Chapter 904: A Good Thing Delivered to Your Doorstep
The effect of not being able to close his eyes hadn't worn off yet, and now his vision was being crazily blocked. Xu Huo shouted, "I want a discount!" but the first things to greet him were two long blades, one from the front and one from the back.
He had already tried with the Crimson Sword—when it touched the wind, it was deflected back. It seemed this kind of wind only allowed attacks from the outside in, but did not allow the trapped person to counterattack.
Of course, being trapped in such a narrow space made dodging difficult. The air barrier also seemed to clash with this item's properties, failing twice to successfully condense into a barrier.
"Compressed Air" had temporal-spatial properties. Xu Huo guessed this item probably had the same properties, so after "Moving Metal" blocked the attacks from front and back, he reached into the space, grabbed hold, and directly passed through the storm, arriving fifty meters away.
This storm item seemed to have a "space compression" effect. Having experienced compressed space in the botanical garden of Sea World, and without any obstruction, this wasn't difficult for Xu Huo.
After coming out, he quickly turned back, taking less than a second to reach behind one of them. With a swift motion of his hand, he cleanly severed his neck.
The storm item's effect had already dissipated. Xu Huo looked up and saw the other player kneeling with his hands bound behind his back in front of Shangguan Xi, his head laid flat as if on a guillotine. Then, an invisible force cut him in half at the waist.
Shangguan Xi himself didn't seem to expect a waist cut. He had been prepared to dodge the splattering blood, but instead, his foot was directly covered by the organs spilling from the corpse's abdomen.
"Damn, that's disgusting!" He immediately shook his foot and stepped back, then spoke to Xu Huo, "Brother Xu, you're done too. Let's get ready to go."
Up above, the young man and Teacher Ai were pushing the iron door open a crack to look down. Xu Huo kicked the sand off his shoes and flew up, saying, "Going to W19 requires transportation."
"Transportation?" Shangguan Xi also used a suction cup item to climb up along the protective wall, squeezing through the iron door before continuing, "With this much wind, aircraft definitely won't work. Even if there are cars in the city, we can't drive them out, right? As soon as the engine starts, we'll be surrounded by Xenomorphs. I've already checked—W37 base station doesn't have any silenced vehicles."
As for items, forget it. First, their range is limited; second, there isn't enough time.
"Walking through this desert area is difficult," Xu Huo said. "Having transportation is better, especially since we'll need it when we come out of W19."
"Wouldn't it be better to find one when we get to W19?" Shangguan Xi added. "Even if we drive a car there, there are too many variables. It might not even be usable. We'd also have to protect the car on the way from W18."
His words made sense. Xu Huo stated his own thoughts, "We're bringing people. From W18, using transportation is more convenient. When we get to W19, the situation is uncertain, and we'll have to carry things. We might not have the energy to find a new car or aircraft then. Having a car outside is a backup plan."
If he were going alone, traveling by himself would be much easier.
"What's the situation in W19 like?" Shangguan Xi looked at Teacher Ai. "You came from there."
The middle-aged man pressed on his atrophied legs. "W19 is worse than here. It's best to follow Mr. Xu's plan, if you decide to take me along."
"Where in the city can we find a car?" Shangguan Xi asked again.
But Xu Huo stared at Teacher Ai. "How did you get to W18 back then?"
Teacher Ai said calmly, "I drove. You know about W37 base city, so you should know that almost every base city has manual off-road vehicles. These cars are made of the same material as the protective walls, not easily corroded or damaged. They also have sinkhole early warning systems and defense systems, capable of adapting to complex environments. The only drawback is their high energy consumption."
Shangguan Xi frowned, gradually catching his meaning. "You know where there are cars?"
Passing through the base yesterday, they could already get a general idea of the city's situation. Manual off-road vehicles like the ones Teacher Ai mentioned were definitely scarce. Most of the transportation they could see was better suited for flat ground. The places to find such cars would either be at the manufacturing plant or the former W18 base city management's residence. But obviously, when the outbreak happened, those people had all run away.
"W18's portal activation device has already been destroyed," Xu Huo said. "If you drove here from outside, the car should have been left outside, right?"
Shangguan Xi looked ahead at the rolling yellow sand. "That's unlikely."
"My car was long buried in the sand, but I know where there are cars," Teacher Ai said. "But I have one condition."
"Go ahead," Xu Huo said.
"You have to take me to W37 base." Teacher Ai's tone was flat. "Only I know where the cars are in W18. Torturing me for information won't work."
"Is that so? I don't believe it." Shangguan Xi flicked the item on his wrist, but Teacher Ai continued, "The three people just now used items and potions on me. I only told them there were cars in the city, and they immediately gave up on the idea of driving out."
"If you don't believe me, you can try." Teacher Ai raised his head in the darkness, looking at Xu Huo. "And don't think about using the safety of those people in the city to coerce me. They have nothing to do with me."
After saying this, he gestured for the young man to step forward. The young man, not understanding why, stood in front of him, only to be shoved by Teacher Ai!
"Teacher Ai!" The young man's reflexes made him grab the iron door beside him as he fell backward. The door panel let out a dull thud, and the young man looked at the person sitting on the ground in disbelief.
Under the light from outside, Teacher Ai's gaunt face showed no emotional fluctuation.
"You used to be a player?" Xu Huo said with slight surprise.
A person with a strong mind might be able to resist an item's effects, but potions act directly on the body. Willpower alone is useless unless the person's body has been modified.
An ordinary evolved human couldn't reach that level.
"Whether I'm a player or not has no effect on you." Teacher Ai patted his legs. "I can't stand up, and I don't have any items."
"Then aren't you afraid we'll kill you after we get what we want?" Shangguan Xi clearly despised his ruthless act of pushing the young man toward the wall, and his tone was harsh.
"If you're going to W19, don't you need to go to W37?" Teacher Ai countered.
"It seems those idiots just now revealed quite a bit," Xu Huo said. "But there's still one problem. You've been in W18 for quite a while. The climate outside has changed, and the terrain has probably shifted as well. How do you prove your value on the latter half of the journey?"
In other words, bringing him along is fine, but not for free.
"I used to be an engineer, responsible for the design of item engineering between bases," Teacher Ai said. "I know both the roads on the map and the ones that aren't."
This was a big card to play. It almost seemed like a good thing delivered right to their doorstep. Shangguan Xi was the first to doubt it. "That's quite a boast. Aren't you afraid of choking on it?"
(End of chapter)