The next day, before dawn, everyone had already woken up.
Many of them had dark circles under their eyes because they had not slept well the whole night.
The atmosphere in the living room was depressing. Everyone was quietly packing their luggage. Most of them were unwilling to migrate, including Huo Dong. He was already middle-aged, and his stamina and energy were not comparable to that of a young man. Besides, he was not an evolved person, so he would most likely die on the way.
What could he do if he did not want to go? Should he stay?
He knew very well that without Luo Yuan, he would die even faster if he stayed. Without power, he would not be able to survive.
He put on his backpack and gripped a machete tightly.
"Do you need me to carry anything?" Wang Xiaguang asked, feeling embarrassed when she saw everyone else packing their belongings.
"No, you've just recovered. We've carried everything for you," Huang Jiahui said with a smile.
"As long as you can keep up with us!" Wang Shishi could not help but chime in.
Wang Xiaguang's expression was a little stiff. She could sense that the two women had a special relationship with Luo Yuan. One of the older women seemed to be sleeping with Luo Yuan at night. Everyone else slept on the first floor of the villa. Only the two of them and Luo Yuan slept in the bedroom on the second floor. There were only two bedrooms on the second floor. She could not sleep well the whole night, tossing and turning in bed.
Luo Yuan stared at her and said, "Don't worry, we'll walk slowly on the first day. Take your time to get used to it. You should eat more meat. You'll recover soon."
Wang Xiaguang looked much better after two nights of recovery and the nourishment of the mutated beast meat. However, it was not easy to recover. She still needed to rest for a few more days.
Wang Xiaguang smiled happily when she saw that Luo Yuan was still treating her the same. "I have a good physique. I used to do morning exercises every day. I can definitely keep up with you. Luo Yuan, do you have any machetes? I want one too."
"It's best not to. These machetes are very sharp and you might hurt yourself," Luo Yuan said hesitantly. He did not want Wang Xiaguang to fight because he owed her something. He just wanted to protect her and not let her get hurt.
"I practiced swordsmanship for a long time in college. It should be fine." Wang Xiaguang did not understand what Luo Yuan was thinking.
"Alright, wait. There should be some in the basement. I'll get one." Luo Yuan thought that if Wang Xiaguang had a weapon, she could still save herself. He did not reject her. He went to the basement and found a samurai sword.
Wang Xiaguang took it and unsheathed her katana. She threw the scabbard aside and held the katana with both hands. She took a deep breath and made a few quick slashes in the air. She seemed to be unhappy that Luo Yuan was looking down on her, so she repeated the moves that Luo Yuan had taught Huo Dong and the rest the day before.
Luo Yuan's eyes lit up as he watched. In his eyes, her slashing movements were not perfect and her speed was not fast enough. Her final killing routine was not smooth either. However, compared to Huo Dong, Chen Xianfeng and the rest, her speed was already quite fast.
It was impossible to kill light blue level mutated beasts, but it was enough to kill low-level mutated beasts. Moreover, her body had not fully recovered. With the nourishment of food, her body's attributes could be further improved. It would not be impossible to kill blue level mutated beasts.
After all, his physical fitness was not that high when he killed light blue level mutated beasts.
Everyone had different thoughts as they looked at her. No one had expected that a weak woman who had just arrived would have such a strong side to her. Even Lin Xiaoji, who was arrogant toward ordinary people and hid far away because of her stench, began to look at her in a new light.
Wang Xiaguang stopped after a while. She looked at Luo Yuan with sparkling eyes and asked, "What do you think?"
"I have some foundation."
Wang Xiaguang wrinkled her nose cutely and said, "I haven't practiced for a long time. I'll definitely surpass you in the future."
Wang Shishi curled her lips in disdain. In her heart, Brother Luo was the strongest and no one could compare to him. How dare someone say that he could surpass Luo Yuan? What a braggart!
"Alright, you've always been the best." Luo Yuan smiled helplessly. He did not care about Wang Shishi's thoughts.
He took out a piece of tarpaulin that covered the car and threw most of the remaining things on it. Finally, he rolled up a large package that was as tall as a person and tied it tightly with a nylon rope. He ran to the giant lizard and hung it around its neck.
