Apocalypse: Last Traveler

Yao Wei furrowed her brow, hesitated a bit: "Can this even hold up? From the sound, it seems it's about to fall apart."

Lu Xi'an replied: "It should be fine. Anyway, there's nothing wrong. If the bike falls apart while riding at a slow speed, we can just jump off and stand aside."

Hearing Lu Xi'an say this, Yao Wei did not refuse any further.

She didn't straddle to sit; instead, she sat sideways to facilitate jumping off quickly if needed.

Lu Xi'an released the brakes, pushed the pedal with his foot, and set off again, with Yao Wei sitting steadily at the back, feeling the ride carefully.

However, the speed was really too slow for her, and the seat was an iron frame, which felt quite uncomfortable.

While Lu Xi'an was cycling, the bike kept groaning, making Yao Wei suspect it might fall apart at any moment. At the start, the slight sway of the bike made her feel a bit uncomfortable.

Fortunately, she had strong control over her body, and in the blink of an eye, she adapted to the bike's sway. She slightly adjusted her body in sync with the bike's sway and quickly sat steadily.

Meanwhile, Lu Xi'an rode the bike in a circle, yet he felt something was slightly off.

Of course, he understood what was missing—

Yao Wei sat too steadily. Even with her hands free, she wasn't at risk of falling, so she wouldn't reach out to wrap her arms around Lu Xi'an's waist for stability.

After all, he was no longer a schoolboy, and Yao Wei was not a love-struck young girl.

Perhaps there were some affections in their relationship, but more profound was the closeness formed through sharing life and death and overcoming hardships together.

This intimacy gave them unmatched tacit understanding. Even while cycling, there was no sense of youthful thrill and collision.

Perhaps only when they were as open and honest as they were in that temporary shelter in Xiaogang Village would Yao Wei and he immerse themselves in other emotions?

But Yao Wei was very resistant to that feeling of losing control...

Never mind, it's okay, take it slow. Just simply riding a couple of laps, finding that sensation lost in the past life experiences, wasn't that bad either.

The bike returned to the car's side again, and Yao Wei got off.

Lu Xi'an also got off the bike and asked: "Do you want to try?"

Yao Wei looked at the weather and said: "No, it's getting dark. Also, this bike can't be taken along, so there's no point in learning."

"Right."

Lu Xi'an nodded and did not insist further.

Since it was getting dark, they had no intention of moving on and planned to stay here for a night before setting off again.

Lu Xi'an had Gou control the drone to take off, checked around again to confirm there was no one, then opened the Resonant Gene Scanner to check, confirmed there were no Neo-Humans, and was relieved, intending to spend the night in this former park area.

The Resonant Gene Scanner was actually quite useful; it could still detect Neo-Humans.

Every time Lu Xi'an turned it on, it always showed three red dots, representing Lu Xi'an, Yao Wei, and the Fungus Stone on the bike.

As for why Shu and the Fish Rider didn't show up, Lu Xi'an guessed that, according to the program definition of the Resonant Gene Scanner, they likely didn't count as Neo-Humans.

They should be failed products of evolution, just surviving due to the influence of the mysterious entity mentioned by the observer at Ox Head Mountain Observatory, yet possessing abilities originally belonging to Neo-Humans.

Thinking about how Shu had a pool of green water on East Mountain, and in the Liangcheng County reservoir, the water was slightly green as well, seemingly abnormal, one could infer that Shu and the Fish Rider underwent similar changes, differing only in scale and weight.

The reservoir was so large and green all over; although clearer than Shu's pool, it was large enough, and the volume was presumably quite sufficient too.

Lu Xi'an speculated that the Fish Rider's abilities were so strong precisely because of this and being immersed in water for so long, feeling even more formidable than the Neo-Human in Mengxin City.

Hmm...

There was another distinction; perhaps it was because the Fish Rider interacted daily with the big fish and the brown bear, using his abilities day in and day out for decades, which made him proficient and turned into a Beast Tamer.

The Neo-Human from Mengxin City was much younger than the Fish Rider, lacked experience, and hadn't encountered creatures as terrifying as the big fish and the brown bear, so it wasn't unreasonable that the displayed strength was weaker than the Fish Rider.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei set up a fire on the brick ground, boiled two ears of corn to gnaw on, resolving their dinner.

As for why they boiled the corn, they wanted to test whether their water cup could be used and how well it retained heat.

Before filling the water cup after eating the corn, Lu Xi'an had Gou check to ensure there was nothing wrong with the cup, then poured the water used to boil the corn into it and screwed on the lid.

With some water left in the pot, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei shared it to drink.

Yao Wei didn't fetch a bowl, and Lu Xi'an didn't bring a mineral water bottle over. They simply took turns picking up the pot to drink, tilted their heads back while drinking.

Yao Wei's movements were natural, as if she were just doing something completely ordinary and normal, not feeling anything unusual about sharing a utensil.

