Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 140 Exploration and Discovery

After putting the oil barrel back in the car, Lu Xian did not get in.

Yao Wei asked: "What then? What should we do?"

Lu Xian said: “Stay here for a while and see if you can find a usable tube.

"Let's look inside the station building first. If we can't find it, we can look somewhere else."

There are no pipes on Yao Wei's car, otherwise it would be much easier.

After Lu Xian answered Yao Wei's question, he walked into the gas station.

Yao Wei followed, still frowning, and asked, "Is the gas pump hose okay? Should we remove it?"

Lu Xian glanced at the gas pump and said, "It's probably... too thick to fit into the bottle."

Yao Wei couldn't understand: "What do you need the bottle for?..."

Lu Xian turned around and smiled at Yao Wei, saying, "Of course not directly. We have to look for it first and then we can talk about it after we find it.

"If I can't find it, I'll just do as you say.

“If you find it, you’ll have to use up another mineral water bottle.

"We're going to make a handmade water pump, or in other words, an oil pump."

"Oil pump?"

Yao Wei asked curiously, "What is that?"

Lu Xian said: "I'll show you how to do it after I find the tube. Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain it clearly."

He can actually explain clearly what the oil pump he wants to make will look like and how to make it.

But even if the structure was explained clearly, Yao Wei still couldn't understand the principle behind it. Furthermore, without seeing the finished product, she probably couldn't imagine how it would work.

So Lu Xian simply didn't say anything and only told Yao Wei what was needed to make a simple oil pump.

But even so, Yao Wei became very interested in what Lu Xian said.

Once again, she felt that Lu Xian was really amazing, as amazing as Gou Zi.

The dog can transmit electricity and see many things clearly, but Lu Xian can figure out many things and make things.

She couldn't help but think in her heart that probably only Lu Xian was worthy of Gou Zi, and it was the right decision for her to let Lu Xian get in the car.

But now, let’s find the pipe first.

She and Lu Xian walked into the station building one after the other and searched carefully. Lu Xian also went to the bathroom in the station building, thinking that if there was a pipe in the gas station, the bathroom would be the most likely place.

Unfortunately, after searching around, there was nothing in the station building.

Everything here has been cleared out, and the only remaining table and hard bed are also empty.

Lu Xian asked Gou Zi to come in and search around, but he didn't find any secret compartment.

This gas station is completely abandoned, there is really nothing left.

"If it's not here, we'll have to look for it in the city."

Lu Xian said after coming out of the gas station empty-handed.

"Can you find it?"

Yao Wei followed Lu Xian and asked after they walked out of the station building.

Lu Xian did not give an accurate answer this time, but just shook his head and said, "Who knows?
"This village isn't huge, but it's still a village, so it's not small. If the people died or left, there might be some pipes left.

"Maybe the tube isn't that useful for some people. What if someone gets stressed out and leaves the tube on?"

He also had other guesses, such as so much time had passed that even if the pipes were left, they would have become old and hard and could not be used.

However, he did not spoil the fun by sharing this guess, but only said to Yao Wei, "Of course, it is also possible that we didn't find it in the end.

“We’ve visited many places before, both in Dongshan County and in the urban area of ​​Niutou County, and it’s always difficult to find supplies.

"So who knows what will end up happening here?"

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded, not feeling discouraged. To her, a fruitless search was nothing more than a common occurrence. After all her journey, how could she not accept such a small thing?
Lu Xian continued: “But I think we should still go look for it.

“If the oil pump can be made well, I feel we will still need it in the future.

"We were lucky to come across working gas stations along the way.

"We may encounter similar incidents in the future. After decades, it's normal for gas pumps to be completely scrapped."

Yao Wei suddenly thought of a question and asked, "What if one day all the gas pumps are destroyed and all the gas is gone?"

Lu Xian thought about it and said, "Then don't drive.

"For decades, we've been surviving in a muddled state, sinking in this apocalypse, not knowing how to search for and inherit our past glory or recover our old skills.

"If you do this, you deserve to be without a car. Not only that, you deserve to be without food after all the trash is collected."

Yao Wei gave Lu Xian a strange look.

Lu Xian asked: "What's wrong?"

Yao Wei said, "No... I just think what you said is a bit strange. It doesn't sound like you would say it. It sounds more like Luo Ping would say it."

Lu Xian laughed and said, "That's because what Luo Ping said before makes sense. What I said also makes the same sense as Luo Ping..."

