"Is this some kind of garbage maze? How long have we been walking? I feel like we're just going in circles!"
March complained, pounding on her sore calves. They were so tired. Even though she usually wouldn't get tired from walking like this all day, she was still a patient right now!
"Strange. The map Veyl gave us should be correct."
Himeko also realized something was wrong. Even if this place was huge, they shouldn't be stuck on the same path for this long... They still hadn't seen the fork in the road that was marked on the map...
"Something's not right. Let's stop for a moment."
Wende decisively halted the group's advance.
"Dan Heng, you and I will check the surrounding area for anything strange. Jingliu and Stelle, you two protect everyone else."
Wende quickly assigned tasks. He and Dan Heng then split up, heading in opposite directions. They would communicate via the wireless devices on their phones.
"As expected of Wende, he's so reliable."
Himeko remarked with feeling, sitting down on her all-purpose toolbox.
She had originally thought this Trailblazing journey would be a lot of trouble, but it turned out Wende was solving many of the problems. No wonder Welt had the free time to study the Xianzhou's Golden People...
It was just a pity her coffee beans were all gone, otherwise she could have brewed herself a nice cup.
Himeko shook her head with a hint of regret.
"I feel a little panicky for some reason. What's going on here?"
March rubbed the goosebumps on her arms, feeling uneasy. There was a creepy feeling in her heart.
"I don't know. Let's wait for Wende and Dan Heng to get back."
Stelle said, shaking her head as she stood before the group, her lance of fire in hand.
"Hmm..."
Jingliu stared intently at Stelle, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Uh... wh-what is it?"
Stelle felt a chill run down her spine under Jingliu's gaze.
"It's nothing. Just a little curious, that's all."
Jingliu shook her head, a smile gracing her lips as she looked with great interest at the flustered Stelle.
She had to admit, in this respect, she was a bit like him. If she hadn't already verified his identity, she might have actually thought Wende had a child this old...
---o---
Cutting back to Wende, he was currently looking at the high walls of garbage on both sides, his face pensive.
According to the map Veyl provided, this should be an intersection on the main path, but right now, it was a wall made of countless piles of junk...
"Hmm... based on the usual tropes, if the scale on Veyl's map is correct, then either Veyl is tricking us, or..."
Wende expressionlessly reached his hand toward the garbage wall.
Vworp...
His hand passed easily through the "garbage wall" of light, meeting no resistance whatsoever.
"As expected. They used a virtual projection to block the road while we weren't paying attention. And because of the lighting angles here and our carelessness... okay, it was mainly just carelessness."
Wende felt a bit helpless. It seemed he shouldn't chat with them while they were traveling. A single moment of inattention could lead to trouble.
Bzzzt!
Wende's eyes narrowed. His arm, still inside the virtual projection, instantly crackled with lightning. The power of chaos differentiated into Yang qi and gathered in his palm. A torrent of thunder roared in his hand before, under his control, it遁 into the ground.
BANG! BANG! BANG!!!
A series of explosions echoed from behind the virtual projection. Then, the projection of the garbage wall began to ripple and fade away.
A brand-new path appeared before Wende's eyes.
"Sigh, better call them back. I'll have Dan Heng head this way first..."
Wende was just about to take out his phone to contact Dan Heng when he felt a powerful gust of wind rushing toward him from diagonally above!
Instinct immediately sent Wende leaping back several steps, his force cracking the ground beneath his feet.
BOOM!!
An object that looked like one of Punklorde's hovercars slammed violently into the spot where Wende had just been standing. In an instant, a shower of metal and glass shards rained down on him like a storm of pear blossoms.
Bzzzt!
The power of chaos continued to circulate. The output of Yang qi abruptly twisted into Yin qi. Dark lightning flashed in Wende's palm and, under his control, the incoming metal fragments were instantly electrified, coalescing before him into a shield of scrap metal.
Clang! Clang! Clang...
A continuous barrage of impacts hammered against the shield, but Wende, standing behind it, was completely unharmed.
This was the power of Yin and Yang transformed from the power of chaos. They were not simply Yin and Yang, but [Yin] and [Yang] on a conceptual level—the most fundamental [Power of Equilibrium], evolved from the very basis of [Rules].
In other words, Wende could make use of anything created from Yin and Yang—and all things in this world were formed from Yin and Yang...
Well, that was the theory, anyway. After all, the amount of power Wende could currently convert wasn't much... but...
It was enough.
BOOM!!!
Another hovercar plummeted from above Wende's head, appearing out of nowhere just like the last one. It was clear that this enemy was going to be quite troublesome.
"Go!"
Wende casually used the wreckage of the first hovercar to block the one falling from above. He then dusted off his hands and looked down the newly revealed path with a nonchalant expression.
Clap... clap... clap...
A figure slowly walked down the path, applauding Wende lightly. The wristband on its left hand was still glowing.
"May I ask who you are?"
Wende looked at the newcomer and spoke first.
"Me? I'm just a hacker. You don't look like you're from Punklorde, and your fighting style isn't like..."
Wende couldn't see the expression under the person's hood, but he had a feeling they were smiling.
"It seems the people of the Scrapyard are quite ill-tempered. Do you offer every guest such a grand welcome?"
Wende glanced at the two wrecked hovercars, looking completely unbothered.
"But of course. We Scrapyard folk are very hospitable. How about it? Would our guest from afar mind accompanying me to our camp for a chat?"
The hacker extended a hand in invitation toward Wende, and then...
BOOM!!
Yet another hovercar came crashing in from Wende's side.
"With how much you love ramming people with flying cars, were you a truck driver before!?"