128: Chapter 128 The Role of Sugar Chips, The Encounter Between [Dream Club] and [Fairy Tale Town]

On the dark red highway, the wheels of the dream chaser rolled over fine Sugar sprinkles scattered across the ground, making a soft "shasha" sound—these colorful, shimmering Sugar granules were unique marks left behind by the [Fairytale Town] team, and at this moment, they served as an "early warning signal."

Behind an abandoned truck on the right side of the highway, the Seven-Colored Cloud tent was quietly parked in the shadows. Popping Candy sat cross-legged at the tent entrance, pinching an unexploded strawberry candy between her fingers. Suddenly, she let out a small "ah" and straightened up abruptly: "Captain! The Sugar sprinkles reacted!" She lightly tapped the Sugar granules scattered around the tent. Those originally still sprinkles suddenly vibrated slightly. "A big guy is approaching and has touched the range of the sprinkles; it should be the team coming from behind!"

Sugar was nestled on a cushion, organizing some freshly manifested strawberry cake powder. Hearing this, she immediately set down the small jar in her hand and leaned over while hugging a plush star pillow: "Can you feel what it's like? Is it aggressive?"

Popping Candy closed her eyes, her fingertips pressed against the Sugar sprinkles as her brow furrowed slightly: "It feels... very big, with steady energy. It doesn't stagger around like zombies, nor is it soft like our clouds. It feels more like... hard metal? I don't feel any aggressive fluctuations for now; it's just moving slowly, as if it's clearing things off the road."

Gummy hugged her rabbit plushie, nervously clutching her blanket: "Will they be really mean..."

Chocolate leaned against the tent, her fingers lightly resting on the chain of the Crystal Heart as its pale purple glow quietly brightened: "No matter who it is, let's prepare first. Marshmallow, thicken the cloud barrier a bit more."

Marshmallow immediately sat up with a start, rubbing her hair which was dusted with Sugar sprinkles, and raised her hand to manipulate the cloud wisps around the tent: "Okay!" The Seven-Colored Cloud wisps transformed into a thick blanket enveloping the tent.

Sugar saw that everyone was ready and touched the wishing star lamp on her head—the light from the wick had gathered quite brightly, enough to handle a small accident. She said softly, "We can wait and see their reaction. If they aren't hostile, we'll ask if they want to head to the finish line together; if they want to fight, we'll block them with clouds and leave quickly."

The five of them nodded, staring at the three-way junction in the middle of the highway that was once again blocked by zombies—the silhouette of the dream chaser drew closer, the mechanical claws on both sides of the vehicle slightly raised, clearly having noticed the zombies at the junction.

The dream chaser's junction clearing: Efficient sweeping led by weaponry

"There are still quite a few zombies ahead, about two hundred or so, scattered across the middle of the junction." Li Mubai sat in the passenger seat, the glimmer of Star Orbit Deduction flickering in the corner of his eye. The Dream Spirit, Star Rail, hovered by the car window, its radar-like light patterns scanning ahead. "No mutants, and no direct energy reactions from other teams. Only the traces of Sugar sprinkles from the team that just left, spreading widely around."

Zhang Hao gripped the steering wheel, slowly stopping the dream chaser at the junction entrance. He adjusted the vehicle slightly to aim the front at the densest area of zombies: "Chen Rui, use the Flamethrower to clear the dense group on the left first. Zhao Hu, you're responsible for grabbing the scattered ones on the right to send to the Incinerator to accumulate corpse oil. Lin Wan, watch for the purification every ten minutes, and keep a close eye on the soul containment device and the fuel gauge."

"Copy that!" Everyone responded in unison, taking their positions.

Chen Rui had already climbed onto the roof, crouching by the Flamethrower with both hands on the control handles. He watched the few zombies stumbling toward the dream chaser, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly: "Just in time to test the Flamethrower's sustained firepower." He pressed the trigger, and a crimson tongue of fire instantly surged from the nozzle like a searing whip, sweeping across the zombie horde on the left. The flames licked the zombies' rotting skin, making a "zizi" sound. Black smoke rose, mixed with a faint scorched smell, as seven zombies were instantly engulfed in flames, their bodies curling into charred lumps in the fire.

A pale blue light screen flashing [Killed common zombie * 7, gained 7 dream coins] flickered before everyone's eyes.

"Good job! There are two more on the right trying to flank us!" Zhao Hu sat in the operator's chair in the truck bed, his eyes shining as he gripped the control levers for the mechanical claws. He slammed the right lever forward, and the right mechanical claw shot out. Its three metal blades precisely grabbed a zombie by the shoulder, lifting it off the ground with a light hook. The zombie twisted its body frantically, its rotting arms clawing uselessly at the air, but it was steadily brought over the Incinerator's intake. With a "thud," the zombie fell into the Incinerator. The corpse oil gauge on the side of the furnace instantly jumped from "12.7" to "12.8," and the soul containment device's screen synchronized: "148."

