Chapter 35: The Monsters
Su Xiao tossed the last small piece of Soul Crystal into his mouth and stepped toward Wood. In just this short time, he already felt parched. Walking out of the Endless Desert on foot was not impossible, but far too risky. That high-tech desert vehicle was crucial.
As he took a step, Su Xiao noticed Zuiyasi also moving toward Wood with the same intention. For now, cooperating with Wood carried little risk—at least no risk stemming from the Abyssal Jar.
"Sure enough, this thing isn't so easy to get rid of."
Wood tossed the Abyssal Jar in his hand, his expression and tone unchanged. He could accept failure of this magnitude. Besides, he wasn't dead yet, and as long as he lived, there was still a chance.
The only thing troubling Wood was that the Abyssal Jar had changed. With its lid restored, it was now complete. This was a case of father + father = grandfather—double the joy.
"And you can still stay so calm? Aren't you afraid your clansmen will tear you apart when you return to the Demon Clan?"
As Zuiyasi spoke, he pretended to inspect the desert vehicle. In truth, he was just going through the motions. He had never seen such a thing before; Doom Star didn't have them.
"Why go back? Zuiyasi, that's habitual thinking. The Abyssal Jar has only signed a Blood Pact with me. Before I return to the Demon Clan's territory, it can't sign a pact with them. At worst, I'll never return to the Demon Clan and wander as a ghost. But... I've used many of the clan's resources to get where I am today. Taking the World of Paintings counts as my repayment."
Wood tossed the Abyssal Jar up, then caught it with a firm grip, squeezing until it creaked.
"You seem to have been tricked, you broken jar."
Wood laughed, his shoulders shaking. To further his plan, he was deliberately provoking the Abyssal Jar. It looked like a desperate one-for-one trade, but Wood had already set things in motion.
Su Xiao climbed into the passenger seat of the desert vehicle. Seeing this, Zuiyasi opened the driver's door, slammed it shut, and leaned back with a relaxed expression. In truth, he was curious—what the hell was this round thing in front of him?
Baha had already secured food and fresh water on the roof, storing the rest in the trunk. Soon, Wood, Bubu Wang, and Baha got in, all taking the back seats.
"Let's go. What are we waiting for?"
Zuiyasi, in the driver's seat, spoke while staring at the steering wheel. He still had no idea what this thing was, but that didn't matter. As long as he didn't ask, no one would know how backward Doom Star's technology was. Theology there had soared, but technology? You'd be asking for death if you researched science in a world dominated by Ancient Gods.
"..."
"?"
"??"
"???"
The back-seat occupants—Wood, Bubu Wang, and Baha—were all baffled. The situation was: Zuiyasi was sitting in the driver's seat, telling someone else to hurry up and drive.
"Zuiyasi, don't tell me you've never seen a car before? Sure, this thing is a bit rugged for high-tech, but it's still a desert vehicle."
Baha asked tentatively.
"Of course I've seen one."
Zuiyasi was inexplicably confident. No one was perfect, and Zuiyasi was no exception. On trivial matters, he cared about face. But when life, death, or success hung in the balance, he was the most shameless of all.
"You've seen one? Then start the engine. Get this thing running."
"Start the engine?"
Zuiyasi looked at the steering wheel, then at his fist, as if understanding something. A look of realization crossed his face. So this thing needed to be hit. That's why it wasn't moving. The principle was similar to riding a horse.
"I'll do it right now. Hold tight."
Zuiyasi raised his fist, ready to strike experimentally, controlling his strength so as not to destroy this hunk of metal.
"Hold on."
Wood raised a hand to stop him. With Zuiyasi's strength, one punch wouldn't start the engine—it would punch straight through.
*Slap.*
Su Xiao grabbed Zuiyasi's arm. Zuiyasi shot him a puzzled look.
Su Xiao released Zuiyasi's arm and turned the alloy key in the ignition. The desert vehicle's engine roared to life.
The atmosphere was unbearably awkward. Zuiyasi cleared his throat and said, "I really haven't seen one of these before. Technology is fascinating. Too bad theology and science can't coexist."
