Bursting with Joy

"Remember, you brought this on yourselves."

Chen Feng turned the wheel and floored the accelerator, pulling away.

"Trying to run? Not a chance!" the greasy man shouted. "Son, don't let him get away!"

The boy excitedly sniffed back his runny nose. "Got it!"

"Box him in! From the front and back!"

Father and son chased Chen Feng from opposite directions. They probably thought a car exploding meant it would make a loud bang, scare the player, and end their ride early.

Seeing Chen Feng's car blare warnings as he was attacked from both sides, Meng Chengcheng instinctively called out, "Be careful!"

Chen Feng glanced toward her. Meng Chengcheng was risking a collision to cut off the greasy man's car and take some pressure off him. His heart stirred. Looks like she really has fallen for me.

But just then, the middle-aged woman, who had been frightened moments ago, charged in and knocked Meng Chengcheng aside. "Stay away from my husband!"

"Nicely done!"

The greasy man burst out laughing. "I've got a wife. Do you?"

With that, he charged straight at Chen Feng.

Behind Chen Feng, the boy pursued him relentlessly in his bumper car.

"Nowhere left to run!"

Chen Feng was trapped between them. Even the god of downhill racing would probably have been done for.

But Chen Feng activated the Sandevistan.

In an instant, everything around him slowed.

Now, someone might ask: Chen Feng had sped up, but his car hadn't. What good would it do to turn the wheel a hundred times in a second if the car couldn't keep up?

Well, it did some good.

The car couldn't speed up, but Chen Feng was plenty strong.

He leaped out, intending to kick his car clear.

Then he reconsidered. If he could smash a brick with one punch, what if a kick blew the car apart?

So he carefully gave it a gentle push, moving it out of the trap. Then he got back in and let time resume.

"What?"

"Ah!"

The father and son, both driving at full speed, blinked in confusion. The white car right in front of them had vanished, leaving them staring at each other.

"No!"

It was too late to brake.

Crash!

Their cars collided head-on.

The impact jolted through them. Both lost their grip on their steering wheels and were shaken senseless, their insides aching as though a boxer had punched them.

And it wasn't over. Both had already hit Chen Feng once, and now they had hit each other. Warning bells began ringing from both cars.

"See you."

Tires squealed against the ground as Chen Feng sped away.

The two had barely recovered from the collision when they heard limbs tapping against the ground.

The ghost cars were coming.

Run! Run!

The greasy man wrenched his steering wheel around, made a wide turn, and escaped the ghost cars.

His school-age son wasn't so lucky.

Crash!

A ghost car rammed the boy's white car aside. Its warning bell immediately became frantic.

Before, it had gone ding-dong, ding-dong.

Now it went ding-ding-ding-ding.

Like the countdown on a time bomb.

At the sound, the nearby ghost cars immediately backed away from the boy.

"Dad, my car's broken!"

The boy looked helplessly at his father. No matter how he pressed the accelerator or turned the wheel, the car wouldn't respond.

The greasy man frowned. "What kind of lousy ride is this? We waited in line forever, and they stop you playing after two bumps?"

"Dad! I'm not done yet."

"All right, all right. Stop fussing. I'll take you on it again in a bit."

"Yay!"

Hearing that his dad would take him on another ride, the boy threw both hands up in delight.

Then he burst with joy.

Boom!

The greasy man froze. Flames suddenly shot high from his son's car, and amid a blast of scorching air and an acrid stench, the entire vehicle exploded.

Metal parts, tires, and his son, who hadn't even had time to scream, were reduced to charred fragments.

His boy had been blown to bits.

"Son!"

The couple screamed at the same time.

The middle-aged woman slammed on the brakes and scrambled toward the wreckage.

But halfway there, a ghost car charged at her. Its tongue flicked out, curled around her, and swallowed her whole!

"Crunch, crunch, crunch."

"Pah!"

The ghost car spat out a pile of bone fragments.

"Ah! My wife!"

The greasy man shouted as he dodged the ghost cars behind him. His hatred for Chen Feng had reached its peak. "You knew from the start, didn't you? You knew those things were real monsters!"

"Why didn't you tell us? Why?"

"You got them killed!"

Meng Chengcheng could hardly believe what she was hearing. She had seen everything. "Mister, you're the ones who started this. And a monster killed your wife. You're too scared to blame it, so you're blaming us instead?"

Chen Feng told Meng Chengcheng not to waste her breath. "Why bother arguing with him? Hey, mister, let's say it was my fault. What are you going to do about it?"

The greasy man's eyes went red. "I'll fucking kill you!"

Seeing him charge with nothing to lose, Chen Feng showed no fear. "Come on, then!"

Their cars slammed together, separated, then slammed together again!

Ding-ding-ding-ding! The frantic warnings rang from both cars.

"You think that because both our cars are wrecked, you've dragged me down with you?"

"Haven't I?"

"Idiot. I've got a girlfriend. Have you still got a wife?"

Chen Feng flipped himself into Meng Chengcheng's car.

The greasy man stood there alone, at a loss.

"No! Stay away!"

He took off running for his wife's car, but how could two legs outrun four?

Watching a ghost car devour the greasy man, Meng Chengcheng brushed back her hair and said irritably, "Who's your girlfriend?"

Chen Feng laughed it off. "I was just messing with him."

People were strange. Chen Feng's casual attitude left Meng Chengcheng feeling a little disappointed, but this was no time to dwell on it. The question now was: "What do we do next?"

The game had originally set five people against five monsters. Each person could keep one ghost car occupied, bumping it every so often, and no one would be in danger.

But now they had one car against five monsters. If the monsters boxed them in, neither of them would escape.

"Don't panic. The middle-aged woman's car is still there."

The moment Chen Feng finished speaking, a crash rang out.

The car was gone.

Chen Feng fell into thought.

At the amusement park, revealing details about an attraction cost Game Coins. That meant being matched with newcomers who knew nothing was unavoidable.

And if clearing an attraction depended entirely on teammates, that didn't seem reasonable.

There had to be a way to clear it alone.

What was it?

Chen Feng remembered Meng Chengcheng saying they could steal a black car, just like in Hide-and-Seek.

Right. The black cars were monsters made of flesh and blood. No matter how many times they collided, they wouldn't explode.

The problem was that they ate people! A visitor would be swallowed the moment they got close.

Even if someone could stun one by ramming it and climb aboard, wouldn't it just shake them off when it woke up?

Damn it. If only they were dead.

Wait. Dead?

"With my strength, I could kill them outright."

Chen Feng's superintelligence told him it was time to use his superstrength.

But that wouldn't do.

Meng Chengcheng's still here. If I suddenly show off and smash a monster to pulp with one punch, even an idiot would know I'm not Liu Xiaohu.

Chen Feng still didn't know his identity had been exposed long ago.

Is there a way an ordinary person could kill a monster? As he thought it over, his eyes suddenly lit up. "I think I know what to do."

He hit the brakes, grabbed the steering wheel, and turned the car a full 180 degrees.

Meng Chengcheng was startled. "Why are you driving toward the ghost cars? Stop!"