Chapter 77 Revenge for Stealing FZY, Really?

"What nonsense are you spouting!" A hint of guilt flashed across the NPC's face. "I am from Dawn City!"

Fang Zhiyi looked him up and down.

The NPC's eyes darted around, clearly avoiding eye contact. While speaking, he made several small movements, constantly blinking and touching his hands. Psychologically speaking, this is a sign of lying.

"You say you are, so you are?" Fang Zhiyi said deliberately, "I could also say that I came from Shuguang City."

NPC: "What...what evidence do you have?!"

Fang Zhiyi looked down at him and said, "I have an admission ticket to Dawn City. Do you?"

NPC: "..."

Fang Zhiyi proudly pulled out his admission ticket and waved it in front of the NPC, feigning ignorance: "Do you have one? Aren't you going to talk? Are you mute?"

The NPC's face flushed red, and he couldn't utter a complete sentence: "You, you..." After stammering for a while, he finally revealed his true colors, "Give me the admission ticket!"

Fang Zhiyi was well prepared and easily dodged the NPC's grabbing hand, putting the admission ticket into her backpack.

"If you really are from Dawn City, you don't need this admission ticket."

Only outsiders and NPCs from outside Dawn City need an admission ticket to enter Dawn City.

He concluded: "So, you're a liar."

The NPC started arguing and causing trouble: "This is my lost ticket! This is mine...you stole my ticket!"

Fang Zhiyi: "Since you say it's yours, do you know what the number on the admission ticket is?"

The NPC stammered, unable to speak: "Number... how should I know? I didn't look closely at all..." He racked his brains, "It should be number 3, yes, number 3!"

Fang Zhiyi feigned surprise: "But there's no number on the admission ticket at all."

NPC: "..."

The NPC frantically tried to salvage the situation: "I misremembered, it's correct, there's no number at all!"

Fang Zhiyi stared at him intently: "You really are a liar. You don't even know that there's a unique number on the admission ticket."

The NPC's face turned deathly pale.

Just then, footsteps came from the alley entrance, and someone asked, "Who's in there!"

It's a security guard!

The NPC immediately wanted to ask for help.

But Fang was quicker, lowering his voice to whisper in his ear, "What will the people at Camp 4 do if they find out you're a fraud?"

The NPC swallowed hard, swallowing back the cry for help that was about to escape his lips.

The alley was quiet.

No one spoke. The security guard circled the alley entrance once, his footsteps fading into the distance.

The NPC breathed a sigh of relief.

Fang Zhiyi pressed on his shoulder: "Now we can have a proper talk."

The NPC shuddered at his smiling face: "I...I'll tell you everything..."

The NPC is a scavenger who collects car wreckage on the highway. He sells the wreckage he finds to 5S auto repair shops to earn parts. He works under the scorching sun every day, sometimes starving and sometimes hungry. He is unwilling to live like this forever, and his chance to change his fate soon arrives. One day, he encounters a wrecked car.

The model and technology of this car are completely different from any car I've ever seen before. The NPC is certain that even the most expensive car in the 5S auto repair shop can't compare to this one.

The high-tech car was wrecked on the road, half of it was gone, and the person inside had been torn to pieces by wild animals, making it impossible to recognize him. However, judging from the tattered clothing, the person must have been very wealthy and powerful.

The NPC's mind started racing, thinking he could make a fortune, and he mustered his courage to search the corpse. Sure enough, he found something extraordinary on the dead man.

A map of Dawn City, an identity card, and a key.

The identity card stated that this person came from Dawn City. He was out on business but unfortunately died in an accident on the highway.

The NPC had heard of Dawn City, the richest city on the highway, where honey and milk were plentiful, and people didn't have to toil away every day for spare parts. Holding the identity card, he immediately made a decision—he would impersonate someone from Dawn City.

His plan was very successful.

The man from Dawn City died in the wilderness, and no one except the NPCs knew that he had met with misfortune. As long as he had his identity card, the people in the highway camp immediately believed his identity, treated him as an honored guest, and wanted to follow him into Dawn City.

At first, he was indeed indulging in such flattery and ingratiation, but as time went on, he gradually fell into the fear of his lies being exposed, especially when he met the mechanics at the 5S repair station. Others might not know him, but those mechanics who had once collected scrap metal knew him too well. As soon as they met, they could expose his lies, so he had to do something to maintain the lie. It was at this time that Fang Zhiyi came into his view.

When he saw Fang Zhiyi, he was overjoyed. As long as he could get the ticket to Dawn City, his lie would not be exposed. He could even use the ticket to enter Dawn City and truly become a superior person.

