Chapter 41: The Mole's Adventure

Tiger looked at Yan Jing's calm face and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

This man with a camera for a head had planned everything from the very beginning.

Even if those Fear Spirits hadn't appeared just now, as long as he timed it right, this move probably would have wiped out the opposing team anyway.

Remembering something, he immediately checked around his own seat, his heart giving a jolt.

If Yan Jing could set up an ambush in Car 5, he could definitely pull the same trick on Tiger's seat.

"Of course I prepared something."

Yan Jing's smiling voice suddenly rang out, making Tiger shudder.

Tiger looked up to see the red lights flashing on both sides of Yan Jing's camera head. His tone was perfectly calm:

"So you'd better not move."

"Of course I won't!"

Tiger instantly sat up straight, his agreement swift and absolute.

The heavy truck slowly drove toward the finish line.

Yan Jing tapped his fingers lightly against the steering wheel. Something felt off.

The appearance of those Fear Spirits just now had been too coincidental, as if someone had summoned them deliberately.

He threw this question to Tiger, who immediately gave an answer.

"It's definitely that guy, Zebra."

Tiger said with absolute certainty, "His authority is higher than mine. We've been colleagues for over half a year, after all. He couldn't bear to leave me to die."

"Solid reasoning."

Yan Jing commended Tiger's deduction, though he considered it inferior to that of a certain old man surnamed Liu.

For a simple-minded guy like this to survive in the Amusement Park for over half a year was nothing short of a miracle.

Soon, the heavy truck crashed into the buffer wall at low speed. For two First Tier beings, this level of impact was easily bearable; aside from a slight wave of dizziness, they felt no other discomfort.

The two climbed down the ladder and got out of the truck.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Tiger let out an emotional roar, the eyeholes of his mascot suit wet with tears.

It was clear that this Bumper Go-Karts ride had taken a considerable toll on him.

Yan Jing, on the other hand, walked straight toward the stairs next to the buffer wall and headed back to the starting line.

He had a premonition that the appearance of the Fear Spirits wasn't solely because of Zebra.

It was very likely because of Mantou.

The Fear Fruit still had a tiny bit of duration left. Under the enhancement of his Fear Stance, Yan Jing moved extremely fast, and he soon spotted the Viewing Platform at the starting line.

From a distance, he caught sight of Mantou.

The familiar tiny figure wearing an Electric Vehicle Helmet was currently dragging her ailing body, stumbling as she ran toward him.

"Y-Yan... Jing...!!!"

Seeing Yan Jing, a smile bloomed on Mantou's face, and she started shouting while still far away.

She wanted to run faster, but her body couldn't indulge such exertion, and in no time at all, she was completely out of breath.

Fortunately, Yan Jing's speed made up for her faltering steps, and he quickly reached her.

Before Mantou could speak, Yan Jing preemptively began checking her for injuries. When he saw the unhealed fissures on her hands, his eyes narrowed instinctively.

But he didn't let his concern show. He held up a finger and smiled.

"First place."

"Y-Yan... Jing... A-Awesome!!"

Mantou looked up, her smile brightening.

She reached out to grab Yan Jing's hand and began talking about the human Players she had seen "cheating" just now.

She spoke very slowly, but Yan Jing listened patiently as the two of them walked back toward the starting line.

"Y-Yan... Jing... You're... so awesome... They really... really cheated!!!"

Mantou's expression looked just like a child tattling to her parent.

Yan Jing smiled and rubbed Mantou's head.

"You did a great job protecting me, Mantou. Thank you."

[Favorability +1]

[Favorability +1]

Yan Jing could feel the small hand trembling slightly against his palm, so he held it a bit tighter.

The two arrived at the starting line, where Zebra, dressed in a prison uniform, was already waiting.

"Congratulations, sir, on winning first place in this race!"

Zebra's tone had shed its previous eccentric pitch, becoming much more normal.

Yan Jing smiled faintly.

"All thanks to your help, Mr. Zebra."

"Just dealing with the matter at hand."

Zebra coughed lightly, completely brushing over what had just happened.

He took out a stamp and pressed a car-shaped mark onto the Stamp Card Yan Jing handed him.

While returning the Stamp Card to Yan Jing, he handed him a small gift box.

"Congratulations on receiving a stamp. Here is your surprise gift!"

"Thanks."

Having obtained one stamp, he was now only one project away from being able to go pick the Heavy Pollution Herb.

Yan Jing placed the small gift box directly into Mantou's hands, then looked at Zebra, who was about to turn and leave.

"Mr. Zebra, I wonder if you could tell me which of the remaining projects is the easiest to get a stamp from?"

Zebra paused in his tracks, then turned his head, his expression serious.

"To be honest, besides our Bumper Go-Karts, the rest of the projects are quite difficult. If you genuinely want my advice..."

"I can only remind you that after getting one stamp, you already have the right to leave the Amusement Park."

As soon as his voice fell, Tiger, who had just hurried over from behind, hastily chimed in.

"Right, right, right! The remaining projects are all super hard! Next time! Just come play next time!"

His impatient demeanor made it obvious that he had an ulterior motive.

Zebra said calmly, "Sir, because you and my colleague here are wearing Couple Wristbands, my colleague will participate in every project you join until you leave the new park area."

"That's wonderful."

Yan Jing's words made Tiger look thoroughly devastated. "Mr. Tiger and I still have a lot to talk about."

"Since you plan to continue playing, I wish you a pleasant time."

Zebra didn't try to persuade him any further and turned to leave.

From the very beginning, he hadn't spared even a single glance at Mantou standing nearby.

