Apocalypse: Last Traveler

When the weather warmed up, it was almost a month later.

Yao Wei would come if she was supposed to.

But now with an RV around, it wasn't too much of a concern; when there was enough hot water, Yao Wei didn't feel any discomfort.

So the two of them continued onward, heading south.

At this time, the road ahead gradually showed ups and downs, along with low hills, splitting the road in front into east and west sections.

The hills had no name on the World Map One, which made Lu Xi'an find it a bit strange.

Even the tiny Little Stone Mountain had a name, so why was this hill so carelessly left unmarked on the map?

Could it have appeared only after the apocalypse struck?

But this didn't seem right either.

The asphalt road ahead went one way east, one way west, exactly matching the map without any change, thus indicating the hill always existed, and the road was originally built this way because of it.

Forget it; if it can't be figured out, just leave it be.

Lu Xi'an looked at the map and directed Yao Wei to turn the steering wheel west.

The road to the west would be slightly longer, but it could bypass Yangcai County. Going east would lead straight into Caiyang Mountain.

So taking the road from the west could avoid the city, saving some trouble.

But fate was not in their favor.

Driving southwest, they felt like they were back in Yubei City or Jianshan City, surrounded by hills on both sides.

Only these hills weren't as high as those in Yubei City, not comparable to Jianshan City either.

The road became a path through the "valley."

Then, while they were driving, the mechanical dog's voice came through the RV's audio, warning Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei: "Collapse detected ahead, please be cautious."

Lu Xi'an said, "No need to tell, I can see it myself..."

He was driving at the time, and upon seeing the road condition ahead, he had no choice but to hit the brakes to bring the vehicle to a halt.

They were still a distance from the collapse area, and what Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei saw was not landslides blocking the road from both sides but a part of the road ahead entirely sunk into a long deep pit.

They got out of the car, took a look, and realized they could jump down and walk across without problems, but carrying the car across would not be that easy.

How could it collapse like this?!

Lu Xi'an frowned and, standing by the car window, asked the mechanical dog: "Gou, can you analyze this part ahead? Why did it collapse like this?

"Also, is this situation specific to here, or could it happen further ahead?"

The mechanical dog quickly responded: "Insufficient data to determine. After scanning the collapse area, Mechanical Dog 02 found a buried object with a regular shape on the left side of the pit with research value, which might answer your question."

Alright, that's something.

Lu Xi'an told Yao Wei, "Wait here, keep an eye on the car, I'm going over to check it out."

"Mm."

Yao Wei agreed with a word of concern, "Be careful."

Lu Xi'an gave Yao Wei a slight smile, saying, "Don't worry, I know."

He walked to the edge of the collapse pit and looked to the left, seeing that the road had brought down quite a bit of mountainside soil, forming a slope.

Now, after being washed by rain, covered by snow, and exposed to alternating hot and cold, it was frozen solid.

At the edge of the frozen soil, something was sticking out, looking like a roadside traffic sign.

Could this sign have a message?

Lu Xi'an immediately went back to the car, took a shovel, jumped into the pit, and stood atop the dirt slope.

He only wanted to dig out what was buried beneath the slope, just enough to see the letters. But the problem was that the soil that had previously collapsed had become a whole entity, so to dig he had to clear it all out.

First, he moved the stones on the surface of the slope, then tossed them aside, and then proceeded with the shovel.

Despite needing to be careful, gently applying force to avoid damaging any hard objects,

With his current control over his body's strength and his seemingly endless power, this minor task was hardly difficult for him.

Just wasting a bit of time, he slowly cleared away the solidified soil bit by bit.

Something lying crooked among it emerged as Lu Xi'an shoveled away the surface dirt, revealing the letters on it.

"Ahead... coal mine goaf..."

He read out the letters aloud, slightly astonished.

In his previous life, all the coal mines he knew were inland, and he hadn't seen any by the coast. Unexpectedly, this coastal city actually had a coal mine...

But upon reflection, the east-west span of World Map One's depiction of Coastal City seemed quite broad, and this was its westernmost part, actually quite far from the coast.

Later, Yao Wei came over and asked, "What is a coal mine?"

Lu Xi'an explained, "It's a place where coal is mined. In the past, people used coal for burning fires and generating electricity."

"I see."

Yao Wei nodded.

Lu Xi'an exhaled softly and said, "Alright, let's go. We can't pass this road; we'll have to find another way."

"Okay."

Yao Wei agreed with a sound.

