“Then let’s cripple it!” Zhao Jiahuai said bluntly. Watching the mine lizard dart through the billowing yellow sand kicked up behind the vehicle, he swung his whip at it. The lizard was fast, but it was still on the ground. With his height and the item whip, hitting it should not be difficult. In fact, he did hit it, but the electrified whip failed to hurt the Mutated Animal in the slightest. Instead, it only enraged it. With a cry that was somewhere between a roar and a growl, it suddenly leaped several meters into the air and landed on the back of the vehicle!
Zhao Jiahuai reacted quickly and tossed out a bottle of potion. The lizard, which had just climbed aboard, slid off as the vehicle swerved. But as it fell, they also heard a dull thud from the rear. Teacher Ai said, “It’s hanging onto the back!”
Zhao Jiahuai went over to take a look. He replaced the whip in his hand with a two-meter-long knife and brought it down. The mine lizard was knocked off, but his knife was left buzzing from the impact. “How did this thing evolve? It’s so tough!”
“I told you it could slice through the vehicle!” Shangguan Xi called over his shoulder. “Just shake it off. There’s no need to fight it!”
Zhao Jiahuai did not hesitate. He took out a balloon and gave it a gentle puff. A ball two or three meters across floated away. The pursuing mine lizard punctured it with its raptorial forelegs. The burst balloon wrapped around its head like chewing gum. As the mine lizard tore at the material, it gradually fell behind the vehicle.
Only after confirming that the mine lizard was no longer following them did Teacher Ai slow down a little.
But before one trouble had passed, another arose. Less than twenty minutes later, a gigantic arch appeared up ahead.
It really was an arch, twenty meters wide, standing right in the desert before the vehicle. The words “The Only Entrance” were written on one side. Beyond it, the same desert seemed to stretch on, only a little hazier than before. In the blowing sand, however, it was difficult to tell.
“Quick, change course!” Shangguan Xi urged Teacher Ai when he saw that the vehicle showed no sign of turning.
Teacher Ai gripped the control lever, his expression grave. “I can’t turn. There’s an item up ahead!”
“If you can’t turn, surely you can at least stop,” Ding Wei said from behind them. “We can turn around by hand!”
Before Teacher Ai could stop the vehicle, Xu Huo, who had been silent all this time, opened the door and jumped out. The next second, a gigantic wooden stake thrust up from underground and flipped the vehicle over, leaving it upside down with its rear end facing forward. Then a second stake rammed into the front and flipped it again, seemingly trying to force the vehicle through the arch!
Ding Wei leaped out of the vehicle, rolled across the sand, then quickly got back to her feet. She scattered a handful of beans in front of the vehicle, and two bottles of potion flew out alongside them.
The potion bottles burst in midair. The beans hit the ground, absorbed the water, and sprouted at once, rapidly forming a thick layer. Their leaves and branches crept beneath the wheels. The tough vines not only caught the vehicle but also cushioned the third stake as it thrust up from underground. This time, the vehicle merely shuddered in place before pinning the stake back down!
“Don’t all get out! Someone might steal the vehicle!” Ding Wei shouted to Shangguan Xi and Zhao Jiahuai inside. Then she turned to look toward the arch again.
After leaving the vehicle, Xu Huo had headed straight to the arch. The arch item seemed to be a location-type item, which meant that even if they turned the vehicle around, avoiding the area would be difficult. Judging by the faint blur in the scenery beyond the arch, its range seemed quite large.
Since the arch was not made of metal, the Life Core would be useless. It was clearly placed here to lure people inside. With no way to see what lay beyond it, taking the risk was not worthwhile, so he took out the Little Mushroom Cloud.
The one-cubic-millimeter spatial explosion did not mean that the item itself was only that size. Its explosive core was sealed inside a translucent cube about the size of a thumb, with faint flashes of light visible within.
But just then, he sensed someone approaching the arch from the other side. A few seconds later, a frail woman stumbled to her knees at the entrance. She repeatedly bowed and kowtowed to him, her face stricken with grief and her eyes pleading.
She was an ordinary person.
Xu Huo put the Little Mushroom Cloud back into his item slot and beckoned for her to come out. But the woman shook her head and pointed at the arch. She had gone so long without water that her lips were cracked. When she opened her mouth, blood seeped from it. Kneeling on the ground, she wrote two lines: “Players are poisoned” and “Items can’t be retrieved.”
“She might be setting a trap,” Ding Wei said, coming up behind him.
Keeping some distance, Xu Huo asked the woman, “How many of you are there? How many players?”
The woman looked at him and Ding Wei. Despair mingled with a trace of determination in her expression as she held up her hands to indicate the numbers five and one.
Seeing that Xu Huo was about to go in, Ding Wei could not help asking, “Are you serious?”
“It might not be safe in there. If something happens, don’t blame me for not warning you first. And even if they’re just ordinary people, are you really planning to save them? We might not even have enough food and water for ourselves. Don’t forget, resources are scarce at W37 Base Station. Once our food and water run out, they’ll be hard to replenish.”
“Go back and help with the vehicle. Keep it at least a kilometer away from the arch if you can.” Xu Huo said no more. He stepped through the arch and disappeared with the woman a few seconds later.
They could not see what was inside, but from outside, they could see the area just beyond the entrance. Anything farther away vanished into the desert backdrop.
Ding Wei listened for a while, but when she heard nothing, she hurried back to the vehicle.
“What’s going on?” Shangguan Xi asked.
“He went in to save people.” Ding Wei replied lazily, “Move the vehicle back a kilometer.”
Everyone in the vehicle found it unbelievable. It had nearly been flipped over just moments ago, and he still dared to enter someone else’s territory alone?
“Players with items like that need us to save them?” Zhao Jiahuai said with undisguised scorn. “He’s not a rookie anymore. Why pretend to be such a good guy?”
“What’s it to you?” Shangguan Xi snapped. “Brother Xu went in by himself. He didn’t ask us to go with him. If you don’t like it, just wait here. Or go through that arch yourself. Let’s see if you can make it across!”
“Teacher Ai, can’t we go around it?” Ding Wei asked with a smile. “We can’t just wait here forever. If nothing comes of it on his end, we should at least find another way through.”
Teacher Ai nodded in agreement. “We can look for a route, but it’s best not to use the vehicle. If there’s a sinkhole underneath, the vehicle might not be able to get out.”
“But this is a road, isn’t it? Surely it can’t be that dangerous,” Ding Wei said with a frown.
Teacher Ai did not even turn around. “Roads are made with people’s lives. Anyway, this is the only route I know.”
Ding Wei and Zhao Jiahuai exchanged a glance. They had no choice but to split up and look for another route. Before leaving, they told Shangguan Xi not to wander off and to keep the doors locked while protecting Teacher Ai.
“We might as well count on Brother Xu,” Shangguan Xi said, waving for them to hurry up as he stared at the arch ahead.