Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 54: Steel Current Championship

Countless vehicles of all shapes and forms could be seen speeding through the race track. Some were small and nimble, and some were domineering monsters, destroying their surrounding vehicles with mechanical arms. Every single second, a vehicle could be seen flying or exploding. Above the iron chains, countless sensors were installed. These installations were probably what they used to record the participants' race duration and destroyed vehicles.

"My god. There are so many vehicles. We'll definitely be destroyed the moment we enter," Zhang Bao'er exclaimed.

"Canyue, I notice that most of these vehicles don't have drivers. They are probably being controlled from outside the track," said Old Du calmly.

When I focused, I saw that one of the speeding vehicles really had an empty driver's seat. These vehicles were all being controlled remotely.

Zhang Bao'er also noticed, and he shouted, "Prince, are you trying to get us killed? All these vehicles are without drivers. What do you mean by 'no punishment for causing deaths' here?"

"I did use the term 'in the event of,' " said the prince.

"I " Zhang Bao'er was about to start cussing when Old Du stopped him.

"Canyue, they're catching up soon. If we don't enter the race track, we're dead anyway. Don't hesitate," said Zhang Xingxing.

From the rearview mirror, I could clearly see the two Gandos. They were only a few steps away from reaching us.

'Looks like I can only bet everything on this,' I thought.

To the right side ahead of us, there was a minor lane that merged into the race track. I pressed one of the holographic arrows and steered the car into the lane. A stream of steel quickly whistled past ahead of us, not leaving us an opening to actually drive into the track.

At that moment, I saw a small vehicle coming toward us. Behind it was a bigger vehicle that looked like a truck. It moved to smash the small vehicle with a massive mechanical arm. The small vehicle dodged nimbly and avoided the attack. But to the left of the small vehicle, a big fellow that looked like a tank on four wheels appeared. The tank rammed into the small vehicle, sending it flying into the sky.

Immediately, an opening appeared on the track. I grabbed the opportunity and joined the unending stream of steel. About three seconds after I entered the track, the two Gandos reached the track's entrance.

We could see that the two Gandos were immensely furious. All the patrol cars also stopped at the track entrance. The powerful current of steel and the violent competition had caused them all to shrink back.

"Finally, we're free of those idiots," said Zhang Bao'er as he heaved a breath of relief.

"We're not safe yet. Now, we'll have to rely on Canyue's driving skills," said Old Du.

With great difficulty, I kept the car going forward on the track. A rookie racer could easily catch the attention of veteran racers. Generally, these rookies would serve as free points for the veterans.

"Contestant number BXD589, your participation has been approved. Please remember your number. There are no rules to the Steel Current Championship. Your result will be determined by how long you last on the track. You need to last at least three hours before an exit will be made available for you. The robots of the organizing committee will personally tally the number of vehicles you destroy. The usage of ranged weapons is prohibited. And now, feel free to start your glorious racing career. Your timer starts now," the system notification sounded from the car's communicator.

"Wow, this really is a race. No weapons are allowed. Canyue, we'll be relying on you. You must survive three hours before we can leave," said Zhang Bao'er.

"I feel like I can't even survive 10 minutes," I replied.

I saw a blue truck appear to my left. The big fellow was adorned with eight massive wheels, each bigger than my car itself. The truck was madly running over the vehicles in front of it. In the blink of an eye, three vehicles were crushed. Instantly, the blue truck seemed to notice our slow patrol car. It drifted to the side and rushed toward me like a giant landslide.

"Danger! Watch out, Canyue!" Zhang Xingxing cried out nervously.

The blue truck's wheel approached us, causing me to hastily swerve to the right to avoid it. To my right was a black bulldozer, which immediately sent its mechanical fist smashing down at us the moment it saw us. Everyone in the car screamed.

I managed to avoid most of the attack, but the iron fist grazed the back of our car, lifting the front of our car from the impact. I hurriedly pressed the acceleration button. The car might have lost most of its speed, but I made use of the remaining speed to bring the front of the car back to the ground.

'That was way too dangerous. We almost flipped, and all of us were almost turned into mincemeat,' I thought as cold sweat drenched my body.

The truck and bulldozer seemed to have realized how weak we were. Thus, the two squeezed us from both sides, attempting to crush us between them. As they were about to close in on us, I pressed the brake button. With a bang, the truck's massive wheels flipped the bulldozer. The bulldozer spun five or six times before being reduced into scrap iron. I then removed my hand from the brake and dashed forth from the left of the truck.

