Chapter 67 Beijing Ruins - 3 Kai Ge's Carriage...

Kai used the built-in speaker in the carriage to notify the two orcs. Lu Yi immediately opened his eyes. He slightly got up from the floor and lifted the curtain to look out. The smog outside was very thick and gray.

He habitually reached out and touched Tang Bufan's chest to make sure the man's heart was still beating before quietly getting up and putting on his shoes.

Anderson got up too, but still lay lazily on the mattress, yawning.

Kai opened the metal door leading to the driver's seat, and Lu Yi went in and sat down in the driver's seat.

He reached up and wiped his face to clear his head. Kai was navigating the RV through an abandoned national highway toll station. Several snow-covered guardrails lay askew on the ground. Because of the smog, he could only see the blurry shadows of houses and overpasses, appearing and disappearing in the morning haze.

It was very quiet around; the only sound was the tires crunching on the snow.

Anderson came in a while later, sat down heavily in the passenger seat, and reached out to open his side window.

A wind blowing in at minus thirty degrees Celsius, but the two people, who were dressed very lightly, found the wind comfortable.

To keep Tang Bufan warm, they didn't open the windows to sleep at night, which inevitably made the air in the carriage stuffy.

“Brother Kai, let’s go straight into the central district,” Lu Yi said to Brother Kai. “Beijing is very close to Taicheng. The outer districts have probably already been searched by the orcs from the Eastern Federation several times. There won’t be any supplies there.”

"Okay, Lu Yi." Kai Ge replied and slowly drove along the desolate highway deeper into the city.

Although the roads in this capital are wide, they are not easy to drive on. Several lanes are blocked by cars that have been abandoned for thousands of years. Plants from the green belts have also spread over, with withered roots crawling everywhere.

“There.” Lu Yi spotted a lane in the distance, where the cars had been flattened, almost like pieces of metal touching the ground. “It must have been run over by road rollers from the Eastern Federation. Let’s follow their tracks.”

Anderson teased him, "Isn't your teacher a wanted criminal? Aren't you afraid of running into them?"

To survive the winter, the poisonous people in the desolate city like to huddle together in windless basements for warmth. Therefore, orcs often choose to schedule their exploration missions in the desolate city during the winter to avoid many of the poisonous people.

“With the emergence of mutated poisonous humans this year, the Eastern Federation must have recalled its main forces.” Lu Yi was not worried: “Moreover, judging from the growth of the plants over there, the road was carved out at least a year ago.”

Anderson raised an eyebrow, noticing that the path that had been forcibly cleared was covered with a layer of withered ivy, and said with considerable appreciation, "Not bad for your field exploration internship."

Looking ahead through the misty fog, Lu Yi suddenly said, "Your father has been my instructor every year during my internships."

Anderson paused for a moment, then curled his lips into a mocking smile: "He definitely cares more about you than about the two of us brothers."

Lu Yi hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Actually, General Angus..."

"Stop." Anderson turned to look out the window, his silver-gray eyes glazing over calmly. "Watch where you're going."

"..." Lu Yi then shut his mouth.

Following Lu Yi's instructions, Kai changed lanes, and it was indeed much easier to follow the road driven by the Eastern Federation. As the sky brightened, the morning mist dissipated, and in some places, Tyndall rays appeared, spreading widely and weaving between the abandoned high-rise buildings.

The lanes created by the road rollers disappeared in a square. It seemed that the orcs of the Eastern Federation had only explored this area. Lu Yi looked through the car window at the shopping mall, which was mostly collapsed, and signaled to Kai Ge to stop here first.

“I’ll climb up and check out the surroundings,” Lu Yi said to Anderson. Anthony’s radar range was limited, so they still needed to make their own judgments about the general direction.

“Go ahead,” Anderson said, reaching out the window, a snowflake landing on his palm.

It's snowing again.

"Take good care of the teacher for me." Lu Yi jumped out of the car and stood outside, giving instructions with concern.

