98
The car kept moving forward along the edge of the cliff of Lost Valley. Ning Gu couldn't sit still in the car. After finding that the roof could be opened, he climbed onto the roof.
The car was going very fast and the wind was blowing hard, so Ning Gu put on goggles.
The Lost Valley is not solid. The floating island-like Lost Valley in front of us is closer to the three-dimensional map than what we saw a few hours ago, with countless passages and holes.
Until now, broken pieces of black iron are still falling off the main body and onto the ground.
Not long after, the car drove out of the Lost Valley.
"Would you like to get in?" Lian Chuan set up the automatic driving and leaned his head out from the roof to look at him.
"This reminds me of a ghost town." Ning Gu sat on the roof of the car.
Lian Chuan jumped up, put on his goggles, and sat next to him: "Do you miss the ghost town?"
"It's OK," Ning Gu said, "I just want to know what happened to the people who are still there. We have been traveling around in those consciousnesses and memories, but we have never entered the ghost town. Now the car is not coming... Why is the car not coming?"
"Maybe it's because our stop," Lianchuan said, "has been cancelled. Ours is a world that was deemed to be destroyed. When the destruction begins, the trains will stop coming."
"That's good too," Ning Gu said, "I hope we will be forgotten."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded.
Ning Gu turned his head and looked behind him.
The main city was already far away, the faint artificial sunlight illuminated the sky above, and the Lost Valley gradually became large enough to be seen at a glance.
As the car moved forward, the familiar scene became smaller and smaller, and the black iron wasteland became endless, so large that it made people feel a little uneasy.
But it is also mixed with a hint of excitement.
When the main city and the Lost Valley completely disappeared from sight, the surroundings also became dark.
But Lian Chuan noticed that the surroundings were no longer completely dark, but there was a faint brightness that allowed people to see the nearby ground. Because this brightness was too faint, they usually stayed in well-lit areas near the main city and would not notice it, especially with the flames rising into the sky before.
"Have you noticed?" Ning Gu also noticed it and looked around, "Is it because there is no black fog? It seems that it is not as dark as before."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan nodded.
Ning Gu stood up and looked ahead on the roof of the car, facing the wind: "I can see a hundred meters."
Lian Chuan also looked forward: "Three hundred meters."
"I know you are good." Ning Gu said.
"I mean your visual estimation is inaccurate." Lian Chuan said.
"You have an accurate eye estimate, and you are really good." Ning Gu said.
"I am Lian Chuan." Lian Chuan said.
"Huh?" Ning Gu was stunned.
"I'm not Jiu Yi." Lian Chuan said.
Ning Gu paused for a few seconds before laughing and sitting back down: "No matter how far you can see, I know you can see farther than me and hear more than I can."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded.
Ning Gu pulled his hand over, revealing a clear black scar on his wrist. Ning Gu touched it gently and said, "But... don't use Betelgeuse's weapons anymore."
"You still have to use it when you need it," Lian Chuan smiled, "When necessary, this is why I'm alive, don't worry."
"I'm very strong now." Ning Gu said and raised his hand.
A beam of silver light flew forward, exploded in the darkness, and pulled out strands of light.
The car sped past this cluster of silver light.
Ning Gu raised his hand again.
A golden halo burst out in front of us. When the car passed through the halo, we could see countless small golden light particles flying past our faces.
"Be careful about overuse," Lianchuan said.
"I can control it," Ning Gu said with a smile, "I found that E's ability will be integrated into my ability when I need it."
"Well, they have the same abilities after all," Lian Chuan said.
Ning Gu returned to the car from the roof when his face felt numb from the wind.
Lian Chuan was sitting in the cab looking at the real-time map.
"Did you find anything?" Ning Gu asked.
"No," Lian Chuan pointed at the screen, "There is nothing. There is no place higher than two meters within a few kilometers around us."
"We are now at the highest point in the Black Iron Wasteland." Ning Gu said.
"Yeah." Lian Chuan nodded. "If there is anything, it should be underground. However, we haven't found any holes or gaps in the scan yet, only the cracks that the scavengers found before."
"Where do those cracks lead to?" Ning Gu asked.
"I don't know. We can drive along the crack. Anyway, we don't know which direction the end of the world is." Lian Chuan said.
"Okay," Ning Gu nodded, "Are you hungry?"
"Not hungry," Lian Chuan glanced at him, "We just came out a few hours ago... Are you hungry or greedy?"
"What's the difference?" Ning Gu walked towards the back of the car, "We all want to eat."
Passing through the small rest area behind the cab and opening a small door is their bedroom. Passing through another small door is the material warehouse, which even has a machine for making rations and drinks. In addition to ready-made rations, there are also many raw materials for more convenient storage.
Although Ning Gu didn't recognize the words on the machine, he had taken a few glances at it when Fan Lu took him to Guangguang's entertainment store before, and he had a rough idea of what it was like based on his memory.
