Next, Yi Yi drove to an artificial river in the center of Pyeongtaek City to replenish their water supply.
As they passed through the city and returned to the highway, they were surprised to find that the highway leading south from Pyeongtaek City to Funan City was not clogged with abandoned cars.
In fact, quite a few vehicles were heading onto the highway in front of their RV.
"It seems like a lot of people are heading to Funan City from here," Chen Wan remarked.
"Yeah, and it looks like this road has been cleared of abandoned cars. But I doubt the base in Funan City is safe. In the apocalypse, places where people gather in large numbers never end well," Yi Yi complained.
"I think so too. That's why I plan to leave the base as soon as I rescue the people I need to. I'll find a relatively safe small town with a water source to settle down," Chen Wan shared her plan.
Yi Yi nodded in agreement, not forgetting to praise Chen Wan, "You're the most rational host I've ever had. I've been bound to hosts in the apocalypse before, and they either had grand ambitions, wanting to control humanity, or wanted to be superheroes saving the world."
"One host even starved to death, hiding in one place. I've seen all kinds of oddballs. I just hope you can live longer, so I can live a few more years in physical form." Yi Yi started venting and then went on and on.
Chen Wan understood Yi Yi's difficulties; very few hosts had managed to keep her in physical form, which is why she was so talkative after coming out.
Around three in the afternoon, Chen Wan looked at Yi Yi beside her and said, "Let me drive for a while. You go rest."
"No need, I don't get tired. I'm a bionic," Yi Yi replied with a nonchalant smile.
"Bionics need rest too, or you'll short-circuit after driving too long," Chen Wan made up an excuse.
Seeing that Chen Wan wanted to drive, Yi Yi had no choice but to pull over and let Chen Wan take the driver's seat, while she went to the small dining area.
Jiang Yanxin and Qin Ke were sitting on the sofas on either side, each reading a book, while the little one was napping in the room.
Yi Yi, feeling bored, thought about grabbing someone to retell the stories she had shared with Chen Wan earlier.
She was really bored.
Qin Ke noticed that only Chen Wan was left in the front, so she went to the passenger seat to chat with Chen Wan.
Seeing another person leave, Yi Yi sat on the sofa next to Jiang Yanxin, blocking her path.
Jiang Yanxin saw Yi Yi sit down and just smiled at her, preparing to continue reading her "Campus Scum A." The next moment, she heard Yi Yi's voice.
"Yanxin, let's chat for a bit. Reading in a moving vehicle can strain your eyes. Come on, let me tell you about the odd things I've encountered. It's way more interesting than a novel," Yi Yi said, looking at Jiang Yanxin with her beautiful peach blossom eyes shining.
Jiang Yanxin wasn't very familiar with Yi Yi, but since she said so, she couldn't refuse.
She bookmarked the page she was on, put the book down, and smiled at Yi Yi, "Sure, I won't read then. Let's hear about your past experiences."
"Great, Yanxin, let me tell you, in one world, the host's task was…" Yi Yi immediately started talking nonstop to Jiang Yanxin, not feeling shy at all despite not being familiar with her.
On the contrary, she was very enthusiastic, making Jiang Yanxin feel obliged to listen.
Chen Wan, sitting in the driver's seat, could hear Yi Yi's endless chatter and drove while holding back laughter.
Qin Ke also heard the commotion from the back and looked at Chen Wan, "Your system sure can talk."
"She's not just talkative; she's extremely talkative. Who knows how long she's been holding it in?"
"Ever since she came out, her mouth hasn't stopped," Chen Wan said with a laugh.
Qin Ke found Yi Yi's lively personality amusing, not like a cold robot.
Plus, Yi Yi was the one who gave her girlfriend a chance to come back, so Qin Ke was quite grateful to her.
Since learning that her girlfriend had a chance to return, Qin Ke's burden had lightened.
She remembered Jiang Yanxin being jealous last night and quietly asked Chen Wan, "Did Yanxin get jealous of you yesterday? How did you make it up to her?"
Chen Wan didn't expect Qin Ke to ask this and cleared her throat, "Did I need to make it up? I'm so amazing. I just went in and hugged her, and she was fine immediately."
Chen Wan sat up straight, looking very proud of herself.
Qin Ke's eyes were full of teasing disbelief, "Oh, really? But judging by your usual household status, it doesn't seem like it."
Chen Wan pouted and glanced at Qin Ke, "You've learned to be bad. Besides, my household status has always been high."
Qin Ke nodded, holding back laughter, "Yes, yes, if I didn't live with you guys every day, I might have almost believed it."
Chen Wan "hmphed" to express her indignation.
Was her low household status that obvious?
Chen Wan drove all the way, and by around five in the afternoon, they had surprisingly driven into Busan, though it was a remote county, still four hours from the city center.
Chen Wan decided to stay in the small county for the night and head to Funan City in the morning.
They also needed to discuss the details of their trip to Funan City.
