Chapter 56: A Huge Loss! Utterly Devastated!

Jiang Ying said curiously, "Maybe it's not that he can't, but rather his preferences..." Her gaze shifted to the chubby boy. If she remembered correctly, every time they went to bathe, Lin Mu would always call the chubby boy away with him.

Hiss—

Could it really be true?

Hearing Jiang Ying's words, Shu Xin and Shu Yi both relaxed. As for whether it was a matter of preference, they didn't really care. As long as those two hadn't experienced that sort of thing, that was enough for them.

Lin Mu was driving ahead, unaware of the conversation going on behind him. Glancing in the rearview mirror and seeing the four women chatting so comfortably, he found it strange. Wasn't the speed at which women forged friendships a little too fast?

Shaking his head, Lin Mu looked over at Shu Xin's vehicle core, extracting the items from it. There wasn't much increase in materials and food, but there were a lot of blueprints—a whole hundred of them!

Yet none of them were enough to exchange for a permanent one. Even if only a third could be made permanent, their supplies would be greatly increased. What kind of nonsense was this?

With so many people in his own car, and after opening so many sixfold blueprints, he still hadn't amassed a hundred. Could it be that one of these two was some sort of "Blueprint Saint"?

Lin Mu glanced at the two. If he let them open the chests, could he perhaps get even more blueprints?

"Have you used all your blueprints?"

"Yes." Shu Yi nodded.

"Then why don't you have any weapons?" Lin Mu had seen weapon blueprints among their supplies.

Shu Yi looked helpless. "But we don't have the materials."

Bullets required universal materials, and those were extremely hard to come by. If you managed to get ten in a single day, that was already considered lucky.

Lin Mu smacked his lips. Alright then. It seemed materials were truly the most important thing.

"By the way, do you know how those convoys survive?" Lin Mu still couldn't figure out how so many groups could make it with just a single supply chest.

"You just pick up resource chests. That's all there is to it."

"Of course I know that. What I mean is, doesn't each convoy only get one round of chests? Isn't there only enough for one person in each?"

Shu Xin thought for a moment. "Not exactly. I remember that once the team leader's vehicle core reaches Level 4, you get double the number of vehicles in supplies. So if a convoy has five vehicles, they can get ten shares of supplies."

What?

What!

If that was true, then hadn't he been losing out all this time?!

Lin Mu quickly threw the question to the system panel.

[That's correct.]

"Then why didn't you tell me that last time? You only said teammates in the vehicle would get the corresponding supplies."

[According to the records, you only inquired about vehicle functionalities, not about convoy functionalities.]

"..."

Lin Mu really wanted to curse, but it seemed the panel wasn't exactly wrong either.

Closing the dialog box, Lin Mu looked out at the road, mulling over Shu Xin's words. Double the number of vehicles, but that didn't seem right either. He himself was a convoy, so shouldn't it be doubled again? Shouldn't he get twelve shares?

He reopened the dialog box and explained his thinking.

[...]

Perhaps the panel was stunned by Lin Mu's words, as it took a long time to respond.

A minute later, Lin Mu stared silently at the dialog box in front of him.

[Are you out of your mind?]

It actually insulted him!

"How can you curse at me? I'm going to file a complaint."

But the panel ignored him completely. In its view, Lin Mu was just shameless.

[To obtain more double supplies as a convoy, you need at least two vehicles. Furthermore, the supplies for a Level 4 core vehicle with a full load of personnel do not stack. Given your intelligence—or lack thereof—let me explain. Suppose you have two vehicles. You would then receive double the vehicle supplies, plus supplies for the number of people in the vehicles, excluding the vehicle owners themselves. Do you understand now?]

Lin Mu's mouth twitched. What did it mean by "given your intelligence"? Was it so wrong to want a little extra benefit?

Calculating it this way, if he acquired another vehicle and fully loaded both, he could get four plus five, a total of nine shares of supplies.

Hiss! That would be three more shares instantly.

He hurriedly opened the convoy information.

[Pretty Boy Convoy (1/30)] First Place—Score: 108,321

[Unbeatable Convoy (20/30)] Second Place—Score: 78,231

[Red Hare Convoy (15/30)] Third Place—Score: 52,642

[...]

Hiss!

Looking at those convoy scores… He really had lost out!

Twenty vehicles meant forty shares of supplies.

What a loss, an absolute loss.

Screech!

Lin Mu stomped on the gas and slammed the brakes. Then he released Shu Yi's car.

"Your name is Shu Yi, right? Go drive that car."

"Ah?" Shu Yi looked at the battered vehicle. How was she supposed to drive that?

Lin Mu took out a Level 1 core and handed it to her. "Use this to repair the car, then follow me."

He wanted to test something. If the supplies that came out were for eight people, then his calculation was correct. At that point, he could get vehicles for ten people, with the remaining five riding in his own car.

If only he could get more of those restraint collars—or better yet, make them himself.

Dazed, Shu Yi went to the car outside and placed the vehicle core on the rearview mirror.

[Detected unbound core. Bind now?]

Since losing her own core, Shu Yi hadn’t been able to open the dialog box. Returning to the car, the dialog box appeared again, only requiring her to rebind.

"Bind."

[Ding! All functions restored. If you lose your vehicle core again, you will be locked out for seven days. Please protect your core.]

Shu Yi looked helplessly at the words before her. She hadn’t wanted to lose it, but her opponent had simply been too strong.

Lin Mu then added Shu Yi to his convoy. A black control console appeared at the front of her car, along with a walkie-talkie.

Lin Mu picked up the walkie-talkie. "The car is fixed, right? Follow behind me when we set out."

"Okay." She started the vehicle and moved forward.

"Ahem, how about my sister and I stay in the same car? We're both wearing the collars anyway."

"No. If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll toss you straight into the lava."

Shu Xin's mouth twitched. Fine, if he wouldn't allow it, so be it. Why was he always threatening to throw people into lava? Was there no justice, no law here?

Sorry, there really wasn’t.

Shu Xin returned to the other two women, looking despondent. "He won't let me."

"Good. If he did, you’d better be careful. That would probably mean your end is near," Jiang Ying shrugged.

An hour later, they arrived at a new lava pool town.

"Shu Yi, come over here for a moment."

Obediently, Shu Yi parked her car and went to Lin Mu's vehicle.

Lin Mu tossed her a set of equipment.