144: Chapter 144 A New Dream World Mission: Soul Redeemers on the Doomsday Highway

The moment the space-time shackles shattered, the deathly silence on the dark red highway was abruptly broken—the solidified wind began to howl again, and the engine of the [dream chaser] roared, shaking the wilderness. A warm, faint blue energy shimmered across its shield, as if it had never stopped.

Zombies on both sides of the highway roared, reviving from their stillness. Their stumbling footsteps crushed the gravel, and the Rock-hard feet of the Honkai Variant landed heavily, only to be left behind by the high-speed airflow; the Honkai cloud behind them expanded wildly at 100km/h. Under the dark red sky, crimson magma surged from the cracks in the crumbling ground, and the steaming heat distorted the air, but no team was caught in this deadly magma. All vehicles maintained a steady speed of over 100km/h on the infinitely uphill highway, struggling to escape the engulfment of the collapse.

All teams resumed action simultaneously:

The five motorcycles of [Road Overlord] sped in a wedge formation, the blue flames from their exhaust pipes leaving scorching afterimages on the dark red highway. Walker controlled the handlebars with one hand while wielding a giant axe with the other to hack through the zombies blocking the way. The entire team focused on quickly breaking through the zombie zone, the sound of metal colliding with the axe blending with the roar of engines;

The Seven-Colored Cloud tent of [Fairytale Town] glided close to the ground. Marshmallow manipulated the clouds, causing the cloud tent to condense into dense, small, shock-absorbing elastic cloud balls, making it more comfortable for everyone inside the tent. Gummy lay on the back of the [Unicorn], and the light occasionally shot from its horn precisely shattered the zombies blocking the path;

The four huge wheels of the [hundred-refined dragon steed] from the [Most Journey to the West] team spun rapidly, and the speed soared to 120km/h. Sun Miaomiao kept stepping on the enlarging [ruyi stick] to ascend, then transformed into a falcon to glide and throw the [ruyi stick], crushing the zombies blocking the way. She couldn't help but complain about the restriction of this world that prevented high-altitude flight. Sha Luoluo's [sandstorm gourd] sprayed quicksand onto the ground to trap the variants, Tang Youyou remained in her isolated state of reading, and the [Mimicking Parrot] flapped its wings, keeping watch on the roof of the vehicle.

In the vehicle bed of the [dream chaser] from [Dream Society], Zhang Hao's figure paused in everyone's eyes for only a moment—as if it were just a blink, his aura became completely different. The previous calmness now carried a bit more confidence in controlling the overall situation. His eyes were sharp as blades, his standing posture straight as a pine, and the golden mark between his eyebrows glowed faintly. Silver Star poked its head out from his pocket, its three little mouse eyes shining brightly.

Just then, the cold mechanical prompt of the [Dream System] rang in the minds of all Hosts simultaneously:

[Due to a loophole in this Dream Task, the Dream Task is now being reset. Relevant compensation will be issued together with the task completion reward after the Dream Task ends.]

A pale blue System panel instantly appeared before everyone's eyes, and the content of the new task was clearly presented:

[Dream World Task (New): The Soul Redeemer of the Doomsday Highway]

[Task Type]: Team Upgrade Task

[Task Content]: Before the Honkai index of this world reaches 99%, kill as many zombies as possible and purify the soul virus within their Souls.

[Task Hints]:

1. This is currently the Doomsday Highway world where the soul virus has broken out. The Primordial Soul Virus has mutated under the influence of the Honkai Power of the [Lord of Collapse], giving birth to a large number of zombies and special ability variants.

2. Affected by the new rules, the [Soul] of the zombies in this world after being killed are visible non-material light spots. The soul virus within them can be [Redemption] by using healing/purification Talents or consuming dream coins (purifying a zombie costs 1 dream coin, purifying a variant costs 10 dream coins, and purifying a Honkai Variant costs 100 dream coins).

3. The Doomsday Highway is in an infinitely uphill state, with forks and supply stations (where vehicles can be replaced or modified/upgraded, and supplies and weapons can be replenished);

4. The world continues to collapse, the ground crumbles and falls into magma, and vehicles with a speed lower than 100km/h will be affected, triggering task failure. (Current world Honkai index is 55%, and the collapse range expands by 100km per hour!)

