Ita Era

Chapter 44 Going Home (7)

A day passed, the team covered dozens of kilometers, and spent several hundred yuan. Fortunately, they had Ding Shi, this all-around warrior, who mitigated some of the losses.

At 11 PM on the first night, everyone successfully obtained their C1 driver's licenses. Ritian, nearly two meters tall, emerged from the testing center with his license and burst into tears upon seeing Chuyu and Dingshi. Mumu initially remained calm, after all, she was the team's financial backer, but with each failure, her once bright eyes became lifeless. Finally, upon receiving her license, she hugged Chuyu tightly, refusing to let go.

As for Chuyu, she gave up on the exam from the start. On the way to Nanyue County, when everyone tried to drive on the road, her stalling rate reached 90%. The few times she barely succeeded, she stalled again because she tried to shift into second gear.

Under the streetlights outside the exam hall, everyone sat on cardboard boxes, eating compressed biscuits and drinking tap water. Occasionally, shouts could be heard from the waiting area: "I passed! I passed!"

Chu Yu said, "If we don't count today, there are still six days left. That's 4200 kilometers, so we need to drive at least 700 kilometers every day."

Everyone nodded. It wasn't too difficult; you could usually drive 80-100 kilometers on a national highway.

初鱼道：“我们还剩下320元。一升汽油4元，我们还可以购买80升汽油。百公里5个油，320元能跑1600公里。除了赶路，我们还要想办法搞钱。”

Kai said, "Anything that can make money is written in the criminal law. We've all seen how powerful the robotic police are today."

Ding Shi spoke up at the right moment, saying, "During your exams, I heard some information and discovered a bug in this instance."

"BUG".

Ding Shi nodded: "To put it simply, where there is no cell phone signal, there is no law, and all the robotic police can only operate within signal areas. The AI ​​world has a wide coverage area, but it is not comprehensive. Also, everyone, look at the map."

Ding Shi unfolded the map and pointed to it: "The total distance from Nanyue County to Nanxia City is 380 kilometers. But I found an unnamed road here. By taking the unnamed road, it only takes 200 kilometers from Nanyue County to Nanxia City, of which the unnamed road is 120 kilometers long."

Chu Yu asked, "Ding Shi, do you mean that the unnamed road might be a non-signal zone?"

Ding Shi nodded: "I think the nameless road is not only a non-signal zone, but also a danger zone. We might encounter humans who are resisting AI rule. I suspect they destroyed the base stations to create a non-signal zone."

Ding Shi added: "In addition, there are many similar unnamed roads, with two or three in almost every province. The most impressive one is this one, Heishuigou Road, which shortened the original 600-kilometer journey to 170 kilometers."

Kai asked, "Blackwater Ditch Road? The Blackwater Ditch where the wanted criminal Flying Axeman Ferrang is located?" He remembered the wanted poster he had seen in Nannan Village.

Ding Shi nodded and said, "That's the situation. I will follow the captain's instructions."

Chu Yu looked at the map and asked, "Who is the wanted criminal on the nameless road?"

Everyone shook their heads: "I don't remember."

Chu Yu said, "If we go into the non-signal zone, we might be able to obtain some resources." Resources include gasoline and money, which can only be obtained through monetary transactions in the signal zone.

Ding Shi said, "It's hard to say whether we can get resources in the non-signal zone. But we basically can't get resources in the signal zone. Besides, if we can catch one or two wanted criminals, we won't have to worry about the travel expenses for the rest of the journey."

Everyone waited for Chuyu's decision. After a long time, Chuyu said, "We can find non-signal zones on the map, and other players can also find non-signal zones."

Ding Shi denied it: "Other players can only find shortcuts; not many people know about the so-called non-signal zone." Chu Yu asked: "How do you know about the non-signal zone?"

Ding Shi replied, "I'm just speculating. There's a library next to the exam hall, which discusses the obstacles to AI development, including non-signal areas where signals are hard to reach. There are many factors that create non-signal areas, such as magnetic field disturbances, terrain obstruction, and human-caused damage."

Ding Shi said, "There just happens to be a road called Blackwater Ditch Road, and we just happened to see a wanted poster related to Blackwater Ditch today. So I made some connections and guessed that Blackwater Ditch Road might be in a non-signal zone. Based on my guess, I found roads similar to Blackwater Ditch Road and discovered that these roads are all shortcuts."

Kai said, "The current situation means that we either have to stick to the national highway or take the risk of taking a shortcut. Taking a shortcut not only shortens the journey but also has the potential to obtain resources, but it also carries great danger. Taking the national highway ensures that we are always under the protection of the AI, and the AI ​​also protects other players and NPCs, so there is almost no opportunity for us to commit crimes."

Kai looked at Chu Yu and said, "Yu Yu, whatever decision you make, I will support you."

If you die in the instance or fail to complete the main quest, you will be forcibly teleported to Four Symbols City, becoming a resident of the North City, the lowest-ranking resident. This is a one-way teleportation; there is no chance to return to the instance.

From some perspectives, the cost of death and failure is still quite high, and everyone would rather complete two casual dungeons, get a one-way ticket, and take control of their own destiny.

Chu Yu asked, "We don't have enough money for travel right now. If we take the national highway, is there any way to obtain resources?"

Kai replied, "The coverage of surveillance cameras in cities is close to saturation, making it too difficult to obtain resources within cities. However, it's different on national highways, where the blind spots are larger than the area monitored by surveillance cameras. But there are patrol officers and covert police on national highways, and surveillance cameras may be hidden in the roadside bushes."

Chu Yu said, "My question is, are we qualified to be thieves? Or are we qualified to be robbers? I ask you, if there is an NPC family camping by the roadside, would you go up and rob them? If the owners resist, would you kill them? To avoid being exposed, would you kill the children?"

No one answered.

Chu Yu said, "It seems we can only try our luck in the off-signal area."

Ding Shi said, "I disagree."

"Huh?" Everyone was puzzled. Didn't Ding Shi agree to the arrangement? Ding Shi didn't seem like a two-faced person.

Ding Shi said, "When our survival is in danger, you can't even bear to harm the NPCs on the national highway. What right do you have to risk going into non-signal zones?"

Ritian rarely spoke up, but he retorted, "Because the non-signal zone is full of bad guys, we have no psychological burden in taking action."

Ding Shi thought for a moment and said, "I reserve my opinion, but I will follow the arrangements."

Chu Yu had a pretty good grasp of everyone's thoughts and said, "Okay, let's take a shortcut. Kai, is there a way to collect weapons?"

Kai replied, "I just looked at a few trash cans, and the contents were very simple, all foam and cardboard. I suspect it's a backdoor the system opened for us, allowing us to survive by selling recyclables."

Chu Yu nodded: "Everyone, take another 15-minute break. Ri Tian, ​​you're in charge of filling the empty bottles with water. Tonight, Kai Ge will drive, and Ding Shi will navigate. Everyone else, rest and we'll switch shifts tomorrow morning. Kai Ge and Ding Shi, if you're tired, find a safe place to park and rest. It's up to you."

Ding Shi and Kai Ge replied, "Okay."

(End of this chapter)