Steel steam and flame

Kara pointed to the white front in the moonlight, where there was a little light, and her words were full of excitement. I stayed in the desert for seven days, but it seemed like several months had passed. Every day is torture for her.

After packing up their things, Kara and Cassia's speed became extremely brisk at this moment. Kara was too excited, but Cassia was just happy. Due to the suppression tube, he could not open the cross pupils at will. So he didn't see the light in Kara's mouth.

The two of them were still far away from the light. After running for more than half an hour, they saw the blazing white light coming from under the rising moon. It was a rather huge high-pressure mercury lamp, hung high in the air by a huge iron pillar, and it was now contributing light silently.

Standing on the fifty or sixty-meter-high sand dune outside, Cassia and Carla saw the entire station clearly on the way there.

The station was very big, at least compared to the old station where they got off, which had only one tin house, this supply station had five large houses on the ground. The houses are connected in a straight line, with an open space in front of them, and three gray SUVs parked there.

On the outside of the station, there are wedge-shaped sand-proof boards built with steel plates, and the rooms are built in accordance with the year-round wind direction in the desert. Therefore, although the sand-proof boards are not high, they still play a very good role. This also caused the sand-proof board in front of the station to gradually build up a high wall of yellow sand over many years, like a series of connected crescent-shaped mountains, surrounding the entire station. The station is located just inside the leeward slope of the dune, so it can withstand the scorching sun at certain times during the day.

Cassia and Kara slid down the slope of the dunes, with long lines of yellow sand rising up behind them. Although the wind that had not stopped gradually became smaller, it still formed a swirling airflow behind each dune.

The stone cement floor under my feet has dried out and created many huge cracks. They are big enough to fit an adult perfectly inside, and now they are filled with crystal clear sand. The station ahead was silent. Except for a mercury lamp hung high, only the house in the middle was still lit.

"It's really deserted, or desolate." Cassia observed the surroundings. It was too quiet here, and the sound of the wind was isolated by the high stacked sand dunes. There were some withered and yellow plants around, and he saw the last bits of green in the clumps of low shrubs, which were about to wither.

"It shouldn't be. Since it is a station, it must be built on the underground water veins in the desert. Those of us who hike in the desert may not be able to get the water from the underground water veins, but when the station is built, it will draw water from the underground water veins. The installation of underground water sources is necessary. Logically speaking, there should be no shortage of water sources here." Kara touched the withered leaves of the shrubs, which had a layer of fine yellow sand on them, and she expressed the same doubts in Cassia's mind.

"Maybe it's just because the management here is too lazy?" Cassia guessed and said with a smile, "It still takes a lot of effort to keep these shrubs evergreen in such damn weather."

"Maybe." Kara also looked uninterested. It was lucky to encounter a station that was still in operation. As for the situation of this station, it seemed to have nothing to do with them.

Are you still afraid that you won’t be paid for food? Carla thought to herself that she still brought twenty thousand holy coins with her, which should be enough to buy some basic canned food. Water is definitely free of charge. This was a rule specially set up by the empire when it was developing desert resources and building many station supply areas.

The light in front was very dim, maybe only one light was turned on.

The room is made of steel columns and cement, with an extra layer of temperature-isolating walls mixed inside to ensure that the temperature is not too hot during the day and not too cold at night.

The door to the room was tightly closed, and the glass on the side was frosted glass, so it was impossible to see clearly what was going on inside.

"What kind of design is this?" Cassia looked at the glass window next to him and felt very strange. He knocked on the door, and a hollow sound echoed around him.

No one opened the door, but it opened with minimal force.

Light was projected as the door opened, and Cassia took off her mask. In the black eyes, the room is still designed like an old station, very much like the structure of a tavern. There are several badly worn tables and chairs inside. On one side is a counter-like place. There are several cabinets about the same height as the room. On them are placed clean glass cups and what looks like Intact bottles of various wines and juices of different colors came.

Beside the counter, an older man with gray hair was sitting there using the bright light to read the books in front of him seriously. Next to the book was a glass with half a glass of wine, but next to the glass was a pot of green plants that looked like they were painted with paint. Cassia couldn't recognize what it was. The room was filled with the strong aroma of wine.

