Chapter 267: The Apocalyptic Fortress and the Merry Little Prince

Just moments ago, Chu Che re-sensed the change in the weather.

As a pathfinder, he naturally knew how unpredictable the weather could be.

Therefore, constantly monitoring weather changes had become Chu Che’s top priority.

At this moment, anomalies had become a secondary concern.

Yet, something that was supposed to happen in about twenty hours—the landslide—was now going to happen in only ten hours.

Originally, the extreme weather that would bring torrential rain was detected to arrive in about fifteen hours.

Now there were only six or seven hours left before the torrential downpour.

All the disasters were arriving roughly half the time earlier than expected.

What was already bad weather had become much worse.

What was already extreme weather had grown even more extreme.

Previously, Chu Che had repeatedly urged the convoy to speed up.

He did so precisely to avoid this kind of scenario.

According to the originally sensed weather changes,

twenty hours would have been enough for the convoy to escape such terrible weather.

Chu Che had even prepared for weather shifts, telling the convoy to repeatedly push the speed limits regardless of driving safety.

By his estimation, no matter how long this stretch of road was, they could get through the gorge within those twenty hours.

But now…

He had already been cautious enough.

If the landslide came early,

the convoy would be buried under a massive amount of earth.

The superhumans might survive,

but the survivors would probably all die.

Moreover, all the vehicles would likely be wiped out as well.

Even if Chen Ye’s truck was a Wonder,

it probably wouldn’t survive this catastrophe.

In an instant, big beads of cold sweat formed on Captain Chu’s forehead.

The few wisps of hair on his head were already wet, clinging limply to his scalp.

His clothes were soaked with sweat across a wide patch.

Chu Che’s anxiety naturally affected Xue Nan and Xiao Fu.

But the two of them said nothing, they just drove.

“Ev…ery…one…”

“Spe…ed… up!”

The simple words came out in stammers from Captain Chu.

Chu Che’s nervous voice transmitted through the radio into everyone’s ears.

As a Pathfinder Sequence superhuman, he had sensed countless distorted and frenzied auras.

Having seen so much, he had developed a heart of steel.

Ordinary situations rarely flustered a pathfinder.

But this time…

Everyone heard fear in Chu Che’s voice.

“Chu Che, what’s going on?”

Chen Ye was the first to ask.

Chu Che swallowed.

His tone stalled, he swallowed again before saying, “I… I just saw… this place… in ten hours, no, maybe even sooner, will become flat ground.”

“What?”

A shrill sound came through the radio.

“Captain Chu, w-what did you say?”

The voice over the radio, the Pink-haired Girl’s voice, was slightly off-key.

Chen Ye looked at the mountains flanking the battered national highway.

In the dim night, the two mountain masses looked like two ferocious beasts;

the oppressive sense made one’s skin crawl.

There was a faint, gnawing worry in everyone’s hearts.

Now Chu Che’s words were proving true.

“All right, everyone, I don’t even know what’s happening!”

“I thought we had enough time to get out of here.”

“But now it seems time is running out.”

This kind of thing had happened before, just not this severe.

At most it was a day that shouldn’t have rained but had a little drizzle,

or a day that was supposed to rain but turned out sunny.

At most, that kind of change.

But now…

Post-apocalypse weather was capricious and often extreme.

Chu Che relayed to everyone over the radio what he had seen.

In a few hours, this place would be flooded by massive rainfall, turning this road into a shallow river.

If that were all, it wouldn’t be so catastrophic.

After all, a convoy with superhumans wouldn’t be stopped so easily by a small river.

But what he said next chilled everyone to the bone.

In the torrential rain,

the mountains on both sides wouldn’t withstand the wash;

they would collapse, sending huge amounts of earth and trees sliding down.

That muddy torrent would swallow the newly formed river.

This road would simply vanish.

“Ten hours, captain, you scared me to death!”

“We’ll be fine!”

The girl’s cheerfulness didn’t ease Chu Che’s worry.

For once, Chen Ye’s voice took on a rare seriousness.

“It’s not like that. Landslides that can come early once can come early again.”

“Otherwise, if there’s a change…”

Before Chen Ye finished, everyone saw the Apocalyptic Pickup’s engine let out a fierce roar and surge forward.

“Damn! Xue Nan, speed up!”

Chu Che’s loud voice came over the radio.

Captain Chu’s modified off-roader also roared to life.

That vehicle’s power was not comparable to Chen Ye’s 2.0t engine;

it quickly caught up and even showed signs of overtaking.

“Little Fish, hurry, chase! Catch up!”

The panel van and the school bus engines thundered as they followed close behind.

Grass and branches at the roadside scraped against car bodies, the grating sound making everyone’s nerves taut.

Zhou Xiaoxiao had already floored the gas pedal.

Pushing the van’s performance, the panel van—branded with the Delivery Company ad—was clearly no match for the two modified off-roaders.

But Zhou Xiaoxiao knew better than anyone the consequences of being left behind.

As for the school bus in the rear,

it carried the most people and the heaviest load.

The passengers on the school bus were silent;

their terrified faces showed no signs of calming.

But no one questioned Captain Chu’s decision.

Everyone gripped whatever handles they could to steady themselves.

The vehicles bounced violently.

Bald Old Li’s forehead was covered with cold sweat.

Even his palms were cold with sweat, yet he didn’t have time to wipe them.

Fortunately the school bus was traveling where the preceding vehicles had flattened the path, so its road conditions were slightly better.

This bus had dedicated maintenance personnel, who checked it twice daily.

The survivors responsible for maintaining the bus valued it more than their own eyes.

By now Chen Ye had fully activated the Apocalyptic Pickup’s unique trait, and he knew every tiny response from the vehicle.

Chen Ye’s control over the pickup had reached millimeter precision.

Every inch of soil the wheels crushed was the optimal choice.

Although it was only a 2.0t engine,

it clung stubbornly to the tail of Chu Che’s vehicle,

never letting the gap widen too far.

If a director could watch Chen Ye at this moment, they would be astonished.

Chen Ye’s precise maneuvers would not be out of place in racing films.

But even with Chen Ye’s fine handling,

more than half the time his butt couldn’t sit on the seat;

he kept being thrown up and down.

Chen Ye could even see the head of Little Fish charging beside him.

Normally that girl excelled at unmanned driving.

This was the first time her head could be seen while she drove.

Well, not fully visible.

Anyway, Little Fish’s head kept disappearing and reappearing at the car window.

In the school bus, a young man who had originally sat in the last row was, before long, rolling and appeared beside Bald Old Li.

A moment later he was back in the last row.

The young man’s head was split and bloodied, crimson stark across the cabin.

No one mocked him;

most people wanted to weld themselves to their seats right then.

The convoy roared through the gorge, fighting to get clear before the landslide hit.

The rain in this minute was much heavier than a minute before.

Puddles on the ground were increasing.

Even the superhumans felt the mounting pressure.

Just then, suddenly a very intense tune blasted from behind.

Chen Ye glanced at the rearview mirror.

His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

At the convoy’s rear, a tiny vehicle—seeming like a “Merry Little Prince”—was crazily charging toward them.

Not only that,

behind that “Merry Little Prince” was an insane assault by an “Apocalyptic Fortress!!!”

That almost sci-fi vehicle rose three stories high.

A flag flew from its highest point with two characters written on it.

Only after looking closely could one make out what those two characters were.

They were the characters for “Emperor.”

“Holy crap!”

Chen Ye gaped in astonishment.