Chapter 914: Two Living Samples
Xu Huo used "Destination Arrival" to circle around twice and discovered that the area where they were lost was quite large. The place where the car was driving in circles was only a small part of it. The scenery around here was mostly the same, and as far as the eye could see, there were no obvious landmarks. So, without the navigation system indicating any anomalies, it was hard for people to notice in a short time.
Moreover, this area itself had a space barrier. The route suggested by the navigation wasn't entirely wrong, but it cleverly avoided these barrier locations. Simply put, it was a bit like walking through a maze, going around in circles in one place, but the people walking through it didn't realize it.
It was unknown whether this was a naturally formed special area or if a player had tampered with it. He searched for relevant information about this area under the dimension and found that someone had indeed posted it for sale anonymously. The content was a simple map.
The cost wasn't high. After Xu Huo purchased it, he compared several nodes on the hand-drawn map, confirmed there were no major discrepancies, and returned to the car.
Zhao Jiahui had already retrieved his mechanical gadget because it seemed to hit an invisible wall when moving in a straight line. The others also tried to force their way through but failed.
Ding Wei suggested ramming it with the car, but the other three opposed it—there was only one car, and damaging it meant they would have a hard time reaching the W37 Base City.
"And we were talking about going to W37. Now we're stuck here. By the time we get to W19, the opportunity will be long gone," Ding Wei said unhappily. "Even if we abandon the car now, we can team up with others once we get there. Three living samples—for the sake of clearing the instance, other players will probably be willing to cooperate with us."
Just as she finished speaking, Xu Huo returned to the vicinity of the car. Shangguan Xi quickly opened the car door. "Brother Xu, any leads?"
Xu Huo took out the simplified map. "This area has chaotic space, possibly naturally formed. Following this map should get us out."
Shangguan Xi frowned at the crooked map and turned to ask Teacher Ai, "Can you make sense of this?"
Teacher Ai installed the map into the car's navigation system and said expressionlessly, "It can be auto-recognized."
The car finally started moving again, but the circular route on the map still made everyone feel irritated.
"Brother Xu, can't we just go straight through the space barrier?" Ding Wei probed. "Aren't you able to break that female player's space prop? It shouldn't be too hard to get through here."
Xu Huo leaned his arm on the car window, looking indifferent. "If it were possible, why would I bother coming back to take a detour? If you have a way, feel free to try."
Ding Wei smiled. "If Brother Xu can't do it, what can I do?"
After a pause, she added, "There are only three living samples. I wonder what the situation is at W19 Base City. If we're unlucky, maybe all three samples have already been taken."
"Anyway, living samples aren't easy to transport. We can still catch up," Shangguan Xi interjected. "The road from W19 to W37 is tough. Even with a car, it might take a day or two to get there, let alone on foot. Having a car gives us a big lead over others."
He sounded very confident.
Under normal circumstances, having a car would make them a target, but everyone in the car tacitly avoided that topic.
Ding Wei and Zhao Jiahui exchanged glances in the back seat and fell completely silent.
It wasn't until dark that they finally emerged from this maze-like area. At the same time, the Gobi region came to an end, and next was a transition zone leading to the W19 Base City.
The transition zone was complicated. The environment here was poor, but because it was close to the base city, several small towns had once been established. Now they were ghost towns, and it was hard to say whether there were still people or hidden mutants lurking.
However, according to their original plan, they would first hide the car in the transition zone, then Xu Huo and the others would enter the city to retrieve the living samples, and then take a detour to the south gate to head for W37.
But upon reaching the transition zone, Xu Huo realized that even hiding the car would be difficult.
The nearby small towns were not tall enough and were severely damaged, lacking the conditions. Moreover, given the height of the base city, even standing on a broken protective wall, one could see this area clearly. As soon as they approached the transition zone, some players might have already noticed them.
Xu Huo looked up at the uneven protective wall ahead and, sure enough, saw the number "7" on it, displayed in an unfriendly color.
"Does W19 have mutants?" Shangguan Xi asked while checking the data. "If not, we can drive the car in. Leaving it outside now would be like throwing a meat bun to a dog."
"No," Teacher Ai replied from the side.
"You've been out for so long—can you be sure?" Shangguan Xi looked skeptical.
Teacher Ai didn't say much, only explaining, "W19 is heavily polluted. Mutants don't nest here either."
"There are burn marks on the protective wall too," Ding Wei quickly put on her protective suit. "Could it affect players?"
Shangguan Xi rolled his eyes. "Isn't he still alive and well?"
If the pollution could kill or sicken players in a short time, Teacher Ai wouldn't have survived this long.
"Better safe than sorry." Ding Wei pointed her chin at the protective wall. "I see someone peeking up there. Should we scout ahead?"
Just as Shangguan Xi was about to speak, Xu Huo interrupted him. "No need. Go straight into the city."
Teacher Ai glanced at him, slowed down, and drove in through the north gate of W19.
The two players watching them followed at a distance. Xu Huo and the others ignored them for now and observed the situation inside the W19 Base City.
It was clear that a fierce battle had just taken place here. Fresh signs of combat were scattered across the fire-ravaged, dilapidated city buildings, and an occasional corpse could be seen in the shadowy corners.
"I didn't expect a C-rank instance to turn into this," Shangguan Xi remarked, looking at the deep craters left by the fighting. "If we hadn't driven in, we might have been fighting by now."
Xu Huo checked the positioning on his bracelet. It had lit up when they entered the city. There were still two living samples in W19—one in the city center and the other near the south gate. Neither had moved.
"Which one should we go for first?" Zhao Jiahui said. "They're so far apart. It must be a stalemate."
"Go to the city center first," Teacher Ai said at that moment. "The marker indicates a B-level laboratory."
"Even for convenience, we should go to the south gate," Shangguan Xi said. "Once we grab the sample, we can leave."
"Are you stupid? That sample has already been moved to the gate. The only reason it hasn't left the city is that the players can't decide who gets it. Who knows how many people are there?" Ding Wei said. "The one in the city center hasn't moved, and it's in a lab. Maybe it's a storage site. If it hasn't been taken out yet, there might be a reason. We could get lucky and snatch it."