Tie Dian

Of course, these small machines didn't just appear out of thin air! For this, Zhang Aiguo still had to pay a small portion of grain. In fact, it was equivalent to these small machines being sold to them at a discount.

When Zhang Aiguo received these small machines, he thought about whether the N City Research Institute could try to replicate them. This was to avoid a situation where, if they broke, they would have to spend more grain to buy them from the higher-ups. After all, the higher-ups only sold the machines to Zhang Aiguo but did not reveal the manufacturing method. Furthermore, the superiors didn't say they couldn't be researched; Zhang Aiguo took it as the higher-ups encouraging each city to conduct its own research...

Since then, the N City Research Institute had been researching them until now but had yet to produce any results. As for the research progress on these small machines... well... even Zhang Aiguo himself wanted to complain. Was it really necessary to be so heavily guarded! The N City Research Institute couldn't even break through the outer casing of these machines, and they couldn't be forced open! The protection mechanism of these small machines was such that if they were forced open, they would directly self-destruct.

Thinking of this, Zhang Aiguo also remembered the report from the research institute. Even if they were forced open, it wouldn't work; the outer casing of these small machines was extremely hard, and the institute temporarily couldn't break it without damaging the internal components. Furthermore, the destructive force generated by the self-destruction was quite large! Most importantly, the material of the outer casing was a new material; at least the enthusiastic researchers at the N City Research Institute said they had never seen it before. It couldn't even be found in previous databases.

In short, they simply couldn't handle these small machines. Zhang Aiguo thought irritably that in the future, they could only rely on grain to buy them. The relatively lucky thing was that these small machines came with a warranty. These small machines had a name: Tie Dian.

Hearing this name, Zhang Aiguo felt he truly didn't understand it. Why not just call it a "small iron block"? He felt that name would be more suitable! Each small machine, in his view, was like a square little iron block, pitch black all over, but reflecting a bit of steel's luster when facing the light. They were small, yet they could connect to the internet!

Regardless, Zhang Aiguo didn't understand why this little iron block—ah, Tie Dian—could connect to the internet. He only cared about what role this Tie Dian could play in his management and whether it would make the lives of N City residents better! As for other deep-seated reasons, wasn't there the research institute for that? He wasn't a specialist in this research!

Returning to the present, the operations room was still bustling with activity, even reaching the point where many people had started arguing over differing viewpoints! Where there were arguments, there were naturally people trying to mediate! The arguers were red-faced and panting, while the mediators were so anxious they were breaking into a cold sweat. Unfortunately, the arguers only grew more heated, and their numbers increased. Even some of the mediators ended up joining the argument after being pulled in; the scene was a mess.

At this time, where was the person in charge, Zhang Aiguo? Zhang Aiguo had gone out in his silent aircraft. This was because several small teams sent out to pick up people had returned. Zhang Aiguo really wanted to see what the situation was. He wanted to go to the scene to ask the returning team members if they had encountered those beasts. Therefore, Zhang Aiguo ignored the advice of others and went directly to the originally arranged resettlement point to see the villagers who had been rescued.

Thus, the members of this discussion group were actually debating whether Zhang Aiguo's decision to go out was correct! On the scene, some supported him while others opposed him. Therefore, it turned into this! The operations room was in chaos, and since Zhang Aiguo, who was usually refined and elegant, wasn't there, such a scene could only continue to play out...

And Zhang Aiguo's trip truly yielded results! Upon arriving at the resettlement point, Zhang Aiguo went straight to the temporary gathering point of the residents to comfort the newly rescued villagers. He also told the staff on-site about his arrangements, while medical personnel were also on-site bandaging some of the injured. While doing these things, Zhang Aiguo also listened to the report on this operation.

The luck for this operation was relatively good. The rescue team also arrived quite timely! There were no deaths; at most, some residents and team members suffered minor injuries that only required simple bandaging. Not a single person was seriously injured. Furthermore, the cause of these minor injuries was mostly due to the eternal darkness and road conditions causing falls; very few were injured by beasts.

However, on the retreat path of these small teams, they truly saw the destructive power of those beasts. The destructive power of these beasts could truly be called "animal-shaped house demolishers." Their speed in destroying houses was incredibly fast, like crushing dry weeds. Seeing such a terrifying scene made some team members doubt themselves. Were these houses really that easy to destroy? Could they collapse with just a light touch? Those scenes greatly shocked the team members; it felt like they were living through a monster movie, only they had turned from spectators into participants.

When these small teams reported their work, they all came in one by one to report directly. The content of the reports from the first few teams was basically standard, all about the retreat situation... Nothing special was discovered! But when it came to the report of the last small team, it was much more exciting!

The last team had some members who had faced the threat of the beasts directly. These members had even started thinking about how to write and preserve their wills when the beasts simply ignored them and passed by. However, the team members sitting in the aircraft, hovering right above the small house they were in, gave a different answer. Those beasts were avoiding the small room they were in. It wasn't just luck; there must have been other reasons! After all, in that village, after the beasts swept through, only the small room they were in remained undamaged.

This last team had gone to the farthest village. By the time they arrived, beasts had already started roaming the surroundings. It was just that those roaming beasts were still relatively small, and there was no great danger yet. However, the team members also urgently evacuated those villagers. During the evacuation, the village chief asked the team members to help evacuate an old man living alone.

The old man was nearly 80 years old and usually lived alone. His children had settled elsewhere and rarely returned, but they never neglected him financially. Then, when the people went to evacuate this solitary old man, they happened to encounter a large-scale influx of beasts into the village. Everyone thought they would perish, but they ended up surviving safely.

Before leaving, after consulting the old man, the team members knocked a piece of the outer wall off his house. They planned to bring it back for the research institute to study and see if it could be mass-produced to reduce beast attacks. This was because when the beasts arrived, the old man wasn't panicked at all, claiming there was no problem and that the beasts would absolutely not attack them, even comforting the team members who came to help him move. Therefore, after they waited for the beasts to leave, they specifically asked the old man why. The old man then said it was because his walls and roof had been specially treated, so those beasts would simply not enter or even approach his residence.