Chapter 76: Strange Supplies, The Game Elements Grow More Complex

The spotlights on the roof began to change; the casings behind the four sets of lights turned a bright color. Then, sixteen pale silver pipes extended from the back of the spotlights, all converging on a silver cube positioned at the center of the roof. Inside that silver cube lay the detoxifying balm. After being vaporized by heating, the detoxifying balm traveled along the pipes into the spotlights, granting them the power to dispel the fog.

Once the modifications were complete, Lin Mu immediately cranked the spotlights to full power, clearing away the green mist within a two-hundred-meter radius. Inside the car, everyone stared wide-eyed—what was happening? How had the green mist vanished?

Lin Mu looked at the two roads ahead. One still curved back, only slightly, but its direction was unmistakably backward. The other slanted upward. He picked up the radio. “Shuyi, take the road on the right.”

“Copy!”

An hour later.

The situation Lin Mu had worried about didn’t occur, but things were a bit different from before. Judging by the projection on the windshield, there were quite a few crates this time. But where were the piles of crates that used to block the center of the highway? Why were they gone?

“Shuyi, how many crates are ahead of you?”

“Uh, just one?” Shuyi stared in confusion at the crate before her. Weren’t there supposed to be fifteen? She was equally puzzled.

Lin Mu’s mouth twitched. Could this be the so-called change? He counted—twenty-two crates in all, eight missing. Pity the headlights only illuminated two hundred meters; if only they could reach five hundred meters... Not that it would help—anything farther was simply too distant to see.

He took a deep breath. With only twenty-two crates within a thousand meters, there had to be at least thirty crates in total; the area had merely expanded.

Alas—what a hassle!

“You two stay here. I’ll go look for the crates,” Lin Mu said, then drove off to start searching on the left.

[Congratulations! You’ve opened a Silver Resource Crate: received 10 bottles of edible oil (1L each), 30 doses of detoxifying medicine, 1000L of gasoline.]

[Congratulations! You’ve opened a Silver Resource Crate: received 50 sheets of yellow paper, 50 packets of 10g cinnabar, 10 blueprints for Exquisite Crosses (S).]

???

Lin Mu stared, baffled by the contents of the second crate. What on earth was this? Yellow paper? Cinnabar? What—were zombies going to pop out of the ground soon? And with this cross, were they planning to unleash vampires next?

This was supposed to be a road survival game; why did it suddenly feel so convoluted? Lin Mu looked at the items from the second crate, speechless. Still, he knew that if the crates provided these things, they must be useful—though whether now or in the future, he couldn’t say.

He shook his head and pressed on to the next crate. Every so often, yellow paper and cinnabar appeared again. These must be important resources. On the left side, he collected twelve crates in total. Lin Mu watched the radar on the windshield. The two in Little Fatty’s car had already reached the edge of the radar—he’d gone a full kilometer. There were four more crates on the other side, making twenty-six. That meant there should be four more crates a kilometer away to the right, unless there was another road over there with a pile of crates together—but that seemed highly unlikely.

Lin Mu turned around and returned to the highway. He picked up the radio. “Little Fatty, come with me. Shuyi, stay where you are.”

“Copy.”

Little Fatty followed Lin Mu, stopping at the one-kilometer mark. “Stay here. Don’t go anywhere. If you get lost, don’t blame me.”

Little Fatty swallowed and answered on the radio, “Got it, Mu.”

As Lin Mu drove off, the green mist began to gather around Little Fatty’s car. Seeing the mist so close made him uncomfortable. There’d been two cars just moments ago; now he was alone, and the fear set in.

Twenty minutes later, Lin Mu returned and led Little Fatty to the right side. All told, there were thirty-three resource crates on both sides combined. Lin Mu rubbed his chin. Clearly, there were still more crates nearby; forty was possible. But searching would waste too much time.

It wasn’t impossible, though. If all three vehicles linked up, searching wouldn’t be difficult. They could try that next round.

Back on the highway, the three vehicles moved forward. Lin Mu glanced at the workbench.

“Expel Evil,” “Suppress Evil,” “Exterminate Evil”—all related to yellow paper. In the alchemy interface, there were no items linked to yellow paper or cinnabar. As for the cross, perhaps it was a single-use item.

Lin Mu took a “Expel Evil” talisman from his backpack.

[Expel Evil]: Use on a target to dispel abnormalities.

Such a simple, straightforward line.

He hoped they wouldn’t throw in things like donkey hooves or black dog’s blood next, or he might truly start swearing. This was a perfectly good survival game—why turn it into a supernatural horror? Did they want to scare someone to death?

But recalling how that voice had mercilessly killed so many, Lin Mu let it go.

“Sigh, let’s hope it doesn’t get too—” Lin Mu suddenly paused, realizing that if the antidote could be used in the spotlights, perhaps the talismans could “enchant” the whole vehicle. It seemed feasible. He’d try it tonight—regardless of whether it worked, better to make the modification in advance than be caught unprepared.

With Shuyi leading the way, Lin Mu could relax and slack off. He opened the regional channel.

[Zone 62]—164,000 people.

Compared to before, the death toll this time wasn’t so high.

“Hey guys, have you found any crates? I’ve only found one!”

“Don’t mention it, I only found one too. Last week there were fifteen on the highway, now there’s just one. This is absurd.”

“Join my convoy! We’ll sweep the place clean.”

“…”

At this stage, lone wolves could barely survive. They were being forced to team up.

Lin Mu had to admit, sweeping the area as a group was the best strategy. They might not get every crate, but half was possible. With double rewards, it would be enough for one convoy to survive.

He opened the convoy leaderboard.

[Handsome Squad (3/30)] 1st place—211,172 points.
[Red Star Convoy (18/30)] 2nd place—15,216 points.
[Invincible Convoy (12/30)] 3rd place—9,142 points.
[…]

But compared to him, they were still far behind. As for the global rankings, he didn’t bother; after all, they’d never meet.

“Reporting, Master, a vehicle has appeared.”