The NPC found the thief and instructed him to steal the admission tickets, but unexpectedly, his attempt backfired, and he ended up getting himself caught in the crossfire.

NPC: "That's how it is..."

At the same time, in Chu Zhao's eyes, the title above his head changed from "Guest from Dawn City (in disguise)" to "Vison the Scammer Recycler".

Vison pleaded, "Please don't expose me..."

Fang Zhiyi said, "Give me what you found."

Vison reluctantly took the things out.

According to him, it consisted of an identity card, a map, and a key.

[Identity Card]

Name: Mira

Address: No. 103, 3rd Avenue, Shuguang City

[ID: 75135]

[Dawn City Route Map]

[Open the road to Dawn City]

【Mysterious Key O】

[Perhaps we can open the door to one of the rooms.]

Fang Zhiyi unfolded the map.

The map showed a layout with crisscrossing roads that ran through the wilderness, but it was shrouded in mist that obscured most of the area, with the mist only dissipating where they had passed.

Highway 1 campsite, Highway 2 campsite, playing in the bear market... Following the straight route, deep in the fog, a crown of thorns sign shines brightly.

Fang Zhiyi tried to dispel the fog, but the fog remained condensed on the map, unmoving. Staring at the Crown of Thorns symbol for a while, he suddenly felt it looked familiar. He opened his backpack and found a gold ring.

An undigested gold ring

What exactly did the Steppenwolf eat that resulted in this object being in its stomach?

[A lost item; perhaps you can send it to where it belongs.]

This item fell from the Steppenwolf. The visitors from Dawn City died from attacks by wild beasts, which corresponds to what Vinson said. There must be some connection between the two.

Fang Zhiyi turned the gold ring around. The ring was mottled, but one could still vaguely see the beautiful pattern outlining a crown of thorns.

The gold ring and the map were placed together, and the two items attracted each other, producing a burst of golden light. The light merged, the mist melted away like ice and snow, and a road leading to Dawn City appeared on the map.

A "ding" sounded on the highway.

A golden light shot into the sky, and a majestic city appeared faintly at the end of the highway.

In the channel, players were spamming the chat like crazy.

A new road has been added to the highway!

[I was at a campsite on Highway 4 when suddenly a city appeared out of nowhere. Am I seeing things?]

I saw it too!

Thank goodness I'm not seeing things.

[Can it only be seen at the Highway 4 campground?]

I also saw it at the Highway 2 campsite.

[Can those of you in front tell where this city is?]

It feels close, yet also very far.

What nonsense are you spouting?

I'm at the Highway 5 campsite; let's head out and check it out.

Waiting for your message.

...

The city that appeared before my eyes was too breathtaking. It was majestic and towering, with buildings that were pure white and sacred. The stained windows reflected rainbow-like light and shadow, giving people a feeling that it was both close at hand and unattainable.

Fang Zhiyi stared blankly at Dawn City in the distance, not even noticing that the NPC Vinson had broken free of control and disappeared into the alley.

Chu Zhao was about to give chase, but the other party was very familiar with the alley and disappeared into the shadows in the blink of an eye.

Chu Zhao stood at the fork in the road, his brows furrowed.

Fang Zhiyi said, "It's alright, he's gone now, he's useless."

He's just a conman pretending to be from Dawn City. Without his ID card and map, he wouldn't dare show up at the highway camp again, and he couldn't possibly cause them any trouble.

Instead of chasing after a useless NPC, we should prepare to head to Dawn City.

With the route map in hand, they can reach Dawn City faster than other players, but the vehicle is still being upgraded and modified, and it will take some time before it is ready.

As soon as they left the alley and stepped onto the main street, they encountered Brother Ca waving at them: "Boss!"

The surrounding players all turned their attention to them.

Wearing a formal suit, Brother Cai stood out from the other players. Feeling quite pleased with himself, he boasted, "Boss, the camp is having a celebration tonight. Aren't you guys going to prepare new clothes?"

Fang Zhiyi and Chu Zhao exchanged a glance: "The celebration... is very likely to be canceled."

The celebration was held to welcome guests from Dawn City, but now that the NPC's identity has been exposed, he has probably already fled.

Brother Cai scratched his head: "Damn, so I just wasted money buying clothes?"

Fang Zhiyi: "..."

That seems to be the case.

His parts!

He made a mistake; he should ask the scammer NPC for his losses back.

Suddenly, Brother Cha let out another "Ah!"

Fang Zhiyi glanced sideways: "What?"

Brother Cha: "Boss, check the channel!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhiyi opened the channel.

The channel was buzzing with activity, everyone discussing the newly appeared city. Some were analyzing it, others were trying to approach it, and there were many more players just watching.

