Lin Yuan boarded a long-distance bus leaving Kyoto.
The Tomena outpost she was going to this time was far away and there was no airship available. She could only go outside the city gate and take a long-distance bus that only ran once every few days.
There were many passengers waiting for the bus outside the city gate. Most of them were carrying large and small bags and were bidding farewell to their relatives who had come to see them off.
These days, leaving the safety of the capital and going on a long journey means parting ways between life and death. It is very likely that we will never see each other again. Everyone should seize the last bit of time and say a few more words of care.
Lin Yuan came alone. He got on the car early and sat by the window, staring blankly at the towering white tower in the city center in the distance, bored.
When she left here for the first time, she felt numb in her heart. She felt that it didn't matter where she stayed, and it didn't matter whether she could come back alive or not.
Now she looked at the white tower in the distance and felt that if she could come back, she should try her best.
Near the white tower, there is a deserted courtyard. Although it is a bit shabby, it is home.
There were friends who would come to visit her, little crabs waiting for her to come home, and a plump killer whale doll on the windowsill.
The White Tower under the sunlight looks more holy and solemn than ever before.
A layer of faint white light lit up from the top of the tower, and the transparent arc of light in the hemisphere spread out, covering the earth and shrouding the entire capital of the empire.
"Look, it's the holy light." A child who came to see them off pointed at the light and shouted.
His mother and all the passers-by stopped what they were doing and prayed in the direction of the holy light.
"Thank you White Tower."
"Thank you White Tower."
People say this sincerely.
The "holy light" of the White Tower is a gift from the gods. The land covered by the holy light will not be approached by polluted areas. Under the holy light is the last pure land for mankind and the only shelter for mankind to survive.
Outside the White Pagoda, on the top of each sentry post, there is a "holy brick" from the White Pagoda. Those holy bricks, which are removed from the White Pagoda and have the same color as bones, can protect a small piece of land around the sentry post in the wilderness.
In those most dangerous times, anyone who could retreat to the sentry post in time had a chance of survival.
A car full of passengers was swaying in the wilderness.
When you first leave the White Tower, you will see many temporary human gathering points and densely populated sentry posts along the way, guarding the White Tower.
As you go further, you gradually lose sight of human habitation.
Green clouds floated in the sky, and outside the window were the same old barren mountains and ridges.
Occasionally passing by one or two magnificent relics of the past will refresh the passengers.
The old city buildings are as majestic as mountains, standing out in the wilderness, watching the tiny vehicles that break into them like ants.
The city at that time was ridiculously large, seemingly endless.
Today, the capital of the entire empire is not even as big as a tiny corner of it.
The car drove through the gloomy ruins.
Passing under a very high archway covered with moss and vines, you can vaguely see a giant human-shaped sculpture above.
Passing through the arch, a wheel-shaped building several dozen meters high is covered with vines that form an aerial forest.
"This is a playground. In the old cities, it was a place specifically for children to play." The driver mentioned as he drove.
The driver was in his early forties, with dark skin and a muscular body. He was an experienced driver who ran this route frequently.
He also hired two sentries to serve as bodyguards along the way. Therefore, the fee was very expensive.
This driver has a bad temper, but most passengers who take this route are willing to wait for his bus.
The passengers looked out through the mottled windows.
Close to the car window was a huge section of undulating steel tracks. The tracks, whose purpose was unknown, were broken into several pieces and lay on the roadside with dense greenery, revealing a part of the gray metal frame.
It was like a giant dragon that had been dead for many years and whose skin and flesh had been corroded.
The technology of mankind at that time was really amazing. The metal that had gone through hundreds of years of wind and frost had not been completely corroded. It stubbornly showed the glory of mankind to future generations.
But from today's perspective, it is hard to understand why humans at that time would build such a building that consumed huge amounts of materials and energy and had no practical use.
Is it just for entertainment of the kids
In a world where teenagers are sent off to fight, this is incomprehensible.
Suddenly, from the depths of the remains of steel bars and vegetation in the distance, large flocks of bats flew out.
