Chapter 518

Beneath the hood were two rows of six high-pressure hydrogen cylinders connected to hydrogen fuel cells, where hydrogen and oxygen underwent electrochemical reactions to generate current and drive the motors.

Hydrogen-powered vehicles failed to gain popularity in the real world due to multiple reasons—cost, safety, technology, patents—Japan had heavily invested in hydrogen technology, especially hydrogen storage, hoping other nations would solve the downstream technical challenges so it could reap the benefits.

The result was that the hydrogen pathway was abandoned by the global market, and unwilling to give up, Japan still developed the bizarre hydrogen-powered motorcycle.

It carried two exposed high-pressure hydrogen cylinders, fully solving the world's problems of gasoline cars being hard to ignite and electric cars being hard to explode.

The good news was that even if you encountered a hundred-ton king on the road, you still had a chance to fight.

"These cars have very outdated designs, but their technology is still relatively advanced,"

Wanli Fengdao carefully examined and found all high-pressure hydrogen cylinders had been fully depressurized and were no longer dangerous; he shook his head: "This is insane."

Claudia said solemnly: "It's not just the energy system—none of these cars have headlights, and there are no streetlights either."

The spherical dome covering this area was a single piece of uniform metal with no light-emitting function, yet the town's buildings were filled with signs of habitation, and roadside shops still bore colorful logos.

All evidence indicated this town had once been inhabited, and its residents seemingly did not rely on external light sources?

The atmosphere was oppressive; all players were pondering the clues they had gathered: enclosed dome, lightless environment, outdated buildings, hydrogen vehicles, missing townspeople.

"Wait, this isn't a scripted mission,"

Lei Yesi was the first to snap out of it, slapping his forehead: "Why are you taking this so seriously?"

Analyzing ways to break through danger upon entering a hazardous environment was almost an instinctive reflex among high-level players.

Before he finished speaking, Lei Yesi noticed all other transcendent beings were staring at him with strange expressions.

"What are you looking at?"

Lei Yesi was baffled, so Li Cheng immediately removed the sports camera clipped to his collar and played back the recorded footage.

In the video, Lei Yesi appeared normal—except when speaking, his voice slowed down unnaturally, as if the player had been set to 0.5x speed: "So.. re.. al.. ly.. do.. n't.."

After saying that, he returned to normal and had no awareness whatsoever of what had just happened to him.

"WTF?"

Lei Yesi's eyelid twitched violently—he carried specialized gear against brainwashing and mental control; even if it couldn't fully resist, it should have triggered an alert.

"Meme contamination?" Claudia frowned.

The Fungus King, rarely speaking, uttered in a soft, childish, and utterly unconvincing tone: "More like cognitive slowdown."

"Maybe it's just the GPU overheating and dropping frames."

Li Cheng pulled out a bone saw over a meter long, eyes locked on Lei Yesi's skull: "Want me to crack open your skull and take a look?"

"Whoa, no!"

Lei Yesi quickly cast a scan skill on himself to prove he was fine: "My body's okay—it must be the Dreamland or something inherent to this town."

"Alright, stop scaring him."

Wanli Fengdao waved his hand: "Good news is we're currently in consciousness form—death here probably, maybe, won't affect our real-world bodies. Let's keep moving. Find the astronaut and the tombstones."

Claudia transformed into a bat and flew upward to scout.

The town's three most prominent structures: the first was a stone castle built against the mountain on the far north, its rear merging seamlessly with the spherical dome.

The second was a square clock tower in the town center, built of red brick, crowned with a bronze bell—but on all four sides, the clock faces displaying the time had no hands; the exact time could not be determined.

The third was a pure white church on the town's east side, its emblem not a cross, but something resembling a human lung.

"I have to say," Li Cheng rubbed his chin, "that church emblem reminds me of a classic game."

Wanli Fengdao led the way toward the nearest clock tower, not looking back: "Cyberpunk? Pay the lung toll."

Li Cheng shook his head: "Nah, it's The Outlaws of the North. Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang hunting down the northern Burma cyber-scam syndicates led by the four families: Bai Suocheng, Wei Chaoren, Liu Zhengxiang, and Ming Xuechang. Too bad Arthur died of tuberculosis, and right before he died, he heard the good news that the entire Ming family had been erased by the Wenzhou court's 'Xiaoxiaole' system."

"... I'm starting to doubt whether we're even on the same planet."

Wanli Fengdao rolled his eyes, rounded the corner, then suddenly halted, raising his palm to signal everyone to stop.

There, beside the clock tower, stood a small humanoid girl, about eight or nine years old, with a ponytail and a dress, holding a colorful jump rope, skipping alone.

Her entire form had a semi-transparent quality, like a ghostly apparition captured by early digital cameras with poor resolution.

Something this abnormal must be unnatural—Wanli Fengdao retreated behind the corner, gestured, 'Let's discuss—who goes first to check?'

'Don't look at me.'

Mian Yue, the Rabbit Rogue, waved his hand, his eyes saying: 'That's a humanoid NPC—you humans go.'

In Mian Yue's world, human and non-human players each made up half the population; when the Arena distributed scripted missions, non-human players were rarely sent into human-dominated worlds.

In a way, it was also 'Yincaishi Sect'—teaching according to aptitude.

"Tch,"

Li Cheng grumbled: "So it's just me, Lei Yesi, or Claudia then?"

???

Wanli Fengdao's eye twitched—I'm not human? Am I even human? You just skipped me like that?

But Xiao Dao Ge knew it was true—his appearance meant approaching the girl would instantly label him a perverted uncle, prompting someone to call the police.

This had been documented in both the real world and scripted missions.

"I'll go."

Claudia sighed: "I have a skill that temporarily boosts charm—gives me a bonus when interacting with NPCs. Cover me."

"Sis, we're counting on you."

Li Cheng gave a thumbs-up; under the group's intense gaze, Claudia stepped out from the corner, crossed the street, put on a friendly smile, and asked the girl: "You're playing alone? Where are your parents?"

The ponytailed girl didn't respond, continuing her fancy jump rope tricks—until Claudia asked again, when she finally looked up irritably: "Lady, you're annoying."

La.. dy?

Claudia's face instantly flushed red—though the Monutong Alliance's power system came with built-in beauty enhancement, even elderly cultivators could reverse aging and debut on the spot,

Claudia's actual age on her ID card was indeed eighteen.

Breathe. Stay calm.

She took a deep breath, her smile on her face not changing in the slightest. She reached into her pocket, took out the photos of the astronaut, the white horse's tombstone, and the grey rain, and said, "Excuse me, have you seen these people? This auntie can buy you snacks."