North Shore Mountains, where a certain abandoned road connects.

Seeing a small stream meandering through long-abandoned farmland, its water clean and clear, the surviving townspeople of Early Spring Town showed expressions of excitement, as if they had discovered a great treasure.

Several children ran to the stream, lay down, and used their hands to scoop up the flowing water, sending it to their mouths.

Even more prostrated themselves on the ground, kissing the dirt with their mouths.

"Aren't you going to test it before drinking?" Genava asked Zeng Duo.

This didn't conform to the rules of wilderness survival.

Some water only looked clean.

Zeng Duo shook her head:

"Anyway, it can't be worse than the water we had before."

The townspeople of Early Spring Town had been drinking water that was severely polluted and could cause mutations for decades.

Genava silently added a new human behavior pattern to his database.

Han Wanghuo looked around and saw the ruins of a small city in the distance.

Many of the reinforced concrete buildings of the Old World still stood, only to be mostly submerged by greenery.

He turned to Zeng Duo and said:

"We should return to First City and get new medicine."

Zeng Duo "Mmm"ed:

"The doctor and place for the surgery can also be scouted out by Daba and the others in advance, to avoid any accidents."

Han Wanghuo opened his mouth, then silently walked towards the black SUV parked on the side of the abandoned road, and poured the reserve can of gasoline into the fuel tank.

Taking this opportunity, Zeng Duo informed the town chief and several relatives of her condition, and finally said:

"I'm going to First City for treatment now. Maybe I can come back, maybe I can't."

The town chief sighed and said:

"You were originally the healthiest child in town, but you still suffered a mutation. Maybe this is the destiny of our Early Spring Town."

"This damn gray earth! This damn world!" Zeng Duo's cousin couldn't help but curse twice.

Zeng Duo lowered her head and smiled:

"Maybe there's still hope, that it can be cured."

"Yes." The town chief looked back. "There really isn't much pollution here. Our destiny will change little by little, and yours should too. We're all waiting for you to come back."

Zeng Duo suddenly turned her head and looked at the black SUV not far away:

"Okay.

"I should go over there. They're waiting."

Without giving the town chief and her relatives a chance to respond, she waved her hand and trotted to the passenger seat of the black SUV.

The vehicle sped along the road again, winding through the mountains and back to the North Shore Wasteland.

In this way, Han Wanghuo, Genava, and Zeng Duo took turns driving, taking advantage of the daylight to get to the Red River Bridge as quickly as possible.

On the way, they encountered an extreme weather event and almost had the windshield smashed by hail, forcing them to find a place to rest and take shelter.

The next day, near noon, the Red River Bridge was already faintly visible. As in normal times, there were city defense troops setting up checkpoints and convoys slowly passing through.

"We have to disguise ourselves. Get the money ready to bribe the soldiers," Genava reminded the two in the front row.

"Okay," Han Wanghuo nodded.

He slowed down and looked for a hidden parking spot.

During this process, he looked at the road ahead and said seemingly unintentionally:

"If the new treatment plan works and can indeed allow me to live for another half a year, I want to try other methods first. A good mechanical heart is much better than yours."

After speaking, Han Wanghuo received no response.

He turned his head and found that Zeng Duo had shrunk into the passenger seat at some point, her eyes closed, her cheeks flushed, her lips dry, and her whole body trembling from time to time.

"..." Han Wanghuo reached out his right hand and tried to push her. "Zeng Duo?"

Genava's head poked over from the back row, and after a careful examination, he said:

"She's unconscious.

"Her condition has deteriorated sharply."

Perhaps the intense battle of breaking into Early Spring Town consumed too much of Zeng Duo's energy, or perhaps she completely relaxed after her wish was fulfilled, and the disease within her suddenly grew to a terrifying extent.

Han Wanghuo was silent for a few seconds, then found a relatively hidden location nearby and parked the car.

"Hurry up and disguise yourself, get into the city as soon as possible," he said to Genava without any expression, urging himself as well.

Before long, Han Wanghuo, carrying Genava, who was hidden in the trunk like another military exoskeleton device, used the excuse of a hunter companion having a sudden illness, and used money as a way to pave the road, successfully driving the black SUV onto the Red River Bridge.

At some point, Zeng Duo woke up.

