Chapter 42: Come Here, Little Darling! No, Don’t Come Any Closer!

After finishing his meal, Lin Mu donned his leather armor, took a pistol in hand, and got out of the vehicle. The driver’s seat was once again occupied by 001.

“Sigh~ There are just too many houses here,” Lin Mu muttered, his face full of vexation as he looked at the densely packed buildings. If he ignored these houses and just went for the supply crates, he could certainly be much faster. But if he did that, he’d miss out on a lot of materials. In that small city earlier, he had gathered over 600 iron ingots, more than 400 units of wood, over 100 electronic components, and a heap of other odds and ends. And there weren’t even as many houses there as here.

There was no way Lin Mu could let all this go; he would have to clear them out bit by bit. If not for the fear of wasting time, he’d even want to dismantle every single window and collect them all. Fortunately, the absorption speed was fast enough. The street on the left was five kilometers long, but it only took him twenty minutes to clear it.

“Damn! At this rate, when will I ever be done?” Lin Mu grumbled, raking his fingers through his hair in frustration. But he couldn’t deny that the haul from just those twenty minutes was extraordinary.

“If only I could just break open the walls,” he thought. He had considered getting a giant iron ball, but the vehicle simply couldn't bear the weight. According to his skills panel, the car’s own weight and level weren’t sufficient. In short, it couldn’t be installed, and even if he forced the modification, it wouldn’t work.

He’d also thought about getting the four people in the car to help, but their efficiency was nowhere near his. After clearing out two streets on the left, Lin Mu sped up. He charged straight in and started absorbing everything; if something couldn’t be absorbed, he simply moved on to the next house. If a place held little, he didn’t even go in. All in all, speed was the priority—he wouldn't bother with petty gains.

Even so, it took over three hours to finish the entire left side. If he hadn’t eaten that snake gallbladder to boost his constitution, it would have taken even longer.

“Report, Master. A vehicle has entered the radar range.” Lin Mu had just climbed back into the car to rest for a minute when 001 spoke up beside him.

A vehicle?

Lin Mu’s exhaustion vanished instantly. One vehicle was worth as much as two or even three streets.

He started his vehicle and drove toward the blip.

Jiang Ying edged closer to Gu Wanqing. “Do you think he’s caught another person?”

“He shouldn’t have, right? There’s no way his vehicle core is level six. That would be utterly overpowered.”

Level five was already nearly unbelievable, but level six would be sheer fantasy. They didn’t know why he was collecting so many people, but if he kept it up, he’d soon run out of food and water.

Of course, Lin Mu wasn’t about to catch more people. The vehicle’s capacity was limited; even if he did, there’d be no use for them.

They probably wouldn’t even fit inside.

When he arrived at the main street, Lin Mu spotted the other vehicle—a pickup truck that looked almost comically oversized.

“Are those wheels over a meter high? Isn’t this truck a little too big?” The other vehicle was not only larger, but also wider and taller than his.

The other driver saw Lin Mu too and sped straight toward him, clearly dismissive.

Inside the pickup, a man with a ‘Heaven’s Eye’ tattoo on his forehead and a shrimp-line design around his neck grinned viciously, “Come on, sweetheart, let me take everything you have.”

His pickup hadn’t always looked like this; only after three upgrades had it become what it was now. All thanks to a string of successful heists, he’d been able to swap for this truck. Since then, he’d become addicted to the thrill of robbing others for supplies.

The two vehicles drew closer.

Bang!

The front ends of both vehicles slammed together with a deafening crash. Lin Mu’s car barely lost a bit of paint, while the pickup’s hood was noticeably dented.

The tattooed man shook his dazed head and stared ahead. “Impossible! This can’t be! Why is that car unharmed?”

He had crumpled the front ends of every other car he’d rammed recently, but this time his own was dented. How could he accept that?

He shifted into reverse, ready to back up and ram again. But Lin Mu would never give him the chance. The spear had already pierced into the opponent’s vehicle, the hooked barb anchoring it in place—escape was impossible.

With Lin Mu’s enhancements, the barb’s length had increased by fifteen centimeters, and it was even sharper now—easily able to puncture through the car’s frame.

Lin Mu immediately took up the steel blade and smashed it against the windshield.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Crash!

The tattooed man stared in horror at the steel blade. “What the hell am I facing?! Don’t come any closer!”

Splurt!

Even in death, he couldn’t fathom why there was a flexible steel blade sprouting from the enemy’s hood.

Behind Lin Mu, the four passengers swallowed hard. This car was far more formidable than any of theirs—and just like that, the man was dead.

“I’m honestly grateful I’m still alive,” Jiang Ying murmured, shifting uncomfortably.

Gu Wanqing nodded stiffly; she’d been the fourth to be taken aboard. If she were the fifth...

She’d probably have met the same fate.

This man—she looked at Lin Mu—was not one to show mercy just because she was a woman.

Lin Mu retracted the spear and got out of the car. The first thing he did was remove the enemy’s vehicle core. To his surprise, it was a level three core.

“Seems like he raided quite a few cars himself.”

Not only was the vehicle core high-level, but the truck itself was already level four.

Seeing the level, Lin Mu decided not to recycle the vehicle. He packed up the loot and continued exploring the town.

He kept at it until seven in the evening, sweeping almost all the junk from the town. Thankfully, most buildings were single-story; if they’d been two or three stories, it would have taken much longer.

And he hadn’t even opened the supply crates yet.

“001, make some food.”

“Yes, Master.”

The crates could wait; it was time to rest.

Lin Mu was just about to check the region channel for information when—

“Um, may I use the restroom first?”

Lin Mu rolled his eyes. If not for her sensibleness, he’d have swapped her out for someone else by now.

“Go, go, hurry up. Anyone else need to go?”

As it turned out, all four needed the restroom.

He let them out and resumed checking the regional channel.

[Zone 562]—Population: 113,272.

What?

Lin Mu stared at the number in confusion. Wasn’t today the first day? How had nearly five thousand people already disappeared?

He quickly scanned the chat window.

“Who the hell has nothing better to do than attack me? Everyone be careful in town, I ran into four vehicles!”

“And at intersections—watch your back, a car might appear out of nowhere.”

“Player Zhang Qian killed Player Wang Xuyang!” A line of blood-red text flashed by, and the population dropped by one more.

“How does this Zhang Qian keep killing so many? I’ve seen the name three times already.”

“Everyone, be careful around women—anyone who’s survived this long isn’t simple.”

“...”

Lin Mu stroked his chin, growing increasingly curious about this person’s methods. He would really like to meet this Zhang Qian.