5. Task rewards are determined according to each team's contribution ratio at the end of the task.

6. Only [Redemption] Souls are counted towards task contribution. [Redemption] Souls will leave this world.

6. When the world Honkai index reaches 99%, all surviving teams are considered to have completed the task and will enter the settlement space.

The moment the panel dissipated, the vehicle bed fell into a brief silence, followed by an irrepressible shock.

Zhao Hu widened his eyes, pointing his finger at the empty space in front of him, his boisterous voice breaking the silence: "Haozi! Brother Hao! This new task... is this your doing?!" His face was full of disbelief. Before, they were chasing the "Finish Line" until they were dizzy, and now it had suddenly turned into killing zombies and purifying Souls. This transition was simply too big.

Lin Wan tightened her grip on her rabbit doll, the pale green life elements at her fingertips fluctuating gently. Her eyes were full of surprise and curiosity—the new task happened to fit her healing and purification Talent perfectly; this was definitely not a coincidence.

Chen Rui rubbed the short blade transformed from [Thousand Faces] hovering beside him, the blade emitting an icy cold light. He looked at Zhang Hao with a trace of admiration in his eyes, but didn't say much, just quietly waiting for confirmation.

Li Mubai held the detection panel of [Star Rail], quickly scanning every hint of the new task, his brows slightly furrowed. He was obviously planning the personnel arrangement for the new task, but his gaze couldn't help but turn to Zhang Hao.

Facing the questioning gazes of everyone, Zhang Hao just nodded faintly, his tone calm and waveless: "Yes, the feedback on the task loophole I submitted was adopted by the System, so the Dream System reset the Dream Task."

There was no extra explanation, but it carried an unquestionable certainty. Zhao Hu stomped his feet on the spot in excitement: "I knew it! Brother Hao, you are too awesome! No need to chase that damn finish line, killing zombies and performing [Redemption] on Souls to earn contribution—this is what you call a task!"

Li Mubai quickly composed himself. As the team's tactical lead, he had quickly sorted out the key points of the task and said in a deep voice: "Time is tight. The current collapse speed is 100km per hour. We must maintain our speed. Zhang Hao and I will be responsible for scouting the zombie distribution and road conditions ahead, using the detection capabilities of [Star Rail] and [Silver Star] to scout the zombies in advance. Zhao Hu and Chen Rui will be responsible for killing zombies, prioritizing high-threat variants to prevent them from affecting our speed. Lin Wan, your life, water, and wood elements can all purify Souls, so just focus on dealing with the Soul light spots of the killed zombies. You don't need to consume dream coins, which is more efficient."

The division of labor was clear and explicit, perfectly fitting each person's special abilities. Everyone responded one after another. Zhao Hu had already activated [Giant Strength Berserk], the muscles on his arms knotted, eager to reach out of the vehicle bed. Chen Rui's [Thousand Faces] switched to spear form, with white frost condensing on the spear tip. Lin Wan took a deep breath, and the three-colored elemental light on her fingertips became more intense. Li Mubai had already started to adjust the detection parameters of [Star Rail], preparing to lock onto the route ahead.

Just as everyone was about to act, Zhang Hao suddenly spoke: "Wait a moment, everyone!"

The voice was calm but carried unquestionable power. Everyone subconsciously stopped their actions, turned their heads to look at him, their faces full of confusion. Zhao Hu's action of reaching out of the vehicle bed froze in mid-air: "What's up, Brother Hao? Is there any problem?"

Lin Wan also stopped the action of condensing energy, her eyes full of confusion; Li Mubai looked up at Zhang Hao, waiting for his follow-up explanation; Chen Rui tightened his grip on the spear, his eyes scanning the surroundings vigilantly, thinking that an unknown threat had been detected.

Zhang Hao didn't explain immediately, but laughed: "Hahaha! Everyone, there's no need to be so troublesome! We don't have to follow what the task says to kill zombies and then perform [Redemption] on the Souls. After all, we have a cheat device!" Everyone followed the direction of Zhang Hao's finger to look at the [soul gourd] in the center of the vehicle bed, and the Souls emitting black light collected from killing the Honkai Variants inside.