Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

The mountain they were on wasn’t very high. With the pace of Ruo Manni and the others, they reached the foot of the mountain in half an hour.

Looking at the long, familiar stretch of road and the faint yellow dividing line in the center of the highway, Ruo Manni stood frozen.

“Why are you crying again?” Hebrew Adam asked in a flustered tone, turning Ruo Manni’s face to him and gently wiping away her tears, feeling pained as he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Seeing her like this made him anxious.

“What’s going on? If something’s troubling you, tell me. We’ll solve it together. I’m your fiancé—there’s nothing you can’t tell me.”

Hebrew Adam’s words distracted her, and the sudden wave of sorrow that had overwhelmed her began to fade. Ruo Manni wiped away her tears and tried to calm herself.

No matter if things were as she had guessed, she realized she had let her emotions get the best of her, and that was not something she should have allowed.

Once she regained her composure, Ruo Manni said to Hebrew Adam, “I’ve discovered something, and I’m feeling very confused. I can’t even explain why, but I’ll tell you once I figure it out.”

She still didn’t want to speak further. Hebrew Adam couldn’t force her, so all he could do was agree.

“Shall we go that way?” Hebrew Adam asked Ruo Manni.

To prevent her from continuing to cry, Hebrew Adam decided to find something for her to do.

“Doesn’t matter,” Ruo Manni replied. It didn’t matter which direction they went; she was unfamiliar with the place.

“Everyone, take out your usual weapons. This world most likely doesn’t have space devices or similar items. Try not to use any space devices in front of the people here.” Ruo Manni thought for a moment and then said.

Everyone obediently took out their preferred cold weapons and strapped them to their backs.

Then Hebrew Adam took the lead and walked quickly ahead. However, perhaps because of Ruo Manni’s unexplained tears twice, he was worried and tightly held her hand, keeping her by his side.

Based on Ruo Manni’s estimation, the speed at which they were walking was not slower than a bicycle on Earth.

After walking for more than ten minutes, Ruo Manni spotted a vehicle parked by the roadside from a distance.

Ruo Manni fixed her gaze on the car, trying to suppress her excitement.

This was the type of vehicle commonly used in the era she lived in. Even the license plate had the familiar font she recognized. They had been transported by the black hole to China, and it was very likely to be the era she had lived in.

This time, Ruo Manni didn’t trigger any sadness. Instead, she focused on approaching quickly to get a better look.

As they drew closer, they saw that the car had crashed into a utility pole at the side of the road.

The front of the car was completely caved in, pinning the driver in the seat. On the seat was a skeleton—not entirely, though. It was more accurate to say it was half a skeleton because the lower half of the driver’s body was still intact, and the head was also complete. It seemed that this person had died within the past three days.

This driver had definitely died unnaturally, and even though the body had been there for a while, no one had come to claim it.

“This world, is it not a crime to kill someone?” Dean Atchison asked in amazement.

“This person wasn’t killed by a human; they were likely eaten by something,” Hebrew Adam said.

“And it wasn’t a small animal, but also not a large one—at least not something powerful enough to drag him away,” Hua Deli added.

“I have a feeling that something’s wrong with this world. The air seems to be filled with some kind of harmful particles,” Mina-Olli said, looking at Ruo Manni. “Don’t you feel the same?”

Ruo Manni couldn’t deny that. She was more familiar with the air on Earth than anyone here, but she couldn’t explain it. She only nodded.

The group continued walking forward and found that there were more and more vehicles by the roadside that had encountered accidents, many of them similar to the first one they saw.

Some cars were empty inside, while the ground outside was covered in skeletons.

Judging by the blood stains and bones on the ground, the humans who died in these accidents had been dead for varying lengths of time, with the oldest ones having been dead for several months.

“This road is probably home to some dangerous creatures. Everyone, be careful,” Hebrew Adam said.

Without Hebrew Adam needing to say it, everyone could guess that the cause of so many deaths, with no one coming to claim the bodies, was likely due to some hidden danger.

Although they knew there might be hidden dangers, they couldn’t just retreat without a fight. They were here for training. As long as the danger wasn’t absolutely certain, they would continue forward bravely.

Ruo Manni didn’t speak, but Hebrew Adam could tell from her expression that she must have seen something in these signs, though she seemed downcast. She didn’t want to talk about it, and he didn’t want to force her.

If anything important came up that could threaten their safety, he believed she would definitely speak up.

The group continued walking, and by the side of the road, they found a collapsed pillar with a dusty sign on top. The sign had some… characters?

“These should be words, right?” Dean Atchison said curiously, looking at it and even taking a photo with his light brain.

After entering this world, their light brains had lost connection with the sky network of their original world. However, they had tested it and found that they could still communicate with each other using their light brains.

Seeing Dean Atchison using his light brain, Ruo Manni suddenly remembered something. She opened her light brain to take a closer look, but then, feeling disappointed, she put it down again and looked at the sign.

“Ruo Manni, can you understand these characters?” Hebrew Adam asked, noticing something was off.

Ruo Manni hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

Her companions were all greatly surprised.

“Cousin, you’ve been here before, haven’t you?” Dean Atchison blurted out.

“What are you talking about? If Ruo Manni had been here before, and then returned fifty years later, would she still be the same age?” Sheila rolled her eyes.

“I once learned this language,” Ruo Manni said briefly.

The group remembered that Ruo Manni had grown up on Topaz Star, and since the Gus Empire already had passages to this world, it wasn’t surprising that this world’s culture existed here as well.

Although they sensed that Ruo Manni’s words carried a lot of meaning, this explanation was not incorrect. She didn’t want to speak more about it, and they didn’t press her. They thought this was fine.

As long as they could understand the characters of this world, they would be able to quickly adapt and integrate. After all, they would have to live here for nearly fifty years, and it was impossible to stay hidden in the deep mountains and forests forever.

“What does it say?” Dean Atchison asked eagerly.

“It’s saying ‘One kilometer to Junyang City,’” Ruo Manni pointed to a line of text.

“This means there’s a city very close to us,” Hebrew Adam grasped the key point.

Ruo Manni nodded.

“Alright, let’s go then,” Hebrew Adam decisively said.

He looked at the sky and the red, glowing star in its position. Hebrew Adam felt that the world would likely get dark soon, and it was best to find a place to settle.

Soon, through the green trees, they vaguely saw a city. Although it was hard to make out the details, Ruo Manni was certain it was a city with concrete and dirt buildings.

Before she had time to get overly excited, they were startled by a group of people, about a dozen or so, who staggered toward them from the front.