75: Chapter 75 Captain Liu Who Got Lost

Zhou Che's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly tensed up.

"Did we run into an anomaly? Or the kind that can create illusions?"

He immediately activated his Perceiver Sequence and carefully scanned his surroundings.

There was no aura of an anomaly, no fluctuations of an illusion; everything was normal.

Just as he was wondering what was going on, Captain Liu Ruyan lowered her head and spoke sheepishly.

"Um... Mr. Zhou, I think... I'm lost."

Zhou Che: "..."

Ruan Xiaoxiao: "..."

The survivors in the car behind: "..."

Silence fell over everyone.

Zhou Che let out a long sigh of relief and patted his chest.

Scared the hell out of me. I thought we'd run into another anomaly.

Turns out it was just you getting lost!

"If you were lost, why didn't you say so earlier!"

Zhou Che said irritably, "I thought we were trapped in an illusion by an anomaly; my heart was in my throat!"

Captain Liu Ruyan's face turned even redder, and she defended herself in a low voice:

"I didn't expect the roads in Shancheng to be so strange... How can there be roads on top of buildings? The navigation doesn't work, and the Pathfinding Sequence can only sense the general direction; it doesn't know the specific route..."

Zhou Che held his forehead, speechless.

Alright, it was confirmed that Captain Liu Ruyan had no sense of direction.

It was fine when they were in the wilderness, where the roads were straight and simple.

But in an 8D magical city like Shancheng, it would be strange if she didn't get lost.

The survivors in the cars behind also breathed a sigh of relief.

They had also been terrified just now, thinking they had encountered an anomaly, and hadn't dared to make a sound.

It turned out that Captain Liu was just lost.

Zhou Che picked up the walkie-talkie and shouted to the back:

"Any of you a local from Shancheng? Do you know the way? We need to go to Jiangdong Library, but we're currently trapped in this residential complex."

There was silence on the walkie-talkie for a few seconds, and then a voice sounded cautiously.

"M-Mr. Zhou, I'm a local. I used to live around here, and I know how to get out."

"Great!" Zhou Che was overjoyed. "Drive to the front and lead the way for us."

The survivor quickly drove to the front.

Captain Liu Ruyan let out a sigh of relief, lowering her head, not daring to look into Zhou Che's eyes.

Zhou Che didn't say anything more to her.

After all, her lack of sense of direction was innate; he couldn't blame her.

Having a local lead the way really made a difference.

After twisting and turning for less than twenty minutes, they drove out of this intricate and magical residential complex.

As soon as they left the complex, Captain Liu Ruyan immediately perked up.

"I can sense it! Captain Ma Shangwu is in that building ahead!" She pointed at a gray, dozen-story building not far away and said excitedly.

Zhou Che looked in the direction she was pointing.

That building was Jiangdong Library.

From a distance, he could see several Human Alliance vehicles parked at the library's entrance.

Captain Ma Shangwu and his team were indeed here.

A smile curled onto the corner of Zhou Che's mouth.

Following the Human Alliance was always the right choice.

Perhaps this time, they could really find clues about the golden ancient book strange object.

"Let's go and take a look." The car started slowly and drove toward Jiangdong Library.

The hovercar stopped slowly at the entrance of Jiangdong Library. Zhou Che pushed the door open, and his brow furrowed at the first sight.

The open space in front of the library was packed with vehicles parked haphazardly.

Modified off-road vehicles, pickup trucks, beat-up vans, and several hovercars like theirs.

They were crammed together so tightly that it was hard to even find a place to step.

There was no need to ask; these people all had the same idea.

They were tagging along with the Human Alliance, fishing in troubled waters, and hoping to scavenge a strange object.

Wherever Captain Ma Shangwu went, they followed; after all, following a top-tier faction could never be wrong.

"Good grief, it's livelier than a market," Ruan Xiaoxiao stuck out her tongue and whispered.

Captain Liu Ruyan also nodded:

"It seems everyone isn't stupid; they know that following the Human Alliance means there's meat to eat."

Zhou Che sneered:

"Eating meat? They're just a bunch of people hoping to drink the soup. If there were any real benefits, would Captain Ma Shangwu share them? Keep dreaming."

Although he said that, he still led the two of them inside.

Since they were already here, they might as well join the crowd; maybe they could actually scavenge something.

As soon as they entered the library, a thick smell of dust and moldy paper rushed toward them.

The vast first-floor lobby was full of people.

The Transcendents stood in twos and threes, whispering to each other, their eyes scanning the surroundings vigilantly.

Ordinary survivors carried sacks, weaving between the bookshelves, stuffing books with golden covers into their sacks.

Zhou Che took a rough glance; at least one-sixth of the East Bank's population had gathered here.

Half of the Transcendents had run over here.

Captain Ma Shangwu stood in the center of the lobby, his face as dark as the bottom of a pot.

He was followed by several Transcendents from the Alliance, all of whom looked helpless.

This group of The Convoy captains was like a dog-skin plaster; he couldn't shake them off no matter what.

He had just received news from headquarters yesterday.

It said that a top-ten strange object would likely manifest at Jiangdong Library, so he had brought his people over early this morning.

As a result, when he arrived, good grief, there were already several The Convoys searching the place.

He wanted to move the golden books openly, but he was afraid of people noticing something.

He could only pretend to wander around, while burning with anxiety inside.

He was terrified that some oblivious person would accidentally move that strange object book away.

"Captain Ma, are you here to search for books too?" A The Convoy captain with a smile plastered on his face approached.

"I don't see anything special about this library. It's just full of broken books; where is there any sign of a strange object?"

The anger in Captain Ma Shangwu's heart flared up instantly.

I go where you follow, I search the library and you search too, and now you're turning around and asking me if there's anything special?

So you're here to fish for information from me?

He didn't speak, just stared fixedly at that captain.

His gaze was icy, carrying the pressure of a Sequence Five powerhouse.

That captain felt his scalp tingle under the stare, and the smile on his face froze.

He laughed awkwardly twice and turned and walked away sheepishly.

The people around saw everything, and no one dared to go up and court trouble again.

But no one left either; they all lingered, waiting for Captain Ma Shangwu to reveal a flaw.

After a while, another captain came out, playing the good cop.

"Captain Ma, don't be angry," he said with a smile.

"Everyone is here for the strange object, it's not easy. If you have any information, just tell us. We won't take it for free; we're willing to trade supplies for it."

As soon as these words were out, others chimed in.

"That's right, Captain Ma, share the information!"

"Supplies are easy to talk about! Whatever amount of food or medicine you need, we have it!"

Captain Ma Shangwu's expression softened a little.

He also knew that keeping this stalemate wasn't a solution.

Rather than letting this group move things blindly, it was better to set some rules and take control of the situation himself.

"If you want to trade for information, you can," Captain Ma Shangwu said, his voice cold.

"But don't embarrass yourselves by bringing out ordinary supplies."

"If you want information about the top-ten strange objects, either trade with a strange object ranked within the top 3,000, or bring a seed of Ideal Grain. If you have other items of equal value, we can also discuss that."

As soon as this was said, the whole place was in an uproar.

Everyone widened their eyes, unable to believe their ears.

"Damn! That's a lion's opening bid!"