Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 233 The Linkage Between the Dog Drone and the RV

Heading east, it will take a while to pass through Qinnan County, east of Pingchuan City, before you can leave Pingchuan City.

Once you leave Pingchuan City, you'll reach Linhai City.

Linhai City, as its name suggests, is located on the coast of the East China Sea. However, according to the World Atlas I, the place called Donghai City does not actually border the East China Sea; its coastline is connected to the South China Sea.

I really don't know how people came up with these names back then.

Linhai City is bordered by Yubei City to the northwest and Yunzhou City to the east, but since neither Lu Xi'an nor Yao Wei plans to go, there's no need to elaborate.

They were heading to Linhai City, then south to Jiangdong City, then through Jiannan City, and finally to Donghai City.

The national emergency disaster relief headquarters that the radio kept mentioning is located in the new district of Donghai City.

To the northwest of Donghai City lies Mengze City. Wanquan County within Mengze City is their final destination.

There lies Yao Wei's enemy, the one who killed her mother, Ye Wenxin. Now, with the passage of time, Yao Wei herself doesn't even know if her old enemy is still there, but she has to go there.

Otherwise, the image of his mother's death would always linger in his mind, like a thorn sticking out.

Yao Wei never voiced these conflicting emotions in her heart, but Lu Xi'an could clearly sense them.

Whenever Yao Wei opens "World Atlas I", she always subconsciously opens the page for Wanquan County in Mengze City, glances at it, and then casually turns the page over, but her eyes are always fixed on the point specially marked on the map until that point is covered by the page.

Therefore, Lu Xi'an knew that this was Yao Wei's destined destination, and since he was determined to hitch a ride with Yao Wei, he would inevitably travel the same route.

As Lu Xi'an drove, feeling the warmth of Yao Wei's hand covering the back of his hand, his previously chaotic thoughts gradually subsided, and he began to ponder the road ahead.

"We'll head east to Linhai City, then we'll head south. Are you nervous?"

He asked Yao Wei a question.

But Yao Wei shook her head and said calmly, "We've always been heading south." She understood what Lu Xi'an meant by "heading south."

Lu Xi'an paused for a moment, then laughed: "That's right, we've been heading south the whole time."

The trip to Institute 923 and then to the Tancunkou refugee camp were just minor interludes on the way south, never turning points in the journey. It was just that the pauses and comforts during those times gave me a false sense of security.

"Which direction exactly should we come from to come south?"

Lu Xian asked.

Yao Wei didn't answer, but asked instead, "Are you alright?"

"Ok?"

Lu Xi'an didn't react for a moment.

Yao Wei then asked, "Do you still feel lonely?"

Lu Xi'an then realized what Yao Wei was asking, smiled, and said, "I don't feel it anymore. With you by my side, I don't feel lonely."

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded, then withdrew her hand and took out "World Atlas I" to look at it.

Lu Xi'an felt a pang of loss, thinking to herself that if that was the case, then she should have known better than to say she was lonely...

Yao Wei turned the map to Linhai City and said, "Once we enter Linhai City and reach the west side of Lianghe County, we can head south. The map says that the road south from Lianghe County is the newest one, so the road conditions should be relatively better, and the terrain to the south is also the flattest."

As the saying goes, "a fall into a pit, a gain in your wit," Yao Wei and Lu Xi'an became even more attentive to road conditions after their trip from Jianshan City.

To be honest, this road, which has been ravaged by wind and snow for decades and has never been repaired, has never been in good condition.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei traveled all the way from the north to here, spending most of their time in bumpy conditions.

Of course, there were also times when the road conditions were better. For example, on the county road west of Fengcheng County, Luo Ping parted ways with them and drove off in a very carefree manner.

Such smooth roads, almost without any damage, are extremely rare.

I wonder just how good the road conditions are that Yao Wei described?
Lu Xi'an said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

He really wanted to go to the seaside. He thought that since he had already come this far, he might as well go and see how the ocean in this world was different from the one in his previous life.

However, considering the unpredictable weather in this world, the beach might really be dangerous. Yao Wei's concerns were not unreasonable, so I decided to listen to her and not go to the beach.

"Attention, a gas station and residential area are ahead. The residential area is marked as Tunshan Village, Qinnan County on the map. Please be vigilant."

Suddenly, the mechanical dog's synthesized voice came from the RV's stereo.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei stopped their conversation and looked ahead. In the far distance, they could see the roof of a gas station faintly visible. Behind the gas station, they could see distant mountains and white clouds, intertwined like an ink painting. Tunshan Village must have been submerged in this "ink painting," too far away to be seen.

"Gas stations and residential areas are common sites where life is preserved, but they are also relatively dangerous. If you need Robot Dog 02 to assist in reconnaissance and surveillance, please issue a command."

