Chapter 288: Highway Survival 20

Getting no response, Perry Yates shrugged and muttered, "What a standoffish pet."

She yawned. With today’s crisis averted, she could finally sleep peacefully. While she rested, the little dolls would keep watch.

If all went according to plan, her doll army would grow again tomorrow.

Perry Yates considered the capacity of her car and decided to send some of the dolls to live in the Safe House.

「The twenty-fourth day of the game.」

Early in the morning, Vera Vance delivered a dozen or so dolls and thanked her for the fabric.

Judging by her tone, she must have crafted something amazing.

Perry Yates seized the opportunity, telling Vera she had gotten another piece of fabric from a treasure box yesterday. It contained a large, intact sheet of cotton, and she asked if Vera wanted it.

Naturally, Vera Vance wanted it.

Consequently, Perry Yates placed another order for a batch of dolls from Vera Vance, adding that this would probably be the last time, as she could no longer afford to "raise" them.

Of course, this was a lie. She had simply ordered so many dolls that, during a previous chat, Vera Vance had started probing about a stable source of sugar. Perry had managed to brush her off by chalking it up to good luck.

On her end, Vera Vance was a little disappointed to hear Perry say this would be the last time.

After getting back on the road, Perry Yates noticed the vegetation along the roadside dwindling. The ground had turned to sandy soil, and the wind kicked up clouds of yellow dust.

Perry Yates looked up at the gloomy sky and used Identification on the dark clouds. The results showed that rain would fall in thirty minutes, and it wouldn’t be ordinary rain.

The Identification revealed that the clouds had an abnormally high acid content. This was acid rain.

Acid rain could corrode the car. Perry Yates pulled three cards from her pocket. Two would protect the tires from corrosion, and the third was for a rain canopy, a card that could only be used once the car was stopped.

After parking the car, Perry Yates used the card. A reassuringly sturdy rain canopy appeared, enveloping the car completely with room to spare.

’See? This is the benefit of having a small car.’

Soon, raindrops began to fall.

The rain wasn’t heavy at first, looking just like an ordinary shower.

Perry’s attention was fixed on the sky, so she failed to notice the ground changing around her. By the time she looked down, she was surrounded.

She wasn’t surrounded by creatures, but by a mass of moss-like plants.

The surrounding area, which had been bare moments before, was now a swath of green, like an oasis.

"Isn’t this acid rain? How can these plants absorb it?"

As it turned out, not only could the moss-like plants absorb it, but they seemed to be doing so with glee.

Luckily, her spot was shielded by the canopy, so not much rainwater seeped in, and the growth of the moss-like plants wasn’t particularly dense right around her.

On closer inspection, Perry Yates realized that aside from their color, the plants were quite different from moss.

They were like sponges soaked full of water—no, more like water beads, swollen to many times their original size.

Driven by curiosity, Perry Yates took out a half-empty bottle of mineral water. As she opened the window, a strange stench hit her.

Perry Yates frowned and poured the rest of the mineral water outside.

The next second, the plants on the ground reacted as if they were scorching lava splashed with water. Plumes of white smoke instantly billowed up, accompanied by a "SIZZLE SIZZLE" sound.

When the white mist cleared, she looked down at the spot doused with mineral water. The plants there had vanished completely and showed no signs of growing back.

It was as if that spot had become a dead zone.

’So it seems these things are accustomed to the highly acidic rain. They can’t handle a pure water source like mineral water—it kills them on contact.’

The rain drizzled on for an hour before finally stopping.

The moss-like things, now saturated with water, were completely transformed. Once invisible to the naked eye, they now formed heaps of bloated, bead-like growths.

Seeing this, Perry Yates decided against moving on. Even though she’d upgraded her tires, there was no telling how long they would last. What would she do if one blew out? She didn’t have a spare.

With nothing better to do, Perry Yates decided to collect some plant samples from outside to study.

She then divided the samples into several portions, soaking each in a different liquid: fruit juice, vinegar, soy sauce, saltwater, lemon juice, and mineral water.

As it turned out, Perry’s earlier guess was correct. The plants clearly liked acid; the ones soaking in lemon juice and vinegar swelled to double their size.

The ones in the other liquids, by contrast, practically died on contact.

After recording her observations, Perry Yates took out a mahjong set and played with Little Panda and the others to pass the time.

That night, as midnight passed, Perry Yates watched the outside world warily. But today, the dark figure didn’t appear as it had on the previous nights.

’That’s how it is sometimes. When something happens every day, you don’t think much of it. But the one day it doesn’t happen, you can’t help but let your imagination run wild.’

That was exactly how Perry Yates felt now.

The dark figure’s failure to appear on schedule made her wonder if it had changed strategies. ’Was it trying to catch me off guard?’

To guard against that possibility, she ended up with a sleepless night.

「The twenty-fifth day of the game.」

Perry Yates yawned as she ate a meat bun, heavy dark circles hanging under her eyes.

She hadn’t slept a wink the entire night.

She placed a hand on her temple and used Ascension on herself. Instantly, the exhaustion from her sleepless night vanished without a trace.

The plants outside, swollen from yesterday’s rain, didn’t return to their pre-rain state until noon.

Perry Yates glanced at the cloudless sky, but she couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t rain again soon. After all, this was a game world that defied all logic.

She retracted the rain canopy and slowly started the car.

After about an hour of driving, a red building appeared up ahead.

A sign stood next to the building, bearing the large words: Repair and Resource Station.

Perry Yates parked in front of the sign, where a list of rules was displayed.

1. Various supplies are available inside the station, but payment is required.

2. Dedicated staff are available to repair and upgrade vehicles, but payment is required.

3. The station is completely safe, and you will not encounter any danger. However, there is a corresponding fee for every hour you remain parked.

4. The staff works very hard. Please do not be verbally abusive toward them.