Chapter 98 - Hundreds Of Treasure Chests! The Birth Of Earth Tiger!
Chapter 98: Hundreds Of Treasure Chests! The Birth Of Earth Tiger!
Su Mo did not have time to properly inspect the newly upgraded buggy. After stepping onto the lower bars on the side skirting of the buggy and climbing into it, he quickly turned the key to start the engine.
Clack!
Vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom!
The fierce boom of the exhaust could be heard continuously as if roaring in tandem with a powerful engine of the new transportation vehicle.
The upgraded gear lever retained its basic operating system, adding only an additional low gear for uphill driving beside the drive and reverse gear functions.
He was not in the mood to try out the new low gear, so Su Mo immediately shifted into drive and stepped on the accelerator. The transportation vehicle seemed to crouch slightly like a mighty beast, before being propelled forward with a boom.
“Such power! After installing a miniature anti-collision barrier and a windshield, it’s now a true transportation vehicle. This is what I’d call a beast!”
The weeds on the road did not stop Su Mo at all as he drove through the low bushes. The tires, which were as tall as half a person, provided an extra boost to the car’s off-road abilities, which was like giving wings to an already formidable tiger.
The road that had taken Su Mo five minutes to traverse in a mad dash, now only took less than a minute as Su Mo drove in a manner where he basically just crashed through everything in front of him.
Su Mo drove until he reached a spot without the yellow lights and quickly jumped out of the car.
He went to the back and opened the trunk. He focused his will and stored the outboard motor and other miscellaneous supplies into it and began to quickly head to further locations to collect more items after making sure that the storage space had been emptied out.
He looked toward the horizon and saw treasure chests shining brightly, emitting a strange glow throughout the fog.
“I’ll prioritize the high-level treasure chests!”
Su Mo looked at the colorful treasure chests at his feet and made the decision as his steps hastened.
Su Mo ignored the wooden and iron treasure chests as he ran along the path. He picked up the bronze treasure chests first.
“One, two… Seven… Ten!”
Su Mo had picked up ten bronze treasure chests, which were supposed to be rare, in less than one minute.
Su Mo was like a happy butterfly as he circled around where the explosion had been, flitting about in dance at the side of the hole that he had made with an explosion.
After one round of circling it, the storage space, which was three cubic meters, was now filled to the brim with treasure chests.
Each treasure chest was around 50cm in length, 30cm in width, and 25cm in height. It took up a space of 37,500 cubic centimeters.
Three cubic meters was equal to three million cubic centimeters, which meant that 80 treasure chests could fit into it.
“I’ve gotten forty-five bronze treasure chests and thirty-five iron treasure chests!”
“After placing all these treasure chests into the trunk of the car, I can still collect around seventy treasure chests. This is such a payoff!”
Su Mo made a mad dash toward the trunk of the car with this thought in mind. He began to move all the treasure chests into the trunk.
The outboard motor, miscellaneous supplies, and a bag of flour took up a little more than two cubic meters worth of space. After transferring 70 treasure chests into the trunk, even the vacant seats in the car were completely filled up.
At the same time, the storage space on the game panel indicated it had emptied out.
Su Mo was not picky this time when walking back on the path. He took whatever there was. The iron treasure chest looked good, and even the wooden treasure chest was not too bad.
Once the storage space was filled to the brim, he would throw out the wooden treasure chests in exchange for the iron treasure chests that he spotted on the ground.
Coming back to and fro would only take another five minutes, but Su Mo no longer picked here and there when he saw the city gates open from far off. He immediately opened any treasure chest he found.
“Canned apricot? That’s good stuff. Unfortunately, I can’t bring it with me!”
“A bag of eggplant seeds?”
“A sickle for cutting grass?”
“A figurine of Maid Noelle [TN: A character from Genshin Impact]?”
“A masturbation sex toy? What the hell is this? I’m throwing it away!”
He opened the treasure chests on the ground with total indifference, discovering more and more useful stuff. As he threw the ones that were unwanted to the ground, Su Mo felt a sense of pity for the items even though he had gained over a hundred treasure chests.
After opening more than half of the treasure chests that he was not able to take with him at the last minute, Su Mo returned to his car and took out the remaining explosives. He stacked them without hesitation at a spot without fire near the hole created by the explosion.
He took out a lead wire that would take ten minutes to ignite and stuck it onto the explosives. Su Mo crouched over and lit it up.
The lead wire spurted as it burned away, sounding like the low howl of death. Section after section of yellow flame-retardant sections burned through and the 10-minute countdown began.
He climbed into the car and took one last look at the storage space. Su Mo no longer lingered as he shifted the car into low gear and stepped onto the accelerator, speeding up the hill.
The chassis of the car slowly rose as he sped up, the powerful engine continuously turning the wheels of the car.
Su Mo immediately drove through smaller bumps, mowing through all obstacles along the way, and quickly returned to the place where he had previously hidden.
“Oreo, where are you? Get into the car and let’s go!”
Su Mo quickly got out of the car and shouted with all his might when he saw Oreo was missing from where she was supposed to be.
Suddenly, a black and white figure sprang out from within the bushes and lunged into Su Mo’s arms!
Oreo looked puzzled at the transformed buggy, which was now bigger. Su Mo did not bother to explain as he placed Oreo in the back seat.
He turned back and entered the driver’s seat and, this time, Su Mo did not drive up the hill. He went in the direction of the flatlands and drove off without looking back.
