Chapter 12: Returning to the Tricycle

A flash of white light streaked by, and another blueprint appeared before the two of them.

"No way, all three of these Material Boxes are blueprints!" Zhao Yuxin said, speechless as she held the blueprints she had opened. Zhu Zhiquan did not mind, however, and began to check the information on the blueprints.

Name: Anti-collision Bumper

Quality: White

Description: Allows your vehicle to withstand collisions from vehicles of the same level. Until this thing falls off, no matter how hard the impact is, it will not damage your vehicle.

Materials: Metal 1 unit, Rubber 3 units.

Seeing the information on the blueprint, Zhu Zhiquan learned it without hesitation. Zhao Yuxin turned her head and asked, "Ajiu, should we continue exploring?"

"Let's go, keep going." Zhu Zhiquan carried the Dagger Spear and headed in a random direction.

Zhao Yuxin angrily picked up the pile of Dagger Spears on the ground, followed behind, and scolded, "Hey, you're making me carry all these spears by myself, right!"

The moon at night was beautiful, but it hid behind the clouds, afraid to come out, only revealing a corner as if watching everything the players were experiencing.

The desert night was very cold, so cold that the sand hid inside the players' clothes, afraid to come out...

Zhao Yuxin patted the sand off her body and said to Zhu Zhiquan, "Ajiu, we've been out for so long and haven't seen a single trap or Material Box. Should we head back?"

Zhu Zhiquan poured the sand out of his shoes. "Azhao, listen carefully to see if there is anything nearby."

"Fine, ah—" Zhao Yuxin let out a loud shout. After a while, Zhao Yuxin pointed below and said, "Ajiu, there is a secret room under our feet. The entrance is 100 meters ahead."

Zhu Zhiquan looked in the direction Zhao Yuxin was pointing, but saw nothing. However, Zhu Zhiquan still trusted Zhao Yuxin's Bat Wing Ear talent, so he went to the spot Zhao Yuxin pointed to and stomped hard, but did not find anything unusual.

"Stop stomping!" Zhao Yuxin stopped him. "The entrance is buried by sand. I want to go back to the vehicle and trade with other players for a shovel so we can dig the sand away."

Zhu Zhiquan frowned. "No, we are too far from the road. Even without the trading time, it would take an hour. Just trade these Dagger Spears directly and see if you can exchange them for a shovel. I'll start digging now."

Zhao Yuxin tilted her head and asked, "Start digging? What are you going to use to dig?"

Zhu Zhiquan didn't waste words; he picked up a Dagger Spear and started digging.

Zhao Yuxin was speechless. "Fine, you dig slowly then. I'll see if I can trade for one." Zhao Yuxin first asked on the World Channel if anyone was selling a shovel.

After a while, there was no response on the World Channel. Helpless, Zhao Yuxin had to browse the Trading Channel, but unfortunately, after browsing for a long time, there was still nothing.

Zhao Yuxin had no choice but to take a Dagger Spear and dig with Zhu Zhiquan. Eventually, blisters formed on their hands before they finally dug out the door to the entrance.

The two looked at each other and communicated without words; Zhao Yuxin was responsible for pushing the door, and Zhu Zhiquan was responsible for keeping watch.

Creak—

The door was opened, and a large number of bats escaped from the exit like a cloud of black mist. However, the two ignored these bats and stared fixedly behind the door.

After all the bats had left, nothing rushed out from behind the door. It was empty behind the door, as if a bottomless abyss was attracting their gaze.

"It's watching us from inside." Zhao Yuxin's tone was calm, but her trembling legs betrayed her inner feelings.

Zhu Zhiquan: "If you're scared, we can go back."

"Who said I'm scared! Would I be afraid of a little thing hiding in a room!? Let's go! Come in with me now and watch how I handle it!" Zhao Yuxin entered the door first. Zhu Zhiquan sighed and followed her in.

