The two players chased each other, seemingly competing to see who could go faster, occasionally trying to cut each other off.
At that moment, the drivers of the two vehicles began to shout insults at each other.
"Asshole, I was the one who replied first! Do you even know the order of things?"
"Fuck your mother! Who do you think you are to compete with me? I've trained in boxing, so just wait to die!"
Their system panels had matched them through the "Nearby People" feature, and they were now engaged in a video call.
"Vroom vroom vroom—"
The two trucks almost simultaneously pulled up next to the trapped vehicle.
A large number of zombies were crushed, and the horrifying sound of bones breaking echoed.
Hearing the vehicles approach, a voice came from the cargo area of the trapped vehicle, pleading for help: "Is anyone there!?? Please help me, I'm so scared…"
Upon hearing Candy's delicate yet frightened voice, both men felt their hearts race.
Five minutes ago, Candy had sent her location in the chat room.
She had also recorded a "heart-wrenching" video asking for help.
In the video, Candy was wearing a low-cut nightgown, her voluptuous figure clearly on display, and the bandaged wound on her shoulder evoked instant sympathy.
"I still can't drive, the noise attracted so many zombies, I'm really scared."
"Is there a kind-hearted person nearby who can come to rescue me? I promise to repay the favor!"
"As long as you can keep me safe, I'll do anything you want…"
This rescue video almost made it clear.
Whoever can provide her shelter, Candy is willing to exchange her body for it.
Such a proposition is incredibly enticing for any man.
Candy indeed had her charms.
Moreover, having a female companion during the subsequent road survival would eliminate loneliness.
Thus, as soon as Candy's rescue video was posted, several male players couldn't contain their desires and quickly agreed to come to her aid.
The two men driving over were players who were within a kilometer of the location.
"Wahhh!"
The zombies howled and staggered closer to the two men.
These two male players were indeed quite capable.
One was an amateur boxing enthusiast, while the other was a fitness trainer, both had physical advantages.
Faced with a dozen zombies closing in, they felt no fear at all.
They opened the doors, got out of the vehicle, and chose to confront the enemies head-on, swinging their crowbars.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
With each sharp sound, the zombies' heads were smashed one by one.
The crowbar, being a blunt weapon, was not only of moderate weight but also very easy to wield.
Its hooked top could easily crush the skulls of these zombies.
As of now, the instance had been active for 30 minutes.
Some players who had tried to kill zombies had already noticed—these zombies had been around for a long time.
Compared to zombies that had just transformed from humans, their bodies were severely decayed.
Their flesh was rotting beyond recognition.
The ligaments connecting their limbs had lost their elasticity, which was also why they moved so slowly.
Even their bones had become unusually brittle, easily shattering under a blow to the head.
All the players were excited, believing this instance was a boon for novice players, and they began to act recklessly.
These two men, too, completely dismissed the zombies.
"Smash!"
The last zombie's head shattered next to the vehicle, blood splattering onto the truck's cargo area.
The boxing enthusiast wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Phew, I'm sweating."
"You pathetic guy, do you need a Viagra?" the fitness trainer said, crushing a zombie's skull with his foot and giving the boxing enthusiast a challenging look.
Seeing that the zombies outside the vehicle had been cleared out, the two rescuers faced off.
"Hope your chin is as hard as your mouth, jerk." the boxing enthusiast stepped forward.
The fitness trainer was equally unyielding: "You'd better disappear from my sight, or you'll regret it."
The two men collided chests, like male animals on the prairie fighting for mating rights.
Just as the fight was about to erupt, the cargo door of the truck swung open.
They both turned their heads simultaneously to see Candy leaning out, "Gentlemen, there's no need to argue over me. There's plenty of time, I wonder if you'd be interested in…"
The two exchanged a glance, and in just two seconds, they reached a quick consensus.
"Alright, I don't mind."
"I'm okay with it too, but who goes first?"
"Hmm… how about we go together?"
They quickly agreed and climbed into the cargo area together.
The cargo door was locked from the inside.
Earlier, in the dim light, they hadn't noticed the glint of bloodlust in Candy's eyes.
…
Two kilometers away, Buddy's figure darted along the highway.
Ryan pedaled a mountain bike, keeping a distance behind Buddy.
He was lucky to have found this bike at a former bicycle shop.
With the bike, he could travel much faster.
The duo of one man and one dog worked seamlessly together.
When they encountered zombies blocking the way, Buddy would charge right through them, allowing Ryan to pass easily.
Ryan had been worried about how to track Candy's movements before the task started…
But he hadn't anticipated that this would be easier than expected, she had chosen to fish for a few strong men in the group.
Ryan looked at his system panel, splitting the screen in two.
The left side displayed the map, while the right side showed the chat room.
At that moment, someone sent a message about Candy.
[Candy is safe now, she has been successfully relocated. Everyone, don't worry!]
Instantly, the chat room erupted in cries of despair.
[Damn it, this makes me so mad! I'm too far away!]
[Can someone stream this?]
[Can I join? It's more fun with more people.]
[Wait, what are you all thinking? Why are your thoughts so perverted?]
Ryan stopped his bike, "Damn it, looks like I'm one step behind…"
If Candy had bitten those two, turning them into rational zombies, they would have gained two strong allies.
Dealing with Candy, Ryan actually felt somewhat confident.
After all, zombies aren't superheroes, according to the setting, the virus causes mutations in the infected.
But these mutations are within a certain range and won't be too outrageous.
Ryan closed the chat room.
He opened the admin map and continued to navigate the subsequent routes, it would take at least 20 minutes to get there.
However, if Candy relocated and didn't expose her position for a while, it would become difficult to find her.
At that moment, a pop-up appeared on the system panel.
[Live Map Available]
Ryan was taken aback, he thought his permissions were already quite high.
After all, other players only had a 2D map, while he had a high-definition 3D map.
"Activate." Ryan said softly.
The map interface suddenly closed, then reloaded and restarted.
When it unfolded again, Ryan's pupils trembled slightly.
He could clearly see Buddy running towards him on the map.
The images on the map were moving, with no delay at all!
Through the translucent system panel, Ryan saw Buddy arrive right at his feet.
It had now transformed into a real-time monitoring map!
Ryan couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, what kind of game permissions do you need to unlock this?"
He suddenly recalled the chat records from the Admin Work Group.
One of the admins had mentioned wanting to see videos of the rational rabies outbreak.
If he had the permission for this monitoring map, he could definitely view it.
This indicated that those admins also had certain limitations, and some might not even have access to this real-time map.
Ryan began to have his doubts…
At first, he thought that being in the admin group allowed him to read the admin logs, perhaps it was some kind of bug.
Ryan felt like he had gained a type of permission that was almost on par with a game developer's!
While Ryan was excited, he also maintained his composure.
He couldn't let his guard down, he needed to use this power cautiously to avoid drawing the attention of the admins.
If they saw him as a threat, it would be a real problem.
Ryan continued to operate on the map.
He zoomed in on the location that Candy had previously left, and he clearly saw—there was a truck parked in place, and it looked like its windows were shattered, it must be Candy's truck.