358: Surface

Days passed, and the released Hope of Light members gradually began to integrate into Underground City life.

They were arranged in various residential areas, and the Comprehensive Management Department even arranged jobs for them.

For more than ten consecutive days, life was extremely stable, with no abnormalities occurring, and the Superpower Potion incident seemed as if it had never happened.

Everyone thought the matter was about to pass.

Tian Ming also took Xiao Xiao out to roam every day, seemingly calm; outwardly, Tian Ming was leisurely and carefree, but in reality, he was closely monitoring every move of the released Hope of Light members through his Fourth Clone.

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed.

The scale of the Underground City had doubled, expanding its population capacity from over 300,000 to over 700,000 people.

The expanded areas were basically residential zones, schools, and shops.

After the Enforcement Bureau completed the collection of all population information, the online community also formed a complete specification.

The base's internet had taken initial shape, and Tian Ming's investment company released a large amount of capital, bringing a spring for a large number of senior programmers.

The commercial division of the Comprehensive Management Department, leveraging the power of the community, began to engage in e-commerce.

Aside from food, all other goods could be purchased on the community platform.

Life seemed to be developing in a positive direction, and large factories on the surface were also completed one after another.

The initial group of people who received investments also began to set up factories, enriching various industries within the base.

Because robots participated in the construction, the previously elevated unemployment rate rapidly decreased again, and due to the establishment of private factories and various enterprises, those optimized and idled populations found new places to go, and the entire base quickly stabilized.

Tian Ming also gave a rule to Third Clone: all critical material production and guarantees within the base would adopt mechanization and automation; for others, private factory establishments, according to scale grading, different scales must absorb corresponding personnel positions until all idle population is absorbed.

In this way, everyone in the base would have a source of income, and with subsidies, the income level would not be too bad.

When ordinary members had surplus funds, they would spontaneously engage in some real industries.

People are profit-seeking; those with money in their hands would naturally fill the missing gaps within the base.

Because everyone does it, it means no profit; only the first one to fill a void can make big money.

As a result, the Comprehensive Management Department's commercial management approvals exploded, with applications for companies of all sizes arriving daily.

There were also quite a few small individual businesses.

To describe it in one sentence, it was booming.

Just when everyone thought life was getting back on track and moving in a better direction, an undercurrent quietly surged in the Underground City.

The released Hope of Light members, over these two months, had gradually integrated into Underground City life, and some of them had even found their place in their new lives.

However, beneath these seemingly calm surfaces, some restless elements were quietly brewing; just when everyone thought the Superpower Potion incident was over, some people started to get restless.

Fourth Clone had been closely monitoring every move of these released Hope of Light members.

Some people seemed to be secretly engaging in some activities.

Late one night, in a residential area of the Underground City, inside the community warehouse's scrap storage, a group of people gathered.

They wore blue overalls and were huddled together, gnawing on steamed buns.

"Boss, it's been over two months, has there been no contact from above yet?" one person asked, taking a bite of the steamed bun in his hand.

This group of people were all members of Hope of Light, led by a man who looked very refined and wore glasses.

This man, named Zhao Zixuan, was one of Hope of Light's core members.

After being released, he served as an equipment hidden danger inspector in the Underground City, acting as a small team leader.

"Let's wait a bit longer."

Zhao Zixuan said in a deep voice, "Our current identity is residents of the Underground City.

The Underground City is full of surveillance, and there's a supercomputer like Third Clone; any abnormal behavior could be discovered."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

They knew Zhao Zixuan was right.

After the Superpower Potion incident, the Underground City's management had maintained a high degree of vigilance towards Hope of Light members.

Their every move was under the Comprehensive Management Department's surveillance.

A slight carelessness could expose their identity and whereabouts.

"Boss, we can't just keep waiting here, can we?" another person couldn't help but say, and everyone else looked at Zhao Zixuan.

It had been over two months, and these people had not failed to test the sensitivity of the surveillance.

They had gathered multiple times without triggering any interrogations from relevant personnel.

One of them spoke up, "We've waited for over two months, and there's been no news from above.

We need to find a way to proactively contact them."

Zhao Zixuan pondered for a moment and said, "I always have a vague unease, as if there's a pair of eyes watching us.

How about this, I will try to contact Hawk.

If I can establish contact, then I will gather the other organizational personnel."

"Wouldn't that be too risky?"

"There's no better way now.

Instead of just waiting here, it's better to take the initiative.

As long as we act carefully, it shouldn't attract the attention of the Comprehensive Management Department."

Zhao Zixuan's proposal gained the approval of those present.

These people were all former core members of Hope of Light, with very high loyalty to the organization.

They believed that as long as they could contact the organization, they might regain attention and support from above.

In the following days, a large number of posts appeared on the online public forum.

These 'water posts' were all casual chats, with some typos mixed in the text.

Because the online community was real-name, most people wouldn't say anything too extreme when chatting.

Basically, they would just offer opinions, and then take on some part-time jobs for the Comprehensive Management Department's public services on the forum, such as cleaning or trash disposal.

Tian Ming sat in front of the computer, flipping through Zhao Zixuan's posts.

He had no clue, because he simply couldn't find any hidden information within the posts.

The content of the posts was completely fine; it was essentially just a daily sharing.

But the frequency and timing of these posts always made people feel strange, as if they were conveying some information, but Tian Ming couldn't find the connection or evidence within them.

"Daddy, Da, Dad..." Xiao Xiao's voice came, and Shen Yuan walked over, holding Xiao Xiao.

"What's wrong, why the long face?"

"The Hope of Light personnel have started to act.

They have no means of contact, so they can only establish contact through the online community.

This person named Zhao Zixuan is the current leader.

The message from Fourth Clone is that Zhao Zixuan will contact Hawk soon.

He posts quite frequently, but I can't see any pattern," Tian Ming said with a frown.

Shen Yuan handed her daughter to Tian Ming, who quickly reached out and took her.

"Let me take a look; I might find some patterns."

Shen Yuan sat down and exported all of Zhao Zixuan's posting information.

Tian Ming stood by, holding Xiao Xiao: "How is it, found anything?"