She opened her eyes, looked at Han Wanghuo next to her, and smiled weakly:

"Looks like I made it. I didn't break my promise, even though I really wanted to get a little fatter."

Han Wanghuo said with a normal expression:

"When we get to the clinic that Daba and the others found, you should get an IV drip first to bring down the fever, and then consider a new treatment plan."

Zeng Duo forced a smile:

"I'm afraid I can't."

She gasped for breath and said:

"You're always, always, so tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Don't be like this in the future. Not everyone, not everyone can guess what you really, really want to say..."

Han Wanghuo was silent and accelerated, and Genava in the back row opened his mouth, but ultimately controlled his loudspeaker.

Zeng Duo's vision gradually blurred, and she said to herself:

"Didn't you ask me, me, if I would, would be reluctant to die, if I would, would want to be a little selfish?

"I can, can answer you now. Really, really a little. I really want to, want to open up wasteland with everyone, plant fields together, hunt together, really want to persuade you, don't hide all your worries, don't say them out...

"I even think, if our illnesses were all, were all cured, could we, could we continue to stay together like this, we two, two people stuck in the mud, people with nothing, supporting, supporting each other, and slowly moving forward..."

Han Wanghuo's body trembled and he turned his head again.

Zeng Duo slowly, slowly reached out her left hand and touched Han Wanghuo's right palm that had released the steering wheel.

She smiled:

"Han, Han Wanghuo, don't always say, always say you're selfish. You're not, not that kind of person.

"In the future, you have to replace me, live on, replace me, to love more people...

"In addition to loving yourself, you must also learn to, love others. Only then, will your life be complete. Only then, will you be truly, truly human..."

"Together." Han Wanghuo tightly grasped Zeng Duo's left palm and drove the jeep as fast as he could.

As he drove, he felt the hand in his palm gradually lose its strength, gradually become cold.

He craned his neck, still looking ahead, without turning his head.

...

A little after eight o'clock in the evening, Antana Street, inside a certain black clinic.

The "Old Task Force", waiting for Han Wanghuo's heart transplant surgery to be completed, received a reply from "Pangu Biology" at the agreed time.

After Jiang Baimian's translation, the corresponding meaning was clearly conveyed to Shang Jianyao and Genava:

"Return to the company first, rest for a while, then consider the Holm Reproductive Medical Center and that secret laboratory."

——Bai Chen was taking care of Long Yuehong, who was temporarily unsuitable for moving around, in that safe house.

Jiang Baimian then looked at Genava:

"Lao Ge, what are your plans next?"

Genava already knew that Olei, the "father of artificial intelligence robots," believed that he and his companions might have developed consciousness similar to humans, and had been pacing back and forth in the clinic excitedly. At this time, hearing Jiang Baimian's question, he calculated for a moment and said:

"I plan to stay in First City and wait for you to come back, to see if there's a chance to explore that secret laboratory and get the data left by Olei.

"It's more convenient to replenish electricity here."

"Okay." Jiang Baimian did not object.

She had not yet informed Genava of her suspicion of the "Source Brain", because the "Old Task Force" was exhausted and could not withstand any more surprises.

Jiang Baimian's plan was that, regardless of whether "Pangu Biology" assigned the task of exploring the Holm Reproductive Medical Center and that secret laboratory to her team in the future, she would take her team members back to First City. At that time, after making preparations, she would communicate with Genava about this issue.

"Be careful, robots aren't very safe here!" Shang Jianyao sincerely warned.

...

"Lao Han, what are your plans next?" A few days later, Jiang Baimian asked Han Wanghuo, who was in bed.

Han Wanghuo, who already knew that they were from "Pangu Biology", was silent for a while and said:

"I plan to live in Early Spring Town for a while and help them rebuild their homes."

He politely declined the suggestion to join "Pangu Biology".

Aren't you discriminating against Subhumans? Bai Chen said silently in her heart.

The vast majority of the townspeople of Early Spring Town were Subhumans.

At this time, Han Wanghuo added:

"In the future, if you need any help, you can always come to Early Spring Town to find me."

"Okay." Jiang Baimian did not force him. Shang Jianyao was very disappointed.

...

When Long Yuehong could barely walk on the ground, the "Old Task Force" drove the original jeep, leading Giuseppe "Garibaldi" and two other intelligence officers who were returning to the company to report for duty, left First City and headed towards the Black Marsh Wilderness in the northwest.