This was just a minor episode along the way; whenever Tang Yu encountered a Sanctuary in distress, he didn't hesitate to use his cannon to help out, even though he still felt a twinge of heartache.
Finally, the Floating Chariot entered the Luoxia domain.
The Luoxia Sanctuary had gathered most of the survivors from Luoxia City and the surrounding two Earth Level cities, located on the border of Luoxia, closer to the other two Earth Level cities.
According to the information, the Luoxia Sanctuary was established based on a small town called Dawn Bay Town, adjacent to a river tributary, and was much larger in scale than the Lindong Sanctuary. After all, Lindong only had a population of several hundred thousand, while Luoxia, reportedly, had already exceeded two million survivors.
This was somewhat reassuring for him. At the beginning of the apocalypse, the last contact had informed him that his parents had followed the Military convoy to Dawn Light Town and had started the construction of a Sanctuary there.
"We're almost there."
Tang Yu murmured, looking through the window at the clouds floating in the distance, his heart thumping faster and faster.
He calculated the distance, and when only a few dozen kilometers remained to Luoxia Sanctuary, he activated the transmission to send a message to the other vehicles, "All vehicles, descend. For this last part, we switch to land travel mode."
Several Floating Chariots gently landed, the rune patterns on the chassis gradually dimmed, and finally disappeared.
The chariot wheels spun rapidly, speeding across the wilderness. Moments later, a highway appeared ahead; Tang Yu controlled the chariot to accelerate, and while there was no sound of engine roaring, the speed of the background scenery moving backward markedly increased.
The Floating Chariot directly smashed the guardrail of the expressway, sending shards of metal flying, yet the front of the vehicle was unscathed, still shiny, and Tang Yu inside the vehicle hardly felt any resistance.
The expressway was in disrepair, with occasional shallow pits and cracks on the ground; weeds grew from the cracks, thriving and in many places reaching heights of one or two meters.
Visibility was obstructed, and abandoned vehicles were everywhere on the highway. Some were crashed against the mountain beside the road, their fronts caved in, others coated with dried, congealed reddish-brown bloodstains. Tang Yu could imagine the panic and horror on people's faces when Demonized Beasts first appeared as the apocalypse first erupted.
Some even lost their chance to escape and ended up blocking the escape routes for others.
Throughout the journey, he had lost count of how many accidents he had seen; panicked drivers colliding head-on with vehicles in front of them or losing control, resulting in a series of chain crashes that eventually completely blocked the road. Desperate people had to abandon their vehicles and flee on foot, only to inevitably be caught by Demonized Beasts.
As if he were driving a regular car at this moment, he would need to get out of the vehicle first and then rely on the Awakener's immense strength to clear these road-blocking abandoned vehicles and make the road drivable again.
the Floating Chariot activated its Acceleration System, with a silent roar, like a tank, but more ferocious, violently crashing into the pile of abandoned vehicles stacked in various positions ahead.
The vehicles were flung up, some rolling on the ground several times, sparks flying, emitting black smoke. Tang Yu looked in the rearview mirror, very satisfied.
Such a vehicle that could barrel through obstacles was a dream for any veteran driver.
The convoy passed through the streets of Luoxia City, where the streets were ruined, the walls of the buildings on both sides covered with vines, some walls crumbling. Even though it had been only a little over a month since the apocalypse began, it seemed as if it had endured many years of vicissitudes.
Even his hometown seemed somewhat unfamiliar to Tang Yu, looking at the surrounding scenery.
The chariot drove automatically, following the preset route, Tang Yu leaning his chin on his hand, quietly watching out the window.
His thoughts, however, had long since wandered to unknown places.
"Lord, we're nearly there," Eileen spoke softly from the back seat.
"Is that so, where are we now?"
"Looking at the map, we've already entered the territory of Dawn Bay Town. After driving further for a while, we'll reach Dawn Bay Bridge. According to the information, once we cross the bridge, we'll be at Luoxia Sanctuary. Should we head straight in?"
"Just go straight in."
"So we'll release an aura about the Fourth Layer and enter Luoxia as an elite Awakener squad?"
"Okay... oh, and change how you address me. Outside, just call me Captain."
From afar, they could already see Dawn Bay Bridge off in the distance. Tang Yu perked up, but suddenly, he heard the sound of gunfire in the distance.
Before he could even ask, Shay had already confirmed, "Captain, it looks like Luoxia Sanctuary is encountering a Demon Tide. The battle is intense."
A single Demon Tide was not a major threat to a large sanctuary, but Tang Yu was still anxious. His mind was flooded with various thoughts, cluttered and random.
The convoy sped up and soon reached the riverbank; several battle chariots drove onto the embankment, bringing everything into clear view.
To the left was a cross-river bridge, still majestic and imposing. On the opposite riverbank, to the right, flames soared into the air and explosions boomed like thunder.
That was Luoxia Sanctuary.
Tang Yu gazed across the river where skyscrapers stood densely packed. The city walls were fitted with countless machine guns, mortars, and cannons. His gaze extending further, he even spotted several Energy-gathering Cannons, these formidable weapons, mounted on the city walls.
The cannons fired in unison, and every shell that fell churned the river surface, blasting the weirdly-shaped creatures that emerged into pieces.
Aquatic monsters—he rarely saw them. Under other circumstances, he might have observed them longer, but now, all he wanted was to find his parents and ensure they were safe.
Driving along the road on the embankment towards the left led to the bridge's entrance.
At the moment, quite a few survivors had gathered here. It seemed the sanctuary was under attack and crossing the bridge was no longer safe. These people stood on the embankment waiting for the sanctuary to repel the beast tide.
Although Tang Yu was anxious, he wasn't rash.
Several Floating Chariots stopped in front of the bridge entry, their streamlined bodies gleaming with a brilliant shine under the sunlight, instantly attracting the attention of others present.
They looked at the high-end, luxurious Floating Chariots and then at their vehicles, suddenly feeling as if they were driving tractors.
'...No, what use is good looks if it isn't practical?'
Numerous people comforted themselves with this thought.
One of the Floating Chariot doors opened, and Shay stepped down from the vehicle, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
He controlled his presence, revealing only a part of his aura. To other Awakeners' perception, this was at the Fourth Layer—not overly powerful to attract attention, yet no one dared to underestimate someone of this level.
Awakeners whose power was merely at the Basic or Second-tier levels showed fearful respect and moved farther away.
(There's still one more chapter to go.)