Chapter 8: Chapter 8 – The Highway Merged

Cheng Shuili silently summed up in her mind, then came back to look at how the sofa looked so pleasing; she had been worrying about where to sleep tonight, the driver's seat of the shopping cart was certainly not a place to sleep. She endured hardship in her past life, and this life she will definitely enjoy.

The upgraded ride was quite sensible; with this setup, Cheng Shuili was almost the most comfortable person in the whole highway apocalypse!

"This is just too awesome!"

Cheng Shuili shouted, flopped onto the sofa, feeling the long‑missed softness.

After sitting on the seat all day, Cheng Shuili's body also ached; several times she wanted to stop the cart, stretch, then go on, but she persisted only because of her obsession with the leader's reward.

Lying on the sofa she looked around and finally saw a small water tank beside the sink; after adding domestic water, the faucet would start flowing.

A monster's ghostly howl suddenly came from outside the vehicle.

Cheng Shuili sat up alertly, then after a moment lay down again.

The mineral water bottle was still still; that monster was 108,000 li away, and it's still Newbie Protection Period, so how could those monsters get into a player's cart to kill anyone?

Can't be, right?

Cheng Shuili opened her eyes again, deciding to go out and see the situation.

She pushed the carriage door open, only sticking out her head, and saw, not too near nor far, a pair of glaring scarlet eyes.

Countless.

After those eyes saw her, they clearly got more excited! For a moment "ghosts on both banks kept wailing", Cheng Shuili really wanted to floor the accelerator and drive the shopping cart away.

She stared eye‑to‑eye with those monsters for a moment.

Cheng Shuili suddenly realized they didn't seem intent on attacking. At most it was some ghostly howl; the monsters hadn't even taken a step forward.

Just harassment, no attack?

This is the Newbie Protection Period.

Very good, monster bro, keep it up!

Cheng Shuili put her heart back into her belly, closed the door and reclined on the sofa again.

Comfortable.

The monsters outside the vehicle glanced at each other; each was like a monk who couldn't figure anything out, almost as if they could move, yet this human shrank back?!

Is the heart too big?

Unlike Cheng Shuili's relaxed side, the regional channel news was scrolling fast, cries for help, trade requests, message after message almost burned the text into after‑images!

【Little Sheep Little Sheep】: Help, these things are terrifying, at first they were far away, I kept watching them, and they kept getting closer!

【Mei Ni Chou】: Me too! Help! Anyone with weapons! High‑price weapon trade!

【Radiant Blue Star】: Do not stare at the monsters! Do not stare at the monsters! Do not stare at the monsters!

【Radiant Blue Star】: We tested it! After staring at a monster for five minutes, the monster can move one step toward your vehicle! If you keep staring, the monster keeps moving forward! Until it eats you!

He repeatedly posted several messages, finally letting most people see the news.

【Go to the Dock for Fries】: So that's it! Thanks to Big Light for sharing!

【Durability】: Thanks to Big Light's lifesaving, feel free to ask for anything later!

……

Cheng Shuili flipped through a few messages, this person seemed interesting; this kind of information being posted openly, without stinginess, this behavior of trying to save everyone's lives…

Cheng Shuili suddenly lifted her head, a thought sprang up in her mind.

Could this person be an official member of Long Guo?

Not sure, need to see more.

Cheng Shuili added him to a special watch list, so that whenever he posts anything, Cheng Shuili can see it instantly, both to get information and to confirm his identity—a win‑win!

The first night was fairly comfortable; at six in the morning Cheng Shuili opened her eyes, groggily got up, found a relatively open spot, and first practiced a set of Tai Chi with eyes closed.

No more talking about the past life; this life must focus on health.

Cheng Shuili scratched her somewhat messy hair, opened her eyes and found those monsters still standing in place.

Dawn was breaking, now she could see clearly what those monsters were.

One type was a humanoid monster covered in oil grime, its surface floating with bits of plastic trash, eyes blood‑red, now glowing red like a light bulb; the one Cheng Shuili saw yesterday was this ghastly thing.

Another type was semi‑transparent, a vague human shape, constantly raising one hand, trying to reach Cheng Shuili, and occasionally letting out a ghostly howl while tilting its head upward.

Cheng Shuili had been a bit drowsy, but that howl woke her completely. If there were police inside, Cheng Shuili would have reported it for disturbing the peace!

The rest were numerous, strange monsters crowded together; a few unlucky ones were even being stepped on by several monsters' feet.

Cheng Shuili shook her head and clicked her tongue, these monsters were truly impolite and disorderly.

She withdrew her gaze, twisted open a bottle of mineral water, poured a small sip, dabbed her wet cheek as if she had washed her face.

No choice, conditions are harsh.

Her drinking water was scarce, and she hadn't seen any domestic water at all.

She barely solved her hygiene problem.

Cheng Shuili tore open the pack of compressed biscuits; it was breakfast, just a quick fix, she felt that now a self‑heating rice or hot pot would be a waste.

She ate the whole pack of compressed biscuits with a bottle of mineral water.

The thing didn't look big, but after eating it with water the feeling of fullness was especially strong.

For her health she swallowed two more multivitamins.

Not to mention, Cheng Shuili didn't know much; she only knew that lacking vitamin C causes scurvy, so she ate some, for health, not to get high.

At eight o'clock the scorching sun rose immediately.

Those monsters gradually turned transparent, then vanished completely.

Cheng Shuili covered her eyes with her hand, peered at the sun through her fingers, saw nothing abnormal, but the temperature rose quickly.

Cheng Shuili guessed that after the Newbie Protection Period ends, there might be not only monster harassment but also severe weather disasters. She took off her coat, wore only a short‑sleeve, sat in the driver's seat and twisted the grip.

【Second‑day journey required: 60 km.】

Increased by 10 kilometers, not bad; for Cheng Shuili, these are all minor issues.

In my previous life I worked myself to death 007; this life I'm living a retirement in the Road Survival Game.

What's going on with this bit of strangeness?

Cheng Shuili gripped the handlebars; today she had a windshield, no longer needing to squint against the wind, and moreover after upgrading, the shopping cart's speed was noticeably faster than yesterday.

After just walking for an hour, Cheng Shuili saw a small black dot far behind; she didn't know what it was, but the distance between her and it kept closing, until she could finally see what it was.

A muscular, burly man was vigorously pedaling the bicycle beneath his feet! Drop by drop, sweat fell from his forehead onto the sun‑baked pine‑oil road, instantly evaporating into white smoke.

Cheng Shuili immediately realized, the road had merged; she looked at the build of the person behind her, then pinched her own biceps—there wasn't much muscle there yet.

Not running?

Not running? You'd have to be an idiot!