Chapter 1 The Beginning

Dust billowed, and the bees hummed, descending to their nest. Stimulated by the queen bee's pheromones, they all entered a state of suspended animation.

Li Ang stowed the hive in his backpack slot and looked toward the rear of the ruins.

After the House of Sincerity collapsed, the three roads didn't disappear. He could still see the van he had driven parked under a streetlight not far away.

Not only that, but behind the villa, a new road had emerged.

It was the same concrete road surface, four lanes wide.

However, the streetlights on both sides emitted a dim, blood-red glow,

Giving the distant impression of a road leading straight to the netherworld, stretching out who knows how far.

"I came from the road on the left side of the villa. The other two players who died came from the right."

Liu Wu Dai frowned as she looked at that ominous road, and slowly said, "It seems we have to go down this road."

She thought for a moment, then took out a square, silver metal box resembling a small washing machine from her backpack slot, and placed it on the ground.

The surface of the box was covered with gorgeous and dazzling patterns. Overall, it looked a bit like the mythical divine bird, the phoenix.

Li Ang exclaimed, "Saint Seiya Armor?"

"No."

Liu Wu Dai shook her head, her tone somehow a little awkward, "Personal vehicle."

She reached out and pressed down on the top of the silver metal box.

The four corners of the box's top opened simultaneously, spewing out a cloud of hazy steam.

Then, the openings at the four corners emitted brilliant flashes of light.

Through the openings, he could see the various parts inside, spinning, piecing together, and meshing at high speed, accompanied by "chi-chi ka-ka ku-ku" sounds,

Like a Transformer changing form, frantically reorganizing,

A strong sense of future technology, so cool it had no friends.

Under Li Ang's shocked gaze, the metal box covered with phoenix patterns finally turned into...

A bicycle.

A simple and unadorned rusty frame, wheels with crisscrossing patterns, handlebars extending backward, a seat with a hole in it, and a small basket for carrying items at the front of the bike.

That's right, this was an old Phoenix brand bicycle from the last century.

The only difference between it and the bicycle Li Ang kept in the shed downstairs was the model.

Even if you took it to a flea market to sell, you probably wouldn't make much money.

"..."

Li Ang was stunned, and subconsciously complained, "This thing is your vehicle?"

"Mm."

Li Ang wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but Liu Wu Dai's face looked a little flushed under the streetlights, "This bike... is actually quite fast."

[Name: Old Phoenix Bicycle]

[Type: Vehicle]

[Quality: Fine]

[Effect: Automatic Driving. In addition to pedaling, the Old Phoenix Bicycle can also switch to automatic driving mode. This mode consumes a certain amount of Lingneng (spiritual energy) value. The more Lingneng value invested, the faster the speed.]

[Note: Always with you, a lifelong companion, the Old Phoenix is your eternal choice]

[Note: Hold on tight to the handlebars, Uncle's gonna speed up!]

This simple and unadorned bicycle, although it seemed full of flaws, was actually quite a useful personal vehicle.

Each time, as long as you invested 50 points of Lingneng value, you could travel at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour for about 40 minutes.

If you invested more Lingneng value, you could even directly crush professional race cars in a straight sprint.

As long as the user's nerve reflex speed was fast enough, they could completely ride this bicycle up walls and perform all kinds of stunts, traversing through a hail of bullets.

In fact, the professionals in the Special Affairs Bureau had even customized a combat style for Liu Wu Dai based on this bicycle.

That was to ride the bicycle, activate the automatic driving mode, and advance at high speed,

While using the Jiao Liang Bow's guaranteed hit effect to kite enemies from a distance,

Advancing when the enemy retreats, retreating when the enemy advances,

Using the Old Phoenix Bicycle's ultra-high mobility to always be in an invincible position.

It's just that fighting like that was a bit unsightly,

After all, fighting while riding a bicycle was a bit incongruous with her ice-cold beauty persona.

"I'll ride this."

Thanks to her eternally expressionless ice-cold face, Liu Wu Dai's face didn't show any embarrassment, except for a slight blush, "Do you want to ride?"

