Chapter 52: Amber Heart
The Ghost Car Nine-Headed Bird nodded, added Lin Huai to his friend list, and said, “I am the Ghost Car Nine-Headed Bird.”
Sister Hanba was a station NPC at the crematorium, which meant she could see Lin Huai’s true name—that was why she always called her Lin Lin. Other spirits, however, had no way of knowing it. In this game, having your real name known was a very dangerous thing, so Lin Huai only gave the bird mechanic her nickname.
After adding him, Lin Huai stretched her neck and looked closely at the folding, portable repair bay. “Ah Jiu, your repair kit is amazing. Is it for sale?”
Ah Jiu shook his heads. “This is exclusive equipment for licensed mechanics. It’s not for sale.”
Lin Huai felt a bit disappointed, but since Ah Jiu was just an ordinary field mechanic, she didn’t press the matter.
Once the Nine-Headed Bird finished repairing both vehicles, he transformed back into a giant bird and took to the sky.
Even though she hadn’t managed to buy that handy repair box and had paid a higher price for ten repair cards, getting three Nine-Headed Bird feathers was still a great haul.
Lin Huai was happily getting ready to hit the road when a message popped up from Dragon Emerging from the Sea, saying he had already found suitable candidates.
[Dragon Emerging from the Sea]: In the main five-hundred-person guild, there are two Level 2 drivers from Sector 587: ‘Red Apricot Over the Wall’ and ‘Barehanded Door Opener.’ They were originally forced to submit to If You Don’t Submit, Fight, but they actively rebelled during the merger battle. I think rewarding former Sector 587 players will help bring both sides together and motivate everyone else.
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: Good idea, Brother Long. Go ahead and contact them. I’ll make a public announcement in the main hall, then teleport over to deliver the cars. Oh, and remember to take their old Level 2 vehicles—I’ll sell them.
With that settled, Lin Huai sent a message straight to the public lobby.
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: @Red Apricot Over the Wall @Barehanded Door Opener, in recognition of your brave actions and outstanding contributions during the territory merger war, you are each awarded one fully restored Level 3 vehicle. Keep pushing forward, help our community grow, and let’s bring prosperity to Zone 444!
[Red Apricot Over the Wall]: Oh my god, thank you, Boss! Boss Bone Ash is hands down the best leader on the entire server!
[Barehanded Door Opener]: Our hard times are finally over, brothers! It doesn’t matter if you took a wrong turn before—choosing the right boss is what counts! Thank you, Boss! I’ll give everything I’ve got for this team!
[Face-Flipping Artist]: Wait, are you serious? Boss Bone Ash is just handing out Level 3 vehicles like that?
[Honey Blood Ice Orange]: I’m so jealous! I need to earn more contribution points fast. I wonder if it’ll be my turn next time.
[Sounds Good Is a Good Head]: I know those two—they really were from Sector 587. Boss Bone Ash truly treats everyone fairly. As long as you come over in good faith, she holds no grudges. That’s real vision.
[The Lonely Brave]: Fun fact: there is a world of difference between leaders.
[Read and Reply Randomly]: I’m so envious… For bottom-tier players like us, is there really a chance to rise up?
[Tchaikovsky Driver]: Can some kind expert please save me? I provoked a terrifying ghost and I can’t beat it! I’ll pay a huge reward!
[Old Wang from Building Materials]: How huge are we talking?
[Tchaikovsky Driver]: A Heart of Amber!
[If You’re Bad, Practice More]: What is that? Post the stats so we can see!
Lin Huai’s screen was still open. Her eyes locked onto those four words: Heart of Amber!
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: @Tchaikovsky Driver, give me the item, and I’ll save you!
Three seconds later, Lin Huai was already teleporting. Back in the public lobby, everyone was still scratching their heads.
[If You’re Bad, Practice More]: What on earth is a Heart of Amber? Is it really worth the Boss going in person?
[Old Wang from Building Materials]: Never heard of it either. Maybe it’s a high-tier material only useful at her level.
By then, Lin Huai had closed her menu and jumped across the lanes.
On a deserted stretch of road, rain drummed steadily against the ground. A tiny Level 1 compact car sat stranded in the middle of the asphalt, its body covered in deep corrosion pits and scratches.
A young man wearing an ordinary raincoat paced nervously next to the door. He checked his screen every few seconds, looking terrified.
“Oh no… is this Heart of Amber some kind of super-rare treasure? How did it draw the server’s number one? If Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice shows up and realizes I lied, am I a dead man?”
As he muttered to himself, a broad new lane silently merged beside his, and a crimson armored hearse materialized right behind him.
“What did you lie to me about?”
A cool, steady female voice spoke from behind. The man jumped out of his skin and spun around, his whole body tense with fear. “N-nothing! No lies at all…”
He swallowed hard, asking cautiously, “A-are you Boss Bone Ash?”
Lin Huai gave a slight nod. The deep hood of her black acid-resistant raincoat shadowed the upper half of her face, hiding her expression. “Where is this powerful ghost you provoked?”
Tchaikovsky Driver swallowed again and pointed awkwardly toward a bone-carved chest sitting on his passenger seat. “It’s… it’s right in there…”
Lin Huai raised an eyebrow. So he was baiting someone into opening the chest for him. If the helper and whatever ghost was inside ended up killing each other, he could simply scavenge the corpses.
It was classic cutthroat behavior. Lin Huai had seen plenty of schemes like this in her previous life, so it hardly fazed her. Opening a cursed box was no big deal to her anyway.
She held out an open palm. “Where’s the Heart of Amber? Let me see it first.”
Tchaikovsky Driver had fully expected to be sliced into pieces and fed to the crows for trying to trick a top-tier expert. Seeing that she wasn’t angry at all—and seemed ready to help—he hurried to pull a waxy, honey-orange stone from his inventory.
“I’m sorry, Boss! I really didn’t mean to deceive you…” he stammered, putting on his most sincere, apologetic face. “Here it is. The item card only says it’s a special material. I had no idea what it does, so I figured it wasn’t worth much…”
He hurried to explain, “Someone got this from a crate during the town merger yesterday. That guy had two bone-crushing boxes. He opened the first one, and a female ghost in a yellow dress crawled out and tore him apart… I managed to snatch this stone and run.”
“But I was too terrified to touch the second box. After thinking about it all day, I decided to use the stone to invite an expert to crack it open for me…”
Lin Huai let out a dry laugh. “Invite?”
“You mean you wanted to trick an expert into opening it, hoping they’d die fighting whatever horror is inside so you could loot both bodies, right?”
Tchaikovsky Driver froze, his face burning in silence as his petty scheme was laid bare.
Lin Huai took the Heart of Amber, tucked it away, and lifted the bone-crushing box from his car. Carrying it out to the center of the road, she set it down in the open rain.
