The instinct to survive overwhelmed all plans.
Terry and her friends scrambled on all fours, practically crawling into the upward-opening car door.
Just as they thought they'd be packed together like sardines in a can, the sight before them left them completely stunned.
From the outside, the Batmobile didn't seem to have much interior space.
But the moment their bodies entered, the interior space seemed to be pulled outward by an invisible hand, expanding rapidly in a way that defied the laws of physics.
The cramped conditions they had anticipated simply didn't exist.
Inside was a spacious area comparable to a mobile luxury suite. Let alone seating a few more people, there was more than enough room to host a small party.
Megan and Bart also stared at all this in dumbfounded shock, their little heads filled with massive question marks.
They finally snapped out of it.
"Hey!"
Megan couldn't help but protest to Yang Yi in the driver's seat.
"You said earlier that the car could only take two more people at most. You were totally lying to us!"
Yang Yi glanced at her through the rearview mirror, his face devoid of any unnecessary emotion.
"There are too many people in your two families. If I brought everyone, the author wouldn't be able to write it all, and the readers wouldn't be able to remember you."
"Roar—!!!"
Before Megan could comprehend the profound meaning behind those words, the Batmobile's engine let out a deafening roar.
The entire vehicle surged forward instantly like a bolt of black lightning.
They had been gone for less than a second.
A muffled, violent explosion echoed behind them. A heavy sewer manhole cover was blown away by a blast of high-temperature, high-pressure air, spinning hundreds of meters into the sky.
The entire street seemed to come alive at this moment. Wherever they drove, disaster followed.
The Batmobile tore down the highway at lightning speed.
The surrounding vehicles, however, seemed to be manipulated by a giant, invisible hand, getting into bizarre accidents one after another before crashing toward them.
Rear-end collisions, rollovers, blown tires, and total loss of control.
In just a few short minutes, the once-clear highway was plunged into severe gridlock.
But none of this could stop the Batmobile's advance.
Any vehicle that crashed into it was sent flying the instant it touched its indestructible chassis.
Then, this black war chariot forcefully carved a path straight through the paralyzed flow of traffic.
Bart shouted in excitement, "This is just like playing GTA! Can I drive for a bit?"
Megan immediately grabbed him. "Don't let him drive, he doesn't have a license!"
"Shut up, Megan! You don't need a license to drive like this!"
The two then began scuffling in the backseat.
Hearing their exchange, Yang Yi suddenly realized that he didn't seem to have a driver's license either.
As they drove on, everyone noticed that the road ahead was completely blocked off.
Several massive oil tankers had gotten into a multi-vehicle pileup. One had already rolled onto its side, and it was likely that the moment they got close, the leaking crude oil would instantly ignite.
This time, ramming through wouldn't work.
Yang Yi's expression remained calm as he reached out a finger and pressed a button.
"Ding! Switching to flight mode."
The next second, the armor at the rear of the Batmobile rapidly transformed, revealing two massive turbine exhaust ports that spewed scorching blue flames.
The war chariot's front wheels instantly lifted, surging over the traffic. It sprinted forward, crushing several cars blocking its path.
Immediately after, under the terrified and incredulous gazes of everyone inside, the Batmobile roared into the air like a fighter jet.
Speeding through midair, Yang Yi glanced down at the magnificent cross-sea bridge not far below.
He had no doubt that if he had chosen to cross the bridge just now, it would have absolutely snapped in the middle and collapsed, directly staging an early screening of *Final Destination 5*.
However, the sky wasn't an absolutely safe place either.
Death's pursuit was omnipresent.
Small civilian drones and birds continuously launched suicidal strikes against the Batmobile with reckless abandon.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The sounds of impact rang out incessantly outside the cabin. Although they couldn't cause any substantial damage to the war chariot, they made the atmosphere inside increasingly oppressive.
There was even a small private plane whose engine suddenly failed in midair. Billowing thick black smoke, it changed course and glided straight toward them.
Inside the car, Terry and the others had completely broken down by now.
She had gone from crying out in distress at the beginning, to gradually becoming numb, and finally sinking into utter despair.
The others were much the same. They all shivered amidst the intermittent sounds of impact, the fear of death written all over their faces.
By now, they finally completely believed everything Alex had said earlier.
That thing called "Death" truly existed.
And it was using every imaginable—and even unimaginable—method to take their lives!
"Master..."
Clear's voice carried an uncontrollable tremble. She looked up, staring at Yang Yi's back with pleading eyes.
"Please save us. There has to be a way, right?"
"We can't... we can't just live the rest of our lives like this, can we?"
Her words voiced the despair in the hearts of all the survivors.
Everyone's gazes turned toward that man.
Yang Yi looked at them through the rearview mirror, then spoke up to comfort them:
"Don't worry, Death kills strictly according to the order on its list."
"So before Terry dies, there's a high probability the rest of you will be fine."
The air inside the cabin instantly froze.
Everyone's expressions stiffened on their faces.
What... what kind of comfort was that?
Terry, having been called out by name, trembled even more violently, her face deathly pale.
So she was completely targeted by Death right now?
Yang Yi seemed to feel that his previous comfort wasn't strong enough, so he added another sentence in that same placid tone.
"Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that it might find killing you one by one too troublesome and inefficient, and decide to innovate by wiping you all out at once."
After being comforted by Yang Yi, the survivors' expressions looked worse than if they were crying.
Amidst this suffocating atmosphere, the Batmobile slowly lowered its altitude, eventually landing smoothly on the lawn of a suburban estate.
Yang Yi killed the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt.
"We're here," he said calmly.
The group stumbled out of the car. Looking at the tranquil and beautiful estate before them, the unease in their hearts didn't diminish in the slightest.
"Is it... is it safer here?" Alex asked, his voice hoarse as he leaned against the car door.
"No." Yang Yi shook his head. "It's just quieter here, with no onlookers."
"Plus, there aren't as many annoying little accidents."
"If there are any, they should be big ones."
Just as his voice faded.
"Hiss—!"
A venomous snake suddenly darted out from the grass, baring its fangs as it lunged at Terry's ankle!
The next second, an afterimage flashed by.
Tomie had appeared beside Terry at some unknown point. She pinched the venomous snake between her fingers, an intrigued expression on her face.
Yang Yi spread his hands.
"Like I just said, there are just fewer little annoyances, not none."
The group turned and walked into the estate. Miko felt that this place was far from simple. She looked around and discovered that this estate was actually a hotel called the "Overlook Hotel."