NOVPUBChapter 75: Chapter 74 Walking with the fog, but off-road!
Chapter 75 -74 Walking with the fog, but off-road!
On the northern outskirts, Ailuodi was driving a car madly through the mist.
“Why haven’t we gotten out of the Misty Zone yet? Are you sure you haven’t looked at the direction wrong?” she shouted loudly, enduring the intense bumps.
It was no wonder she shouted; the car’s sound insulation was practically non-existent, and the noise outside was as loud as it was inside. Moreover, after running on rugged terrain for some time, the whole car seemed as if it was going to fall apart, making noises everywhere.
“How would I know! But the direction is definitely correct!”
Sitting in the passenger seat to navigate for her was Chaoyang. Originally, he had planned to hide himself in the rear of the car, but now that Ailuodi was the only passenger, he couldn’t be bothered to use his wishing power to conceal himself anymore.
Chaoyang couldn’t see through the mist, but he had used a crafty method to determine their direction.
That was to divide his spirit.
According to the pre-arranged escape plan, Dane and Judy were to hire a small boat to meet them ahead of time on the western beach, and his divided spirit would also board the boat with the reporters.
Most of the time, the division of spirit stood motionless, especially when he needed to concentrate his attention on the situation of the players.
However, this didn’t hinder the division of spirit from becoming the most accurate positioning beacon.
As long as the mental connection existed, he could pinpoint the location of his division at any time, thereby guiding Ailuodi to always maintain the correct course.
“Watch out ahead!” Chaoyang suddenly noticed a large pit in the mist!
“Crap!” In her urgency, Ailuodi blurted out in her mother tongue—the distance was too close, it was too late to steer, and she floored the gas pedal!
For a moment, the car seemed to fly!
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
Both of them let out shrill screams!
Chaoyang regretfully realized that all his tricky demon abilities were useless in this situation, and the only thing he could do was to grip the door handle tightly!
Bang—!
The car slammed down hard on the ground, then jerked upwards, the undercarriage making a piercing grinding noise!
“The, the steering wheel is not working!” Ailuodi wailed.
“Don’t panic, hold steady!” Chaoyang quickly pressed his hand to the floorboard, invoking his Power of Replication, making the broken steering mechanism as good as new, “How’s that?”
“My God… it’s fixed.” The girl quickly steadied the car, “You can even repair cars instantly?”
“This car was created with wishing power, if it had been a normal physical entity, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.” Chaoyang took a deep breath, now that his main body was in the car, he didn’t want to ruin his newly resolved survival issues in a car accident.
“Why can’t you change it into an armored vehicle! Or at least a modern car!” Ailuodi complained, “I agree with what that Russian said, why did you choose an old clunker?”
“You think I want this!” Chaoyang retorted annoyedly, “There’s no electricity in this world, get it? No electricity!”
“No… what?” Ailuodi didn’t catch on.
“No electricity! Not just lights or batteries, but anything that uses electricity just can’t be reconstructed!” Chaoyang yelled, “I don’t know why it’s like this either, maybe Earth’s electricity can’t be brought to this world!”
“Huh?” Ailuodi looked incredulous, “I may have dropped out of school midway, but I certainly haven’t stopped reading books! Isn’t electricity a basic property of matter?”
“You’re asking me, who am I supposed to ask!” Chaoyang bluntly chose to give up, “There’s no electricity, so could you still observe atomic structures or what? Anyway, this world might look like the other side of Earth, but it’s essentially different! Like those bizarre structures I mentioned earlier, some even surpass the level of artificial intelligence!”
“…Really?”
“Once this is over, I’ll take you for an eye-opener!”
“Fine, it’s a deal. I’m curious to see just what level of artificial intelligence the Steam Age has achieved. I hope you’re not talking about the kind where the more manual it is, the smarter it gets—be careful, it could be another trap!”
Chaoyang had to hold on to the door handle once again, bracing himself for the impending leap.
This time however, Ailuodi was not screaming, but laughing joyfully in the wind!
So, they continued driving and repairing along the way. The antique car miraculously didn’t fall apart, and when the world suddenly opened up before them, they were facing the sea reflecting the twinkling moonlight.
“We made it out! Where’s the boat?”
“Drive another kilometer ahead, there’s a shallow area suitable for docking.”
“Understood.” Ailuodi rolled down the window and rested her arm on the door. The evening breeze lifted her hair, making her appear utterly content.
Chaoyang shook his head with a smile, “Although you seem in a good mood, remember to tone it down later. Don’t forget, we’ve ‘sacrificed’ three comrades.”
“Uh…” Ailuodi suddenly remembered this detail, “With the rate we lose people at, even if you had a battalion, you couldn’t sustain such losses, right? The locals are bound to get suspicious.”
“If they have doubts, that will be a problem for later. For now, treating players as disposable is cost-effective. Besides, making them log off on the spot, along with erasing their weapons and equipment, makes it even harder for anyone in this world to trace back to me.”
“Ah… Cost-effectiveness, I almost forgot you’re a demon.” Ailuodi shrugged her shoulders.
Chaoyang glanced at her with interest, “If I were gone, who else would bring out your power?”
If it were the Angel of the past, she would have surely argued against this statement, but this time, Ailuodi chose to remain silent, unexpectedly.
Soon, they drove onto the beach.
Ailuodi was quick to spot a small boat that had docked.
“Is that the one?”
She asked for a good while without getting an answer and, turning to the passenger seat, realized that Chaoyang had vanished from sight.
“Alright then, I’ll take it from here.” Ailuodi muttered to herself and parked the car by the shallow waters.
Judy was the first to run over.
She was clearly intrigued by the unfamiliar four-wheeled machine, but her gaze first fixed on the people inside the car, “How was it… Was your journey smooth? Why are you alone? Where are Zhang Qiang and the others?”
“They… uh, they decided to stay behind and cover our retreat, they’ll scatter and evacuate later.” Ailuodi hesitated for a long time but couldn’t bring herself to tell Judy straight up that they had chosen to “die in place.” “Anyway… I believe they’ll come back, just not right now.”
“Really?” Judy didn’t seem to fully believe her, her eyes growing more somber, “I hope the Paradise Master will bless them with safety.”
“Who is this person?” Detective Chaoyang had also followed, feigning surprise as he looked at the wounded in the back, “Did you manage to get the GaoTian Mining payrolls?”
Ailuodi had to admit she felt weird, for she had just fought alongside the real Chaoyang and now had to deal with his pretendedly unfamiliar replica. But perhaps that’s just how demons were, always full of cunning plans, “We got it, it’s all in the trunk. This isn’t the place to talk, we should head back to Magnificent Castle… and this man needs medical attention urgently.”
“Indeed, this mist seems quite perilous, we’d better leave first.” Judy took a deep breath, seeming to force herself to stay strong, “What about this transportation machine…?”
“We can’t leave any evidence behind. I’ll drive it into the sea, so no one will ever find it,” Ailuodi replied earnestly.
