Chapter 908: The Only Entrance
"Then cripple it!" Zhao Jiahuai said bluntly, watching the mining lizard moving swiftly through the rolling yellow sand at the rear of the vehicle as he cracked his whip—the lizard was fast, but it was still on the ground. With his height combined with the prop whip, hitting the mining lizard wasn't difficult, and indeed he did strike it. However, the electrified whip didn't cause any damage to this mutant animal; instead, it only angered it. It let out a sound that was neither a roar nor a howl, then leaped several meters high and landed on the back of the vehicle!
Zhao Jiahuai quickly threw out a bottle of potion. The lizard that had just climbed onto the car was shaken off as the vehicle swerved, but as it fell, a dull thud came from the rear. Teacher Ai said, "It's hanging onto the back!"
Zhao Jiahuai walked over to take a look, swapping his whip for a two-meter-long blade. With one swing, the mining lizard was knocked off, but his knife vibrated with a loud hum. "How did this thing evolve to be so hard?"
"I told you it can cut through cars!" Shangguan Xi shouted back. "Just shake it off, no need to fight it!"
Zhao Jiahuai didn't hesitate. He pulled out a balloon, gave it a gentle blow, and a large sphere two or three meters wide flew out. The pursuing mining lizard pierced the balloon with its grasping foot, and the burst sphere wrapped around its head like chewing gum. The lizard tore at the substance clinging to it, slowly falling behind the vehicle.
Once he was sure the mining lizard wasn't following, Teacher Ai slightly slowed down.
But no sooner had one wave settled than another arose. Less than twenty minutes later, a massive archway appeared ahead.
It was indeed an archway, a full twenty meters wide, standing alone in the desert, right in front of the vehicle. On one side of the arch were the words "The Only Entrance" written in large characters. Beyond the arch, the desert still stretched out, though it looked slightly blurrier than before—a difference hard to discern in the wind and sand.
"Change course!" Shangguan Xi urged Teacher Ai when she saw the vehicle showed no sign of turning.
Teacher Ai gripped the control stick, his face grim. "Can't turn. There's a prop ahead!"
"If you can't turn, at least stop," Ding Wei said from the back. "We'll get out and turn it manually!"
Before Teacher Ai could bring the vehicle to a halt, Xu Huo, who had been silent, opened the door and jumped out. The next second, the vehicle was flipped over by a massive wooden stake that shot up from the ground, landing upside down with its rear end facing forward. Then a second stake followed, hitting the front and flipping the vehicle again, as if trying to force it toward the archway!
At that moment, Ding Wei leaped out of the vehicle, rolled through the sand, and quickly got to his feet. He scattered a handful of beans in front of the car while also throwing out two bottles of potion.
The potion bottles exploded mid-air. The beans that hit the ground grew instantly upon contact with the liquid, quickly forming a thick layer on the surface. Their vines and leaves crawled under the tires, gripping the vehicle. The tough tendrils not only held the car in place but also cushioned the impact of a third stake rising from below. This time, the vehicle only jolted in place before pressing the stake back down!
"Don't all come out—someone might try to steal the car!" Ding Wei shouted to Shangguan Xi and Zhao Jiahuai inside, then turned to look toward the archway.
After leaving the vehicle, Xu Huo first approached the archway. The arch prop seemed to be a location prop, meaning even if they turned the vehicle around, it would be hard to avoid this area. Judging by the subtle blurriness of the scenery beyond the arch, the range seemed considerable.
Since the arch wasn't made of metal, the "Life Core" was useless. The arch was clearly placed here to lure people inside. With no way in or out, it wasn't worth the risk, so he pulled out the "Mini Mushroom Cloud."
A one-cubic-millimeter spatial explosion didn't mean the prop was that small. The explosion core was sealed inside a thumb-sized, semi-transparent cube, with faint flashes of light visible within.
But at that moment, he sensed someone approaching the arch from the inside. A few seconds later, a weak woman stumbled and knelt at the entrance, bowing and kowtowing to him repeatedly. Her expression was sorrowful, her eyes pleading.
She was an ordinary person.
Xu Huo put the "Mini Mushroom Cloud" back into his item slot and gestured for her to come out. But the woman shook her head and pointed at the arch. Her lips were cracked from prolonged dehydration, and blood seeped out as she mouthed words. She wrote two lines in the sand: "Players poisoned" and "Items can't be retrieved."
"It might be a trap," Ding Wei said, coming up behind him.
From a distance, Xu Huo asked the woman, "How many of you are there? How many players?"
She looked at him and Ding Wei, despair mixed with a hint of resolve, and held up two fingers: "Five" and "One."
Seeing that Xu Huo was about to enter, Ding Wei couldn't help but say, "Are you serious?"
"Going in might not be safe. If something happens, don't say I didn't warn you. Besides, even if they're just ordinary people, are you really going to save them? We might not have enough food and water for ourselves. Don't forget, W37 Base Station is resource-poor—once supplies run out, it's hard to replenish them."
"Go back to the vehicle and help. Try to keep the car at least a kilometer away from the arch." Xu Huo didn't say more. He stepped through the arch, and within seconds, he and the woman had vanished.
What was inside the arch was unclear, but from the outside, only the area near the entrance was visible. A few steps further in, and they disappeared into the desert backdrop.
Ding Wei listened for a moment but heard nothing, then quickly returned to the vehicle.
"What's going on?" Shangguan Xi asked.
"He went in to save people," Ding Wei said lazily. "Move the car back a kilometer."
Everyone in the vehicle found it hard to believe. The car had nearly been overturned just moments ago, and he dared to go into someone else's territory alone?
"A player with a prop like that needs us to save him?" Zhao Jiahuai couldn't hide his sarcasm. "He's not a rookie. What's he playing hero for?"
"None of your damn business!" Shangguan Xi snapped. "Brother Xu went in on his own. He didn't ask us to go with him. If you don't like it, wait. Or better yet, try going through that arch yourself—let's see if you make it!"
"Teacher Ai, can't we go around?" Ding Wei asked with a smile. "We can't just wait here forever. If he doesn't come back with results, we at least need to find another way."
Teacher Ai nodded in agreement. "We can look for a way, but it's best not to use the vehicle. If there's a sinkhole underneath, the car might go down and never come back up."
"Isn't this a road? It can't be that dangerous," Ding Wei frowned.
Teacher Ai didn't look back. "The road was paved with lives. All I know is this path."
Ding Wei and Zhao Jiahuai exchanged a glance. With no other choice, they split up to search for an alternate route. Before leaving, Ding Wei told Shangguan Xi not to wander off, to keep the doors locked, and to protect Teacher Ai.
"Relying on you two is worse than relying on Brother Xu," Shangguan Xi said, waving them off. Her eyes stayed fixed on the arch ahead.