Chapter 68: The Mist Labyrinth? It Has Almost No Effect on Him

A new day had begun.

The Inferno had ended at midnight, and the temperature had returned to normal. The scenery around had changed as well. Judging by the extent of the transformation, it seemed that once again, everyone had been relocated to a new place.

Lin Mu glanced at the temperature readings.

Outside: 26 degrees Celsius
Inside: 25 degrees Celsius

This was the benefit of upgrading the vehicle—the interior always remained at a comfortable temperature. Even during extreme heat, it stayed pleasantly cool without any need to turn on the air conditioning.

Today, the others had come down early as well. After all, it was the start of a new day, and by all logic, today would be when that voice announced the details of the next disaster.

“Do you think it’ll really be poison? Poisonous mist or poisonous gas?” Jiang Ying sat cross-legged on the ground, her face full of curiosity. Of course, it was only curiosity.

She couldn’t help but glance at Lin Mu, thinking that this time, surely he couldn’t trick them again. A shiver ran down her spine. The food and shelter provided here came at a price—one that might very well be fatal.

At exactly nine o’clock, the voice boomed from the sky.

“Congratulations once again, players, for surviving another minor disaster. However, the number of deaths has increased yet again, which troubles me greatly. Therefore, I have no choice but to merge your regions once more. No need to thank me—this is my responsibility.”

Lin Mu rolled his eyes. Hurry up and get on with it—doesn’t time mean anything to you?

“I imagine some of you are growing impatient, but don’t worry—things must proceed step by step.

The third disaster—Maze Fog!

A particularly delightful invention. I’m sure you’ll all find it quite entertaining. Here’s an important hint: antidotes are an invaluable resource. They’ve been available since the first disaster. But that’s not what matters most. The crucial point this time is the road’s new layout—the Maze.

You can choose to travel along the road, or you can cut across the grasslands and take shortcuts. How you proceed is entirely up to you.

Oh, and to help you survive, I’ll offer another small clue. Resource crates will appear along the road, but how far apart they are depends on your chosen path. This time there are thirty crates in all, but fifteen of them are within five hundred meters of the road, hidden in the mist-covered grasslands.

See how generous I am? Survive, players! Next time, you’ll experience what true road survival really means!

One last reminder: make good use of the first seven days!”

The voice faded away.

Lin Mu gazed out the window at the white mist rising slowly, rubbing his chin. He could more or less guess the nature of this fog—it was likely poisonous, though whether that would take effect now or in seven days was anyone’s guess. The concept of a maze, however, had caught him off guard. It wasn’t the kind of maze he’d encountered before. According to the voice, it probably just meant more forks in the road—not a major problem.

Ignoring all the unnecessary chatter, he summarized:

The road could be traveled freely, though it would likely be dangerous. There were ten more resource crates than before, but half of them were located in the misty grasslands. The so-called five-hundred-meter range meant nothing to him—001 could easily detect nearby crates.

All in all, the changes affected him hardly at all. The only potential difficulty was the maze-like road, which could complicate searching for resources.

Lin Mu stretched lazily. This was shaping up to be a rather dull disaster.

The others peered out the windows at the scene beyond.

“Why doesn’t the mist come any closer?” Shu Xin asked, puzzled as she looked at the fog outside.

Shu Yi pondered and replied, “Maybe it’s because this vehicle is a higher level.”

Indeed, the mist remained more than a dozen meters from Lin Mu’s vehicle, leaving the roadside grassland clearly visible.

Lin Mu didn’t pay it much mind. Judging from the previous sudden appearance of the mist, it was simply due to his vehicle and core being higher level.

Each level of the vehicle could dispel one meter of mist; each core level could dispel two more. With his current levels, he could ward off mist for a total of twenty-five meters.

The others’ cores were generally level four, and their vehicles around level five, so they could disperse about thirteen meters of fog—hardly much of a difference.

But Lin Mu knew things were never that simple.

He’d know the truth soon enough, once they started moving.

He started the vehicle and it slowly pulled away, the mist filling in the space behind as they left. Far, far in the distance, a massive billow of green fog was advancing slowly forward.

...

After only ten kilometers on the road, Lin Mu encountered the first fork. Without hesitation, he continued straight ahead.

Almost every ten kilometers after that, another fork appeared. Lin Mu ignored them all, choosing always to press forward.

After a hundred kilometers, he found fifteen crates neatly lined up in the middle of the road, completely blocking the way.

Lin Mu’s mouth twitched. Was it always this considerate now, not even bothering to space the crates out?

“Reporting, Master: there are fifteen crates scattered across the surrounding grassland, at varying distances,” 001 announced.

A radar projection appeared on the windshield. Lin Mu glanced at the yellow dots scattered across it—indeed, they were spread out rather chaotically. In the very center was a large yellow dot, representing the fifteen crates ahead.

In that case, best to deal with the grassland crates first.

Lin Mu turned left and drove onto the grass, eyes locked on the mist.

Upon arrival, he was momentarily stunned—was it really this simple? Shouldn’t there be some strange creatures waiting in ambush?

He shook his head—if not, so be it. It was no concern of his.

“Congratulations on opening a wooden resource crate. You have received: Antidote x7.”

How stingy could they get? This was already the third disaster—did they really need to be so tight-fisted? Wooden crates at this stage?

Unbelievable.

The rest of the crates were the same—no strange creatures, not even animals inside the boxes.

When everything was finally gathered, Lin Mu glanced at the notification and smacked his forehead.

How could he have forgotten to send them out to drive?!

Hastily, he opened the workbench and began crafting gas masks and protective suits.

The gas masks were ordinary, nothing special. The protective suits, however, required oxygen tanks to complete.

He handed two sets of gear to Shu Yi and the chubby fellow. “Put these on and go drive outside.”

Shu Yi glanced out the window. Well... all right.

She wasn’t entirely sure these items would offer enough protection.

The two changed into their suits, and soon a slim and a chubby silver figure appeared before the group.

The protective suits were all silver, glimmering faintly. On their backs was a glass canister filled with emerald liquid.

Shu Xin looked worriedly at the canister on her sister’s back. “Will this thing... really hold up?”