Chapter 41 The Land of Freedom (Part 8) Wave goodbye with style, if I...

A few seconds of silence followed in the living room before the other three people began to exclaim in response, "Oh~", "I knew it", "Oh!" and "I see".

"Alright, we've found our destination, so where do we go to find Ryou?"

"Are you taking pictures again?"

"Doomsday, disaster... Is Liang a misanthrope who can't do it in reality, so he comes to blow up the earth in his dreams?"

"Or is he simply a fan of action-packed anime, finding great satisfaction in escaping the apocalypse as the world's sole survivor?"

The four looked at each other in dismay. The target range was too large, and the clues they had were not clear. Finding the culprit among millions of people was too difficult.

"I say, could Liang be your parents here?" Feng Mian turned her gaze to Feng Feng, who was lying on his back on the carpet. These two were the ones they had the most contact with so far.

"No." Feng Feng was unusually resolute.

"Why not? Think about it. Maybe Liang is a middle-aged person who is tired of life. Occasionally, he recalls the exciting comics or movies he watched when he was young, and wants to indulge in the fantasy of being a hero in his dreams, while also making up for the regret of not having children in reality..."

“No.” Feng Mian was interrupted again by her sister. Feng Feng lay on the ground, not even changing his position. “They’re just NPCs.”

They will only dote on this daughter who doesn't exist in a specific plot, living in their virtual world until Ryou is found, until the dream ends.

Feng Mian fell silent, lowering his head quietly, but a slight smile played on his lips.

No one was speaking; only the firewood in the fireplace burned quietly. Suddenly, flames flickered, and ash from the fireplace manifold fell, scattering a few sparks. A muffled sound came from above.

The four of them immediately snapped out of their cozy comfort and stared intently at the ceiling above them.

"What happened?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the earth began to shake, and familiar sounds of impact and explosion followed one after another. Unlike before, the fire meteor's attack became much fiercer, and even the base built specifically for it was on the verge of collapse.

"Great, now we have to leave earlier." Feng Mian stood up from the sofa and pulled Xiao Feng up from the ground.

They rushed towards the door only to bump into Xiao Feng's "parents" who were hurrying over. The woman grabbed Feng Feng's hand in a panic, trying to comfort him.

"All the helicopters in the hangar have malfunctioned. This attack is fierce. The meteorite impact seems to have affected the Earth's magnetic field. We have dispersed everyone and told them to flee westward." The man next to him was panting heavily, clearly exhausted from running all the way.

"It just so happens that planes can't avoid the dense meteor shower anyway. I left two cars in my private garage. Everyone, follow me!" The man patted his wife on the shoulder, gestured to the others with his eyes, and turned to run ahead.

They followed him through the winding corridors. Some rooms had holes smashed into their ceilings, and the pale chandeliers flickered due to unstable voltage. This catastrophe seemed to have evolved in the struggle, no longer adhering to the prescribed time or showing any mercy.

The elevator descended, and the garage door slowly opened, revealing two heavy SUVs in this hidden space.

"The other vehicles were all given to others. These two have been modified. Although they are still vulnerable in the face of natural disasters, at least they provide an extra layer of protection..."

Before the man could finish speaking, the elevator that had just carried them was instantly reduced to scrap metal in the explosion.

The shockwave nearly knocked Xia Zhu over. Just as she was about to pull Feng Feng aside, she saw that the tall, thin woman had already shielded Feng Feng beneath her.

"It's too late! Everyone get in the car!" Feng Mian took the keys the man threw to him, opened the nearest car door, and got into the driver's seat. At the same time, the garage door behind them was slowly opening.

The Avici Hell appears behind the veil. The world has never shown such a vulnerable side. Any living being is like an ant under the feet of a giant under the threat of nature. You are trampled over, but the giant himself may not even know that you exist.

"Hurry up!" Feng Mian leaned out of the car window and yelled at his sister who was still squatting on the ground. The fat man had already gotten into the driver's seat of another car. He rolled down the window and took a deep look at his wife and daughter who were snuggling together.

"Mom, let's go!" Feng Feng realized what was happening and grabbed the woman's hand to head towards his brother, but was stopped by the seemingly frail "mother".

Feng Feng turned around in confusion and found that the woman was already in tears. Her exquisite makeup was completely ruined, and even her priceless earrings looked dusty and no longer radiant.

Her voice was choked with emotion, but the situation didn't allow her to calm down. She held Feng Feng's hand tightly and said, "Let's part ways here."

"You and your companions get on one car, and Dad and I are on the other. I don't know why, but it seems like we've known all along that this day would come. You seem to have some important things to do, and your dad and I'm here to say goodbye to you and see you off on the car."

"Although we don't quite understand why this is happening, my parents believe that Xiaofeng will always know how to live his life."

The woman haphazardly wiped her face, turning the once familiar face to Feng Feng into a comical sight.

"I remember you were only this big when you were born," the woman said out of the blue, cupping her hands together to make a baby-sized shape.

Feng Feng was stunned, as if the woman in front of him, crying uncontrollably, had actually given birth to him.

