Monster Synthesis Master - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: This Man’s Luck Is 1 Point
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

In the rear-view mirror, Lin Ke saw that the sinking quicksand would soon sweep away the two cars furthest away from him because they hadn’t U-turned immediately.
The vortex epicenter was like the gigantic Taotie1 monster, whose appetite could never be satiated. Not only did the quicksand not stop, but it was even expanding at an even more dramatic speed than before.
The two cars that had U-turned were also racing away at high speed for their lives at this moment, especially the machine-gunners standing at the back, who had a wide view of the area. They watched as the entire ancient ruins sank into the sand, and the camp dissolved into nothingness in an instant. The slaves and mercenaries fighting it out earlier were all gone by now.
As Wastelands Gang mercenaries, they often carried out missions in the desert. Thus, they naturally knew how fearsome quicksand could be. As they watched the rapidly advancing quicksand about to reach their feet, extreme fear filled the few remaining mercenaries’ hearts.
“Goddammit, go a little faster! C’mon, go a little faster!”
“It’s already at its limit!” The driver’s foot was already pressed all the way down on the gas pedal. How he wished that he could stomp a hole through the jeep’s chassis with his leg!
Currently, three desert jeeps were traveling at high speed. Lin Ke was in the lead while the other two cars driven by the mercenaries were moving beside each other, forming a triangular formation.
Lin Ke’s eyes swept across the rear-view mirror. The quicksand was practically pressed right up against the two jeeps’ rear wheels. “Those four people don’t have the time to attack me at the moment because they are fleeing for their lives. However, once we successfully escape, they’ll definitely fire at the first chance they get…”
A hint of killing intent flashed across Lin Ke’s eyes, and he decided to make the first move. Lin Ke spun the steering wheel, swung abruptly in front of one of the mercenary cars, changed gears, and braked in one smooth motion, causing the jeep’s speed to drop abruptly.
When the mercenary driving noticed that Lin Ke had reduced his speed, fear and panic came over his countenance at once. “Fire! Hurry, kill him! Don’t let him block the way!”
The mercenary in the backseat was still watching the quicksand behind them, but he turned around at once upon hearing what his partner said. He was just about to pick up the machine gun when Lin Ke’s car trunk heavily collided with their jeep’s hood. The strong collision force knocked the mercenary in the backseat directly off the car, and he sank into the quicksand in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only a struggling arm exposed to the outside. In no time, he was swept into the center of the vortex.
The collision knocked the jeep within the quicksand’s range, trapping its two rear wheels within. The wheels spun madly, but all they could do was spin in the air amid the quicksand, unable to gain any traction. They barely managed to hang in there thanks to the two front wheels of the four-wheel-drive system pushing ahead.
Lin Ke stepped on the gas pedal and accelerated, zooming all the way to the front. The wheels kicked up sand, which battered against the jeep’s windscreen behind before gushing back into the car.
In less than a couple of seconds, the mercenaries disappeared into the quicksand along with the jeep.
[You’ve used a vehicle to kill Wastelands Gang mercenaries and gained 200 EXP] x2
The whole series of actions was completed in just a few short seconds. It was only when the jeep sank into the quicksand that the driver and mercenary in the other car belatedly reacted.
“Kill him! Hurry, kill him!”
As Lin Ke had instantly slowed down and reversed the car to finish off the enemies behind him, he had lost his leading position. He was currently only ahead of the jeep beside him by half a car’s length.
The mercenary lifted the heavy machine gun and shot in Lin Ke’s direction. The heavy machine gun muzzle spat out fiery sparks, the bullets emitting ear-piercing whizzes in the air.
Lin Ke gritted his teeth and hunched forward, minimizing his exposed body surface area as much as he could. He grabbed the steering wheel firmly with both hands, slammed down hard on the gas pedal, and accelerated. Clinks and clanks from the jeep being struck by gunfire rang out once in a while.
“Stop! Hurry and goddamn stop!” The driver had fallen into a panic. The heavy machine gun’s recoil was too strong, so the jeep had actually begun to deviate to the left after firing. On the dashboard, the speedometer’s pointer had actually also fallen by 5 points.
