Three years.
The gloomy sky lasted for three years.
At night, it's almost too dark to see. During the day, it's a little better, but only a tiny amount of sunlight can shine onto the earth. When you look up, it's like before a storm.
At the beginning of the three-year period, most people thought there was no problem. They were more concerned about their own lives and how to make money to support themselves than the sky above their heads.
But slowly, things changed - due to the long-term lack of light, the crops in the fields began to turn yellow and wither, the trees also lost their green, the forests turned into woods, the woods turned into grasslands, and the grasslands turned into wilderness...
The temperature continues to drop and everything feels like winter is coming early.
But this winter is so terrible. It may be the most terrible and longest winter that many people have experienced - food production is almost exhausted, livestock are dying in droves, prices are skyrocketing in various places, and social unrest has occurred.
A demon named "Famine" emerged from the sky and wreaked havoc on the entire world.
Within a few months, everything in the world became unimportant, and everyone was thinking about only one question—where and how to find food, and how to survive.
Under certain guidance, some people left the gathering place and ran towards the west, while some people ran towards the east, south or north.
Many once prosperous big cities were abandoned, and even some small kingdoms and principalities disappeared silently on the map.
Three years later, the world is no longer what it once was.
Sometimes the world changes very slowly, but sometimes it changes incredibly fast—especially if someone is guiding you.
…
Three years later.
It is also known as the Black Era or the third year of the New Era, August 25th.
Under the gloomy sky during the day, a father and son, 42-year-old Philip and eight-year-old Jimmy, were heading west in the rarely visited wilderness.
After walking for a while, the father and son got tired and stopped beside a stone to rest.
Phillip carefully took off a half-deflated sack on his shoulder, untied the rope, took out a somewhat dry mushroom and handed it to little Jimmy to eat, and he also ate the same one. Then I tied the bag tightly and put it on my shoulders again.
The father and son were chewing the mushrooms, and the bitter taste filled their mouths. However, there was no expression on their faces. They just looked towards the end of the earth with their eyes, which became a little hollow.
After a few seconds, little Jimmy's vision was the first to regain clarity. He turned to look at Phillip and asked, "Dad, how far do we have to go to the place we are going to?"
How far to go... Philip couldn't help but wanted to shake his head after hearing this, and then told his son frankly that he didn't know either... He had heard about the Sarin where he was going and all the legends about Sarin from others. … In fact, he was not sure whether Sarin existed or not.
Talking about endless food, saying that there are all kinds of magical creatures that have never been seen before, saying that there is a wonderful life like heaven... Is this possible
This is a new era.
Isn’t the new era an era full of darkness and disaster
In addition, he heard that Sarin was the culprit that caused all this. Since he was the culprit, how could it be so beautiful
Phillip felt a little confused in his thinking and thought for a long time. It wasn't until little Jimmy pulled his sleeve with his hand that he came back to his senses. He glanced at the horizon again, then showed a confident smile, and said with certainty: "Three days, three days at most, we will be where we want to go. Don't worry, Jimmy, the mushrooms in our bag, I can definitely eat until then.”
After a pause, Phillip added: "If it doesn't work, we can go back to Guangming Town. It's more economical, there are enough mushrooms."
"That's good." Little Jimmy smiled, "But we'd better not go back to Guangming Town, there... it's not bright at all."
"Dad is the same as you." Philip smiled, "Okay, it's almost time to rest. It's time for us to set off. How about we take a rest after walking past the small hill in front?"
Philip said, pointing to a protrusion on the ground far ahead. There used to be a tree growing on it, but now it is dead, and the branches are motionless, like a sculpture.
Little Jimmy looked at it and nodded: "Okay."
"Then let's go." Phillip pulled little Jimmy and started to set off, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and his eyes widened little by little.
Then he saw, on the mound in the distance, a figure suddenly stood up from behind the dead tree. It seemed that the figure was resting against the dead tree. Now that he had rested enough, he stood up and moved his body, then looked around and walked straight towards this side.
Phillip's body tensed up instantly, and he protected little Jimmy behind him, staring at the visitor, thinking about what to do.
Welcome him? He didn't dare. Who knew who the other party was? What if he was a robber? This is too common in the wilderness of the New Era. In fact, there are quite a few of them in Guangming Town.
Then escape? No, he couldn't run fast with little Jimmy, and he was extremely weak after being hungry for so long, so he couldn't run far. If the other party has malicious intentions, running away like this may anger the other party, and the result will be worse.
What to do
Phillip's thoughts were running wildly in his mind, but he couldn't think of a feasible idea.
At this time, the other party had already come closer.
You can see that the other party is wearing very strange clothes. At a glance, it looks like a robe, but it is wrapped more tightly, and the wrists and ankles are tied tightly. The surface of the clothes has a sheen similar to metal, but it does not have the weight of metal and is much lighter.
In addition, the opponent's face was wearing a mask that looked like a bird's beak, and behind him was a metal pipe more than half a meter long.
The other party walked a few meters away and stopped on his own initiative. It didn't seem like he had any malicious intent. Taking off the mask, he revealed a young face with brown hair and a pair of amber eyes.
The other party glanced at Philip and Little Jimmy, showed a smile and asked: "You two, are you from the west?"
"Yes, sir." Philip replied carefully, lowering his posture automatically, because he saw that the other party's face was rosy, which was a sign of being able to eat well for a long time, unlike him and his son who were sallow and thin - in the new era, long-term eating In a sense, having a full meal can already represent strength or high status.
"Then are you coming from Dry Valley City or Gray Forest City?" the other party asked again, looking very curious. This made Philip a little irritated, but it also made him relax a little - as long as he didn't snatch their mushrooms as soon as they met.
"Sir, we are coming from Guangming Town, not too far from Gray Forest City. As for Dry Valley City you mentioned, I... have never heard of it."