Those dark creatures of the night seemed to be disturbed by something and poured out of their nests, covering the sky and whistling through the air.
The driver braked quickly and pressed a red button on the front of the car. A layer of old and yellowed sound insulation film poured down from the roof, covering the entire body of the car.
"Everyone keep your mouths shut. If anyone makes any noise, don't blame me for making him keep quiet forever." The driver picked up a pulse gun leaning against the seat and knocked on the engine hood.
As the driver finished speaking, a huge and pale non-human creature slowly emerged from the ruins.
It has no eyes or nostrils, and only a pair of bat-like ears on its flat head.
That huge and twisted body was a fusion of various biological genes, with bone tumors regenerating, complicated and cumbersome. Only the skin looked like a human, a thin layer, pale and wrinkled, without a single hair, and looked creepy.
The monster climbed out step by step from the iron ruins of the ruins and slowly approached the direction of the car.
The completely human-like skin trembled and gradually covered the sky on the roof.
A man in the car couldn't help but vomit.
A sentry stood up, pulled the safety of his gun, and put the muzzle of the gun to the man's head.
The man's face was covered with tears and snot. He clasped his hands together and waved them repeatedly, biting his lips tightly, and dared not make any sound.
The monster outside the car seemed to sense something and lowered its huge head. Its eyeless face rubbed up and down against the sound insulation film outside the car window.
The face was facing where Lin Yuan was sitting.
Lin Yuan quietly stared at the deformed life form that should not belong to this planet through a thin glass.
The tentacles heard a repetitive wailing sound.
It hurts so much, it hurts so much, it hurts so much...
The sound kept repeating, as if there would never be a day of peace. It was not until the huge monster left and slowly walked away that it gradually disappeared from Lin Yuan's mind.
The driver blew a whistle, raised the soundproof membrane, and restarted the car.
It seemed as if the thrilling scene just now was just a trivial thing in the journey.
The sentry who had pointed his gun at the passenger's head smiled and patted the passenger on the back, "Are you okay, bro?"
It seemed as if the murderous intent just now was just Lin Yuan's illusion.
The car drove in the wilderness for several days, and when the sun was about to set, it stopped at a temporary gathering point for humans to rest.
Nearby is the Tomena outpost and several well-known polluted areas including the Golden Tree polluted area.
Teams came and went to collect supplies and dig up remains, and people passed by here back and forth.
As a result, a lot of people gathered to conduct temporary transactions.
Where there are people, there will naturally be small vendors coming from the surrounding areas to do business.
Among the people who were resting, there were vendors running around selling things.
There were people selling alcohol and drinks, dry food and even weapons and equipment, maps and news. It was quite lively.
A little boy selling malt candy got involved with Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan looked at the gray candy and didn't want it very much.
But the child's appearance reminded her of Tobin's Xiaomu, the little seal who had not yet become an official sentry.
They are about the same age, and the cunning and shrewd look in their eyes is almost identical.
So Lin Yuan threw down two imperial coins and picked up a small bag of maltose.
Before they could even eat, their driver reached out from the cab and banged on the door.
"Get in the car, get in the car. I'm going to drive!"
The passengers began to complain.
"What? I've been riding around for a few days and my waist is about to fall apart. I just sat down and I didn't even have time to drink a sip of water."
"Rest a little longer, Master. We're almost there anyway."
"Master, wait a moment, I'll buy some food here."
The driver had a bad temper, "If you don't like it, don't come. If you don't, stay here."
The roar of the engine sounded, and it seemed as if it was about to take off into the distance.
Passengers had to put down what they were doing and rush onto the bus.
Just as the last person stepped on the pedal and the door wasn't even closed tightly, the impatient car had already started at full speed and sped away with a whoosh, raising a cloud of smoke from the rear of the car.
Something is wrong, Lin Yuan thought.
The driver sitting at the front of the car was extremely nervous at this moment.
He had been calm and numb along the way, but at this moment his heart was burning like a fire.
