Apocalypse: Last Traveler-Chapter 381 - 360: Blocking the Gate

The sea was already in the distance, and the East Island above the ocean was likely already suspended at the mountain’s peak. The people on the island had no connection to the sea, unable to leave the island.

If it were in a previous life, perhaps some would have enjoyed leaping from the mountains into the sea, surrendering life and death to the thrill and excitement of the Death God. But now, the people on East Island probably wouldn’t.

Everyone is busy living. Who has the extra money and time to find pleasure in courting death?

Meanwhile, on the west side of Caiyang Mountain, Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei were already driving down the winding mountain road, exiting Yangcai County.

At this moment, Lu Xi’an was driving. As he left the town, he glanced back through the rearview mirror, the towering mountains receding into the distance, uncertain when he might return.

He exhaled lightly and sighed, "It’s been so long since I drove, I’m a bit rusty. I was constantly worried that the car might veer off the road on the winding mountain path."

The upper half of the road was fine, but the lower half was challenging. The tide had just receded, making the road surface slippery and difficult to navigate.

Yao Wei said, "No problem, we can handle it."

"..."

Lu Xi’an was silent for a moment, then said, "True."

Gou had already connected the Resonant Gene Scanner to the RV, and the map information from the scanner was displayed on the large touchscreen in front.

The RV turned onto the northern road. Seeing no other red dots on the map, Lu Xi’an confidently floored the accelerator, speeding along.

They were to rush to Pingchuan at full speed, to see what was happening there.

The car sped quickly, making it very bumpy, but fortunately, they had prepared beforehand and secured everything stored in the back.

By nightfall, the car was at the border between Jiangbei City and Pingchuan City—they chose not to take the road they had come on, instead opting for the area once occupied by Tang.

This place was now safe, safer and smoother compared to the original route, making it the best choice.

They crossed the bridge between Lianghe County and Henan County. The town here was now empty; those who once followed Tang had probably moved to Shanyang County.

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei stopped here briefly, cooked a large pot of rice, ate to regain strength, and then continued on their journey.

This time, they weren’t concerned with the night, having rested enough on Caiyang Mountain. Given the uncertain situation, they had to make a concerted effort to press forward.

Just as they finished eating and were about to depart, Gou’s electronic synthesized voice suddenly came through the RV speakers.

Gou said, "Received a broadcast signal, analyzed to be from Institute 923, would you like to connect?"

Both Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei were taken aback.

They hadn’t managed to "call" Institute 923, yet Institute 923 was the first to call them.

This had never happened before.

"Connect."

The two exchanged a glance, and Lu Xi’an made the decision, responding to Gou.

Gou’s voice soon followed, "Signal connected, please speak directly."

"Big brother, big sister? Big brother, big sister?"

Luo Ping’s voice soon came through the RV speakers, allowing Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei to breathe a sigh of relief.

It seemed Luo Ping was fine, nothing serious had happened.

Lu Xi’an eased off the gas a bit, slowing the car down, and responded, "It’s us. Why did you call?"

Luo Ping said, "We’ve been trying before, but calling from our side is always very difficult, we’ve kept trying, but it’s hard to get through.

"Later, because it was ineffective, we stopped trying. This time we had no choice but to try again.

"We’ve been trying to call for two months now. Fortunately, the artificial intelligence here can make calls automatically without tiring. Otherwise, we might have given up long ago. Thankfully, thankfully, thankfully..."

He said repeatedly, followed by the voices of Shu and others: "Yes, yes, yes..."

Lu Xi’an frowned, "It seems you really encountered some issue, to anxiously contact me. I sent you a carrier pigeon message before, but have never received a reply."

Luo Ping said, "We’re blocked at the entrance, the pigeons can’t fly in. We also don’t dare let the pigeons out, fearing they’d be followed back to you."

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei were both taken aback, "Blocked at the entrance?! You?!"

This news was too unbelievable for Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei. Lu Xi’an had a very deep understanding of Luo Ping’s current strength. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

At the time by the Guanhai River, they had just started using the manual techniques as well as the exercise methods from Yao Huo and Ye Wenxin for only a short time, gaining strength to directly confront Boss Liang and Xu, beating them decisively.

Now, it had been four years since then.

In ten years, not only had Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei been training diligently, but the people at Institute 923 were also consistently practicing. Additionally, Tang Er and Chou Nu continually used Yao Huo and Ye Wenxin’s methods for training.

Later, Tang Er even devised a way where, during his and Chou Nu’s training, Liu Hua enhanced him from behind, improving his strength to achieve better cultivation results.

