Chapter 80: So Near, Yet Beyond Rescue

“Suspicious target detected!”
001 stood up and rushed towards the second floor.
Outside, those short, green-skinned creatures were sprinting towards the vehicles at astonishing speed.

Bang!
A muffled thud jolted the people inside the car awake.
They looked around in confusion, seeing nothing outside.
At that moment, a withered, aged green face appeared at the passenger window.
“What the hell is that?!”
The man inside the car cried out in shock as the glass slowly began to melt under the strange creature’s saliva.
In the car ahead, Gu Wanqing stared in terror at the creature trying to crawl inside. She hurriedly pulled a silver longsword from her backpack and swung it.
She chopped off the green creature’s hand.
The blood that spurted out landed in the car, immediately emitting thick black smoke.

[Green Venom Dwarf]
[Danger Level: S]
[Note: Do not touch any fluids from its body.]

Yet in that instant, the main driver’s door behind her swung open. Gu Wanqing tumbled backward to the ground.
A green figure appeared before her eyes.
“Ah!”
The Green Venom Dwarf bit into her, and black smoke rose from Gu Wanqing’s shoulder as it began to corrode away.
Another one climbed into the car, tore out the vehicle’s core, and swallowed it whole.
Instantly, a green glow radiated from its body.
…
Lin Mu was sleeping when 001 shook him awake.
“Master, there are unknown creatures outside.”
Lin Mu woke instantly, dressed quickly, and went to the driver’s seat.
Through the cameras, he saw the dwarves attacking the vehicles.
There were fifteen vehicles in total—five remained where they were, while the others circled the area.
“What the hell are these things!”
A heavy machine gun rose from the roof as Lin Mu turned the vehicle and charged backward.
Rat-tat-tat!
A stream of fire swept toward the dwarves.
Three dwarves were killed instantly, and each exploded.
A three-meter radius around each was left shrouded in black smoke.
Lin Mu was stunned—these things explode?
But he had no choice. If he didn’t act, what would happen to the others?
Rat-tat-tat!
A minute later, the ground was dotted with smoky black craters.
Lin Mu gazed grimly at the ruined vehicles.
The cars could be repaired, but the people were lost forever.

He had thought that even if they encountered wild beasts, they’d have enough time to react. But these creatures were far deadlier than he imagined.
Weren’t these supposed to be only S-level threats?
How could they be more dangerous than those labeled SSS?
If he’d known, he would have had everyone sleep inside his vehicle. This tragedy could have been avoided.
Counting his own, only ten of the fifteen vehicles remained. Their resources had suddenly been cut by a third.
What a disaster!
Lin Mu picked up the radio: “What’s your status?”
“Our vehicle’s damaged, needs repairs.”
“No major problems here.”
“….”
Ten survivors remained—all those who’d immediately driven away.
Three minutes later, everyone regrouped at Lin Mu’s vehicle.
“Brother Mu, Gu Wanqing and Shu Xin…” Jiang Ying’s eyes were red, her voice choked with grief.
Shu Xin’s sister was weeping uncontrollably.
Their cars had been parked side by side, but by the time she noticed, two creatures had already entered her sister’s car.
She…could only watch helplessly as her sister died.
“This is a survival game. Death is a part of it. Go to the third floor and get some rest. I’ve made up two new dorms up there—Fatty, you handle the assignments.”
Fatty nodded and led everyone upstairs.
Lin Mu sat back in the driver’s seat, looking at the ruined vehicles outside before stowing them in his backpack.
He’d only slept a little, and already the losses were severe.
He opened the regional channel and his eyes widened.

[Zone 62]—143,000 people
In just over four hours, more than 8,000 were gone.
How could the death toll rise so quickly?
“Player Li Chunyang was killed by [Green Venom Dwarf]!”
“Player Zhao Wuyou was killed by [Green Venom Dwarf]!”
“Player Li Tiedan was killed by [Green Venom Dwarf]!”
…
The blood-red messages scrolled endlessly across the screen. Few people were talking.
And those who spoke were only asking what had happened.
Lin Mu glanced at the global channel; the situation was much the same.
Ten minutes later, the red death notices began to fade, replaced by more black messages.
The population had already dropped to 129,000.
That meant in those ten minutes, another 14,000 had died!
And this was only the first night.
“What happened? Why did so many people die? What is this Green Venom Dwarf?”
“It’s the creature that appeared tonight. Did I just sleep too deeply to notice?”
“Didn’t any of you see those shriveled old men, about 1.2 meters tall, green all over and wearing only shorts?”
“…”

Lin Mu stroked his chin, reading the messages, deep in thought.
Clearly, many weren’t even aware of the creature they’d faced tonight.
As more people spoke, the situation became clearer.
Every team attacked tonight had been targeted by mobs of these dwarves—some faced over fifty, others at least a dozen.
Lin Mu hadn’t checked carefully, but there were nearly twenty blackened craters on the ground.
A few had managed to escape, so the total number must have been around twenty-five.
He remembered that the cars he’d put away were missing their cores.
So these creatures had come for the vehicle cores?
Would this happen again in the future?
What a headache—these people would need to stay here for some time.
Lin Mu opened his status panel.

[Congratulations, player, for killing S-level threat Green Venom Dwarf. Gained: Venom Sac (SSS) x18]
Better than nothing.
He hadn’t expected a S-level creature to yield SSS-level materials.
…
The next day.
Mist Labyrinth—no, it should be called the Poisonous Mist Labyrinth.
Today was also the second day in the Poisonous Mist Labyrinth.
The first thing he did upon waking was check the regional channel’s population.
128,000 people. Nothing major had happened after last night.
The number hadn’t changed much.
Globally, only 540 million remained—a hundred million had died overnight.
Lin Mu took a deep breath. At this rate, would there be even a hundred million left in the end?
What did this Road Survival Game really mean?
Was everyone simply going to die like this?
After breakfast, the ten surviving vehicles set out again.
Shu Yi led the way, lips pressed together, tears rolling silently down her cheeks.
Driving the car made her think of her sister.
She glanced at the passenger seat—her sister Shu Xin used to sit there.
Shu Xin had sat there, chatting and laughing with her.
She took a deep breath, wiped her tears away.
She had to look ahead—she had to survive!
If this Road Survival Game wanted to kill her, she would defy it by living on.
In the car behind, Jiang Ying was also filled with sorrow.
Her companion, Wanqing, had died just like that. It was hard to bear.
She hadn’t cared much when others died, but when it was someone close, the reality of death became shockingly clear.