"Broken through, huh..."
Aboard the Floating Chariot, Tang Yu muttered to himself.
He had just received a message from Luo Zhe within his Territory, stating that after his breakthrough, Wang Zhou had the unique aura of an Awakener and could also absorb and refine soul power. The only difference was that Wang Zhou's efficiency in refinement was slower than that of an ordinary Awakener with standard potential.
Perhaps, in the future, we could add an E-tier below the D-tier?
Tang Yu's thoughts wandered, "If other large Sanctuaries haven't figured out a way for ordinary people to breakthrough, could Wang Zhou's breakthrough be the first case?"
Perhaps years later, humanity having triumphantly overcome the Demonized Beasts, future generations would record it as such.
"Apocalypse Calendar, February 18th, Green Shadow Sanctuary survivor Wang Zhou becomes the first case of an ordinary person breaking through to become an Awakener, completing a leap in life's hierarchy, and opening a new chapter in human evolution... perhaps?"
The convoy, consisting of five Floating Chariots, hovered about ten meters above the ground, speeding rapidly.
The scenery outside the window receded swiftly, like fleeting bubbles; by the time one tried to take a closer look, it had already disappeared.
The Floating Chariot was semi-automatic; most of the time, it only needed simple commands to operate.
Eileen, dressed in an Advanced Frost Mage suit, rested her chin on the high-strength glass window, eyes unblinking, quietly watching the outside.
Probably because she had never ventured far from home or seen such vistas before.
That's what Tang Yu thought.
"Lord, a large group of Demonized Beasts has been detected ahead, with energy levels ranging from Awakening First Layer to Third Layer. Shall we avoid or engage?"
Shay's gruff voice came through the communication system built into the chariot.
After a moment's thought, Tang Yu replied, "Only First to Third Layer? Then engage them; let's not waste time."
He shared the visual captured by Shay's chariot and saw a flock of demonized flying birds ahead, dark and dense like a cloud.
No sooner had he spoken,
than the foremost Floating Chariot's dual-mounted machine guns, installed on the roof, began to spin wildly.
Tang Yu had asked Kevin to design these exterior-mounted machine guns, considering that the Floating Chariot itself was only equipped with miniaturized Energy-gathering Cannons.
The machine guns whirred, and a metallic flood of bullets poured out.
In the blink of an eye, it tore the dark cloud to shreds.
Numerous small black dots fell like raindrops.
The other chariots at the front opened fire too, ripping the flock of Flying Demonized Beasts in two, and the Floating Chariots passed through without slowing, disappearing into the horizon.
Encounters happened almost every fifteen to twenty minutes.
Sometimes it was large swarms of Demonized Beasts, sometimes solitary but powerful Flying Demonized Beasts.
Flying mid-air was much more dangerous than on the ground, but fortunately, the entire convoy fully utilized the high-end policy of fighting when possible, and retreating when necessary, progressing without major incidents...
This was still just a low-altitude flight at ten meters; at heights of several hundred or thousand meters, he did not even dare to contemplate the danger, let alone the desire to explore—after all, he wasn't the type to court death.
The Floating Chariot didn't have the capability for high-altitude flight.
The journey was somewhat boring, even if he shared the chariot with a delicate and cute... cough, a cute girl with stronger combat abilities than himself.
Tang Yu was simply scanning the map stored in the Floating Chariot system. It was a map of the Big Foodie Empire, with the most detailed information on this province.
"We've now passed Lake City, Shen City, Heng City..."
In just a few short hours, they had covered nearly half of the provincial route. Tang Yu was very satisfied; the speed was close to his estimates. His gaze fell ahead on the preset route, and he suddenly furrowed his brow, "This entire area lacks a large Sanctuary?"
The map was provided by the Lindong Science Academy, and the provincial details were very accurate. Tang Yu took out some documents from his Space Ring and flipped through them, turning the chariot a bit messy.
