Apocalypse: Last Traveler

"New sea level..."

Lu Xi'an murmured, thoughtful.

According to what this commemorative medal implies, could it be saying that during the time of disaster, the sea surged from the coast all the way up to here, leaving only Caiyang Mountain exposed?

No wonder all the buildings in the city are covered in green foliage, it seems they were submerged by seawater for quite some time?

But now, the year of great disaster is long past, has the seawater receded?

Though, considering what Luo Ping said, the sea shouldn't have receded to its original sea level yet, right? It's likely that to see how far the sea has retreated, one would have to go up to the top of Caiyang Mountain...

He looked carefully down the mountain again; perhaps because of being soaked by seawater and other disasters, the highway encircling the city is completely destroyed, making passage very difficult.

Adding to that the tilting and falling buildings, some blocking the road, others on it, blocking both the east and west sides completely.

He checked the Resonant Gene Scanner again, and after ensuring no more red dots appeared, he told Yao Wei, "It's getting dark today, let's rest for the night and enter the city tomorrow."

"The road outside is hard to travel, we may have to go through the city this time."

Yao Wei nodded, saying, "Okay."

So the two parked the car and observed the area for a while, confirming they'd have to go through the city tomorrow before getting back to the car to rest.

After getting in the car, Yao Wei habitually opened her laptop to watch a drama.

She had finished watching the previous palace drama, but felt she hadn't learned much from it, so she found another one to continue learning.

Lu Xi'an advised her, saying her talent wasn't in this, she should be using her fists to explode the enemy rather than arguing with them, but she refused to listen, insisting on learning from TV.

There was no way, Lu Xi'an had to provide another suggestion, telling Yao Wei, "How about just remembering one sentence: 'A bitch is just pretentious.'"

"No matter what others say, just stick to this line, it's guaranteed to anger them, very effective."

Yao Wei's eyes lit up, thinking this was a good idea, at the very least it was a non-solution solution.

"A bitch is just pretentious, a bitch is just pretentious, a bitch is just pretentious..."

On the day Lu Xi'an gave her this suggestion, Yao Wei repeated the phrase countless times until Lu Xi'an wanted to go berserk.

However, later Yao Wei was still not satisfied, wanting to see if there were better phrases, which led her to watch the current drama.

Lu Xi'an sat beside her, watching for a while and felt the quality of this drama was far inferior to the previous one; whether it was costumes, set design, or the cast's acting and dialogue, it was much worse, not to mention the script.

Though it was a palace drama, the script consisted mostly of romance, endless cycles of "You love me, I love her, she doesn't love me," making Lu Xi'an's head spin.

But Yao Wei did not give up, hoping to find gold hidden in dirt.

Lu Xi'an decided not to bother her anymore, and took out World Map One to pore over.

"You're not watching?"

Yao Wei noticed Lu Xi'an's movements and asked.

Lu Xi'an replied, "No, I don't think you'll find any classic useful phrases in this drama, it's just not interesting to me. I'd rather use the map to find Fish Mouth."

The name of the medal is "Fish Mouth Commemorative Medal," and the carving features a location, leading Lu Xi'an to believe "Fish Mouth" should be a place name.

Carefully paging through World Map One, Lu Xi'an quickly found "Fish Mouth."

Fish Mouth refers to the Fish Mouth District, located in Wangdao County, east of Yangcai County.

As he suspected, the Fish Mouth District is indeed adjacent to the sea and named for its resemblance to a fish's mouth.

Being near the coast, Fish Mouth District might have already been submerged by sea water, right?

Could this commemorative medal imply that people foresaw Fish Mouth District being submerged and made this as memorabilia?

So the person encountered earlier at the high-voltage power plant could have been a descendant of Fish Mouth District residents?

Lu Xi'an closed World Map One, unable to make any sense of his thoughts, eventually drifting off to sleep.

One night passed, and when they awoke the next day, the sky was gloomy and the wind was strong enough to make it hard to stand upright. So during their exercise, they braced against the wind, practicing thoroughly.

After washing and exercising, they cooked a pot of steamed rice, topped with fresh vegetables, and cracked two eggs over it, preparing a bowl of lazy steamed rice distinct from before.

Fresh vegetables indeed taste different from dehydrated ones, even though lettuce and crown daisy aren't quite suitable as lazy rice ingredients. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei enjoyed their meal, feeling satisfied.

After the meal, they continued their journey into Yangcai County.

Entering the county naturally involved the same procedures as before: drone lifted into the sky, and Yao Wei stood atop the car, ready to respond if anything went wrong, with no blind spots.

Initially intending to climb onto the car roof himself, Lu Xi'an found Yao Wei had already seized the spot, so he had no choice but to sit in the driver's seat, carefully steering the vehicle and avoiding rough patches to minimize the jarring.

But once they entered the city, they didn't encounter anyone during their drive.

This city, covered in creeping plants, seemed truly a plant city, devoid of human presence, not even any animals.

Today, the sky was overcast, wind howled fiercely, hinting at a coming rain that hadn't yet started. Both wanted to quickly pass through Yangcai County's city in case sudden rainfall trapped them within.

