Apocalypse: Last Traveler

Setting aside the jumbled thoughts, Lu Xi'an said to Chai Xin, "Before, Luo Ping gave me a book. I originally planned to tear out a page for you, but thought it didn't seem appropriate.

"Now that I have this piece of paper, I've written something on it. Once Luo Ping sees it, he'll understand, so no need for me to tear the book. Just take the paper with you."

"Rip—"

The sound of paper tearing.

Following the sound, Lu Xi'an and Chai Xin turned their heads, only to notice that Yao Wei had somehow taken Lu Xi'an's diary without them knowing.

Yao Wei had just opened the first page of the diary and was about to look when she heard Lu Xi'an's words. Remembering the drawing in Luo Ping's book, her hands went out of control, and she accidentally tore the paper a bit.

A little embarrassed, she felt bad about peeking into Lu Xi'an's diary, so she closed it and returned it to him, saying, "Sorry."

"It's fine."

Lu Xi'an responded calmly as he took back the diary.

In truth, he wasn't too worried. By the look on Yao Wei's face, it seemed she didn't have any real concept of peeking at diaries, perhaps just simple curiosity about what he wrote.

Moreover, there wasn't anything too secretive in the diary; the only issue was that it subtly suggested he wasn't from this world.

Given his current relationship with Yao Wei, letting her know didn't seem to be a big deal.

Just explaining it might be a bit troublesome.

After putting the diary away and resting for a night, they continued their journey.

This time, they needed to detour east, take a bit of a roundabout route, dropping off Chai Xin in Riverbed Village before continuing south.

Before setting out, Chai Xin insisted she could go on her own without needing Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei to specially detour for her, but they didn't agree.

For the two of them, taking this extra leg was no great effort, and when reaching Riverbed County, they could also look around for supplies. Why not?

Furthermore, the mysterious "lid-like" pressure above his head made Lu Xi'an a bit curious. He wanted to explore more of this strange Sword Mountain City, hoping to discover some clues.

—As for danger, he didn't sense any, subconsciously feeling there wouldn't be any.

—At least, not in this case.

The pressure was simply because the dome seemed covered, nothing more.

Lu Xi'an even had a vague sense that if he could find the key to this, he might benefit somehow.

So he drove eastward.

East of East Mountain County was a downhill road, with Riverbed County located downstream of the Xijian River, sitting at the foot of Sword Mountain.

Sword Mountain City and Pingchuan City are divided by the mountain, just as Yubei City and Mengxin City are.

The slope was steep, and they descended quickly. Lu Xi'an drove all the way and reached the foot of the mountain in less than half a day.

A river over a meter wide flowed down from the mountain, meeting the road and vehicle nearby.

However, the bridge across the river was long broken, making it impassable by car.

So Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei got out and lifted the car across the river, leaving Chai Xin in awe.

"Impressive!"

Chai Xin couldn't help but exclaim, then sighed, "Sigh... as a Neo-Human, why don't I have as much strength as you guys?"

Lu Xi'an said, "But you Neo-Humans can turn invisible."

"True."

Chai Xin nodded, and with that, she jumped back onto the car, using her skin's inherent optical camouflage to conceal herself.

Practicing slowly on the car roof, she had already mastered her ability.

However, there was now a problem—she could only ensure her own invisibility, but couldn't manage her clothes, leaving her neck, head, and arms exposed outside the cloak of her garments on the car roof.

She's still working on it, though; sometimes in the car, her ability instinctively flickers, seemingly able to affect her surroundings and make her clothes indistinct as well.

She thought with more practice and thought, she might also be able to hide her clothes entirely.

Otherwise, if she wanted to stay invisible, she'd have to take off her clothes.

While that didn't bother her much, the problem was that things on her couldn't be taken along either...

This tiny river just over a meter wide was the Xijian River. Lu Xi'an had some doubts, having taken out the "World Map One" to check, and only after confirming did he reluctantly accept.

Looking from north to south, the great swords of the mountains were washed by such a small river...

Once across the river, Riverbed City was within reach.

Just like before, Lu Xi'an took out the Resonant Gene Scanner, had Gou power it up, checked for any Neo-Humans, and then continued forward after confirming there were none.

But unexpectedly, as they approached the outskirts of Riverbed City, the road suddenly ended.

The road into Riverbed City was via a large bridge, beneath which should have been a vast lake—clearly an ancient man-made lake—that now dried up and became a ravine filled with weeds.

The bridge over the ravine had long since collapsed in the middle; even lifting the car, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei couldn't jump that distance.

So they had to detour.

Yao Wei, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at the map and directed, "There's a Xiaogang Village northward, with an eastward road from there. We can loop back to the original route."

Lu Xi'an nodded, turned the steering wheel, and set off, "Alright, then let's head north and part ways at Xiaogang Village."

Xiaogang Village was small; Lu Xi'an had seen it on the Resonant Gene Scanner's map too, just one road with about ten rows of houses on either side.

There was a crossroads in the middle of the village, forming an east-west road, from where Chai Xin could turn east.

Lu Xi'an had already checked the village and found no Neo-Humans.

After entering the village, Yao Wei climbed onto the car roof again to guard with Chai Xin.

Lu Xi'an walked along the main road of the village, ensuring it was deserted, then felt safe to park.

However, they didn't intend to treasure-hunt.

The village houses had mostly collapsed, with overgrown weeds everywhere, appearing long abandoned and desolate, a clear sign of years without residents.

Lu Xi'an parked the car at the crossroad, turned east, and stopped at the village's east end, ready to part ways with Chai Xin there.

But just as they reached the village entrance, he suddenly froze.

Beside a collapsed house at the village entrance, there was a plot of land with two very lush trees at the edge.

But that wasn't the main point.

The main point was—within the field were rows upon rows of stalks, green stems, leaves with hints of yellow, enclosing plump central bits wrapped in green layers; the tips were slightly pointed, with dense yellow tassels peeking out.

Such familiar things...

And so tempting...

Traveling everywhere from north to south, he had never seen something so familiar and enticing!

"Alright, I'm leaving now, thanks."

Chai Xin jumped down from the car roof, turned back to speak with Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei in the car, but immediately noticed Lu Xi'an's odd expression.

"What's wrong?"

She asked.

Lu Xi'an suddenly stepped on the clutch and shifted gears, saying, "Quickly get back in the car! Something's not right; someone's growing corn here!"

Just as he finished speaking, a very old voice emanated from beneath Chai Xin's feet, "You're right, better get back in the car. I finally got to sleep, and you woke me up by stepping on me."

Startled, Chai Xin jumped away. Looking closely at her feet near the tree, tree roots had spread, creating shallow pits and mounds.

On the soil where tree roots sprawled, eyes unexpectedly opened, and a mouth formed.

The earth is talking!