Therefore, the growth of these two Type A Neo-Humans far exceeds that of others. Tang Er, this half-Type A Neo-Human, now only has the difficult-to-eliminate physical features that remind people he is not a complete Type A Neo-Human. The strength he can exert is much fiercer than the average Type A Neo-Human.

Every time Luo Ping brings them back to Caiyang Mountain, Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei can clearly see the results of their training.

It can be said that even without Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei, if Luo Ping and the others went to participate in the Guanhai River Battle, Boss Liang and Xu’s group would not stand a chance.

If they were to fight again, Boss Liang and Xu would probably be utterly defeated.

But such power, unexpectedly, could be obstructed?

Moreover, according to Luo Ping, they’ve been blocked for a long time.

This is simply unbelievable.

Lu Xi’an’s mind flashed an inexplicable image—the 923 Base seemed to have become the Summoner’s Fountain in "League of Legends", with Luo Ping and the rest completely defeated, only the crystal left, and the enemy pacing outside the fountain, striking them down as soon as they made an appearance.

"Yes, blocked."

Luo Ping’s voice was somewhat dejected, saying, "Just over three months ago, this group suddenly came from the south. At that time, Tang and Lu Shou happened to go to Northern County in Jiangnan City, where they encountered this group.

"They captured Tang, released Lu Shou back, and killed everyone else in that county, sending Tang to bring us a message, saying we should join them.

"Later, Tang came and told me about it, saying the enemy was incredibly strong. So I immediately decided to let everyone retreat to the base, harvesting all the crops that could be collected.

"Then we waited outside Shanyang County to fight them."

The "we" in Luo Ping’s words was naturally understood by Lu Xi’an to mean everyone at 923 Base except Shu.

——Luo Ping has never considered Shu as combat power; this old farmer from the old world is seen as a more precious figure by Luo Ping and most people at 923 Base, with his true role not lying on the battlefield.

"And then you lost?"

Lu Xi’an asked.

Luo Ping’s voice became somewhat ashamed, answering, "Yes, we lost. They were a total of seventeen people, all too fierce, each feeling like they were stronger than Boss Liang and Xu, ferociously strong.

"I even had the feeling they had both taken Fungus Stone and practiced our training techniques.

"We couldn’t beat them; Tang and Yao both got captured—they indeed took Fungus Stone, and they marked us as well.

"We didn’t know this beforehand, although we were on guard, but Yao and Tang didn’t pay attention.

"Yao and Tang were standing together, relying on Yao’s invisibility, but ended up getting captured accidentally.

"We retreated back into the base; they couldn’t get in. They discovered the disguise on top and tried jumping down, only to be shot dead by the base’s weapons, making them dare not come down anymore.

"We are now trapped in the base; fortunately, I’ve been hoarding food over the years. Otherwise, with so many people trapped here, we might really not hold out."

As the words fell, Shu added, "Lucky we can endure hunger, we can still last for a while, you guys don’t need to worry."

Lu Xi’an asked, "We didn’t lose any more people, right?"

"No."

Luo Ping replied, "Except for the ordinary people initially in Northern County in Jiangnan City, there’ve been no others.

"Tang came back and told me these things, and I was sure they had no scruples against ordinary people, only leaving Neo-Humans alive. So I beforehand had ordinary people all hiding back in the base, the rest going out to engage."

Lu Xi’an asked again, "Do they have a Resonant Gene Scanner?"

This time Liu Hua answered, "They have it, but I had it gnawed away with Flying Ants. Later, they found that people like Tang Er and Yao couldn’t be scanned with a Resonant Gene Scanner, so they didn’t care much about the scanner anymore, which allowed me to seize the opportunity."

"Is that so. Are you sure?"

Lu Xi’an asked again.

Liu Hua replied, "I’m sure, each Flying Ant is my eye, I can see clearly."

Lu Xi’an marveled inwardly; indeed, the most formidable combat power in 923 Base now is Liu Hua.

And even with Liu Hua here, they couldn’t deal with that group, blocked at their door, how strong did that group have to be?!

Moreover, they don’t kill, only capture, and are willing to spend so much time on the people of 923 Base, is it really just to make Luo Ping and them submit?

Is there another purpose behind this?

One thought after another flashed through Lu Xi’an’s mind, prompting him to slow down the car.

Luckily, they were able to receive Luo Ping’s intelligence before passing.

Although they had long prepared to be cautious and alert due to the lack of response from 923 Base, naturally becoming more careful upon returning to Shanyang County, direct intelligence is indeed more assuring.

Since they know this information, next, they must carefully plan.