Apocalypse: Last Traveler

Old Brother...

Lu Xi'an was momentarily speechless.

This old man is how many cycles older than me? Yet he's calling me old brother now!

Yao Wei also had a slightly strange look in her eyes.

And Chai Xin looked at Lu Xi'an, then at the old man, unable to hold back his laughter.

"Don't call me that, you're older than me."

Lu Xi'an said.

The old man nodded repeatedly, "Okay, old brother!"

Lu Xi'an: "..."

"Pfft..."

Chai Xin couldn't hold back his laughter, but after receiving a glare from Lu Xi'an, he quickly stifled it and sat up straight to watch the pot.

Lu Xi'an sighed inwardly, forget it, let's not dwell on this issue. Judging by the old man's nature, if I bring it up again, he'll probably just say "Got it, old brother" again.

If that happens, Chai Xin might laugh even harder.

He changed the subject and asked the old man, "What's your name, old man?"

"What's my name..."

The old man became bewildered, "What's my name... What's my name... I seem to have forgotten..."

Seeing his confused look, Lu Xi'an had no choice but to say, "Forget it, forget it, this question doesn't need answering. A name is just a label, it's not like you need to communicate with others, any name will do, right?"

But the old man still looked confused, seemingly in a daze, unable to break free: "What's my name... something tree... tree... tree... there's something with a tree?"

Lu Xi'an gave the old man a pat, finally snapping him out of his trance.

"Alright, stop thinking about it, at worst just pick a new name, Master Shu? Brother Shu?"

He suggested casually.

The old man shook his head repeatedly, saying, "Forget it, forget it, just call me Old Man Shu. That sounds more comfortable."

But Lu Xi'an still didn't call him Old Man Shu and continued calling him old man, "Old man, how did you get those tree roots growing all over your head?"

"How did they grow... how did they grow..."

Old Man Shu fell into confusion again, as if time had passed for too long and he couldn't remember these things.

Lu Xi'an was about to interrupt his reverie when Old Man Shu suddenly seemed to remember, smacking his forehead and saying, "Oh! Right! That's it! I remembered!

"When I first came back, the corn was still toxic. People would come here and take everything, even the TV, sofa, table, and the corn.

"I was hiding by the tree and got hit on the head when they tried to take the table, and I passed out.

"Seems like I was unconscious for a long time? When I woke up, my house had collapsed, and these tree roots had grown on my head."

Lu Xi'an couldn't comprehend what this phenomenon could be, though Old Man Shu probably was indeed unconscious for quite some time.

He added a question, "How long were you unconscious on East Mountain?"

Old Man Shu reflected for a while and said, "It must have been quite a while. There was still snow when it rained up on the mountain, but by the time I woke up, the snow was gone, and the weather suddenly warmed up. Otherwise, how could I have planted the corn?"

Lu Xi'an asked, "With such a long time without farming, how did you manage to plant the corn?"

Old Man Shu said, "I had corn seeds stored in my house, bought before the cold disaster hit. I hadn't had a chance to plant them yet when the cold disaster occurred.

"Honestly, I wasn't hopeful at the time, with so much time passed, how could the seeds possibly still be viable?

"But to my surprise, when I tried, they really did sprout! Do you think it's because the cold disaster nurtured the land? Or that strange rain nurtured it?

"Not only that time, even the second time I got knocked out by the table, so much time had passed when I woke up, the corn was still growing, just not well after too long.

"Later, after some nurturing, it grew well again.

"Look at it now, no matter how the weather changes, the corn grows so well. As long as I tend to it, care for it, it doesn't grow crooked. And I don't have to plant anew each year, unlike before.

"Ah... I just wish that before the cold disaster, this corn could have grown continuously without needing to be planted, how great it would have been.

"If this isn't the land getting nurtured, what is it? Just don't know what nurtured it.

"I pondered this question for a long time without figuring it out, and over time, I just forgot.

"Who knows?"

Lu Xi'an said, not able to comprehend the connections either.

But things were settled. Both times, after being injured, Old Man Shu had passed out, without knowing how long he'd been unconscious — it could be months, or even years.

After sustaining severe trauma, he entered a hibernation-like state, sustaining life, and slowly regenerating.

It's uncertain if Chai Xin possesses such a capability?

Though it seems to resemble more of the ability of someone like Luo Ping, a Type B Neo-Human?

And the corn here, likely changed due to special circumstances, which gave it such effects. The toxicity toward ordinary people was a later development.

It's a pity Luo Ping isn't here, he would certainly be highly interested in this corn if he were.

In the new world, this corn holds immense research value.

Lu Xi'an originally wanted to ask once more about when the corn started being lethal to people, but now he already had the answer, with no need to ask again.

The water in the pot gradually boiled, and the corn floating on it slowly absorbed water, with the kernels plumping up.

The aroma began wafting from the pot, drawing Lu Xi'an's attention, leaving him speechless for a moment.

The others felt the same.

The four eagerly anticipated, waited for a long time, with the old man even taking the initiative to collect corn husk fallen from the stalks and some branches to stoke the fire; Chai Xin eagerly joined in the effort.

And seeing Chai Xin spring to action, Yao Wei also got involved.

Lu Xi'an didn't bother with them, holding his place and tending the fire.

Time passed bit by bit until the corn in the pot finally looked ready. Lu Xi'an picked up a cob, broke off a kernel to taste it, and after confirming it was fine, each of the four took a cob to sit down and gnaw on.

The boiled corn emitted an enticingly sweet aroma, each bite giving a soft, glutinous taste; surprisingly, despite its post-apocalyptic toxicity to ordinary people, it tasted nearly identical to the corn of yore.

Lu Xi'an wondered whether it was merely an illusion born from a long-time deprivation, whatever the case was, he couldn't care less about the heat as he ate.

Yao Wei and Chai Xin were likewise engrossed, especially Chai Xin, who was devouring it bizarrly through gritted teeth and managing the scorching sensation, repeatedly exclaiming, "Delicious! Delicious! I've never had anything so tasty!"

Lu Xi'an laughed and said, "Eat slowly, don't burn yourself, there's no one here fighting over it with you." But in truth, he wasn't much better off himself.

Gnawing through gritted teeth, Chai Xin mumbled, "I am a Neo-Human, not afraid of burns."

True enough.

So, Lu Xi'an fell silent again, devouring the corn ferociously.

But Yao Wei had already quietly finished her cob, and very sensibly stood up, went to the cornfield, picked a few more and put them into the pot.