Apocalypse: Last Traveler

Including the state of social organization.

He organized his thoughts and continued, "Logically speaking, with such a level of technology and social organization, people facing the apocalypse should be able to endure it.

"Even if there were some mishaps in between or moments of chaos or even a complete breakdown of organization, people should still be able to reorganize, come together, and face the changes in this world.

"But why has it come to this?

"People live their own lives, never striving to improve, merely scraping by in this cruel world, looking only at the present, disregarding the future.

"And so, someone idealistic like Luo Ping has become an anomaly... What is going on here..."

Yao Wei listened silently, without speaking.

She suddenly couldn't help but think of Lu Xi'an, that guy, he should be the same kind of person as Luo Ping, right?

Should I have let Lu Xi'an go with Luo Ping back then, instead of saying nothing and keeping Lu Xi'an by my side?

This question suddenly lodged itself in her heart, making her feel choked.

Under normal circumstances, she would have blurted out these words directly to Lu Xi'an, but for some reason, she simply didn't want to say them.

Or maybe it's not that she doesn't want to say them, but that she inexplicably can't, they just stay stuck inside, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I don't mean anything by it, just feel that there must have been some misfortune here, otherwise the world wouldn't have developed into its current state."

Lu Xi'an said, "But no matter what, the world has become what it is now. We're powerless to change it, and can only drift along living. Whatever will be, will be. Let's get in the car now and go find the Pipe."

"Okay."

Yao Wei nodded, mentally clearing away the messy thoughts and adjusting her mood. She asked, "Shall we drive? Should we park the car somewhere to save some fuel?"

Lu Xi'an replied, "Driving around this little village won't use much fuel, we're not short on it."

"Okay."

Yao Wei agreed.

She didn't get into the car but climbed onto the roof, grabbing Gou with the bow and arrow, launching the drone, and turning on the air-ground coordination mode.

Carefully observing the surroundings, Lu Xi'an drove to the main street of the village.

The village only had one main street; once past the main street, they reached the end of the village. The old, abandoned main street had a slight slope but didn't appear as steep as those in other counties.

However, the road was already damaged, making the car shake and jolt, and if Yao Wei wasn't Neo-Human, she probably couldn't have stood steady on the roof.

They walked along the main street once, confirming safety before preparing to search.

The buildings on both sides of the street were two-story row houses, still intact, revealing they were all once shops.

Now, behind the shops, many houses collapsed, but those facing the street remained sturdy, seemingly a key project by the authorities in past years.

This small village, once a key route between Ox Head County and Jianshan City, seemed quite prosperous back then.

As they passed through the main street, Lu Xi'an reminded Yao Wei, "Take a look at the shops on both sides of the street. I'll also pay attention and see if there's a hardware store.

"If there is, remember it, and let's check it when we come back."

Yao Wei asked, "What about other shops?"

Lu Xi'an replied, "Also need to check. Search them one by one when we come back, but mainly focus on hardware stores."

"Okay."

Yao Wei agreed, showing she understood.

Yet, passing through the village main street, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei couldn't spot even a trace of a hardware store's sign.

The main street was named after the shops, the signs shattered to pieces, leaving few well-preserved ones.

Each shop was dilapidated, some brimming with chaos, others empty, either destroyed by people or picked clean.

After passing by, finishing the journey, they failed to confirm any clear target.

But Lu Xi'an felt there ought to be a hardware store on this old road; a couple of shops' layouts looked like hardware stores.

As they walked, Lu Xi'an didn't give it much thought, only recalling it upon finding no hardware store.

They started retracing their steps, searching on foot from the car, focusing on where they previously felt were hardware stores.

But after spending much time retracing their steps, they found nothing.

Some close-to-street shops had chaotic and toppled shelves, leaving only the shelves behind.

Until reaching one village shop, Lu Xi'an got an unexpected find.

The shop appeared to be a restaurant, inside had toppled round tables, long dilapidated and unusable. The debris behind the counter scattered with shattered tiles, likely caused by the liquor bottles dropped from the counter.

Among the fragments, there were several empty plastic bottles. Though the caps were tightened, the bottles were damaged, likely old drinks fallen and pierced by shattered tiles.

Yet among the broken leaking bottles, one was perfectly intact.

The label on the bottle's surface had fallen at some point, pressed underneath it. Lu Xi'an picked it up and looked, noticing the image and text had vanished with time.

The liquid inside the bottle was of unusual color, unknown drink, but definitely undrinkable regardless.

Lu Xi'an called Gou to check, confirming the liquid was indeed undrinkable.