Chapter 543: Chapter 543

"No, no need, I can handle it! I’m really skilled!" Hong Bin gasped, puzzled. "It felt so easy before."

Lu Liu laughed awkwardly. "Initially, the idea was that even if we encountered mud and water, we could still move forward with the propeller providing power. Who could have guessed this is a quagmire with such great resistance? It would be strange if we could pedal through it."

CRACK, CRACK... BOOM!

The minibus had just entered the mud and was about to sink. Even though the anti-sinking boards had been deployed, mud and water still flowed in. The fat chicken patted its feathers and shifted a little further inside; it really cherished its plumage.

"Push harder, Hong Bin, we’re about to sink! Can you actually do this or not?" Lu Liu urged frantically while steering.

"Alright, I’ll do it then!" Under everyone’s stunned gazes, Jing Shu lifted Hong Bin out like a little chick, climbed in herself, and then... her legs started pedaling furiously, quickly becoming a blur.

A spluttering sound was heard as the minibus suddenly lurched. Due to inertia, everyone was thrown backward, and a gust of wind blew in from outside.

"The, the minibus is flying?"

Jing Shu even heard a few gulps. Did they have to be so dramatic?

The minibus quickly escaped the mud pit and returned to the main road. Its speed slowed down again, moving leisurely through the mountains like an old car.

Indeed, that was the fastest speed achievable. The principle was to use the propellers to drive the four wheels, and then for someone to pedal hard. That was it.

No matter how fast Jing Shu pedaled, without the unique conditions of the mud pit—which had allowed the propellers to generate immense thrust—the minibus’s top speed on the open road was barely faster than a bicycle. After a few hours, Jing Shu swapped with Hong Bin, who pedaled for a while before switching with Lu Liu. The minibus’s speed was frustratingly slow.

This mental and physical ordeal was crushing, as they didn’t know how much longer it would take, or even if it was possible to find what they were searching for.

"I have some good news to share with everyone," Lu Liu said, munching on Compressed Biscuits. "Currently, none of the other teams have found any sign of the fleet yet."

"How is that... good news? I’m exhausted!" Hong Bin panted as he pedaled. He lacked Jing Shu’s strength and stamina. Every time he saw Jing Shu playing with the Magic Cube while pedaling for hours, he was incredibly jealous. Wasn’t Jing Shu tired?

Hong Bin was worn out after just half an hour of pedaling. God knew how much longer until they reached their destination... But the idea of using this pedal mechanism was his, so he was determined to keep pedaling to their destination, even if it killed him. Latest content publıshed on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩

Jing Shu finally cheered up. "This means either it’s along our current route or it isn’t in the Tianshan Mountain Range at all—indeed, that’s good news."

Little Red followed behind the minibus. As an Abdominal Foot Worm, as long as there was enough food on the road to fuel its energy consumption, it seemed capable of walking indefinitely, which greatly pleased Jing Shu.

So they continued for another three days, Jing Shu’s mood fluctuating. The mountains seemed endless, instilling a sense of despair. Mud pits became more frequent on the road, and they had to wade through many areas. Thankfully, the minibus had an amphibious mode.

"The altitude of the Tianshan Mountain Range is quite high, but from what we see, we seem to be going downhill, and valleys are becoming more frequent."

This wasn’t important.

What mattered was that the more mud pits they encountered, the more black liquid there seemed to be, and Jing Shu’s senses grew sharper. Unfortunately, she still couldn’t venture beneath the mud alone to collect the black liquid, nor could she retrieve any, which left her feeling anxious and frustrated.

Jing Shu began marking their route, leaving some of her insects at various points. Although her insects weren’t as potent as Xiao Wei’s, she could still sense their coordinates within a certain range, ensuring she wouldn’t get lost if she had to backtrack later.

Their food supplies in the minibus had dwindled to only Compressed Biscuits. Except for Hong Bin and Lu Liu, who continued to gnaw on Compressed Biscuits, everyone else ate with Jing Shu, who cooked their meals. The rice Yang Yang and Hao Yunlai had given them was almost gone. Luckily, the two huge boxes of food Jing Shu brought were sufficient. She also deliberately controlled their portions, only daring to sneak an extra meal for herself late at night.

Just as Jing Shu was wondering how much further they had to travel, at the faint light of dawn one day, their minibus reached the end of the mountain range.

The minibus could go no further; the road ahead was a cliff—or rather, a vast canyon.

But upon closer inspection, it appeared that the canyon was moving!

It was like waves, constantly pushing the landmasses on either side towards the center, squeezing them together and producing loud, banging sounds! Anything caught in the middle, whether rocks or structures, was crushed to pieces.

This was clearly not the sea, but solid land, yet it rolled like ocean waves.

"Look there!" Jing Shu pointed to a spot, having Lu Liu direct the spotlight there. Amidst the churning earth, being pushed along, was a large ship!

If it weren’t for a few rows of low buildings sheltering it, the ship would likely have been pushed into the center and crushed to dust by now. Then it would have been truly lost forever!

Feeling the glare of the strong light, from the pitch-black large ship below, cries for help echoed up. Although they were quite distant, the voices were audible.

"It’s them!" Lu Liu exclaimed. "Hong Bin, launch a signal flare to pinpoint their location and confirm the rescue target!"

"The radar signal is very weak! There seems to be a peculiar magnetic field here. If we didn’t have our own satellite-linked radar, our signal definitely wouldn’t get out."

It was now the fourth year of the apocalypse. Many signal towers, unmaintained for a long time, had decayed, rendering the already weak signals almost non-existent.

Jing Shu was also excited. After searching for so long, they had finally found them. Although their situation looked dire, at least they were alive. She immediately got out of the vehicle to observe the situation below.

"So... how are we going to get down? The entire ship and everyone on board are trapped over there." Below was a cliff, and the continuously churning earth moved like surging waves, capable of crushing anyone caught in them in an instant.

Yang Yang, annoyed, pointed to the large insect at the back. "Have Little Red carry a message for us. It’s too far to shout; they won’t hear us." Yang Yang held a deep resentment towards these insects. Even though he later learned the reasons from Jing Shu, he still couldn’t emotionally get over it.

Jing Shu pondered. Little Red has low intelligence; it probably can’t handle such a task. Besides, sending such a huge insect over might scare them to death. And most importantly, this is Xiao Wei’s insect; I have to return it. She could see clearly how those earth waves pushed everything before them, instantly crushing whatever they caught. If Little Red gets crushed, it’ll be a huge pain dealing with Xiao Wei later.

Jing Shu’s gaze shifted to her own fat chicken. It was elegantly preening its feathers, perched atop the Abdominal Foot Worm, clearly enjoying the first steed of its chicken life.