125: Chapter 125 summarizes the resource rules, the containment and salvation of souls.

The engine of the "dream chaser" hummed with a steady, low-frequency roar as it moved steadily along the dark red road.

The charred wilderness and scattered abandoned vehicles constantly receded, and occasionally, a few sporadic zombies stumbling out of the wilderness were locked onto and grabbed by the mechanical claws on both sides of the vehicle bed before they could even approach the center of the road.

"Another one!" Zhao Hu sat in the operation chair, lightly pushing the joystick with his fingers. The left mechanical claw extended precisely, and the claw blade hooked the zombie, locking it in place—the zombie's rotten feet were still kicking futilely, but it was steadily lifted by the mechanical claw above the incinerator. The feed inlet opened automatically, and the zombie fell into the furnace with a "thump."

The corpse oil gauge on the side of the incinerator jumped, changing from "13.7" to "13.8," and the screen of the Soul storage device updated simultaneously: "138."

Lin Wan held the data pad, her fingertips sliding quickly across the screen to enter the latest harvest: "Just finished clearing the last wave of zombies, totaling 107 ordinary zombies killed and 3 jumping mutants killed.

Killing the ordinary zombies yielded a total of 107 dream coins, 10.7 units of corpse oil, and 107 units of Soul; killing the mutants yielded a total of 30 dream coins, 3 units of corpse oil, and 30 units of Soul.

Current total resources: 137 dream coins, 13.7 units of corpse oil, and 137 units of Soul—adding that last zombie, it's 13.8 corpse oil, 138 Soul, and 138 dream coins."

She turned the data pad toward everyone; the numbers on it were clear and accurate, with no previous balance, corresponding entirely to the gains from this battle.

Zhang Hao sat in the driver's seat. [Silver Star] projected a simple conversion table on his shoulder, the pale blue light floating in the center of the carriage: "I've summarized it. The core rule for resource acquisition that we can confirm right now is '1:10'—ordinary zombies are the base unit, and mutants are the enhanced unit.

The yield from one mutant is equal to the yield from ten ordinary zombies."

Chen Rui leaned against the guardrail of the vehicle bed, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the metal casing of the flamethrower: "At this efficiency, if we could encounter a dense area of mutants, gathering resources would be much faster.

Ordinary zombies are safe, but 30 of them only equal 3 mutants; it's too time-consuming."

"But mutants are high risk." Li Mubai sat in the passenger seat, the faint glimmer of his Talent [Star Orbit Deduction] flickering at the corner of his eyes, while the Dream Spirit [Star Rail] on his shoulder hovered beside the car window, slowly scanning the surrounding environment. "The previous jumping mutants just jumped high and far, but if we encounter mutants with long-range attacks or crowd control abilities, relying solely on the mechanical claws and the flamethrower might not be enough to handle them easily. For safety's sake, we should stick to ordinary zombie groups and prioritize dealing with mutants only when we encounter them.

If we encounter a dense area of mutants, it's best to break through as quickly as possible and not be greedy for resources."

Everyone nodded in agreement—having just experienced the "mowing" of ordinary zombie groups by the mechanical claws, no one wanted to rashly face a large number of unknown mutants.

The topic naturally fell to the more core hidden mission. Zhang Hao turned his gaze to the Soul storage device in the center of the vehicle bed; inside the transparent cube, 138 pale white light spots were slowly floating, like fireflies trapped in glass: "There is a more critical issue—the Soul storage device is only for 'containment,' not 'Redemption.'

These light spots carry the obsession of the original virus, as well as the remnants of Honkai Power. If they are kept in the device forever, they might slowly dissipate, or be consumed by their own obsession.

The hidden mission should be to 'redeem' as many of these Souls as possible; it's definitely not as simple as just containing them."

Lin Wan walked over to the device, the life element bud in her palm glowing slightly, a pale pink halo gently enveloping the cube. She stared at those light spots, her tone carrying a hint of gravity: "I can feel that these Souls are struggling slightly, as if they are bound by something—it should be the obsession of 'reaching the destination' engraved in their genes by the original virus, along with the erosion of the remaining Honkai Power. Simply containing them does not count as Redemption."

"Then could it require specific 'purification' methods?" Chen Rui frowned. "Since the Supply Station of the God of Technology can provide detection, absorption, and containment devices, perhaps there is also equipment for purifying Souls?"

"It's very possible, but we don't know where the next Supply Station of the God of Technology is right now." Li Mubai shook his head, [Star Rail]'s scanning range expanding to 5 kilometers away. "[Star Rail] hasn't detected a supply station yet; we can only continue along the road and it's all up to luck whether we encounter one.

Moreover, the 'destination' is also a key—the obsession of the humans in this world is to reach the end of the road. Perhaps there is something special at the destination? After all, Zhang Hao said that the obsession of these Souls points right there."

Zhang Hao tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, pondering: "We can look for clues in two directions: one is to keep an eye out for subsequent Supply Stations of the God of Technology to see if there are any devices or information related to purification; second is to reach the destination of the road, but I'm not sure if the hidden mission will fail because of that."

"Let's not talk about that for now, there's a situation ahead!" Li Mubai suddenly spoke up, the glimmer of [Star Orbit Deduction] suddenly brightening, and the starlight of the Dream Spirit [Star Rail] also flashing rapidly. "An abnormal energy reaction has been detected 10 kilometers away; it's not just zombies or mutants, but also the energy fluctuations of vehicles—and not just one, there are two vehicles!"

These words made the atmosphere inside the carriage instantly tense. Zhao Hu immediately gripped the mechanical claw joystick, his eyes becoming sharp: "Is it another team? I don't know if they are friend or foe."

"The energy reaction fluctuations are intense, and they are moving slowly; they should be clearing zombies," Li Mubai adjusted the detection accuracy of [Star Rail]. "It's impossible to tell for now if they are friend or foe, and I don't know if their vehicles have weapon configurations."

Chen Rui quickly climbed onto the roof of the vehicle and checked the fuel line of the flamethrower—the corpse oil gauge showed "13.8," enough to support multiple sprays: "The weapon is ready to use at any time; as long as it's not too outrageous of a vehicle, we should be able to handle it."

Lin Wan also immediately activated the Purification Halo, the pale pink, emerald green, and icy blue halos covering the entire vehicle, while confirming the status of the inhibitors and fuel tanks: "The purification frequency is maintained at once every ten minutes, the inhibitors are all in the safe storage compartment, and the corpse oil can stably supply the flamethrower and the engine; resources are not a problem."

Zhang Hao took a deep breath and slowly adjusted the steering wheel, keeping the "dream chaser" in the center of the road and slightly reducing the speed: "Let's see the situation first; after all, this road only allows forward travel, and there's no avoiding it.

Pay attention to clearing zombies and beware of any unusual movements from the other team. The most important thing now is to figure out their strength; don't rashly engage in conflict."

Everyone responded in unison, their gazes cast toward the front of the road—at the skyline 10 kilometers away, no shadows of any vehicles could be seen yet, but the energy reaction of [Star Rail] was becoming clearer and clearer, as if silently reminding them: this journey of "racing and Redemption" was finally about to encounter other fellow travelers.

The mechanical claws on both sides of the vehicle bed lifted slightly, the claw blades gleaming with a cold light; the muzzle of the flamethrower on the roof was aimed forward, ready to spray tongues of fire at any moment; the 138 light spots in the Soul storage device were still floating quietly, as if they too were waiting for the unknown road ahead.

The "dream chaser" continued to move forward on the dark red road, carrying a vehicle full of resources and unfinished questions, slowly approaching in the direction of the "fellow travelers."