Quick Travel to the Clouds

Chapter 642 The Apocalyptic Old Lady 11

Ahead, a massive chasm had been torn open in the earth, severing the city from the distant mountains. It was bottomless, filled with the smell of sulfur and thick fog. This was the scar of a catastrophe.

Yun Chu strolled to the edge of the cliff. The wind whipped her long, silver-gray hair like a waving battle flag. Amidst the howling wind, the desolate cries of mutated beasts echoed from afar.

She stood on the edge of the world's rift, closed her eyes, feeling neither fear nor weariness. She simply took a deep breath of the cold, salty air of this apocalyptic world, and then slowly exhaled.

The mission screen calmly refreshed deep within my consciousness:

[Go see the world]: In progress.

Completion: 2%

Opening her eyes, Yun Chu's gaze pierced through the churning poisonous miasma, landing on the eerie, never-setting red moon and the distant, unfamiliar dark continent beneath it. Her pale lips seemed to twitch slightly upwards.

There was no laughter in it, only a clear, pure feeling.

(Go see the world.) That's the important thing.

Yun Chu put away the jeep, released the Fire Iron Flying Ants, and rode on them.

After flying for more than two days, Yun Chu finally put away the Fire Iron Flying Ants, drove an ordinary car, and continued on her way.

At dawn on the sixth day of the mission "Go see the world," Yun Chu's jeep drove into a once-busy interstate highway service area.

The scene here resembles a forgotten junkyard: the cracked concrete pavement is covered with dark red moss and lichen, and spores emitting a sweet, fishy smell float in the air.

The wreckage of scrapped cars was piled up like a small mountain, with all the windows missing, leaving only rusty iron frames.

The original convenience store and gas station have collapsed halfway, and the walls are covered with purplish-black vines that twist and coil around the remaining "Warm Rest" billboard.

Besides the smell of rust, the air also carried the faint stench of rotting flesh—the carcass of a dead mutated dog lay in a corner, being gnawed on by several fluorescent insects.

Just as Yun Chu was about to park her car and resupply in the open space of the service station, more than a dozen figures appeared from behind the abandoned toilet.

They were hunched over, dressed in rags, some young and some middle-aged, their faces etched with the marks of hunger and despair.

The leader was a man in his thirties, with a burly build—a firebird tattoo was faintly visible on his left arm, and a cluster of scorched yellow flames danced in his palm.

That was the symbol of fire-based abilities, shining with a scorching light under the red moon.

Iron Eagle's eyes gleamed with greed and arrogance. He swaggered towards Yun Chu's jeep, grinning to reveal his yellowed teeth: "Hey, old lady, driving such a nice car all by yourself? Get out, leave the keys, food, and water behind! Otherwise..."

With a wave of his hand, the flames instantly spread into a ring of fire, surrounding Yun Chu's car.

Yun Chu slowly pushed open the car door, her movements as light as a cheetah, a stark contrast to her disheveled silver-gray hair and wrinkled face.

She showed no fear; her clear eyes calmly swept over the crowd—to her, Iron Eagle's ring of fire was nothing more than a childish flame.

She gently clenched her fist, and her mental powers silently spread out: the will of the crowd instantly became as fragile as glass, and several people began to look lost and hesitate to move forward.

Iron Eagle grew impatient and roared, "What are you dawdling for? Get him!" Flames erupted from his arm, and a fiery snake shot straight toward Yun Chu.

But the old man only slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

The wood-type ability awakened the vines on the ground—the twisted vegetation beside the broken wall sprang up like living things, tightly binding Iron Eagle's feet.

At the same time, earth energy surged from beneath her feet, causing the ground to tremble and crack open, carrying away rubble and blocking the other bandits' charge.

The Iron Eagle's flames crackled on the vines, but could not burn them—that was because Yun Chu had coated the surface of the vines with a layer of electrostatic barrier using lightning energy.

"I'm getting old, I really don't like seeing blood." Yun Chu murmured, a tiny spark of electricity flashing between her fingertips.

boom!

The lightning struck Iron Eagle precisely in the chest, and he screamed as he flew backward, the flames instantly extinguished.

Seeing this, the others panicked and ran away, only to be tripped up by the wood-like vines.

After cleaning up the scene, Yun Chu did not kill him.

She walked over and gently used her healing abilities to soothe Iron Eagle's wounds, quickly healing the scorch marks from the flames and ensuring he wouldn't die.

“Children, the end times are not about plundering to survive,” she said calmly, her voice piercing the blood-soaked air.

The robbers staggered to their feet and disappeared into the ruins in a sorry state, leaving only Iron Eagle casting a fearful glance at them before he fainted.

Yun Chu gently patted the jeep, cleaning up the scene. She looked up at the red moon; the dilapidated service station appeared even more desolate in the morning light. Deep within her consciousness, the mission screen calmly updated:

[Go see the world]: In progress.

Completion: 5%

—At the edge of the ruins, Yun Chu got back into the car, the engine humming softly as it drove towards the unknown beyond. The focused expression on her face remained unchanged, as if the conflict just now was merely a minor incident, and the real journey had only just begun.

After two months of travel, Yun Chu's Jeep stopped one kilometer away from the "Dafu Base".

This shelter, built on the site of an abandoned chemical plant, is like a twisted pearl in the apocalypse.

The towering chimneys have been converted into watchtowers, and the rough steel fences are covered with barbed wire and faintly glowing warning lights. The hum of the electric grid and the howls of the wandering zombies in the distance intertwine to form the background noise.

The air was thick with the smell of cheap fuel, sweat, and a sense of despair and oppression.

At the entrance, the crowd was like ants. Ordinary people stood in long lines numbly, undergoing rough body searches, while a few superhumans arrogantly showed their credentials and quickly passed through the specially set-up "green channel"—this was the naked class stratification of the apocalypse.

Yun Chu silently stored the jeep in her spatial storage. Her old coat was covered in dust, her silver-gray hair was casually tied up with a strip of cloth, and the wrinkles on her face appeared even deeper in the twilight.

She walked unsteadily toward the ordinary passageway, a barely perceptible hint of consideration flashing in her cloudy eyes.

When it was her turn to be inspected, a burly guard with a scar on his face impatiently poked at her thin bundle with the barrel of his gun and said sternly, "Old man, don't you know the rules? Special items must be handed over!"

Yun Chu slightly raised her head, spreading out her calloused right hand. A wisp of emerald green vine, like a living little snake, snaked out from her palm, coiled gracefully a few times, and then quickly disappeared. "This old woman... that's all I can do."

Her voice was hoarse, and she sounded tired.

The guard's expression changed instantly, his arrogance turning into perfunctory respect: "Oh? Wood element... go in."

The superhuman badge was hastily stuffed into her hand and pointed to the slightly loose green door.

Yun Chu made this move perfectly – the wood element is not known for its aggressiveness, which is low-key enough, and it can also provide a basic safety space.

The interior of the Daifuku base is more like a crowded and chaotic refugee camp.

The low, tin-roofed shacks were crammed together, and sewage flowed through the narrow, filthy passageways, emitting a pungent, rancid smell.

A few dim emergency lights illuminate the central square, which serves as the center for information exchange and barter, but most transactions take place in darker corners.

Only a few areas, which were reinforced and renovated from the original factory buildings, retain traces of the "upper class" lifestyle, with occasional warm yellow lights visible in the windows.