7: Chapter 7: Shen Wanxing's causal relationships deepen...

Chen Chen refocused his attention on the upgrade.

"Use Vehicle Core to upgrade the RV."

[Primary Vehicle Core deducted successfully! Current vehicle level upgraded to Lv.1!]

[Basic defense increased, durability limit raised, rear cargo space expanded.]

"Use Modification Blueprint."

[Materials deducted successfully. Installing exoskeleton armor...]

A blinding white light engulfed the entire dilapidated Class C RV.

The screeching sound of metal grinding and electric welding sparks intertwined in a massive display.

The two hundred pieces of low-quality sheet metal on the ground flew into the air, melting and reshaping within the white light before fusing onto the RV's exterior.

Ten seconds later, the light faded.

The rusty, thin, and drafty old RV had completely transformed.

The vehicle's exterior was now encased in a layer of thick, dark gray iron armor, with rugged metal rivets densely packed along the seams.

Cross-shaped metal protective grilles had been installed over the exterior of the windows.

The most striking feature was the front; the fragile plastic bumper had been completely removed and replaced with an inverted V-shaped heavy-duty steel ramming plate. Its edges were honed to a razor-thin sharpness, exuding a fierce, destructive aura.

This was no longer a recreational vehicle meant for travel, but an iron beast armed to the teeth.

Chen Chen pulled up the vehicle panel.

[Vehicle: All-Iron Exoskeleton RV (Lv.1)]

[Defense: 250 (Thick armor, sufficient to withstand head-on collisions and tearing from low-level monsters)]

[Magic Resistance: 0 (Still cannot defend against mental attacks, good luck)]

[Durability: 300/300 (Structural reinforcement)]

[Tonnage: 5.8 tons (Increased dead weight)]

[Rear Cargo Space: 35 cubic meters (Expansion complete)]

[Fuel Consumption: 25L/100km (Beginning to take the shape of a gas guzzler)]

[Fuel: 79.8 L / 100L]

[External Equipment: Heavy Ramming Cowcatcher (Causes additional cutting damage upon collision)]

The defensive capabilities had skyrocketed, and the cargo space had increased significantly.

However, with the increase in tonnage, the fuel consumption of 25 liters per 100 kilometers was quite extreme. At this rate of fuel consumption, the 100 liters he had just poured in wouldn't take them very far.

Chen Chen rapped his knuckles against the thick armored door.

This fuel consumption was nothing.

As long as this steel beast could rampage across this wasteland highway, he would have as many supplies as he could ever want.

Soon enough.

Chen Chen hauled the half-man-tall metal fuel canister out from the rear compartment, unscrewed the cap, and aimed it at the fuel tank intake.

The "glug-glug" sound of the fuel being swallowed echoed across the empty Gobi Desert.

With the 100 liters of pure fuel from the system's critical success, combined with what remained at the bottom, he poured it all in at once. The fuel gauge needle pinned firmly against the "F" mark, and the digital display jumped to 99.8 L.

This fuel-guzzling machine finally had the capital to go the distance.

"Get in. Let's go."

Chen Chen wiped the oil from his hands, pulled open the armored door—now more than twice as thick as before—and climbed into the driver's seat.

Shen Wanxing hiked up her skirt, stumbling across the sandy ground in her thin high heels. She clutched the oversized black windbreaker tightly around herself and scrambled into the cabin on all fours.

"Bang."

The door slammed shut.

The howling wind and sand outside, along with the persistent smell of dirt, were completely cut off.

Shen Wanbing sat in the passenger seat.

The thin layer of sheet metal surrounding them had been replaced by thick metal armor.

The previous sense of decay, with drafts leaking in from everywhere and the vehicle feeling like it might fall apart at any moment, was completely gone.

Her gaze swept across the dashboard and landed on Chen Chen's hands gripping the steering wheel.

"With your sister's talent and luck, it wouldn't be a problem to support... a few more beauties along the way!"

Chen Chen inserted the rusty key and turned it to the right.

The engine roared to life, no longer sounding like a dying metallic wheeze.

The engine erupted with a deep, resonant mechanical growl; the ample fuel supply allowed the machine to reclaim the power it had when it first left the factory.

Shen Wanbing turned her head to glance at her sister, who was still adjusting the hem of her windbreaker in the back seat, then turned her gaze back to the view outside the windshield.

"Everyone must perform their own role if we are to survive long-term." Her voice was steady, regaining the rhythm she used to have at the negotiation table.

