"Cool."
Just when Lucky thought they would have to go wherever this Ant Hill was by foot, he was wrong. Silly of him. Nero might be a magic caster and a half-wit for choosing to raise a kid he doesn't even know in this world, but he wouldn't scout a different city on foot. That would make him worse than a moron.
Standing gloriously before him was a rustic truck. It wasn't just any truck, but a modified pickup monster truck armed with what looked like a huge machine gun at the open trunk.
"And they just left it here!" he mused. "Nice car, Nero."
"A little help here?" Rita panted for air, tired of assisting the mute woman in carrying the unconscious Nera. Fortunately, the woman was quite strong.
Lucky just glanced at them and snorted. "Let the mute do it. She won't complain."
Rita pressed her lips in indignation, watching Lucky jump into the driver's seat excitedly. She let out a breath, looking up at the woman.
"Sorry," she murmured, but the woman simply offered her a short smile.
With that, Rita provided whatever assistance the woman needed, no matter how small it was. The woman showed difficulty in lifting Nero's body into the backseat, but they managed.
"Why did you bring him here?" Before the ladies could settle, Lucky looked back from the driver's seat. "He'd be more comfortable in the back of the truck. More room, more space, more comfortable."
"Mr. Lucky Guy, we carried him all the way here—"
"Little girl, you didn't carry him. It's her who carried your brother."
"Why are you doing this to us? You promised to take us to Ant Hill, didn't you?"
"I promised to take you, but I didn't say I'm going to carry all the burden. Sorry. That's not the driver's job," he momentarily raised his brows. "Also, that's what that woman gets for losing her memory and voice. Until she gets her voice back, she better get used to manual work."
Rita frowned deeply, looking at the woman apologetically. Now, she was having doubts about her judgment toward Lucky. Although he didn't seem like a nice person and had a unique way with his words, she believed he was a good person at heart.
Was she wrong?
"Come on." Lucky lazily urged. "If you don't want to move him, then squeeze yourselves in like sardines in a can. Hold him properly."
Rita glanced at Lucky, catching him busily checking the compartments. "What are you—" Before she could finish her remarks, a loud 'phew' clapped in her ears, followed by a loud explosion from the distance.
"Whoa." Lucky wowed, looking at the thicker smoke and fog in the distance. He blinked countless times before he grinned devilishly, saying, "Cool."
"Please!" Getting even more stressed now, Rita exclaimed. "Mr. Lucky Guy, can you please take this seriously? And don't press any buttons there? Each ammo this truck has is important and for emergency purposes only! Moreover, there were hidden citizens in here."
"Oops. My bad." Lucky surrendered. "I'm looking for a map."
"A map?"
"Mhm. I don't trust you and I've had enough of having children order me around," — getting bossed around by those cherubs was sickening. "Where's the map? I'm sure you guys have one."
"You mean like a GPS?" Rita cocked her head to the side. "It's that plain button."
Lucky looked back at the young lady in disbelief while Rita looked at him innocently. "How did you know GPS?"
"Because that's what we used?"
"Oh." Realization hit him. "Right. Sorry. My bad. I thought you guys lived in the past, but obviously, you live in the future—a terrible future."
He briefly raised his brows as he lowered his head, pressing the plain button on the panel of buttons. As soon as he did, Lucky slightly jolted as the windshield suddenly turned into a screen. A pin on the map appeared in the middle of the windshield before it slowly zoomed out, showing him a highlighted route and distance between their current location and the base, Ant Hill.
The screen then automatically faded until the windshield was clear enough for navigation. There were still texts in the corner and a big virtual arrow pointing ahead. It looked like a simulation car race game.
"Cool," Lucky blurted out in amusement, only to hear Rita clearing her throat aloud. He looked back and smirked. "You guys are interesting."
*
*
Lucky had been to different worlds and universes during his mission. This wasn't the first time he had seen a world that had fallen into a dystopia. But this by far was one of the unique ones. Instead of regressing in technology, people here maintained their advanced technology.
'To think that the technology on the ground is far more advanced than the ones I had witnessed. I can imagine what it's like up in there,' he thought, arching a brow as a notice appeared on the side of the windshield.
[Warning: Hellhounds at 1.4 km. Turn left for reroute.]
'No wonder they could scout dangerous places so easily,' he thought, catching a turn from a distance. 'This is a cheat.'
A glint flickered across his eyes as his lips curled up into a smirk. He had been following the advice on the screen and so far, they hadn't encountered any problems. However, it also piqued his curiosity.
How accurate was this thing?
Lucky wouldn't find out if he didn't test it out, right?
"Uhm… Mr. Lucky Guy?" Rita called as they approached closer and closer to the turn, but Lucky hadn't shown signs of making a turn. Multiple warning signs appeared on the screen one by one, but to no avail.
"Mister Lucky—"
"It's okay, kid," Lucky reassured, smirking evilly as they drove past the left turn. "I've been driving trucks longer than your ancestors' lives combined. I won't let you die and according to this thing, this route is much faster."
He smacked his lips and grinned. "Though much more dangerous."
[Warning: Approaching Danger Zone.]
[Warning: Entering Danger Zone]
[Warning: Danger Zone.]
[Rampage Rex entering battle mode: activate]
All these warnings and automatic self-defense modes appeared on the windshield. They were distracting. However, Lucky could only say one thing:
"Cool."