Apocalypse: Last Traveler

"Look over there!"

Lu Xi'an pointed down the mountain. Over the sea, a gentle breeze blew, and a small boat bobbed up and down. Onboard, two men, one large and one small, were rowing towards Caiyang Mountain.

Judging by the direction of the boat's travel, Lu Xi'an was certain they were heading for Caiyang Mountain.

"I see it."

Yao Wei said.

Lu Xi'an immediately turned around, went back to the car, and glanced at the Resonant Gene Scanner. Seeing that there were still only three red dots on it, he was still uneasy, so he took out a sniper rifle.

"Should we kill them?"

Yao Wei asked, already preparing to take the rifle from Lu Xi'an's hands and aim.

But Lu Xi'an shook his head and said, "We only have thirty bullets; we can't waste them like this. I'll take another look first."

He went to the edge of the cliff again, set up the sniper rifle, but only used the scope.

Looking down at the sea again, the figures of the two men on the boat were magnified and seen clearly.

He looked carefully, then put down the gun and let out a long breath.

"Their movements are slow and sluggish. They're not Neo-Humans, nor like Shu, so it shouldn't be a big problem."

He told Yao Wei, "We don't need to waste bullets on them. Let's hide on the mountain top and see what they're up to."

"Alright."

Yao Wei nodded in agreement.

Lu Xi'an held the gun in his hands and did not put it down. He and Yao Wei sat down on the ground, watching the boat and the two men on the sea from high above.

Perhaps because they'd been drifting at sea for a long time, the two men seemed tired, lacking strength. As they rowed, they had to bend low and use their whole bodies as support to move the boat forward.

After rowing for quite a while, they finally approached the mountain, found a spot, and one of them got ashore first. The other threw him a rope, into which he tied the boat to a tree at the shore before the other jumped ashore.

Lu Xi'an raised the gun again, looked through the scope, and saw the other end of the rope was tied to the hull. There were four barrels on the boat, which they took one by one, along with two yokes.

"Are they going to collect water?"

Lu Xi'an asked, having seen this scene clearly.

Yao Wei recalled their days of water shortage in the north and said, "Hmm, collecting four barrels of water, if used sparingly, should last a long time."

Suddenly, Lu Xi'an thought of something else: "Judging by their actions, it seems they're accustomed to doing this, familiar with the routine.

"Do you think they might have figured out the patterns of the tides, waiting for the sea to flood this place before rowing over?"

Yao Wei, somewhat perplexed, asked: "Why wait for the sea to flood here first? Isn't it more convenient to walk when it's not flooded?"

"Who knows."

Lu Xi'an said, "We'll keep an eye on them for now. If possible later, maybe we can ask them?

"If they can come to Caiyang Mountain during the tides, they might also know the patterns of the sea's rise and fall. If they do, we can ask them and maybe determine when it's safe to leave."

"Alright."

Yao Wei nodded.

Both continued their observation from the mountaintop. But their view was somewhat restricted, and once the two people who disembarked from the ship entered the woods on the mountainside, they were blocked by trees, causing Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei to lose sight of them.

Lu Xi'an raised the sniper rifle and looked through the scope, lamenting, "It's a pity this scope doesn't have thermal imaging."

Yao Wei didn't understand what thermal imaging was but didn't ask. She simply said, "We can see the path to the pond. If they go there, we'll notice."

Lu Xi'an said, "Hopefully, they're really headed that way."

He had another idea, pulling Gou from the car, and said, "Gou can observe and detect things within a certain range, unaffected by our line of sight.

"We'll take Gou around the mountaintop and see. If there's anything, Gou can alert us."

This was indeed a good idea. Yao Wei thought it sounded fine, so she said, "Give me Gou; I'll carry him."

Lu Xi'an handed Gou to Yao Wei. It seemed this woman had a special fondness for carrying Gou.

Although Lu Xi'an mentioned observing in all directions from the mountaintop, in the end, they primarily kept watch to the east.

Firstly, the pond was to the east, and not all areas in the mountains were covered by green trees. With their excellent dynamic vision, any movement in the forest was quickly detected by them.

As a result, they didn't even need Gou. With just the two of them and their four eyes, they could immediately spot the two men whenever they appeared and weren't hidden by the trees.

They did see the two men carrying the yokes on their shoulders, with empty buckets hanging from both ends, moving up from this eastern direction.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were almost certain that their target was the pond.

However, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei didn't rush. They remained on the mountaintop to prevent any mistakes, such as the two men changing their direction midway.

——After all, it's only on the mountain top that the view is most expansive, making it the best place to observe the activity within the mountain.

The two people in the mountain were indeed just ordinary people; their climbing speed was not fast. After walking for a while, they got tired and simply stopped.

They draped a coat over themselves, sat down at the edge of a forest, placed their bucket beside them, leaned against a tree, covered themselves with the coat, and then closed their eyes, looking like they planned to sleep for a while before dawn.

Lu Xi'an noticed this and said to Yao Wei, "Just as well they're asleep. While they're not moving, we can go down and find them."

Yao Wei nodded, "Mm."

To be safe, she immediately equipped herself with short needles, stones, and other hidden weapons. She also brought a gun and started moving with Lu Xi'an.

Lu Xi'an did the same, but he didn't bring a gun, only a rope. He knew well enough about his own shooting skills, and it was better to use hidden weapons.

As for the rope, he planned to use it soon.

Yao Wei continued to hold Gou, and the two raced down rapidly, covering quite a distance until they reached the two people.

The two individuals didn't notice Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei at all; they were already asleep. Perhaps they were too exhausted from rowing at sea, as they slept deeply, even the smaller one snoring deafeningly.

Lu Xi'an listened and couldn't help but quietly ask Yao Wei, "I don't sleep like this at night, do I?"

Yao Wei quietly replied, "No, you don't snore. I've told you before."

"Mm."

Lu Xi'an was reassured by this.

Then Yao Wei surprisingly asked him, "What about me? Do I sleep like this?"

"Didn't you say you've mentioned it before?"

Lu Xi'an chuckled, seeing that Yao Wei seemed quite concerned about this question. He stopped joking and answered, "Don't worry, you don't snore. Such a pretty girl, how could she snore?"

"…"

Yao Wei was silent for a moment before saying, "Mm."

Lu Xi'an said, "Alright, let's stop talking nonsense and control them first."

"Mm."

Yao Wei nodded again.

So the two of them acted together. The two people sleeping against the tree barely had time to wake up before Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei directly overpowered them.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei made it easy by simply grabbing their hands, bending them backward, looping them around the trees, and tying their wrists with the rope, securing them to the trees.

The rope was long enough, and the two trees were close enough for Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei to bind them effectively.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!"

As their hands were bent backward by Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, the two woke up startled, frantically yelling in fear, seemingly rendered mute by terror and could only cry out "Ah ah ah," their voices shrill like doomed livestock.

They struggled desperately but couldn't escape from the hands of Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, even kicking their bucket aside.

Lu Xi'an kindly picked it up before it rolled down the hill, set it back in place, and stood with Yao Wei in front of them.

Upon seeing them, the two were even more panicked, their faces turning white as a sheet.

The older one seemed to finally remember how to speak and asked, "Why... why did you come yourself?! Shouldn't it be the subordinates?"

His voice was trembling, sharp, clearly still frightened.

Lu Xi'an didn't refute him but instead followed his words by asking, "You know us?"

While Lu Xi'an spoke, Yao Wei stood silently beside him. At times like these, she always preferred to stay silent, leaving the talking to Lu Xi'an, which she felt was good and rather relaxing.

After all, this wasn't something she was skilled at.

The man shook his head repeatedly but then seemed to realize something was wrong and nodded repeatedly instead.

Lu Xi'an asked, "What does your shaking and nodding mean?"

The man cautiously replied, afraid of angering Lu Xi'an, "You..."

At this point, he changed "you" to "sir," but after saying "sir," he momentarily stumbled, seemingly not knowing what to say next, worried his words might be wrong and anger Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, trying to organize his thoughts.

After hesitating for a moment, he said, "In a place like this, shouldn't it be your subordinates coming here? According to usual practice, there's no need for you to come personally, especially when the seawater has just risen..."

"And so?"

Lu Xi'an asked casually as he saw him stop speaking at that point.

Though simple, these three words frightened the man, turning his face even paler. The younger one beside him glanced at the man, saw his face grow even whiter, and his own face became paler in turn.

The man hurriedly said, "No, no, I just thought usually when the seawater rises, only we would come to the mountain. We always had to wait for the seawater to recede before your subordinates would come.

"We came here because the seawater rose, and we hadn't seen you before, so we're a bit surprised, nothing else! Nothing else!"