Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 252 New Sea Level
When the weather warms up, it's almost been another month.

Yao Wei will come when she's meant to.

However, now that we have the RV, it's not too much of a problem. When there's a sufficient supply of hot water, Yao Wei doesn't feel any discomfort.

So the two continued their journey south.

Then, the road ahead gradually became undulating, with low hills cutting it in two, east and west.

The hill had no name on the World Atlas, which made Lu Xi'an feel a little strange.

Even a tiny mountain like Xiaoshishan has a name, so why is this mountain so vaguely marked on the map?

Could it have appeared after the apocalypse?
But this doesn't seem like it either.

The asphalt roads in front of us run east and west, exactly as marked on the map, without any changes. This indicates that the hills have always existed, and the roads were originally built in this way because of these hills.

Forget it, if you don’t understand it, don’t think about it.

Lu Xi'an glanced at the map and told Yao Wei to turn the steering wheel west.

The road to the west is a bit longer, but it bypasses Yangcai County. Heading east, however, leads directly into Caiyang Mountain.

Therefore, taking the road to the west can avoid the city and reduce trouble.

But fate had other plans.

They drove southwest, but found that the road felt like they were back in Yubei City or Jianshan City, with hills on both sides.

It's just that this mountain isn't as high as the one in Yubei City, and it's much worse than the one in Jianshan City.

That road then became a road through the "valley".

Then, as they walked, the mechanical dog's voice came through the RV's speakers, reminding Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei: "A collapse has been detected ahead, please be careful."

Lu Xi'an said, "I saw it without you saying it..."

He was already driving when he saw the road conditions ahead, so he had to step on the brakes and stop the car.

Some distance from the collapse area, what Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei saw was not landslides blocking the road on both sides, but rather the road ahead had completely sunk, forming a long, deep pit.

The two got out of the car and looked around. They could jump down and walk across the road themselves without any problem, but carrying the car across was a bit more difficult.

How could it have collapsed like this?!
Lu Xi'an frowned and asked the mechanical dog by the car window, "Dog, can you analyze the road ahead? Why did it collapse like this?"

"Also, is this situation unique to this area, or could it have happened earlier?"

The robot dog quickly responded: "Insufficient data, unable to determine. After scanning the collapsed area, Robot Dog 02 discovered that there are regularly shaped foreign objects buried at the edge of the tunnel on the left side ahead, which have excavation and research value, and may be able to answer your question."

Okay, that makes sense.

Lu Xi'an then told Yao Wei, "Wait here and keep an eye on the car. I'll go check it out."

"Ah."

Yao Wei agreed and reminded her with concern, "Be careful."

Lu Xi'an smiled slightly at Yao Wei and said, "Don't worry, I know."

He walked to the edge of the collapsed tunnel and looked to his left. The collapsed road had brought down a lot of rocks and soil from the surrounding hillside, forming a slope.

Now, after being washed by rain, covered by heavy snow, and subjected to alternating hot and cold temperatures, it has become extremely hard.

At the edge of the permafrost, a corner was sticking out, and it looked like a roadside traffic sign.

So, is there a sign indicating this?
Lu Xi'an immediately returned to the car, grabbed a shovel, jumped down into the pit, and stood on the earthen slope.

He only wanted to dig out what was buried under the slope, expose its interior, and see the writing on it. But the problem was that the soil that had collapsed had become a single piece, and he would have to dig it all out.

First, lift up the stones on top of the soil and throw them away, then use a shovel to dig it up.

At this point, you also need to be careful when using force to avoid damaging the object.

However, with his current control over his physical strength and his seemingly endless power, this little thing was no challenge for him at all.

He only wasted a little time before he was able to shovel away the firmly embedded soil bit by bit.

The object that had been lying on its side was now visible. Lu Xi'an used a shovel to remove the topsoil, and the writing on it became mostly legible.

"Ahead... a coal mine goaf..."

He read the text aloud and was somewhat surprised.

In his previous life, all the coal mines he knew were inland; he'd never seen any along the coast. He never imagined that this coastal city would have coal mines…

However, upon reflection, he realized that the east-west span of Linhai City in the "World Atlas I" seemed quite long, and this was the westernmost part of Linhai City, which was actually quite far from the coast.

Yao Wei came up behind them and asked, "What is a coal mine?"

Lu Xi'an explained, "It's a place where coal is mined. In the past, people used coal for cooking and generating electricity."

"That's it."

Yao Wei nodded. Lu Xi'an let out a soft breath and said, "Alright, let's go. We can't get through this road, so we'll have to find another way."

"Ah."

Yao Wei agreed.

Back in the car, Yao Wei took out the World Atlas again, and the two looked at it together, finally making a decision—

Return the way you came, then head east.