The two walked in, and the old man raised his head, with a look of half surprise and half astonishment on his face. Seeing other people in the desert seemed unimaginable to him. Especially the two people in front of them are still very young faces.

It is nearly two thousand kilometers deep into the desert. One thousand five hundred kilometers further is the center of the desert - the scope of the Gerun Oasis. But the deeper you go into the desert, the greater the danger and risk. This station is already the most advanced building established by the empire in this desert. After passing this supply station, there are no such large supply stations in the next area, and small supply stations will probably end up being annihilated. At least in recent years, because the peripheral resources of this desert have been almost completely exploited, the empire does not seem to have any plans to continue building new supply stations.

After all, the remains of countless stations have been buried under the yellow sand. When the benefits and costs did not want to wait, the empire decisively gave up here. Only the oasis area in the center is still rising.

"Hello, old gentleman." Cassia greeted the old man while carrying something on her back, and Kara had already taken off the heavy things on her body and placed them on the tables. The room was now heated, and the temperature was just right, and Cassia felt extremely comfortable. That is the moisture of the water, and the humidity of the air is also the most suitable state.

"Hello, brave young people." The old man took off his metal-framed round glasses, and the golden pupils inside were still shining with wisdom. "I can see other travelers here. It should be me." Your luck should be said to be your bravery."

The old man stood up with a smile, put the book away and put it under the counter in front of him.

"You can call me Old Man Dorne." The old man walked to the cabinet where the cups were placed, took down two empty glasses, and said, "Do you want anything to drink? The first three cups are free. After staying in this desert for so long, For a long time, except for a few tourists who come during the coldest month of winter, the rest of the time, seeing other people depends on luck."

"I want grape juice." Kara was not polite.

"Wouldn't you like some wine? Beautiful lady." The old man from Dorn filled a glass of dark purple juice, and Cassia handed it to Kara.

"Me too." Cassia said by the way. He also took off his backpack, but he didn't put it on the table like Kara, but placed it in the corner next to the window. There is also a huge potted plant there. The leaves are curled due to lack of water and have not been pruned. They grow quite messy. They are planted in an earthy yellow ceramic pot, and the soil inside is still moist.

Cassia had not smelled the smell of earth for a long time, and moisture rose from the basin. Perhaps because of the close proximity, Cassia smelled another smell from inside. The effect of the surgery has made their sense of smell comparable to that of military dogs, and even as the stage of surgery improves, these basic abilities will continue to increase.

It was a faint fishy smell, mixed with the smell of earth, and then mixed with the aroma of wine in the room.

Cassia didn't move at all, and even her movement of bending down to put her backpack was not affected in the slightest. He bent down and moved a little closer to the flowerpot to make sure again whether there was something wrong with his nose.

However, this time he moved his head a little closer to the flower pot, and a semicircular piece of incomplete glass appeared in the corner of his eye. The glass piece was very thick, half of it was missing, and it was lying quietly in the shadow of the flowerpot. The ground there was covered with dust that had not been swept for a long time, but the glass was in a brand new state.

Cassia stood up thoughtfully, and when she drank half of the grape juice handed over by the old man Dorn, Kara had already gone to ask for a second glass.

I have to say that it is indeed a pleasure to drink such delicious grape juice when your throat is extremely thirsty.

After drinking the remaining juice in one gulp, Cassia walked over and asked for a second cup.

The old man Donne filled a transparent glass cup while talking to Cassia and the others in a friendly tone.

"By the way, I don't know my brother's name yet." The old man from Dorn handed the juice to Cassia, "Of course, I wonder if I, an old man, will be lucky enough to know the name of this beautiful lady."

The old man from Dorn kept smiling cheerfully.

"Of course, Kara," Kara replied. Old man Dorn nodded.

"Just call me Gulica." Cassia replied. He turned around and returned to his seat with the cup in hand. He had already seen an imperceptible smile suddenly rising from the corner of Kara's mouth.