After finishing eating and cleaning the pot, Yao Wei stared at the bicycle for a while.

"What's up?"

Lu Xi'an asked.

Yao Wei said: "I'm thinking about what parts can be removed to make hidden weapons for you?"

This woman was indeed true to her word. Having said earlier she'd find hidden weapons for Lu Xi'an, now she was acting on it.

Lu Xi'an said: "Don't rush to dismantle it; there's still time. Are you sure you don't want to try riding it?"

Yao Wei hesitated for a bit, then changed her mind and nodded: "Okay."

She imitated Lu Xi'an's movements, got on the bike, and tried to push the pedal, but the bike was wobbly and couldn't stay balanced. Within a few tries, she had to stop and support herself with both feet again.

Seeing this, Lu Xi'an said: "I'll hold you, take it slow."

He then had Yao Wei try again, holding onto the seat from behind, giving it a slight push forward while also briefly explaining the key points Yao Wei needed to pay attention to.

Yao Wei followed Lu Xi'an's instructions, relaxed her body, held the handlebars steadily, and pedaled forward, quickly grasping the essentials.

The bicycle started moving quickly, Lu Xi'an holding the seat, Yao Wei pedaled round after round.

The clear and bright moonlight poured down, illuminating the ground as clear as water.

Yao Wei seemed to be riding the bicycle in a river of light, Lu Xi'an stepped on the moonlight, pushing her forward.

She focused on looking ahead and asked Lu Xi'an behind her, "Did you let go?"

Lu Xi'an replied, "Not yet."

But she immediately said, "You let go, I can feel it."

Lu Xi'an then stopped and smiled, saying, "Yes, I let go. Congratulations, you've mastered it."

The Neo-Humans learn things really fast, their strong physique and excellent body control allowed Yao Wei to master the essentials of cycling in a short time.

Lu Xi'an watched Yao Wei riding and distancing herself, a sense of accomplishment spontaneously emerged in his heart, more joyful than learning something himself.

"Hmm."

Yao Wei rode forward to the end, recalling Lu Xi'an's turning actions very easily, turned back, and rode the bike back next to Lu Xi'an.

"Get on."

She said to Lu Xi'an, "I'll take you back to the car."

"It's not far..."

Lu Xi'an laughed.

Yao Wei insisted, "Get on, I want to try."

Lu Xi'an had to agree, "Oh."

He also sat sideways on the back seat, his arm naturally reaching around Yao Wei's waist.

Yao Wei suddenly tensed up, her voice turning a bit stiff and unnatural, "Let... let go."

Lu Xi'an then realized and let go, saying, "Sorry, it's a habit."

Yao Wei remained silent for a moment, seemingly calming her emotions.

Then she seriously asked, "Why does this feel like when we were in the shelter? Even though there's no kissing."

Lu Xi'an listened and couldn't help but laugh.

Yao Wei seemed to resist, but it was because she felt something towards him.

Her reaction seemed to pull him back to the youthful days of a past life, where just simple interaction would suddenly spark mutual affection.

Lu Xi'an hadn't thought much about it earlier, but now, hearing Yao Wei's words, his heart started beating faster, and the warmth of Yao Wei's waist seemed to linger in his released hand, leaving a trace of impression.

"Your body's hormones are sending you signals, telling you we like each other."

He explained to Yao Wei.

"Hmm."

Yao Wei nodded, without any intention to refute.

However, she still didn't want to lose control of her body, so she didn't let Lu Xi'an get on the bike again and pedaled back to the car herself.

Lu Xi'an walked back behind her.

Once they reached the car, Lu Xi'an saw Yao Wei get off the bike, staring at it for a while, and started working on it.

She took out the tools, and with surprising strength, quickly disassembled the bike.

The pedals, cranks, brake levers, were all separated, and she directly snapped the spokes on the wheels, along with some chainwheels and chains controlling overspeed.

"Is this enough?"

After dismantling, she asked.

"Enough, with so many parts, how could it not be?"

Lu Xi'an said with a smile.

He had initially wanted to help, but Yao Wei shooed him away.

Yao Wei said she hadn't adjusted her emotions yet, fearing being too close would affect her mood, plus dismantling the bicycle didn't take much effort, so it wasn't necessary for both of them to do it.

Only now did Lu Xi'an come closer.

Seeing Yao Wei's condition, she seemed mostly recovered and wouldn't feel uncomfortable just because Lu Xi'an was close.

He picked up the spokes Yao Wei had snapped and tested them, finding them quite handy, couldn't help but laugh and said, "In the past, there was Xiao Li's Flying Knife, and from now on, there'll be Xiao Lu's Flying Needle."

Yao Wei asked, "Xiao Li's Flying Knife? What's that?"

Lu Xi'an picked up the chain, swung it a few times to test, while replying, "It's a story I heard a long time ago, the name of the protagonist. I'll tell it to you sometime."

"Hmm."

Yao Wei nodded.