Apocalypse: Last Traveler

The next day, when they woke up, the rain had stopped.

While Yao Wei was lighting a fire to boil corn, Lu Xi'an went to the car to open a box, looking to find some history and geography books to read.

However, he didn't find any.

Unexpectedly, the owner of that estate had a moment of carelessness; the books prepared for his son were all related to science, with none on humanities.

But it's okay, it's not that important anyway; in the end of the world, the importance of science far surpasses that of the humanities.

Lu Xi'an closed the box, resigning himself to this thought.

The humanities are actually quite important too, for example, geography, and also disciplines containing Dragon-Slaying Skills, which might be very useful in re-establishing order in this world.

But there are none here...

After last night's heavy rain, the car roof was still wet, and the box of books couldn't be placed back up there for now, so it could only be kept under the front passenger seat.

But that's fine, as they're entering the city soon, Yao Wei would go to the car roof, and Gou would be carried along, leaving just the right space available.

After breakfast, the two got into the car and set off.

To be on the safe side, Lu Xi'an took out the Resonant Gene Scanner for a check and, upon confirming there were no other Neo-Humans, started the car and headed towards Gu County town.

Yao Wei, on the other hand, carried Gou and stood atop the car, releasing the drone to form an air-ground coordination.

All the cities in Jianshan City seemed to maintain a certain style, simple, low, and untidy, with scarce tall buildings.

Lu Xi'an drove into the city from the north while Yao Wei stood on the car roof; the slightly downhill road allowed them to see much of the city's scenery.

With the drone flying above, they could basically take in the entire view of the city.

The deathly still city showed remnants of era past, like old bus stops, decayed parks, and the exercise equipment within, rusted beyond recognition.

Many buildings in the city had collapsed; even the tallest building had fallen at some unknown time, blocking the road, as if telling Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei to turn elsewhere.

Rats scurried across the ground, and Yao Wei's eyes lit up, wanting to draw her bow and arrow to see if she could shoot one for food.

But as soon as she had the arrow ready, the rat scuttled into a sewer opening, causing her to let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?"

Lu Xi'an, driving inside the car, heard Yao Wei's sigh and asked.

Yao Wei said, "I just saw a rat but couldn't shoot it in time; it went underground."

Lu Xi'an glanced at the roadside, looking too late to see the rat, only observing that the sewer opening was a large pit and the drainage shaft had long disappeared.

"Don't worry about it. I doubt we could eat that rat even if we caught it."

Lu Xi'an consoled Yao Wei, "That's a sewer; imagine how many years it's been since anyone cleaned it. Even before people disappeared, who knows how much trash was left in those sewers, and whether it was ever cleaned properly?

"If not, who knows how filthy it is down there? The bacteria on that rat might even be too much for us Neo-Humans to handle.

"And think about the fish we saw before—it wasn't edible either, right? We're still within the Jianshan City area; who knows what problems the rat might have."

"Oh..."

Yao Wei responded, her voice tinged with the lingering reluctance of losing food.

The city seemed devoid of people, yet Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei remained vigilant and chose not to enter the city, opting to skirt along the western road going south.

There was a gas station by the side of the western road to refill the gas tank.

If they couldn't refuel there, they would have to enter the city.

Driving to the gas station at the city's west, its name was long lost to time, the letters on the awning stripped away, revealing nothing of what was once displayed.

After checking the station house and finding nothing, they had Gou connect the power to confirm the fuel pumps were operational, then filled up the car.

After refueling, they continued along the West Ring Road southward. Gou's eyes blinked rapidly, making Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei suspect there was some danger ahead, such as rats or those mutated Fish Riders.

Yet when Lu Xi'an questioned Gou with these assumptions, its eyes blinked twice, indicating it was not the case.

Even when asked if there was any danger ahead, Gou's eyes blinked twice, indicating no danger.

So why was it blinking?

Once they ascertained there was no danger from Gou's eyes, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei decided to continue forward and see what lay ahead.

Upon reaching the turning point towards the West Ring Road, they discovered the road had inexplicably broken off.

A massive fissure stretched from the highway right into the city, making the asphalt road rise and fall from a distance.

It was at this moment they understood why the mechanical dog's eyes had blinked continuously.

"This should be the work of an earthquake."

Lu Xi'an surmised after he and Yao Wei got out to inspect.

Yao Wei nodded as usual, simply saying, "Mm," still trusting Lu Xi'an's judgment.

Then both judged that carrying the car over wasn't safe, so they decided to turn back.

