Chapter 1339: Essential Skills for a Housekeeper
At first, the potion gun could keep up, but as more wolf beasts surged in, the two gradually found themselves overwhelmed. These wolf beasts also knew how to coordinate and interfere, targeting not only Xu Huo and Dai Song, who were half-crouched on the car roof, but also focusing their attacks on the tires and windows.
The defense items couldn't protect the car from every angle without blind spots, and with the large number of wolf beasts, the vehicle suffered considerable damage. Several specially reinforced glass windows were shattered, and the passenger door was left with deep, long claw marks, the metal on both sides curling outward.
"They're coming from the front too!" Qiu Ming, while protecting Dr. Duo Er, glanced ahead. The wolf beasts that had broken away from the pack earlier were now blocking their path. Taking advantage of the car's momentum, several of them were already poised to leap up!
Just then, the car tires let out a dull screech. The robot spun the steering wheel, forcing the vehicle to rotate half a turn, using its side to meet the charging wolf beasts.
A series of collisions rang out on one side of the car. Then the robot turned the front half-circle again, reversing forward. The back of the car was fitted with a protective net, sturdier than the front windshield, so the wolf beasts that pounced next were thwarted by the rear window.
"Nice move!" Qiu Ming took a moment to praise the robot. Watching the horde of wolf beasts surging around the car, nearly dragging it to a halt, he couldn't help but ask, "Housekeeper sister, any way to shake these things off…"
The robot, with a female appearance, dressed in a suit and trousers like a proper housekeeper, maintained a polite smile. Then, with one hand, she punched through the glass beside her—the wolf beast clinging to the window had its mouth wide open, ready to bite her, and was caught right in the strike. Grabbing the beast's tongue, the robot swung it to knock away the wolf beasts on either side. Then, using the car's weight shift, she spun the vehicle another half-turn, shaking off at least half of the beasts clinging and biting the car before flooring the accelerator and speeding forward.
"Awesome!" Qiu Ming didn't hold back his praise.
"You're too kind. This is an essential skill for a housekeeper." The housekeeping robot returned both hands to the steering wheel.
However, though they had briefly escaped the predicament, the wolf beasts didn't give up and quickly closed the distance again.
Xu Huo's potion gun was empty. Kicking a wolf beast that lunged at him, he casually pulled out his lighter. With a series of "click, click, click" sounds, the nearest few wolf beasts burst into flames.
Several balls of fire lit up the night. Although the evolved wolf beasts weren't as afraid of fire as ordinary animals, they couldn't ignore the flames burning on their bodies. Amid the howls of the burning beasts, some of the pack voluntarily withdrew, cleverly scraping dirt onto their companions.
"Click! Click! Click!"
The lighter's sound didn't stop. Fires blazed in clusters through the woods, quickly left behind as the car sped away.
Only after completely shaking off the wolf beast pack did Xu Huo put away the lighter. He turned to ask the others in the car, "Everyone alright?"
"No injuries, but the car's pretty banged up," Cao Qinglin replied.
Several windows were gone, the exterior was covered in claw and bite marks with hardly a spot untouched, the rear passenger door was barely hanging on, and two tires were on the verge of giving out.
"Find a place to change the tires." Xu Huo glanced around and asked Dai Song, "How much farther to the Tiantian Fruit Grove?"
"We need to speed up." Dai Song paused. "There's a rest stop not far ahead. We can pull the car over there."
Soon they reached the rest stop he mentioned. It was actually an abandoned service area, with only basic facilities like a restroom and convenience store, now almost completely overgrown with vegetation.
After confirming no mutant beasts were hiding inside, Dai Song signaled the robot to pull the car over, parking it sideways against a wall.
Changing the tires was simple. With the housekeeping robot helping, Xu Huo and the other two worked simultaneously on both sides. In a few minutes, they also reinforced the doors. Confirming the car had no major issues, the group hurried back on the road.
But after that, they clearly noticed more mutant plants. Large masses of vegetation had overtaken the original road, making it easy for the car to get stuck. Before long, the road was completely blocked.
Piles of vines several meters high occupied a vast area ahead. Forget the road—even the woods on either side were covered in undulating mounds of vines, making passage impossible. Clearing such a large area of vines, whether by cutting or burning, would take considerable time. The situation here clearly wasn't suitable for a slow approach.
"Isn't there another way?" Qiu Ming asked Dai Song.
Dai Song frowned. "I'm just following the map, but this map hasn't been updated in a long time. Mutant plants grow fast—it wouldn't be strange for major changes to happen in just a few days or weeks. This area might be completely blocked by these giant vines. We'll have to turn back, find a path through the woods, and cut directly to the other side of the winding mountain road."
With no other choice, they had to retreat. But unexpectedly, just as they were about to reverse, the surrounding vines suddenly began to writhe rapidly!
Everyone was startled. Dai Song quickly urged the robot, "Drive, now!"
Unfortunately, they couldn't get out before the retreat path was blocked. In just a few dozen seconds, both front and back were filled with vine mounds the size of small hills, the gaps too narrow for the car to pass.
"Let's just clear a path." Xu Huo, a man of action, quickly adjusted the plan. He used "Cake Slice" to cut through the vine pile ahead and then pulled it apart with a space barrier. But these things were heavier than expected, making them difficult to move.
Still, the car slowly began to move along the original road.
"This is too slow." Dai Song's gaze kept sweeping through the distant woods, as if worried about xenomorphs appearing at any moment.
"If any mutant beasts show up, we'll know," Qiu Ming said. He had already gotten out with Xu Huo to help. Seeing Dai Song still sitting leisurely in the car, he couldn't help but shout, "Hey, come help out!"
"I need to protect the doctor." Dai Song didn't get out, only taking out some potions. "These potions can slow down the vine growth."
Qiu Ming had nothing to say and just took the potions from him.
Dr. Duo Er felt a bit guilty and said to Dai Song, "It's still safe here. Maybe you could…"
But before he could finish, Dai Song interrupted, "Doctor, protecting you doesn't mean I have to follow your orders. My goal is to get you safely to the secondary city."
"My request was a bit excessive…" Dr. Duo Er didn't say more, then looked worriedly at Xu Huo and Qiu Ming up ahead.
"He's using the banner of voluntary service to escort people, but making us players work outside while he sits in the car watching is a bit much." Qiu Ming also wanted to stay in the car to protect Cao Qinglin and was a bit displeased. "If he's worried about danger, he should help clear these mutant plants faster so we can all leave this place sooner."