Apocalypse: Last Traveler

On their way back to Tongzhou County, they naturally passed by the Mengxin Petroleum gas station once more.

Only after refueling there did they arrive outside Tongzhou County.

"Do you think... Chai Xin can move faster than our car?"

Lu Xi'an stopped the car, gazing from afar at the gray, desolate city skyscrapers, and asked.

There were only him and Yao Wei in the car, so naturally, he was asking Yao Wei.

Yao Wei glanced at the stone wrapped in wolf fur at the center console and said, "I don't know."

The speed of a car is absolutely beyond human limits. Even for her and Lu Xi'an, both Neo-Humans, they could only burst past a car over short distances. However, over time, they definitely couldn't compare with a car traveling at consistently high speeds.

Previously, they might have thought it impossible for Chai Xin to surpass a car, but now things were different.

The mysterious stone had utterly shattered their understanding, leaving them unsure whether the emergence of Neo-Humans was related to the stone, making it difficult to judge whether Chai Xin was a Neo-Human or an ordinary person.

If by any chance Chai Xin is a Neo-Human with a special speed enhancement, then it's entirely possible she could rush to Tongzhou County before the car arrived.

"Or perhaps she detoured through the grass while we were on the road and we simply couldn't spot her?"

Lu Xi'an speculated further.

Yao Wei thought for a moment and said, "It's possible."

Lu Xi'an said, "Forget it, let's not guess blindly. Let's head into the city and take a look."

"Okay."

Yao Wei nodded in agreement, suggesting, "Why don't we find a place to hide the car and walk in?

"Since it's confirmed there are no Neo-Humans in the city, we can handle it. But if we accidentally damage the car, that would be bad."

Once bitten, twice shy, after previous events, this woman was afraid someone might damage her car.

This car was her most precious possession. If it got damaged, she'd be heartbroken.

However, Lu Xi'an posed a question: "The things in the car now can't all fit into our backpacks.

"What if someone finds our car after we enter the city? Even if they can't drive it away or don't damage it, if they take the rice, vegetables, or gasoline barrels we have to leave in the car, we'd suffer a loss."

"..."

Yao Wei fell into a silence, weighing the options, and had to admit Lu Xi'an made some valid points.

"Then I'll stay on the car roof."

She quickly reached a compromise and decision. As soon as she finished speaking, she took a gun and bow, opened the car door, and flipped up onto the roof.

In the county town, it's certain there are no high-level Neo-Humans. She believed her safety could be ensured, so the most critical thing at the moment was to ensure the car's safety.

From the roof, her vision and strike capability could extend to all sides of the car, covering the surroundings, which was the best position possible.

The pistol was loaded, though the safety was not yet off; Yao Wei tucked it at her waist within reach, then picked up the hunting bow, drew an arrow, ready to shoot at any moment.

Lu Xi'an said, "I'll get Gou to watch for you."

He rolled down the window, picked up the mechanical dog, and handed it out. Yao Wei immediately took over, placing Gou beside her.

Gou also summoned the drone, sending it up to monitor the air.

The car re-entered the city they had both visited once before, forming an air-ground collaborative stance.

Anyone seeing this might be rendered speechless in shock.

Yet even so, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei remained cautious.

Both had developed some understanding of the power distributions within the city, allowing them to consciously avoid those few faction-dense areas when entering the county town.

—Of course, with Fa dead in Tongzhou County and some time since they left, the power landscape might have already changed, and prior information and experience were not necessarily accurate.

Thus, even walking on roads previously confirmed as safe, they didn't lower their guard.

Lu Xi'an slowed the car, part to search for Chai Xin and part wary of potential dangers.

The car moved straight through the north-south road, turned onto the central east-west road, traveled a bit further, and encountered no danger but did see a body.

The body was short and thin, with an injury on its left leg that didn't seem fatal. Lu Xi'an thought he must have frozen to death here.

It seemed the two recent cold waves were too closely packed; the body was left here, frozen and thawed repeatedly, yet no one had cleaned up, and it hadn't been scavenged by birds, beasts, or insects.

"Seems there was a major battle in Tongzhou County's town after we left."

Lu Xi'an speculated while looking at the body and then continued, "I wonder how intense the battle was and whether it's still ongoing?"

His voice was not loud, but he knew Yao Wei on the roof could hear it.

Yao Wei didn't respond, so he drove onward toward the gas station.

—That was where Fa was before; it could also be considered the center acknowledged by various factions in this county town.

If Chai Xin came here, would she go to that gas station? Would others dispute over it?

...

Others were indeed disputing over the gas station.

The previous battle had been somewhat fierce; the battlefield even spread from inside to outside the gas station.

Otherwise, no one with merely a leg injury would have been left on the roadside, unattended, to freeze to death.

Yet after two cold waves and a heavy snow, the three factions in the county town had gradually cooled off.

Plaza District was now down to only three members—the person Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei saw on the road was one of the Plaza District faction—and South Street Supermarket had also lost one member.

The dead were gathered and thrown to the base of the gas station building's wall, with several bones beside them; one skeleton was extremely short, while two were heftier, stripped of flesh entirely, leaving the survivors exploiting every bit without waste.

No matter what, after this fierce battle, the balance among the three factions was already broken.

Plaza District initially had five, now only three are left, South Street Supermarket started with four, and now also reduced to three, whereas Tongzhou Hotel, originally having seven, still had seven, not losing a single person, overpowering Plaza District and South Street Supermarket.

The leader of Tongzhou Hotel, gall with confidence, seized the remaining corpses and said, "Don't worry, I'm not Fa. What are you all acting like?

"We've already lost so many; we can't keep fighting. I'll distribute these resources, and later all of you follow my lead, stick together, and we'll not end up like Fa."

The female leader of South Street Supermarket sneered, "Easy for you to say. Fa could take down Neo-Humans; can you?"

The leader of Tongzhou Hotel sneered, "Why can't I? If a mere lad like Fa could do it, why couldn't I?

"He only played underhand tricks anyway. If you all listen to me and follow me, why wouldn't we face Neo-Humans head-on?"

No sooner had he spoken, his subordinates erupted into noise, boosting his momentum.

"Buzz—"

A strange noise suddenly came from outside the gas station.

Startled, everyone gazed towards the source, where a pitch-black craft suddenly flew out, followed closely by an iron-plated off-road vehicle. The woman on the vehicle drew her bow and aimed at them.

Panic-stricken, they scattered like startled birds and beasts.