CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: SNAKE NEST

The first car to break down even caused a small dispute; another car was low on fuel and wanted to buy the fuel.

The car in front was driving so furiously, who knows how long it would take to wear the others out.

This idea provoked strong resistance from the broken-down car: If we give you our fuel, what about us?

The two cars tangled here, while the others kept chasing.

Not long after, another car broke down, leaving nine cars in pursuit.

Qu Jianlei was somewhat oblivious to it, blocked by the cargo in the truck bed.

When modifying the light truck, he installed rearview mirrors, which are standard on Blue Star cars but rare in the Wasteland.

In such an open place, you can drive however you like, why add rearview mirrors?

However, even then, the mirrors didn’t provide a complete view.

In a casual glance back, Qu Jianlei noticed something was off, "These headlights... only nine cars?"

He didn’t think anyone among the pursuers would dare drive without headlights at night.

Little Jing was always sitting in his lap, and upon hearing this, stretched his neck and leaned on Qu Jianlei’s shoulder to look.

"Sit still," Qu Jianlei impatiently scolded, "You’re blocking my view."

After counting the headlights, Little Jing sat back, "Did you guess they would break down? Is this your backup plan?"

"Not my backup plan," Qu Jianlei calmly replied, "I wouldn’t place my hope of survival on others’ mistakes."

He wasn’t surprised by his sudden situation; he hadn’t considered this factor before.

Little Jing was startled, expressing regret, "It would be better if more cars broke down."

Qu Jianlei remained silent for a moment then spoke, "Today’s performance was good, otherwise it would’ve been hard to last until now."

"Today was indeed thrilling," Little Jing said with excitement and fear, "Almost thought it was the end."

"This risk had to be taken," Qu Jianlei replied calmly, "Luckily, the luck wasn’t too bad."

"You call this ’not bad’?" Little Jing couldn’t help but complain, "I didn’t expect to attract so many vultures..."

Wasteland vultures are similar to Blue Star ones, both being scavengers.

Qu Jianlei was silent, no wonder Third Master only dared to carry the Silver Token, a slight mistake could mean no grave to be found.

Little Jing saw he was quiet and spoke again, "What about your backup plan?"

"In progress," Qu Jianlei answered indifferently, "It could’ve happened earlier, but now’s still not late."

Little Jing looked confused, "I don’t get it, could you explain a bit more?"

Qu Jianlei, hearing this, smiled unexpectedly, "I forgot your sense of direction is terrible."

"I’m headed towards the Three-Colored Swamp now."

"Three-Colored Swamp..." Little Jing thought for a moment and then gasped, "The perilous area full of mutant venomous snakes?"

On his first day at Hongwu, people at the supply station told Qu Jianlei about several infamous dangerous places near the Hongwu Gathering Area.

The Three-Colored Swamp was one of them, full of venomous snakes.

Qu Jianlei replied calmly, "Without many companions, we can only seek help from beasts."

If not for Little Jing’s sudden idea, he would’ve rushed into another dangerous area long ago; this was his planned backup.

As for how likely it was to succeed, he wasn’t sure himself.

All he knew was this thought: If anyone tries to mess with me, I’ll pull them down even in death.

Thanks to Little Jing’s suggestion, he successfully set up traps and blocked pursuit three times, forcing the chasing vehicles to keep a certain distance.

Honestly, he hadn’t thought about operating this way before because he never counted on the fur-free creatures.

Call him stubborn or lacking thought; he was used to going solo and never considered help from others.

Little Jing gave him a pleasant surprise, allowing him adequate time to choose the most suitable dangerous area.

The pursuing vehicles also noticed something wrong, "Damn, are they heading to the Three-Colored Swamp?"

A chase that led to confusion, where it’s easy to lose direction, but anyone daring to get involved wouldn’t be simple.

They might not have Qu Jianlei’s freakish sense of direction, but most of them scratched out a living in Hongwu.

Coming all this way, as long as they spot a familiar landmark, they can roughly sense their location.

If no one among the nine adventurers can spot Qu Jianlei’s intentions, that would be a strange phenomenon.

However, some weren’t familiar with Hongwu, "Swamp... aren’t they worried about the cars sinking?"

"Three-Colored Swamp’s an old name, there’s no water left," someone laughed, "but there’s a ton of mutant venomous snakes."

"What’s there to be afraid of with venomous snakes? Our protection is pretty good, and we’re fast."

"It’s not about that, there’s a snake called the Iron Wire Snake, it’s quite tough and can tangle up the car axles."

"I actually brought some Snake Repellent; I’m considering selling some, anyone interested?"

Among many adventurers, several did bring Snake Medicine, but most didn’t.

The worst pollution in the Wasteland is the soil; most snakes are mutated, and few types of snake meat can be eaten.

Some snake venom is indeed useful, but with the mutated elements mixed in, few dare use it.

