Chapter 16: Obtaining the Vehicle Core and Upgrading the Vehicle
Hearing Ryan's footsteps fade away, Harrison began to scream in despair, "No, please come back! I'll give you all the supplies I've collected. I can be your slave from now on, just save me..."
As Ryan's footsteps grew distant, Harrison felt a sense of complete hopelessness.
He started cursing Ryan, "You evil bastard, you'll go to hell!"
Seeing Ryan turn to leave, Buddy became even more unrestrained, his attacks growing increasingly fierce.
He had transitioned from a protective stance to one of hunting his prey.
Suddenly, Buddy released his grip, and Harrison felt a surge of hope.
He hurriedly flipped over, trying to crawl under the nearby vehicle, thinking that if the dog couldn't fit, he might have a chance at survival.
After all, it was just a dog, relying only on brute force to tear at him, it would only cause him injuries at most.
Harrison crawled forward, constantly reassuring himself in his mind.
But what he didn't expect was that the dog would launch another attack, targeting a critical area.
Buddy bit down on Harrison's neck, his sharp teeth instantly severing an artery.
He whimpered in pain, unable to make any sound due to his crushed windpipe: "Agh, ahh…."
Harrison was flipped over by Buddy's immense strength.
He lay on the ground, tears of pain mixing with the blood in his eyes.
For a brief moment, Harrison regained his vision.
With the bright moonlight, he finally saw the beast that was taking his life before he lost consciousness.
This was no ordinary dog, it was a fierce and formidable wolf.
...
Ryan sat in Harrison's truck, rummaging through his supplies, discovering that the man was surprisingly well-off.
There was an abundance of food and water.
He must have traded all his materials for food and water.
[Obtained: Bread x3, Mineral Water x4, Canned Peas x1, Chocolate Energy Bar x1]
Ryan stored all these supplies in his system backpack.
At that moment,
Harrison's small truck began to deteriorate and quickly disappeared from view.
Suddenly, a notification popped up on Ryan's system panel.
[You have killed a player]
[The opponent was a level 1 vehicle player, rewarded with 1 vehicle core of level 1]
"Oh?" Ryan was taken aback, this was a new rule that hadn't been mentioned at the start of the game.
It appeared after killing other players.
A round mechanical part materialized in his hand, feeling quite solid, marked with a "C" grade.
It seemed to be related to upgrading vehicles.
He clicked on the information on the system panel and read it carefully.
[Item Name: Vehicle Core]
[Level]: Level 1
[Use]: Upgrade vehicles, can elevate a vehicle to level 2, after upgrading, collecting parts or corresponding illustrations will unlock higher-tier models.
[Note: Vehicles are bound to players' lives, if a player dies, the killer can obtain the corresponding level vehicle core, similarly, destroying an enemy's vehicle will result in their death and the dropping of a vehicle core.]
Ryan finished reading the item description and nodded in realization, "So that's how it is..."
A sense of unease washed over him.
This vehicle upgrade mechanism encouraged players to kill each other.
Moreover, those who chose to abandon their humanity and become killers would have a distinct advantage.
Their vehicle levels would undoubtedly be higher than those of ordinary players.
As a result, players unwilling to kill would find themselves at a significant disadvantage in terms of supplies and vehicle levels.
If this vicious cycle continued, ordinary players would stand no chance against the killer players.
If ordinary players didn't unite, the only outcome would be assimilation or complete annihilation.
Ryan didn't want to see that day, after all, he desired order.
Without rules and laws to constrain them, the evil within human nature would be amplified infinitely.
The common enemy for the players should be the administrator.
Ryan sighed softly, "I don't have time to think about all that right now, I have urgent matters to attend to..."
He needed to find Candy's location as soon as possible.
Even if the "Rational Rabies" she was infected with was a milder version,
its transmission capability hadn't weakened at all, and Ryan still needed to collect the kill reward.
If she started spreading it and assimilated a group of followers, killing Candy would become much more difficult.
As Ryan prepared to close the system panel and leave.
A prompt popped up on the system panel.
[Note: Your vehicle can be upgraded. Would you like to increase its level?]
Ryan looked down at the vehicle core in his hand and decided to try upgrading it, curious about what new features he might unlock.
He reached out and clicked the confirm button, and the vehicle core in his hand disappeared instantly.
A moment later, the system displayed the basic panel.
[Basic Panel]
[Player Name: Ryan]
[Serial Number: "404"]
[Vehicle: Small Truck (Level 2)]
[Note: Level 2 vehicle unlocked, portable storage function unlocked]
Ryan was a bit curious and clicked on the [Vehicle] section.
Upon entering the interface, several different vehicle models appeared.
These included a sedan, SUV, off-road vehicle, and truck.
Currently, the Level 2 options were limited to these four vehicle types, but it seemed that more models could be unlocked as he continued to level up.
Ryan clicked on one of them to take a look and found that the so-called Level 2 vehicle corresponded to a car that would cost around $20,000 in the real world.
Moreover, he would need to collect the corresponding blueprints and materials to unlock it.
After examining it closely, Ryan felt that aside from a slight improvement in power and maneuverability, the rest felt inferior to his beginner's small truck.
After all, the small truck had a very convenient cargo bed and could carry a lot.
With just a few added pieces of furniture, it could even serve as a camper.
For the time being, Ryan had no intention of changing vehicle models.
He then looked at the other newly unlocked function.
"What is this portable storage for?" Ryan curiously clicked on the function description.
[Function Name]: Portable Storage
[Effect]: Can reduce the vehicle's size and weight by 1000 times, making it easier to carry. To unlock portable storage, the vehicle must be placed in a space large enough for it to expand, otherwise, it cannot be deployed.
Ryan gaped in surprise, "What the hell? This is way too sci-fi!"
He had just been worrying about how to drive the vehicle.
The road beneath the overpass was littered with abandoned cars, making it very troublesome to navigate.
Moreover, finding a place to hide was not very realistic, after all, based on the earlier rules, vehicles were deeply bound to the players.
If a vehicle was destroyed, the player would also lose their life.
But with this portable storage function, he no longer had to worry.
He could restore the vehicle wherever he needed it.
Ryan returned to his vehicle, intending to test this function: "Buddy, get down from the truck."
After Harrison's death, his body had disappeared along with the vehicle.
Buddy had a strong territorial instinct, so he had jumped back into the truck, always on guard against intruders.
Hearing his owner's call, Buddy jumped down from the passenger seat and quickly came over to Ryan, panting with his tongue out, as if waiting for praise.
Ryan smiled and patted the dog's head, "Good boy, good boy."
Then, Ryan activated the portable storage function.
He watched as the small truck began to tremble slightly, and soon the vehicle started to shrink, like a sponge losing water.
In just five seconds, what had been a full-sized truck was now a model no larger than a palm.
Ryan bent down, picked up the vehicle model, and easily tucked it into his pocket.
...
Meanwhile, at the southern station of Polaris City.
A small truck was parked by the roadside, surrounded by a group of zombies.
In fact, this group of zombies wasn't large, their numbers were insufficient to block the vehicle's movement.
However, the passenger window of the truck had been broken, allowing zombie hands to reach inside, making it very dangerous to drive.
The owner of the vehicle had already hidden in the cargo area through the partition door.
"Ugh, ugh—"
The zombies let out a chorus of growls, and more of them gathered.
The combined sounds of the zombies attracted even more of their companions from a distance.
It felt like it wouldn't be long before the area would be completely surrounded by zombies, making it difficult for the player inside to escape.
Fortunately, not far away, two player vehicles were approaching to provide support.