Yet, they didn't foresee the day passing without rain but with something else arriving.

As the vehicle approached Caiyang Mountain, Lu Xi'an inside the car and Yao Wei on top of it suddenly heard a certain noise.

Though the sound was quite distant, their excellent hearing caught even the slightest of disturbances from afar.

This sound surged vigorously, like waves billowing, urgent and vast.

Lu Xi'an furrowed his brows for a moment and asked Yao Wei, "Yao Wei, did you hear that?"

"I heard it."

Yao Wei's voice also suddenly became somewhat serious.

Lu Xi'an felt a tightness in his chest and hastily ordered the mechanical dog, "Gou, raise the drone a bit and take a look, what's going on?"

The mechanical dog's voice answered through the camper sound system, "The drone has been raised to its highest, risks of sea tides have been detected in the east, live streaming to the central control screen, please evade swiftly."

Lu Xi'an immediately went to check the central control screen, seeing that it displayed an old dam standing far in the distance outside Yangcai County in the east.

It should be the dam built by people long ago, anticipated to block the eastward ocean.

But despite the anticipation, the interception ultimately failed, and now, it doesn't seem successful either.

Beyond the dam, the sea waves were roiling, about to overflow.

That dam should have been constructed by people from the past, now it's full of pits and greenery; relying on it to block the roaring waves now seems impossible.

It truly was the sound of surging sea waves!

Lu Xi'an's heart skipped a beat, and he hastily called, "Yao Wei, get back in the car!"

Yao Wei also heard Gou's voice and immediately jumped through the car window into the car. As soon as she sat in the passenger seat, her eyes fell on the central control large screen, and like Lu Xi'an, her heart sank.

Both are very decisive people, and they immediately made a decision.

Yao Wei glanced at the Caiyang Mountain before them and without hesitation said, "Climb the mountain!"

"Alright!"

This time it was Lu Xi'an's turn to say "Alright."

To retreat, they would have to turn around, and leaving Yangcai County although leading to higher grounds in the slopes, ultimately wouldn't be much higher. The ocean came surging, and Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei couldn't ascertain how far the sea would flood, so it's better to climb the mountain.

Climb Caiyang Mountain.

They had checked outside the city yesterday, this Caiyang Mountain isn't big but very tall, and the mountain road is steep, winding around the mountain. The road is built quite wide, so even though it has been disrepair for years and soaked by sea water, it's still fairly passable without much trouble.

Occasionally there are pits and breaks obstructing the way, but for two Type A Neo-Humans, that's no big deal.

The only problem is, their route may be blocked by the sea water, but there's nothing that can be done, better than being drowned.

Later, they'll find a way, but for now, there isn't time to consider anything else.

Lu Xi'an immediately stepped on the gas, drove forward a bit, found the road, turned the steering wheel, and veered up the mountain.

"Gou, have the drone follow and constantly broadcast the situation of the eastern sea waves!"

Lu Xi'an ordered.

"Mechanical Dog 02 understood."

Gou's voice echoed again through the camper sound system.

The camper dashed up the winding mountain road, and Yao Wei kept her eyes glued to the central control large screen inside the car, while Lu Xi'an occasionally glanced at it too.

They drove for several minutes, circling around to the mountain's rear. Without needing to look at the central screen, just glancing eastward, they saw the surging sea waves spill over the distant dam, rushing fiercely towards the unpopulated city.

Immense and overwhelming like an army charging, Lu Xi'an even felt the earth tremble and the mountain shake.

He continued pressing on the gas, gripping the steering wheel heading upward, stopping only when he encountered a broken road, then with Yao Wei, got out to lift the car over the break.

Glancing down from the roadside, the sea water had already flooded into the city.

Back then, was this city swallowed by the sea like this?

The sea level that surged into the town was still somewhat distanced from their current altitude, but neither dared linger, continuing to get back in the car to drive upward.

The drone had flown from the car roof to the side, monitoring the distant sea waves while filming the city below. Houses, buildings, were gradually submerged.

Wave after wave swelled, until only the tip of the tallest buildings was exposed, and the rise in water level finally began to slow down.

By now the car had reached halfway up the mountain. Lu Xi'an glanced westward, seeing their way back had already been flooded quite a bit, he felt a wave of relief. Fortunately, they didn't choose to return; otherwise, they would have met calamity.

In the face of nature's power, whether Type A, B, C, or D Neo-Humans, they truly didn't matter.

"Phew…"

Lu Xi'an let out a long breath, expressing, "Our luck is really bad, how come as soon as we entered the city, such a thing happened?"

He was unsure if these waves were frequent or rare once every few years.

No matter what, they encountered it upon entering the city, such luck was unmatched.

"Should we continue going upward?"

Yao Wei asked Lu Xi'an.

Lu Xi'an replied, "Let's go up. Since we've come up this mountain, why not go to the peak? If we don't go to the summit, I'll feel a bit uneasy, almost unsafe."

He pressed on the gas, and the camper continued heading towards the mountain peak, though now it's slowed down, no longer the frantic rush of the previous climb.