Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 698 - 329 Forward_2

Chapter 698: Chapter 329 Forward_2

After speaking, Maya walked to the front of the sign and quietly looked at the information on it. Lin Wu couldn’t read anything from her expression, but he could infer one thing from her prolonged stillness: this road was not Highway 99.

Maya rested one hand on the sign and closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against the back of her hand. Lin Wu walked over, or rather, circled around, to Maya’s back.

The worst part of life is not the absence of hope, but being given a glimmer of it amidst despair.

Highway 77, 3500 kilometers to Star City—that was despair. Among the other destinations listed below, Lin Wu saw a familiar one: 1800 kilometers to Leimeng Town. Leimeng Town is 250 kilometers from Left County. Both Highway 77 and Highway 99 lead to Leimeng Town. The difference is that it’s only 750 kilometers from Fantasy City to Left County on Highway 99. Over 2000 kilometers are required to reach Left County from Highway 77.

Maya sat on the ground, knees hugged to her chest, leaning against the road sign in silence. As Lin Wu approached, Maya was the first to speak, "I just want some quiet time, alone, thank you."

Lin Wu silently left and returned to the ramp, sitting on the guardrail and allowing Wai to lie down on his lap. He also wanted some quiet.

Are 2000 kilometers a lot? If everything goes smoothly, not really. They had started on the first day of fall, and it had now been 45 days, with another 45 before winter. In the past 45 days, they had traveled from Technology City to Fantasy City, covering a distance of 1300 kilometers.

Strictly speaking, those 1300 kilometers were not traveled smoothly. Excluding the 15 days spent circumventing Fantasy City, and the 10 days total spent clearing Sentry Card and at the refinery, they covered 1300 kilometers in 20 days. Further deductions came from time wasted entering towns off the highway, staying in Cloud Dream tribe, being blocked by the river, and the harsh desert environment that led to inefficiencies in their march.

The average daily distance was roughly around 80 kilometers.

In theory, 2000 kilometers would take about 25 days. However, the experience of the 1300 kilometers told Lin Wu that the journey of 2000 kilometers would be anything but smooth.

Moreover, Lin Wu was curious about Leimeng Town. Why did both Highway 99 and Highway 77 specifically mention this small town? Others were North Town, Southward Town, so what made it Leimeng Town? From previous information, it was known that Leimeng Town stationed an air force and had a dual-purpose military and civilian airport.

turning into 2000 wasn’t a huge detriment for Lin Wu; he had the ability to comfort himself in adversity. His understanding was that 750 kilometers might not necessarily be easier than 2000 kilometers. What concerned Lin Wu was Maya; he only understood her prominent traits, not her specific character. From what he could tell, the road sign had inflicted significant harm on Maya, at least causing her to temporarily lose her fighting spirit.

...

Lin Wu didn’t know how much time had passed, so much so that he fell asleep, only to be awakened when his sunshine was blocked. Lin Wu looked up to see Maya standing beside him.

Maya had regained her composed expression, "Let’s go."

"Leimeng Town?"

"Leimeng Town."

After she spoke, Maya mounted her horse and began walking slowly. Lin Wu, on noticing, hurriedly called out, "Hey, hey, this way!" She was going in the wrong direction.

Maya stopped her horse and came back to Lin Wu, seemingly still unaware of the mistake, asking, "Wrong?"

Lin Wu explained, "The sign is facing southwest; it’s meant for people coming from the southwest, not for those who are with their backs to the sign." Had the girl lost her senses?

"Wait." Maya seemed to recall something: "Does that mean there are two signs? One for people coming from the southwest, and one for those from the northeast?"

Lin Wu hated this. Just as one accepts reality, a sliver of pitiful hope emerges. Maya rode on, and Lin Wu could only follow. They ran for about two kilometers and, indeed, found another sign beside another ramp leading into Fantasy City.

Was that really necessary? This wasn’t a highway with separate lanes for opposing directions.

Maya pointed to the sign: 1200 kilometers to Future City. There was no mention of Leimeng Town.

This wasn’t hope, this was a choice, fuck your Dawn.

The first choice, head northeast for 2000 kilometers to reach Leimeng Town.

The second choice, head southwest for 1200 kilometers to reach Future City.

