83: Competition for resources at highway transfer stations

It was only a split second.

It didn't even require conscious thought; it was a reflex carved into his marrow from decades of martial arts immersion.

The silver pendant, flashing a rapid red light, was reflected in Su Chen's pupils as he suddenly thrust out his right hand.

It wasn't a direct touch of flesh and blood; instead, the boiling Sacred Yang True Qi within him solidified instantly half an inch from his body, transforming into a shimmering golden illusory hand.

"Shatter."

Without any flashy movements, the golden hand clamped shut like an iron pincer.

Under that grip, the precision fuse—capable of detonating a hundred tons of explosives beneath the roadbed—was instantly pulverized along with the delicate silver ornament.

Only then did the roar follow.

A massive fireball bloomed beneath the bus's chassis, yet it was like a firework thrown by a child at a steel fortress.

An illusory image of a Three-legged Golden Crow appeared on the dark gold armor of the vehicle's surface, its wings spreading wide; the shockwaves and shrapnel capable of tearing through tanks were entirely swallowed by this layer of flowing light.

Inside the cabin, not even a hint of vibration was felt.

Only that muffled, thunderous bang signaled the life-or-death moment that had just passed.

Su Chen withdrew his somewhat hot right hand, looking at the wisp of black smoke remaining on his fingertips, a cold sneer curling his lips.

That bug-playing pervert Mo Fei; even in death, he had to leave behind a disgusting trick.

Disguising the detonator as a beacon and placing it among the most inconspicuous loot—that was a calculated move indeed.

If it had been someone soft-hearted or greedy, they would likely have turned into scrap metal along with this newly upgraded divine vehicle by now.

"Too bad, I've never believed in free lunches."

Su Chen cursed inwardly, but his foot pressed the accelerator even harder.

The massive inertia pushed the "Eternal Divine Domain" like an out-of-control rhino, smashing right through the flimsy wire fence surrounding the transit station.

Before his eyes was a derelict gas station plaza, with several modified pickup trucks parked haphazardly on the concrete ground; a group of shirtless thugs with skull tattoos were celebrating around an overturned supply truck.

The leader was a burly, bald man with a face full of scars, clutching a modified heavy machine gun and firing wildly at the survivors putting up a last-ditch resistance inside the supply truck.

"Where did this golden nugget come from?"

The bald brute was startled by the engine's roar. Turning his head, his eyes were dazzled by the radiant vehicle body, and greed instantly overcame his caution. "Brothers! A big job's here! Strip this car for me!"

Da da da—

A dense hail of bullets struck the windshield like rain, kicking up a series of futile sparks.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Su Chen didn't even blink; an attack of this level was no different from an itch to him now.

He glanced at the newly unlocked weapon system on the dashboard and lightly tapped a red virtual button.

[Gravity Field Generator: Activated]

[Range: 50m Radius]

[Multiplier: 10x]

One second the bald brute was laughing wildly, and the next, that arrogant smile froze on his face.

The invisible air seemed to instantly turn into ten thousand tons of raw iron, crashing down violently.

*Crack—*

Without any warning, those dozens of thugs didn't even have time to scream before their kneecaps shattered instantly.

Their entire bodies were flattened against the concrete like soda cans crushed by a hydraulic press.

The once noisy battlefield went silent in an instant, leaving only the tooth-grinding "squelch" of dislocated bones and compressed internal organs.

That bald brute was an Awakened One after all, with physical fitness superior to ordinary people. Now lying on the ground, his eyes were bloodshot and bulging, and his throat made a bellows-like "he-he" sound—a signal that his alveoli were on the verge of bursting under the heavy pressure.

The door slid open.

A vigorous figure leaped down from the roof.

Joy was wearing her signature hot pants and tank top, her wheat-colored skin gleaming with a wild luster under the sun.

Like an agile cheetah, she used her momentum upon landing to deliver a knee strike, accurately pinning it into the heart of the still-twitching bald brute.

*Crack.*

This crisp sound completely ended the other's pain.

Joy skillfully reached into the corpse's chest and pulled out a fingernail-sized, grayish-white crystal—the energy core formed after an Awakened One dies.

