There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

To their delight, their actions were effective. They drove for nearly three hours without seeing any trace of trees.

In other words, they did not go back to the wrong path, nor did they fall into any strange vicious cycle.

They are simply on a road that is far too long.

…………

At the thirtieth minute, we spotted an empty gas station in a gap in the road. Our car was almost out of gas, but our gas card was still inserted, so we filled up there.

However, after a thorough search, no trace of human activity was found.

This gas station has a very tall roof, a pure steel frame structure, and a simple and unpretentious architectural style with a distinct industrial design; it is not a typical rural gas station.

Since everyone was hungry and tired, we rested there for a while. The driver also slept for an hour in the driver's seat.

Fortunately, we also found a convenience store next to the gas station, which was well-stocked with food and drinks. We broke into the store and bought two boxes of bread and drinks. We also filled our stomachs with biscuits and bread.

However, I also noticed something unusual in this place.

First, the gas station's closure was planned. This is evident from the tightly checked and locked gate and the meticulously cleaned grounds. However, the strange thing is that the entire parking lot remained closed at the same time: 3:07:26.

Regarding the clock stopping due to lack of power, under normal circumstances, due to the influence of gravity, the second hand will stop in the lower left area of ​​the dial after rotating clockwise to the bottom, which is between 6 and 9 o'clock, because it is unable to climb up again.

However, the second hands of these clocks all stopped at 26 seconds, which is clearly not a normal occurrence.

Unless some bored person sets the clocks to the same time, I can be sure that these clocks have all stopped at the same time for some mysterious reason.

Secondly, the gas station had clearly been vandalized before we arrived. Upon inspection, the gas card inserted in the machine wasn't always there; it had been removed from the station's management area, and the door lock had been pried open. This inadvertently benefited us.

However, there were no signs of tampering with the door of the convenience store; we opened it ourselves.

This can be attributed to the fact that those who arrived here before us were simply short of oil, but unlike us, they were starving and thirsty, so they missed the opportunity to replenish their food and drink.

.........

At the 110-minute mark, we arrived at the entrance of a residential house.

To be precise, I have a large area of ​​buildings of varying heights. The first floor has tall roller shutters, and there is a cement parking lot in front of the entrance, where vehicles should be coming and going normally.

The building took about ten years to build. The exterior walls are covered with mosaic tiles, but the height of the buildings varies, with the tallest being four or five stories and the shortest only one or two stories.

Strangely, most of the houses were closed, dark, and uninhabited.

They might still be sound asleep, or they might have already left, just like a gas station.

My partner and I knocked on the door of the only house with lights on for a long time, but no one came to open it. We heard a vague sound coming from inside the house. Instead of getting any useful information, it made our heads spin and our vision go black.

I'm certain that no normal language would sound like this coming from the crack in the door—a monotonous, verbose, boring, and repetitive tone.

Such a voice can only be heard in a secret ritual, a treacherous meeting, or a barbaric temple, filling all rational people with despair.

Ultimately, we didn't get any useful information and left the area, which was probably the closest we came to the civilized world that night.

We did consider using shouting and violence to force open this door and see what was going on. But an invisible force told us that creating such a huge noise in this quiet harbor would not be a wise move!

Therefore, against the backdrop of the dim streetlights, desolate buildings, and empty roads, we, a few lone travelers, appeared particularly isolated and helpless.

.........

In the 178th minute, we saw a car.

The road here returns to a section lined with dense trees on both sides, obscuring the view ahead.

A car was parked all alone on the side of the road.

The front of the car had obvious impact marks, and the hood was open, indicating that someone had been in a car accident here, attempted to repair it but failed, and then abandoned the car.

However, looking around, there was nothing that could have caused the accident, except for a eucalyptus tree that was deformed from being scraped by the front of the car.

Mr. Jackie speculated that the driver's long-term fatigue caused him to become disoriented and unable to react properly in the monotonous environment, leading to the crash into the tree. Unfortunately, the cylinder casing was damaged, making it impossible to repair by hand, so he had to leave.

But here, I saw many different things.

First, the driver appeared very anxious. His footprints were scattered around the entire car, layer upon layer, and there were traces of engine oil seeping through and being futilely wiped away.

This shows that the person had panicked and was not just thinking about repairing the engine, but also about taking useful parts from the car and escaping.

Secondly, this person hadn't been gone for very long.

Judging from the oil stains, a small amount of gasoline was still seeping out of the car, without forming large oil slicks. The dashboard lights were still on, the ventilation system was still running, and the headlights still had power, emitting a faint glow.

All of this suggests that this unfortunate fellow may have left not long ago. If he had waited a little longer, perhaps we would have been able to meet him.

But he didn't.

I can understand his feelings.

This person was likely driving alone, unlike the four of us who could communicate and rely on each other. In such a strange environment, no one wanted to stay put and wait for rescue.

It's better to take your own destiny into your own hands than to entrust it to unrealistic rescue efforts. Even walking forward is better than waiting to die.

Finally, I discovered the direction he had gone.

He didn't take anything and continued walking along the road.

This endless road offers no hope of survival. Judging from the trampled and disturbed traces on the roadside vegetation, this person must have walked alone into the dense, dark woods, heading towards an even more unknown and dangerous path.

I can imagine how this person felt despair, frustration, anger, and tears in the endless darkness of night, before finally accepting his fate and heading down this terrifying path to despair.

