Chapter 47: Zhang Qian? Don’t kill me—I’m useful!

Lin Mu stared in shock at Qin Xiangyang, who lay prone on the ground. It was just one minute—how had he collapsed already? He reached to check the artery at Qin Xiangyang’s neck; it had already stopped.

“So my teammate is just gone like that?”

Lin Mu shook his head, thinking his luck couldn’t be worse. Out of thirteen people, he hadn’t managed to keep even one teammate alive—truly miserable. He looked at the vehicle left behind. No teammates, but at least he still had a car.

“With the vehicle core upgraded, I can enhance my car again.”

An hour later, Lin Mu returned to his vehicle, leaving behind a crossroads littered with naked corpses. In that hour, five minutes were spent collecting the cars; the rest was devoted to stripping corpses of their clothes.

Seated in the driver’s seat, Lin Mu took stock of his gains: ten Level 2 vehicle cores, three Level 3 cores. As for supplies, he barely glanced at them—the basic provisions of the two teams didn’t compare to his own stockpile, though they did add some variety to his food stores. The greatest spoils were the blueprints, and among them, the best was a radar blueprint that completed his set. Without hesitation, he crafted one and installed it on his vehicle.

Examining the remaining cores in his hand, he was certain he could upgrade again. Even after the upgrade, some were left, but pushing further would clearly be much harder.

[Ding! Vehicle core upgraded to Level 6. Capacity: 6 people. Backpack +200. Shelter mode unlocked.]

Huh?

Lin Mu looked at the information, puzzled. Shelter mode? Was something about to happen? A sense of looming danger crept over him. He quickly opened the vehicle core’s information.

[Vehicle Core]
[Level: 6]
[Capacity: 6]
[Upgrade requirement: one Level 6 vehicle core or equivalent]

Yet, there was no mention of shelter mode here. He switched to the vehicle’s status, and there he found it.

[Shelter Mode]: The vehicle transforms into a dwelling to resist danger. Defense increased by 100%. Area equals vehicle’s interior space.

Lin Mu stroked his chin. At Level 7, the vehicle would have hot weapon components. With the core at Level 6, shelter mode was now available. Level 7 likely wouldn’t be attainable until three weeks later, which meant shelter mode would come into play during the fourth disaster, not before.

So, the fourth event wouldn’t be a road survival scenario anymore—was the setting about to change? But that didn’t make sense. It was supposed to be all about surviving on the road—why the shift?

After pondering, he decided to ask the system panel, but he couldn’t be too direct.

“Ahem, panel, just wondering—do all disasters occur on the road?”

[Yes.]

If it all happened on the road, why was there a shelter mode? Lin Mu shook his head, unable to make sense of it. Never mind—let things unfold as they will. As long as he kept leveling up quickly enough, his safety would be assured.

He also upgraded his vehicle one more level. There weren’t any major changes, just that the upgrade requirement jumped from a Level 6 to a Level 8 vehicle core. Deliberate, definitely deliberate. How many would he need to reach Level 8? Far too many.

Even with an expanded backpack, Lin Mu no longer cared to pick up trash—the thirteen acquired vehicles were the greatest haul. Once he’d collected all the boxes, he set out again on his journey.

On the road, Lin Mu crafted cameras and radar, installing one camera at the rear. With the vehicle’s multimedia system, he could monitor the situation behind him directly.

“Hey, I have to admit—this is pretty convenient.”

For two whole days, Lin Mu didn’t encounter a single vehicle, which left him rather disheartened. Glancing at the three people behind him, he shook his head. He was still two teammates short, but with no one to meet, he couldn’t even get the supplies from those two.

On the sixth day.

Outside: 45 degrees Celsius. Inside: 23 degrees Celsius.

Lin Mu looked at the constantly whirring fan and the air conditioner at his feet and breathed a sigh of relief. If his vehicle hadn’t been upgraded so quickly, he would probably have been roasted alive. Thinking back to when he got his vehicle, so many people were still stuck at Level 2—it really was pitiful.

Now, the space behind him had grown from three to five people—new teammates he’d acquired in the past two days. To welcome them, Lin Mu had gone to great lengths to get this man and woman into his car. The woman, however, was missing an arm; the man, both lower legs.

Jiang Ying, whenever she looked at the two, was full of pity. “Why did you have to resist? Would it have killed you to cooperate? Tsk tsk, so tragic.”

“Mmm! Mmm!” The woman’s eyes blazed with fury.

“Wanqing, what is she saying? Do you understand?”

Gu Wanqing rolled her eyes. With her mouth sealed shut, how was anyone supposed to understand?

Lin Mu watched the two in the rearview mirror and shook his head.

…

The night before, at ten o’clock, Lin Mu was preparing to rest when the radar let out a beeping alert.

He watched as a red dot gradually approached from behind and finally stopped beside him. A delicate-looking woman stepped out.

“Hello, could you help me? My car seems to have developed a problem.”

Lin Mu eyed her pitiful expression and her alluring figure—this was trouble for sure. Who would wander out in the middle of the night, unafraid of danger? He grabbed his pistol and got out, catching sight of a shadow squatting behind her car.

“What’s wrong with your car?”

“I’m not sure. There’s a strange noise coming from the front. It sounds like something’s broken.”

“I’ll take a look. But you know, it’s pretty dangerous for a girl to be out alone at this hour. Why don’t you wait in my car for a bit?”

Lin Mu’s gaze turned lecherous.

The woman didn’t mind at all. “After you fix it, maybe. No rush.” She even threw him a flirtatious glance.

Feigning concern, Lin Mu opened the hood, though his attention remained fixed on both sides.

001 had already stepped out of the passenger seat, shotgun in hand, circling around to the rear of the car.

“What’s your name, miss?”

“Zhang Qian.”

Lin Mu was taken aback—this was a big catch indeed. He would be set for life.

“001, don’t kill him. I still need him alive.”

“Yes, Master.”

A voice sounded behind Zhang Qian and her companion, startling them both. The man lunged at 001 with a machete.

Bang!

A spray of steel pellets struck the man’s knees, sending him crashing to the ground.

Zhang Qian froze, hastily drawing a pistol from her clothes and aiming at Lin Mu. But she stopped short, seeing an enormous shield rise between them.

A… shield?

001 drew a long blade from her waist and struck Zhang Qian’s gun arm with the back of the blade.

Threat eliminated.

And why not use the sharp edge? To conserve supplies, of course.

“Welcome to the team, both of you. Here’s to harmonious cooperation from now on.”

“In your dreams! I’d rather die than be your teammate!” Zhang Qian’s eyes blazed with defiance.

She couldn’t believe her tried-and-true tactic had failed. Was this man even human?