He was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Actually, I always feel that with the level of technology in the old world, and the degree of social organization that should have existed..."

He judges the degree of social organization in this world based on the conditions of his past life.

Anyway, he walked all the way from the far north to here, discovered many "ruins", saw many things, and always felt that this world had certain similarities with his previous life.

Including the situation of social organizations.

He organized his words and continued, "Logically speaking, with that level of technology and social organization, people should be able to survive the apocalypse.

"Even if there were some misfortunes, chaos, or even if the organization was broken up, we should be able to reorganize and unite to deal with the changes in this world together.

“But why has it become like this now?

"People live their own lives, never striving for progress, struggling to survive in this cruel world, focusing only on the present and not thinking about the future.

"So, the somewhat idealistic Luo Ping has become an outlier... What's going on?"

Yao Wei listened silently without saying anything.

She suddenly couldn't help but think that Lu Xian should be the same type of person as Luo Ping, right?
Should I have let Lu Xian go with Luo Ping, instead of saying nothing and letting Lu Xian stay by my side?
This question suddenly stuck in her heart, making her feel like a thorn in her throat.

If it were a normal situation, she would definitely say these words directly to Lu Xian, but for some reason, she just didn't want to talk about this issue.

Or maybe it’s not that I don’t want to say it, but I just can’t say it for some reason, so I have to hold it in my heart, which makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I don't have any other intentions, I just feel that there must be some unexpected events going on here, otherwise the world wouldn't have developed into what it is now."

Lu Xian said, "But no matter what, the world has become like this. We are powerless to change it and can only live with the flow. Whatever happens, it will be. Now get in the car and go find Guanzi."

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded, cleared her mind of all those chaotic thoughts, and after calming down, she asked, "Do you want to drive? Do you want to park the car somewhere to save some gas?"

Lu Xian said: "It doesn't take much oil to go around this small village, so we don't need that much."

"Ah."

Yao Wei agreed again.

She didn't get into the car, but went directly to the roof, picked up the dog and the bow and arrow, released the drone, and started the ground-to-air coordination mode.

Carefully observing his surroundings, Lu Xian drove to the main street of the village.

The village has only one main street, and the village ends there. The old and dilapidated main street also has a slight slope, but it doesn't seem as steep as in some other counties.

The road was already damaged, and it was bumpy and wobbly. If Yao Wei hadn't been a new type, she'd have had trouble keeping her footing on the roof. They first walked along the main street to confirm it was safe before preparing to begin their search.

The buildings on both sides of the street are two-story terraced buildings, all of which are still intact. At a glance, you can tell that the rows of them were once shops.

Now, many houses side by side behind the shops have collapsed, but those facing the street have not collapsed. It seems that it was a key project built by the government last year.

At the same time, it can be seen that this small village, which was once the only way between Niutou County and Jianshan City, was quite prosperous.

When crossing the main street, Lu Xian reminded Yao Wei: "Look at the shops on both sides of the road. I will also look around to see if there are any hardware stores.

"If there is, remember it and look at it when we turn back."

Yao Wei asked, "What about the other stores?"

Lu Xian said: "I have to look at it too. When I come back, I will search them one by one, but I will mainly look at hardware stores."

"Ah."

Yao Wei agreed and said she understood.

But when they walked through the main street of the village, Lu Xian and Yao Wei couldn't see any sign of a hardware store.

The shop signs on the main street have been shattered, and only a few are still intact.

The shops were all in a dilapidated state, either in a mess or empty. Either they had been destroyed or the items had been taken away.

After this journey, the two were unable to determine a clear goal.

But Lu Xian felt that there should have been a hardware store on this road in the past. The layout of one or two shops looked very much like a hardware store.

Lu Xian didn't notice it when he passed by. When he turned around and didn't find the hardware store, he suddenly thought of this.

They started walking back, getting out of the car and searching as they walked, focusing on the place that looked like a hardware store.

However, after spending quite some time and completing the entire route back, they found nothing.

In some street-facing stores, the messy and crooked shelves are now just shelves left.

It wasn't until he reached a store in the village that Lu Xian had an unexpected gain.

The shop looked like a restaurant, with rickety round tables inside, too broken to be used any more. The floor behind the counter was covered in broken porcelain shards, where the wine had apparently been knocked over.

Among the broken pieces of porcelain were some empty plastic bottles, their caps screwed shut but the bodies broken, as if they had been punctured by old drinks that had fallen in and been pierced by the broken pieces.

But among those broken and leaking plastic bottles, there was actually one intact one.