Lin Ma knew roughly where Leimeng Town was, about 250 kilometers from Left County. But to this day, they were still unclear about the specific location of North City, let alone Future City. Once they arrived at Future City, there were many choices, one of which was to find a way to head to North City, then to Left County. Another was to find the route that led to the escape service to North Town.

"The Devil doesn’t want us to go home," Maya stepped back two paces, looking at the signpost, "But I believe that our will can overcome everything."

Lin Wu carefully asked, accompanying her, "So which direction do we go?" He felt both were the same; who knew which way would be easier to travel.

Maya said, "Leimeng Town. Since we’ve already decided on Leimeng Town, we cannot change our decision without overwhelming information. Even if our decision is wrong, we must bravely and resolutely continue on." There can absolutely be no letting a choice between two options disrupt the morale of the troops.

When you make a decision, you must forget the other. Don’t go wondering what it would be like had you made the other choice.

Lin Wu mounted his horse, "Let’s go!" The foolish woman had become shrewd again and even more resolute. Lin Wu never believed in the notion that setbacks could make a person grow; he thought setbacks only added to one’s emotional trauma. But this idea couldn’t be applied to Maya; she was the type to grow stronger through adversity. Hmm... beating her up every day, she might grow stronger, and perhaps one day she could tear apart a Titan with her bare hands.

Maya once asked Lin Wu what he thought about when they were on the move. Actually, one could think about anything.

...

The next few days went very smoothly. They covered a total distance of 150 kilometers on the first day, spending the night at an abandoned hut they found by the roadside. Phantom even grazed on the water plants by the stream. They night-fished and hunted until the early morning when they rested.

After breakfast at 8 AM on the second day, they left the abandoned base and continued on their journey. The total distance covered was 150 kilometers. They camped out.

On the third day, they covered a total distance of 100 kilometers, pitching tents at two in the afternoon, hunting, fishing, and digging for wild vegetables.

In three days, Lin Ma had traveled 400 kilometers. At this pace, it would only take half a month to return to Left County, about the same time it took to go around Fantasy City.

On the fourth day, they did not move on but rested on the spot for another day with the aim of stocking up on food. Although they made time to hunt and fish over the past three days, resources were scarce, and they were not familiar with the environment, so they had been living off their past reserves. Although their route had its mountains and water, the game resources of the ordinary forests were incomparable to those of the rainforest.

Take Fishing as an example; the fish in the rivers of the rainforest were not only large but voracious eaters. The rivers crossed by Highway 77 were mostly inhabited by fishes like crucians and grass carps which required time to lure and were highly vigilant, demanding unparalleled patience from the fisher.

The rainforest teemed with various animals. Mammals in the woods were quite rare; they were mostly small creatures like squirrels and wild chickens, either able to climb trees or fly. No animal was willing to engage in a fight to the death with Lin Wu.

Stocking up on food was the goal; the reason for doing so was the information indicated by the signpost. After fifty kilometers, Highway 77 would enter a volcanic region, about 300 kilometers across.

From the campsite, one could see the sky far away shrouded in gray, clearly indicating the presence of active volcanoes in the volcanic region. From Maya’s knowledge, regions with active volcanoes were very difficult places to find food. There were rivers, but those were boiling or warm waters where fish could not survive. Volcanic ash could cause the migration and extinction of local fauna and flora.

Compared to natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes, volcanic eruptions were relatively mild. The flow of lava was slow, and the area affected by the eruption was limited. Excluding the possibility of starting a forest fire, the major harm was the volcanic ash that followed an eruption, which could cause significant environmental destruction.

This stretch of road wasn’t a desert, but might as well have been one. The 300 kilometers were extremely uncomfortable to travel. Considering the needs of the two horses—Phantom and Sand—they had to camp at least once. What to do if a volcano erupted? What else could be done? The tent would be offered up to Dawn; greetings sent home. Considering the low probability of a volcanic eruption, the greater challenges would likely be the changes to the landscape caused by an eruption, such as the road being blocked by cooled magma and rocks blasted out of the mountain.

"How much food do we have left?"

After checking the backpacks and the horse packs, Maya said, "Two days." Why didn’t they stockpile more food in the jungle of Fantasy City? Because they couldn’t build a warehouse at the tent base, and there were limits to how much both people and horses could carry. With prior experience in mind, they carried a doubly large amount of water.

After packing up the tent, Lin Wu asked, "Shall we set off?"

Maya mounted her horse, "Let’s set off."