"Go on!" She suddenly reached out and pushed Feng Feng, causing him to bump into Xia Zhu, who was waiting nearby. "Don't worry, Mom and Dad will do their best to follow you!" After saying that, the woman jumped into the car without looking back, while the short man with a cigar in his mouth, which had been lit at some point, stretched his hand out the window and gave Feng Feng a thumbs up.

"It's been a long time since I've driven myself. Back in the day, your dad won over your mom with his awesome driving skills."

Feng Feng stood there dumbfounded, not yet realizing what had happened, when Xia Zhu pulled her into Feng Mian's car. By the time she realized they had just parted, the two cars had already sped out of the garage one after the other, heading towards their destination into the apocalypse.

These two vehicles are probably the last preparations made by Feng Feng's "parents" for their escape. The vehicles contain more detailed maps and navigation, as well as ample food and water supplies.

Ying Ya sat in the passenger seat, giving directions to Feng Mian, while Xia Zhu and Feng Feng were in the back seat, where she could easily look for the other car at any time.

According to the map, they needed to cross the city and re-enter the Gobi Highway.

And the man was right; he kept his tail on Feng Mian's car, dodging meteorites falling from the sky, and even managed to wink at Feng Feng, who was watching them from the back seat, as if to say, "See? Dad's as handsome as ever."

Feng Feng was amused and breathed a sigh of relief as she sat back down. She had been a little worried, but if things continued this way, she thought she might be able to walk with this kind couple for a while longer, or even walk hand in hand to the end.

The vehicle drove through the ruined city and onto the overpass. The scene was somewhat familiar. The end of the sunset once again dazzled the eye. Feng Mian couldn't help but roll down the car window. The fierce wind, carrying the smell of death, blew his hair back. He turned his head slightly to Xia Zhu and said, "I do miss our little electric car."

On an unshielded electric scooter, every action exudes a cool, all-or-nothing attitude.

Xia Zhu actually agreed, but she didn't respond; she just turned her head to look at Feng Feng.

"Hey, what do you think Mom and Dad would think if they met Liang in the end and found out that this world, including themselves, was just a virtual creation?" Feng Feng leaned back in Feng Mian's seat and peeked into the front seat.

Ying Ya immediately put down the map in his hand, turned to her and replied, "I don't know."

Feng Feng ignored Ying Ya and said to herself, "If that's the case, I'd rather they never know." Her fingers tightened, leaving deep marks on the leather seat. A shooting star falling outside the window illuminated her profile, and her moist, beautiful, syrup-colored pupils were brighter than any star.

There was a fork in the road not far ahead. Ying Ya, still maintaining his professional ethics, coldly pointed out the correct path: "Go straight."

"Received." Feng Mian replied lightly. The next second, everyone could feel the overloaded roar coming from the car beneath them, because they all saw a huge meteor hurtling towards them at high speed.

"Alright, the same old story again!" Feng Mian gripped the steering wheel tightly and slammed his foot on the accelerator, the turbocharger blades emitting a sharp, explosive roar. The powerful thrust pressed the two people in the back seat firmly against the seatbacks.

They escaped unscathed once again.

Feng Feng twisted her neck; the sudden acceleration had made her cervical spine a little uncomfortable. She turned her head, wanting to look out the rear window.

Fengmian's car just barely grazed the giant meteor, which crashed heavily onto the ground behind it, kicking up a cloud of dust that obscured the view, leaving no other figures in sight.

Her heart felt like it had been gripped tightly by a hand. She suddenly remembered that they had just passed a fork in the road, so she immediately switched places with Xia Zhu, climbed over her, and leaned against the right-side window.

Even after the fork in the road, the two roads would briefly run parallel for a few seconds. She leaned out of the car window, ignoring the shooting stars falling overhead, hoping to see a familiar car at the end of the low bushes.

A few seconds felt like centuries to her, and just as she was about to get back into the car, a heavy SUV with its headlights flashing came into view.

The headlights of the car, like two sharp gazes, were showing off their victory in the gradually dimming night. The windshield wipers were even more ostentatiously scraping the dust left by the losers on the windshield. The SUV was honking its horn wildly, like soldiers waving flags and shouting as they charged out of the smoke and dust.

Feng Feng saw the always smiling man give a thumbs-up again from the car window, without even dropping the cigar from his mouth.

"Okay, I approve of you." Her voice was low.

But the journey always ends at some point. After a brief encounter, the two cars went from parallel to further and further apart. Feng Feng watched as the enormous, monstrous vehicle slowly turned into a tiny black dot in his vision, finally disappearing into the red glow of the horizon.

Only the honking of the two cars as they said goodbye still lingered in my ears.

Much later, she returned to the car and sat down, the setting sun making her red hair look like it was burning sadly.

The massive meteor seemed like a brief respite from the disaster, or perhaps an unstoppable fate determined to deliver a final blow to a preordained destiny. The world returned to silence, as if only the car carrying the four outsiders continued its solitary journey.

Family, dinner, candlelight—it was all just a pipe dream.

Feng Feng rested her chin on her hand and leaned against the car window. After a brief silence, she took the lead in easing the atmosphere, just like every time before.

"Alright, alright, the NPCs have achieved a perfect ending in the final chapter. They actually lived pretty cool lives!"