Fantasy Game: Infinite City

Chapter 558 Route 85 (7)

"Isn't this the truck driver from before? Where did you find him?"

"Just in the wasteland on the right, this guy seems to be running away from something, but we didn't see anything."

"Look at his condition. This guy fainted after seeing us."

"Ok."

Liz, returning to the SUV from the other side of the road, saw Adenauer and Frank carrying the truck driver. After briefly explaining the situation, they decided to check on the truck driver. Although they had many questions about him, such as why he was here after a year of disappearance, why he was still wearing the same clothes he had been wearing, and why they were still clean, where his other two colleagues or friends were, and why they left the truck, etc., to answer these questions, they had to wait until he woke up first.

"We don't have the proper medical equipment here, so we can't perform a detailed examination. However, he has no external injuries. Perhaps he fainted due to low blood sugar from prolonged hunger. You said before that he might be running away from something, or perhaps he was just too frightened."

Adenauer didn't have any paper rope nearby. Using the contractor's equipment, he had already completed a medical scan of the truck driver. The situation was similar to Liz's suspicions. The driver had traveled a long distance over the past few days and hadn't eaten. He had, however, been drinking water, but judging by the excessive bacterial count in his system, he must have found some dirty puddles along the way.

Moreover, the truck worker seemed to have a problem with his brain. He lost his memory for a certain period of time, but his brain was not damaged. The contractor's equipment could restore these memories, but doing so would consume a certain amount of energy and would risk exposing the equipment, so Adenauer did not do so.

Adenauer was not very interested in the truck worker, so after taking the truck worker into the SUV, Adenauer continued to drive the vehicle along Highway 85, while Liz continued to take care of the unconscious truck worker in the back seat.

Around eight or nine in the morning, the truck worker in the back seat woke up. He was very weak, but still showed signs of panic after waking up.

"Calm down, you are safe now."

"I...I'm so hungry..."

After opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was Liz's face, which did make the truck driver relax a little. After confirming that he had left the wasteland, the truck driver finally regained some consciousness. A severe feeling of hunger immediately rushed up, and he instinctively expressed his feelings.

"Eat something, don't be in a hurry, no one will take it away from you."

There was a lot of food in the off-road vehicle. Liz gave him some easily digestible bread. After taking the bread, the truck worker opened the package and began to gobble it up. He ate more than a dozen loaves of bread, several cans of food, and drank several bottles of drinks in one breath. He was so full that he couldn't stand it, but his expression was very fortunate, full of joy of surviving the disaster.

"Thank you for saving me."

"Why are you here in the wasteland?"

"I... I can't remember anything. I just remember that I was in the truck, and then something happened. My two friends and I suddenly left the truck, and after that... after that... I can't remember anything."

Finding that he had forgotten some things, the truck driver tried to recall those forgotten memories, but as soon as he did so, he felt a splitting headache, as if someone was pulling on his head with a saw.

"Don't think about it for now. Just rest for a while. We can find a town or city to drop you off along the way."

"Thank you..."

"What's your name? Do you remember this?"

"My name is Carl."

When Carl said his name, Liz looked at Frank in the passenger seat. Frank nodded and immediately checked the news at the time. Carl was indeed one of the three missing truckers. To further calm Carl's emotions, Liz revealed her identity as a police officer and showed him her badge.

"Why do I feel like your name sounds familiar?"

"Is it the missing person case from a year ago?"

"What missing persons?"

"Karl, didn't you say you were on some truck before?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Look at this."

Frank pulled up the news about the changes on the central control panel, and Carl was shocked when he saw it. He was not shocked by the case itself, but by the time it happened.

"What? I've been...over a year?"

"So you are indeed on this?"

"Yes..this truck is the one we left earlier."

"If that's the case, then it'll be easy. Once we find the next town or city, we can call your family using the number left by the missing person's family. We'll have them come pick you up."

"Thank you... But have you seen my two friends? I remember we didn't seem to separate."

