bayedsolid Chapter 68 Where Did They All Go?
Chapter 68 Where Did They All Go?
On one side of the boundary is a lifeless, desolate white, while on the other side is a clearly visible emerald green.
However, when the snow line was almost in sight, everyone realized that the emerald green was not the green land they had expected, but a muddy, gloomy swampy area with thin mist rising from it.
The two distinct landscapes are clearly separated: one side is extreme cold and deathly stillness, while the other is a filthy place filled with decay and damp vitality.
"We...have we made it out of the snowfield?"
"It seems so!" Xiao Luo excitedly clung to the car window.
Fu Xiaojian let out a long sigh of relief, finally able to relax his tense nerves for a moment.
The pressure from the snowfield was immense, not just from the bitter cold and eeriness, but also from the suffocating feeling that civilization had been completely buried.
Tashan grinned widely, a憨厚 (honest and simple) smile spreading across his rocky face: "Finally, we're out of this hellhole! My stone body was practically frozen solid!"
Su Su stared silently at the unfamiliar swamp ahead, her eyes sharp.
She didn't feel much safer here than the snowfield behind her.
Xu Si slowly brought the "Melting Wax Messenger" to a stop at the edge of the snow line.
He deactivated the vehicle's mimicry mode, and the vehicle reverted to its off-road form, covered in wax armor.
The car's design was exactly the same as Fu Xiaojian's Warrior, except that its scarlet paint was particularly eye-catching.
The tires rolled over the last snowflakes, making a soft, wet sound as they stepped onto the ground.
A smell mixed with humus, silt, and the fishy odor of some aquatic plants wafted on the wind, contrasting sharply with the clean, crisp air of the snowfield.
"Attention everyone, we have left the snowfield and entered the swamp area," Fu Xiaojian's voice came through the walkie-talkie.
The convoy slowed down further; this terrain was a test for all vehicles.
"The swamp environment is complex and may contain unknown dangers such as poisonous miasma, traps, and other unpredictable hazards. Maintain formation, slow down, and always be aware of the environment beneath the vehicle."
The convoy cautiously and slowly entered this new area.
The ground was muddy, with deep and shallow puddles everywhere. Some dead trees stood crookedly in the water, their bare branches reaching out to the blood-red sky like desperate arms.
A thin mist hung in the air over the forest and on the water, obstructing the view. The blood-red sun's rays, filtering through the mist, became dim and ambiguous.
The "All-Terrain Adaptation" feature of the "Wax Melter" comes into play again, with the tires automatically adjusting to provide good grip and passability, but the speed is still not fast when driving on soft mud.
As Xu Si drove, he focused his "Star Trail" perception on both sides of the vehicle, anticipating potential dangers.
However, this time, with Mengshi leading the way again, he once again became the last in the convoy.
After driving for about half an hour without encountering any obvious danger, the feeling of unease never lessened after leaving the snowfield.
The swamp was too quiet. On the snowfield, at least there was the sound of wind. In the swamp, apart from the sound of vehicles rolling over the mud, there was almost no chirping of insects or birds. This was a different kind of abnormal stillness.
If the snowfield is a deathly stillness of color, this place is a deathly stillness of sound, with the engine noise sounding especially loud at this moment.
"This place... feels even more eerie than the snowfield," Jiao Jiao muttered softly, subconsciously shrinking her body.
Suddenly, the bus, which was traveling in the middle, lurched downwards, and its left rear wheel instantly sank into a deep pit covered by duckweed and silt!
"Oh no! The bus is stuck!" Wang Hu's anxious voice came through the walkie-talkie. Now Wang Hu was the bus driver.
The convoy did not stop immediately.
Tashan was the first to jump off the bus. He walked heavily to the bus, dug his rocky arm into the mud, lifted the wheels, and moved the bus out of the mud without any effort.
The convoy moved forward almost without stopping.
Xu Si suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness, like climbing a snow-capped mountain, crossing a grassland, and having no idea where the end was.
The convoy continued its arduous journey through the mud, everyone on edge.
The deathly silence of the swamp was more unsettling than that of the snowfield, as if something was lurking in the murky mud, ready to strike at any moment.
It might be that I'm just scaring myself, or it might not be.
During the trip, the bus got stuck several times, as did the pickup truck and the Mengshi truck. Fortunately, with the help of the "professional rescuer" Tashan, the convoy escaped unscathed. However, the blow to morale was clearly visible.
Only Xu Si's "Wax Melting Messenger" was safe and sound, thanks to the assistance of Star Trail and the Frozen Road surface.
As darkness fell, the blood-red sun's rays grew increasingly dim in the rising mist of the swamp, and visibility plummeted.
"We can't go any further." Fu Xiaojian's voice came through the walkie-talkie, tinged with seriousness.
"It's too dark, and driving through the swamp at night is too dangerous. Let's find a relatively dry place to camp."
The convoy stopped beside a slightly taller patch of dead, fallen trees.
It's said to be dry, but that's only relatively true; the ground underfoot is still damp and muddy.
Tashan once again demonstrated his ability, solidifying the rock to create a platform that could barely accommodate the convoy.
At least there's no need to worry that the vehicle will get stuck in the swamp without the driver noticing in the dead of night.
The candles were relit, dispelling the damp chill of the swamp night, but the flickering flames were particularly weak in the thick fog, illuminating only a small area.
"This godforsaken place is so bad, it's hard to even find firewood to burn," Tashan muttered.
Ordinary survivors also tried to find firewood, but the firewood was either rotten or too damp to burn.
The group silently shared the hard, dried fish, the atmosphere even more oppressive than it had been on the snowfield.
The silence of the swamp seemed to have a weight on it, making people extremely uneasy.
"Everyone will spend the night in the car tonight!" Fu Xiaojian said.
There is at least one thing here that everyone can get used to: the temperature.
Although the temperature isn't high, it's definitely warmer than on the snowfield.
"Wouldn't we be like those people who escaped one tiger's den only to fall into another?"
The little girl's face fell; she now missed the early days of their escape terribly.
Although life was tough back then, at least there was still hope.
Let's leave the strangeness aside for now.
First, the snowfields were so cold that she dared not get up at night, and then the swamps made her even more afraid to get up at night.
If one were to step into a swamp, there might not even be time to call for help. If some poisonous insects were to appear, it's unimaginable what might happen.
Xu Si leaned against the door of the "Messenger of Melting Wax" and listened to Jiao Jiao's complaints.
This girl speaks her mind and never keeps things bottled up.
The swamp remained eerily quiet at night, as if all living things had been formatted.
Xu Si suddenly realized that it seemed that not only in the swamp, but also at other times he had not seen any of the animals from before the apocalypse, not even a wild dog.
Where did they all go?
"Stop complaining, complaining won't make things better." Su Su's cool voice came from the direction of Pikachu. She originally wanted to practice her boxing, but the surroundings were too quiet, which made her very uncomfortable.
Jiao Jiao pouted, but still obediently shrank back into the car and wrapped the blanket even tighter.