Simply put, hunting venomous snakes isn’t worth it, though some snakes are worth hunting, no one would come near a Snake Nest.

Carrying some snake repellent with you is quite common for adventurers.

Then someone quickly accused on the public channel that selling snake repellent at this time is a bit unscrupulous.

The other side was not convinced. "I bought my snake repellent, not picked it up on the roadside. Should I just give it to you for free?"

These were mostly minor quarrels; everyone had pursued all the way here, not to mention losing money, even the fuel consumption was quite a lot.

After distributing some snake medicine evenly, the convoy chased the open-top light truck into the Three-Colored Swamp.

The Three-Colored Swamp has three colors: purple, green, and yellow, but it’s hard to see them at night.

However, there’s an upside to night time since winter is coming; snake activity decreases sharply at night.

Qu Jianlei drove recklessly with the headlights on, crushing several snakes and not provoking any attacks.

The convoy silently followed for over ten minutes until someone suddenly exclaimed.

"Damn it... that guy tossed out a mixture of fuel, white phosphorus, and sulfur!"

White phosphorus undergoes slow oxidation in nature, allowing it to combust spontaneously. If ignited with fuel, the oxidation process is bypassed.

When white phosphorus burns, it produces white smoke, which is highly toxic.

Being outdoors, no one was too afraid of the toxicity; a little wind and the air dilution usually solved it.

Ignoring the toxicity based on dosage is just playing tricks.

But throwing in some sulfur is too crazy; sulfur aids combustion, not to mention that this is a snake nest.

Qu Jianlei didn’t scatter much of the mixture, but as soon as ignited, the entire Three-Colored Swamp erupted!

His car sped ahead alone in the lead, the startled venomous snakes hesitated for a moment before heading directly towards the nine vehicles behind.

Many venomous snakes didn’t even smell the mixture; they were purely startled by the reactions of their "mates".

Snakes excel in sensing ground vibrations. When Qu Jianlei passed by with tire crushing, the snakes weren’t particularly sensitive.

But the intense reaction of their kind—that’s a different story—was there some danger?

In almost an instant, countless venomous snakes surged towards the nine vehicles behind.

The nine vehicles were all quite durable, with three being open-top but now shielded over the top.

Moreover, everyone had snake repellent, which should be fine theoretically.

But... the snakes went crazy!

Countless venomous snakes launched themselves, heavily colliding with the vehicles behind—some hit the metal plates, some smashed into the glass.

Among them were quite a few mutant snakes whose launching power was no less than the power of a Gauss Rifle bullet.

Bulletproof glass can withstand a Gauss Rifle and even a small number of Gauss Machine Gun bullets.

But who can withstand countless bullets coming at them?

On top of that, when it rains, it pours, "Iron Wire Snake, there really are Iron Wire Snakes, the car speed is slowing down!"

The Iron Wire Snake is actually worth hunting; its skin and tendons are rugged and can fetch a good price.

Its meat is also edible, and it doesn’t taste bad, particularly chewy.

But these things are truly troublesome; dozens of snakes can entangle a vehicle to the point it can’t move.

The appearance of Iron Wire Snakes means there are complications now.

And then, more terrifying things appeared, "Winged Snake! There are Winged Snakes!"

Winged Snakes, as the name suggests, are snakes that can fly; many people say snakes can fly, but that’s just leaping.

Winged Snakes can genuinely fly, and even if not mutated, they’re not inferior to mutant beasts.

There aren’t many Winged Snakes on the Wasteland; everyone considered them rumors.

Yet, unexpectedly, there were four or five dark shadows flying in the sky now, no one knew if any were mutated.

"Retreat, retreat quickly!" Someone couldn’t bear it anymore; money might be tempting, but staying alive is essential to spend it!

"But... the speed’s decreasing fast," someone shouted in despair, "Better rush forward!"

Rushing forward isn’t that simple; the Three-Colored Swamp isn’t big but spans hundreds of square kilometers.

Gradually, the nine vehicles were surrounded by various venomous snakes.

The person in the front vehicle, Xiao Jing, turned to look back, asking with lingering fear, "Did you calculate it all?"

"No, just trying my luck," Qu Jianlei answered calmly, "I can determine that it’ll hinder them somewhat."

He was actually being a bit modest; he had considered all the factors.

He didn’t use fuel, white phosphorus, and sulfur powder; those who thought so were indeed mistaken.

He went by his analysis and used a small energy block, but did add a lot of sulfur powder and some pheromones.

Of course, he was somewhat confident in this formula, so he chose to escape from here.

The snake nest having such a fierce reaction was unexpected even for him.

But now clearly isn’t the time to ponder carefully.

"Head back and check who is escaping faster, then mow them down with the Gauss Machine Gun."

"Whether you hit them or not, the key is to give them trouble!"

(Update to the new book period, requesting various supports.)