Chapter 398

Chapter 398: Chapter 398

After talking for a while, Jenny left, promising to find out more about Adam. Later on, the pace of the convoy Suzy was in finally picked up.

The vehicle nudged forward, moving considerably faster than before.

She sat up straight, her gaze sweeping through the windshield toward the road ahead.

The traffic was fanning out into four parallel inspection checkpoints, numbered one to four on overhead signboards. Vehicles were splitting into separate lanes, heading toward different gates.

"Hurry up! Move it!"

Nearby personnel were shouting, gesturing for the current batch of cars to drive up to the open inspection bays.

Suzy scanned ahead and noticed she was in luck—all four inspection bays were empty.

Remembering Jenny’s tip, she aimed for Checkpoint 2.

In this group of four cars, Suzy was second in line.

The car ahead of her was steering toward Checkpoint 1. By that logic, when her turn came, she would naturally slide right into Checkpoint 2.

"What good luck!" Suzy thought.

She had assumed getting into Checkpoint 2 would take some maneuvering, but she hadn’t expected it to go this smoothly.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Suzy was just about to turn the steering wheel slightly to pull into lane two.

However, the very instant the nose of her car was about to cut into the lane, a dark gray SUV suddenly accelerated from her rear right and cut straight in front of her.

Its body scraped past Suzy’s front bumper by mere inches, cutting precisely into Checkpoint 2 before coming to a firm stop.

Suzy slammed on the brakes. The vehicle jolted with a heavy thud, her body lurching forward from the inertia before being yanked back by the seatbelt.

Suzy was left completely dazed.

What was going on with that car?

Cutting in line?

People could just do that here?

Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel. She didn’t honk, merely staring at the rear of the SUV through her windshield.

The occupants of that vehicle gave no reaction whatsoever, as if entirely unaware of whose turn they had just snatched.

"What the hell!"

Suzy felt like cursing aloud.

She had just been thinking about how smoothly things were going, only to be slapped in the face seconds later.

Was that car targeting her on purpose?

At that moment, a uniformed worker approached from the side of Checkpoint 2, holding a clipboard, and waved impatiently toward Suzy.

"Checkpoint 2 is full! Move to Checkpoint 3! Hurry up, don’t block the cars behind you!"

The worker’s tone was sharp, waving his hand repeatedly to urge Suzy along.

Suzy didn’t move.

Holding the steering wheel, her eyes darted toward Checkpoint 3.

Checkpoints 3 and 4 were both vacant.

Two inspectors were standing nearby, their backs turned to Suzy, writing something down on their boards.

Was she really going to drive over?

Once she pulled up, the car would be searched.

Her vehicle could not be searched!

The RV system’s camouflage feature only altered its exterior appearance; it couldn’t block the human eye. The moment someone opened the doors, the stark contrast between the inner luxury layout and the battered minivan exterior would be impossible to hide.

Suzy’s fingers pressed against the steering wheel until her knuckles turned slightly pale, feeling her heartbeat quicken.

Her eyes swept back over to Checkpoints 1 and 2, where inspections were underway.

At Checkpoint 1, a man in a dark gray uniform was leaning through the window, inspecting the space between the driver and passenger seats, while his other hand opened the rear door. Finding nothing, he moved to the trunk, opening it and even rummaging through the luggage inside.

At Checkpoint 2, the dark gray SUV that had cut in line was parked steadily. The door was open, and the driver had stepped out, standing casually by the vehicle to cooperate with the search. The inspector was already leaning inside to conduct the inspection.

"Why aren’t you moving yet?" The worker’s voice barked again, even louder than before.

He took two steps toward Suzy, tapping his clipboard against the edge of her car door. "Checkpoint 3 is wide open! Drive over, don’t block the middle of the road!"

"Sorry, my car is having engine trouble. It’s struggling to start," Suzy forced an awkwardly polite smile.

The worker glanced at her beat-up vehicle, clearly finding the excuse believable. After a couple of seconds of silence, he said, "Figure it out fast! Your car is blocking everyone else and disrupting operations."

"Yes, right away," Suzy replied hurriedly, starting the engine while adding, "I see the light at Checkpoint 3 hasn’t turned on yet. Are they not ready?"

