Chapter 503: Onto the Bridge |
If this were an ordinary wooden bridge, there would be no way it could support the weight of a single vehicle.
Let alone a large, modified apocalypse migration vehicle like Bus Number Five.
Even a person walking on such a dilapidated bridge
would probably be too much for it to bear.
But this bridge was clearly different in many ways.
Chen Ye had tested it earlier. Although the wood used to build the bridge wasn't a Wonder Material and wasn't as hard as iron,
it was still somewhat different from ordinary lumber.
No one knew whether this wooden bridge could actually support the weight of a vehicle.
But... the convoy had no other choice.
Behind them lay death!
Unless they abandoned the vehicles.
But that option was a last resort. There was no way the convoy would give up their vehicles unless absolutely necessary.
After all, a migration vehicle like this was the very foundation of the convoy's existence.
Without it, too many people in the convoy would die.
This absurd decision to cross the bridge was truly a desperate, unavoidable plan.
The first vehicle to go onto the bridge was Bus Number Five.
Bus Number Five was the largest and heaviest vehicle in the entire convoy.
If this one could make it across, the rest of the vehicles should have no problem.
The driver was Bald Old Li.
Ever since the school bus had become part of Bus Number Five, Bald Old Li had been its nominal manager.
Truth be told, Bald Old Li didn't need to take the wheel himself.
But as a convoy manager, sometimes there were things they had to do themselves.
This was also Bald Old Li's own request.
At this moment, the few strands of hair on Bald Old Li's head were plastered wetly against his scalp.
His entire face was drenched in sweat.
Could that rickety old wooden bridge really support this vehicle?
The entire body of Bus Number Five was also tied up with numerous ropes.
Chen Ye had even used the willow branch attached to Hatred's handle as a rope.
The Monster Pickup Truck was parked nearby, ready to act if anything went wrong.
The monster's tentacles would reach out.
"Old Li, don't be scared. Take it slow!"
Xue Nan comforted Bald Old Li.
Old Li's lips moved. He wanted to say something, but his mouth wouldn't obey him. He couldn't get a single word out.
According to the convoy's current plan, Bus Number Five would test the waters first.
If Bus Number Five could get across, the remaining vehicles would follow.
"Squad Leader Chu, why don't we cross one by one? That way, even if the bridge can't handle the weight, we won't lose everything."
Xue Nan suggested.
Chu Che shook his head. "We have no idea how long this bridge is!"
"Crossing one by one would waste too much time!"
"We don't have that much time. The Anomalies at the foot of the mountain have already sensed the aura of the living."
"They've found us, they're just not sure of our exact location yet."
"At this point, even using my Concealment Barrier to block the aura of the living won't help much!"
"All we can do is get out of here quickly!"
"Besides, the route chosen by the Blood Path can't be a dead end!"
Xue Nan shut his mouth.
Just then, Bus Number Five wobbled and began driving onto the wooden bridge.
As the front two wheels touched the bridge,
the planks let out a series of creaking, groaning sounds.
It felt like the next second, the planks would break, and the entire vehicle would plunge into the Abyss.
Because of the added weight, the entire bridge was pressed downward, the bridge body pulled taut.
Old Li quickly slammed on the brakes. Cold sweat poured down his face.
The shirt he was wearing, its original color long unrecognizable, was now more than half soaked with sweat.
At this moment, Bus Number Five was in a state where half its body was on the cliff edge at the bridgehead, and the other half was on the bridge itself.
Although the entire vehicle wasn't at a ninety-degree angle, it was still tilted at least sixty or seventy degrees.
If this vehicle hadn't been specifically modified by Gong Yong, a Mechanic Sequence user,
it would have tipped over by now.
Everyone's gaze was fixed on the body of Bus Number Five.
The atmosphere at the scene was tense to the extreme.
Everyone's nerves were stretched tight.
Chen Ye was already prepared to act at a moment's notice if anything went wrong.
Even a faintly visible tentacle had extended from beneath the Monster Pickup Truck's chassis.
Time ticked by, second by second.
One minute...
Two minutes...
That dilapidated wooden bridge somehow managed to hold Bus Number Five steadily in place.
The sweat on Bald Old Li's forehead had already beaded on his eyelashes.
Old Li cautiously released the brakes.
The remaining two wheels of Bus Number Five slowly crawled onto the wooden bridge.
The entire bridge was pressed downward again.
Finally, when the whole vehicle was on the bridge, it stopped once more.
One minute...
Two minutes...
Five minutes...
The wooden bridge still let out creaking sounds, but Bus Number Five didn't fall into the Abyss.
The whole vehicle swayed in the mountain wind,
but it remained steadily on the bridge.
Everyone let out a long sigh of relief.
Xue Nan raised his eyes and gave a thumbs-up gesture to Bald Old Li, who was still trembling uncontrollably in the driver's seat.
Bald Old Li's face twisted into an expression uglier than crying.
"This bridge..."
Chu Che wiped the sweat from his brow, his eyes constantly scanning every part of the bridge's structure.
The wooden beast heads carved on the railings, long eroded by the mountain wind.
And the planks, already rotting away.
Under normal circumstances, a bridge like this could never support the weight of Bus Number Five.
But... it had held.
"A bridge that connects a new world and an old one can't possibly be that simple."
Chen Ye was also greedily taking in every detail of this bridge.
If he could, he would have packed up the whole bridge and taken it with him.
Even if he had no idea what this bridge was actually for.
If he had Slaughter Points, he could at least appraise it and find out what this bridge really was.
"Forget it. Let's go... If we don't leave now, the things behind us are going to catch up."
Chu Che said, his voice filled with exhaustion.
The second vehicle to get on the bridge was Chu Che's modified off-roader.
If Bus Number Five had no problem, this vehicle would be fine.
But as it drove onto the bridge, the structure sank slightly, sending a chill down many people's spines.
Fortunately, it all passed without incident.
And so, one vehicle after another drove onto the bridge.
Chen Ye's Monster Pickup Truck wasn't about to fall behind either.
The other ordinary members of the convoy also relaxed a little at this point.
With several vehicles now on the bridge, the overall weight had increased significantly.
When the mountain wind blew, the bridge's swaying was less noticeable.
The survivors filed onto the bridge one after another.
When the last person stepped onto the bridge and walked a few steps forward,
he turned around.
The sight that greeted him left him stunned.