They set out with Xu Tui and the others, along with several thousand buses transporting the students, were several thousand escort vehicles.
The escort vehicles had heavy weapons mounted on their roofs.
Thanks to advances in technology, transportation in the twenty-second century was naturally more advanced than in the twenty-first.
But changes in the travel environment had made getting around in the twenty-second century more complicated, and less convenient than it had been in the twenty-first.
Humanity had officially entered the Gene Great Era in 2037.
But humanity wasn't the only thing to enter the Gene Great Era.
The animals and plants on Blue Star had entered it too.
Animals and plants had existed on Blue Star far longer than humans.
Some people asked: if humans had Gene Liberation Potions to help them enter the Gene Great Era, what did animals and plants have?
Blue Star as a whole was one vast ecological cycle.
On a small scale, the human waste of those who had been injected with Gene Liberation Potions became a source of genetic evolution for plants and animals.
On a larger scale, in the human Gene Great Era, all genetic products—from experiments on all kinds of large animals and plants to microscopic particle fluctuations and even the spread of scents, including changes in human abilities—became sources of genetic evolution for plants and animals.
Moreover, animals and plants had an advantage that humans could never match. It was also the greatest difference between the evolutionary paths of humans and those of animals and plants.
Modern genetic research divided evolution into two major categories.
One was Generational Hereditary Evolution.
The other was Individual Mutation Evolution.
In terms of a population's genetic evolution efficiency, Generational Hereditary Evolution was the most effective and least costly method.
The Individual Mutation Evolution humans were currently pursuing was far too inefficient.
But humans had an extremely long reproductive cycle.
Even with all of Blue Star now encouraging—and even rewarding—people to have children, it took humans twenty to thirty years to complete a generation, with an average of twenty-four years per generation.
On average, humans could complete Generational Hereditary Evolution only once every twenty-four years.
But for many plants and animals, twenty-four years was enough to complete Generational Hereditary Evolution more than twenty times at the low end, and more than five hundred times at the high end.
Since the beginning of the Gene Great Era, humans had completed only four or five generations of hereditary evolution.
According to the Gene Great Era's big data, each generation of hereditary evolution could improve humans' basic physical qualities by one to three percent, with an average of 1.9 percent.
After four or five generations, humanity's improvement amounted to only seven to ten percent.
But what about plants and animals?
Over the course of a hundred years, they completed an average of more than a hundred generations of hereditary evolution.
Each generation of hereditary evolution improved plants' and animals' basic qualities by anywhere from one-thousandth of a percent to five percent.
Using the average value of eight-thousandths—or 0.8 percent—
the improvements accumulated over a hundred generations were terrifying!
And that was a compound increase, not a simple sum!
What's more, some plants and animals had completed far more than a hundred generations of hereditary evolution in a hundred years.
The most representative example was today's mosquitoes!
Blue Star had launched at least five genetic eradication campaigns against mosquitoes, and they had survived them all.
The mosquitoes that survived had become even more terrifying.
They no longer feared extreme cold or heat, and had even gained some resistance to electric shocks. They flew faster, made less noise, had sharper mouthparts, and came in both smaller and larger sizes.
These days, if you went into the wilderness without any protection, a mosquito bite could kill you in just a few hours.
Of course, dying from a mosquito bite in the wilderness was the luckiest way to go.
The paralysis caused by today's mosquitoes was so powerful that it could kill you without any pain.
But mosquitoes weren't the only plants and animals in the wilderness that could kill you.
Over the past century, these changes had forced humans to retreat, step by step, from the depths of a resurgent natural world.
Wild plants and animals had multiplied rapidly, making the wilderness extremely dangerous.
In short, long-distance travel had become both dangerous and expensive.
Airplanes had long since become the most accident-prone form of transportation in the world—by far.
And that was even with fighter jets escorting them at enormous expense.
There were too many birds and flocks of birds in the sky, and they were all stubbornly reckless!
These days, most people traveled by high-speed rail, low-altitude aircraft, maglev, or high-grade highways.
Few people chose to fly unless they were traveling extremely long distances.
Of course, flying still had its advantages.
For example, a flight from Jincheng Prefecture to Huaxia Gene Evolution University in Kyoto Prefecture was very fast, taking less than two hours.
With the government's full cooperation, several fighter jets could be assigned as escorts, and infrasound emitters could be activated at multiple frequencies to provide protection, reducing the risk to a very low level.
But there was something more dangerous than wild plants and animals: people.
Over the past hundred years, there had been forty-one midair disasters caused by attacks from traitor organizations around Blue Star during the school-opening season after the Gene Aptitude Test.
And a plane crash meant the entire group was wiped out.
The survival rate was practically zero.
The loss of gifted students from various regions was catastrophic.
Some regions had even lost entire groups in one fell swoop.
After all, a single plane could carry anywhere from a hundred or two hundred people to seven or eight hundred.
Eventually, governments in various countries and regions gradually switched to the current system for students traveling to campus.
They used a combination of maglev, low-altitude aircraft, and high-grade highways to escort them.
This reduced casualties and prevented the possibility of an entire group being wiped out.
With this system, even if one vehicle was destroyed, the chances of losing everyone were low.
And even if everyone in a vehicle was killed, the loss would only be twenty or thirty people.
Moreover, under the current system, the Dawn Redemption Traitor Organization and other traitor organizations no longer made killing students who had just received Gene Liberation Potions their primary goal.
Instead, they focused on kidnapping them.
Since the whole of Blue Star had implemented the Gene Aptitude Test policy, many traitor organizations faced a serious problem: they had no way to obtain gifted individuals with a high number of Gene Points.
