Chapter 431

Chapter 431: Sailing on Dry Land

The four-wheeled vehicle had transformed into a three-wheeled one. The left front corner of the all-terrain vehicle occasionally scraped against the ground, causing the driver’s heart to leap into his throat.

“Mercury! Make a wheel!”

He tilted his head slightly upward, addressing the mercury-colored roof of the vehicle:

“Hurry! We’re about to flip!”

“Dude, what’s 12 times 12? My brain’s not working!”

“Damn it, it’s 144! Transform now!”

Almost immediately, the driver noticed a silvery metallic liquid flowing down the vehicle’s frame, enveloping the center axle that had lost its tires and rims. Gradually, a metal wheel formed on the outside.

However, this new wheel had no elasticity whatsoever—it was nearly as rigid as a solid wheel hub.

But this was no time to worry about the vehicle’s handling. With the new wheel in place, the driver of the third vehicle slammed the accelerator and executed a sharp turn, causing dozens of self-detonating bugs to explode in a fiery burst behind them.

“Ugh!”

The force of the sudden turn triggered a wave of retching from the rear compartment, not just once but repeatedly, echoing in a chorus of discomfort.

Amid the sounds of vomiting, the driver heard a sharp warning from “Sleepless”:

“Turn right—now!”

Without hesitation, he trusted his companion and yanked the steering wheel to the right. More retching followed, but the maneuver successfully avoided another swarm of self-detonating bugs.

Simultaneously, the driver positioned the third vehicle between the second vehicle and the first, where Ink Drench’s deteriorating field and Luke’s soft light shield overlapped. The clattering sounds from “Mercury” noticeably diminished.

This wasn’t solely due to the efforts of the two superpowered individuals; it was also because… the self-detonating bugs were nearly wiped out.

Yet, no one wore a smile. Having faced an unprecedented form of attack, they could only assume more trials lay ahead.

Sure enough, less than a kilometer from the tree wall, the ground began to rapidly desertify. All three vehicles sank into a sand-like environment, and no amount of gear-shifting could free them from the quicksand.

“Prepare to abandon the vehicles!”

Wang Xiao barked the command, glancing back at Fresnel, whose expression was grave.

In such a situation, abandoning the vehicles would only hasten their descent into the quicksand, leading to being buried alive and suffocated by the encroaching sand.

But the team had anticipated every possible scenario from the start.

Upon receiving the order, no one immediately jumped out. Instead, they prepared themselves, waiting for the next directive.

As Fresnel’s high-temperature light beam swept across the quicksand, the sand began to liquefy, forming a layer of glass-like material that shimmered with faint glimmers.

Another superpowered individual followed behind the beam, rapidly cooling the molten sand. The entire process took less than ten seconds, and soon, a thin sheet of glass surrounded the three vehicles.

“Now! Everyone pair up—keep the distance between pairs under two hundred meters, or you’ll be consumed!”

Wang Xiao issued the order to abandon the vehicles without hesitation. Twenty superpowered individuals leaped from the vehicles, landing on the still-warm glass, and swiftly moved out of the quicksand zone.

By now, they were only about five hundred meters from the tree wall.

As the superpowered individuals regrouped, “Sleepless” grabbed “Mercury’s” arm:

“Can you transform into a vehicle?”

“Mercury” nodded vigorously.

“Sure, sure, sure.”

“Hurry up and transform! We can’t be without a vehicle.”

“I’ll turn into a boat.”

“…What the hell…”

“Sleepless” felt his blood pressure rising, but he still looked at his not-so-bright companion:

“Make a board as big as possible, then copy the wheels we just made into four.”

“Mercury” nodded in understanding, recalling the feeling of part of his body transforming into a wheel and letting himself flow into that state.

Soon, a flatbed as large as a bus appeared on the ground. To prevent it from sinking into the sand due to desertification, “Sleepless” even advised “Mercury” to enlarge the contact area between the wheels and the ground.

At that moment, this so-called “vehicle” looked like a big board with four small wheels, and it seemed quite ridiculous.

But the superpowered individuals kept climbing onto this new war vehicle; after all, riding into battle was much more practical than rushing forward on foot in such a situation.

“But…”

The voice of “Mercury” came from the flatbed:

“This vehicle has no power!”

“I’ll help!”

A superpowered individual shouted and then grabbed the back edge of the flatbed, spreading his body out to transform into an incredibly flexible sail.

Luke and another superpowered individual who could control the wind immediately understood his intent and began to blow strongly on the sail.

The entire flatbed suddenly gained unprecedented power, charging forward.

Meanwhile, in the quicksand behind the superpowered individuals, a group of extraordinary beasts emerged, each the size of a head. These creatures looked somewhat like scorpions, with pincers on both sides and a tail equipped with chitinous drilling tips, even retaining the function to close and open.

After breaking through the surface, these extraordinary beasts rushed forward, and hundreds of meters away above the tree wall, it seemed that eyes were opening within the folds of the surfaces of those Giant Trees.

Bright red rays suddenly shot out, spraying from all directions toward the flatbed.

Against these attacks, which did not target living beings, Ink Drench’s abilities were completely useless.

She wisely moved to a safer spot, looking toward the sky and remaining vigilant against the self-detonating bugs that had not yet been exterminated.

Meanwhile, Luke’s soft light shield bore the entire defense for the flatbed.

Four hundred meters… three hundred meters… two hundred meters…

The mercury-colored flatbed drew closer to the tree wall, and the nearest big tree looked to have a diameter of at least ten meters and stood more than a hundred meters high.

Another unfortunate fact was that the board "Mercury" formed not only lacked an engine but also had no steering wheel or braking system.

So a collision seemed inevitable.

“Chop down that tree!”

Wang Xiao shouted loudly. As long as the flatbed crossed that tree, there would be no mycelium life left to block their way.

Completing that crucial part of their escape mission would be within reach, but the scorpion-like extraordinary beasts were absorbing most of the firepower from the superpowered individuals. Even Fresnel’s light sword struggled to chop down the tree in such a short time.

“Adjust the sail and enter cruising mode, don’t stop!”

As Wang Xiao issued the command, he suddenly felt like a captain, ordering the crew to adjust their course and engage the enemy.

Fortunately, adjusting the direction of their small vehicle, which carried twenty people, was relatively easy.

While changing the sail’s direction, they altered the wind and adjusted the center of gravity by shifting positions on the flatbed. After a series of maneuvers, this vehicle without a steering system genuinely started to turn left!