…………

We got back into the car.

At least we are luckier than them.

We filled up with gasoline, brought plenty of food, and took a short break, supporting each other as we walked along this strange road.

This is a stroke of luck amidst our misfortune.

But the unfortunate thing is that I discovered a problem, which is also the problem I was desperately trying to avoid in my previous account.

The writing systems appearing throughout this place are completely unfamiliar to us...

We may have already left that familiar world!

Chapter 66 Hearing in the Morning, Dying in the Evening

"What are you doing?"

The car continued to speed along the endless road, its headlights illuminating layers of mist and revealing the many paths ahead.

As a road, this road is too simple and monotonous, with only a single layer of damaged cement surface covering the narrow lanes. Driving on it, the irregular bumps and jolting make one feel anxious.

The round-faced youth saw his companion writing and drawing in the dim light and finally couldn't help but ask.

The square-faced young man stopped writing, quickly showed his notebook, and then quickly put it away: "I'm just recording what I've seen and heard along the way. If we really can't get out, maybe later generations can use this as a reference and find clues to get out."

Upon hearing this, Jackie, the driver in the front seat, also looked grim and said, "We've been stuck here for so long, and we still haven't found a way out. Does anyone have any ideas? Otherwise, if I keep driving, the only outcome will be that I'll collapse from exhaustion like that car we just drove, resulting in death."

"Mr. Jackie, let's stop here and rest for a bit."

The middle-aged man offered words of comfort.

The car slowly came to a stop, and I heard something coming from the roadside.

Everyone couldn't help but look around. Apart from the small area where the car was located, which still retained some light and maintained the last vestige of dignity of the civilized world, the rest of the area had been completely swallowed by darkness.

The darkness surrounding him was like a monstrous beast ready to devour him, swallowing all the light. Jackie thought for a long time, but ultimately decided not to turn off the engine or the headlights.

In such an environment, no one wants to be directly exposed to the lurking darkness of danger.

While sitting in the car, Jackie had a vague feeling of disorientation. It felt as if the car wasn't moving forward on its own, but rather existing on a flowing canvas, being pulled and crawled along. And the darkness behind him was a relentlessly spreading flood, mercilessly submerging everything it crawled through.

"call………"

Several people leaned against the car, exchanging glances, and finally someone spoke up.

“Did you guys notice that we didn’t recognize any of the characters there?” the square-faced young man analyzed.

The round-faced youth nodded: "That's right, where exactly is this place? It's still within the Federation's territory, so how come it's completely different?"

“Hmm…” the middle-aged man said thoughtfully, “Do you really think this is still within the Federation’s territory? The environment here can hardly be measured by driving distance. If there were such a long road here, then at least one more city should have been established.”

The middle-aged man carried a box of wafer biscuits and soda out of the trunk and invited everyone to sit down.

"It's still so dark in this long night. Instead of wasting your energy being anxious, why not get some rest? Come on, have something to eat."

The driver, Jackie, had been driving for a long time and was exhausted. Ignoring the dust on the ground, he sat down, grabbed a bag of cookies, and started munching on them: "Okay, I'm really tired."

The round-faced youth and the square-faced youth looked at each other, finally letting go of their fear. They sat on the ground in despair and started drinking carbonated soda: "I really don't know when dawn will break."

"Let's prepare for the day to never dawn," the middle-aged man said, handing over two bags of biscuits and adopting a casual, conversational tone. "What are you two doing here? Would you like to tell me?"

The round-faced young man stammered, "I'm sorry, we haven't introduced ourselves yet..."

"Don't mind it, it's just casual conversation. You guys don't seem like ordinary students, are you going to do something big?" Driver Jackie also started gossiping.

"We're just ordinary college students, but our advisor is actually somewhat connected to this highway project. Back when he was working with his advisor, he participated in the second phase of the East-West Expressway project. This week, he suddenly went to a neighboring city for an inspection and we haven't heard from him since until yesterday when he called and told us we absolutely had to come..."

"Is your mentor a student of a senior expert?"

Driver Jackie's eyes widened suddenly, and he asked in a trembling voice, "But I remember, that research team ended up..."

The square-faced young man replied expressionlessly, "They died in a plane crash, right? At that time, they went to the polar regions for research. Our teacher was seriously ill and couldn't make it, so he also escaped a great disaster."

The round-faced young man sighed and said, "That's why the teacher has always been persistent in pursuing the research projects left over from back then, and has dedicated his life to them."

"What project? New materials?"

Speaking of this project, driver Jackie immediately thought of the new material that helped the second phase of the project be successfully completed. This must be the direction that the old expert team has been working towards ever since, right?

"No, it's not as simple as you think..."

The square-faced young man said seriously.

“My colleagues may not know this, but my mentor told me something that is very similar to what you said back then.”

"The teacher said that he once participated in a temporary project to search for a place in these mountains that held the secrets of the technological revolution."

"A technological revolution? It's just a new type of material, how could it be that powerful?" The round-faced youth muttered under his breath, perhaps dissatisfied with his mentor's favoritism.

"Hmph, it's even more impressive than you think. Although my advisor didn't say, I suspect it's not some new material at all..."

"What is that?" his companion asked, unconvinced.

"I don't know... Could it be a new theory? A new element? A new academic discipline? What it contains might be completely beyond our imagination. And building this highway is just a tiny, insignificant piece of it that can play a role."