If they fired a few more times, they could just forget about outrunning the quicksand.
Lin Ke was alone in his car, so the load was lighter. In this instant, under all-out acceleration, his jeep’s speed was actually exceeding the enemy car’s, which carried two people. Bit by bit, he began to pull ahead by one car’s length.
The jeep charged past the top of the sand dunes at full speed and soared high up into the sky. Lin Ke felt his bottom hanging in the air, and the end of the continuous stretch of desert appeared in his sight. He could vaguely see an abandoned city at the very end.
“An abandoned city near the Underground Crypt of Death…” Lin Ke combed through his memories. Very quickly, he locked onto the information about the abandoned city.
The desert was the Wastelands Gang’s territory. However, the abandoned city in the Gobi Desert was another force’s—the Machinery Holy Cult—territory.
There was nowhere to hide in the vast and boundless desert. If Lin Ke wanted to rid himself of the other two mercenaries, then the only chance he had was to hide inside the city ruins.
Bam!
The desert jeep fell onto the desert heavily, the impact heavily dazing Lin Ke in the seat. The jeep swayed and lurched, moving in a completely different manner from before.
Lin Ke’s mind had only just cleared up a little when he heard a whir behind him. The mercenary’s jeep had also charged their way out of the quicksand and successfully escaped.
Lin Ke slammed down on the gas pedal and drove toward the city ruins in the north without any hesitation whatsoever.
The car in front pulled ahead by more than 200 meters, and they got into a chase in the undulating and churning sand dunes.
With his head hanging, Lin Ke moved about in an erratic zigzag motion. The crackling of bullets behind him sounded much like the firecrackers behind a wedding car when the groom went to pick up the bride in her home.
The raking gunfire continued for several minutes before coming to an end when the bullets were fully depleted.
“Phew, it has finally stopped!” Lin Ke could hear ringing in his ears. Stray bullets had struck his right rear-view mirror; the windscreen also sported bullet holes. A large half of the glass had already turned into a ‘dense spider web.’
In the rear-view mirrors, he could still see the mercenaries behind persistently chasing after him. Thus, he began plotting ways to deal with the two of them.
He initially thought that the two of them would ‘retreat in the face of difficulties’ after they had depleted their ammunition. Little did he think that the jeep would clamp so tightly onto him the whole way without any sign of giving up at all.
“Looks like I can only think of a way to shake them off in the city ruins.” Lin Ke cast a glance at the fuel gauge. After the escape and pursuit just now, the fuel gauge’s needle had already reached the midpoint. He estimated that he had, more or less, just enough fuel to reach the ruins.
The load in the mercenary car had become significantly lighter after the two Wastelands Gang mercenaries had depleted their heavy machine gun ammo.
Although the distance between Lin Ke and them was still increasing, they at least stayed within an acceptable range.
The entire ancient ruins and camp had already been buried under the quicksand. How would their boss view this matter when everyone was dead and the two of them the only ones who managed to escape and make their way back?
If they wanted to return, then they at least had to have a little something in their hands to prove that they hadn’t fled but had been pursuing and attacking someone instead.
Lin Ke’s head was the best piece of evidence.
As for Lin Ke on the other side, he had also breathed a small sigh of relief by this point. At last, he finally had the energy to study the system.
There was no change in the system. It still featured two main categories—Stats and Missions.
Lin Ke opened the Stats category. Several pale red lines of statistical data appeared at the lower right corner of his vision. There was also meaning to the system’s colors. The system display was pale red during combat, whereas it would be pale blue when out of combat.
Name: Lin Ke
Race: Human
Level: Lv1
EXP: 400
Class: N/A
Status: Slave
Health Points: 40/60 (Overworked)
Energy Points: 20/40 (Feeble)
Stats: Power (3), Agility (3), Endurance (6), Intelligence (4), Energy (2), Charm (1), Luck (1)
Latent Capacity Points: 0
Talent: N/A
Skills: N/A
Equipment: Sharp Dagger (White)
Special Abilities: Basic Driving (Yet to master fully)
Appraisal: You’re really a ‘lucky one.’