Everything behind the door was pitch black. Zhao Yuxin grabbed Zhu Zhiquan and said, "Ajiu, hold onto me tight. We don't have any lighting equipment and can only rely on my Bat Wing Ear."

Zhu Zhiquan said vigilantly, "Where is that guy?"

Zhao Yuxin closed her eyes and listened carefully to the movement around them. After a while, she whispered, "To our front left, about twenty meters away."

Zhu Zhiquan threw the Dagger Spear in his hand, then grabbed Zhao Yuxin and ran out of the secret room back to the surface.

"Hiss hiss—"

A giant scorpion roared as it rushed to the door and locked eyes with the two of them. With the help of the moonlight, the two saw the scorpion's appearance clearly.

The scorpion's body was extremely smooth; its tail was held high, and it was unknown if it was poisonous. Its two large pincers opened and closed with great force.

"What do we do? Our weapons don't seem to be able to break its defense!" Zhao Yuxin looked at the scorpion nervously.

Zhu Zhiquan: "Is there anything in the secret room we can use?"

"There are some mechanisms we can use, but it's hard to get in while this thing is staring at us!"

"Alright, listen for the signal, run!" Zhu Zhiquan grabbed Zhao Yuxin's hand and turned to run. Seeing them running, the big scorpion roared and chased after them.

Zhao Yuxin asked in confusion, "Where are we running to?"

Zhu Zhiquan did not answer. After being chased by the scorpion for a short while, the two returned to the front of the door. Seeing this, Zhao Yuxin immediately acted as Zhu Zhiquan's eyes and ran inside the secret room, and the scorpion behind them followed them back into the secret room.

While running, Zhao Yuxin said, "I'll count to three and we jump together!" Zhu Zhiquan gave a hum of agreement.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

After leaping over a distance simultaneously, the two continued to run forward. The scorpion behind them stepped on a mechanism, and jets of flame sprayed onto the scorpion.

"Hiss hiss hiss—"

The scorpion rolled all over the ground, burned by the scorching flames. However, the flames did not weaken; instead, they burned even more fiercely. The dazzling light illuminated the surroundings, and Zhu Zhiquan took the opportunity to observe the environment.

At this moment, they were in a corridor, and there was a lot of rubber and metal placed behind them. Seeing the scorpion unable to move while being roasted by the fire, the two quickly scavenged some materials.

"Ajiu, don't rush. There are still two rooms of supplies we haven't taken. Leave some space for things from other spaces." Hearing Zhao Yuxin's words, Zhu Zhiquan did not fill his backpack all at once.

At the same time, the scorpion's aura grew weaker and weaker, and it was eventually burned to death by the fire. After the fire died out, the two stuffed the supplies from the other two rooms into their backpacks.

At this moment, the system announcement sounded, "Attention all players, the Explorer Challenge will end in half an hour. Please return to your vehicles in time, otherwise you will be permanently left in the desert."

Hearing the game announcement, the two quickly ran toward the road and returned to their Tricycle with one minute left.

"Huff, huff... so... so tired, I'm going to sleep..." Zhao Yuxin said, collapsing onto the Tricycle and falling asleep without even taking off her backpack.

Zhu Zhiquan helped her take off her backpack and then spread a piece of cowhide over her. Zhu Zhiquan dumped the items into the corner of the Tricycle, and in an instant, the entire carriage was almost full.

Zhu Zhiquan first made the Anti-collision Bumper v2. A white light enveloped their Tricycle. When the white light disappeared, a black and white striped bar appeared around the carriage of the Tricycle. He then opened the Tricycle panel to check its information.

Name: Rusted Tricycle v2

Top Speed: 15/h

Description: Although this vehicle looks rusty, it is a good choice for your travels. And it is much sturdier than the v1 body; with it, you don't have to worry about it falling apart halfway.

Upgrade requirements: Vehicle Component 1/1, Metal 32/15 units, Wood 44/40 units, Buli 65/40 sheets.