Omega Manual chapter 57
The Worst Outcome
The next train to North Luna was three days away.
If everything went smoothly, they would board outside the outskirts of Kachigist Village, spend a whole day traveling to North Luna, wait there for a day, then take a car from North Luna to Lorion, and finally from Lorion to the last human settlement port, Fuba Port.
This process would probably take a lot of time, at least three times slower than when they still had a car. But in the end, he would still reach his destination, then take a boat north from Fuba Port, all the way to the uninhabited high mountains, Mount Yinbu.
He had plenty of time and had cultivated enough patience.
The mountain was there, unmoving, unchanging, like an impending doomsday or a long-awaited holiday.
A permanent, long holiday, quietly waiting for him at the end of the journey.
They stayed in Kachigist Village for another two days.
After a few clear days, the snow on the road gradually melted, revealing large wet patches.
Irey helped the kind lady clear the snow at the door, piling the dirty snow in the corner behind the house, leaving the clean snow for the children to play with for a few more days.
The snowman that the girl had built when they first arrived had already melted halfway, leaning with its head cocked, and the vegetables stuck on top as a nose had fallen off. It no longer looked like a cute snowman but more like a monster from a horror movie.
Several boys laughed recklessly at the deformed snowman, while only the girl remained squatting in front of it, desperately trying to repair it with snow, trying to restore its original appearance.
However, even if the new snow was filled in, it still couldn’t stop the scorching sun. The snowman was piled up in the middle of the yard, but as soon as the sun came out, its body began to melt rapidly, becoming more and more distorted.
In the end, the little girl had to give up on filling it in and sat dejectedly in front of the melting snowman.
Shelley came out of the house just in time to see Irey squatting in front of the little girl with a broom.
There was an unmistakable grievance in the little girl’s clear voice.
“Irey, is there no way to keep the snowman here?”
“Well…” Irey pondered for a moment, looking at the already damp snowman. “No, once the sun comes out and the weather warms up, the snow will melt. Sooner or later, it will turn into water.”
The little girl bit her lip. “So, it’s going to die for sure?”
Irey was surprised by the girl’s choice of words, but quickly regained composure and nodded at her. “Yes, it will definitely die.”
The little girl lowered her head sadly, tears swirling in her reddened eyes. “Can’t we just keep the sun from coming out? If the weather stays cold, it won’t die, right?”
“In theory, that’s true.” Irey thought for a moment, then looked earnestly at the girl. “But think about it, if the weather stays cold, the kittens and puppies in the village, as well as the birds in the woods, will all freeze to death. If the weather stays cold, crops won’t grow in the fields, and without crops, we won’t have food to eat. In the long run, both I, Grandma, and you and your friends will starve to death. Do you want that to happen?”
The little girl widened her teary eyes and shook her head with all her might.
“Right?” Irey reached out to pat the girl’s head.
The girl bit her lip, holding back tears from falling from her eyes, and murmured, “But why can’t we let the snowman live with everyone?”
“I know, it seems unfair, doesn’t it?” Irey rubbed the girl’s head. “But that’s how the world works. Winter passes, spring comes, the snowman melts into water, the water evaporates into vapor and floats up into the sky, and when winter comes again next year, it will turn into snow and fall again.”
The little girl stopped crying, looking up at Irey with bewildered eyes. “Are you saying it will come back?”
Irey smiled. “Yes, so say your goodbyes to it now. When next winter comes, it will turn into new snow and come back to accompany you.”
The girl wiped her tears with the back of her hand, nodded, and ran into the house to find a hat. With the hat on, she skipped over to the snowman, solemnly bowed to it.
“Goodbye, snowman,” the girl whispered. “I’ll be here waiting for you next winter. You must remember me and come back, okay!”
As Irey stood up from in front of the snowman, he turned around to meet the gaze of Shelley, who had been watching them.
“Spouting nonsense to deceive kids again,” Shelley remarked.
Irey clicked his tongue. “What nonsense? This is valuable life philosophy. I didn’t even ask her for payment.”
Shelley chuckled. “Payment? Are you going to snatch a few more toys or candies from her? How old are you? Why do you need those?”
“Of course, it’s to offer tribute to a certain boss,” Irey retorted smoothly, “After all, there’s a certain someone who’s 31 and still can’t take care of himself, refuses to tell anyone when he’s sick…”
Shelley didn’t bother with his banter, kicking him lightly on the shin.
The self-inflicted Alpha bent down, clutching his shin with a pained expression, unsure of who between them was more childish in this moment.
“Pack up your luggage.” Shelley glanced at the sun in the sky. “We should leave in the afternoon.”
The lady walked out of the house with slow steps, perhaps having overheard their conversation. Her face showed a kindly concern. “Are you leaving?”
