The boundary between Pingchuan City and Coastal City is not as obvious as the boundary between Pingchuan City and Yubei City or Jianshan City. Lu Xi'an didn't even know when the RV entered Coastal City.

Anyway, by the time he noticed, they were already far from Qin Mountain, and the northern Qin Mountain had reached its end, with a smooth road ahead.

Only by comparing World Map One and the map on the Resonant Gene Scanner, did he confirm the car had reached Coastal City.

By this time, it was almost dark. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei compared the map, looked at the Resonant Gene Scanner, and confirmed there were no extra red dots on the scanner, feeling a bit relieved.

Yao Wei was driving in the main driver's seat, while Lu Xi'an was in the passenger seat, looking at World Map One.

His fingers rubbed across the page representing Coastal City and found a mountain. He said, "If we continue a bit further, we'll reach Little Stone Mountain.

"The mountain is not big, but there's a water source nearby. If there's no issue, let's rest near Little Stone Mountain? Perhaps there are even some animals on the mountain. When we wake up early tomorrow, you can practice shooting with the sniper rifle."

"Okay."

Yao Wei nodded and said, "I hope one bullet will be enough for practice."

She felt that thirty-two bullets were still too few. If they were indeed effective, she naturally hoped there would be more left for purposes other than practice.

Lu Xi'an knew about her good habit of thrift and smiled, glancing at Yao Wei, he said, "No problem, you can do it. You're great at shooting, much better than me."

The vehicle drove for a while more and encountered a river, marked on World Map One as the Muddy Wave River, which was a tributary of the Luo River.

Looking at the map, Lu Xi'an felt that the Luo River was like the Yangtze River or Yellow River, the mother river of this world and country.

Nowadays, the Muddy Wave River, along with the previously seen Fumang River, Liang River, and the Xijian River in Jianshan City, had all changed from before. Regardless of the river course or scale, there were changes.

The Muddy Wave River in front of them twisted and turned, was further east than before, and was larger. The current in the river was mighty and had a certain majesty.

Yao Wei kept driving without stopping here. Nighttime was not a good time; the two did not plan to replenish water during the night. They drove a bit further, planning to find a place slightly away from the water source, with higher terrain and a better view, to park.

According to the map, Little Stone Mountain could be a good option.

However, what confused Lu Xi'an was that as the vehicle drove forward, he looked out to see nothing but flat land, with no mountains in sight.

"What's going on? Where's the mountain?"

He furrowed his brows, and the question slipped out of his mouth.

"Did we take the wrong route?"

Yao Wei slowed down the car, speculating.

Lu Xi'an glanced back, compared World Map One and the map on the Resonant Gene Scanner, and shook his head: "No, we didn't take the wrong route. According to the map, we've already passed Little Stone Mountain..."

Yao Wei frowned, "But clearly, we didn't see a mountain." Naturally, she didn't think Lu Xi'an had read it wrong.

Lu Xi'an was so skilled, how could he possibly make such an error?

The car continued to slow down. When landmarks appeared to be problematic, maps could lose their functionality, making them unsure about the path ahead, and they hesitated to proceed.

After looking again but still seeing no issues, Yao Wei simply stopped the car, but did not turn off the engine, allowing for a quick getaway.

She also leaned in to look at the map book Lu Xi'an was holding, indeed agreeing he hadn't made a mistake.

The map had no issues with orientation or roads, though the river course of Muddy Wave River had changed, overall, there was nothing problematic.

But why was it that the mountain was missing?

"Do you think... could it be that the wars were so intense that they obliterated the mountain, or perhaps someone incredibly strong punched it away?"

Lu Xi'an randomly guessed, asking Yao Wei a question.

Yao Wei couldn't comprehend or imagine it and shook her head, saying: "What kind of war could erase a mountain? No matter how strong a person is, they can't punch away a mountain."

Lu Xi'an replied, "That's uncertain. Back then, people were able to build a Dyson Sphere. Who knows if they could create other terrifying weapons."

Nuclear bombs, hydrogen bombs, and even more powerful ones—who knows if they could flatten mountains?

In his previous life, Lu Xi'an was just an ordinary person during peaceful times, only having seen nuclear explosions on TV or in books, never actually witnessing one, unsure of the power, only guessing wildly.

As he was just guessing, he threw in another random speculation: "Or perhaps Type A Neo-Humans had some advanced version, trained to the extreme, a bald head with a serious punch could blow up a mountain?"

Yao Wei's eyes slightly widened: "Is there really someone that strong?!"

She seemed somewhat convinced.

Lu Xi'an could only say, "Don't take it seriously, I was just speaking nonsense with no factual basis."

"Oh."

Yao Wei responded, but it looked like she was still thinking about whether there could actually be such Type A Neo-Humans in the world, able to blow up a mountain with a serious punch.

But why would they have to be bald?