The west wasn't viable, so they decided to try the east.

To the further west, there was a small hill. Although the cracked ground didn't split the hill open, it still made a lot of dirt and stones fall, blocking the road and pit halfway.

To go further west, you'd have to go around this hill, which would probably be more troublesome.

Lu Xi'an had Gou control the drone to fly higher and check out the East Outer Ring Road. After confirming it was passable, he got in the car and turned around.

On the way back to the starting point and then heading east again, they reached the easternmost intersection, only to find a row of collapsed houses by the roadside.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei saw that the houses had collapsed and didn't plan to check them out, but unexpectedly, Gou suddenly reacted, his canine eyes focusing on one of the ruins.

The rubble there was slightly raised, as if propped up by something unidentified. Gou's gaze could only show the surface, not beneath.

In the car, Lu Xi'an couldn't give orders to Gou, so from the car roof, Yao Wei asked, "Is there something there?"

Gou's eyes shone brightly.

Lu Xi'an stopped the car.

Yao Wei asked again, "Is it dangerous?"

Once again, Gou's eyes shone brightly.

So Lu Xi'an shifted gear, stepped on the accelerator, and continued on.

Why would anyone look at dangerous things?

Yet just then, Yao Wei suddenly noticed some movement where Gou was focused. She feared there was no time to draw her bow, so she directly pulled out her gun and fired a shot at the disturbance.

Immediately, there was a "squeak" sound, as a mouse darted out of a crevice in the ruins. Yao Wei noticed it, and with one shot, the mouse was killed, flipping onto its back.

Yao Wei's marksmanship remained as accurate as always.

Lu Xi'an didn't plan to pick up the mouse killed by a shot; instead, he floored the accelerator, shifted gears, and continued accelerating.

But just then, from beneath the ruins behind them came a "thud, thud, thud" sound, like someone knocking on extremely thick wood.

Yet the knocking seemed weak, the sound almost imperceptible, audible only to him because he was a Neo-Human.

Yao Wei also heard the sound, immediately standing up to aim her gun at the direction it came from.

"Help! Is there someone outside? Was that gunfire? Help!"

Both she and Lu Xi'an simultaneously heard the faint cries for help from beneath the ruins, accompanied by the increasingly fast and urgent "thud, thud, thud," but the car still didn't intend to stop.

After all, Gou indicated there was danger. How could they stop?

"Boom!"

"Crash——"

A sudden noise erupted from behind that section of ruins.

Yao Wei looked from the car roof, and Lu Xi'an glanced back through the rear-view mirror, seeing the bricks and stones on the ruins suddenly cascade down, exposing a half-revealed solid wood object beneath.

It was nothing else but a coffin!

The coffin looked of high quality, made of thick and solid material, unaffected by the collapsed house pressing on it.

"Boom——"

"Boom——"

"Boom——"

The muffled knocking continued, and the coffin lid started to slide open bit by bit. The muffled sound was actually the lid rubbing against the coffin.

Lu Xi'an had already driven far away but still didn't lower his guard. A glance in the rear-view mirror showed the coffin lid opening almost completely, and a skeletal figure suddenly climbed out, gripping the coffin's edge.

The figure did indeed look like a ghost. After crawling from the coffin, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei saw its upper body, with many patches of skin missing from the face and body, revealing the muscles underneath.

Its eyes were deeply sunken, like two huge eye sockets.

The body was emaciated, almost no muscle visible, skin tight against the bones, with an occasional glimpse of bone.

After crawling its upper half out of the coffin, it panted heavily several times, turning its head to see Yao Wei in the distance aiming a gun at it, and suddenly raised both hands.

Those hands too were skin over bone, some areas showing muscle, others bone, giving a macabre appearance.

But despite its terrifying appearance, it suddenly looked like it was scared, raising both hands high as if surrendering to the gun, appearing oddly comical.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei still didn't stop, quickly moving away.

Since Gou had indicated danger, who knows if this creature was faking its appearance?

Just think about it. This thing could clearly open the coffin on its own, yet it kept calling for help. Wasn't that trying to trick people into approaching?

So whether it looked terrifying or comical, running was the right choice.

Thus, Lu Xi'an shifted into fifth gear, repeatedly flooring the accelerator. He sped forward, leaving the coffin and pale figure quickly out of sight.

Once he reached the end of the East Outer Ring, Lu Xi'an braked to slow down for a safe turn.

After the turn, seeing no strange pursuers behind, he quickly drove onto the road heading south, turned again, and moved southward.