He took out the mirror and examined his current appearance.
A Feather Tribe noble with gray-white hair, pure white pupils, and a gaze as cold and sharp as a blade stared back at him.
His body was a full size larger than before, stretching his formerly loose clothes taut.
"Perfect."
Su Ye grinned into the mirror.
Everything about him, inside and out, now exuded the aura of a genuine Feather Tribe noble.
Even if Wang Rui and the others stood right in front of him, they would never recognize him.
Just then, another system notification popped up.
[Save this appearance? (Currently available slots: 1/5)]
"This Mask can even save preset appearances?"
Su Ye's eyes lit up, and he immediately confirmed.
"I can save up to five appearances. Whenever I need one, I can transform instantly with just a thought."
"That'll save me plenty of trouble. I might as well create noble appearances for the other four tribes and save those too."
"Whichever tribe I run into, I'll use their appearance and blend perfectly into the enemy's ranks."
As Su Ye considered this, the brilliant white light enveloping the pickup truck finally began to fade.
A deep, ferocious engine roar echoed down the morning road, like a steel beast awakening.
The upgrade had succeeded!
Su Ye perked up and strode toward his brand-new vehicle, his eyes filled with anticipation.
The pickup had changed again. Its body was longer and lower, with a streamlined shape.
Its paint had turned a futuristic dark silver, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen in the morning light.
The four massive off-road tires had been replaced with wide racing tires that offered better traction.
Although it still looked like a pickup overall, its appearance was a cut above its level 2 version.
[Vehicle]: Pickup · Speedster [Level]: 3 [Durability]: 100% [Fuel]: 700 units (Each unit provides 15 kilometers of travel.) [Top speed]: 300 kilometers/hour [Onboard weapons]: None [Function modules]: Energy saving, Sprint
Su Ye looked at his completely revamped vehicle and nodded in satisfaction.
"Its top speed is now 300 kilometers an hour, a full 60 higher than at level 2."
"If I activate the Sprint module, it'll multiply that speed by five. That's 1,500 kilometers an hour."
"With a duration of ten minutes, I can cover 250 kilometers in one go."
Su Ye sucked in a breath of his dear readers' bad luck.
What did that mean?
It was already faster than the speed of sound.
This wasn't driving anymore. It was flying at ground level.
"Now I just need to wait for my family to send over more function modules and materials, and I can keep upgrading."
With that thought, Su Ye opened the door and climbed into the driver's seat.
The interior had also been completely refreshed, with a fully digital dashboard glowing a faint blue.
Su Ye gripped the steering wheel, feeling the vibrations from the engine.
He wanted to test the limits of his new ride.
Vroom!
He stomped on the accelerator, and the vehicle let out a deafening roar.
Like an arrow loosed from a bow, it instantly tore through the cold morning wind and raced toward the end of the road.
Meanwhile, in the Gray Mist World, inside the Great Xia Civilization Hall.
Wang Rui and the other two who had died had already been resurrected and had just finished reporting on Su Ye's situation.
"Everyone, our goal is clear: help Spark secure first place on the mileage leaderboard during the beginner period."
"For now, we need to solve the following problems for him."
"First is resource storage. His Storage Ring has too little space. Next, we need to arrange for people to supply him with more Storage Rings to expand its capacity."
"Second is function modules. We need to help him obtain more of them so his vehicle can reach higher levels."
Chu Ge said seriously, "Third, we need to help him improve his attributes. Once his vehicle's level rises, its speed will inevitably increase dramatically."
"He was only a college freshman before this and has never received formal training. Under those circumstances, if his physique and mental attributes aren't high enough, a high-level vehicle will become a burden instead."
Everyone nodded. Chu Ge's words left every person present looking deeply solemn.
Although the increased speed that came with upgrading a vehicle was a tremendous boon, the player's physique and mental attributes also needed to improve accordingly.
If their physique was too weak, they simply couldn't withstand the terrifying tearing forces and surging blood caused by high-speed movement.
If their mental attribute was too weak, they couldn't react during an extreme drive where everything changed in an instant.
In particular, the Fivefold Race's base attributes were far stronger than Humanity's, reaching an astonishing 5 points.
Road Survival scaled its difficulty according to each civilization's capabilities. That meant each vehicle upgrade in the Fivefold Race's Road Survival would provide a much larger increase than it had during Humanity's survival trial.
For example, during Humanity's survival trial, a level 2 vehicle had a top speed of only 180 kilometers an hour. Yet Su Ye's vehicle had already reached 240 kilometers an hour at level 2.
Humans couldn't handle that, but for the Fivefold Race, whose starting attributes were extremely high, it was effortless. They might even complain that the vehicle was too slow.
"Then let's settle on those three areas of support for now. Next, we need to find people with Storage Rings, function modules, and attribute items, then send them over to him."
As he spoke, Chu Ge turned toward the elderly man beside him. "Elder Wang, is Spark's logistical support team ready?"
"They're ready. Academicians and researchers from every field in Great Xia are all in place," Elder Wang replied.
"Since they're ready, have them begin their analysis and research. They should tailor the most suitable survival guide for Spark based on his actual circumstances," Chu Ge said.
Meanwhile, on the road.
"Holy shit, holy shit! I nearly fucking died in this thing!"
Su Ye slammed on the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a dead stop at the roadside. Then he shoved open the door, rushed out into the barren land beside the road, and vomited violently.
Just moments earlier, he had tested the limits of this level 3 vehicle's speed.
The level 3 vehicle's base speed was already absurdly fast. Then Su Ye had tempted fate by activating Sprint, pushing it straight to five times its speed.
At that instant, he had felt less like he was driving and more like he had been swept into raging ocean waves.
Fifteen hundred kilometers an hour.
The terrifying force pinning him to his seat, along with the scenery instantly blurring into streaks around him, had caused his brain to shut down on the spot.
Then Su Ye had drifted in and out of consciousness for ten seconds.
Passing out for ten seconds while traveling at fifteen hundred kilometers an hour was practically making his entry in the King of Hell's ledger of life and death flash over and over.
Fortunately, this stretch of road was perfectly straight. Otherwise, he and his vehicle would already have crashed into a mangled heap of flesh.
When he came to, Su Ye broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly reduced the speed multiplier to one.
Then he immediately took a piece of previously roasted Mutant Wild Boar meat from his Storage Ring and stuffed it into his mouth in huge bites.
As the Mutant Wild Boar meat reached his stomach, warmth flowed through his body. His physique attribute reached 2.4, finally helping him recover somewhat.
Before you continue