Meanwhile, Lu Xi'an unconsciously linked the thought to Type D Neo-Humans.

While Type A Neo-Humans mastering the ability to blow up a mountain might sound exaggerated, what about Type D Neo-Humans?

This type of Neo-Human can release optical camouflage, making themselves invisible. When trained well, their clothes and even the surrounding environment can be "painted" over.

The Neo-Human cultivation manual from Institute 923 mentions coordination among Type D Neo-Humans and other types, especially combining Types C and D. Type D Neo-Humans could help camouflage Type C Neo-Humans, ensuring their safety, allowing them to release pheromones freely and change the battlefield dynamics.

So, if a Type D Neo-Human were trained to the extreme, could they influence an entire mountain, wiping it from human sight?

Hmm...

This seems even more ridiculous than the One-Punch Man version of Type A Neo-Humans...

Forget it, better not to speculate randomly, just observe closely, and if things don't look right, quickly run, find another location to check the map. Then find another landmark to recalibrate position.

Having decided, Lu Xi'an checked the map and the Resonant Gene Scanner again, planning to scan around outside the car. If he still couldn't figure anything out, he would just leave it and find somewhere else to park and rest.

Then, as his gaze swept over the rearview mirror, he saw a stone reflected in it.

"That stone... looks like a mountain..."

He mumbled a sentence.

Seeing Lu Xi'an looking at the rearview mirror, Yao Wei glanced out of the rearview mirror from the driver's seat. When she saw the stone, she felt the same way and asked Gou, "Gou, is that a mountain?"

Lu Xi'an slapped his forehead.

Ha! How muddled he was, how could he suddenly forget about Gou?

When in doubt, ask Gou! Contemplating for half a day, scaring himself, what's the point?!

The mechanical dog quickly provided the answer, its electronically synthesized voice echoed through the camper's sound system: "Scan completed, confirmed, the underground extends downwards, unable to detect the bottom, depth over kilometers, it's a mountain, not a stone."

Lu Xi'an: "..."

Gou suddenly spoke eloquently, but the meaning was still very clear, Lu Xi'an understood—

Indeed, that stone was a mountain, not just a stone!

"Little Stone Mountain... Little Stone Mountain..."

He muttered to himself, suddenly laughed out loud and clapped his hands, "I really am dense, the name spells it out clearly, it's so obvious, yet I couldn't figure it out and had to rely on Gou to explain!"

"So that's why it's called Little Stone Mountain!"

Meanwhile, Yao Wei looked at the rearview mirror and murmured, "This mountain is so small..."

So small it looks like a stone.

Lu Xi'an said, "Yes, that's how small the mountain is."

In his past life, he had watched such small mountains in short videos, where one step could reach the summit.

But at that time, he just regarded the video as trivial amusement, forgetting about it afterwards, and thus didn't recall it immediately.

Unexpectedly, this forgotten piece of knowledge suddenly startled him.

"Mountains and stones aren't distinguished by size."

Lu Xi'an explained to Yao Wei, "The so-called 'rooted is a mountain, rootless is a stone.' If this stone could be directly moved and there's no root underground, then it's just an ordinary stone.

"But Gou just said that this 'stone' is still extending down, with the depth over kilometers, which makes it a 'root'.

"Even if we're Type A Neo-Humans, we can't pull a mountain up in one go.

"So it's a mountain, not a stone."

Yao Wei instantly understood from Lu Xi'an's explanation, nodded, and said, "So is that why this mountain is called Little Stone Mountain?"

"Yes."

Lu Xi'an smiled.

He looked at the surrounding environment, saying, "Let's drive the car to the other side of the mountain, just rest at its foot. I see that place looks good, with a broad view and a bit of slope."

"Okay."

Yao Wei agreed, shifting into reverse gear, and parked the car beside Little Stone Mountain.

The mountain is so miniature, not even as tall as the car's tires.

Nevertheless, its terrain is quite precipitous, with strange peaks and rocks, and there's no path from top to bottom, left to right.

After parking, Lu Xi'an got out of the car.

Yao Wei followed him and saw Lu Xi'an walk to the side of Little Stone Mountain, step on its top, and turn back to her with a smile, saying, "I really didn't think that one day I could step to the peak in one stride."

Yao Wei just lightly smiled, nodded, and said, "Hmm."

She went to crouch down with Lu Xi'an, studying that mountain, but ultimately couldn't figure out anything.

They got back into the car, ate a little dinner, closed the doors, lowered the window covers, changed into pajamas, and went to bed.

And so a day spent scaring oneself came to an end.

That night, their hands still held together, wrapped with the Fungus Stone.

The next morning, feeling refreshed, after washing, they exercised outside the car.

Just as they were nearing the end of their exercise, both suddenly stopped, listening intently.

"Awooo!!!!"

A roar suddenly echoed, the sound seemed near yet far.

It sounded like... a tiger?

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