"No, we were in the wasteland beside the road. We only saw you. There were no plants or large rocks around the wasteland, and the sun had already risen, so we could see clearly. We didn't see anyone else."

"Ok."

Carl's head was a little groggy from trying to recall forgotten memories, and before long, he fell asleep again. The SUV continued along Highway 85 for several hours, arriving at another city around 85: AM. From here, the two sides of Highway were no longer barren, but rather large, well-cultivated farmlands and vast, artificially planted grasslands. Although it was the size of a city, because the main economy of Steinberg relied on agriculture and some animal husbandry, it felt more humane than the average city. There were also many delicious foods, and the local wine was also famous.

The long journey made everyone a little tired. Frank and Liz originally thought that Adenauer would leave Karl here and then set off immediately, but he did not do so. Instead, he decided to stay and rest for a day. It seemed that he might be a little tired.

But Adenauer actually stayed here because the mission map had marked a key area. In dungeons without a clear main quest, these occasional key areas often contain important side quests or important NPCs. The appearance of these key areas changes based on the player's actions. Since Adenauer was about to head to Johor Bahru, the contents of this area were likely related to Johor Bahru. Investigating this area might help him reach Johor Bahru later, so Adenauer stayed.

Using the cash he had robbed from the drug dealers before, Adenauer planned to get some communication tools, that is, mobile phones. He bought a few mobile phones, kept two for himself, and gave one to Frank and Liz respectively. Then he prepared to find a place to stay. Stuttgart was special. There were no hotels or ordinary inns in the city, only some places similar to B&Bs. He found a B&B near an important area and rented it. The three of them planned to rest first, but before that, they had to get Karl away.

Liz successfully contacted Carl's family using the contact information of the missing persons' families left in the news. After seeing Carl through the video call, his family was ecstatic and cried with joy. Carl also kept crying. After contacting his family, Adenauer suddenly appeared during the call. He was holding a bundle of banknotes and threw it to Carl. He didn't have any identification or driver's license, so he couldn't go home on his own. He needed to wait for his family to pick him up, but it would take at least ten hours, so he needed a place to wait during this time. Adenauer didn't intend to let Carl stay here, so he gave him a bundle of banknotes and told him to find a place to stay. The reason he gave was also very reasonable. He was from the Security Bureau and was on a mission. Liz and Frank were police officers cooperating with the mission. They couldn't just stand by and watch Carl die, but after all, the mission required a certain degree of confidentiality, so Carl couldn't stay.

Carl was very grateful for the help in contacting his family, not to mention the money they had left for him, so Carl naturally cooperated very well. After thanking them, he took the money and left the B&B. After confirming that Carl had left, Adenauer returned to the garage and took out the weapons he had put in the trunk after discovering Carl.

"Would you like to get something to eat? We haven't had a proper meal in ages, and after what happened last night, I really need a good meal."

"Buy it with cash. Don't use your two bank cards. It will reveal your location."

"I know. I'll go get some. What do you guys want to eat?"

"Rib BBQ."

"Barbecued ribs? I haven't had them in a while. Bring me some too."

"I'm craving some barbecued ribs, too. That's settled. I'll go look for it in the city. Sterburgh has a well-developed livestock industry, so there should be a lot of barbecued rib restaurants."

"And get me some new clothes, nothing too flashy. Work T-shirts or something like that."

"no problem."

Liz, feeling slightly better, took on the task of buying supplies and food. Frank stayed at the guesthouse, researching rumors and suspicious information related to Johor Bahru. Adenauer stayed in the garage, cleaning the guns. He also used the garage's repair tools to make some simple remote-controlled bombs. He installed some of them on the SUV and prepared the rest, placing them on a nearby table.

About an hour later, Adenauer finished cleaning the guns and heard footsteps outside the door leading from the garage to the house. Using his ability of X-ray vision, he saw that it was Frank.

"what's up?"

