Chapter 21: Opening the Second Floor! Such an Incredible Renovation

A trace of ferocity flashed across the chubby boy’s face. He casually retrieved an axe from his storage space, stomped on the accelerator, and yanked up the handbrake.

With the force of the brake, the vehicle’s speed gradually slowed. Though Lin Mu’s car was still pushing it forward, it was, after all, on snowy ground. Even with snow chains, there was still some slipping and skidding. In the end, the vehicle crawled to an ever slower pace.

In Lin Mu’s gaze, the chubby boy simply leaped out of the car, axe in hand, and charged toward the driver’s seat, raising the axe to hack at it. Unfortunately, there was a protective mesh covering the outside of the vehicle; even without it, Lin Mu’s upgraded vehicle was not so easily breached.

A steel blade emerged from the car’s roof, slicing down onto the attacker’s neck.

Three minutes later, Lin Mu let out a soft sigh. As expected, things unfolded just as he had imagined.

[Congratulations, player. You have eliminated number 9527L-WM911277. Reward: Vehicle Core Lv1 x1, Ownerless Vehicle x1.]

But he wondered, could he directly seize the vehicle core?

Lin Mu glanced at the vehicle core attached to his rearview mirror. He reached out and took down the bead.

“If I take it from someone else’s car, it should count too, right?”

But such an approach was nearly impossible—who would leave their car unwatched?

He pondered for a moment, then took the core outside. The biting wind struck him, making Lin Mu shudder all over. Bitter cold, cold to the bone.

[The vehicle core has been removed from the vehicle. Please return it within three hours, or the vehicle will be considered abandoned!]

Just as he thought, there wasn’t a single loophole to exploit. Clearly, it was impossible to carry the vehicle core with you at all times; it had to stay in the car whenever you left. This also meant that most people wouldn’t stray far from their vehicles. If you wanted the core, you’d inevitably have to fight for it.

For anyone wanting to survive here, it was a simple matter of kill or be killed—there was no escape from confrontation.

Sitting in his seat, Lin Mu glanced at the convoy section of his personal information, wondering if it was possible to attack members within the same team.

He shook his head. That could wait for another day.

Lin Mu rubbed his hands together. Now that he had the core, could he upgrade his vehicle?

He tapped on the vehicle core.

[Upgrade unavailable!]

The four bold characters shattered his pleasant hopes.

[Upgrade requirement: Vehicle Core Lv2 / Vehicle Core Lv1 x2]

“You’re like a sow in a bra—layer upon layer of trouble. One car isn’t enough, I need two!”

This was practically forcing everyone into conflict.

Lin Mu shook his head and looked toward the vehicle wreckage. Since it could be stored, perhaps it could be put to use?

He placed the wreckage into the modification skill slot. The progress circle began to spin.

Five minutes passed, and it was still spinning. Ten minutes later, it was still going…

Lin Mu shook his head. “Spin all you want. I’m getting back on the road.”

...

By the end of the day, Lin Mu had collected five waves of resource boxes—a tremendous haul.

“The first day really is the best. I managed to grab forty boxes. If I hadn’t run into those wild men and lost ten, I would have gotten fifty today!”

“The resources in today’s boxes are fantastic—so much medicine.”

“I’ve got medicine too, but will it regrow what’s been lost?”

“...”

Lin Mu snacked as he watched the chat messages scroll by in the chat panel. It seemed everyone had made a good haul, with resources roughly equivalent across the board. Especially with blueprints—everyone seemed to have two or three at least.

Ding~

A crisp chime sounded in his mind, and the modification skill interface popped up automatically.

[Option 1]: Open a second floor.
[Option 2]: Slight all-around improvement in vehicle attributes.
[Option 3]: Add a small carriage section.

Lin Mu stroked his chin. He wanted both options one and two, aside from option three.

Attribute improvements benefited him directly—even a small boost was still a boost. But opening a second floor? That was a little too fantastical. Honestly, he was quite curious what “opening a second floor” entailed.

Without hesitation, Lin Mu selected option one.

As soon as he confirmed, the vehicle began to shake violently. Lin Mu grabbed the armrest at once.

“Damn! Isn’t this a bit much?”

Colorful lights began to flash inside the vehicle. From the outside, the car was enveloped in a radiant aurora, swaying and trembling, though its size did not appear to change.

...

Just as Lin Mu felt he might be shaken apart, the vehicle finally settled and grew still.

The new vehicle information appeared before his eyes. He took a deep breath and looked at the description.

It detailed the spatial changes to the car. The first floor’s height remained unchanged—still as low as before. But now there was a second floor, its area identical to the first. And, since there was no driver’s seat upstairs, the usable space was even greater.

Besides that, the ceiling was higher. The second floor boasted a height of 2.5 meters, much more spacious than below.

After reading about all the changes, Lin Mu drew a sharp breath, his eyes shining.

“If I get a few more cars, could I turn my vehicle into a building?”

Before settling in for the night, Lin Mu visited the trading center one last time. He bought suitable blueprints and ignored the rest.

He glanced at the regional chat’s participant count and frowned. “The numbers haven’t changed much. That can’t be right. I’ve already run into other vehicles—how is it that no one else has?”

Unable to resist, he posted a message in the channel.

“Did any of you run into other vehicles today? While I was driving, a car came out of nowhere and rammed me. If I hadn’t been quick, I’d be dead now.”

“Ah, you too? I ran into three, but we managed to get along.”

“So that’s why I couldn’t find any boxes—someone was ahead of me.”

“I rammed someone else too, but aside from scratching some paint, it was pointless.”

“Anyone still alive is driving a fuel-efficient lightweight car. In this snow, there’s not much attack power. I didn’t waste any time when I ran into someone; at most, it just made collecting boxes a hassle.”

“...”

Lin Mu stroked his chin. Some people had encountered three vehicles, others thought the attack power was lacking.

If that was the case, didn’t it mean that, at this stage, he could do whatever he pleased?

But how did that person run into three vehicles?

Lin Mu glanced at his side mirrors—behind him, only pitch blackness, not a single glimmer of light. The same was true ahead.

Could it be that no other cars were coming?

As for farther ahead, Lin Mu didn’t believe there would be anyone. After all, he’d collected every box along the way—if there were cars ahead, he wouldn’t have been able to get them.

“Forget it. I’ll deal with it when it happens. For all I know, there’s some other twist waiting for me up the road.”