Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 297 A Machine Like a Dog
Lu Xi'an looked around the cabin intently, trying to find clues about the past, the universe, and everything here from all the mottled and dilapidated traces.

Unfortunately, this was destined to be in vain.

He could only see the changes of time and the passing of things in these instruments submerged in fungi and vines.

Countless people have visited this place. Even if someone opened the hatch and came out, they have long since left, or have simply left this world.

All the secrets have been buried in the dust of history. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei searched everywhere they could, but could only find that there were some supplies here, but they had all been used or taken away.

The remaining items are large pieces that have become integrated with the return capsule and its surrounding environment, and cannot be removed.

Lu Xi'an inspected the LCD screens, control panels, and circuits in these large items. These things, which were covered and corroded by fungi and vines, probably wouldn't be able to be powered on or function even with a dog around.

This saves the dog from being exposed in front of the knife.

"There are two seats. When this cabin landed, I wonder if there were two people sitting in each seat?"

Lu Xi'an speculated, "Back then, we didn't know if this place was land or sea. If it was sea, they must have felt helpless being stranded in the vast ocean."

Even if it's not in the ocean, it seems there's still a lot of helplessness.

Imagine if they took off before the disaster struck, and after the disaster, they returned in the reentry capsule, only to find no one to help them, no one to see, and the vastness of the world empty. What must they have felt!

Hmm... When these space capsules return from space, there should be ground support, right? Like signal reception and positioning.

The two people in that cabin might have already learned about the situation on Earth before landing.

—Let's just call the planet beneath our feet Earth for now, since no one would dispute that now.

In short, the past is gone, and this place can only be a tombstone for a once-civilized civilization...

Lu Xi'an sighed inwardly, placed his hand on the left side of the airline seat, and then suddenly froze when he looked up.

There seems to be something written on the upper left corner of the seat back...

Lu Xi'an's heart skipped a beat, his gaze sharpened, and he leaned closer to take a look.

The aircraft seat was already extremely worn and dilapidated; after being eaten away by insects and ants, only the outer frame remained. The synthetic leather cushions on the frame were cracked and damaged, making the once-printed text on them illegible.

Not to mention that it's covered with a layer of vines.

Lu Xi'an used a knife to cut the vines, then squeezed them together with his fingers, piecing together the cracked characters that had been worn away over time, until he could barely make out one character—

leaf.

There seem to be two more characters after “叶”, but those two characters are so badly damaged that they are no longer legible.

Lu Xi'an looked at it carefully for a long time and tried various methods, but in the end he still couldn't piece the two characters together.

Even so, he was able to confirm that the three characters on it should be the name of a former astronaut.

The surname is Ye, and the given name is two characters...

Why does this look so familiar?!

Lu Xi'an's mind raced, and she suddenly remembered something. She turned to Yao Wei and asked, "Your mother's name is Ye Wenxin, right?"

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded.

"..."

Lu Xi'an fell silent for a moment.

It can't be such a coincidence...

Seeing Lu Xi'an's strange expression, Yao Wei also came over to take a look. She saw the words Lu Xi'an had written and was also surprised.

Yao Wei was standing to Lu Xi'an's right. Lu Xi'an pointed to the airline seat on the right and said, "Take a look at that one."

Yao Wei then walked to the chair on the right and searched carefully.

She then found some marks on the upper right corner of the seat back, and just like Lu Xi'an, she used a knife to cut open the vines covering it, brushed off the dust, and squeezed the skin together.

Lu Xi'an went over to look and saw two words on it, but they were blurry and difficult to see clearly.

"Let's look for anything else."

Lu Xian said.

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded and immediately got to work.

This time, the two searched much more meticulously than before. Unlike before, they weren't looking for anything hidden here, but rather searching for clues from everything, both on the surface and inside, to see if they could find any traces.

Seeing this, Dao also came over to join in the fun. This kid hadn't understood what Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were looking at before, and was completely confused. Now, he could only ask, "What are you looking for? Should I look for something too?"

Lu Xi'an said, "You don't need to, you can just stay here."

"Oh."

The boy then stayed put and dared not move.

He could now see that these two people were not only more capable than him, but also knew far more than him. In fact, they were even more capable than the people in Jiangnan County.

And most importantly—these two people might actually be good people.

