With that, Yang Tao flew without hesitation towards the depths of the forest, diving into the mist, and the sound of thunder behind him rang out again.
However, as he went deeper, the thunder gradually became inaudible, and the surrounding environment grew darker.
'Is it a night environment...'
Soon, a perfectly straight asphalt road appeared abruptly beneath his feet. Yang Tao took out the artifact plant designed for the mist from his backpack.
[Three-Leaf Clover]
He took out a Three-Leaf Clover, then took out something to attract sunlight and merged it into the Three-Leaf Clover's body. The originally listless Three-Leaf Clover straightened up as if it had been injected with a stimulant.
The Three-Leaf Clover's small face made a determined expression, and its three leaves spun rapidly, a strong wind directly blowing away the mist for more than twenty meters in front.
Taking advantage of the dissipating mist, Yang Tao discovered a blue car parked by the roadside.
He cautiously walked towards the car.
This car looked like an ordinary household sedan, and there was no health bar above it. However, he had never seen the car's brand and didn't know which world it came from.
Through the car window, he could still see some supplies on the driver's seat.
He reached out and gently pulled the car door handle. With a click, the door was easily opened.
He sat in the car's driver's seat.
"It seems like this level should exploit this car..."
He reached out and picked up the supplies from the passenger seat.
[Gray Almond Water] x 2
[Luncheon Meat Can] x 1
[Fire Salt] x 2
...
Besides these, there were some miscellaneous items, which Yang Tao simply put into his backpack.
"This level, cars, mist, and a highway..."
Due to the increase in his health, Yang Tao's memory had also improved significantly. Based on these conditions, some level information popped into Yang Tao's mind.
He quickly found a level that perfectly matched his current situation.
[Level 69: The Road Trip of Affliction]
Mysterious Property: Unknown, Unknown Entity
Level 69 is the 70th level of the Backrooms: an infinitely stretching abandoned highway covered in thick fog and darkness.
Anyone entering this level must remain in the car they started in, or they will die instantly.
Description:
This level is an infinitely stretching highway with tall, weathered concrete walls on both sides. It appears to have been abandoned for a long time; the highway is deserted, with no other vehicles or signs of civilization, only confirming that it is a highway. Due to the strange fog/haze surrounding it, your visibility will be very limited. Under normal circumstances, the light you emit yourself is the only light source.
Entities:
In Level 69, there is a very low chance of encountering Smilers or Wretches. Both are more hostile than usual. For Smilers, this is because they rarely find prey in Level 69.
For Wretches, they almost reach a new level of danger here because they cannot see anything through the darkness and mist for such a long time. Do not stop the car for too long, or one of them might find you and enter your car.
Because the mist obstructs visibility, you might also crash into them, which is actually the greatest danger they pose while wandering Level 69.
Just as Yang Tao was recalling information about Level 69, a faint sound of footsteps entered his ears.
Looking through the rearview mirror, a figure was rapidly running towards the car's location.
'Is the mist spreading so quickly?'
The mist that had just been dispelled had now basically spread back again.
He slightly lowered his head and saw the car key in the ignition. Yang Tao hesitated for only a moment before reaching out, gripping the key, and starting the engine directly.
Chug... Vroom...
His luck was good; the car started normally. Two orange-yellow lights illuminated, and the surrounding mist, which had been spreading, paused as if alive.
And quickly retreated from the car's location, but Yang Tao inexplicably felt a sense of being watched. However, looking around, apart from the humanoid monster behind the car, which had slowed down considerably, he didn't find any other Entities.
'Why is Level 69, which was perfectly fine, suddenly starting to invade other levels?'
Yang Tao had no clue about this.
The only merged level he had seen was the Dyed Blood Forest of Level 14. The original old version of Level 14 should have been a field hospital, but the field hospital was swallowed by the Dyed Blood Forest. The only thing that could prove the field hospital had existed was that dilapidated hospital building.
If Level 69 'The Road Trip of Affliction' successfully invades Level 28, perhaps in the future, the only thing that can prove Level 28's existence will be a desolate fortress by the roadside...
Just then, the humanoid Entity behind the car emerged from the mist.
"A Wretch?"
A Wretch, its body decaying and full of holes, walked haltingly towards the car. Its speed was not fast, at least much slower than before the car started.
The opponent walked step by step towards the car. Seeing this, Yang Tao frowned slightly.
[Health: 102 / 102]
This Wretch's health was the highest he had ever seen for a Wretch, basically double that of an ordinary Wretch.
Gear engaged, accelerator pressed.
The car tires and the asphalt road emitted a piercing friction sound, and the car, like an arrow released from a bow, slammed violently into the Wretch.
Bang.
The rear bumper was visibly dented a large amount.
Thump, thump.
Yang Tao showed no mercy, directly stepping on the accelerator and running over the Wretch.
First gear... accelerator...
Thump, thump...
The Wretch in this Level 69 'The Road Trip of Affliction' had very good physical quality. Even so, it still retained one-third of its health.
'Sure enough, when you're out and about, you need to buy a semi-trailer on loan...'
He rolled down the window, took out the M500, aimed at the limping Wretch trying to get up, and directly pulled the trigger.
Bang...
A .50 caliber bullet directly penetrated the Wretch's head. The effect of the fire arrow was triggered, and the Wretch, like a torch, wailed and fell to the ground, losing its life.
Looking at the Wretch's body, Yang Tao's heart became alert... That feeling of being watched still hadn't disappeared.
However, he quickly reacted.
He was here to solve the level invasion problem, not for sightseeing.
'The owner of this gaze must know something about the level invasion problem...'
His mind raced, and then he thought that this inexplicable sense of being watched only appeared after starting the car, combined with the warning in the level information that he was not allowed to get out of the car...
A slight smile appeared on Yang Tao's face.
He reached for the door handle and directly opened the car door.
The feeling of being watched became even more obvious.
'No wonder it doesn't allow getting out of the car...'
He immediately got out of the car and walked to the edge of the mist.
'Shave...'
Yang Tao's figure instantly disappeared from his original spot, only to see a white-gray auxiliary limb appear where he had just stood. It looked somewhat like a spider leg, but this spider leg did not have the usual leg hair of a spider leg.
"I found you!"
He looked up at the sky covered by mist, and in that instant, he seemed to meet a pair of eyes.