122: Chapter 122 Supply Resupply, Imprisoned Souls, and Hidden Missions

Zhang Hao took a step forward, his gaze sweeping across the floating blue light screen. His fingertip precisely selected the [Material Supplies] category, his voice steady and clear: "Purchase Gasoline * 10, Incendiary Bombs (No Fuel) * 50, Zombie Virus Inhibitor * 5."

[Material Supplies - Gasoline * 10 - Cost: 5 dream coins, Executing]

[Material Supplies - Incendiary Bombs (No Fuel) * 50 - Cost: 5 dream coins, Executing]

[Material Supplies - Zombie Virus Inhibitor * 5 - Cost: 50 dream coins, Executing]

Just as he finished speaking, five palm-sized silver mini-robots suddenly rose from a metal platform in the corner of the supply station, each carrying a transparent storage box on its head. The mini-robots glided along the light blue tracks on the glass floor, delivering the supplies into the cargo bed of the dream chaser one after another—10 sealed barrels of gasoline were neatly stacked beside the incinerator, with the words "Safety Explosion-proof" printed in light blue on the barrels; 50 silver-cased Incendiary Bombs were piled into a small heap half a person high, with fuel injection holes pre-drilled on the sides; 5 inhibitors in blue syringes were placed in the cockpit's storage compartment, with "Emergency Use" labels attached to the syringes. The entire transport process was silent, with the silver mini-robots precisely executing their programmed settings.

"The inhibitor actually costs 50 coins?" Zhao Hu leaned over the edge of the cargo bed, clicking his tongue as he watched the consumption prompt for the inhibitor. "This thing is ten times more expensive than gasoline; that's just too ridiculous, isn't it?"

Lin Wan walked to the storage compartment and carefully picked up an inhibitor to observe it, the life element flower bud at her fingertip trembling slightly. "It's worth it. If someone gets scratched by a zombie, this is a life-saver. The virus contains the Honkai Power of the Lord of Collapse; if the spread is too fast, ordinary purification might not be in time."

Zhang Hao ignored their conversation and continued to speak to the blue eyeball robot: "Query information about this world and the zombie virus."

[Information Query - World Information - Cost: 1 dream coins, Executing]

[Information Query - Zombie Virus Information - Cost: 1 dream coins, Executing]

Two new data streams flowed onto the small blue light screen in front of everyone, with white text scrolling slowly through the blue light, revealing the secrets of this apocalyptic world:

[World Information: This world is a Highway World, consisting entirely of a highway extending infinitely upward and the wilderness on both sides. The native lifeforms (humans) of this world spend their lives pursuing the goal of driving their vehicles to reach the End of the Highway. The birth, aging, illness, and death of humans in this world all occur on the highway. There are several 'Supply Stations' on the highway; humans in this world use these supply stations to purchase and upgrade vehicles and restock supplies. All 'Supply Stations' have now been reconstructed into 'Supply Station of the God of Technology'.]

[Zombie Virus Information: Originally a primitive virus carried by all humans in this world, its function was to stimulate organisms to produce non-directional physical evolution (extremely subtle evolution, negligible), and to push infected individuals at the genetic level to pursue reaching the End of the Highway (strong influence). The Original Virus mutated under the influence of the Lord of Collapse's Honkai Power, becoming a zombie virus capable of producing zombies and special ability variants.]

When the text on the light screen disappeared, a brief silence fell over the supply station.

Zhao Hu scratched his head, looking confused. "In other words, the people here were originally supposed to spend their whole lives running on the road? And the virus forces them to go to the end? This is just too strange, isn't it?"

Chen Rui crouched on the roof of the car, the Thousand Faces at his fingertip transformed into a silver short blade that he spun gently, looking thoughtful. "The Original Virus drove them to pursue the end, and after mutating into zombies, they're still rushing toward the end—this obsession hasn't changed; it's just turned into an aggressive instinct."

Zhang Hao's gaze fell on the words "genetic-level obsession," and his fingertip unconsciously tapped against the wall of the dream chaser's door as he rapidly connected the clues in his mind: the zombies at the abandoned car gathering place rushing toward the front of the highway, the Blade Variant still struggling to crawl toward the end before it died, and the grayish-white mysterious substance always floating straight ahead at a speed far exceeding any vehicle... These fragmented details suddenly pieced together into a clear picture in his mind.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over everyone as he broke the silence: "I think I understand."

Everyone's attention instantly focused on him, and even Roar, who had been alertly observing the supply station's environment, pricked up its ears and looked toward Zhang Hao.

"The humans of this world were originally implanted with an obsession for the 'End of the Highway' by the Original Virus, and even if their physical bodies mutated into zombies, this obsession engraved in their genes did not disappear." Zhang Hao's voice was low, carrying a certainty that pierced through the fog. "Through the Eye of Numerology, I observed that every time a zombie or variant dies, a grayish-white mysterious substance dissipates from the spiritual level, and these substances all float toward the end. Combining this with the virus's strong influence on the 'genetic level,' I suspect those mysterious substances are very likely the Souls of the humans in this world."

He paused, took a deep breath, and stated his bold yet evidence-based theory: "After humans in this world are infected with the zombie virus, their Soul is imprisoned within their zombified bodies. It is highly likely that the obsession with the end recorded in the Original Virus not only goes deep into the genes but is even branded onto the Soul. So, even if the physical body is affected by the zombie virus mutated by Honkai Power, the Soul remains obsessed with reaching the end, as if fulfilling an unfinished 'mission' from their previous life."

Zhao Hu's eyes widened, and he subconsciously took half a step back, his voice full of shock: "Soul? Then... then when we were killing zombies before, weren't we..."

"No." Zhang Hao immediately shook his head and interrupted him, his tone firm. "We were ending the suffering twisted by the virus and releasing the imprisoned Soul. Moreover, this is very likely the key to the [Hidden Mission]."

As he spoke, he turned to the floating blue light screen, his fingertip sliding quickly across it to pull up three brand-new item options. He raised his hand to turn the screen toward everyone, allowing them to clearly see the lines of text with their prices, the blue light reflecting on each of their faces:

[Weapon Assembly - Soul Detection Device - 200 dream coins]

[Weapon Assembly - Soul Absorption Device - 200 dream coins]

[Weapon Assembly - soul containment device - 200 dream coins]