Apocalypse: Last Traveler

The thing spat out by the big fish was pitch black, covered in slime, and looked like a package.

And the river was already calm. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei looked closely, seeing the ripples no longer on the river surface, they confirmed in their hearts—

After the Fish Rider died, it seemed the fish really didn't intend to attack anymore. After spitting this thing onto the shore, it swam away underwater.

"So... was this thing meant to be spat out for us?"

Lu Xi'an asked with some hesitation.

Yao Wei nodded and said, "It should be."

Lu Xi'an asked again, "Then what do you think is inside?"

Yao Wei said, "I don't know."

What kind of package came from the big fish's mouth?

Could it be related to the Fish Rider?

Lu Xi'an had some thoughts in his mind, drove the car forward a bit, got closer to the "package," rolled down the car window, held Gou out of the window, and said, "Gou, take a look, is there any problem with this thing? Is it dangerous to us?"

The mechanical dog's head lowered, glanced at the thing, and then flashed twice.

This meaning was quite clear, the thing spat out by the big fish posed no problem and was not dangerous to them.

Only then did Lu Xi'an get out of the car, picked up a corner of the thing, and walked to the riverbank.

The thing was covered in slime; without rinsing it off, how could he examine it closely?

After making sure there was nothing in the water, Lu Xi'an bent down, submerged the object slightly in the water, and rinsed it.

Meanwhile, Yao Wei, in the passenger seat, opened the car door, stood up, and pointed a gun toward the bank, ready to shoot if anything unusual happened in the river.

But luckily, as Lu Xi'an bent down and rinsed the thing clean, including his two fingers pinching a corner of it, he stood up, and during this time, there was no movement in the river.

At this moment, when Lu Xi'an looked at the thing again, the slime had been washed off, and some of the black grime had also been removed, revealing its true appearance—

Layer upon layer, it seemed like transparent tape irregularly wrapped around, which had turned black over time due to accumulating grime.

Especially the corners of the overlapping tape, which were extremely black.

Was this done to be waterproof?

Or to prevent erosion by other things?

What was wrapped and protected by this tape?

The tape was wound so thickly and so black that Lu Xi'an couldn't tell what it was, so he just carried the thing back into the car.

Yao Wei also got back into the car, closed the door, and looked curiously at Lu Xi'an's hand.

Lu Xi'an handed the thing to Yao Wei and said, "I'll drive us out of here.

"You take this apart and see what's inside?"

"This is covered with tape, layer upon layer. It's been stuck for too long, so it might not peel off easily. You can use a blade to cut it."

He said that then he shifted gears, stepped on the accelerator, and went forward. At the intersection, he planned to turn south.

Now that the Fish Rider was dead, and the sudden bear blocking the road had been killed, the big fish had left without hostility, so there should be no danger on East Outer Ring; there was no need to specially take a longer detour to West Ring Road.

But before that, Lu Xi'an first stopped the car at the roadside, got out, crossed through a barren area to the east of the road, and picked up his padlock body.

The padlock he had gotten from the gas station in West Fang Village of Ox Head County had been dismantled into two parts.

The U-shaped shackle was used to hit the Fish Rider, and it fell into the water, never to be found again.

The yellow body, however, flew through the air when shooting at the brown bear and was cleverly avoided by the bear.

Thus, the lock body flew far away, embedding itself into the outermost wall on the edge of Liangcheng County's territory.

The wall was quite sturdy, left unmanaged for decades but still standing tall. The lock flew here and weakened in force, thus only embedding in the wall, without breaking it down.

Yet even so, when Lu Xi'an walked across the wasteland to the base of the wall, he still saw the lock body deeply embedded in it, causing the wall to crack like a web.

He pried the lock body off and returned to the car, seeing that Yao Wei had already used a small knife to cut through the outer layers of tape wrapping, revealing a transparent plastic bag curled inside.

The plastic bag, though said to be transparent, was actually old and yellowed. Inside was a rolled-up cylindrical object, also wrapped in a piece of paper.

After Lu Xi'an got in the car, Yao Wei opened the yellowed transparent plastic bag and took out the contents.

The paper around it was pulled away, revealing the true face of the object—

It was a syringe of unknown material.

The syringe was transparent, with the plunger pushed all the way down, containing no liquid. A needle cap covered the needle to prevent the slender needle from pricking anything.

"It indeed seems to be that Fish Rider's item..."

Lu Xi'an confirmed his earlier suspicion, "This should be the treasure of that Fish Rider.

"So carefully wrapped, layered with tape, and specifically hidden inside that big fish's stomach; I really don't know how it was done...

"I wonder if having something like this in the big fish's stomach even felt comfortable.

"Do you think that fish was also fed up being manipulated by the Fish Rider, so when we killed the Fish Rider, we gave it freedom?