"Beautifully done, Canyue," shouted Zhang Bao'er behind me.

My maneuver seemed to have infuriated the blue truck. It accelerated and chased after us. At that moment, I saw a convoy of smaller vehicles to the left ahead of me. The smaller vehicles were sticking close together to help each other against the bigger vehicles.

There were more than 10 of them, and they were nimble. When I joined them, they immediately adjusted their formation to ensure that each vehicle maintained a similar distance from each other. Meanwhile, the blue truck chased after us relentlessly, ramming into the formation.

"This is too much! Canyue, I'll flip it with my cluster bomb!" said Zhang Bao'er.

"No. Something bad might happen if we break the rules, such as not having any exit made available for us. We need to focus on surviving three hours before leaving," said Old Du calmly.

Hearing Old Du's words, I checked the time. Only 30 minutes had passed so far. With its powerful engine, the blue truck quickly came near us. The small vehicles moved deftly and evaded the blue truck with a series of ingenious maneuvers before reassembling into a new formation further ahead of us to the right.

My patrol car was not powerful enough. I pressed the accelerator button and tried my best to stick to the formation. Unfortunately, my slow speed allowed the blue truck to catch up yet again.

"Canyue, its big wheels are going to run over us soon," reminded Dondon after checking the rearview mirror.

I placed my hand atop the defensive button and prepared to activate the car's defense at the moment of collision. Just as the blue truck was about to reach us, a massive sickle dropped from the sky and cut the truck into two. The broken pieces of the truck rolled on the track and then erupted in fiery explosions. A monstrous racing tank appeared before us. This was the vehicle that had ambushed the blue truck.

"Dang! This fellow is too ferocious! It occupies two lanes all by itself!" said Zhang Bao'er.

After destroying the blue truck, the racing tank casually destroyed a random small vehicle beside it.

"Prince, are you sure you've never heard of someone destroying 100 vehicles?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm certain," replied the prince.

"Shouldn't a monster like this complete that goal easily? Who can stop it?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"There is always someone bigger out there. These racers are overly specialized," analyzed Old Du calmly.

The racing tank slowly approached us. With our pitiful speed, everyone wanted a piece of us. In truth, I was already fed up with the endless pursuit. With the condition of our patrol car, we wouldn't be able to last three hours.

"We should break free with our firepower. If we continue like this, we're going to die. We might as well fight it out," I said.

"Do it. Destroy all these toys! I have been waiting to crush all of them!" said Zhang Bao'er.

"Our goal is an audience with the emperor, not a race. Let's make a little change to this unhealthy game," I remarked.

"Will something bad happen as a result?" asked Old Du calmly.

"Just do it, consequences be damned. I'm tired of playing around with these scraps of metals. Perhaps Domo will be able to locate us afterward," I said.

"Time door. Yes, I look forward to him discovering us and opening the door for us," said Zhang Xingxing.

While we were talking, the racing tank was already close to us. It pressed on and raised its sickle high in the sky.

"Permission to open fire granted. Fire at will. Hold nothing back," said Zhang Xingxing.

Old Du and Zhang Bao'er then unleashed both their hand-carried guns and their back-attached guns at the same time. The guns roared with fury, unleashing countless tracking bullets toward the weaker parts of the racing tank.

While the hail of bullets was creating numerous sparks on the tank, Zhang Xingxing launched three cluster bombs at the tank's wheels, flipping the giant with a massive explosion. The tank made several turns in the air before crashing and exploding on the ground.

"Contestant number BXD589, you have violated the rules of the Steel Current Championship. Please self-detonate in 10 minutes or you will be destroyed on the track," the system's voice rang out in the car.

"Self-detonate your mother," scolded Zhang Bao'er.

Then, he lifted his gun and sprayed his bullets at the installations beside the track, causing the race monitoring devices to explode. The surrounding vehicles seemed to have noticed something unusual going on, so they hurriedly distanced themselves from us.

Zhang Xingxing, Zhang Bao'er, and Old Du, who were in the mood for more destruction, started firing at these vehicles as well. No matter how fast or how big they were, the vehicles couldn't withstand our ferocious firepower. One vehicle after another exploded, and chaos erupted on the race track. While we were happily firing away, over 10 air defense drones arrived above us.