Chapter 189: On the Wasteland

Before descending into this world, Lin Lei had already scanned the map of this world into his mind, so here, he basically would not get lost.

The wasteland where they landed was not too large, roughly over three million square kilometers, narrow and long, lying across between two humanoid nations.

The great nation to the east was called “Tang,” while the one to the west was “Royce.” The closest point between the two countries was still separated by over a thousand kilometers, to say nothing of other places; they were either wider wastelands or perilous peaks. For civilizations that still relied on animal power for long-distance travel, they were basically impassable.

Both nations represented the peak of this world’s civilized development, and the fact that they were able to live in peace was largely due to the credit of this barren wasteland.

However, the difficult environment could stop the two countries from warring, but it could not stop them from trading. Well, merchants chased profit; as long as there was profit, no difficulty was a difficulty, just a necessary investment.

Therefore, on this wasteland, there was a road rolled out by carriages and horses. These past few days, Lin Lei had been rushing along this rugged trade road, and the goal of the four of them was the Royce Kingdom to the west.

The reason for this choice was that within the Royce Kingdom, there was a White Tower.

This kind of White Tower was distributed everywhere in this vast world, and was a mysterious place for the intelligent beings of this world.

The White Tower was one of the few luxurious buildings in this world; they were pure white all over, piercing straight into the sky!

Lin Lei and Lenna instinctively believed that this was one of the keys to their understanding of the essence of this world!

And this wilderness was a very good landing spot; it would not attract the attention of any local residents.

This world’s strong restrictions on energy and Will caused Lin Lei and Lenna to lose many abilities. At least on the surface, the two were no different from ordinary people, and they similarly had various physiological needs.

As ordinary people, eating and drinking were unavoidable needs. The food was very simple; although the wasteland was barren, there were at least some small animals. The hiding methods of these little guys were useless against Lin Lei.

Although he had lost the direct detection ability of his Will, he was extremely sensitive to any changes in the surrounding environment, and nothing could be hidden from him.

This was the benefit of the extreme body constructed back then; at least after rushing on the road for a few days, not to mention himself, Fuweili and Lin Xin were also able to withstand this fatigue with ease.

However, being able to withstand it physically did not mean they liked this environment of dust flying all over the sky psychologically.

In this barren land, there was basically no drinking water, and the heavens were not giving any face either; it had been sunny the whole time, without even a cloud in the sky.

This was caused by the geographical location of this wasteland; this world was very strange, and its continent distribution was very weird. Lin Lei called it the Continental Ring.

This Continental Ring was worthy of its name; it was a strip of land surrounding the equator and between 30 degrees north and south latitude, and going further to higher latitudes, apart from a few scattered islands, it was basically all ocean, and when the latitude went higher, exceeding 60 degrees, it all turned into frozen ocean.

Added to that, the sun always shone directly over the equator, causing the temperature of the Continental Ring to be noticeably high. The entire world was in intense atmospheric convection; the atmosphere near the equator rose, and ocean moisture blew toward the continent, so logically speaking, there should not be a lack of rainfall.

But tragically, at the north and south ends of this wasteland, two mountain ranges thousands of meters long ran parallel, blocking any moist wind blowing from the ocean, thus creating this barren land.

So for these few days, the drinking water for the four people was provided by a kind of wasteland plant with very water-rich rhizomes.

However, the rhizomes of this plant went deep into the wasteland soil layer; not only were they hard to dig, but the water chewed out also carried a very uncomfortable bitter taste. Although it was non-toxic, after a while, the tongue would feel numb, and afterwards, anything eaten would be tasteless.

Fuweili did not find it bitter, because back on Blue Rain Star, she and Lin Lei had lived this kind of life too; the current hardship actually brought back some of the warmth of reliving old dreams.

But Lin Xin could not stand it; whether on Earth or in Apocalypse, she had never suffered like this. Not to mention the food and drink, even sleeping was not peaceful. On the wasteland, there were always restless little guys disturbing people’s dreams, because the night was the liveliest time on the wasteland.

“Father, when will this ever end!” Lin Xin simply sat on the weeds by the roadside, mumbling to express her dissatisfaction.

Lin Lei wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at the sky and the surrounding terrain, compared them with the ultra-precision map in his mind, and said to Lin Xin, who had a face full of protest: “It’s getting late today, so let’s rest here.”

Fortunately, the daytime temperature in the wasteland was not too high; otherwise, the four would have had to travel at night, and presumably, Lin Xin would have complained even more.

To Lin Lei and Lenna, these were just processes of life; their incomparably powerful Will would not be affected by the harsh environment in the slightest. The body was merely a container.

“Alright, Xin’er, we are now no more than three hundred kilometers away from Royce. At our current speed, we will arrive in a few days. Enjoy all this; in the future, you will miss these fulfilling days.”

Lin Lei secretly thought in his heart: “When you become a powerful life in the future, this mortal experience will become your warmest memory.”

Lenna glanced at Lin Lei, understanding the nostalgia for the past revealed in his eyes. Even though they were now mortals, they could never experience the joy of mortals. The reason Pan-dimensional Creatures were Pan-dimensional Creatures lay in their immortal souls!

Immortality required a price.

Lin Xin did not comment on Lin Lei’s words, but she turned her head away from Lin Lei and just gave a light snort to show her protest.

Regarding her daughter’s willfulness, Lin Lei just smiled and silently tolerated it. He turned his head to Fuweili and said: “Are you tired these past few days?”

