Apocalypse: Last Traveler

"And he's become inhuman, can't speak, can't communicate, and even wanted to eat me.

"I didn't dare to stay there, so I ran back to Gu County to continue looking for a place to sleep."

Lu Xi'an asked, "So you found a coffin?"

The person shook his head and said, "The first time it wasn't a coffin, I found a somewhat warm house to sleep in.

"The second time, I felt like I couldn't survive anymore, hibernation let me live until now, but every time I woke up, I felt my body was drastically weakened.

"I thought since I was going to die soon, I might as well find a coffin. So I went to East Ring Road and found a coffin shop.

"There are still many auto shops on that road, I found the motor oil in one of those shops.

"After finding the coffin shop, there was nobody there, so I found a coffin, got in myself, closed the lid, and slept until now."

He paused for a moment and then said, "Do you think... could he have turned out that way because of that serum?

"And what about me, how am I the only one who survived, could it also be because of that serum?

"Was the serum accidentally broken by him at that time, and leaked into the pit?

"Otherwise, why did everyone else die, yet I, like Liang Xiaobin, also live to this day?

"The water in the mountain pit flowed into the reservoir, and I went to check last time, the whole reservoir turned green.

"Sigh... If only that serum never existed, if it didn't, Liang Xiaobin and I would've probably died by now?

"Last time I checked, Liang Xiaobin had gone mad. This world is left with just the two of us... oh and you... I used to think it was just the two of us, sorry...

"With so few people left, and he went insane? What's the point of living...

"I feel now that dying earlier might actually be okay."

He rambled on, but what he said was incorrect.

The green water has nothing to do with the Type C strain serum, but with something similar to the pit by Shu. It seems this person doesn't know this.

Lu Xi'an didn't explain it to him. He could tell that the emphasis in this person's words wasn't on these matters, but on the vast changes in the world, the madness and death of old friends.

The events of those years seem blurry to this person; whether it's the secrecy of that time or the memory loss from hibernating so long isn't clear.

Now it seems, this person has changed because of the combination of the Type D strain and the green water from the leaking observatory.

His behavior is entirely different from Shu's, and he can actually hibernate.

I wonder if he can become invisible?

And that Fish Rider, initially Type D-1, later inoculated with the Type D strain, then injected with the Type C strain, and finally affected by the green water, turned into what it is now.

Under the Resonant Gene Scanner's assessment, his absorption and conversion of the Type C strain were deemed failures, and the Type D strain was also not successful, so it wasn't detected in the scan.

This kind of failed evolution yet retaining some abilities seems to be unique to Jianshan City; I've never seen it elsewhere, and neither has Yao Wei.

Also... do Type D Neo-Humans have hibernation abilities?!

The old Shu from Xiaogang Village can sleep for ages, and this person here has slept until now. Is Chai Xin the same?

Lu Xi'an thought carefully, and the strains are all to adapt humans to the environment and survive disasters. Type D-1 and D-strain perform best and are most suitable, which is why they were selected initially.

—Especially Type D-1, it's extremely stable, whereas Type D's instability has had many examples by now.

The Type D-1 strain can provide basic cold resistance, while the Type D strain allows people to hibernate, resisting the severe cold while also reducing consumption, slowing metabolism, and surviving the disaster, which should be an effective coping method.

Perhaps the decision to use the Type D strain was initially made for people to endure the cold disaster through hibernation.

The instability of the Type D strain led to a wide outbreak of genetic diseases—let's say that for now—causing people's skin to peel, ulcerate, and die. Those who survived were all due to the observatory's damage and leakage.

Moreover...

Lu Xi'an suddenly thought of a question—

According to what happened here, and from what was mentioned in the letters from this person and the Fish Rider about "war," the Type C strain was sent after the Fish Rider's parents joined the war. Does this imply that the other types of strains were used after Type D-1?

Type D-1 strain was distributed via transmission towers, spread through the air for mass inoculation, so maybe everyone was initially inoculated with Type D-1, and the subsequent Class A, B, C, D Neo-Humans were developed from that foundation.

All were composite Neo-Humans, the basic genetic evolution and adaptation to extreme cold were all founded on Type D-1.

Were the originally sealed Class A, B, C, D models brought into use because of that mysterious war?

What enemy in the war could challenge modernized, digitally-equipped weapons, necessitating the production of other model Neo-Humans?

Lacking information, still can't figure it out...

After a brief thought, Lu Xi'an gave up and asked the person one final question, "Did you come here specifically to block us?"