"Wanxing is responsible for maximizing resources, and I am responsible for avoiding risks and identifying targets. You are responsible for... solving problems."

"Good division of labor." Chen Chen slammed his foot down on the accelerator.

The vehicle shuddered.

The exoskeleton armor had pushed the vehicle's tonnage up to five and a half tons, but with the engine output at full capacity, the acceleration was even more ferocious.

The massive all-terrain tires bit fiercely into the gravel road, kicking up two thick clouds of dust. Relying on its armored shell, the heavy-duty RV plunged aggressively onto the gray-white, two-lane highway.

In the rearview mirror, the wall of black fog that stretched from the ground to the sky at the edge of the horizon was still silently churning, but the distance between them was visibly widening.

Chen Chen steered with one hand, his peripheral vision sweeping over the regional chat channel in the bottom right corner of his retina.

The messages were scrolling by so fast it made his eyes blur.

"Help! My bicycle chain broke! The black fog is only fifty meters away from me! Someone pull me to safety, I'll give you two luxury apartments in Jiangcheng!"

"Stop shouting. Money is just scrap paper here. I got out of my car to open a wooden crate, and a gray-skinned monster jumped out of the bushes and bit a chunk of flesh out of my thigh. I'm bleeding uncontrollably now. Does anyone have a bandage to trade for some water?"

"You guys are lucky. I just watched a mobility scooter in front of me get flipped over by two long-limbed monsters, and the person inside was dragged out and eaten alive. This game doesn't give people any way to survive!"

Wailing, pleas for help, and cursing.

The social order of the peaceful era had been crushed to pieces in half a day.

Chen Chen looked away.

Compared to the unlucky wretches in the channel pedaling bicycles or driving mobility scooters, he was sitting in a heavy-duty RV with his survival margin fully maximized.

But this wasn't enough.

The Survival Manual states in Article 6: After dark, if you hear someone knocking on your window, never open the door.

Article 4: Players who have not entered their vehicle or a safe zone stop after dark will lose 1 point of Sanity every minute.

Having a vehicle guaranteed his Sanity, but this car didn't even have a sink. With three people squeezed into a thirty-five-cubic-meter iron box, eating, drinking, and sanitation were all major problems.

Relying solely on one daily blind box and the drops from two low-level monsters wouldn't be enough to satisfy the engine's appetite, nor would it be enough to sustain the two women in the back.

He had to take the initiative.

"Take a look and see if there's anywhere good up ahead." Chen Chen tapped his fingers against the steering wheel.

Shen Wanbing was very cooperative.

She closed her eyes, and a few seconds later, she opened them again; the golden light deep within her pupils faded away.

"Eighty kilometers ahead, there's an abandoned service area."

She utilized the effect of her god-tier talent, breaking down the information she received to report it.

"The prompt says there's a Bronze-grade supply crate inside. But the service area is infested with over a dozen low-level Aberrants, plus one massive elite monster."

A dozen low-level ones and one elite.

Chen Chen's fingers stopped tapping on the plastic steering wheel.

If it were the broken-down vehicle from half an hour ago, he would have bypassed it without a second thought.

But now, with that heavy, inverted V-shaped ramming plate mounted on the front, he felt confident.

"We're going there." Chen Chen made the decision, pressing the accelerator harder.

The heavy-duty RV sped across the desolate Gobi highway, leaving the withered grass and gravel far behind.

In the back of the cabin.

Shen Wanxing finally took off those torturous high heels, stepped barefoot onto the old mattress, and gently rubbed her sore ankles with her fair, slender fingers.

She looked up, her gaze traveling through the narrow aisle to land on the broad back of the man in the driver's seat.

The black windbreaker she wore still retained the heavy, earthy scent of the wasteland and the man's distinct body warmth.

It was a bit pungent, but warm.

Growing up, the number of people surrounding her had been countless.

Expensive jewelry, limited-edition couture, endless bouquets of flowers, and sweet nothings—she had long since grown accustomed to them.

But in a world where even breathing had to be calculated, those things couldn't even be traded for a single compressed biscuit.

Instead, it was this rough coat, combined with his blunt, "Don't freeze to death," that gave her an unprecedented sense of security.

She curled up deeper into the old mattress, pulled the oversized collar up, and wrapped herself tightly within it.

[Ding! Shen Wanxing's favorability toward the host has increased. Confidante Causal Relationship has deepened.]

[Shen Wanxing: Lv.2 (Progress 30%).]