A moment later, Bubu Wang was in the driver's seat, one dog paw pressing toward the clutch. Then he realized this desert vehicle had no clutch. His little face twisted in confusion. No clutch meant no drifting. No drifting meant no soul. With that thought, Bubu Wang pushed the gear stick, activated the fluid recirculation device, floored the accelerator, and the desert vehicle shot forward.
Everyone inside remained calm, except Zuiyasi, whose face looked like he'd just attended a funeral. He was worse than a dog. That hit him hard.
Half an hour later, Zuiyasi was driving. His current thought was: technology is really fun.
The desert vehicle sped along. In the passenger seat, Su Xiao took a sip of ice-cold water from his canteen. He still knew nothing about the Sand World. To learn about it, he at least had to leave the Endless Desert. Or perhaps, leaving the Endless Desert would mark the end of the second round of the Scroll Battle?
Su Xiao doubted it. Ultimately, victory or defeat depended on the number of Scroll Fragments submitted. Coming to the Sand World meant collecting Scroll Fragments. With that in mind, he checked the Scroll Battle rankings.
[World Source Rankings have been refreshed. Current rankings are as follows.]
First Place: Zuiyasi (Doom Star), Scroll Fragments Submitted: 4.
First Place: Bai Ye (Reincarnation Paradise), Scroll Fragments Submitted: 4.
First Place: Wood (Demon Clan), Scroll Fragments Submitted: 4.
[Tip: The first-place reward is only one.]
...
Opening the rankings, three first places appeared. Coincidence? Of course not. Submitting 4 Scroll Fragments raised the Young Miss's friendliness to 20 points, granting access to the castle's second floor.
Did Wood and Zuiyasi have no more Scroll Fragments? Of course not. Those two good teammates had won three from the Skeleton Gambler and grabbed plenty more after the battle with the Nightmare King.
Why not submit more? They were all worried about being ganged up on at the end. They were old hands at this. In the final round, whoever submitted the most Scroll Fragments would be the most targeted.
The scenery outside the window flew by, yet it seemed unchanging—nothing but yellow sand. Even with the windows open and the wind howling in, Su Xiao still felt the heat. He was sweating profusely, the moisture evaporating as soon as it formed.
The journey felt both long and fleeting. The sky darkened, and the scorching heat of the day finally subsided, replaced by a pleasant coolness.
Night slipped away quietly. The first rays of dawn filtered through the window. Su Xiao opened his eyes. It was the second day in the Endless Desert. Wood was driving now. They had already decided Su Xiao wouldn't drive because, as a Technique-type melee fighter, he had the fastest reaction time if enemies attacked.
After a few more hours of driving, Bubu Wang stopped. A massive sand pit loomed ahead—the site of Su Xiao's earlier battle with Loshi.
"A ghost wall? This desert's gimmick is way too cliché."
Despite his words, Baha was genuinely troubled. They had wasted a whole day's travel.
"No, look over there."
Su Xiao pointed out the window. Over two hundred meters away, near the giant sand pit, was another desert vehicle. Standing beside it were versions of himself, Zuiyasi, Wood, Bubu Wang, and Baha.
"Damn it!"
Over two hundred meters away, the figure identical to Su Xiao suddenly turned around. Its eyes turned blood-red, and its entire body rapidly transformed into blood energy, eventually becoming a Blood Energy Avatar.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
The Blood Energy Avatar teleported several times before landing on a thread of blood suspended in midair. The long blade in its hand faintly emitted blood smoke.
Near the sand pit, the figure identical to Zuiyasi also turned. In an instant, it transformed into a man covered in tentacles—a Tentacle Man.
The figure identical to Wood turned into a Death God draped in a black cloak. Black smoke rose from its body, and it gripped a pale scythe.
The figures of Bubu Wang and Baha exploded instead of turning into enemies. That was good news. If Bubu Wang's doppelgänger had also become a monster, it could have buffed the others with auras, which would have been disastrous. As for Baha, if its doppelgänger had become a monster, it would have provided constant aerial surveillance, leaving no escape.
The Blood Energy Avatar, the Tentacle Man, and the Black Smoke Death God all turned their gazes toward the desert vehicle carrying Su Xiao and the others.