The two returned to the car, and Yao Wei took out the World Map One again. They huddled together to look at it and finally made a decision—

Return the way they came, then head east.

Heading west would lead into Jiangbei City, which, according to Yao Wei and everyone here, is too dangerous to approach if they can avoid it.

So if there's really no other way, they'd go through Yangcai County.

So, they returned along the road, casually reached the fork, and headed east.

The road to the east became increasingly difficult to travel. The damage to the road far exceeded other places, uneven and irregular. Lu Xi'an had to slow down even more, hoping secretly that the road east would be alright.

Actually, throughout this journey, the roads they traveled were all in poor condition—uneven, filled with potholes, with flowers and weeds growing on the roads, all common sights.

Otherwise, they would have long driven the car straight to the south, instead of moving so slowly like this.

When he recalled it now, Lu Xi'an had only driven at full speed during the instance of the landslide. At that time, he and Yao Wei were in the car, bumping so intensely they almost flew.

Fortunately, the car was specially treated, and the tires were robust enough. Otherwise, in such terrible road conditions, they would have been scrapped.

And unexpectedly, the egg rack made by Shu was surprisingly effective, holding the eggs tightly in the fridge.

They both worried that the eggs would be all broken, but only a few cracked, with most kept intact.

Thanks to them being Neo-Humans, or perhaps this world's survivors being Neo-Humans, otherwise, riding on such roads, they might have already been carsick.

Heading east through the night, they rested for a night. The next day, after washing and exercising, Yao Wei took the wheel.

This road east kept alongside the hills; the hills gradually expanded, turning, leading the road south, and later it mostly went south.

As they moved east and south, the hills grew taller, forming mountain lines.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei checked the World Map One again and saw the map marked mountains here, named East Sun Mountain. They realized the previous hills were the edge of East Sun Mountain. They hadn't recognized it because they hadn't deciphered the map at once.

They drove for another day, and when night fell, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei got out to inspect the situation. Seeing the road's north had a slope causing differences in height, they cooperatively lifted the car down the slope, taking it off the road.

Having gone through that landslide, they were wary of the road by the foot of the mountain, so they didn't intend to rest with the car parked on the road.

After lifting the car down the slope, they drove it a bit northward on wasteland, finding a spot suitable to stop and rest.

The next day, they lifted the car back onto the road, continuing toward Caiyang County.

Then that afternoon, they drove past East Sun Mountain, and Caiyang County came into view.

It was indeed a city built around mountains, with many structures even built on the hillside.

Being built around mountains, the city was vast, far surpassing any city Lu Xi'an had seen in this world.

Thus, standing there, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei couldn't get a glimpse of the city's entirety.

But the current buildings were all dilapidated and abandoned, swaying as if they had endured an earthquake.

Whether due to climate or other reasons, the city's buildings and roads were covered in lush vegetation, with trees, grass, and even various algae.

Those swaying buildings were also completely covered in vines, a majestic sight.

The coastline was actually quite far from here, and Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei got out, stood on the car roof to look around, and couldn't see the sea from afar.

He glanced at the center of the city at Caiyang Mountain, the peak like a pillar holding up the sky, rising steeply, with considerable elevation. It seemed like to see the sea, one would indeed need to stand on the mountain.

He really didn't know how this mountain, with such a peculiar shape, was formed…

"Wait!"

Lu Xi'an suddenly thought of something, "Why does this place look so familiar?"

Yao Wei looked at Lu Xi'an but said nothing.

Lu Xi'an rummaged through his clothing pocket and pulled out something.

It turned out to be a commemorative medal he had previously obtained from the high-voltage power plant.

This small item called "Fish Mouth Commemorative Medal," the place engraved on it nestled between mountain and sea, didn't actually match this location.

That seemed to depict a genuinely coastal city, unlike here, which was still some distance from the coastline.

But upon closer inspection, the medal's city's image indeed included a small pointed peak. What else could it be if not Caiyang Mountain?

Could "Fish Mouth" be a place from which Caiyang Mountain can be seen?

But why does it only depict Caiyang Mountain without mentioning Yangcai County?

Lu Xi'an brought the medal closer to his eyes, carefully examining it. Only then did he see that between the mountain peak and the "Fish Mouth" city nestled by the sea, there was a thin line.

Beside the thin line, there were two rows of tiny text above and below it, unreadable without close inspection.

Above the thin line, it read: Above New Sea Level

Below the thin line, it read: Below New Sea Level.