"Found it." Tang Yu browsed through the papers line by line. "Yu City was originally a second or third-tier city, with a population slightly larger than Lin City, yet they did not establish a large Sanctuary locally. Instead, they joined forces with nearby cities to form one."
"Reason: Is the area around Yu City unsuitable for human habitation?"
The details were not specified, and Tang Yu was puzzled. On the map, the marked areas around Yu City had a danger level similar to the Lindong region. Although there were definitely five-star danger zones, the range of these areas was just a corner relative to a city, not enough to make this entire region unsuitable for living.
Of course, more regions were yet to be explored by humans, with unknown levels of danger. It was precisely these regions that hindered communication between human settlements.
Yu City and its surroundings were too vast. Tang Yu had no intention of taking a detour; the convoy continued in the predetermined direction.
He was about to organize a large stack of documents he had just taken out when he turned his head and saw that the papers had already been neatly stacked and placed next to his seat.
Tang Yu was taken aback, "Thank... thank you."
Eileen smiled and soon leaned back against the window.
Along the way, the two of them took out some dry food and dealt with their hunger simply within the vehicle.
At that moment, Tang Yu was startled and turned to look out the window.
With the speed of the Floating Chariot, he could not see the scenery outside clearly. However, the outside had been earthy hills and vibrant green vegetation just a moment ago, and now, it had turned to a tawny brown.
The convoy slowed down.
Tang Yu frowned, seeing it clearly now.
The ground was dry and cracked, with yellow-brown dust swirling in the air, almost covering the sky.
After the apocalypse, plant life was usually extremely vigorous; even in the crevices of buildings, plants could grow wildly. But here, he could not see a hint of greenery.
It was almost complete silence, with only the movement of wind and sand and the scattered figures of Demonized Beasts walking on the yellow-brown surface.
"The... the terrain has completely changed!"
Tang Yu could hardly believe it. He had seen in the news that Yu City was a well-known tourist city, with beautiful mountains and rivers and lush greenery. Now, however, it was barren.
He lightly touched the controls on the Floating Chariot, activating the chariot's detection system.
A moment later, the data collected left him surprised yet somewhat enlightened.
The temperature outside was as high as sixty-something degrees.
The air was distorted by it, and even sitting inside the Floating Chariot, isolated from the outside, looking at the surroundings through the window gave off a sense of scorching heat that weighed on his mind.
"No wonder Yu City relocated. In such an environment, even if the danger level is not high, it's not suitable for humans to live in for long..."
Even Awakeners who could endure it briefly would not want to live in such a place.
The chariot continued its high-speed flight, with everything outside remaining unchanged, leaving only a swath of tawny brown between the earth and sky.
In the distance, a volcano erupted.
A thick pillar of fire shot up into the sky, with clouds of black ash spreading in all directions.
Flaming debris fell from the sky, and the entire sky was shrouded in a black veil, reminiscent of the atmosphere when the apocalypse arrived.
This was the mighty power of nature, and everyone in the convoy, including Tang Yu, watched from a respectful distance.
Tang Yu could not remember if there were any volcanoes around Yu City. Theoretically, there should be none, but given the dramatic changes in the area around Yu City, it would not be surprising if there were a few more volcanoes.
They were far enough away that the occasional falling volcanic ash or rock fragments resembling meteorites spewed forth could not threaten them.
However, Tang Yu understood that this was only because they were far away. If they had been right at the mouth of the volcano, even an Awakener at Awakening Tier Perfection might have been reduced to ashes in an instant.
He stared at the sight of the volcanic eruption for a while, fulfilling his pre-apocalypse wish to see a volcanic eruption with his own eyes.
Suddenly, his pupils constricted.
In that rising red firelight, among the billowing smoke, and from within the volcano's mouth, bursting with turbulent energy, he saw a figure wandering amidst it all.
(PS: Wishing everyone a happy holiday, may you have this day every year, and this moment every time...←_←)