Anderson rolled his eyes and said in a drawn-out, irritated voice, "I know~"

Lu Yi then closed the car door.

The orc wearing a black V-neck sweater leaped on the snow, grabbed the high horizontal bar of the street lamp, flipped over, squatted on the bar, and leaped again, soaring more than a hundred meters before landing heavily on the roof of the shopping mall.

Anderson watched as Lu Yi climbed to the top in a few easy moves and couldn't help but marvel at his strength; he probably couldn't have jumped that far.

Lu Yi looked around from his vantage point and then went back into the partially collapsed shopping mall. It seemed he wouldn't be returning anytime soon.

Anderson got bored in the driver's seat, so he got up and went back to the passenger compartment.

Tang Bufan was still lying on the mattress, asleep, his eyes closed and motionless. The blankets were not visible to be disturbed. Anderson walked to his side and looked down. The man's long black hair was spread out on the pillow, forming a stark contrast with his extremely pale face.

It's strangely like a ghost from a story, both frightening and alluring.

"All you do is sleep, sleep, sleep." Anderson muttered to himself, "And you dare to boast that you're going to Penglai all by yourself? I don't know where you got your confidence from."

He gave another cold laugh before turning and heading to the kitchen.

In the corner lay a bundle of firewood that Tang Bufan had collected. Anderson bent down, picked it up, and took it out of the RV. In the increasingly heavy snow, he started a fire to brew medicine for Tang Bufan.

Tang Bufan slept until noon again. Anderson was outside watching the medicine boil when he noticed the carriage door suddenly open. The man wearing a loose sweater and cotton pants was slowly crawling on the ground, his head down and his long hair hanging down. He was crawling towards the toilet on his hands and feet, looking like a ghost.

"..." Even Anderson, who had a ten-year history of mental illness, was startled by Tang Bufan.

Kai's voice came from inside the carriage: "Anderson, Tang is delirious, can you help him check on him?"

Anderson sat on a camping chair, snow on his head and a campfire in front of him, and hesitated to get into the car.

He heard Tang Bufan climb into the toilet, but he didn't hear the toilet door close.

“…That wouldn’t be appropriate,” Anderson said. “What if his pants aren’t zipped up? Wouldn’t little Louis come after me?”

He even regretted letting Lu Yi go on the adventure, because taking care of Tang Bufan was not a job that just anyone could do.

Just as he was hesitating, Tang Bufan crawled out of the toilet using both hands and feet. His movements were as slow as a sloth. When he noticed the car door was open, he turned his head and glanced at him, revealing his pale face.

His eyes were empty.

"..." Anderson met his gaze, and after a dozen seconds Tang Bufan lowered his head again, climbed back onto the mattress and lay down.

Anderson then got up, went into the car, and covered the sleeping man with the blanket.

He sighed silently and turned to look towards the driver's seat.

"Tell me yourself, can he really go to Penglai alone like this?" Anderson asked Kai.

Kai remained silent and did not give him an answer.

“He can’t go.” Anderson’s tone was firm, his gaze cold and sharp: “You and Lu Yi are both letting him seek his own death.”

Kai remained silent.

An hour later, Tang Bufan woke up again. He sat on the bed for a while in a daze before patting his face and getting up to put on the wolf skin.

With trembling hands, Tang Bufan tied the hemp rope around his waist to secure the wolf skin on his body. Only then did he stagger to the kitchen, pick up the old iron bucket, and head out.

Anderson was still sitting by the fire when Tang Bufan turned the iron bucket upside down on the snow and sat on it like a stool.

As he warmed himself by the fire, he curiously turned his head to look around and asked Anderson, "Are we in Beijing?"

It was almost 2 p.m., and the smog was still very heavy. The snow was also heavy, and everything around them was blurred, so they couldn't see anything at all.