"And then it came to thank us by giving us this thing?"

Ugh...

Why does it sound so absurd, as if switching channels to a martial arts story?

Unfortunately, there's nothing inside, no miraculous medicine, nor a secret martial arts manual; it doesn't count as a stroke of luck.

"I don't know."

Yao Wei answered, not interested in the question, and only asked, "What's this for?"

"A syringe, it's used to inject drugs into people."

Lu Xi'an explained to Yao Wei, "Look at this needle, it's hollow in the middle, the tube should have had fluid initially. After inserting the needle into the body, push with this plunger, and you can push the medicine inside the body, causing an effect.

"Now, without other clues, I can only blindly guess this is a syringe for a Type C strain reagent. Otherwise, why could that Fish Rider control the fish and the grizzly bear?

"But for now... this thing can only serve as a hidden weapon for us."

"Hmm."

Yao Wei nodded and handed the syringe to Lu Xi'an, letting him keep it safe.

Her hidden weapon skills were far less formidable than Lu Xi'an's, she felt that the thing could only be more effective in Lu Xi'an's hands.

Lu Xi'an took the hidden weapon, preparing to put it away. He glanced casually, but his gaze suddenly froze.

"There are words on this paper."

His gaze was pinned on the paper Yao Wei held.

The paper was crumpled; it had been wrapped around the syringe and was somewhat curled, especially the part around the needle top, which had already been pierced.

The text wasn't much, previously overlooked due to the paper's curling, Lu Xi'an hadn't noticed.

Upon seeing it, he said, "Let me take a look."

Then Yao Wei handed the paper to Lu Xi'an, who unfolded it and took a look. The writing was handwritten, formatted like a letter—

Child:

This drug can make you a new receptor, it's what your father and I traded war merits for. Use it quickly once you have it.

Don't fear the pain; just jab it once in your arm.

The situation's worsening, and who knows what will come. You'll only survive well after using the drug.

We can't return, this battle is a ten-deaths-no-survival. We can't retreat; take good care of yourself.

Sincerely—

Liang Xiaobin

2107/4/17

...

Lu Xi'an finished reading the letter's words to Yao Wei and fell silent for a moment.

He turned to look at the river surface, a complexity in his expression.

"Is that fish-riding oddball the Liang Xiaobin mentioned on the paper?"

Yao Wei asked.

"Who knows?"

Lu Xi'an sighed lightly, changed gears, stepped on the accelerator, and drove forward.

When he had just driven over, he had turned the direction, so now the car was facing south, and upon moving, it was traveling on the East Outer Ring.

Outside the highway, the Liang River flowed gently, with a gentle breeze blowing, rippling the water surface, but no other disturbances.

Both Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei could distinguish that it was just the breeze-induced ripples, unrelated to the big fish.

The big fish had long vanished, indeed showing no intention of attacking Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei again; perhaps it had returned to the reservoir.

After all, such a large fish, though the Liang River was wide, couldn't allow the fish to move freely. It's estimated that in the reservoir, the fish would swim comfortably and smoothly.

Nonetheless, being cautious wouldn't hurt. As he drove southward, Lu Xi'an would still slightly watch the river, avoiding being caught off guard should danger arise.

Whether the Fish Rider was Liang Xiaobin from the letter, he couldn't bother to consider.

Such things indeed sparked curiosity, but for him, weren't so significant.

While driving, he kept an eye on the river surface, but what occupied his mind was another matter mentioned in the letter—

In the secret room beside the gas station in Mengxin City, the computer's appearance time was in 2097, while the modification date of audio and video files in another gas station's computer was in 2100.

That period was likely the early days of the cold disaster, yet gas station personnel still relaxed enough to listen to music.

In Ox Head County, Ox Head Mountain observer, made the last entry in the log in 2112, a twelve-year gap from 2100.

The world was overturned; Ox Head County nearly devoid of people; observers faced massive upheaval, making observation work unsustainable.

Lu Xi'an originally suspected this disaster might be a natural calamity. Later, upon arriving at Ox Head County, he felt it was related to some unknown construct built by some unknown entity.

But now, seeing this letter, it even mentions a war.

Right in 2107.

Five years before the Ox Head Mountain observers despairingly penned the last observation log.

Ten deaths, no survival, retreat impossible.

Eight simple words on the letter evoke a sense of the fierce momentum back then.

What kind of war was it? What impact did it have on the subsequent disaster?

That war, and whatever the Ox Head Mountain observer mentioned, did they have any connection?

Numerous questions flooded his mind, lacking clues, with no answers.

Lu Xi'an glanced at the river surface again, although feeling irrelevant, yet at this moment couldn't help but wonder—

If so, then is that Fish Rider a war orphan?