"Catch!"

Without looking back, she tossed the crystal behind her.

The metal skin on the side of the bus split open like a living thing, extending several mechanical tentacles to catch the crystal mid-air and pull it inside.

[Energy intake confirmed. Current reserves have risen back to 45%.]

Hearing the pleasant system notification, Su Chen breathed a slight sigh of relief.

That "Little Sun" shot earlier had almost drained him dry; this delivery came just in time.

Just then, the HUD on the front windshield flickered.

After a burst of blue static, the Voice on HUD's face—always hooded and obscured—emerged.

This wasn't a physical entity, but some kind of remote spiritual projection.

"Since you've survived, take a look at this."

The Voice on HUD's voice remained flat, like an emotionless synthesized sound.

With a light tap of her finger, a holographic star map unfolded before Su Chen's eyes.

It wasn't an ordinary map, but a winding, gut-like network of highways.

At the end of this network was a massive, slowly writhing deep-red vortex.

"The end of this road is not a sanctuary." Pointing at the vortex, the Voice on HUD said coldly, "That is the 'Planar Crucible.' It's like a jar for raising Gu; only the strongest venomous insect can crawl out."

Su Chen narrowed his eyes at the red dot that seemed capable of swallowing souls. "Speak plainly."

"There are nine other 'Seeds' of the same level as your vehicle on this plane," the Voice on HUD dropped a bombshell. "Before the Crucible opens, there must be nine sacrifices. In other words, besides you, the owners of the other nine vehicles must die."

Su Chen's hand on the steering wheel tightened, then he scoffed. "In this crappy world, I never expected everyone to hold hands and sing nursery rhymes anyway."

This wasn't just survival; it was a battle royale with no way out.

Since those were the rules, he would kill until no one dared to claim kingship.

"Let's collect the loot in front of us first." Su Chen cut off the communication; that vague future was too far away—filling their stomachs was the priority.

He pushed open the car door and strode toward the overturned supply truck.

Since that bald guy had his eye on this truck, there was bound to be something good inside.

Based on previous experience, trucks with this kind of military paint job usually contained either high-calorie compressed biscuits or emergency medical supplies.

"Meng Yao, bring a few of the girls down to move things. Be quick." Su Chen called out without looking back.

A chorus of feminine responses came from the cabin behind him, and Lin Mengyao quickly followed him out with a few of the braver girls.

Su Chen walked to the severely deformed cargo door, grabbed the twisted handle, and the muscles in his arms tightened instantly.

"Open up!"

Accompanied by the tooth-grinding sound of tearing metal, the heavy iron door was ripped off by him.

However, the expected mountain of canned food did not appear.

Inside the dim cargo container, there was only a massive, translucent glass tank occupying the entire space.

The tank was filled with an eerie blue liquid. The moment Su Chen ripped open the door, perhaps due to the change in air pressure, the blue liquid—previously as still as dead water—suddenly began to boil violently.

"What the hell is this?" Following behind, Lin Mengyao instinctively covered her nose and mouth as a cloyingly sweet, nauseatingly fishy smell wafted toward them.

*Crack—*

Dense cracks appeared on the surface of the glass tank.

The next second, the glass shattered.

The blue liquid didn't flow onto the ground; instead, the moment it touched the air, it rapidly expanded and stretched, turning into countless hair-thin blue tentacles. Like sharks scenting blood, they lunged frantically toward the crowd.

"Get back!"

Su Chen barked out a command. Without thinking, the extremely Yang and rigid golden flames erupted from his palm, forming a wall of fire to block the way.

That was the Sacred Yang True Fire, capable of instantly incinerating even high-level mutant beasts.

But what happened next caused Su Chen's pupils to contract sharply.

The moment the blue tentacles touched the flames, instead of being burned away, they seemed like desert travelers encountering rain, making a "sizzling" sound of delight.

They greedily passed through the wall of fire. Those originally thin tentacles actually doubled in thickness instantly after absorbing the Yang Energy, and their tips even branched out into suckers resembling mouthparts!

This thing... was actually immune to fire and could devour Yang Energy?!

"Ah!"

Several terrified screams came from behind him.