns is also the central city of this area, naturally covering a vast administrative territory.

Actually, the name Three Towns comes from the fact that the city’s central district was originally formed by the amalgamation of three major towns.

These three towns were geographically divided by the Yangtze River and Han River, and were always three separate cities in the past. It was only after the establishment of Flame Country, as times progressed, that the administrative divisions of these three cities were combined, forming what is now known as the Three Towns.

With developed water and land transportation, this city has been known since ancient times as the "thoroughfare of nine provinces," one of the four great convergences under heaven, and the most crucial land, water, and air transportation hub in the central region of Flame Country.

At the same time, Three Towns is the garrison location for the Flame Country Joint Logistics Support Forces, a core city in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, a strategic pivot for the rise of the central region, a pilot zone for comprehensive innovation and reform, and one of the three major intellectual agglomerates in the country, as well as a national central city.

It can be said that mainly because of the presence of a city like Three Towns in the central region, Flame Country was able to maintain control over this area post-apocalypse, ensuring the supply of materials and logistical support to the central provinces and cities.

All of this undoubtedly created unique distinctions for Three Towns compared to other regional cities.

Compared to the city where Chen Xin lived, the roads in Three Towns were noticeably busier. Vehicles flashed by occasionally on the streets, the accumulated snow on the roads was somewhat cleared, and coupled with the checkpoints along the route, if it weren’t for the dark skies and the city in ruins with occasional meteor craters, Chen Xin might really have thought this was merely winter in Three Towns.

But evidently, whether it was the stricter checks or the darkened city, they all clearly indicated this was post-apocalypse.

However, the atmosphere in Three Towns was clearly different, or rather, this city seemed more vibrant and alive.

Although the city Chen Xin was from was also striving to recover from the disaster, the atmosphere there was more like a struggle for survival in a post-apocalyptic world.

But Three Towns was different. Though it was still ruins and snow approaching from the suburbs toward the urban area, the closer to the city center, the more one could feel the vitality emanating from this city.

A number of buildings clearly under construction, the comings and goings of vehicles on the roads, and even the sporadic lights along the roadside, all proclaimed that this city was rebirthing from the ashes.

Perhaps this is the difference between a big city and a small city. After all, this is the most important city in the central region of Flame Country. The fact that it has already begun to rebuild isn’t surprising.

Only, as he looked at the buildings under construction along the road, Chen Xin’s expression was somewhat peculiar.

Zhang Yao noticed his change and curiously asked, "What’s wrong? Is there something wrong?"

"No, just thinking if starting to rebuild the city now might be a bit too soon?" Chen Xin gestured outside the car window at a ruinous building clearly struck by a meteor, and said to Zhang Yao, "You guys came down from the sky, you should be well aware that there are still quite a few meteor fragments above us. Starting to rebuild cities now, what if more rocks fall down?"

Hearing Chen Xin say this, Zhang Yao recalled the impacts he experienced while descending in the return capsule from space and couldn’t help but give a slight nod in agreement.

Though he agreed with Chen Xin’s perspective, he also understood why Three Towns was starting post-disaster reconstruction now: "Starting reconstruction now is understandable, since the meteor impact was a probabilistic event. You can’t just delay reconstruction indefinitely because of potential risks, right?

Starting reconstruction now might involve some risk, but it’s bearable when you consider the possibility of delaying overall progress and hindering various material production. Most of the meteors that can fall now are small fragments, many of which burn up before reaching the ground. Those that do fall are not large, maybe just causing a small crater, which can simply be filled up."

Zhang Yao’s words left Chen Xin speechless, yet he couldn’t deny that Zhang Yao had a point.

People have a chance of choking on food or water, yet no one stops eating or drinking because of it. In this post-apocalyptic environment, restarting production early is beneficial for both the country and ordinary citizens.

The previous meteor impacts caused severe damage to the original industrial system. Around the city where Chen Xin resided, most chemical plants were destroyed, leaving only some industrial production capacity preserved in underground factory areas.

This situation is true for a city, and even more so for a country. Although the nation retained some industrial production capacity and began restoring parts underground, it clearly cannot meet nationwide needs.

It’s like the issue with official shelter oxygen generators before the disaster; how could equipment shortages occur back then?

Before the disaster, Flame Country’s industrial production capacity, coupled with national intervention, could not only meet domestic needs but also have excess capacity for exporting and handling foreign trade orders.

Therefore, restoring production should be one of the priority considerations for Flame Country’s leadership.

As for potential losses, decisions must be made about trade-offs in these times.

While Chen Xin pondered these issues, they gradually entered the Three Towns area. There were fewer vehicles seen on the roads here, and it seemed like before the disaster, large trucks were not allowed into the city.

Moreover, although the city also engaged in debris clearing work, there weren’t as many work sites here as outside the city.

It seems Three Towns prioritized clearing suburban areas first, restoring industrial production, before considering city interior reconstruction.

Entering the city from the suburbs, Chen Xin and the others encountered another checkpoint, which was even more meticulous, requiring the entire vehicle to pass through a scanner for body inspection.

During the thorough scan, Chen Xin’s vehicle inevitably was stopped.

"Hello comrade, we need to inspect your vehicle. There’s an area we couldn’t scan; could you open it for us to check?" The checkpoint personnel boarded the vehicle and directly asked Chen Xin.

Chen Xin immediately understood what area they were referring to, but hesitated about whether to open it for viewing because they were talking about the location of the vehicle’s power source, where the three Isotope Thermoelectric Batteries were installed.

Since the Isotope Thermoelectric Battery generates heat energy from radiation released during isotope decay, for safety reasons, both the batteries themselves and the installation slots were made of lead.

This not only isolates radiation but also obstructs the scanner’s operation.

However, seeing Chen Xin hesitate, the checkpoint personnel became visibly anxious, suspecting that Chen Xin might have something illicit in the vehicle.

Not only the personnel who boarded, but even those in the checkpoint grabbed their guns and stepped out, lowering barriers in anticipation of potential emergencies.

This made Zhang Chengguang and the others tense, quickly looking to Chen Xin and asking if he needed their help, as they could reveal their identities to cover for Chen Xin under the Aerospace Bureau’s name.

Chen Xin signaled the three to remain calm and simultaneously said to the checkpoint personnel: "Comrade, we’re from the Aerospace Bureau. Some items in this vehicle are Bureau secrets. I don’t mind showing you, but you must keep it confidential. Only two personnel can inspect; is that acceptable?"

After hearing Chen Xin’s words and seeing the insignia of Flame Country Aerospace on the three astronauts’ uniforms, the checkpoint personnel conferred and agreed to Chen Xin’s request.

Chen Xin then led the two personnel to the cockpit, opened a cover connecting the cockpit and living area, revealing the installed batteries inside.

"This area you couldn’t scan is most likely it, made of lead with three Isotope Thermoelectric Batteries installed for power generation. Due to some radiation, it’s enclosed in lead." After gesturing for the two personnel to examine, Chen Xin then reclosed the cover.

After inspecting, the personnel found no issues and said nothing more, agreeing to confidentiality under Chen Xin’s stern admonition, disembarking afterward.

Once the personnel disembarked, the three astronauts looked at Chen Xin with curious expressions.

Zhang Chengguang couldn’t help but ask Chen Xin: "Chen Xin, who exactly are you? Isotope Thermoelectric Batteries aren’t something just anyone can obtain!"