Heading west, you'll enter Jiangbei City. According to Yao Wei and everyone here, Jiangbei is too dangerous, so it's best to avoid it if possible.

So if there's really no other way, we should still go through Yangcai County.

So they returned along the same route, and slowly made their way to the fork in the road, where they headed east again.

The road to the east was becoming increasingly difficult to travel, with a level of damage far exceeding that of other areas. It was uneven and bumpy, forcing Lu Xi'an to slow down even further. He hoped that the road to the east would be alright.

In fact, the roads they traveled along were not in good condition; they were uneven, full of potholes, and often overgrown with flowers and grass.

Otherwise, they would have driven all the way to the south long ago, instead of taking so long.
Looking back now, the only time Lu Xi'an drove at full speed was during that landslide. At that time, he and Yao Wei were sitting in the car, and it felt like they were flying.

It's fortunate that this car has undergone special treatment and has sturdy tires; otherwise, it would probably have been totaled long ago if it had been speeding along on such a bad road.

To Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's surprise, the egg rack made by the old tree was surprisingly useful, holding the eggs firmly in place in the refrigerator.

Both of them were a little worried that all the eggs would break, but to their surprise, only a few broke and most of them were preserved intact.

It's fortunate that they are all new humans, or that all that's left in the world now is new humans; otherwise, they would probably have gotten carsick long ago riding on such roads.

They drove east until nightfall, rested for another night, and the next day, after washing up and exercising, Yao Wei took over driving.

The road heading east followed the hills, which gradually widened out, then turned south, and continued mostly southward thereafter.

Moreover, as they moved east and south, the hills became higher and higher, forming mountain ranges.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei looked at the "World Atlas I" again and saw that the mountain was marked here and named Dongyang Mountain. They then realized that the hill they had seen before was the edge of Dongyang Mountain. The reason they hadn't noticed it was simply because they hadn't understood the map at first.

After another day of driving, as darkness fell, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei got out of the car to check the situation. They noticed that there was a slope on the north side of the road, creating a difference in elevation, so they worked together to lift the car down the slope and off the road.

Having experienced the landslide, the two were already wary of the road at the foot of the mountain, so they didn't plan to stop the car on the road to rest.

After lifting the car down the slope, they drove north through the wasteland for a while, found a suitable spot, and stopped to rest.

The next day, they lifted the car back onto the road and continued their journey to Caiyang County.

Then, that afternoon, they drove over Dongyang Mountain, and Caiyang County came into view.

This is indeed a city built around mountains, with many buildings even on the hillsides.

Because it was built around mountains, the city was enormous, far exceeding any city Lu Xi'an had ever seen in this world.

Therefore, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, standing here, had no way of getting a full view of the city.

The buildings are now dilapidated and abandoned, leaning precariously as if they had been through an earthquake.

Whether it's due to the climate or something else, the city's buildings and roads are covered with green vegetation, including trees, grass, and various algae.

The buildings, which were leaning precariously, were all covered with vines, creating a spectacular sight.

The coastline is actually quite far from here. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei got out of the car and stood on the roof to look around, but they still couldn't see the sea in the distance.

He glanced at Caiyang Mountain in the city center. Its peaks rose abruptly from the ground like pillars supporting the sky, towering high and quite steep. It seemed that to see the sea, one truly needed to be on a mountain.

I really don't know how such a uniquely shaped mountain was formed...

"and many more!"

Lu Xi'an suddenly realized something, "Why does this place look so familiar?"

Yao Wei looked at Lu Xi'an but didn't say anything.

Lu Xi'an rummaged in his pocket and pulled something out.

That thing was none other than the commemorative medal he had obtained from the high-voltage power plant.

This small item, called the "Fish Mouth Commemorative Medal," depicts a place nestled between mountains and the sea, but it's actually quite different from where we are.

That felt like a real coastal city, unlike here, which is actually quite a distance from the coastline.

Upon closer inspection, a small pointed peak appears on the city portrait on the commemorative medal. What else could it be but Caiyang Mountain?
This should be the view of Caiyang Mountain from the "fish mouth" spot.

But why is Yangcai County not shown here, and only Caiyang Mountain is shown?
Lu Xi'an held the commemorative medal up to his eyes and looked at it carefully. Only then did he see clearly that there was a thin line between the pointed peak representing the mountain and the "fish mouth" city nestled between the mountain and the sea.

Next to the thin line, two lines of extremely small text were engraved, one above and one below the thin line, which are invisible unless you look closely.

Above the thin line, it reads: Above the new sea level.

Below the thin line is written: Below the new sea level.

(End of this chapter)