Chapter 54: An Acquaintance? You Should Also Wear That Collar

Lin Mu’s eyes lit up—a vehicle was coming! That meant he could finally switch teammates. These two, Zhang Qian and the other, always needed him to look after them, fearing they'd die of thirst or hunger. He’d long since grown tired of it.

He glanced at the radar on the windshield—they’d just entered the detection range. It seemed this spot was a crossroads. Without bothering to open the resource crate, he drove straight toward the spot where the vehicle had appeared.

...

“Sis, we’re almost there. I wonder if we’ll run into that lava creature again this time. I really want to test out the new weapon,” said Shu Xin, clad in leather armor and gripping a longsword. Her gear was exactly the sort Lin Mu had previously traded away.

“Having equipment doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. Don’t get overconfident just because you’re better armed now.”

“Oh, come on, sis. We’re already here. Can you stop lecturing me for once?” Shu Xin pouted.

“If you did things right, I wouldn’t have to say anything,” Shu Yi replied, giving her a sidelong glance. Shu Xin had no retort for that.

“Hey, look, there’s a weird vehicle over there,” Shu Xin pointed.

Shu Yi took a look. “Looks like a garbage truck, but the cab’s an off-road design. That’s odd.”

“So, should we still go in?”

Shu Yi frowned. Every two hundred kilometers there was a resource crate—if they missed this one, they’d have to travel another two hundred kilometers. It would be a waste of time. But if they went in, what if the other driver turned hostile? An off-road vehicle, too—it looked formidable. After all, she drove one herself and knew how hard they were to deal with.

“Let’s go in and take a look. If we can’t win, we’ll just run.”

They were in similar vehicles, so at worst they could escape. The only issue was that this particular car seemed different.

Lin Mu watched the off-road vehicle approach, happily circling around to get behind it. Shu Yi tried to do the same, but the surrounding magma made it impossible to pick up speed.

With a crash, Lin Mu rammed into the back of their car, instantly denting the rear. A spear hooked onto it, tearing their vehicle apart.

“Shu Xin, message that guy—this car’s more than we can handle!”

“On it!”

Shu Yi didn’t bother to fight, instead driving out of the small town to avoid a confrontation.

Lin Mu grinned. “Leaving the town? That’s even worse for you.” His car could reach 160 kilometers per hour, a speed few could match.

Ding—

A message popped up. Lin Mu glanced at the car ahead and opened it with a flick of his wrist. He’d set it so only previous trading partners could message him.

“Bro, help! I need to rent a weapon. Someone’s chasing me!”

“Sure. What do you want to rent?”

“A pistol! That guy’s car is insane. I don’t know what he did to it, but it just—”

The more Lin Mu read, the more amused he felt. He floored the accelerator and rammed into them again, sending bits of their car flying.

“Ah! Bro, hurry! I need that weapon or my car won’t last. I’ll even split the resources with you—hell, you can have all of them!”

Lin Mu twitched his lips. Sorry, but those were my resources to begin with—I don’t need your share.

He closed the chat and looked at the car ahead. To his surprise, he’d run into someone he’d traded with before.

“Since we’ve met again, I’ll help you out. Come, be my teammate.” Lin Mu glanced in the rearview mirror, deciding to ditch Zhang Qian first. The man could stay for now—he never talked, might as well keep him as a mute companion.

Bang! Bang!

“Ah, Sis, he’s not replying! What do we do now?”

“Use this revolver,” Shu Yi handed Shu Xin a pistol.

“Will that work?”

“Try it. If not, we’ll—” She never expected the other car to be so fast; hers could reach 145 kilometers per hour, but still couldn’t escape.

Clutching the revolver, Chu Xin crouched behind the car.

“Please, let these six bullets hit…” The pistol was looted from someone else and had originally had twenty rounds; now, she and her sister had nearly used them all.

She smashed out the rear window with an iron rod, stuck her hand out, and fired.

Lin Mu was momentarily stunned.

What? They’re women?

And there were two of them.

From the start, Lin Mu had always assumed the trader was a man—the tone of their messages made it hard to think otherwise.

But it turned out they were women. He couldn’t tell who was driving, but it hardly mattered—for Lin Mu, there were only teammates and non-teammates, regardless of gender.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three consecutive shots, all hitting Lin Mu’s car.

But not a single one did any damage. The bullets glanced harmlessly off the glass.

Shu Xin rubbed her eyes in disbelief. “Sis, something’s wrong. Their glass is bulletproof!”

Their own vehicle was high-level, but nowhere near capable of stopping bullets.

Crash!

The car rammed them again, and Shu Xin got a good look at the grinning man behind the wheel.

He was disgusting.

Lin Mu: What, should I be crying instead?

“Try the axe.”

“Okay.”

Shu Xin grabbed an axe from the side. Just as she was about to throw, a metal net instantly sprang up, covering their entire car.

She looked at the axe, then at the net. Was it even worth throwing?

“Sis, I don’t think it’ll work. He’s got a net over the car—we can’t do anything.”

Shu Yi glanced in the rearview mirror, her breath catching. Did everyone upgrade their vehicles differently? But no other car was like this.

Lin Mu didn’t care what they thought—his next step was to force them to a stop. A long blade extended from the front of his vehicle, slicing into the center of theirs.

Against this weapon, Shu Xin and Shu Yi’s car might as well have been made of paper. With a gentle push, the blade cut through the upper shell, then moved along to the side.

“Sis! We’re doomed! That thing—whatever it is—it’s cutting our car in half!”

By now, the blade had reached the lower frame. Shu Yi could only slow down and bring the car to a halt. If they kept going, even a two-wheeled car wouldn’t make it far.

“Ahem! Put your guns on the ground, both of you. Hands on your heads, squat down!”

With no choice, Shu Xin and Shu Yi squatted beside the road, hands on their heads, staring at the long blade. There was no hope of running—the blade was simply too long.

Lin Mu nodded in satisfaction at the sight.

“001, put these collars on them.”

“Yes, master.”

Lin Mu held a pistol in his left hand. If either of them resisted, well, he simply wouldn’t bother switching teammates.