Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 238 Warm up
This concludes the diary entry.

This should be considered a diary, just like the ones Lu Xi'an wrote back then.

However, Lu Xi'an wrote much more frequently and in much more detail than him.

Perhaps one day when I am old and about to die, with many regrets that I have not fulfilled, I will write a diary and be just like the person in the pit.

Come to think of it, I opened someone's basement, sneaked into their shelter, took their radio, and dug up their "grave," yet I still don't know their name.

Lu Xi'an had no idea how this person ended up here on his way to the National Emergency Disaster Relief Headquarters in Donghai New District, and why he settled here.

—You should know that when I was in Mengxin City, the recording I heard was dated before 2100, but this diary already shows 2123.

What happened during that time?
Lu Xi'an didn't understand, and there was no need for him to understand.

The waves of time will wash away many things into unsolvable mysteries, and trying to solve them is just a waste of energy.

After reading it, he put the diary away and placed it together with the work notebook he had found in Gaojiazhuang Village, Fengcheng County.

"You said... if that tree in the woods were transplanted to another place with plenty of sunlight, would it grow bigger and better?"

After putting away the diary, Lu Xi'an asked Yao Wei.

Yao Wei replied, "I don't know." She remained true to herself, admitting what she knew and what she didn't know.

Lu Xi'an didn't expect Yao Wei to give any answer. After thinking for a while, he said, "I guess so."
"This person's diary says that the tree was in the abandoned trees and the fruit was very small. This smallness should be based on a reference point."

"This reference point might be a tree growing elsewhere."

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded; she roughly understood what the reference point meant.

Lu Xi'an said, "Forget it, let's not worry about that. Anyway, whether the fruit is big or small, it's edible."

“If it’s edible, then it’s useful. Let’s contact Luo Ping and ask him to move the tree himself. Hopefully, he will be able to transplant it.”

Yao Wei said, "The old tree might."

Lu Xi'an laughed: "That's true, there's an old tree, the old tree might. Dog, try connecting to Institute 923."

The mechanical dog was already embedded in the control panel at the front of the RV. Upon hearing Lu Xi'an's words, it immediately began to execute the commands. However, after a while, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei could only hear a "buzzing" electrical sound from the RV's audio system.

"Broadcast signal connection failed, please try again later."

The dog's synthesized voice was explained through the RV's audio system.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei weren't disappointed. After experiencing two disconnections, they both understood that this situation might be the norm.

"Is it still possible to connect to the internet here? Or would the chances be better if we went somewhere else?"

Lu Xian asked.

The dog replied, "Based on the current detection situation, the broadcast signal is constantly fluctuating, so it is impossible to determine whether changing the location is related to the success rate of the broadcast signal connection."

"But we can guarantee a chance of a successful connection. We recommend trying multiple times and waiting patiently."

Well, since the dog has said so, then let's wait here.

"Then it's up to you, Doggy. Try connecting it a few more times."

As Lu Xi'an spoke, he said to Yao Wei, "Shall we rest here for a while and wait? Anyway, it's not urgent for a day or two."

Yao Wei nodded: "Okay."

Lu Xi'an said, "I'll make you some steamed eggs in a bit?"

Yao Wei frowned: "Don't waste it."

Lu Xi'an said, "It's not a waste. I suddenly remembered that eggs will spoil if left for too long. I don't know how bad they will spoil, or whether we can still eat them then. So I thought we should eat them instead of forcing them to stay."

"That's it."

Yao Wei nodded in agreement when she heard Lu Xi'an say that.

Lu Xi'an first drove the car out of the abandoned apple orchard, through the side roads, and onto the main road. This way, if anything happened, they could leave immediately.

Parked in an abandoned park, surrounded by collapsed walls and ruins, with no other exit except for the deserted path at the entrance, it would be inconvenient to encounter any danger.

After parking the car, Lu Xi'an asked Yao Wei if she was hungry. Yao Wei said she wasn't hungry, so Lu Xi'an didn't rush to make anything to eat and just waited patiently with Yao Wei.

The RV's stereo kept making a "buzzing" sound. Lu Xi'an told Gouzi to mute the RV's stereo first, and then turn the volume up after the connection was successful. Gouzi obeyed the command and immediately quieted down the RV.

With nothing else to do, the two opened their laptops and found a movie to watch.

This time, Yao Wei was more careful and chose an action movie without any romance or love scenes to avoid any trouble.

A sudden gust of wind picked up outside, but it wasn't as strong as the wind in Yubei City. The two of them could only hear the "whooshing" sound of the wind, but the car remained completely still and unaffected.

However, the wind seemed to blow away the temperature, and it suddenly got cold inside and outside the car, dropping to tens of degrees below zero.

Ice flowers began to condense on the car windows at a visible speed, icicles formed on the trees in the distance, and the roads outside the car were about to become impassable. The whole world seemed to be frozen over.