The shadows of those buildings were dark and indistinct, reminding Tang Bufan of the Black Rain Ruins he had transmigrated to, which resembled rows of giant tombstones.

Anderson stared at him with his silver-gray eyes, saying nothing. Tang Bufan rubbed his hands together in the snow, hunching his shoulders, and asked him curiously, "What's wrong?"

“You’re going to die,” Anderson said.

Tang Bufan was taken aback, then became somewhat angry.

"Can you please stop judging my life or death so casually?" Tang Bufan frowned and said, "I know my own body best."

"You know nothing," Anderson sneered, his gaze falling on Tang Bufan's shrunken neck. "What's the collar password?"

Tang Bufan was startled, his gaze becoming wary: "What are you doing?"

“Ask for little Louis,” Anderson said sarcastically, “so you don’t get so confused that he can’t even get the answer.”

“…I won’t say.” Tang Bufan said stubbornly, looking at the medicine pot in front of him that was emitting a strong medicinal smell. He felt that it was almost ready, so he got up and went back to the RV to get the bowl for him to drink the medicine.

He hunched over, carrying a large bowl, and reached out to take the medicine.

"Are you sure you can lift it?" Anderson asked him suspiciously, picking up the handle of the medicine pot.

"Okay." Tang Bufan struggled to hold the medicine bowl with trembling hands.

Anderson only poured him half to prevent him from spilling it.

It was cold outside, but Tang Bufan didn't feel the heat as he held the medicine bowl in both hands. He sipped the medicine while looking around, because the fog was so thick that he was always worried that something might suddenly jump out of it.

But actually, it was very quiet all around.

"Where is Lu Yi?" Tang Bufan asked Anderson.

"Going to find supplies," Anderson said, placing a piece of meat on the fire.

Looking at the dark silhouettes of those buildings, Tang Bufan asked again, "Beijing is so big, how are we going to find it?"

“Generally, self-built shelters are either on the roof or underground. Rooftop shelters are easier to find; just look for reflections from solar panels or antennas. Basement shelters are more difficult to find,” Anderson said. “Little Louis should be searching the surrounding area for rooftops now.”

"Oh!" Tang Bufan understood.

After Anderson finished speaking, he asked him with a half-smile, "Do you know where the largest refuge currently discovered in Europe is located?"

Tang Bufan looked at him curiously: "Where?"

“Under the public toilets in the slums,” Anderson said. “That rich man built a vegetable farm the size of a football field, and channeled the poor’s excrement into his farm. His family lived there for over two hundred years, but his great-grandson was so lonely that he eventually chose to shoot himself. By then, all the humans on the ground had become poisonous.”

Tang Bufan felt a heaviness in his heart as he listened, sensing the loneliness and despair of the great-grandson. He sighed and continued to drink his medicine, when suddenly he caught a glimpse of Anderson standing up out of the corner of his eye.

Tang Bufan was puzzled. He looked up at him and found him frowning and turning his head to look into the depths of the mist.

Tang Bufan followed his gaze and saw an abandoned road covered in snow. The air was foggy, and nothing could be seen clearly.

"Get in the car," Anderson said in a deep voice.

Tang Bufan was still sitting on the iron bucket, holding a large bowl and peering out.

"Hurry!" Anderson shouted sternly at him, and Tang Bufan snapped out of his daze, quickly getting into the car with the medicine bowl in his arms.

Just as he got into the car, a beam of light suddenly broke through the fog and shone straight down from the driveway, illuminating the RV brightly.

Those are the car's high beams!

Tang Bufan was startled and quickly reached out to pull the curtains of the car window, while Kai Ge also quickly closed the car door.

Anderson was still outside. He glanced at the RV and saw that the curtains were drawn and the man inside had hidden himself. Then he slowly sat back down on the camping chair.

Tang Bufan's heart was pounding as he hid inside the car. He cautiously peered out through the gap in the curtains and soon saw a very familiar black armored vehicle slowly emerge from the fog... It was a large armored vehicle that looked extremely similar to this RV!