The mechanical dog said something else.

Seeing that the dog was emphasizing its name so much, Lu Xi'an granted its wish and said, "Okay, Mechanical Dog 02, please assist us in conducting surveillance and reconnaissance of the gas station and Tunshan Village to confirm whether there are any living people... um... not just living people, but living creatures..." The RV suddenly fell silent, as if the mechanical dog's synthesized voice had never existed, and the sounds coming from the speakers earlier were just Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's illusion.

Or perhaps the mechanical dog is broken?

Lu Xi'an couldn't help but fall into doubt.

Immediately, a synthesized, emotionless voice came from the speakers again: "Mechanical Dog 02 is at your service."

Lu Xian: "..."

Ah……

Ha ha……

What do you mean by being devoid of emotion? It's all just an act!
Lu Xi'an felt he understood—this dog wasn't bad at all! Nor had it never existed.

It was just too fixated on its factory name and didn't expect that the person who always called it "Dog" would suddenly change their mind and call it "Mechanical Dog 02," which caused the instruction analysis to malfunction and temporarily crash.

It's amazing that this dog can behave in such a human-like way!
Lu Xi'an couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The two didn't plan to enter the village. The gas station was a necessary stop on their journey, and they would reach the village after passing the gas station. They planned to bypass Tunshan Village after passing the gas station and head east.

Tunshan Village is likely named after the people who originally settled at the foot of Qinshan Mountain. However, the village is actually quite a distance from Qinshan Mountain.

Yao Wei's "World Atlas I" did not show any extra roads outside the village, but Lu Xi'an turned his head and glanced at it. There was a small path at the foot of Qinshan Mountain to the north that could allow the car to go around.

The drone took off, and Yao Wei rolled down the car window, gripping a short needle in her hand, ready to strike at any moment.

Lu Xi'an drove past a gas station, which was even more rudimentary than the ones he had encountered before. The roof was just a steel frame covered with tarpaulin. Now the steel frame was broken and the tarpaulin was gone, so neither Lu Xi'an nor Yao Wei knew the name of the gas station.

The robotic dog made no indication, so Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei didn't linger. They simply let the drone fly in to take a look and check if there were any recyclable materials in the gas station building.

The gas station doors were wide open, and the windows were shattered, with only bits of glass remaining in the corners.

The drone flew through the station building's doors and went inside.

Lu Xi'an asked, "Dog, is there any way we can see the footage inside?"

The mechanical dog replied, "Screen playback has been turned on for you."

The central control screen lit up instantly, and after starting up, a moving image popped up, showing what the drone had captured inside the gas station building.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei stared wide-eyed at the scene on the screen. The station was completely empty, with no tables, chairs, or shelves left. Where there used to be a wall-mounted TV, there were now only two nails and a line.

But it doesn't matter. Although we didn't gain anything, we learned about the new feature of linking drones, dogs, and RVs, which is enough.

Isn't this kind of surprise better than finding any rare items?

"Great!"

Lu Xi'an couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, then asked, "Doggy, didn't I ask you before what other functions you have? Why didn't you mention this?"

The robot dog replied, "This is a linkage function between the RV and the drone. The robot dog 02 is responsible for signal adjustment and power supply. The separate functions have all been reported to you."

"..."

Lu Xi'an was speechless. He asked the mechanical dog if it had any other linkage functions, but the mechanical dog said no, nothing more. So Lu Xi'an didn't ask any more questions and stared at the screen on the central control panel with Yao Wei until the drone flew out.

"Okay, let's go."

After the drone flew back to the car, Lu Xi'an said as he continued driving forward.

As the drone flew over the yard, it glanced at the oil storage tank area. The valves on the oil tanks there had been opened, and the drone's camera shone inside, revealing that they were completely empty, with not a trace of oil remaining.

It seems the oil here has run out. I wonder if it was used by Luo Ping or someone else?
"It's so good not to need oil."

Lu Xi'an couldn't help but sigh, and Yao Wei wholeheartedly agreed, nodding deeply.

They then turned north and drove towards Qinshan.

These mountains stretch for a long stretch north of Pingchuan City, but they don't look nearly as majestic as Jianshan Mountain. And the road at the foot of these mountains is far less easy to travel than the section north of Sanyang County.

Fortunately, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's car had a high enough chassis; otherwise, this road would probably have been very difficult to pass.

Just as they were walking down this road, a light rain suddenly began to fall from the sky.

The two rolled up the car windows, slowed down, and proceeded cautiously.

But sometimes, danger has nothing to do with carelessness.

They were driving slowly when they suddenly heard a rumbling sound.

(End of this chapter)