Heading east from here, we need to travel a certain distance, passing through Qinnan County east of Pingchuan City, before we can leave Pingchuan City.

Leaving Pingchuan City, we arrive at Coastal City.

True to its name, Coastal City is adjacent to the East Sea. However, as seen on the "World Map One," the place called East Sea City does not actually border the East Sea; instead, it borders the South Sea.

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

Coastal City borders Yubei City to the northwest and Yunzhou City to the east, but Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei do not plan to visit these places, so there's no need for further details.

They are planning to enter Coastal City, travel south from there to Jiangdong City, then pass through Jiannan City before reaching East Sea City.

The national emergency disaster relief headquarters, which is always mentioned on the radio, is located in the new district of East Sea City.

Northwest of East Sea City is Mengze City. Wanquan County in Mengze City is the ultimate destination of their journey.

There resides Yao Wei's enemy, the person who killed Yao Wei's mother, Ye Wenxin, back then. With time having passed, Yao Wei is uncertain if her enemy is still there, but she feels she must make this journey.

Otherwise, the scene of her mother's death will forever linger in her mind, like a thorn piercing her.

These emotions entangled in her heart are something Yao Wei never expresses, but Lu Xi'an can clearly sense them.

Every time Yao Wei opens the "World Map One," she instinctively turns to the page for Wanquan County in Mengze City, glances at it, then seemingly unintentionally turns the page over, but her gaze never leaves the specially marked point on the map until it is covered by the page.

So Lu Xi'an knows that Wanquan County is the destined goal of Yao Wei's trip, and since he's accompanying Yao Wei, he too will follow the same path.

Lu Xi'an, while driving, feels the warmth of Yao Wei's hand resting on the back of his own hand. His previously scattered thoughts begin to fade away, and he starts contemplating the road ahead.

"Once we reach Coastal City, we need to head south. Are you nervous?"

He asks Yao Wei a question.

But Yao Wei simply shakes her head, responding calmly, "We've always been heading south." She understands the meaning behind Lu Xi'an's words "heading south."

Lu Xi'an is momentarily taken aback, then he laughs: "True, we've always been heading south."

The stopover at Institute 923 and the detour to Tan Village Shelter were mere interludes on their southern journey, never a deviation, only intervals of pause and comfort that gave him an illusion.

"Specifically, which direction are we supposed to head south from?"

Lu Xi'an asks.

Yao Wei doesn't answer but instead asks, "Are you ready?"

"Hmm?"

Lu Xi'an is slightly confused.

Yao Wei continues, "Do you still feel lonely?"

It is only then that Lu Xi'an realizes what Yao Wei is asking, and he smiles, saying, "No, with you by my side, I don't feel lonely at all."

"Hmm."

Yao Wei nods, finally withdrawing her hand, and pulls out the "World Map One" to look at it.

Lu Xi'an suddenly feels a sense of loss, thinking that if he had known, he would have said he still felt lonely...

Yao Wei flips the map to Coastal City and says, "Once we enter Coastal City and pass the western side of Lianghe County, we can head south. The map indicates that the road south from Lianghe County has been newly repaired, so the road conditions should be relatively better, and the terrain southward is the flattest."

Yao Wei and Lu Xi'an became more attentive to road conditions after traveling from Jianshan City, learning from past experiences.

To be honest, the roads, which have endured decades of wind and snow without maintenance, have always been in poor condition.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei have spent most of their journey from the north bumping along such roads.

Of course, there were also times when the road conditions were better, such as on the county road west of Fengcheng County, where Luo Ping parted ways with them and drove with grace.

But roads that smooth and almost undamaged are extremely rare.

Yao Wei wonders just how good the better road conditions she mentioned might actually be.

Lu Xi'an says, "Alright, we'll go with your plan."

He is actually quite eager to see the sea, thinking that since they've made it this far, why not take a look at the sea in this world and see how it differs from the previous one.

However, considering the unpredictable weather in this world, the seaside might indeed be dangerous. Yao Wei's concerns are not without reason, so he decides to follow her advice and not go to the beach.

"Attention, a gas station and a populated area have appeared ahead. This populated area is marked on the map as Tunshan Village in Qinnan County. Please exercise caution."

The mechanical dog's electronic synthesized voice suddenly emanates from the camper's speakers.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei stop their casual conversation and look ahead, spotting the faint outline of the gas station's canopy in the distance. Behind the gas station, distant mountains and white clouds mingle like ink wash paintings. Tunshan Village is likely shrouded in those "ink washes," too far away to be seen.