When Su Mo heard the booming explosion behind him four or five minutes later, his tensed body finally relaxed as he drove toward higher ground.
Su Mo got out of the car and took out the pair of binoculars. He watched the yellow clouds emerging from the explosion and heard vague sounds of screaming. He was finally more relaxed from all the nervousness he had felt before this.
“This time, I’ve finally inflicted heavy wounds on the kobolds. Next, either the kobold or lion people need to initiate a war if they want to recoup their losses. Only by winning a war for their clan through a crazed war can they open the portal to make up for the losses.”
“Although, I can be considered to have stepped on the toes of the lion people and the kobolds, but it’s alright. I’m only one person. They would need to consider if it’s worth it to come after me!”
He stared toward the far off distance before once again lowering his head to think about the tracks he had made during the journey.
Unlike the buggy, this upgraded transportation vehicle created clear tire impressions on the ground.
It was apparent on the little bumps, which had been flattened significantly when the car ran over them. Even the plants and stems had indented marks from the tires.
“This is good stuff. This transportation vehicle I acquired for almost 2000 points is indeed extraordinary!”
Su Mo clicked his tongue and turned around to size up his upgraded transportation vehicle for the very first time.
The car was covered in a colorful splash of white, gray and yellow paint. It also had a few steel railings affixed to it, making it look exceptionally solid.
Compared to before, the chassis of this transportation vehicle had been raised even further. On closer inspection, Su Mo tried to measure it and was astonished to discover that this new transportation vehicle had a chassis height that was above the level of a person’s thigh. It was 50cm off the ground.
Such a useful car would have been considered a diesel-consuming titan on Earth. If the shock absorber were not of sufficient quality, it would be akin to sitting on a boat. Every movement would be shaky and induce giddiness.
However, on the dirt road of this doomsday wasteland, it was a steel beast that everyone envied.
He moved along the car’s body and walked to the very front. Su Mo was surprised to see Oreo standing against the hood of the car as she kept on nuzzling the transportation vehicle’s windshield.
The new transportation vehicle’s hood was not thin and long like the buggy. Oreo could not even stand properly against it.
At its core, it was still a rear-wheel drive car, as its entire weight and engine was situated at the back of the car. This guaranteed powerful acceleration and mobility.
While this transportation vehicle could not possibly be used for collisions, when it came to rapid transportation, it was better-equipped for spotting road conditions upfront and making better judgment calls on the situation.
As for the tires, the car did not use HT or MT tires. Instead, all-terrain tires were chosen, which are also known as AT tires.
The design of AT tires was much more compatible than normal tires for the road. Even though they were noisier, their durability and its traction on non-paved roads were much greater than HT tires, and they worked well on both cross-country and normal roads.
“This is so much better than the buggy. I guess it will be a long time before I make any changes and upgrade it. How about if I gave it a name…”
Cars were known to be a man’s second wife on Earth.
Su Mo had never understood this before, but now, as he moved around the car, Su Mo became increasingly delighted.
“This color, this power, and there’s even an uphill function… I’ll call you…”
“Earth Tiger!”
It was a domineering name, fit for a chassis that was half a meter high. This was a name befitting a transportation vehicle that existed on this wasteland!
Su Mo began to take note of the interior while he sat in the car.
The outside of the entire car was made out of steel and was not at all fancy. The interior was just as Su Mo expected.
The interior had sacrificed comfort completely, except for the leather cover on the main seat that had been brought over from the buggy.
There was only an iron plate placed where the passenger’s seat should have been and nothing else.
As for the rear area, the seats were all gone and stuffed with the treasure chests that were glowing vaguely. They looked very tempting as they sparkled.
“Seems like the System knows me well. The upgrade this time has gotten rid of whatever that needed to be removed. There aren’t any signs of any electronic equipment either!”
Su Mo did not know whether to laugh or cry as he touched the fully mechanical central control panel.
Besides the radio that had been used previously, all the high-technology equipment that had been used on Earth were now gone.
There was no computer in the car, nor was there any electrical power for its use. The car operated purely on machinery. At the same time, this gave a sense of ‘rage’ to this beast while driving it!
He took some time figuring out how to use the transportation vehicle and found a button on the simple central control panel with a gas tank drawn on it.
He gently pressed the button.
Boom!
The car seemingly exploded with noise. Su Mo got off and walked to the right side of the car. As expected, he saw an iron plate slightly propped up under a colorful portion of the car.
“Gosh, this fuel tank is not small. It’s at least over a hundred liters!”
Su Mo focused mentally and the transportation vehicle’s property panel appeared in front of his eyes.
[Earth Tiger (Small-scale Modified Desert Racing Car) (Good)]
[Description: Upgraded from a regular Rear-wheel drive, Off-road, Desert Racing Car. It has a solid shell structure, powerful engine, and a fixed amount of storage space. Possesses extremely strong off-road capabilities, with a specially heightened chassis, and broad and thick off-road AT tires. They are guaranteed to last for over hundreds of kilometers even after the tires puncture. It is a good transportation vehicle for traveling on the wasteland.]
[Horsepower: 280hp]
[Torque: 425Nm]
[Fuel Consumption: 19 Liters of diesel per hundred kilometers (It will increase of decrease according to the terrain, as well as power and gear being used)]
[Comment: A great improvement! The steel railings have increased the protection level significantly!!]