Suzy didn’t even know how such a nonsensical excuse had slipped out of her mouth, but she needed time.

As much time as she could stall for.

The worker frowned, seemingly choked up by her bizarre reasoning, and subconsciously glanced back toward Checkpoint 3.

The inspector there wasn’t moving, but the signal light was indeed on. Turning back to her, the worker snapped, "The light’s on! Move over, hurry, the cars behind are waiting!"

He slapped her car door directly, his tone turning irritable. The vehicles behind even sounded their horns, urging her to move along.

Suzy knew she had no choice but to move now. Right now, this instant.

It would still take some time for Checkpoint 2 to finish, and she couldn’t afford to wait it out.

Or... skip the inspection entirely?

Turn the car around right now and leave, giving up on entering the base altogether?

If she did that, she wouldn’t be able to find Adam. That wouldn’t do...

"I told you to move, did you hear me!" the worker yelled angrily.

"Moving, moving now," Suzy smiled stiffly and stepped on the gas pedal.

The vehicle slowly rolled forward at a sluggish pace. Fortunately, it was finally moving, so the worker didn’t push her further.

As her car drew closer to Checkpoint 3, Suzy grew increasingly anxious. She couldn’t help but call out frantically to the system in her mind.

"System, do you have any items that can help right now? Help me get through this!"

[Detected host’s current predicament: High risk of identity exposure. Once the inspection process starts, the camouflage function will be overridden. Recommended item: Temporary Camouflage Enhancement Prop. This item maintains internal and external consistency during inspection, lasting twenty minutes.]

Suzy’s eyes lit up. There was a way out!

"Yes, yes, use that!"

[This item costs 50 credits. Insufficient credits.]

Suzy’s fingers froze on the steering wheel.

"Fifty credits? How much do I have left?"

[Host’s current account balance is 20 credits.]

Suzy felt her sight go dark.

Are you kidding me... just short by a bit!

She was truly on the verge of a breakdown.

Ahead, the inspector at Checkpoint 3 was already waving at Suzy, gesturing for her to pull up.

Suzy’s eyes landed on the inspector, her heart sinking further.

The man had an honest, solid face—at a glance, he was clearly a dutiful worker who took his job seriously. He was exactly the type who would search her vehicle thoroughly from top to bottom.

Meanwhile, at neighboring Checkpoint 4, the inspector... hey, he had a distinctly sly and lazy look about him.

Huh?

...Wait a minute!

Suzy took one glance at the Checkpoint 4 inspector and couldn’t pull her gaze away.

Earlier, both inspectors had been standing with their backs turned to her, so she couldn’t see their faces clearly. Now, she finally saw him clearly.

A skinny man wearing black-rimmed glasses, with high cheekbones... Why did this inspector at Checkpoint 4 look exactly like the description Jenny had given?!

That was right—Suzy carefully double-checked the features.

He matched Jenny’s description to a tee.

Did the inspectors swap positions?

With that thought, Suzy glanced at the inspector at Checkpoint 2 again—no glasses, no high cheekbones.

Not him!

Now Suzy had a clear picture of the situation.

Decisively, she steered her vehicle toward Checkpoint 4 instead.

The inspector at Checkpoint 3 froze for a second in surprise, but before he could react, the next car in line had already pulled up. With work piling up right in front of him, he didn’t dwell on it—a car was a car, after all.

Meanwhile, the inspector at Checkpoint 4 visibly knit his brows when he saw a beat-up little vehicle heading his way.

What he hated inspecting most was this kind of trashy car—there was zero juice to squeeze out of it.

Just his bad luck.

"Park it properly," the inspector gestured for Suzy to stop.

Suzy slowly brought the car to a halt in the designated spot, letting out a soft sigh of relief.

She was still nervous.

Most people who looked at her car would only give it a passing glance, not conduct a formal search like this.

Once the vehicle stopped, the inspector motioned for Suzy to step out.

Suzy glanced back toward the rear of the RV, where Mark was still fast asleep.

An inspection shouldn’t take more than five minutes—it shouldn’t be an issue.