Chapter 64: Road Conditions Unknown
Lin Huai swung her war scythe, cutting across the man’s throat to grant him a quick, clean death. Letting out a cold sneer, she muttered, “It really was him!”
Old Wang from Building Materials asked, “Boss, do you actually know that guy?”
Lin Huai nodded slightly. “Yes. I knew him back in the real world…”
Without lingering on the topic, she stored the corpses of all three brothers away. “Thank you all for rushing over to back me up today—”
Before she could finish her sentence, loud gasps of admiration echoed from the spectators behind her.
“Whoa… is this a Level 5 vehicle? It looks incredible!”
“Look at that panoramic glass lounge! I want one so badly… I hope my ride can evolve into a luxury RV someday…”
Jiangzhehu Inheritor shook her head with a teasing laugh. “What’s so grand about an RV? A luxury cruise liner is the real dream! I plan to build my car into a land-bound yacht, packed with every kind of entertainment lounge you can imagine. Once it’s finished, everyone can come aboard and hang out together!”
Milk Tea Seven Parts Sugar raised her hand at once. “Miss Jiang, save me a spot! With my ambulance, an extravagant lifestyle probably wasn’t in the cards for me, but thankfully, I’m destined to stick close to you!”
Cute and Sparkling nodded eagerly. “Me too! I want to stick close to Miss Jiang as well!”
The young heiress lifted her chin proudly. “No problem at all! The girls are welcome to visit anytime. As for the boys…”
Old Wang clucked his tongue and walked over, shaking his head. “What about us men? We need spots too! Miss Jiang, you have to reserve a mahjong room for me!”
Jiangzhehu Inheritor rolled her eyes. “It’s called a games and chess parlor! Can’t you sound a little more refined?”
“Fine, fine! If you won’t call it a mahjong room, reserving a chess parlor works for me too!”
The banter was lively, but the teleportation talisman had a strict time limit. Once the clock ran out, the triplets’ three vehicles would vanish back into their original lanes.
Lin Huai had to cut through everyone’s daydreams. Pointing toward the three cars, she said, “Miss Jiang, you and Brother Long take these three vehicles and handle them according to the usual routine.”
Jiangzhehu Inheritor hurried over and hitched one of the cars behind her SUV. Dragon Emerging from the Sea’s Sabertooth had raw horsepower to spare, so he hooked up the remaining two.
Milk Tea Seven Parts Sugar trotted back to her ambulance, waving enthusiastically through the glass. “Sister Bone Ash, we’re heading out! See you at the next town hub!”
If You’re Bad, Practice More waved her fist. “Boss, whenever there’s another fight like this, make sure to call me first!”
Peace and Violence simply gave a quiet, respectful nod before heading back to his vehicle.
Once the convoy dispersed, the wide highway fell completely silent again.
Lin Huai climbed back aboard her armored fortress and resumed driving to build up her mileage.
Now that she had both autonomous driving and the mechanical crane working for her, she had plenty of free time to experiment at the crafting table.
Her blueprint copying plan was progressing smoothly. Under the cover of Jiangzhehu Inheritor’s booming processing business, Lin Huai had accumulated dozens of duplicate blueprints.
Nearly every low-tier talisman pattern was fully unlocked, along with seven or eight mid-tier talisman designs. All she needed now was the materials to upgrade the workbench itself.
Lin Huai spent her afternoons in the lower-deck workshop, steadily feeding materials into the crafting station to mass-produce low-tier talismans and defensive charms.
Only ten days remained before the month-long acid rain disaster came to an end. The rain had grown increasingly corrosive, driving many Level 2 drivers to pure desperation.
Eventually, Lin Huai got her hands on the blueprint for anti-corrosion vehicle spray. Combining that with the acid-proof suit design held by Jiangzhehu Inheritor, the two of them produced a massive stockpile of protective gear and listed everything on the regional exchange.
[Jiangzhehu Inheritor]: Good news, everyone! Boss Bone Ash has generously shared her rare blueprints and worked around the clock crafting gear! Acid-resistant suit bundles and anti-corrosion vehicle spray are now live on the trading post. Daily limit: three sets per driver. Grab what you need to stay safe!
[Grass Don’t Float]: My daily prayer of thanks to Boss Bone Ash!
[Capybara]: Only 50 underworld coins a set! No price gouging, no scams. Get yours before it sells out!
[Northeast Daniel Wu]: Fifty coins is practically free! The Boss is basically running a charity at this point!
[Information Office Director]: Latest dungeon rumors for sale! Anyone looking to change their luck, message me now!
[Striking the Referee]: Thank you, Boss Bone Ash +1…
[Guawazi]: Thank you, Boss Bone Ash + [User ID]
[Hanpi]: Thank you, Boss Bone Ash + 1008610001
[Honey Blood Ice Orange]: Boss Bone Ash is truly an angel. We’re all struggling to survive out here, and things can’t be easy for her either. Yet instead of exploiting us, she goes out of her way to pull everyone through the storm. I’m following Boss Bone Ash for life!
Glancing at the endless stream of praise flooding the public lobby, Lin Huai felt a twinge of guilt.
She wasn’t actually that noble. The simple truth was that the month wasn’t even over yet, and Zone 444’s population had already dropped to 6,362 survivors. Server merges always went smoother when done at the start of a new month. Lin Huai never imagined that to preserve a strong, trustworthy player base for the next territory battle, she would end up taking on the role of population manager.
Her actions were driven purely by a practical need to keep enough capable survivors alive for the end-of-month trial and the upcoming merge. Seeing everyday players praise her as a selfless savior made her feel somewhat embarrassed.
Especially because her own life was remarkably comfortable.
The crates her mechanical arm collected—aside from the occasional yellow talisman box—were mostly simple wooden chests. She didn’t even need to open low-tier containers by hand anymore; she just dumped them into the jade coffin, let them sit until a large pile formed, and collected the loot all at once, occasionally picking up fresh Yin energy crystals in the process.
Aside from stepping outside to hunt monsters and raise her proficiency with the war scythe, she spent the rest of her hours relaxing in the second-floor panoramic lounge—sipping coffee, listening to music, cooking hotpot, and watching the rain slide down the glass in total comfort.
Thinking about that, she felt even more sheepish.
Suddenly, a system chime broke her thoughts:
[Three-way intersection detected ahead. A Level 2 vehicle is approaching rapidly from the left branch. Estimated intercept in 30 seconds.]
[The right-hand route is clear and safe for rapid passage.]
[The middle route is an extreme-hazard zone. Road conditions are completely unknown. The Yellow Springs Road Guide cannot penetrate the sector. Drivers are advised to choose with caution.]
Hearing the sudden warning from the road guide, Lin Huai sat up straight from the sofa, ran down the stairs, and slid back into the driver’s seat.
Peering through the windshield at the road ahead—heavily shrouded in thick, swirling black mist—her heart tightened. What kind of area could be so dangerous that even the Yellow Springs Road Guide failed to read it?
Should she take the risk and drive in to see?
While she weighed her options, a bright pink sports car suddenly tore out from the left-hand lane at full throttle.
Alarms blared across the dashboard, and the surveillance screens linked to her external cameras flared to life.
[Warning: Vehicle approaching at high speed. Engage defensive measures?]
The Yellow Springs Road Guide took direct control of the console, locking down the target:
[Target confirmed: Level 2 vehicle. Golden Light Cannon armed and locked on target. Fire?]