Luo Yuan returned to the living room and carried a bag full of short spears and his Zhanmadao. Seeing that everyone was ready, he said seriously, "Everyone, it's better to put some jerky in your bag. If you run into danger and get separated, you'll be able to hold on for a while. Also, if you don't want to leave, it's not too late to change your mind. There are still a lot of resources here. I can guarantee that you won't have to worry about anything for a while. "
Huo Dong looked at Chen Xianfeng, who was silent, and then at Cao Lin and Ning Xiaoran, who looked determined. He sighed in his heart.
No one spoke for a long time. Luo Yuan nodded and said, "If that's the case, let's go!
The sky was clear, which was a good sign.
As the gigantic body of the giant lizard slowly stood up, everyone followed it and walked forward. The road was so broken that it was impossible for ordinary vehicles to pass through unless they had a tank. The rest of them did not dare to sit on the giant lizard, so everyone, including Luo Yuan, walked forward. This was the first time anyone except Luo Yuan had gone out since they had arrived from the bomb shelter. The scenery outside was completely different from 10 days ago.
A large amount of green filled everyone's eyes.
Weeds, moss, and vines had crawled all over the steel city. Further away, there was a dense jungle.
When the sun shone on them, they did not feel warm. Instead, they felt cold.
Among them, Wang Xiaguang felt it the most. When she had first entered the base, Hedong City had yet to be destroyed, but when she looked at the city again, it had been reduced to ruins. The sharp contrast and the drastic changes that had taken place left her in a daze for a long time.
The giant lizard's heavy body walked forward step by step. Every time it stepped on the concrete road, a spider web of cracks would appear. The ground would shake slightly. Even if there were huge rocks in the way, they would not be able to stop it. Under Luo Yuan's command, the giant lizard's terrifying strength knocked them away. With the giant lizard, which was almost at the dark blue level, normal mutated beasts did not dare approach.
Even so, they were not moving fast. They had to avoid the mutated beasts' territories as much as possible. They had taken many detours, and it was already noon after walking less than 10 kilometers.
The gravel on the road had been cleaned and a tablecloth had been placed on it. Other than Lin Xiaoji, who had sat far away, the others gathered around to have a hot meal.
After the meal, Luo Yuan took out a map of Hedong City.
"We're already here!" Luo Yuan pointed on the map and drew a line. "The nearest highway is less than 15 kilometers away. It's best if we get there before dark!"
"Why do we have to go to the highway? There used to be farmland on both sides. I'm afraid it's now a forest. It's too dangerous," Huang Jiahui said.
"The specifications of the highway are relatively high. It's a civilian facility as well as a military facility. Even heavy tanks can't destroy the cement ground. Moreover, the highway was specially reinforced and widened before the apocalypse. There are at least 100 meters wide isolation belts on both sides of the road. In addition, there are fortifications at intervals, so we can rest there.
I don't think the damage will be that serious. If we can find a vehicle, we can even ride for a while. We can only follow the highway to avoid getting lost.
I'm not worried about the section near the farmland, but I'm most worried about the section near the sea bridge. If it's broken, we might have to take a long detour. "
"I used to pass the sea bridge often. It's dry for more than half of the year. I can only see the beach, but not the water. At this time, the flood season shouldn't have begun. Is there any problem?" Cao Lin said.
"I hope so," Luo Yuan said.
The ocean occupied three-quarters of the Earth, and the number of species in the ocean was tens of thousands of times more than that on land. Before the apocalypse, the African elephant was the largest creature on land, but in front of the ocean creatures, it was nothing. Any one of them could be compared to the creatures on land.
Fortunately, the sea creatures only lived in the ocean. Otherwise, if these mutated creatures climbed onto the land, humanity would have no hope.
"But this road will pass by Meishan Park. Can't we take a detour?" Cao Lin asked.
"It's okay. My house used to be there. Before Hedong City fell, the whole mountain was sealed with cement," Ning Xiaoran said softly. She blushed before she could finish her sentence.