It's confirmed, this city is at the end of the highway.

[Ah...isn't the requirement to pass the checkpoint simply reaching the end of the highway? Does that mean I can pass as long as I reach this city?]

That's how it is theoretically.

It looks very simple.

I've already set off from the Highway 5 campground; just watch me be the first to clear the checkpoint and I'll be done for.

Have you noticed a detail?

[Image] [Image]

【？】

Speak your mind.

What's the point of being a riddle teller when you're just chattering away?

[These two pictures were taken by players from the Highway 2 and Highway 5 campsites respectively. Although the shooting angles are different, you can still see the size of the city.]

【What's the meaning? 】

[Too long to read]

What are you babbling about? Add me on WeChat (V50).

I understand, things appear larger when closer and smaller when farther away.

The two camps, No. 2 and No. 5, are hundreds of kilometers apart. According to the law of perspective, the city seen from camp No. 5 should be larger. This suggests that the city we are seeing may not be the real one.

[Projection?]

[A mirage?]

[Scratching head]

So... you can't drive that far towards the city?

There must be some way to get there; you can't get in by just driving straight in.

[In what way?]

I want to know too.

Is this related to tonight's celebration?

What celebration?

There's a celebration at the Highway 4 camp tonight to commemorate an NPC from... uh, Dawn City.

[Wait for me, I'm coming to Highway 4 campsite right away!]

I'm here too!

[Ahhh, I met an NPC at the Highway 4 campsite! He told me some very important information!]

What are the key pieces of information?

[You're kidding, right? If I knew the crucial information, I wouldn't have posted it in the channel.]

【I've encountered a selfish person】

Don't put it so harshly, it's just human nature.

[Emm...it's hard to say]

[Stop arguing! Listen to me! The NPC said this city is Dawn City, and you can only get there with an entrance ticket. The entrance ticket isn't a bound item; you can fight for it. Players with an entrance ticket will have a sun icon above their heads.]

Even so, there are so many campsites along the highway, you might not find one even if there are signs overhead.

That's right, once someone else drives off, you can't find them anywhere.

This is too difficult!

[Don't worry, the NPC also told me that he knows who has admission tickets.]

[You've given me the player IDs]

【ID: fzy】

[...]

Silence fell over the channel.

【？】

[Now that everyone knows the ID, aren't you going to try and steal it?]

Anyone want to team up?

Another silence followed.

After a moment of silence, a message appeared in the channel.

Is it possible that this NPC is... lying to you?

"That's impossible. Why would this NPC lie to me? And he sounded convincing; he didn't seem like he was lying."

Well... um... never mind.

Even if it were true, I wouldn't have any objections.

Me too.

"Are you guys crazy? Aren't you going to try and beat this world?"

Are you new here?

Have you browsed the channel before?

[I don't use it much, so what?]

That's right.

We wanted to clear the level, but stealing Fzy's items... never mind, I don't want to be eliminated.

Is it really that scary?

[A dozen level 2 modified cars couldn't catch him, and you think I can? Seriously? You might as well give up and go to sleep.]

[Everyone, let's disperse. Instead of trying to steal FZY's items, I'll try my best to get an entry ticket from somewhere else.]

+1

I think the same way.

...

Vison smugly said, "Hmph, you think you can just take my things and leave? I'll show you what happens when you offend me!" He made a threat and quickly followed up, "So, have you found any more outsiders?"

The thief shook his head with difficulty.

Vison continued, "I knew you outsiders loved fighting amongst yourselves. As soon as the news got out, you'd be itching to make your move... Even if I don't get a ticket, this will still avenge me..."

The thief couldn't help but interrupt, "No..."

Vincent: "Not what?"

The thief glanced at the channel again: "It's not quite what you expected..."

Vincent: "?"

After listening to the thief's account, he gritted his teeth and said, "A bunch of useless good-for-nothings, all cowards—forget it, I'll think of another way!"

Vison abandoned the thief and headed straight for the 5S repair shop.

He was a roadside recycling worker who knew the 5S repair shop like the back of his hand. He easily slipped inside, even greeting the mechanics warmly. He walked casually through the repair shop and successfully found his target.

[fzy & Chu Zhao's Level 4 Motorhome]

Vincent narrowed his eyes and approached the car with his hands hanging down. He made a living by scavenging car wrecks on the highway and knew very little about cars. These sophisticated steel behemoths could be easily destroyed on the road with just a little tampering.

Make a hole in the fuel tank, adjust the brake pads a little... and soon, those two troublesome outsiders will be reduced to ashes inside the car.

Vison sneered and, under cover, reached out towards the fuel tank at the back of the car.

It's very simple, just do this...