The WIFI covered the entire base. Once they turned on the phones, the four of them immediately connected to the base WIFI. After scanning the QR code, they downloaded the base APP without delay.
After the location was confirmed, the system automatically locked onto the H City base and displayed all the content posted there.
Opening the base APP revealed a forum-like page. Just as Brother Zhang had said, all the important announcements were pinned at the top. Below them were some official posts that had been highlighted and placed in prominent spots. Further down were posts made by base residents. To say it was like a forum was not wrong, but to be more precise, it looked even closer to Weibo.
At the top of the page was a small downward arrow. When tapped, it opened up categories for sorting messages, making browsing clearer.
The categories were neat and simple: one for official announcements, one for non-official posts. Whether you looked at them together or separately, the newest messages always stayed at the top so no one would miss them.
Lan Jin wanted to see other pages. As soon as she tapped, a pop-up appeared saying that registration was required. Because there were no telecom operators, none of their phones had numbers. Instead, accounts had to be registered using real-name information, which meant scanning their residence permit QR code to verify identity.
Once the registration was complete, the other pages opened up.
Next to the forum tab was the "Life" page. Opening it revealed it was actually the supermarket and cafeteria interface. It was very similar to the previous rescue APP and even had a pre-order function. For example, if someone worked overtime but did not want to miss dinner, they could reserve a meal online. The cafeteria, once receiving the message, would set aside the food and leave it at the door. The person only needed to scan a code to pick it up. That way, no meals would be missed.
The supermarket worked the same way. Whatever you needed could be ordered online first and then paid for at the store.
Its operation was nearly identical to the rescue APP, so instead of feeling troublesome, they found it very convenient.
After the Life page came the "Messages" page, which looked familiar. All messages were displayed here, whether sent by the official backend or by their own friends.
At the top left and right corners were two icons. On the right was a plus sign. Tapping it allowed adding friends, joining groups, or scanning QR codes.
On the left was a small profile icon that opened the contacts list. Official accounts were added automatically and pinned at the top, followed by personal friends.
Next to the Messages tab was "My Page." At the very top were the user's registration details.
Below that was a balance section showing contribution points. Beneath the balance was a transaction record. Opening it displayed all their shopping history, even including the earliest records of boxed meals they had bought.
Lan Jin said, "Wasn't it supposed to be impossible to connect to the internet? This is connected just fine."
"Exactly. But I think this is a closed system. It runs with the account itself."
Further down was another section showing their movement records. It recorded every time they scanned their residence permit upon entering different bases.
For instance, when they had stayed at their own apartment complex in J City, nothing was recorded. But during the three days they had lived inside the J City base, the app displayed it clearly, including the time of entry and exit, and whether it was temporary or permanent residence.
After leaving J City base, the log showed their move to H City base. At first, they had three days temporary status. Then Brother Zhang extended it to one month. Now three weeks still remained, all noted clearly.
Below the location log was a "Customer Service" function. No one had expected this. That a base APP would even have a customer service option was surprising, though whether anyone actually used it was unknown.
After customer service came the phone number of H City base's service desk.
Its use was limited though. Inside the base, you had no reason to make calls. Outside the base, there was no signal to make calls.
Still, the APP was undeniably well made.
The four of them then added each other as friends and created a small group chat. They quickly realized that this chat system had all the same functions as the old messaging apps: sending texts, making calls, sending red packets, even transferring money. Every useful feature was present.
Huang Jinghe even made a test call directly to Lan Jin. When her phone rang, Lan Jin froze for a moment. It had truly been months since she last heard a ringtone.
"The phone rang so suddenly. I honestly didn't know how to react."
After hanging up, the four of them went back to browsing the forum posts.
The official announcements were many, but they contained information they already knew, so there was no need to go over them. What really caught their attention were the private posts. The more they read, the stranger it became.
For example, there were posts about the ice skates and sleds they had used upon first arriving at the base. There were posts about how the four of them had taken on the hardest missions. There were even posts about them killing snakes at the base gates. All of it had appeared in the forum.
Huang Jinghe said, "Instead of calling this a forum, they should call it a friend circle. Every little thing shows up."
Ling Jiang replied, "I think it should just be called Weibo. It looks exactly the same."
But whatever the base wanted to call it was their business. Their opinions did not matter.
They had only been scrolling for a short while when a man rushed toward them and stopped in front of the group.
The four of them lifted their heads. Who else could it be but Brother Li?
Lan Jin stood and greeted him. "Brother Li, I didn't expect we would meet again so soon."
After a few polite exchanges, Brother Li brought two staff members forward to ask about the entire incident.
Brother Li explained, "This report should have been made by Brother Zhang. But given his current situation… please tell us everything yourselves."
What he wanted was simple: to understand exactly why those thirty-one people had been injured.
At Brother Li's request, the four of them started recounting from the moment they left the base. They spoke and spoke, until they described their return and arrival at the so-called top floor. Only then did they stop.
After listening carefully, Brother Li's face made his thoughts clear: he did not believe a word of it.
Brother Li said, "You mean to tell me the mutated plants tore themselves out of the ground, chased after you, and some of them ran so fast they reached the foot of the mountain first and injured those men?"