Chapter 993: Change of Route
"The news said it's a real sun," Lu Qing said. "If it weren't real, why would so many people spend money on it?"
"No," Chi Minghong said. "Has anyone here actually seen a real sun?"
"You can see it on the communicator." Lu Qing took out her communicator and pulled up a saved video of the sun. "Is this the sun?"
Chi Minghong glanced at it and found it rather ridiculous. "There's no way District 002 could just move a burning star over here."
Like Xu Huo, she believed it was just a scam to take people's money.
But the young girl was insistent. "Whether it's real or not, you have to see it to know for sure."
In truth, she didn't have any other options either.
The conversation wasn't going well, so the three of them stopped talking. However, being in the dark for so long without seeing any light inevitably made people feel oppressed, so Chi Minghong turned on the radio.
"...Next up is the final voting round that everyone's most concerned about. The top ten Snow Palace beauties are already preparing to enter the Snow Palace. Once the final rankings are out, these ten beauties will enter the Snow Palace in order according to the final vote results."
"And how will the Snow Palace, which hasn't been opened in nearly three years, welcome its masters? It is reported that the auspicious mining company responsible for the Snow Palace's decoration has specially purchased a batch of special gemstones from the outer zones, which will allow the Snow Palace to display a starlight effect even without lighting. I believe all citizens are as full of anticipation as I am..."
Chi Minghong switched channels.
"A suspected random instance entrance has appeared near National Highway L1317, and the entrance is gradually expanding. Based on the current rate of expansion, all citizens are advised to change their route to L1327 before 8:00 AM tomorrow, and to L1337 after 8:00 AM."
"Any citizen traveling who makes special discoveries can call this station's hotline to report. We will continue to monitor the changes in the random instance to protect the lives and property of citizens."
Xu Huo switched channels again, borrowed Lu Qing's communicator to check the traffic situation, then said to Chi Minghong, "We need to change routes."
Chi Minghong nodded and, when passing through a small town, turned onto National Highway L1327.
People followed the day-and-night schedule set by the government. Since they were in a remote area, they didn't encounter anyone in the first half of the main road, but gradually, oncoming cars began to appear in the latter half.
At this point, there were still two hours until 8:00 AM.
Vehicles ahead kept turning back. Xu Huo took the opportunity to ask a passing driver what had happened. The other person glanced at the dismantled number plate on Xu Huo's car, hurriedly said, "The instance entrance is blocking the road," and sped off.
"A wasted trip." Chi Minghong grumbled as she turned the car around. However, because there were too many cargo boxes behind the vehicle, the turn took up too much space, causing the returning cars ahead to get stuck halfway. The driver of the foremost car was hot-tempered, leaned out of the upper half of his body, slapped his own roof, and shouted, "Do you even know how to drive? If you don't, pull over! You've blocked the whole damn road! Are you blind or deaf? Don't you know there's a random instance expanding behind us?!"
Chi Minghong was clearly not someone with a good temper. She tolerated two sentences from him, but when he kept cursing and even flashed his lights and honked, she stopped turning altogether. Instead, she reversed hard and diagonally rammed the car out of the lane, then flipped the middle finger at the shaken man in the other car. "Say one more fucking word, and I'll make sure you never speak again!"
A woman daring to run long-distance routes in District 002, especially an outer zone woman, could only be a player. The other party dared not speak up and could only shrink back into their car, resigned to their bad luck.
However, there were also District 002 players on this road. The obvious difference in appearance seemed to give the local players a clearer sense of insider versus outsider. So when that carload of people cowered and dared not show themselves, a player from behind spoke up: "Outer zone people acting tough! Are we going or not?!"
More and more cars were piling up behind. Chi Minghong flipped the electronic control switch, and the car started moving again.
Since the electric storage vehicle was towing cargo boxes, it wasn't as nimble as the other cars, so vehicles kept overtaking them. However, two cars first accelerated and then slowed down, flanking them on the left and right.
"Hey buddy, you've got a lot of stuff on this car." Another car pulled up beside them, and the outer zone player driving nodded at Xu Huo. "Better watch out, or people might get greedy."
With that, the medium-sized electric storage vehicle sped off ahead of them.
Robbery and murder were common in the game world, and being targeted was normal.
Neither Xu Huo nor Chi Minghong took it seriously. When it was time to switch shifts, Chi Minghong went to the cargo boxes at the back and let out the five people locked in cages.
Three women and two men, all under twenty years old. They had the typical appearance of District 002 people—pale skin, slender bodies, mostly white hair with some mixed colors. Each child had been groomed and dressed, wearing revealing clothes and heavy makeup.
Chi Minghong let them into the electric storage vehicle's cabin and, looking at the trembling group, asked, "Do you have anywhere to go?"
The few instinctively curled up, staring at her blankly.
Chi Minghong leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs, and said, "Don't be so nervous. Brother Xu and I up front are heading to Xiaoyang City. If you have a place to stay, we can take you along."
After a moment, the oldest-looking boy spoke up. "We're all from Huayu City. We don't have any friends in Xiaoyang City."
"You're all pretty good-looking. Would you get sold again if you went to Xiaoyang City?" Chi Minghong scratched her head.
"Yes," Lu Qing said expressionlessly. "Outsiders with no foundation aren't even considered people in the eyes of big city folks. Even if they go out to work, once someone finds out their background, they'll disappear one by one before long and end up in all kinds of entertainment venues."
"If they're lucky, someone might buy them. If they're unlucky, they might be tortured or crippled by customers. Once they lose their beauty, they might be dismantled and sold off piece by piece—blood, organs, limbs—someone will buy everything. And if..."
Lu Qing stopped there, not finishing her sentence, then changed the subject. "In short, people without the ability to protect themselves can barely survive in any city."
Men and women at the bottom were the same in this world. If they were strong and sturdy, they could work as laborers or thugs for a few years.
The five children understood what Lu Qing meant. They also knew the fate that awaited them, but they didn't beg Chi Minghong for help. Instead, they waited blankly and numbly for the final outcome—whether they were sent to the next city or sold, they could only accept it.
"Ah, that's so pitiful." Chi Minghong sighed. "Big sister will do a good deed today."
With that, she pulled out a stack of white notes, gave a few to each of them, then handed each one a non-player ticket, and smiled. "Go on."
(Chapter End)