Every so often, they might come across one or two students who had failed to meet the Gene Admission Line, but the odds were pitifully low.
Whether they needed subjects for experiments, wanted to test new technologies, or hoped to nurture their forces for the future, they had to carry out operations each year during the school-opening season to replenish their numbers.
Of course, if things went badly, kidnapping could turn into killing.
That would allow them to obtain higher-level technology, potions, and other rewards from the Extraterrestrial Invaders.
Within urban areas around the world, governments had a high degree of control—at least that was the case in Huaxia.
But beyond the city limits, government control weakened with distance.
The more sparsely populated the area between cities, the more dangerous it became.
Jincheng Prefecture was one such region.
"Students, until we reach Xi'an Prefecture, we'll be traveling through a high-risk area. According to plan, the trip will take eight and a half hours. Aside from one scheduled rest stop and one meal break, you'll have only two chances to use the restroom along the way.
"Please pay attention to how often you drink and eat during this period.
"We won't stop anywhere in the high-risk areas except at the scheduled supply points.
"If you really can't hold it, we've prepared adult diapers for you.
"Anyone who urgently needs one can come and get it from me."
The accompanying teacher, Cha Yifeng, was diligently carrying out his duties.
What annoyed Xu Tui was that Cha Yifeng's last sentence had been directed toward him.
He must have been talking to Cheng Mo, who had already started eating nonstop.
Thinking about the possible circumstances under which someone might have to use an adult diaper, Xu Tui couldn't help shivering.
"Heizi, you're eating like that. You sure you'll be okay? We're only stopping twice along the way," Xu Tui asked quietly.
"Don't worry. I eat a lot, but I don't shit much. I must have a good digestive system."
Xu Tui: "..."
The bus they were riding in was a specialized vehicle. It could run on maglev or at high speed, and had excellent off-road capability.
Its windows were made of specially reinforced glass.
When he'd boarded, Xu Tui had noticed that no one could see inside from the outside.
Fortunately, he could see out from within.
He had brought a book, but since this was his first time leaving Jincheng, Xu Tui wanted to see the world outside.
Thousands of identical buses gradually left Jincheng Prefecture, then split into small groups and took different routes.
Xu Tui had looked at a map. Xi'an Prefecture lay slightly southeast of Jincheng Prefecture.
But at that moment, the convoy was heading slightly northeast, as if they were bound for Ningyin Prefecture.
The route had probably been planned with their safety in mind.
According to what Xu Tui knew and what the handbook said, the primary targets of the various traitor organizations were gifted students like them who had activated ten or more Gene Points.
In other words, the students on Xu Tui's bus were among those most at risk.
Yet the way the convoy had set out, along with the arrangements for its route, made Xu Tui feel safe.
Thousands of identical buses had activated ultra-micro radiation particle generators. How could the traitor organizations pick out the two or three buses carrying gifted students?
Just thinking about it gave him the creeps.
Besides, the shortest route to Kyoto Prefecture went through Xi'an Prefecture, then Nanzheng Prefecture, and finally Kyoto Prefecture.
But judging from the route they were following, they were first heading toward Ningyin Prefecture. What if they took another detour along the way?
It would be incredibly difficult for the traitor organizations to track their route.
Xu Tui felt that the authorities had made very thorough arrangements for the escort. He felt completely safe.
He could relax.
With his mind at ease, Xu Tui settled down to enjoy the scenery outside the window.
Towering trees and dense grass with sawtooth-like blades lined the road.
Every so often, one or two reptilian creatures darted out of the roadside grass and pounced at the bus like lightning.
They were so fast that Xu Tui worried the windows might shatter.
In the end, the windows didn't break, and neither did the head of the cat-like reptile.
Instead, the bus filled with startled cries.
There was also the occasional crunch. That was Cheng Mo eating.
Every so often, a sparrow-sized bird would fly straight at the bus as it sped along.
The students didn't pay much attention.
Then came a bang.
The little bird's beak pierced the bus's front windshield and poked through into the cabin.
Even more astonishingly, the bird hadn't died on impact. It was still struggling.
The driver didn't move.
The uniformed security assistant sitting behind him used a tool he had on hand to push the bird out. He rinsed the windshield with water, plugged the hole with a lump of sealant, then sprayed it with some kind of solution and covered it with a piece of special-forming fabric.
The sealant melted and flowed into the hole in the windshield.
A few seconds later, the windshield was as good as new.
The uniformed security assistant returned to his seat.
Xu Tui found the whole thing fascinating.
Along the way, he saw many things that he'd previously only encountered online, now unfolding outside the bus window.
A thought suddenly occurred to Xu Tui. "Will I ever get the chance to set foot out here myself?"
"Probably."
The convoy changed direction twice more along the way, but ultimately continued heading east-northeast.
It looked as if they were headed for Ningyin Prefecture, not Xi'an Prefecture.
The students grew louder as they chatted.
They couldn't use electronic devices, and they didn't have Gong Ling's foresight. What else could they do besides talk?
Fortunately, three hours later, they reached the first supply point.
"Students, anyone who needs to use the restroom should go now. I recommend that even those who don't need to go do so anyway.
"The next supply point is also about three hours away," Cha Yifeng said, getting off the bus first.
The supply point was packed with armed guards, and numerous unmanned patrol devices flew around its perimeter.
Xu Tui and Cheng Mo got off to use the restroom.
After relieving himself, Xu Tui was about to leave when he suddenly heard a soft click from the large stall behind him.
The sound was faint, like someone pressing a switch, or perhaps the quiet tap of a leather shoe against the floor.
Xu Tui's attention sharpened at once. Using Mental Induction, he pictured what was happening inside the large stall behind him.
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