Therefore, Dao felt he should listen to what these two people were saying.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei searched very carefully and found some patterns on the bulkhead that looked like abstract totems. But there were no primitive tribes living here, not even a single person. How could there be any primitive tribes here?
The two studied it for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.

As darkness fell, the sunlight faded and the moonlight shone down, plunging the cabin into complete darkness, obscuring all traces of its interior.

Just then, a ray of moonlight seeped in through the gaps in the cabin, its direction and position just right, landing on the patterns on the cabin wall, and those patterns suddenly projected a phosphorescent light like a star map.

What an amazing sight!

Lu Xi'an suddenly felt that things were developing in a bizarre way.

Perhaps there's some fantasy or science fiction element to all of this?
Just like the purple waterfall they saw at the top of Higashiyama when they were in Kenzan City.

That spectacular sight was also formed because something from outer space was damaged or leaked.

What about this place? Is it possible that it has the same strange features?
We can no longer just focus on defending against knives.

Lu Xian thought to himself.

Compared to guarding against that kid, the secrets that might be hidden here are more important to him and Yao Wei.

New secrets mean new gains, and even if it's just the gain of information, it's still very important.

So, it's time for the dog to step in.

In this situation, the dog has to step in!

Without further hesitation, Lu Xi'an turned around and said, "I'll go get the dog." Then he walked out of the cabin.

Yao Wei was slightly surprised, but quickly understood what was going on and did not stop Lu Xi'an.

Lu Xi'an quickly took the dog out of the car.

Knowing its mission, the dog transformed back into a mechanical dog as soon as it was separated from the RV.

When Lu Xi'an carried it in from outside, its two dog eyes immediately lit up, first serving as a light source and illuminating the cabin.

Dao was startled and almost fell to the ground.

What is this?!

The young man was stunned and confused, thinking that these two people had so many powerful things, they must be much more powerful than the "masters" in Jiangnan County.

He lived in Jiangnan County for many years, and the concept he received there from childhood was that only capable people could control good resources.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei must be very powerful to have so many good resources in their hands.

There is no doubt about this.

So no matter how curious he was, he didn't dare ask Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei what it was.

He only saw Lu Xi'an carrying that dog-like machine to the belly of the cabin and saying, "Dog, look here, is there anything special?"

He thought for a moment and then added, "Point out all the places that could reveal information or hide things."

The dog's eyes immediately scanned the surroundings, then flashed at the eerie phosphorescent totem on the bulkhead, and then at the amber-like organism formed by the combination of compressed biscuit crumbs and fungal spores.

And there was that dense clump of black stuff in the corner of the floor, like algae, or like a swarm of ants.

The dog's eyes gleamed as it looked at that object.

Finally, on the two hollowed-out aircraft seats, the dog's eyes were looking at the very spot that Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had observed earlier.

Dao shrank back in fright and widened his eyes.

This dog-like, machine-like thing can actually understand human speech?
And not only can it understand human speech, it can also help find things?!

But judging from its appearance, it doesn't use its nose!

He had seen dogs in Jiangnan County, so he knew that dogs had a keen sense of smell.

What the hell is this?!

The child was filled with doubt and uncertainty.

Lu Xi'an ignored the kid and asked Gouzi, "Is it dangerous to touch these four places?"

The dog's eyes glanced at the amber-like organism, flashed twice, but it said nothing.

Since it's not connected to a motorhome right now, of course it can't say anything.

So, are the totem patterns on the bulkhead and that dark, blurry mass in the corner something you can touch?
Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had long worked with Gouzi and had developed an absolute understanding with him, so they immediately understood what Gouzi meant.

But neither of them was in a hurry. Lu Xi'an first said to Dao, "You wait here, we'll be right back." Then he called Yao Wei to go out of the cabin together and return to the RV.

The knife stayed obediently inside the cabin, not daring to move.

After putting the dog into the RV, Lu Xi'an said, "Dog, tell me now, what's so special about these four places you found?"

A talking dog is better than a dog that can't.

Previously, they could only rely on the dog's eyes and their own judgment to make decisions, but now they can listen to what the dog has to say before taking any action.

Lu Xi'an added, "First, tell me, what exactly is written on those two airplane seats?"

The dog's voice then came through the RV's stereo, saying, "The marks on the aircraft seat are analyzed to be an engraved nameplate."

"After completing the analysis, it can be seen that the person on the left is Ye Wenxin, and the person on the right is Yao Huo."

(End of this chapter)