"Liz has been out for an hour and hasn't come back yet."

"We haven't revealed our whereabouts, so she shouldn't be in any trouble."

"But I'm still worried."

"Give."

Adenauer took out the SUV keys from his arms and threw them directly to Frank.

"If you're worried, you can drive over and look for her, but I don't think Liz will be a problem. Grilling ribs takes time, and she might be taking advantage of this time to buy some clothes."

"Okay, I decided to go check it out."

"Whatever, I'll stay here."

Frank decided to drive to find Liz, so Adenauer naturally did not put the guns back into the SUV. Frank didn't care much and drove the SUV away from the B&B.

After Frank left, Adenauer grabbed two pistols, some ammunition, and a few remote-controlled bombs and headed for the key areas on the map. Before leaving the hotel, Adenauer pulled out his newly purchased phone and checked the locations of the remote-controlled bombs he had connected to it. The remote-controlled bombs, mounted on the SUV, could be used as a locator, allowing him to locate Frank on a particular road within the city.

Putting away his phone, Adenauer walked around the B&B area and found a tractor. Tractors were a common form of transportation in Stuttgart, so they naturally wouldn't arouse suspicion. Using the tractor, Adenauer quickly entered the key area marked on the map. It seemed to be a farm. Not far away, he could see people working in the fields. A little further away, there was a large fenced area with a number of livestock, such as cattle and sheep.

As Adenauer delved deeper into the important area, its scope gradually narrowed, eventually settling on a barn-sized area. However, the barn was located within the farm's fenced area, and with many people around, entering required a suitable reason. For Sterburg, whose economy relied on agriculture and animal husbandry, finding a reason was not difficult.

Adenauer quickly entered the farm through the main gate, under the pretext of buying crops and fruit. This kind of visitor buying things was common in Stirburg, so it didn't arouse suspicion from the farm workers or the owner. As for the tractor, Stirburg was packed with tourists every year who came specifically out of curiosity to try driving a tractor, so it wasn't uncommon.

Adenauer, carrying a basket of fruit and corn, successfully entered the farm and struck up a conversation with the owner. He suggested paying the owner to show him around for a visit, as he wanted to tour the farm. The farm wasn't busy, so the owner readily agreed to his request, and Adenauer successfully entered the barn.

"The barns here seem different from those elsewhere. Is it the unique architectural style of Sterburgh?"

"That's not what you're talking about. This place was originally going to be used as a stable, but the horse market hasn't been good lately, so I didn't buy any horses. But since it's already been built, it can't be wasted, so I'm using it as a barn for now."

"I see. No wonder I felt this place looked a bit like a stable."

While chatting with the farm owner, Adenauer discovered something suspicious about the stable, which served as a barn. There seemed to be a large space beneath the stable, but there was no entrance or passageway connecting it to the stable. Furthermore, the entrance to the space below didn't seem to be inside the farm, but somewhere on the west side of the farm's perimeter.

After taking a look at his phone, he found that Frank was returning to the B&B, so Adenauer suggested to transport the purchased things back to the residence first. He said goodbye to the farm owner and used the tractor to return to the B&B with the purchased things. The farm was closer to the B&B than Frank, so Frank returned in an off-road vehicle more than ten minutes after he returned, with Liz on it.

"Like you said, after Liz bought these clothes, it took some time to wait for the ribs to be grilled... Where did all this fruit and corn come from?"

"There's a farm next door. I saw people transporting fruit to buy at the door, so I went to the farm next door and bought some. It tasted pretty good."

"Okay, let's eat first. I'm starving."

Frank didn't think anything was strange, but Liz noticed something unusual. After Frank left the B&B, Adenauer seemed to be going somewhere alone, which aroused Liz's curiosity. She didn't think Adenauer was the kind of person who would just go to a farm to buy some fruit because he saw someone delivering fruit. He must have had other reasons for going to the farm.

But Liz remained calm, opened the lunch box containing the grilled ribs and started eating.