The cold air seeped into the car, causing Lu Xi'an to shiver involuntarily. He quickly told the mechanical dog, "Dog, turn on the air conditioning!"

The temperature gradually rose after the apocalyptic-themed air conditioner in the car was turned on.

Lu Xi'an glanced at the apple orchard and said, "I wonder how that apple tree will fare in this cold weather?" Of course, that apple tree would be alive. After all, it's been around for decades. If it were going to die, it would have died long ago. The fact that it's still bearing fruit shows that surviving is not a problem at all.

But he was still curious and wanted to go and see for himself.

So he put on his thickest clothes and said to Yao Wei, "You wait in the car, I'll go down and take a look."

Yao Wei asked, "What are you looking at?"

Lu Xi'an said, "Let me see how that tree survived."

"Oh."

Yao Wei agreed and didn't say anything more. She wasn't interested in the question, but simply reminded Lu Xi'an, "Go and come back quickly, don't catch a cold."

Lu Xi'an smiled at Yao Wei: "Don't worry, I'm a Type A new human. This weather is a small problem, what's there to be afraid of?"

He opened the door, got out of the car, closed the door, and shivered violently.

"It's not a big problem, just a little scary."

He hunched over, his sleeves bunched up like buckets, stuffed his hands inside, muttered something, and then cowered across the deserted path and ran into the yard.

He was incredibly fast and had a good enough memory. He quickly followed his memory, passed through the woods, and arrived at the short, thin apple tree.

The tree seemed to be frozen solid, and the fruit on it was covered with a layer of ice crystals, making it look crystal clear and much more fragile, which made Lu Xi'an dare not touch it.

But Lu Xi'an could indeed sense that the tree's vitality seemed to be sealed within the ice crystals, with all its energy circulating internally and not leaking out, thus enabling it to live.

"hiss--"

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Lu Xi'an shivered, feeling that she couldn't bear it any longer, so she quickly ran back to the car.

As the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. He had experienced such cold weather before, and even walked for a long time in such freezing conditions, but he didn't find it unbearable then.

Now they can't stand it anymore; they've regressed.

He sighed inwardly, then suddenly felt something was amiss—

When I used to train, I always punched in the cold wind, and I didn't find it difficult then.

Is it because I haven't been exercising that I'm feeling a bit discouraged?
He thought to himself that when he got to the car, he wasn't in a hurry to get in. Instead, he stretched out his body and prepared to practice his boxing.

But just then, Yao Wei opened the door and said, "Come on up, we've already practiced today, it's not good to practice too much."

Lu Xi'an had no choice but to get into the car and asked Yao Wei, "Is there another way to say that?"

Yao Wei closed the car door, nodded, and said, "Yes, I've paid special attention to that before. Exercising to the fullest can improve strength, but if you overdo it, it won't be effective, and it might even have the opposite effect."

"That's it."

Hearing Yao Wei say this, Lu Xi'an had no choice but to give up his plan to exercise again and took off his coat.

Now they train with all their might every day, from adjusting their individual movements to sparring. They've really trained enough. Lu Xi'an isn't sure if training any more will be effective, but he feels it will definitely harm their bodies.

In that case, their physical strength might even decrease.

After taking off her coat, Lu Xi'an rubbed her arms and said, "I feel a little cold. Can I get under the covers to warm up for a bit?"

Yao Wei said, "Change into your pajamas."

Lu Xian: "..."

The improved living conditions have even fostered this woman's obsession with cleanliness.

But it's alright, changing into pajamas is definitely more comfortable. Lu Xi'an immediately changed into her pajamas, crawled into bed, and was instantly jolted awake by the cold duvet cover and sheets.

But it felt very comfortable.

"how's it going?"

Yao Wei asked with some concern. New Humans don't usually get sick, but she had seen some who did, and the illnesses had a significant impact on their health, so she was worried about Lu Xi'an's condition.

Lu Xi'an said, "It's alright. It's probably because I didn't warm up properly, so I feel a bit cold. If I practiced like usual, I probably wouldn't feel this way. I'll stay in bed a little longer, and I think I'll feel better."

Yao Wei asked, "How long will it take?"

Lu Xi'an said, "Who knows? It'll probably be ready in a bit. We need to warm the blankets up first."

Yao Wei said, "Oh..."

Seeing her expression, Lu Xi'an smiled and said, "Alright, don't worry, go watch the movie by yourself."

But Yao Wei didn't look at him; instead, she sat next to Lu Xi'an and only looked at him.

Lu Xi'an sighed and said, "If you're so worried, why don't you warm me up yourself? Your body temperature is much warmer than a blanket."

He was just joking casually, but he didn't expect Yao Wei to actually nod seriously and say "Mmm".

Then he stared in disbelief as Yao Wei changed into her pajamas, crawled into bed, and pressed herself against his body.

His mind was a complete mess, and he subconsciously pressed himself even closer to the ground, even pressing his lips against it.

(End of this chapter)