Everyone discussed for a while and finally decided on the route.
After resting for about 10 minutes, they resumed their journey.
There was an accident on the way. They had encountered a large number of ants at the crossroads.
These low-level creatures ignored the giant lizard's aura and swarmed towards them like a tide. Each of these ants was the size of a fist, and their bodies were black and shiny. They crawled very fast, not only on the road, but also on the buildings on both sides of the road.
Even the giant lizard was annoyed by the sharp teeth of these creatures. It kept retreating and snorting.
Luo Yuan and the others had no choice but to retreat a few streets and wait for the terrifying creatures to pass before continuing their journey. There were many fresh bloodstains and white bones on the road. There was not a single trace of flesh on them.
Luo Yuan was glad that he had escaped in time. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to escape even if he had faced so many ants.
Mutated insects were no less dangerous than mutated beasts. In fact, they were even scarier. He would never forget what had happened in Donghu City. Countless green beetles had descended from the sky like the Grim Reaper, destroying the whole city in the blink of an eye.
Fortunately, these ants were not as dangerous or destructive as the green beetles. It was just a small interlude on the road.
Just as darkness was about to descend, everyone finally approached the highway junction.
They were close to the suburbs, not far from the countryside.
At this moment, everyone subconsciously stopped in their tracks and looked into the distance in shock. There was an indescribable tree standing seven or eight kilometers away. A white mist surrounded its branches. It looked misty and faintly discernible, as if it was a fairyland.
The huge canopy covered a few kilometers of space, and a large area was shrouded in shadow. The shadow even extended to the suburbs.
The branches that were hundreds of meters or even thousands of meters tall looked like they had been through countless years. Even from seven to eight kilometers away, Luo Yuan could still see the endless twisted scars on the trunk. Most of the tree crown was scorched black and completely dead. Luo Yuan guessed that this was the effect of lightning. Perhaps it had been struck by lightning countless times.
It had probably been struck by lightning countless times.
No matter how much Luo Yuan hated green plants after the apocalypse, he had to admit that this was a miracle of life.
"I always thought that only a single tree could form a forest, but compared to this tree, all the other trees are rubbish," Huo Dongmeng said.
"Could this be the World Tree?" Wang Shishi exclaimed in a dreamy tone.
Luo Yuan did not object this time. The tree's growth was almost like a myth, or rather, it had always been growing like a mythical creature.
The World Tree. Even if the World Tree really did appear, he wouldn't be surprised.
Luo Yuan could not determine the level of the tree, but it was definitely not comparable to a haunted locust tree. Even a dark blue level would not be able to describe it. He could only hope that the tree was harmless and was just growing by instinct. He realized that if they wanted to take the highway, they would have to walk through the tree's shade for a long time.
"Let's stop sighing. Let's find a safe place to rest for the night and continue our journey tomorrow."
There were abandoned buildings everywhere, so it was easy to find an empty room to rest. However, to be safe, they had to look around. Finally, they found a four-star hotel with a basement.
The basement used to be the hotel's office area. The computers and printers were still there, but no one had been working there for a long time.
There was a thick layer of dust and black bloodstains on the carpet. Skeletons of humans and mutated beasts were scattered all over the place. There were also all kinds of weapons. There were five or six guns and even a rifle.
However, there were not many bullets, only empty shells.
Luo Yuan could imagine that there had been a not-so-intense battle here not long ago. In the end, the survivors ran out of bullets and were attacked by bloodthirsty mutated beasts.
There was no light in the area, so it was dark. Even with a flashlight, it was not much better. Luo Yuan did not want Huo Dong and the rest to take the risk, so he personally checked the area and killed the few mutated beasts that had not left.
Then, he blocked the door connecting the parking lot and the office area with a desk to prevent the mutated beasts from breaking in.
While Luo Yuan was checking for safety, the rest of them chose a big office. The light from the flashlight could not light up the entire space. Everyone was quietly rummaging through their luggage. The strange and dead environment and the skeletons outside the door made everyone feel very insecure.
When Luo Yuan opened the door, everyone was relieved. The office seemed to be a little livelier because of Luo Yuan.
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