Chapter 6: Ahhhhhhh!

Bang!

Ding Mo used practically the greatest strength and speed of his life to slam his palm down!

His right palm struck the center of the meter, and with a loud boom, the equipment finally began to work.

Because Ding Mo's series of reactions and speed were truly too fast, it made it look as if the meter had been turned on at the exact moment the car started moving.

And so,

the 5 figures saw this, and their heads slowly leaned back, hanging down on their shoulders and the seats just as they had before.

The crisis seemed to have been averted.

Ding Mo placed his numb right palm back onto the steering wheel, enduring the pain caused by the excessive force, while his heart eased slightly.

Thankfully, he had reacted in time.

In the nearly frozen air inside the car, Ding Mo slowly set off on the road with a car full of "guests."

And on the panel, his "Threshold" also began to continue dropping. Moreover, the speed was very fast; even Ding Mo did not know if he could hold on for ten minutes.

What on earth... is going on?

Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Ding Mo sniffed the sulfurous smell of rain in the air and forced his brain, which had nearly crashed from fear, to start turning again.

He should not have violated the "Driver's Code," but this situation of someone hailing the car was truly unusual; what on earth was going on?

Ding Mo believed that he must have inadvertently violated some rule, only he did not know it yet.

【Threshold: 45%】 → 【Threshold: 43%】

Can he... hold on?

Pitter-patter!

Time: 2:54.

Ding Mo wanted to increase the car's speed, but the rain was truly falling very heavily, and visibility was too low.

But thankfully! The Task time was about to end, and when it did, he would be transported back; the Threshold should barely be enough...

Just as he thought of this, Ding Mo, who was watching the road, felt his pupils shrink!

It was just that on the road to the side, he actually saw a tall figure.

Furthermore, that figure was waving at him!

He wanted to hail the car!

"How could this be?!" Realizing this, Ding Mo bit his teeth hard.

Not coming early, not coming late, why did it have to be at this time?

But he had no way not to pick them up; his "Threshold" already had less than 50% remaining, and he could not refuse a passenger.

Not only that, in the car... Ding Mo swept a glance with the corner of his eye.

5 figures had long since filled every spot inside the car!

The taxi was full!

Fine beads of sweat secreted onto Ding Mo's forehead.

Tick-tock!

Gas Station.

Rainwater struck the floor-to-ceiling window, shattering into dots of crystalline light.

Inside the brightly lit floor-to-ceiling window, beside the shelves, two figures were conversing.

One of the younger figures carried a cup of steaming hot coffee to the table in front of the other, a middle-aged man.

"Thanks," the middle-aged man said in thanks, picked up the coffee, and took a sip.

The aroma and warmth of the coffee slid down his esophagus, and a trace of pleasure appeared on the middle-aged man's face.

"Senior," the young junior suddenly called out at this moment.

On his body, he wore the same Gas Station employee uniform as the middle-aged man.

At this moment, he looked at the taxi leaving the gas station outside the window and asked curiously:

"Why do we only charge those taxi drivers half price?

"Even if it's the middle of the night, isn't that too cheap?"

The cold rain submerged the car's taillights, causing them to gradually vanish into the night.

The darkness and cold outside the window stood in stark contrast to the warmth and stability inside the room.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man set down the warm coffee and shook his head slightly:

"Do not ask too much about this matter.

"You only need to know that not only do we charge half price, but even when they have no money to pay, we can let them owe it for the time being."

The young junior heard this and became even more curious, sitting to the side wanting to pursue the question.

But after the middle-aged man said a few words, he instead kept his mouth shut, not wanting to say any more.

"In short, try to be as good to them as possible.

"They have it much harder than we do."

A cold, chilling aura lurked inside the car, licking at Ding Mo's skin like a wild beast, causing him to be unable to stop trembling slightly.

Ding Mo slowed the car down, gradually approaching the tall figure on the side of the road.

