CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 52: COLD SNAP ROUTINE

Lu Xi’an said this as if he had tacitly agreed to walk with Yao Wei for a long time.

The location of East Sea City on the map is as far away from them as possible, since they are still relatively in the north, while East Sea City is already on the eastern coastal edge.

I really don’t know how someone would get to East Sea City after hearing the broadcast back then. This journey through severe cold is not the same as now, where there is alternating cold and heat.

In extreme weather, transportation is also limited. If East Sea’s new district is an oasis, it might be an unattainable oasis for people here...

Upon hearing Lu Xi’an’s words, Yao Wei glanced at the mechanical dog, nodded lightly, and said, "Hmm."

She seemed to have tacitly agreed that Lu Xi’an would be with her for a long journey and did not object.

Gou had already turned into a box shape, lying quietly at the foot of Yao Wei in the passenger seat, as if he was already compliant with all arrangements.

Compared to Yubei City, Mengxin City is desolate and vast.

Lu Xi’an seemed to return to the northernmost part of his journey, moving unobstructed, only worrying whether supplies could be replenished, with no fear of encountering anyone.

The car swayed on a road section after section that was already broken for a day, passing three gas stations along the way, two were "Menghai Petroleum," and one was "Changshengtian Petroleum."

Menghai Petroleum didn’t look great; most of the fuel machines were broken, with only one still working. When powered on, the screen showed the oil reserves, but the oil wouldn’t come out.

At this time, the oil drums obtained from Sharp Brother Luo Ping came into play.

After the car ran out of gas, they took out the oil drums, poured the stored oil into the tank, drove a while more, and finally stopped at another Changshengtian Petroleum Station to refill both the car and the oil drums.

Mengxin City has few rivers; Lu Xi’an drove for a day without encountering any river, and Yao Wei checked the map to show they still needed to travel quite a distance to reach a river.

But by this time, night had fallen, and Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei consumed some firewood and stored water at the roadside, made a fire, and cooked food.

After eating, they chose a hill slightly elevated with some cover, parked the car, turned off the ignition, covered themselves with blankets, and slept.

——In Mengxin City’s wilderness, with wild grass everywhere, the places suitable for fire were only on the road; going off-road there were weeds, lighting a fire to cook might lead to a large blaze.

Though it wouldn’t matter to this apocalyptic world, as it wouldn’t affect anyone, it wasn’t necessary, and it might expose their location, so Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei chose to make a fire by the roadside.

With open surroundings, Yao Wei stood alert while Lu Xi’an cooked.

After dinner, they slept; the night in Mengxin City seemed more fierce than elsewhere, with the wind fiercely howling outside the car.

Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei covered themselves with blankets, listening to the wind howling, fell into sleep. At some point, they suddenly felt the cold wind becoming much colder, pulling the blanket tighter seemed to have no effect.

"It looks like another cold wave has come..."

Lu Xi’an said.

"Hmm."

Yao Wei was already awake.

The sky was pitch black, there were no stars or moon in the night sky, they couldn’t see each other’s eyes, but still glanced towards each other.

"Should we turn on the air conditioning?"

Lu Xi’an asked.

Normally, it’s dangerous to sleep with the air conditioning on in the car.

Sleeping with the air conditioning requires the car to idle, which can result in carbon monoxide poisoning. But right now, the car uses an external air conditioning unit, solving this issue from the root.

On the other hand, using air conditioning in a small, confined space for long periods could cause oxygen deficiency.

But ironically, Lu Xi’an feels confident in his enhanced body, not worried about this.

Yao Wei felt the same way.

So, the external air conditioning is truly the best choice for this car.

"Hmm."

Yao Wei agreed again.

Lu Xi’an said: "Gou, turn on the air conditioning."

At Yao Wei’s feet, Gou immediately transformed from a box back to a dog form, leaped to the back seat, opened the rear power socket cover.

Just as Lu Xi’an was about to turn over to get the air conditioning plug to plug into Gou’s back, Yao Wei said, "I’ll do it," took the lead, flipping over her blanket to reach the air conditioning plug, insert it into Gou’s back.

"Oom——"

The air conditioning started, Yao Wei kept watching the direction of the air conditioning until the warm air appeared in the car before she relaxed and snuggled back under the covers.

——This air conditioning had been used only once after installed in the car, and that time was merely testing its cooling function, so now Yao Wei ensured there were no issues with heating before finally relaxing.

"Let’s sleep."

Lu Xi’an said.

"Hmm."

Yao Wei agreed, then her breathing gradually became calm and regular.

Listening to Yao Wei’s sleeping breaths, Lu Xi’an also gradually fell asleep.

The warm air blowing from the air conditioning made one feel lazy and made sleeping much more comfortable than before at Tan Village Shelter in Fengcheng County.

——After all, at the shelter back then, they could only pile up blankets for sleep.

When they woke up the next day, Lu Xi’an stretched comfortably and said, "It’s really nice! Do you think that back at the shelter we should have come back to the car and slept with the air conditioning?"

The Neo-Human body truly amazes Lu Xi’an. If it were in the past, spending a night in such a small space with the air conditioning on would cause discomfort; but now, there isn’t the slightest problem.

He truly wonders what model of Neo-Human he is.

However, Lu Xi’an didn’t expect that Yao Wei this time offered a different opinion: "Better on a bed."

"..."

True, sleeping in the car every day could make one feel cramped, indeed a bed has its comfort. If one is more resistant to cold and accustomed to severe cold, finding bed comfortable seems reasonable.

"Each has its advantages."

Lu Xi’an said.

"Hmm."

This time Yao Wei didn’t argue.

The cold wave hasn’t retreated yet, but fortunately, this severe cold isn’t accompanied by heavy snow.

This means they can proceed with their journey.

Driving on the road again, Lu Xi’an couldn’t help but sigh: "It’s wonderful to have air conditioning, back in Yubei City, we had to use cloth to wipe the windows in such weather when driving."

"Hmm."

Yao Wei agreed deeply, nodding her head.

Back when they returned to Jiang Yu Road 272 in Yubei City, they drove under severe cold, and the breath they exhaled blurred the window due to mixing of cold and warmth, obstructing their view, forcing them to wipe it away with a cloth, repeating this continuously.

But now, with air conditioning heating, the warm air blows over the windshield glass somehow, and condensation no longer clings to the window.

Quite convenient.

Driving for another half day, they arrive at the riverside. Braving the severe cold, they got off to chip away the ice to store it in water barrels; on the car, it melts quickly, hence storing enough water.

As for firewood, there wasn’t yet a place to replenish.

They cut away quite a bit of ice, unexpectedly discovering one chunk with a fish inside as they chipped it free.

It seemed the severe cold came too quickly, freezing the water too fast, and the fish hadn’t had a chance to escape to the unfrozen water depths, getting frozen directly.

Putting the frozen fish into a pot, it melted shortly after. Surprisingly, as the ice turned to water, the fish started swimming again.