The icon paper surrounding the bottle had fallen off at some point and was pressed underneath the bottle. Lu Xian picked it up and took a look. The patterns and words on it had disappeared with the passage of time.

The liquid in the bottle was a strange color, and I had no idea what drink it was, but whatever it was, it looked undrinkable.

Lu Xian called the dog to take a look and confirmed that the liquid in it was indeed not drinkable.

But it doesn’t matter, he didn’t come for the drink in the bottle.

He simply opened the bottle and poured out all the unknown liquid inside. Then he said to Yao Wei, "Now we have a bottle. We don't have to waste our mineral water bottles."

"Ah."

Yao Wei nodded and said, "But there are no pipes yet."

Lu Xian comforted him, "It's okay, don't worry, there are still many places in this village that we haven't searched. Let's look for them slowly."

That being said, there aren't many.

After searching all the shops along the street, only a few buildings in the entire village were still standing, having not been knocked down by the apocalyptic changes and time.

The next target is of course these places. It won’t take long and we will probably finish searching them all by the next morning.

If you still can't find a suitable pipe after searching, you have to give up.

Unfortunately... the pipe connecting the oil gun on the gas pump is made of a special material, so it may not be very convenient to use it to make an oil pump.

Otherwise, there is no need to bother at all.

So they started walking out onto the main street.

I looked inside from the edge of the alley and saw a house that had not collapsed about a hundred meters into the alley. It was a two-story building. The yard collapsed, but the building did not.

Lu Xian drove in and walked slowly.

Yao Wei didn't wait to go to that house to look for it. She stood on the roof of the car, picked up the dog, and said to him, "Take a look, are there any pipes under these collapsed houses?"

She held the dog and kept looking down at the ground on both sides.

This gave her a sense of accomplishment, and she could also command the dog.

But unfortunately, the dog didn't find anything.

Until the car drove to the side of the small building, the dog's eyes suddenly lit up and shone on the side wall of the first floor of the small building.

"Lu Xian!"

Yao Wei immediately shouted from the roof of the car.

Lu Xian stopped the car. However, the two of them were not in a hurry. They first let the drone in through the broken window and only entered after confirming that there was no problem.

After entering the small building, it was actually a mess. It had been looted long ago and there was basically no valuable "junk" left.

However, the two men had a clear goal. They looked straight to the side wall and saw the narrow cabinet against the wall at a glance. After opening it, they saw two rows of iron pipes connected to the ground.

"Is this... floor heating?"

Yao Wei instantly thought of their shelter in Xiaogang Village and the trenches that Lu Xian had dug on the ground of the shelter.

"Hmm...it seems to be the water distributor for the floor heating?"

Lu Xian felt a little similar and said so.

No wonder this cabinet is so narrow, it turns out it’s for storage and decoration...

But it doesn't matter.

What they wanted were pipes, and what Gou Zi pointed out to them couldn't be these iron pipes.

Lu Xian's eyes fell on the little remaining space in the narrow cabinet, where some miscellaneous items were thrown, including a broken small plastic bucket, a small plastic shovel without a handle, and a plastic water gun.

Lu Xian confirmed that there were children living here before.

But after so much time, these things are no longer usable. They have become extremely fragile due to the alternation of cold and heat, and will break at the slightest touch.

Hopefully the tube isn't...

Lu Xian found a long pipe among the debris and felt a little worried.

This tube looks like a rubber tube. But if it's a rubber tube, it's too cold, so it's probably going to freeze, right?

He reached out and picked it up. The tube was covered with dust. As he moved, the dust flew up, forcing both him and Yao Wei to hold their breath.

But none of this matters.

What surprised and relieved Lu Xian was that although the tube was a bit hard, it could still be bent. It seemed that there was nothing wrong with it and it had not hardened and become brittle over time.

"Dog, come and take a look."

Lu Xian immediately ordered Gou Zi, "Check if there is any damage on this pipe."

The mechanical dog still held in Yao Wei's hand immediately received the command, and its eyes began to scan the tube.

Now Yao Wei always seems to like holding the dog in her hands, as the dog's four metal hooves reduce the time they are in contact with the ground, so they no longer make the "clacking" sound and no longer have to sway when walking.

This is actually quite convenient.

The dog scanned the tube from beginning to end, and then his eyes lit up.

Lu Xian smiled at Yao Wei and said, "Okay, no problem. The pipe is not damaged, the material looks suitable, and the thickness and length look usable. We can start working."

(End of this chapter)