On the highway, Lu Yuan drove steadily forward.
In the trunk, the wordless stele lay quietly.
With the strange disturbance on Mount Longhu, everyone high and low was busy, so when he left, he had merely given brief notice, and no one paid him any mind.
"Today is August 10, about twenty days before the mutation begins. The meteor shower in the suburbs of Wuzhou should happen around the twentieth. I should make it in time."
Lu Yuan murmured to himself. His next plan was to head to the farm he had previously purchased on the outskirts of Wuzhou.
Inside the meteorite lay the extraterrestrial sword core, a supreme divine artifact.
It was also the very last thing he had to obtain before the global mutation.
Fortunately, Wuzhou was not far from Shanghai. Once he secured it, he could rush back as quickly as possible.
While planning ahead, Lu Yuan switched on the car radio to see if there were any breaking news reports.
Evidently, all information regarding the impending mutation appeared to be under a strict gag order.
Every channel was business as usual.
If they weren't broadcasting traffic conditions, they were playing songs.
Of course, there were a few scattered pieces of odd news—such as a hiking group that climbed a mountain and found the distance much longer than before; what should have taken two days ended up taking a full week, as if the land itself had been stretched.
There was also a village where the mountain behind it had suddenly grown significantly taller overnight, lush with flourishing vegetation.
Some curious villagers who ventured inside vanished without a trace, never to return.
Then there was news about Lop Nur.
Legend had it that this region was once a vast wetland in ancient times, only to dry up completely after thousands of years of change.
Not long ago, however, aerial photography of the area revealed a boundless sea stretching beyond the horizon. In the end, the drone lost contact and crashed, leaving no definitive footage.
All kinds of strange phenomena were occurring one after another, yet most reports were fragmented and hard to connect together.
Even when such incidents made the news, few people followed them for long, quickly moving on to chase the next trending topic.
"The closer we get to the time, the more variables will appear," Lu Yuan reflected as he listened to the broadcast.
Fortunately, he had begun his preparations from the very beginning. Otherwise, it would have been nearly impossible to adapt to the new era.
After that, he turned off the radio and focused on driving. Since the trip from Mount Longhu to Wuzhou would normally take seven or eight hours, he had no intention of stopping to rest.
Strangely enough, Lu Yuan eventually discovered that the distance seemed to have grown farther.
It was just like the situation that hiking group had encountered.
Along the highway, many vehicles had stalled on the shoulder awaiting rescue after running out of fuel.
Lu Yuan, however, had come well prepared.
After driving continuously for more than a dozen hours, he finally reached his destination.
***
"Boss Lu, your timing was truly swift."
"You have no idea—not long after you bought my farm, a large corporation came knocking, offering to pay an even higher price."
In a sprawling farm on the outskirts of Wuzhou, two figures walked side by side. One of them, a middle-aged man, spoke up: "But by then, I'd already signed the contract with you, so I turned them down outright."
This middle-aged man was the previous owner of the farm, surnamed Zhang. He was dark-skinned and short, but had a shrewd look about him.
"Even if you hadn't turned them down, Boss Zhang, you wouldn't have been able to sell the land anyway," Lu Yuan said flatly.
How could he not understand what the man was getting at? By that time, the property rights had already been transferred to Lu Yuan.
Now, the man merely felt he had missed out and wanted to squeeze out a little extra benefit.
"Heh heh, look at what you're saying, Boss Lu. I was only joking! Come, let me show you around again." Having been seen through, Boss Zhang gave an embarrassed chuckle and changed the subject to break the awkwardness, though inwardly he was filled with regret.
If only he had waited a bit longer, he could have made a fortune. Who could have foreseen this outcome?
Yet regret was useless now; the contract was already signed and sealed.
The owner of this farm was now Lu Yuan.
The farm was not particularly large, around thirty or forty mu. After all, Wuzhou was a major city, and even suburban land commanded a steep price.
Originally, the land had been used for greenhouse vegetables and livestock farming, but market conditions had been poor in recent years.
So the owner had given up on it and put it on the market, after which it ended up in Lu Yuan's hands.
"Boss Lu, over there is the villa I built myself. It's a bit small, but nicely renovated. You can stay there whenever you have time in the future," Boss Zhang said, introducing many details. Since what was done was done, he figured he might as well be welcoming.
Who knew? If he left a good impression on Boss Lu, maybe the man would think of him if any profitable business came along.
Lu Yuan had noticed the house long before. He nodded, thinking he could stay there over the coming days.
Then, he would quietly wait for the meteorite to fall and secure it at the very first moment.
After completing the handover procedures, Boss Zhang departed, as the remaining balance would be wired directly to his bank account.
Lu Yuan tidied up the room and moved the wordless stele inside. Something this precious was better kept right before his eyes before heading home, just in case it was lost.
Over the next few days, he stayed inside the house and went nowhere.
Even so, he did not neglect his training to strengthen his physique.
The medicinal essence from the Ziwu Heaven-Mending Furnace had already integrated into his flesh and blood; now, all he needed to do was fully digest and assimilate its potency.
Once that was done, all facets of his physical capabilities would continue to rise.
Yet throughout this period, for some reason, Lu Yuan repeatedly felt as though someone was lurking nearby.
Whenever he tried to search carefully, however, there was no trace to be found.
At first, he thought it was merely an illusion, but he quickly dismissed that notion. His five senses now far surpassed those of ordinary men; to a certain degree, he could even sense danger beforehand—an instinct born from developing his physical body to a profound level.
The problem was that despite sensing something was amiss, he could not find anyone.
It was exceedingly strange.
"Earlier, Boss Zhang mentioned that after the contract was signed, a large corporation approached him, but didn't manage to get the land."
"Could the people I'm sensing belong to that company?"
Lu Yuan considered the possibility, but could not be certain.
If they were mere ordinary humans within a limited perimeter, they could never have eluded his investigation.
Unless they were someone like an Awakened—yet the global mutation had not yet occurred.
Such beings could not possibly exist yet.
Furthermore, if someone really was lurking around, what was their objective?
Could they also know that an extraterrestrial sword core was incubating inside the meteorite?
Lu Yuan had many questions, but no answers.
In the end, he stopped dwelling on it and chose to ignore it.
Whatever the reason, everything would become clear once the meteorite fell.
Thus, over the next several days, Lu Yuan went about as usual, rarely stepping outside while keeping his true strength hidden.
Even though the sensation of being watched lingered, he paid it no heed.
Soon, August 21 arrived.
According to his memories, today was the day the meteorite would descend.
Lu Yuan had prepared thoroughly and was ready to act at a moment's notice. But suspecting that eyes were on him, he chose to bide his time.
Chapter 19