ONEPIECE

After hearing Yao Wei's explanation, Lu Xi'an understood. The three places marked with X on the map must have been places Yao Wei had already visited, but they were either out of gas or had nowhere to refuel.

"Where's a pen?"

He asked, then thought to himself, This woman really is something. She has a notebook and a pen, but all she knows how to do is write in her diary, wasting paper and ink. This woman, though, knows how to use them when it matters.

Impressive!

If he'd learned this trick sooner, he'd never have written another diary entry. Even without an atlas, he could've drawn a map of the route he'd traveled on a blank sheet of paper.

"Feel around the bottom of the bag."

Yao Wei gave him another four words.

So Lu Xi'an had no choice but to climb back to the rear seat and rummage through Yao Wei's backpack. He felt around the bottom, found a pen, then climbed back to the front.

He uncapped the pen and drew a check mark on the gas station icon. Then he noticed a very wide, very long river along the edge of this map of Jiang Yu District in Yu Bei City.

The blue icon representing the river was labeled "Jiangyu Reservoir." Judging by its direction and location, it had to be the river beneath the bridge they'd just crossed.

The spot where they'd crossed was the narrowest part of the river, so they hadn't entered the reservoir proper.

Lu Xi'an thought the water pipes supplying the villa at Jiangyu Road No. 272 probably came from this reservoir.

If that was the case, the reservoir's main pipeline was still in good shape. Could there be other places in good condition where they could live, too?

He was idly mulling it over when Yao Wei suddenly said, "Page twenty-seven."

Page twenty-seven was in the second half of the booklet. Lu Xi'an noticed that this section was darker along the edge than the others, clearly because Yao Wei had flipped through it more often.

He opened the booklet, World Map One, to page twenty-seven. It showed a province-wide map. The map was long and narrow, the terrain flat, and the words "Mengze Province" were printed in the upper-right corner.

Wanquan City was in the lower-left corner of the Mengze Province map. A heavy dot had been drawn in the upper-right corner of the small, irregularly shaped map.

Lu Xi'an understood at once. This was Yao Wei's destination.

"Here?"

Lu Xi'an flipped forward a few more pages to the one for Wanquan City. It had many markings, too, and a circle had been drawn around a spot in the center.

"I'll go here before I find the oasis."

Yao Wei spoke in a low voice as she drove.

Lu Xi'an turned to look at Yao Wei. A murderous glint had suddenly appeared in her eyes. She gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead, as if there were an enemy outside the car she wanted to run down at full speed.

He didn't need to ask. He could guess that Yao Wei had some kind of enemy there.

Thinking back to how she'd said her mother was dead, and to her remark that "only those who can't compete stay in the north to eke out a living," it was quite possible her mother had died there.

So her claim that she'd never been to the south and that the south was better than the north might have been a lie.

But Lu Xi'an didn't press her on it. Looking at Yao Wei now, he felt that asking more would just be asking for trouble.

"Then go for it."

That was all he said.

Yao Wei said nothing and kept driving in silence.

After they crossed the bridge, the road climbed a small hill. They followed the road around the hill for a while, until it met a river and continued alongside it.

Lu Xi'an flipped the atlas back to the page for Yu Bei City, then turned to the next page, which showed a map of Fengcheng County.

A river flowed out of the reservoir on the edge of the map and headed straight toward the western district. It was labeled "Gui River."

"What's the oasis?"

Lu Xi'an asked again.

Asking about Wanquan City might hit a nerve, but he figured this question was probably safe. He was curious, too.

The word itself made it sound like a nice place to live.

Yao Wei, however, said, "I don't know."

"You don't know? Then how do you know about it?"

"My mom told me."

"..."

Lu Xi'an fell silent for a moment, then said, "Sorry."

Yao Wei shook her head, unfazed. "If we find it someday and you're still alive, I'll tell you."

Not bad. She was a decent person. Lu Xi'an said, "Thanks."

As soon as he'd said it, he suddenly thought of a movie he'd seen in his previous life. It had been a famous wasteland movie, something like Mad Max.

The people in it were also looking for an oasis, only to discover that the oasis was a lie.

But he didn't tell Yao Wei any of that. The worlds were different—a movie was a movie, and reality was reality. How could he use a movie's plot as a guide to real life?

If he told Yao Wei the movie's story and turned out to be a jinx, what if she came after him with a knife?

With a woman that fierce, Lu Xi'an wasn't sure he could beat her.

But when Yao Wei heard his thanks, she shook her head again and said, "Lots of people are looking for the oasis. They're all heading south, but no one's found it."

"..."

Lu Xi'an fell silent again and murmured, "ONEPIECE..."

How had a movie like Mad Max suddenly turned into One Piece?

In this world, though, ONEPIECE didn't stand for a dream. It stood for hope of survival.

Yao Wei suddenly slammed on the brakes, and Lu Xi'an nearly hit the windshield.

"Thud!"

The dog hit the front of the car from its spot at their feet. Fortunately, they hadn't been going too fast, and neither the dog nor the car was hurt.

"You know about it?!"

Yao Wei asked, sounding startled.

"..."

She'd mistaken Lu Xi'an's ONEPIECE for another name for the oasis.

Lu Xi'an had no choice but to explain. "No, I meant a place in a story. Lots of people are looking for that place, too. It sounds a lot like the oasis."

"Oh."

Yao Wei replied glumly, sounding a little disappointed.

She wasn't interested in stories.

But she'd noticed something else. "What you said... was a foreign language, right?"

Lu Xi'an nodded. "Yeah."

Did this world have English?

It probably did... Chinese existed, after all.

Yao Wei said, "If we ever find another world atlas, help me look through it. The oasis might not be in World Map One."

The world map was split into several volumes. Yao Wei's was World Map One. From the way she spoke, it sounded as if she'd already searched every place in it.

When it mattered, she really could say quite a lot.

Lu Xi'an said, "We'll see when the time comes. There are lots of foreign languages, and I might not be able to read it."

"Okay."

Yao Wei nodded and kept driving.

Lu Xi'an lowered his head to study the map of Fengcheng County.

He hadn't expected this world to have maps like this. No electronic navigation, just a small atlas that recorded and clearly marked every place.

For example, the map of Fengcheng County clearly showed the central square, the county government, and the Fengcheng police station.

The countryside beyond the county seat was scattered and looked terribly desolate.

"There's a gas station not far ahead, after a left turn."

Lu Xi'an studied the map and reminded Yao Wei.

When Yao Wei reached the intersection ahead, she turned the steering wheel and turned left.