"Gas stations and populated areas are common places for life to linger. The danger level is relatively high. If you need Mechanical Dog 02's assistance in reconnaissance and alert, please give the command."

The mechanical dog adds another line.

Seeing how the dog emphasizes its introduction so much, Lu Xi'an decides to indulge it this time, saying, "Alright, Mechanical Dog 02, please assist us in reconnaissance and alert for the gas station and Tunshan Village to confirm if there are any living people... well, not just people, I should say any living creatures..."

Inside the RV, silence suddenly fell, as if the electronic synthetic voice of the mechanical dog had never existed, and the sounds from the speakers earlier were just a hallucination of Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.

Or perhaps the mechanical dog was broken?

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

Then the speakers sounded again with a completely emotionless electronic voice: "Mechanical Dog 02 sincerely at your service."

Lu Xi'an: "..."

Heh...

Heh heh...

No emotion? It's all an illusion!

Lu Xi'an felt he understood — this Gou wasn't broken at all?! Nor had it never existed.

It was simply too obsessed with its factory name and never expected the person who had always called it "Gou" to suddenly switch to "Mechanical Dog 02," leading to a command analysis error and temporary crash.

To show such a human-like state, Gou is truly impressive!

Lu Xi'an couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The two had no intention of entering the village; the gas station was a necessary stop along the way, and only after passing the gas station would they reach the village. They planned to bypass Tunshan Village after passing the gas station and head east.

Tunshan Village was supposed to be established by people at the foot of Qin Mountain, hence its name. However, the village was actually a small distance away from Qin Mountain.

On Yao Wei's "World Map One," there were no additional roads outside the village shown, but Lu Xi'an glanced back and saw a small path under the northern foot of Qin Mountain, allowing the car to detour.

The drone ascended, Yao Wei lowered the car window, and held a short needle in hand, ready to deploy at any moment.

Lu Xi'an drove past the gas station. This gas station was even more rudimentary than the ones encountered before; its canopy was just a steel frame covered with tarpaulin, now with the frame damaged and the tarpaulin missing, so Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had no way to know the name of this gas station.

With no prompts from the mechanical dog, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei didn't stop, only letting the drone fly in for a look to check if there were any resources worth scavenging in the gas station building.

The gas station door was wide open, and the glass windows had long been shattered, leaving only debris at the edges and corners.

The drone flew through the station's door and entered.

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

The mechanical dog replied, "Screen display has been activated for you."

The center console's large screen instantly lit up, initiating with motion footage showing what the drone captured inside the station building.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei both widened their eyes, staring at the screen; the building in the footage was completely empty, even the tables, chairs, and shelves were gone, and a wall that perhaps once held a wall-mounted TV now only had two nails and a line left.

But it didn't matter; while there were no gains, discovering the new functionality linking the drone, Gou, and the RV was already sufficient.

Isn't such a surprise better than finding some supplies?

"Impressive!"

Lu Xi'an couldn't help but exclaim, then asked, "Gou, hadn't I asked you what other functions you had before? Why didn't you mention this?"

The mechanical dog replied, "This is an RV and drone linkage function. Mechanical Dog 02 is responsible for signal regulation and energy supply. All divided functions have already been reported to you."

"..."

Lu Xi'an had nothing to say. He asked the mechanical dog again if there were any other linkage functions. The mechanical dog, however, said there weren't any more, so Lu Xi'an asked no further questions, and instead, he and Yao Wei focused on watching the screen on the center console until the drone flew out.

"Alright, let's go."

After the drone returned to the car, Lu Xi'an said, and continued to drive forward.

As the drone flew in the yard, it also took a look at the oil storage tank area, where the storage tank's valve had been opened, and the drone's camera peered inside, finding it completely empty, with not a drop of oil left.

It seemed the oil there had been used up, but was it used by Luo Ping or someone else?

"It's nice not needing oil."

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

They then turned north, driving their vehicle towards Qin Mountain.

This sprawling mountain extended along the northern border of Pingchuan City for a long stretch but didn't seem as majestic as Sword Mountain. The path at the foot here was also much harder to traverse than the one on the north side of Shanyang County's county town.

Fortunately, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's vehicle had a high enough chassis; otherwise, passing this road would indeed be quite challenging.

As they drove onto this road, suddenly, a light rain began to drizzle from the sky.

The two closed up the car windows, slowed down their speed, and proceeded cautiously.

But sometimes, danger doesn't relate to being careful or not.

As they slowly drove along, they suddenly heard a rumbling sound.

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