“Yes, thank you for taking care of us these days.” Shelley bent down, offering her a standard noble greeting. “We’ve caused you trouble.”
“Not at all, not at all.” The lady still had a smiling face. “Where are you going next?”
Shelley glanced at Irey and opted for a conservative answer. “Fuba Port.”
The lady’s eyes widened in surprise. “But you can’t go there now.”
“I know.” Shelley patiently explained, “So we plan to take a train from here to North Luna, then go around from the side of Lorion…”
“Not that.” The lady waved her hand. “Those trains have stopped running, and the roads to the north have been blocked off by the government.”
Shelley was taken aback. “Why?”
“It’s radiation.” The lady said calmly, “It’s said that a large meteorite fell into the North Sea, cracked open, and released a lot of radiation. The government blocked off the area to the north, and the trains stopped running.”
“How is that possible?” Irey couldn’t believe it, pulling out a map from his pocket. The train schedule on it was still clearly written.
“When did this happen?”
“It’s been about half a month, haven’t you heard?” The lady said, taking out a new map from under the table. “Look, this is the newly printed train schedule.”
Shelley took it and looked at it, stunned.
Just as The lady said, the new timetable no longer included the routes they had planned, and not only that, all the trains from Duhaat to the north had disappeared. In the upper right corner of the form, there was a small note:
【Due to the high concentration of meteorite radiation pollution north of Duhaat, relevant train services have been suspended. We ask for passengers’ understanding.】
Half a month ago was exactly when they set off from Nantes.
Despite all calculations, Shelley overlooked one thing.
In today’s absence of communication networks, the transmission of information has returned to the sluggish and closed-off state of hundreds of years ago.
Such a major event as the suspension of train services was difficult to convey to distant Nantes, resulting in the routes marked on the map always being the old version, yet no one noticed.
Additionally, compared to ordinary people, he had the convenient tool of a mobile GPS, which meant that they hardly needed to ask for directions along the way, and thus they consistently failed to receive such important news.
“Where’s Marwen? What about Fuba Port?” Shelley asked urgently, “Are you saying that all these major cities are sealed off? What about the people inside?”
The lady shook her head, “I’m not sure about the specifics.”
“Then is there no other way to Fuba Port?” Shelley raised his voice, “That’s the essential port to reach Mount Yinbu!”
“Well…” The lady looked hesitant, and the sudden increase in Shelley’s volume startled the children in the courtyard, who looked over in confusion.
Shelley wanted to continue questioning, but suddenly felt a pain in his wrist. His hand was gripped by Irey, who exerted some force to pull him back.
“Sorry, give us a moment,” Irey said, dropping those words and then pulling Shelley away from the courtyard, walking until they were out of sight and earshot of the lady and the children before releasing Shelley’s hand.
“What are you doing?” Shelley’s wrist hurt from being pulled, and an unnamed anger surged in his chest.
“She’s just an old lady in her sixties, what’s the point of pressing her?” Irey said.
“Then what’s the alternative?” Shelley asked, suppressing his anger, “You didn’t prepare the route properly. If you had asked the locals for directions more, we would have known about this news long ago!”
“So what if we knew earlier?” Irey retorted, “If the northern route is really sealed off, it doesn’t matter how early we knew! If we can’t go, we can’t go, unless you grow wings and fly over there!”
Shelley fell silent for a moment. “The Manta family does have helicopters now.”
Irey widened his eyes, squeezing out a voice from between his teeth, “Are you insane? Why do you think the government would seal the roads? It’s severe radiation! Those meteorites’ radiation could have unknown effects on the human body. How many people have died because of meteorite radiation?”
“Died?” Shelley interrupted him, asking back.
His expression was calm, like a serene lake on a sunny day, without a ripple.
It was precisely this inappropriate calmness that made him seem so abnormal, so unfamiliar, like someone appearing before Irey for the first time, like someone he didn’t know at all.
“Isn’t death the worst outcome?” Shelley said, “Besides, we are all new mutants after the apocalypse. Maybe we can survive to the foot of the mountain. Although I’d prefer to climb to the top, I’d be satisfied if I could reach the foot of the mountain.”
Irey realized his fingers were trembling.
He didn’t even know at this moment whether he wanted to punch Shelley, or to kill himself, or to just abandon everything and walk away, back to Lansai, back to his dull and monotonous little hut, back to the time when Shelley Manta had never appeared in his life.
But he spoke, because if he didn’t say something now, he was afraid he would go crazy on the spot.
“Regardless, you insist on going to Mount Yinbu, right?” he asked.
“Yes.” Shelley answered without hesitation.
“Even if it means I accompany you to our deaths?” he asked.
Shelley remained silent.
“Boss,” his voice trembled, changing tone, “From the beginning, you never intended to come back from Mount Yinbu, did you?”