————
BlackGuyQuestionMarkFace.jpg
Lin Ke was rather downcast and frustrated. Just a mere look at the system’s speech pattern, and one would know that it had a sarcastic and mocking personality. What did it mean by he was ‘really a lucky one?’ He wanted to flag and report it!
After looking at his stats, Lin Ke found the panel quite the eyesore at once.
In the game, apart from Energy, Charm, and Luck points being random, all the other stats in a normal person’s settings should have been 5 points. However, apart from his Endurance that was 6 points, none of Lin Ke’s other stats even reached 5 points currently. In other words, he couldn’t even match up to a normal human.
However, Lin Ke could understand the reason behind this. How many Luck points could a slave—who originally should have been buried in the quicksand—possibly have? But this wasn’t a huge issue to Lin Ke, either. As long as he could escape, he would definitely be able to gain back this bit of stats by making use of his advantage—being able to foresee the game’s plot.
Lin Ke took another look at his EXP bar. The 400 EXP points he had earned from killing two Wasteland Gang mercenaries using a vehicle were enough for him to level up to Level 2.
However, he still had pursuers behind him at the moment. To quote Lin Ke: “I can level up, but it isn’t necessary.”
The pursuit was still ongoing. The two remaining mercenaries were just like hyenas whose teeth had tightly clamped onto Lin Ke and refused to let go.
As Lin Ke drove, he combed his memory for information about the city ruins. As he got nearer and nearer to the city ruins, his memories also gradually awakened.
“Currently, the city ruins should still be in a state of abandonment. The Machinery Holy Cult will only station troops in the ruins during this time next year.” Lin Ke’s eyes shone as he made plans mentally.
Looking at the fuel gauge needle on his dashboard, the mercenary driver shouted excitedly, “He definitely doesn’t have much fuel left! There’s no way he can get away! Hurry, ready your weapons!”
Specialized staff members would fill all the cars’ fuel tanks after they were parked at the camp. Since they were running out of fuel now, the car in front definitely won’t be left with much either.
The mercenary standing at the back began to sort out his weapons. “I only have a tactical machine pistol, a handgun, and some ammo magazines now.”
“That’s enough!”
If they couldn’t even kill an unarmed slave with these, then they would be too ashamed to go back anyway.
“Although we can catch up to him, how do we go back when the car runs out of fuel later?”
“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t have charged out either if I didn’t have anything to fall back on,” replied the driver as he pulled out a satellite phone from his pocket. He explained, “I was reporting the situation on the earthquake and underground crypt at the time when the riot suddenly broke out. After that, I put the phone away in my pocket in passing.”
The mercenary driver took a look at the speeding jeep in front. Then, with a cold and sinister look in his eyes, he said, “When we’ve killed that kid, we’ll call to report our location and wait for help to come.”
They were getting nearer and nearer to the city ruins. They could already see the outline of the ruins from afar.
It was unlike the abandoned high-rise buildings, rust-spotted surroundings, and blend of nature and steel ruins that people usually imagined.
The majority of the Machinery Holy Cult’s ruins were like the one in front, which didn’t have any high-rise buildings inside. All the buildings had been crushed into bits and pieces, just like piles of rubbish that people had forgotten to clean up after the buildings had been demolished and the inhabitants relocated. The whole city gave off a cold, icy sense of desolation, as though locusts had swarmed through the area and left it barren.
Lin Ke noticed that many key things were still the same in the familiar, yet also unfamiliar, ruins in front of him. With that, he gained even more confidence in executing his plans.
The fuel gauge’s needle entered the red section, indicating that he had run out of fuel.
Lin Ke cast a glance at the back using the rear-view mirror. The Wastelands Gang mercenaries were approximately 400-500 meters away from him. It was enough for him to make preparations in advance after arriving at his destination.
Sputter, sputter!
The exhaust pipe let out a few fart-like sounds, and the jeep ran out of fuel completely.
Lin Ke had already driven into the city ruins. With the jeep’s last bit of inertial speed, he began to show off driving tricks and started to go around in frenzied circles on the spot.