In the small dining area, Yi Yi was holding Yang Yang, talking nonstop about something, and Yang Yang was very excited, occasionally responding to Yi Yi.
Jiang Yanxin had already taken the opportunity to escape from Yi Yi's chatter.
She had really misunderstood Chen Wan before.
Yi Yi could latch onto someone and talk for ages, and Jiang Yanxin was genuinely afraid of her.
She couldn't keep up with Yi Yi's conversation, so she was grateful when Yang Yang came to her rescue.
She thought it was best to let Yang Yang play with Yi Yi for a while.
Chen Wan parked the RV on a street in the county town, thinking that after they finished discussing things, they could scour the small shops along the street.
When Yang Yang saw Chen Wan, she reached out her little hand to find her.
Chen Wan hugged Yang Yang and sat down in a small restaurant.
"Let's all sit down and discuss what we'll do when we get to Funan City tomorrow."
Qin Ke and Jiang Yanxin sat down as Chen Wan suggested, and Yang Yang obediently leaned against Chen Wan, playing with her chubby hands without making a fuss.
Chen Wan thought for a moment and said, "Here's what I'm thinking. We definitely can't drive the RV over. Before entering the base, we have to hand over all our supplies. I'm not planning to take any weapons, or else we'd have to hand those over too."
"But food and such will be returned to us after inspection. We each carry a backpack of food and drinking water, and that should be enough. Once inside the base, our main task is to rescue people and get them out safely. After that, we need to help Yan Yan find all the materials to rebuild her body. Yi Yi, you mentioned there should be quite a few labs in Funan City?"
"Yes, the Emerging Technology Lab at Funan University is the largest bionic lab in the north. Although they haven't produced any decent bionic prototypes yet, they do have a lot of raw materials. To rebuild Yan Yan's body, we need a large number of actuators, steering motors, controllers, sensors, effectors, steel, memory alloys, bionic skin, various wires, and so on. And we need a lot of them because the lab's materials are just the basics."
"I need to process these raw materials multiple times, which will consume a lot of materials. So, the tech lab at Funan University is a place we must go. Everyone should be mentally prepared; it's very likely the materials there won't be enough, and we'll have to find other ways." Yi Yi said seriously, which was rare for her.
"I understand, but if we gather things bit by bit, we can eventually collect everything we need. We'll take it one step at a time." Chen Wan had a rough idea of the challenges involved in collecting materials to build a bionic body.
She knew it wouldn't be easy and might even be more dangerous than rescuing people from the base, but they had no choice.
Qin Ke clasped her hands tightly together, looking at everyone.
She had a thousand words she wanted to say to these friends she hadn't known for long, but in the end, it all came down to one sentence: "Thank you."
"Thank you for what? Aren't you coming with us to rescue people? There's no need for thanks between us." Chen Wan smiled and said.
Jiang Yanxin thought Chen Wan's plan was reasonable.
Indeed, they couldn't bring too many things into the base.
She looked at Yi Yi with a new concern, "Wait, what about Yi Yi? Before entering the base, everyone has to go through a body scan. Won't Yi Yi be discovered immediately by the machines?"
Yi Yi, seeing Jiang Yanxin, was thinking about her, returned to her usual lazy demeanor and smiled, "Don't worry. My body is specially programmed. Human machines will only detect me as a normal human like you, so there won't be any problems. But tomorrow, I need to change my clothes to avoid unnecessary trouble."
Chen Wan glanced at Yi Yi's fiery red dress and nodded with a somewhat somber expression.
It was just because the world was so chaotic that girls didn't even have the freedom to wear dresses anymore.
Seeing Chen Wan's mood was down, Yi Yi comforted her, "There's no helping it. The apocalypse is like this. After all, not everyone is like us; there are more people who aren't human."
"True, we just need to take care of our own." Chen Wan replied.
The little one in her arms was anxious, wiggling her legs and snuggling against Chen Wan, "Mammy, are you going out again tomorrow?"
Chen Wan knew what Yang Yang meant, kissed the little one, and coaxed, "Tomorrow, you'll come with us. We're going to a place with a lot of people. Just be good and follow us."
"Okay!" Yang Yang's eyes lit up when she heard Mammy was taking her along.
Chen Wan continued, "But in a bit, you'll have to stay in the car by yourself for a while. We need to get out and find some food. Mammy will bring you a learning machine, and you can watch a few cartoons. By the time you're done, we'll probably be back."
"Alright." Yang Yang sulkily lay in Chen Wan's arms. Yi Yi, sitting next to Chen Wan, took the little one and coaxed her for a while until Yang Yang was in a better mood and started playing on her own.
For convenience, Yi Yi changed into a military green shirt and black jeans.
Even though the four of them dressed casually, anyone who saw their faces would be unconsciously drawn to them.
Chen Wan looked at the other three, thinking that with their group entering the base, they probably wouldn't be able to keep a low profile.
There would definitely be no shortage of troublemakers.