The Road to Escape

"Alright, let's go."

Chen Xi slid open the glass balcony door, and the impatient Lin Yue shot out immediately.

"What did you two talk about?" The big golden retriever sidled up to her, sneaking a look at her.

Chen Xi replied coolly, "Talked about how you're an idiot who couldn't even think of such a simple solution."

As she spoke, Zhu Li in the living room smiled along as she watched the two.

"Fine, keep your secrets, stingy..." Lin Yue brushed past her, went back to the bedroom, and grabbed her packed backpack.

After the three checked that everything was in order, they set off downstairs at once.

Lin Yue walked in front, sunglasses perched on her forehead, her hands full of bags and bundles—she looked nothing like someone fleeing for their lives.

She turned back to the calm pair and asked suspiciously, "By the way, what car are we taking? Should we rent one now?"

No one answered her. Zhu Li pulled a car key from her pocket.

A low, rumbling roar echoed through the bottom of the building.

Lin Yue followed the sound and saw a sleek black sports car parked by the residential complex.

She blurted out, "A supercar?!"

Chen Xi raised an eyebrow. "You actually know the model?"

Because she was a transmigrator, she wasn't familiar with the brands of this other world.

Lin Yue scratched her head and answered matter-of-factly, "Huh? Aren't all cars like this just called supercars?"

Saying nothing, both of them silently shook their heads at her.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Chen Xi waved at Lin Yue, who was still frozen in place. "Get in. What are you standing there dumbfounded for?"

"But aren't we on the run? Isn't this a bit too flashy?"

Compared to it, her luggage was just a drop in the bucket.

"That's a problem for a day or two from now. For now, think of it as a road trip." Chen Xi looked relaxed.

Hearing that, Lin Yue decisively hopped in. The engine roared, and the three sped away from Chen Xi's place.

Zhu Li's driving was seasoned, and she knew the layout around Tianhai City well. In just six hours, they had driven out of Tianhai City—clearly, she'd taken plenty of joyrides around the area.

The Spark Federation had no other regional divisions, only city-level designations.

The Federation governed two hundred and sixty-five cities in total, each one equivalent to a provincial region in Chen Xi's previous life.

Tianhai City sat at the very bottom of the Spark Federation. It took three full months for the flames of war between the Evil Flower and the Federation to reach this "quiet little town."

That alone showed how weak Tianhai City's defenses were—a whole city guarded by only a single Third Rank.

The three parked in the outskirts outside Linxi City, planning to rest and regroup.

Chen Xi opened Zhu Li's forum account. "Ahead is Linxi City."

"According to the locals' posts, Linxi City is already half-fallen."

Chen Xi had initially worried that Evil Flower agents might post misleading info on the forum, but Zhu Li's explanation dispelled her doubts.

Evil Flower members had the Church's creed hardwired into their brains and couldn't implant into the Destiny Network at all.

Even if an Evil Flower agent threatened a captive into sending false info, someone from the same city would immediately expose it.

What's more, the Skynet would flag the poster's forum account in red.

Chen Xi continued, "Linxi City covers 78,200 square kilometers. Right now, there are only two Evil Flower High Priests in the city. If we're careful, we should be able to avoid them."

"It's already eight o'clock. Let's stay outside for the night and test whether other Evil Flower members can track Lin Yue."

[No objections]

Zhu Li was as radiant as ever.

With a Second Rank Transcendent's physique, even if she wasn't specialized in endurance, a five-hour drive was no trouble at all.

"Then we..." Lin Yue fumbled through her bag and pulled out a portable tent. "Let's go camping."

"Lin Yue." Chen Xi hesitated. "I don't remember this being in the plan."

"Oh, come on, we've got nothing better to do. It's not the end of the world. Are we gonna summon zombies by camping?"

As she spoke, Lin Yue had already spread out the tent according to the instructions.

The three were in a delicate situation—as long as they didn't run into a High Priest, any other Evil Flower member was no match for Zhu Li.

Zhu Li glanced at the exasperated Chen Xi, a smile tugging at her lips.

[I think Xiao Yue has a point]

Lin Yue was quick with her hands and soon had the tent set up, looking quite decent.

She put one hand on her hip and shot a challenging look at the black-haired girl.

"So the vote's two to one now, Chen Xi. How about you come over nicely and help organize the stuff?"

"Whatever you say." Chen Xi had no choice but to start packing up the camping gear.

"What's this for?" She pulled a jar of salad dressing from her bag.

"Salad dressing, can't you read?" Lin Yue didn't even look up, busy securing the tent.

But that wasn't all. The deeper Chen Xi dug into the backpack, the more 'shocking' it became.

She lifted out a plastic bag filled with all kinds of vegetables, still dripping with water stains.

Clearly, Lin Yue had just washed them and stuffed them in.

"Lin Yue?" Chen Xi let out a laugh of exasperation.

Lin Yue glanced over and said calmly, "Then you go make the vegetable salad. Sister Zhu Li and I will grill the meat."

The two set up the grill on the other side, and Zhu Li was already tinkering with actual—manual fire-starting.

Chen Xi finally understood what all those big and small bags were carrying.

"Forget it... this is fine too."

She put the vegetables in a bowl, casually searched for a vegetable salad recipe, picked the video with the most likes, and started following the steps.

No sooner had things settled down than Lin Yue's voice rang out from the tent again.

"Chen Xi, could there be wild deer in the bushes?" The girl's voice carried a hint of surprise.

Chen Xi had to stop what she was doing and walk around to the other side of the tent:

"Do you think this is Pokémon? Bushes mean random encounters."

"Then what's this?" Lin Yue's tone was light. Blocked by the tent, Chen Xi had to go around.

Noticing the commotion, Zhu Li also paused her grilling.

The two looked over together. A pure white deer, glowing faintly, was lying in Lin Yue's arms, licking her palm affectionately.

"It tickles, stop licking." Lin Yue laughed, gently stroking the deer.

Seeing this, Chen Xi couldn't help but exclaim, "What?!"

Even Zhu Li beside her stood frozen in place.

They could actually run into a legend?

Seeing that Chen Xi didn't recognize the creature, Zhu Li explained using flames:

[Snow Forest Spirit Deer, gentle in nature. Once it appears, it means a legend is nearby—the Vengeful Spirit Tree Demon]

Chen Xi's eyes flickered. "An experience pack incoming?"

After several cycles of observation, she had more or less figured out that Lin Yue could retain some of her Legend Degree.

The flames shifted again, continuing Zhu Li's answer.

[The Vengeful Spirit Tree Demon is a Third Rank legend]

Chen Xi's expression changed, and she shouted, "Then why aren't we running?! Lin Yue, stop petting that deer!"