The rubber wheels chafed violently against the ground, blowing up thick clouds of yellowish-brown earth and black smoke that instantly enveloped the whole jeep.
A strong earthy smell and the acrid smell of rubber mixed together, choking Lin Ke so much that he got into a coughing fit.
Lin Ke took advantage of the cover provided by the thick smoke to jump down the car and walk deeper inside the city.
Upon seeing the engulfing waves of earth and smoke around the jeep, the mercenaries pursuing him immediately shouted, “He has gotten off the car and hidden himself in the city!”
The mercenary standing at the back took a look at the tactical machine pistol and handgun hanging around his neck. The two firearms had a firing range of 50 meters; firing them as a warning now would be nothing more than just a waste of ammo. It seemed like the heavy machine gun still had a few rounds of ammo left, so he could fire that into the smoke and try his luck first.
The mercenary lifted the gun barrel forcefully with his arms. The muzzle was already close to becoming directed at the sky.
Clack, clack, clack…
The last few rounds of ammo went flying out, leaving behind a line of light in mid-air as they shot into the dust and smoke.
Lin Ke passed through the fog of smoke, incredibly familiar with the city ruins’ layout. He headed toward his destination without even a sideward glance.
At this point, he heard the ‘demonstration of power’ gunshots from the heavy machine gun behind him. Lin Ke couldn’t help but sneer. “Shooting through 400-500 meters of smoke? Why don’t you just use the heavy machine gun like a thermal sniper rifle, then?”
He had only just spoken when…
Whiz!!
The sound of a bullet flying by at high speed passed by Lin Ke’s ear. At the same time, he felt a piercing wave of pain at his right deltoid area.
[You’ve been shot (grazed) by the BLN50 Heavy Machine Gun and lost 10 Health Points]
[You’ve entered the irregular state [Bleeding]]
[Bleeding]: 1 Health Point is deducted every 10 minutes. Lasts 2 hours.
Lin Ke’s countenance changed dramatically. “Isn’t this too goddamn ridiculous?! He can actually hit me even when doing something like that?”
Lin Ke glanced at the wound, which spanned 1.5 centimeters, at his right deltoid. The bullet had burned his skin, and part of his flesh had split open. With a bit of clean fabric, he could dress the wound. However, the fog of smoke behind him was already showing signs of dispersing. The sounds of the jeep were also becoming increasingly clear, giving him no time to dress his wound at all.
With his plan messed up right at the first step, Lin Ke could only jog the whole way and make the most of the time he had to reach the destination in his plans.
With 40 HP, he originally had the chance to show off for a while. In the end, he was grazed by a bullet and left with only 30 HP, which messed up Lin Ke’s plans.
Lin Ke really couldn’t tell whether he was lucky or unfortunate.
They had shot randomly through the smoke from a distance of 300-400 meters, and with heavy machine gun bullets that fell extremely quickly no less. In order to hit him, wouldn’t they have to lift the muzzle all the way into the sky?
Were they trying to freaking shoot a human or a plane?
Something strange must really be happening for even something like that to graze him.
However, when looking at it from another perspective, had the bullet deviated to the side by even a centimeter, his entire arm wouldn’t even qualify to become roasted beef marrow anymore.
The streets in the abandoned city had fallen into decline. Brown root tubers grew from gaps in the collapsed houses, creeping and climbing up between bricks and tiles. Buildings had collapsed into piles of bricks, and only the brick walls at the bottommost layer were still standing stubbornly. The paint on the surface was mottled and peeling off, with only small, scattered pieces still sticking to the bricks to show the color they had originally been.
Be it the residential areas, commercial buildings, or supermarkets, all of them had either collapsed into piles of bricks or crushed into irregular concrete chunks. If one paid any attention, they would discover that there was no sign of metal in this city at all!
Lin Ke had already become ‘accustomed’ to this. The Machinery Holy Cult was like a swarm of locusts; all the places they passed by looked like this.
Lin Ke quickly reached his destination—a gigantic green wall constructed from concrete.