Fuweili shook her head, stepped forward to help Lin Lei tidy his wind-blown hair, and said softly: “These past few days, you are the one who has worked the hardest.”

In this wasteland, Fuweili and Lin Xin could not help at all; it was Lin Lei who was managing everything. As for Lenna, she knew Lin Lei’s nature best; this little matter was not difficult for him at all, so Lenna was happy to relax and just watched from the side without interfering.

Lin Lei smiled in return, then walked slowly toward a bush not far away.

He seemed to be walking casually, but he did not make any sound. Fuweili felt that if she closed her eyes now, Lin Lei would simply vanish.

Over the past few days, she had become familiar with this situation; this was Lin Lei’s movement before hunting, and at times like this, his presence was very low.

Lin Lei arrived ten meters away from the bush, and very simply threw the long sword in his hand. The long sword broke through the air silently, but the moment it inserted into the bush, a loud commotion immediately arose.

A snake-like creature nearly four meters long and slightly thinner than a thigh immediately churned frantically out of the dirt pit, kicking up clouds of soil.

This creature was very strange; its body looked very much like a snake at first glance, but underneath its belly, it had countless soft feet. When it ran, it looked very much like a centipede, and it also had a flesh crown on its head, which was quite beautiful.

This big guy usually hid in its burrow during the day, but now that night was approaching, it had just turned its body a little, and the faint movement was detected by Lin Lei.

The long sword thrown by Lin Lei was exceptionally sharp; it went directly through the soil layer and pierced its heart. It was now just engaged in its death throes.

Lin Lei clapped his hands, turned around, and said: “It seems luck is good today. Although this big guy looks a bit creepy, it has a characteristic: its meat is delicious. And today, we don’t have to chew on grassroots.”

The reason Lin Lei said this was that inside this long worm, there was something like a water storage sac; the cool liquid stored inside was a very thirst-quenching drink.

This guy was already without threat. Lin Lei stepped forward, shifted his foot slightly, nimbly avoided the opponent’s dying counterattack, and then stepped on its flesh crown, pulled out the long sword from its body, and chopped off its entire head.

It was without threat to Lin Lei himself, but to Fuweili and Lin Xin, the toxin in the worm’s flesh crown was deadly enough, so Lin Lei eliminated the threat beforehand.

The next matter was exceptionally simple. Holding the long sword, Lin Lei cut the worm’s body methodically like a master anatomist. Soon, a water storage sac looking like a rubber tube, nearly two meters long and as thick as a forearm, was completely separated.

This thing looked disgusting, but it was a life-saving item for merchant caravans passing through the wasteland. The liquid inside was not only cool and thirst-quenching but also provided many trace elements needed by the body, much more nutritious than milk.

Lin Lei picked up the tube of water sac, wiped the blood off the outside with his clothes, and then handed it to Lin Xin, who was sulking nearby, saying gently: “Xin’er, drink this today; we won’t chew on grassroots.”

“I won’t drink it; it’s disgusting!” Lin Xin turned her head away, ignoring her father. She didn’t know why her temper was so bad, but anyway, looking at her father’s calm face made her very annoyed. How could he be like this, as if all external things could not shake his heart?

Even now, when Lin Lei was comforting her, he looked indifferent. Only when speaking to her mother was there a trace of tenderness in his eyes. Towards her, the daughter, it was more like he was just going through the motions.

“Haha, Xin’er, then don’t regret it.” Lin Lei did not try to persuade her either; this was more like a little girl acting spoiled; the more he persuaded, the more she would carry on, so he had to leave her alone for a while.

Anyway, there was a lot of liquid inside the tube. Lin Lei cut off the worm’s skin, tied the long tube into four sections, and after separating them with the long sword, he distributed a section each to Fuweili and Lenna.

Without saying a word, he immediately started drinking it happily. This beverage was really not bad; it had no strange taste in the mouth, just like mint herbal tea, refreshing straight to the heart.

Fuweili was a bit hesitant at first, but seeing Lenna next to her drinking it straightforwardly, she steeled herself, closed her eyes, and poured the liquid from the tube directly into her mouth.

Until a refreshing sensation spread and her thirsty throat was incomparably moistened, Fuweili realized it was a good thing.

Lin Xin was angry by herself, but she did not forget to observe the movements of the people around her. Seeing her father Lin Lei ignore her and turn to do other things, she felt a bit disappointed, and then became indignant. He really was just going through the motions; he didn’t have me as a daughter in his heart!

Thinking of this, Lin Xin’s eyes became moist, and her tears seemed ready to pour down at any moment.

Someone walked over from the side. Lin Xin habitually turned her head to prevent the other person from seeing her expression.

“Xin’er.” It was her mother Fuweili’s voice. Lin Xin breathed a sigh of relief, lowered her head, and gave a low response.

“Take it; it really is thirst-quenching. Your father saved it for you.” Fuweili handed a tube of something to Lin Xin, trying her best to resolve the small conflict between the father and daughter: “He just isn’t good at expressing his feelings, but he loves you very much. I’ve known your father for a long time, and I’ve never seen him accommodate anyone like this.”

“There is, Aunt Yan!”

“Yan Siyu… it’s a pity she is an Aostarian.” Fuweili thought of this friend of nearly a hundred years and could not help but sigh. She was not foolish; the grudge between the Watcher Civilization and Lin Lei destined that Yan Siyu could not be with Lin Lei, unless she was willing to betray her race!