After a while, he made two glasses of orange juice, then took two boxes of rations and returned to the small rest area behind the cab, where he placed the food and drinks on the small table.
"Come," Ning Gu said, "try the drink I made."
Lian Chuan didn't want to eat and wasn't thirsty. The rationed food he had been eating for more than 20 years didn't have any particular appeal to him.
But he quickly came out of the cab and sat down at the table.
He still wanted to try the drinks made by Ning Gu.
He looked at the two cups on the table: "Which one is mine?"
"I haven't drunk it yet!" Ning Gu glared at him, "Do you dislike me so much?"
"Not really." When Lian Chuan reached out to pick up a cup, Ning Gu suddenly pounced on the table and took a sip from each of the two cups in rapid succession.
Lian Chuan's hand stopped in the air.
Ning Gu raised his eyebrows complacently, sat back in his chair, leaned back on his arms, and looked at him.
Lian Chuan glanced at him, reached down, picked up a cup at random, and took a sip.
"You don't care anymore?" Ning Gu said.
Lian Chuan didn't say anything.
"I have licked all of them." Ning Gu said.
"Yeah." Lian Chuan said, "I don't eat it."
"I have licked all the rations in the warehouse, I have licked all the raw materials!" Ning Gu raised his voice.
Lian Chuan couldn't help laughing and looked up at him: "Is the tongue in Tongue Bay yours?"
Ning Gu thought about it and laughed, then sighed after a while: "The tongue is gone, so Tongue Bay can no longer be called Tongue Bay."
"They will be fine," Lian Chuan said, "Lin Fan and Lao Gui are capable enough to lead the remaining travelers to survive."
"Tell me," Ning Gu opened a box of rations, "Am I useless compared to them? Captain, Li Xiang, Lin Fan, if they were me, I would definitely not abandon so many people and run away now."
"As long as they need you," Lian Chuan said, "you will always come back, right?"
That was the truth, after all, he had too many concerns.
Only this time, if anything happened, he might not be able to get there quickly.
The car was driving very fast. Ning Gu looked at the real-time map, which was still empty. However, their starting point on the map had changed from a circle the size of a fingertip to a dot.
"Let's get some sleep," Ning Gu walked into the bedroom, "We haven't had a good rest... There's only one bed?"
"This car is only used by General Manager Su himself," Lian Chuan said. "He has no children, so at most he can bring his wife with him. There is no need to get two beds."
Ning Gu went to the bathroom and quickly cleaned up, then jumped up and lay down on the bed: "Then let's sleep together."
"Take off your coat," Lian Chuan said, "Do you usually sleep like this?"
"That's about right. If you want to take it off, take it off. If you're too lazy to take it off, don't take it off." Ning Gu sat up and took off his coat. "It's so windy in the ghost town, there's dust and debris everywhere. I'm not as particular as you people in the main city."
Lian Chuan returned to the cockpit to check the route and alarm system. After making sure that everything was set up, he yawned. It was indeed a long time since he had a good rest.
He turned and left the cab and went into the bedroom.
Ning Gu was already lying on the bed, taking up half of the bed in a standard manner, leaving the outer half for him.
"That toothpaste," Ning Gu said, "Even the toothpaste in the main city has a taste?"
"Well, what's wrong?" Lian Chuan entered the bathroom. "What's that smell?"
"I don't know, it's sweet," Ning Gu said, "I couldn't help but take a bite just now."
Lian Chuan smiled for a long time, picked up the toothpaste and looked at it: "It's strawberry flavored."
"I like it," Ning Gu said, "I can make some strawberry-flavored drinks to try tomorrow."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded, took off his coat and lay down on the bed, "Do you know the word strawberry?"
Ning Gu turned over and sat up and looked at him: "How do you think I made orange juice today?"
"Isn't it random?" Lian Chuan asked.
Ning Gu stared at him for several seconds, then laughed to himself: "Yes, I just pressed it randomly, but I saw there were no words on the button, only numbers and letters."
"It's on the small screen above," Lian Chuan said, "Different codes correspond to different flavors, and you can mix them yourself to make new flavors. Aunt Chun likes to mix them and she can always make a great flavor."
"If I had known earlier, I should have gone to learn from her first." Ning Gu sighed, leaning against the wall of the carriage.
"No need," Lian Chuan said, "I'll do it."
"Well," Ning Gu lay down again, facing him sideways, "We have plenty of time anyway, you can teach me what the words above mean."
"I can also teach you other words." Lian Chuan said.
"No need," Ning Gu refused very straightforwardly, "I can't remember."
"Okay." Lian Chuan nodded.
"I thought you would force me to learn it." Ning Gu said.
"Why?" Lian Chuan said, "You don't need it. You've grown up to be over 20 years old without knowing a single word. You're still the savior. If you think it's fun, then learn it. If you're not interested, of course you don't have to learn it. There are many illiterate people in the main city, and not everyone has the opportunity to go to school."
"Is there a world," Ning Gu said, "where everyone can read?"
