Steel Steam and Flame

The golden sunlight filtered through the round window, casting a large gleaming speck in the room. After Cassia drank the cold water in the kettle, the glass cup fell on the fixed position and made a "clang" sound.

Taking a few steps to the round window, the afterglow of the sun approaching the evening does not bring the temperature. The only effect is to coat the thick snow clouds below the airship with a visually warm golden yellow. The airship then adjusts its angle, tilting down. The sun in the distance followed with rapid descent, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared as the round window was swallowed by the clouds.

Only the cold light in the house is left, and the snow cloud outside is illuminated through the round window in reverse, but it cannot penetrate very far.

Unaffected by the inclination of the airship, Cassia turned around to organize her luggage one by one, and finally sat down at the table. When the dim light from the window entered the house, the sound of the mechanically synthesized horn also officially announced the arrival of the destination. After a few minutes, you could get off the airship, and all the lights were on in the evening, but it still looked cold and solemn. A city outside the southern forest.

There were very few people. It was fully loaded from Manoma, and several stops on the way were not effectively replenished. When it came to this outer city, there were only eleven people who went to the external parking lot with Cassia. However, they all have the same characteristics. The specifications of the luggage are very good. Not only does it look huge, but it also shows sturdiness in texture.

No one spoke, and there was no intersection on the airship. After getting off the airship, there was even less possibility of speaking. A dozen or so people separated at the airport exit, or went to the parking lot, or chose a road to walk down, and soon disappeared.

The open-air parking lot also looks empty under such a traffic flow. Cassia is still thinking about what to say on the way - you don't need to spend time and energy, you can find the limousine at the edge of the parking lot - thinking it will be the bright color of the limousine. Paints, eye-catching trim and more. Actually standing on the side of the parking lot, there is no limousine driver like Manoma waiting for guests to come out, and there are no other people who come to wait specially. A gray-black limousine is in the corner of the parking lot. It looks lonely, but it is also very eye-catching. .

A thin layer of dust has fallen on the limousine, with traces of raindrops. The ground is semi-moist, and some rain should have fallen a while ago.

Cassia put her suitcases away, started the limousine, and quickly drove away from the parking lot. Although this city is one of the many cities outside the southern forest, I have never been there, but I am not in the mood to visit because of this. One of the reasons is that it will not be lively. In the evening, it turns into night. The cold weather shuts most of the aborigines in their houses, making the streets very deserted. It is also another factor.

The city has only the most basic vitality, at least what Cassia sees now. There are very few vehicles on the road, the sound of the horn can travel far, and the light from the headlights of the vehicle seems to be able to directly penetrate the entire road.

In the passenger seat, there is a map for the Southern Forest that Lele had prepared in advance. Webley Arms Company also prepared several copies of the compressed "steel plate" food, which was enough for a ten-person team to consume for half a month. I bought a lot of bottled water in the store on the roadside, and Cassia, who was already fully prepared, had nothing else to prepare. The limousine did not need to stop, and went all the way through the main city, past the half-abandoned edge of the city. Location, when I saw a pile of rusted or abandoned building materials, this fringe city where the lights were not very bright was already behind the car.

How long the road two bypass lights failed, Cassia did not have a clear memory. There seems to be a gradual process - the street lights are all good at first, and after getting farther and farther away, occasionally some street lights start to break, and there is no maintenance. Until now, all you can see are street lamps that are half-broken or just fallen down, the paint is replaced by rust, and the lampposts are buried by weeds.

Fortunately, the quality of the road is very good. After driving for several hours, at the end of the road, there are only cracks and no potholes. A building that looks like a station is at the end of the road, and you can also see the "rest transfer station" sign written in imperial script. It is also about to be eroded by rust. Perhaps after a heavy rain or a heavy snow, it will fall to the ground and be covered by weeds.

On the map, the marking here is also a transfer station, and the detailed explanation is that it is the last supply point for hunting. But the information on the map seems to be a few years ago, and the hunting activities have also been canceled for a long, long time.

Cassia got out of the car and looked around. Combining the map and the actual information, he chose a suitable route and continued to follow the road that was crushed by the past hunting activities covered by weeds. The headlights were turned off, and the sound of the limousine overwhelmed the rustling of weeds rubbing against the cold wind in the early morning, and the chirping of insects that disturbed little along the way did not stop until nine o'clock in the morning.

There was not much rest in the middle, and Cassia maintained a good forward speed. But even starting from a peripheral city, it still takes a while to truly reach the southern forest. Fortunately, I had a similar experience, and I kept a relaxed mood. According to the temporary travel plan, the distance from the southern forest was indeed shortened visibly over time.

When sparse trees began to appear in the wasteland, Cassia spotted traces of other off-road vehicles driving by. Although it is not new, it can be confirmed that it has been left for nearly a month. The closer you get later, the more frequent similar traces appear.

"Profit really is the best thing to drive the surgeons." In the dark world, the contaminated second-class creatures can already sell for a very good price. The eleven people who left the airport with him were obviously here for this.

Follow these traces. UU reading www.uukanshu.com One day later, a large forest appeared and gradually connected into one in the distance, as if the layers were stacked, slowly increasing, and finally became a black-green sea of ​​trees under the snow cloud. The cold wind whistled high in the sky, bringing the sound of leaves rubbing against each other.

Cassia opened the window and let the cold air get into the limousine. It didn't take long to continue to move forward, and there were simple camouflaged vehicles around. Although it was only five cars, there would only be more of these limousines than the borderline of the southern forest spreading out and out of sight.

Compared with other extreme regions, the southern forest, which is a milder environment and where firearms can function without entering the depths of the forest, will indeed become the first choice for surgeons driven by the trading interests of the dark world.

The denser trees in front were no longer suitable for the passage of vehicles. Cassia chose a place to stop the limousine, put on the combat uniform of the field automatic mimicry, took out the large backpack with the inner alloy mesh, and started one by one. Arm yourself.

In fact, just carrying a revolver, blue-silver bullets, a tactical knife, and the second-generation holy sword is enough to handle all situations. But I miss the feeling of being in the forest, so I brought it all with me. The journey may seem lonely, but the endless ancient trees accompany him. Looking at the area where Cassia dug down the tunnel network, Cassia took a deep breath, and walked over on foot like a ritual.