The strong feeling of fear was transmitted directly into Lin Yuan's brain without the need for the tentacles to actively explore.
Lin Yuan stuck his head out of the window and saw that the car was speeding at its fastest speed, raising a cloud of dust all along the small dirt road.
At the gathering point, some individuals seemed to have remembered something as well. They rode their motor vehicles, drove out along the small dirt road, chased after the fleeing car, and ran for their lives on the dusty road.
Lin Yuan opened his eyes wide and looked at the sky.
The sky was calm and beautiful, the sun was setting slowly, and the green and purple sunset glowed in an interlaced manner, more beautiful than ever.
It seems too quiet.
Except for a few speeding cars, the entire wilderness fell into a suffocating silence.
Something is silently covering up.
Lin Yuan could see the cold sweat running down the back of the driver's neck, and saw the almost hideous look of fear on the face of the rider on a motorcycle that was running closely behind the car.
Finally, Lin Yuan realized what was happening.
She leaned out of the window and opened her mouth toward the noisy crowd.
She wanted to shout, run, run outside.
She even saw the boy selling caramel, who was about the same age as Xiaomu, happily counting the two imperial coins she had given him.
But it was too late, her voice disappeared in the smoke and dust.
Those travelers who were drinking water from cups, the children running back and forth selling maltose, and the merchants shaking hands to trade goods suddenly disappeared from Lin Yuan's sight as if they were swallowed by something.
There are so many people and such a lively life.
In the blink of an eye, it was gone.
The gathering point where people, goods and vehicles gathered was silently swallowed up by something unknown, without even a footprint left on the ground.
There was only endless wilderness on the road where cars were raising huge clouds of dust.
There is some invisible monster chasing after me all the time.
A motorcyclist with insufficient power had a pale face and was left behind. He stretched out his hand almost pleadingly, and Lin Yuan leaned out of the car window, almost watching his parking space, half of his body, and his head... disappear bit by bit.
Lin Yuan blinked.
The last thing to disappear was the hand that was trying to reach forward.
The bus driver stepped on the accelerator to the maximum and the vehicle almost sped away.
The sky gradually darkened and a few stars appeared in the sky.
The shadow of a sentry post appeared in the distance, and the roof of the small Tomena sentry post was glowing dimly in the dim night.
It was like a lighthouse suddenly appearing in a stormy sea.
The suffocating feeling of oppression behind me slowly disappeared as if giving up.
The engine of the long-distance bus was overheated and about to fall apart as it staggered into the wall of the sentry post.
The frightened passengers got off the bus one after another.
"What just happened? I was scared to death..."
"It's the contamination zone that's spreading, and those who are left behind are being swallowed up."
"Swallow, swallow it? So many people, are they gone?"
"No, it's all over."
"Luckily our car was fast, otherwise it would have been the same. When we turned into monsters, we didn't even understand how we died."
The driver jumped out of the car, slammed the door, squatted alone in the corner of the road, and lit a cigarette.
"He is so cruel?" Some people began to whisper, "He didn't even shout, so many people didn't have time to run out."
"Exactly, it would be great if we could all run together. How could this person be so selfish?"
"They charge so much money, their attitude is so bad, and their heart is so dark. I don't know if I will be able to use this money to buy myself a coffin in the future."
After hearing these words, the man remained silent and just concentrated on smoking his cigarette.
The red flame of the cigarette butt flickered, illuminating his weathered, cold face.
He has been running this route for more than 20 years and knows every danger and every possible desperate situation along the way.
Know more about human heart.
Just now, if he had shouted in advance, these people living at the border outpost would have immediately fallen into chaos.
They will rush to block the road, and those who don't have cars will scramble to get on them.
Then no one can escape.
Call him selfish or cold-blooded. After all, he managed to get the people out of the car safely. He deserved the money he collected.
Lin Yuan opened the paper bag he had been holding in his hand, took out a piece of gray maltose and put it into his mouth.
It really doesn’t taste good.
Such bitterness.
(End of this chapter)