Looking at that withered, thin arm constantly waving at him, he began to think rapidly in his mind:

What on earth should he do?

The distance to the "guest" was still... fifteen meters, 8 meters, 7 meters...

For some reason, Ding Mo thought of the 13 Driver Rules in his mind, and the final "advice" among them:

"To protect the safety of yourself and all passengers, we hope this handbook will be strictly followed. If a special situation arises, as a seasoned driver, you may handle it yourself."

He could handle it himself... provided that,

As a "driver"!

Recalling what the system prompt said: "Please try your best to ensure your words and actions do not deviate from your Identity."

Ding Mo seemed to understand something, and a train of thought faintly emerged in his mind, but the short time for reflection meant he still hadn't figured out exactly what to do.

But at this moment, the streets on both sides had stopped receding!

The car stopped in front of the tall figure.

The figure was draped in a raincoat, and the darkness created by the hood covered its face, making it impossible to see clearly.

It stood by the car watching, but made no move.

As expected!

Ding Mo gripped the steering wheel tightly.

The consequence of encountering a passenger hailing a ride while already fully loaded was that the "new passenger" could not get in; this was a situation not mentioned in the Handbook.

At this time, as a "driver," what should he do?

Cold sweat streamed down his forehead, Ding Mo gritted his teeth and suddenly pushed open the car door!

All or nothing!

He decided to get out of the car himself and give up the driver's seat.

As for what comes after... he would deal with that later!

Ding Mo pushed open the car door, and raindrops beat frantically against his shoulders, head, and chest, like some kind of warning, warning him of the extreme danger of this move!

Ding Mo still got out of the car without hesitation.

Then the rainwater drenched him completely, and the cold air frantically seeped into the skin under his clothes.

Ding Mo braved the heavy rain and walked to the side, looking at the tall figure.

One second, two seconds... Ding Mo noticed that the 5 "passengers" inside the car seemed to become restless, and the bodies that were originally lying in the car were wriggling like centipedes!

"What is going to happen now?!"

Immersed in the endless rainy night, Ding Mo could no longer tell if what was flowing down his forehead was cold sweat or rainwater.

But, to his delight, the tall figure suddenly moved—it actually climbed into the driver's seat!

And during this process, Ding Mo did not encounter any eerie attacks, nor did the Threshold show any abnormalities.

"It worked!" Ding Mo felt a surge of joy.

Now he belonged to a state of neither refusing a ride nor violating the logic of a driver's Identity.

But how long could this method delay things?

Could it last through the next few minutes?

Ding Mo stood in the downpour and slowly retreated toward the rear of the car.

The rear of the car, logically speaking, was a "blind spot"—Ding Mo did not want to be stared at by those ghostly things in the car the whole time.

However, he seemed to have overestimated his strategy.

Only one minute had passed, and the movements of the 5 "passengers" in the car were becoming increasingly frequent!

Only the tall figure made no move.

However, Ding Mo had already locked the car doors before getting out, although he wasn't sure if they would unlock them...

For now, it seemed they would not.

Ding Mo stared fixedly at them through the glass, while simultaneously calculating the time in his heart.

How much longer until 3:00? Why did it feel like a year had already passed!?

Crack! The 5 "passengers" suddenly smashed the glass and crawled out of the car windows!

Rather than crawling, it was more like they were "pulled" out, with even rotting flesh hanging on the shattered, sharp glass!

"Hey!!" Ding Mo was startled and subconsciously turned around, wanting to run away.

But his reason immediately made his footsteps pause!

As a "driver," simply "refusing a ride" would drop the Threshold by 50%; what if he abandoned the car and left?

What driver would abandon their car and run away directly on the main road?

Such behavior, which violated the driver's Identity, was something he knew absolutely must not be done!

But...

Bang!

The sound of flesh and bone hitting the ground reached him, and Ding Mo stiffly twisted his neck.

He saw the "5 passengers" that had fallen onto the ground like dumplings from the car windows.

They were coming this way!