Tang Bufan was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized that this armored vehicle was the prototype of his RV, a Northern Federation Type B cargo armored vehicle!

The headlights shone on Anderson, who remained leisurely sitting on his camping chair by the fire. The armored vehicle slowly came to a stop, the light from its headlights dimmed, and a tall, burly orc stepped out of the vehicle.

Tang Bufan peeked from behind the curtains. The man was an orc who looked to be about fifty or sixty years old. He was wearing dark green military pants and a close-fitting white vest, with a thick beard and a muscular build.

"Daddy~ is Lieutenant General Lermontov, a retired commander from the Northern Federation~" The voice of the little AI boy came from Anderson's wrist.

The commander of the Northern Federation... Tang Bufan swallowed hard, feeling extremely nervous and guilty, because Uncle Wolf and Eberon were from the Northern Federation!

And his RV is also an asset of the Northern Federation!

Sure enough, the retired lieutenant general frowned as he walked and looked at their RV. He walked up to Anderson with a stern face.

“Anderson, a high-ranking orc from the Western Federation.” The old man clearly recognized Anderson, and stood before him with his arms crossed: “You are Angus’s son.”

"It's me." Anderson leaned back in his camping chair, a smirk playing on his lips as he crossed his legs. "What brings you here?"

The old man was clearly displeased with his flippant and rude attitude. His face tightened even more, and he questioned Anderson in a deep voice, "How did you get this armored vehicle?"

After he finished speaking, his brown eyes glanced in Tang Bufan's direction. Tang Bufan was startled and immediately shrank back and squatted down.

He spotted him! Tang Bufan, pale-faced, crouched under the car window, absolutely certain, because the old man's gaze was so sharp, it seemed to pierce through the curtains!

Faced with the old man's questioning, Anderson scoffed and said directly, "Your Northern Federation failed to manage your own assets, and now you're asking me, an outsider? Shouldn't you first ask about the asset management of your own troops?"

The old man's face was grim, and just then a sharp, electronic male voice sounded on his wrist—it was his personal AI:

"Sir, we have found information based on the vehicle's serial number and the remaining traces: Seven years ago, the 21st Transport Team disappeared during a transport mission. The subsequent investigation revealed that the team leader's partner, Eberron, also disappeared at the same time. Half a month later, the bodies of four team members were found in the wilderness. It was determined that the vehicle theft and murder were orchestrated by Team Leader Wolf. The military has put the couple on the wanted list."

Tang Bufan listened intently from inside the car. Lu Yi had told him long ago that a mid-level orc could not possibly own his own independent armored vehicle. Tang Bufan roughly understood that the car was stolen by Wolf Uncle, but he did not expect that he would also kill four of his teammates.

Did Eberon know about this too? Tang Bufan clenched his fist slightly. In his eyes, Eberon was a very kind person, still helping him in his last moments. Stealing the vehicle was one thing, but murdering four innocent orcs…

Tang Bufan felt a pang of pain in his heart, as his idealized view of Eberlon was shattered.

Anderson listened to the AI's report, his lips curling into an even wider smile. He said sarcastically, "So the car thief was one of your own from the Northern Federation. In that case, you should thank me, because... I've already killed that couple~"

Tang Bufan was slightly stunned. He crouched under the car window and turned his head in surprise. He was the one who killed Wolf Uncle and Eberron...

The old man's expression softened slightly when he learned about the RV's origins. Although the RV had once been an asset of the Northern Federation, it was still considered "legitimate" to have ended up in Anderson's hands. After all, the areas outside the Federation's jurisdiction were a world of survival of the fittest.

At this moment, the AI ​​bracelet on the old man's wrist emitted another notification:

"Sir, orcs have appeared in the southwest."

Tang Bufan, hiding in the car, was overjoyed and guessed that Lu Yi had returned.