Energy Core

Jiang He's vicious demeanor had clearly left a deep impression on everyone.

He spent the whole afternoon leisurely eating snacks, and no one dared bother him again.

After lunch, Wang Qian chose not to rest. Instead, she immediately returned to the bus to continue her unfinished work.

That gave Jiang He another chance to enjoy the beautiful view.

After a full afternoon of meticulous observation, he came to a conclusion: steamed buns and flatbreads could freely transform into each other...

Apparently tired of looking, Jiang He couldn't help stretching.

He raised his hand and checked the time.

It was nearly seven o'clock!

Only one hour remained before the sun disappeared completely!

He didn't have to worry during the day, because very few Eldritch Horrors could transform and eat people in daylight.

But once the sun went down, it was the Eldritch Horrors' time.

"I just hope the bus gets fixed soon!"

Jiang He had no good solution to his current situation.

If Eldritch Horrors could be guarded against in advance, humanity wouldn't have suffered such heavy casualties...

He got up, loosened his muscles, and walked toward the abandoned bus in front of him.

A few survivors noticed him move.

But when they saw that he was interested in the wrecked vehicle,

they turned away in disappointment and stopped paying attention to him.

Never mind anything else; just looking at the half-missing engine, even a fool could tell the vehicle was beyond repair...

Do I have to use a whole corpse? Or does this bus refuse to eat things fed to it by strangers?

Looking at the bus, which was still battered and unresponsive, Jiang He couldn't help wondering to himself.

"Do I need to activate some kind of switch?"

Muttering to himself, Jiang He circled the bus several times, but he never found any change!

According to the system, before the bus acknowledged a master, it would devour every living creature that entered it.

So he didn't dare risk entering himself and could only peer inside through the windows from outside.

But even after using his ability to strengthen his eyes, he still couldn't see anything...

Seeing this, he forced down his growing restlessness and simply returned to his original spot and sat down.

At a time like this, he had to be all the more patient.

An hour passed quickly, and the sky gradually darkened.

Bonfires had been lit throughout Liu Lu's camp. The aroma of food drifted on the breeze, once again drawing the survivors' attention!

The members of the Rampage Group sat around the fires, chatting and laughing, making people feel as though this wasn't the apocalypse, but just an ordinary camping trip.

"Is Liu Lu not planning to live anymore?"

The occasional whiff of meat left Jiang He mildly surprised. Did these people actually have food to spare?

But he was only briefly surprised and didn't dwell on it.

He wasn't short of food himself, so there was no need to envy anyone else!

Besides, his thoughts were entirely on the bus now.

He had no desire to waste energy caring about what other people ate...

"I hope you don't take too long to repair yourself!"

Experience from his previous life had taught Jiang He that once he was separated from the crowd, death was only a matter of time!

Even as a member of the Superpower Sequence, he could last no more than half a month.

Just as he was about to lie down and check how much time remained until his upgrade, he suddenly noticed a dark red light falling over him.

Jiang He looked up and saw that the sun had completely set, and the red moon had once again taken full possession of the earth...

At the very moment the moonlight touched the bus,

something miraculous happened!

The scraps lying quietly inside the vehicle began sinking into its floor at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It was as though the hard floor had turned to quicksand, slowly devouring the food before it!

Once the bus had completely devoured the scraps, countless extremely fine black threads grew from it.

Like fibers, they gradually wrapped around the damaged areas.

Jiang He, who was not far away, naturally noticed this. At last, he understood!

The key to the bus's self-repair was the light of the red moon!

It was completely dark around him now, and the food over at Liu Lu's camp drew attention away from Jiang He.

With the cover of night as well, no one noticed anything unusual about the bus...

Soon, another hour passed.

As time went by, more and more moonlight poured down from the sky, and the once-dark camp was now as bright as day.

[Ding]

[The Weird Object - Bus has been detected to have met the conditions for a contract. Would you like to spend 1,000 system points to bind it to the host?]

After all Jiang He's waiting, the system finally gave him a notification!

"What's the difference between binding and a contract?"

Hearing both binding and contract mentioned, Jiang He was a little confused.

[A contract means that a high-level Weird Object willingly acknowledges a master. It requires an extremely strong emotional bond to succeed]

[Binding, on the other hand, uses the system to make a high-level Weird Object acknowledge a master. Not only does it require no emotional bond, but it will also make collecting Weird Objects more convenient in the future]

He had only just obtained this bus. How could he possibly get it to acknowledge him willingly?

Besides, this was a fellow that would eat people at the slightest provocation!

Their bond might be strong enough today, but what if it weakened someday? He might go to sleep and never wake up...

At that thought, Jiang He shuddered and ultimately chose to spend the points for peace of mind!

"Confirm binding!"

[Congratulations, host, on binding the level-three Weird Object - Bus. The system has automatically extracted the item within it for you]

Jiang He stared at the stone that had suddenly appeared in his hand, momentarily taken aback...

"What is this?"

Curious, he decided to spend fifty system points to appraise it first.

[Item - Energy Core]

[Ability - Can accelerate the evolution of supernatural creatures. If harnessed, it can also provide energy for Weird Objects]

[Description: A magical stone the bus inadvertently absorbed while devouring a Mutant Beast corpse. The Weird Driver later made it into an energy core and stored it in the bus to power it]

[Note: This object is extremely attractive to both Eldritch Horrors and Mutant Beasts! It seems to be connected to the great changes that have occurred in this world]

The great changes that have occurred in this world?

Wasn't that the Eldritch Horrors' invasion?

Could these stones be the reason the Eldritch Horrors suddenly invaded Blue Star in such large numbers?

A thunderclap seemed to sound in Jiang He's mind. He felt as though he had touched upon some extraordinary taboo!

And these taboos were definitely beyond his understanding for now!

He quickly stuffed the stone into his system space, only then breathing a small sigh of relief!

"I'm afraid those Eldritch Horrors and Mutant Beasts from before were attracted by this stone."

With a quiet sigh, Jiang He finally had the answer to the question that had been puzzling him.

He had wondered why, in the two or three weeks since he joined the convoy, he had never seen the bus eat or found anyone in the convoy missing.

It had all been thanks to this stone!

[Ding]

[Congratulations, host, your upgrade is complete]