Electronic devices couldn't be used in Sheng Nan Wang's dream, so this Lingneng-powered Old Phoenix Bicycle was perfect for getting around.

"I don't think so..."

Li Ang glanced at this simple and unadorned bicycle without a back seat. He couldn't possibly sit on the crossbar, or in the small basket on the front of the bike, right?

Although that might have some particularly weird and endearing contrast... Chai Da Xiaojie (Miss Chai) thought about that scene and almost laughed like a pig.

Li Ang pointed to the van not far away, "I'll just drive that."

Liu Wu Dai looked at the ruins of the House of Sincerity, which were covered in gravel, rotten wood, and tiles, "The road is blocked, you can't drive it over here, right?"

"It's okay."

Li Ang shook his head, walked to the front of the van, looked it over for a while, then bent down, reached his hands under the car,

At the same time, he activated the Ripple Breathing Technique, turned on the Divine Seal, slightly released some restrictions, and lifted the entire van up. Slowly and leisurely, he stepped on the gravel and crossed the ruins.

Then, he slowly and carefully placed the vehicle on the road.

Liu Wu Dai watched Li Ang's violent method of moving the car and silently put away the Old Phoenix Bicycle.

She should probably just ride in his car... After all, it's pretty cold riding a bicycle in the night wind.

Thinking this, Liu Wu Dai walked forward, opened the passenger seat door, and prepared to sit down.

Li Ang thought of the nun who had risen up from the passenger seat before, and his expression suddenly became a little strange, "Wait."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Li Ang shook his head, took a napkin from the storage box, and wiped the passenger seat, "Okay, sit down."

Liu Wu Dai blinked her eyes and sat down anyway.

"Fasten your seatbelt."

Li Ang said, "By the way, tell me,

What did you mean before when you said that experience points are more important than equipment and items?

And are there many players participating in Sheng Nan Wang's dream?"

————

In the gloomy forest, heavy rain poured down, as if to drown the world.

Si-ha, si-ha.

Wan Li Feng Dao was frantically fleeing through the woods, his rapid breathing drowning out the sound of the wind rushing past his ears.

At this moment, he was still wearing his signature white shirt, yellow beach shorts, and flip-flops, with a long sword hanging at his waist, but he had put on a dark gray suit on the outside.

This suit should be handmade, made of high-quality material, and finely crafted, looking very high-end, but its size didn't match Wan Li Feng Dao's figure.

Wearing it on him gave a bit of a feeling of a monkey wearing a hat.

Run, run faster.

Wan Li Feng Dao was soaked to the bone by the rain.

The rain pelted his face, soaking his mustache, and his face, which looked overloaded for more than a decade and inexplicably revealed a greasy middle-aged, wretched aura, was filled with tension.

There was a stream in the distance ahead. At this moment, heavy rain was pouring down, the stream's water level was rising, and the rumble of thunder in the sky couldn't drown out the sound of the rushing water.

Wan Li Feng Dao didn't dare to look back. He gritted his teeth, waved his arm, and a grappling hook shot out from under the sleeve of his suit.

The sharp nail at the end of the grappling hook pierced into the trunk of a towering tree in front.

As the rope automatically retracted, Wan Li Feng Dao's figure swung forward, like Tarzan, silently swinging across a narrow stream in the forest.

Pa-da.

He landed lightly on a branch of a tree on the opposite bank of the stream, the scabbard tied to his waist gently brushing against the rough bark, getting stained with dirt.

Ta-ta-ta-ta!

Heavy footsteps came from behind.

In the swaying shadows of the trees, it seemed as if something was smashing through the dense rain curtain, stirring up fallen leaves all over the ground, breaking the branches that blocked its path, and rushing to catch up.

Damn it!

Wan Li Feng Dao lightly stepped on the branch, dodged behind the tree, restrained his figure, and concealed his breath.

His face was as white as gold paper, his hand subconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword, and endless fear rose in his heart.

Bang!

Heavy footsteps smashed into the stream, raising high splashes of water. The next moment, that figure had already jumped up and landed in the forest on the same side of the riverbank as Wan Li Feng Dao.