"Earned another 1! A bit more corpse oil too, this efficiency is great!" Zhao Hu grinned, manipulating the left lever to grab another flanking zombie, repeating the grab-and-drop motion. His mastery of the mechanical claws grew more proficient, with almost no pauses.

Lin Wan stood by the soul containment device, watching the numbers jump on the screen, then glanced at the Incinerator's fuel gauge, announcing softly: "Souls at 155, corpse oil at 13.0, dream coins at 155. It's almost ten minutes; I'm activating the Purification Halo." As she spoke, a three-colored flower bud in her palm slowly lit up. Pale pink, emerald green, and ice blue halos intertwined into a ring, expanding to cover the entire dream chaser. The scorched smell in the air and the stench of the zombies instantly faded, and even the black stains splashed on the vehicle seemed to be cleansed by the halo.

Zhang Hao drove the dream chaser forward slowly, adjusting the direction from time to time so the Flamethrower and mechanical claws could cover more zombies. He glanced toward Li Mubai: "Has Star Rail detected anything else? The Sugar sprinkle traces from that team earlier are very strange; they're spread too evenly, doesn't look like they fell naturally."

Li Mubai was about to answer when he suddenly frowned, the light patterns of Star Rail flickering slightly: "Wait, one kilometer outside the zombie zone, behind an abandoned truck by the right side of the highway, there's a faint energy reaction! It's not a zombie, nor a metal vehicle. It's the team that just left!"

"Are they waiting for us?" Chen Rui paused the Flamethrower and turned to look toward the right. "Should we go check it out?"

Zhang Hao pondered for a moment. Just as he was about to nod, he heard Zhao Hu shout: "Three more zombies on the left! I'll grab them for the Incinerator!" Before he finished speaking, the left mechanical claw had already reached out, precisely grabbing three zombies huddled together and dropping them all into the Incinerator. The [Killed common zombie * 3, gained 3 dream coins] screen popped up, the corpse oil jumped to "13.3," and the Soul count became "148."

"Let's finish clearing these zombies first," Zhang Hao said. "After clearing them, we'll slowly move closer. Stay alert, don't attack first."

A few minutes later, the remaining zombies at the junction were cleared. Chen Rui turned off the Flamethrower and checked the fuel pipe—the corpse oil produced by the Incinerator had been replenished into the Flamethrower's fuel tank through the pipes, the gauge showing "85%," enough to handle emergencies. Zhao Hu leaned back in the operator's chair, rubbing his wrists. Looking at the "230 dream coins" on the screen, he couldn't stop smiling: "This trip wasn't in vain, earned quite a bit again, and the corpse oil will last a while."

Lin Wan activated the Purification Halo one last time, saying softly: "Souls 230, corpse oil 13.5, dream coins 230."

Zhang Hao slowly turned the steering wheel, and the dream chaser sped out of the zombie zone, driving toward the abandoned truck one kilometer away on the right side of the highway. As the distance closed, that incredible cloud tent gradually appeared before everyone's eyes—Seven-Colored Cloud wisps with soft glowing edges, and at the top of the tent, the wishing star lamp emitted a faint golden light.

Just then, the Seven-Colored Cloud wisps beside the tent suddenly dispersed, and a pure white Unicorn stepped out. The mane on its back was tied with a pink bow, and its hooves left faint pink halos as they stepped on the ground. Sugar poked her head out of the tent, hugging her plush star pillow, and waved at the dream chaser with a soft, sweet smile: "Hello there! We are the [Fairytale Town] team. We'd like to talk with you, is that okay?"

Popping Candy squatted next to the Unicorn, pinching a colorful candy, looking warily at the dream chaser's mechanical claws but making no move to attack. Gummy hugged her rabbit plushie, hiding behind Sugar, showing only a pair of curious eyes. Marshmallow and Chocolate stood at the tent entrance; neither the cloud barrier nor the Crystal Heart's glow had been retracted, clearly maintaining a state of readiness.

Li Mubai looked at the energy fluctuations reported by Star Rail—no aggressiveness, only gentle waves. He nodded to Zhang Hao: "No danger signals for now."

Zhang Hao slowly reduced speed, and the dream chaser stopped a few meters away from the Unicorn. He opened the car window and smiled at Sugar: "Hello, we are the [Dream Society] team. Were you waiting for us just now?"

Sunlight filtered through the dark red sky, spilling onto the metallic body of the dream chaser and the soft cloud tent—two teams with completely different styles met at the three-way junction of the Doomsday Highway.