The Return: Forgotten Era

Chapter 3: Still a long way to Moon Ctiy

"Looking at the weather and the animals around, they all know that something is wrong here. Leaving is just a natural choice." Kai drove the vehicle through the snow without turning back, responding.

"Did my aunt ask you to come pick me up?" Noah turned and asked a question that hadn’t been answered.

"If you think so, then it’s true." Kai answered.

"What mission are you on here? Are you a special forces soldier?" Noah continued asking, not getting the answer he wanted.

"You must know what’s going on! Hurry up and tell me some news!" Noah was determined to keep asking until he got the information he wanted.

"I don’t know!" Kai answered, feeling annoyed by Noah’s persistence.

Kai didn’t want to tell Noah the truth, so even if he knew, he would still give this answer.

Kai continued to drive in silence until they reached a section of the highway blocked by many vehicles trapped in the snow, with no way to go around. Kai decisively said:

"Get out of the car!" Without waiting for a response, Kai got out and walked to the other side of the car to pull Noah out.

"You want to freeze to death in this cold, and you’re telling me to walk? Do you think Wind City is close by?" Noah refused, saying.

"Go first, then we’ll see. Put on a thick coat and go, or you’ll die here alone! Choose now!" Kai ordered.

"Hey, hey, don’t be so hot-headed! Don’t talk about dying here!" Noah said, then opened his backpack, found the thickest jacket, put it on, and followed Kai.

After walking for a while, they left the highway and passed a house by the road. Seeing something strange, Noah approached Kai and said:

"Is this a bougainvillea? Only twelve hours after the meteorite fell, and it’s growing like this? This is scary." Noah said.

"It’s grown that fast?" Kai murmured.

"What’s growing fast?" Noah pressed.

"Evolution! Just one day, and the normal plants have already grown this much," Kai finally admitted the truth.

"The bougainvillea, after twelve hours, has grown and covered a house almost twenty meters long. How much bigger will it get?" Noah looked up, seeing a sea of purple bougainvillea flowers, looking enchanting against the white snow.

As soon as Noah finished speaking, a shower of bougainvillea petals suddenly shot toward them. Kai quickly pulled Noah away, shielding him from the petals.

"Run! This place is too dangerous." Kai held his stomach with one hand and pulled Noah along with the other.

"Did it hit you?" Noah raised his hand, intending to check.

Kai quickly swatted his hand away and said, "It's just a superficial wound, hurry up and run!" Kai shouted, knowing that staying longer would only get more dangerous.

The two of them ran as fast as they could, getting out of the line of sight of those flower petals. Only at this moment did Noah truly realize the threat humanity was facing.

"It not only developed in appearance but can also attack. What is happening to this world?"

After running about two hundred meters, they had temporarily escaped the line of sight of the terrifying bougainvillea.

Noah helped Kai remove the petals from his body. Though they were both wearing thick jackets, seeing the cotton fluff spilling out of the down jacket made them gasp in shock. If they hadn’t been wearing such a thick jacket today, what would be spilling out now wouldn’t be cotton, but their organs.

The two of them carefully observed the petals. The nature of bougainvillea petals is very thin and wouldn't normally harm humans. These petals had evolved; though still thin, they had changed in both nature and appearance. They were as tough as metal plates, with small thorns growing on the edges. When they were shot out with a spinning motion, given their shape and properties, they would become a terrifying weapon of mass destruction when thousands of petals were fired all at once.

"Anyone hit by them would turn into a purple porcupine."

Lost in observing the petals, Noah forgot something. Despite wearing a thick jacket, Kai also wore a military grade protective vest underneath, but when he had shielded Noah earlier, he was also injured with a wound on his stomach from the bougainvillea petals.

"Is your stomach okay? Let me check!" Noah immediately asked.

"I'm fine, it's just a superficial wound. I’m wearing a protective vest!" Kai answered calmly.

"A superficial wound doesn’t hurt? I’m a doctor, let me check!" Noah reached out.

Without waiting for Kai’s response, Noah pulled up his shirt, but something made him pause for a few seconds and think:

"I know they train well in the military, but this body is a bit too good-looking, right? The abs are so defined."

Looking at the young soldier’s abs, Noah thought about his poor abs. With the amount of work he had, he was lucky if he could get any sleep when he got home, let alone have time to work out.

"Have you seen enough?" Kai noticed Noah staring at his stomach uncomfortably and spoke up.

Noah, embarrassed, his ears turning red, still retorted: "Not yet!"

He took off his backpack and then focused on finding the first aid kit he had brought along.

"Though the wound isn’t deep, try to endure the pain a little!" Noah said while putting on gloves and preparing the supplies to bandage Kai’s wound.

"Is all this necessary?"

"Shh, let the adults handle it!"

First, Noah cleaned the wound left by the bougainvillea petals. Seeing Kai’s abs tighten, he said, "Hold on a bit, we're just cleaning the wound."

Then Noah carefully disinfected the wound again, sprinkled an appropriate amount of antibiotic powder on the open wound, and finally covered it with a gauze pad.

"All done!" Noah said after a while, having finished dressing the wound.

Noah turned his head back to look at the bougainvillea and said: "Do you think that bougainvillea will attack others?"

"Not sure, but probably."

"Then, should we warn the others who are coming by? Maybe leave a sign or something. If it attacked us, others could be in danger too." Noah said worriedly.

"What are you talking about?" Kai’s face suddenly turned unpleasant.

"Has your brain been soaked in water or something?" Kai continued shouting.

Noah was stunned by the scolding and then replied, "I just want to help others! Why don't you care about your fellow humans? They’ll be in danger!"

"Since the meteorite fell, it’s been more than twelve hours. What do you think has happened to Earth in those twelve hours?"

"It’s not just that bougainvillea, but all the animals and plants will keep evolving relentlessly. Do you know what situation we're in?" Kai took a step closer to Noah and said coldly.

This was the first time since they met a few hours ago that the young soldier spoke so much to Noah, but these words made Noah snap back to reality.

In truth, in his mind, he still thought this was a dream, and once it ended, everything would return to normal. Even just moments ago, he thought the world would go back to normal soon, and he would resume being a doctor, happily treating people until he grew old. He believed humanity had gone through so many difficulties and upheavals and wouldn't be easily crushed like this.

But now he had to accept the truth: humanity was walking down the path to extinction.

He wasn't stupid enough not to recognize the threat of this evolution. Thinking back to the giant dog and the bougainvillea, he realized that humanity was no longer the top species in the food chain.

The harsh reality.

But it was the reality!