"I don't know, maybe there is." Lian Chuan said.
"But I think it's pretty good here," said Ning Gu.
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded.
Maybe they were too tired and the car was driving quite smoothly, so they wanted to chat for a while, but they fell asleep without knowing when.
I don’t know how long I slept, but the car shook slightly and Lian Chuan opened his eyes.
The alarm system didn't respond, it could just be that the road surface was uneven.
He turned his head to look at Ning Gu beside him, who was sleeping soundly with his arms around his waist and his head on his pillow.
Lian Chuan felt that he was probably really tired. Ning Gu had occupied half of his territory, but he hadn't even woken up yet.
"Lianchuan." Ning Gu said in a low voice.
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded.
"Lianchuan?" Ning Gu said again.
"Hmm?" Lian Chuan looked at Ning Gu with his eyes closed.
"Where is Lianchuan?" Ning Gu's voice was unclear, but the anxiety in his tone could be heard.
Lian Chuan didn't wait for him to continue asking, and shook him quickly: "Ning Gu."
"Hmm?" Ning Gu responded in confusion.
"I'm here." Lian Chuan patted his face again, "You're dreaming."
Ning Gu opened his eyes and stared at him for a long while, then came over and hugged him tightly, putting his legs on him and using his arms to hold him close to him.
"Did you dream that you couldn't find me?" Lian Chuan asked.
"Well," Ning Gu sighed, "I don't know what's wrong, I just can't calm down, I always feel like you're going to disappear."
"How could that be?" Lian Chuan said, "I am a person who wants to survive no matter what, so I will let you know where I am no matter what."
There was no change in the light in the Black Iron Wasteland, and the faint brightness remained unchanged.
The time to get up can only be based on the clock in the car.
At nine o'clock in the morning, after the clock struck time, Ning Gu slowly got out of bed. Lian Chuan had gotten up an hour ago and went to the warehouse at the back, probably to cook.
But after an hour, he still didn't come out.
"Did you blow up the machine?" Ning Gu walked over slowly.
Just as he was about to push the door, Lian Chuan came out holding a tray with two black "drinks" and two boxes of rations on it.
"What the hell is this?" Ning Gu was stunned.
"I mixed the drinks," Lian Chuan said, "and tried several combinations..."
"Is this still the most successful?" Ning Gu looked at the color in the cup in shock.
"Well," Lian Chuan said, "I tasted it. This one is sweet and sour. The others are bitter."
"This color... how many kinds of colors are there?" Ning Gu was still shocked.
"Do you want to drink?" Lian Chuan put the tray on the table.
"Why," Ning Gu looked at him, "I don't want to drink, but you still force me to drink?"
"It's not impossible," Lian Chuan smiled and sat down at the table, "Of course I don't mind you taking a sip from each glass."
"No," Ning Gu picked up a cup, still giving face, "As long as you don't make me angry, I won't be as childish as Jiu Yi every time."
The drink in the cup didn't smell as terrible as it looked. It even smelled sweet. Ning Gu took a small sip and was even more shocked after tasting it.
"It tastes great!" he shouted, took another sip, tasted it and shouted again, "It's really sweet and sour!"
"Are you okay?" Lian Chuan asked.
"Well," Ning Gu nodded, sat down and opened a box of rations, "From now on, you will be the one to prepare the food. Can the rations be exchanged this way?"
"It depends on my mood." Lian Chuan said, "If I'm in a good mood, I'll do it."
"So how are you feeling lately?" Ning Gu looked at him.
Lian Chuan smiled: "Very good."
Each box was rationed with regular flavors. Lian Chuan found the flavors similar to each other, but Ning Gu enjoyed them very much. After finishing one box, he ran into the warehouse and took out two boxes that seemed to have different flavors.
"I found that not knowing how to read has an advantage," Ning Gu looked at the label on the lid of the box, "I didn't know what it was until I put it in my mouth, and it was a surprise."
"Well," Lian Chuan took a look, "this is..."
"Don't say it!" Ning Gu shouted.
At the same time as he shouted, the alarm sounded in the cockpit.
The car speed suddenly dropped and Ning Gu bumped into the door frame next to him.
"Is there anything?" He was stunned.
"Go and take a look." Lian Chuan rushed into the cockpit quickly.
The scanning results are displayed on the real-time map, and there is a wall one kilometer ahead.
"There is a wall in front." Lianchuan said.
Ning Gu saw the long strip displayed on the screen, but couldn't tell what shape the wall was. He only knew that it was very flat and straight, and it was obviously man-made.
"What kind of wall is this?" Ning Gu was surprised.
Lian Chuan didn't answer him, but just looked up and ahead.
Ning Gu followed and looked forward.
Although visibility was low due to the dim light all around, he still saw the wall.
The reason why it can be seen from such a distance is because the wall is white.
Also because of the height of the wall.
Compared to the towering boundary wall of the main city, the wall in front of us looks like a mountain.