It wasn't until he had walked quite a distance away that he let out a long sigh and wiped his sweaty hood.

He had lived in this Amusement Park for nearly ten years. As one of the longest-serving employees here, his secret to the job was simple: mind your own business.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Not just in this Mad Amusement Park, but in Old Sin City, and across this massive Domain—people who meddled in other people's affairs rarely lived long.

"But I feel like I forgot something... what was it again?"

Zebra frowned and thought about it, but still came up empty.

Finally, he simply tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

"If I forgot it, I forgot it. I'll deal with it when I remember."

"It shouldn't be anything major... right?"

...

Yan Jing and Mantou walked outward, followed by a dejected Tiger, who complained endlessly.

As they passed the waiting area, the twintailed woman with dark makeup was being mocked by both the man surnamed Sun and the woman with Japanese-style makeup.

This was simply because the race had cost the twintailed woman two of her top fighters, causing her overall strength to plummet.

Facing their ridicule, the twintailed woman remained silent, simply blowing a bubble with her chewing gum.

Until Yan Jing walked over.

Only then did she look up at him.

She raised her hand, sticking out a thumb painted with glossy black nail polish, and slowly drew it across her throat.

Her eyes were indifferent, carrying undisguised killing intent.

Yan Jing smiled and didn't respond.

The Amusement Park was huge. These three from the Evil Ghosts were probably all aiming for the mysterious grand prize awarded for collecting every stamp.

There was still plenty of time; there was no need to rush.

Based on Tiger's suggestion, the group set off for their next destination:

Whack-a-Mole: The Mole's Adventure.

"To be honest, the remaining four projects are all very dangerous. If we absolutely have to choose, only this Whack-a-Mole is relatively better."

Worried that Yan Jing wouldn't believe him, Tiger repeatedly explained himself.

Yan Jing naturally went along with it. This Tiger valued his own life immensely; if he had wanted to drag Yan Jing down in mutual destruction, he would have made his move earlier.

Along the way, he began to ponder the use of his Day Selection Ritual.

This trip to the Bumper Go-Karts had given him a deeper understanding of his Day Selection Ritual.

This time, he had used a total of one Fear Fruit that didn't contain any power resistance, along with two Fear Seeds.

Even though the Fear Seed placed under Tiger's seat hadn't been triggered, he had just tried and found it was impossible to retrieve.

After staying outside for a period of time, the seed had completely dried up. He estimated that it could only last for about ten minutes at most.

Fortunately, the ambient Fear Power in the Amusement Park was abundant. In just this short while, both the fruit and the seeds had been fully replenished again.

The replenishment time for a seed was about a minute, while for a fruit, it was around five minutes.

This gave him quite a bit of room to maneuver.

Just now had been his first time trying to trigger a seed near someone else.

The ability description stated that the seed would "automatically attach and parasitize, lasting for one minute."

Looking at it now, when an opponent was unprepared, this kind of remote triggering could very likely produce unexpected results.

"We're here!!"

Suddenly, Tiger stopped in his tracks. Covering his ears with both hands, he looked ahead and spoke.

Yan Jing looked up.

Appearing before their eyes were two massive giants cast in steel.

They each wielded a heavy, gigantic iron hammer, relentlessly smashing the "ground" below—which was forged from some kind of hard metal—and creating a series of massive booms that sounded like rolling thunder.

Scattered across this ground were holes of various sizes. A few sporadic figures could be seen weaving between these holes, constantly dodging the crushing blows of the iron hammers.

"Welcome!!!"

Guarding the entrance to this project were two "marmots" wearing prison uniforms.

Aside from having different hairstyles, the two "marmots" looked exactly the same. They sported large buck teeth, and their mascot suits were covered in dust.

"Tiger, why are you here?"

One of the "marmots," who had blunt bangs, looked curiously at Tiger standing behind Yan Jing.

From the voice, it was clear that the person inside the mascot suit was a girl, and not a very old one either.

"Heh heh... got nothing to do... just wandering around..."

A trace of awkwardness leaked into Tiger's gruff voice. Being held hostage by a tourist was nothing to be proud of.

But the other marmot, who had middle-parted hair, noticed the Glowing Wristband on his tail and instantly guessed what had happened.

"That's hilarious... haha!!"

The two marmots laughed so hard they doubled over, going "hahaha" for a full two minutes.

Only when they could laugh no more did the marmot with blunt bangs wipe her tears and speak to Yan Jing.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm really sorry, but this is honestly just a bit too funny... hahaha... I truly apologize."

She apologized several times before finally holding back her laughter to introduce the rules of the project to Yan Jing and the others.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to take a moment to introduce how this project is played."

"Our project is called Whack-a-Mole: The Mole's Adventure. As the name suggests, unlike the standard Whack-a-Mole, participating Players in this project need to roleplay as the moles and dodge the falling iron hammers."

"Thrilling and exciting—that is the core tenet of our project. Of course, compared to the other remaining projects apart from Bumper Go-Karts, we are still a bit safer."

"If you want to get the stamp for this project, you need to poke your heads out of the holes a total of 100 times within ten minutes."

"Just be careful. Sometimes, besides the fixed swinging iron hammers, some children we can't restrain will barge in and swing extra hammers at you."

"You absolutely must dodge those properly as well."

The marmot with blunt bangs had just finished speaking when, not far from the group, a Player poked his head out of a hole—only to see a Fear Spirit "gripping" an iron hammer leap out.

It delivered a vicious smash!

Splat!

It was just like a tomato suddenly bursting open. The marmot with blunt bangs wiped a splatter of blood off her face and smiled.

"Just like that."