Chapter 827 - 2: Car Accident_2

Chapter 827: Chapter 2: Car Accident_2

Chen Zhou hadn’t even had time to react before a bolt of lightning crashed down onto a tree on the opposite side of the road, splitting a thick branch clean off. The leafy branch fell with a loud crash onto the road, black smoke billowing from the struck spot.

"Holy shit!"

Seeing this, he didn’t dare stay under the tree any longer and quickly shuffled out, exposing himself completely to the curtain of rain.

The torrential downpour soaked him to the bone in seconds, the cold gnawing at him from inside, filling him with genuine fear—

The threat of hypothermia from the storm, combined with the side effects of the transformation medicine, could absolutely kill him.

"No way, I’ve got to find some place to shelter from the rain, fast.

Who knows how long this storm will last? Trying to tough it out all night out here could cost me half my life.

Even if I have the Regeneration Potion, I can’t waste it in a situation like this. That’s my ace up my sleeve."

Just as he was about to keep heading down the road to try his luck finding a deserted cabin or town, Chen Zhou suddenly heard the roar of a car engine.

Seconds later, two beams of white light pierced the rain curtain, and a rugged-looking Chevrolet came speeding toward him from a distance.

Either the driver couldn’t see well in this weather or he’d been drinking, but even with the downpour, the car didn’t slow a bit, barreling down the road at about fifty miles an hour—then, unsurprisingly, it smashed right into the branch that had just fallen onto the pavement.

With a heavy "thud," the car’s engine instantly died, and those bright headlights shut right off.

The smell of something burning, some kind of synthetic material probably, started to spread in the rain, plunging the world back into darkness.

Chen Zhou froze for a moment, watching as the car plowed into the tree branch.

After the engine stopped, he waited a few minutes, but no one ever opened the car door.

Suspecting the driver hadn’t worn a seatbelt and might be dead or badly injured, knocked out by the crash, Chen Zhou started scheming.

He planned to use the car to shelter from the rain—and maybe pick up some intel along the way: Where exactly was he? Which country, what state, what year? Where was Ambrose, how big was the town, did it have any famous families?

...

He forced himself to wait a little longer, and when no other cars showed up on the road, Chen Zhou drew his Long Saber, hunched over, and cautiously approached the Chevrolet.

To figure out the driver’s and any passenger’s situation, he went straight for the front of the car first.

The bumper and grille were crushed right up against the thick branch, badly deformed, and both headlights were completely shattered.

The curved windshield was riddled with cracks, but hadn’t shattered—

Since 1930, car windows started using double-layer laminated glass. When struck, the shattered fragments stay stuck to the PVB film, not flying outward.

This tech improvement hugely increased car safety—and probably saved the driver’s life.

Peering in from outside, Chen Zhou saw the driver slumped over, neck bent, face covered in blood, collapsed on the seat. The steering wheel showed no deployed airbag.

But even with no airbag to save him, judging just from appearance, the driver wasn’t hurt too badly. The bleeding wasn’t enough to be fatal, and his body wasn’t twisted or broken—overall, the injuries seemed manageable.

The rain was only getting heavier. Worried he’d get sick, Chen Zhou urgently wanted to find shelter.

He tried the car door, but couldn’t pull it open.

The door was locked tight.

But that didn’t stop Chen Zhou; he simply grabbed his Long Saber and started smashing the glass.

Once, twice, three times...

His weakened body made it hard to break things; normally he could force a car door open, but now he had to break the glass, hitting it over ten times.

With repeated blows from the Long Saber, a spiderweb of cracks spread across the glass, then Chen Zhou managed to open an irregular hole.

He pulled his sleeve over his hand to avoid getting cut and reached inside to fumble for the lock, popping the door open.

From the steering wheel’s position, Chen Zhou could judge he was most likely in the United States.

Not just because of the brand and model, but from the environment, the language, and the fact that this was a left-hand drive car.

Globally, about 30% of countries have cars drive on the left, meaning right-hand drive. But in most right-driving countries, English is the main language, and only the US has such a vast expanse of land.

He opened the front passenger door, stuck the Long Saber back in its sheath, and plopped himself unceremoniously into the passenger seat, then began to search for useful items: food, medicine, newspapers, IDs—anything that would give him information.

The car door was open, rain still blowing inside.

But Chen Zhou, soaked to the skin, barely noticed. He wasn’t bothered by the bloody face of the driver at all; he straight-up reached for the guy’s clothes.

He quickly found a wallet in the driver’s lap, containing his ID and a few US dollars, plus photos of the driver with his family.

Chen Zhou shamelessly pulled out the cash and stashed it, then tossed the wallet onto the front seat and went for other storage spots.

This old sedan was pretty dated—no door pockets, just handles and window cranks on the doors.

In the glove compartment on the passenger side, he found a vehicle registration, an old pair of gloves, and beneath them, a metal-hinged little box holding a pack of cigarettes and some tools like pliers and wrenches.

There was some storage under the seats, but when Chen Zhou crouched down, he found nothing but empty space.

"Looks like that’s it for the front. Let’s check the back."

Not content with just a bit of cash, Chen Zhou shut the door and squeezed into the back seat.

When he’d circled the car earlier, he’d checked: the driver was alone, no other passengers. So, with the driver unconscious and no one else around, he acted without restraint.

But as he wedged most of his body through the gap between the front seats, getting a good look at the back, Chen Zhou realized there actually was another passenger—

A little girl, maybe ten at most, wearing a brown coat and wrapped in a blanket, crouched down in the left rear corner clutching a pink stuffed rabbit.

She’d also been hurt in the crash, with a visible scrape on her forehead—blood just recently stopped.

The girl’s eyes were brimming with tears, her face terrified as she stared at the stranger who had broken into the car.

When her gaze met Chen Zhou’s and she realized the bad guy had spotted her, she finally lost control, wailing loudly.

Not wanting to hurt anyone innocent, and afraid her crying would wake the driver, Chen Zhou could only put a finger to his lips and snarled a warning—

"Shhh!"

Long-haired, ragged, big and intimidating, weirdly dressed, violent—all his actions since getting in screamed trouble, not "good guy."

In the face of such a person, the little girl was more obedient than ever; even if she couldn’t stop crying, she still clamped her mouth shut, trembling and squeezing herself deeper into the corner under the back seat.

"That’s more like it."

Praising her in broken English for being smart, Chen Zhou finally managed to squeeze all the way into the back seat.

Compared to the empty front seats, the back was loaded with stuff.

Besides the girl’s bag of clothes, Chen Zhou found a huge stash of food: boxes of milk, cream biscuits, bags of salted peas and candy—all desperately needed supplies.

After nearly half a year of eating "dark cuisine" in the Prehistoric World—where even the salt tasted bitter—getting to see normal food meant for humans made him ridiculously happy.

He barely found his seat before biting open a milk carton and popping open the biscuit box, stuffing his face under the girl’s horrified gaze.

The sweet food soothed his taste buds and replenished the nutrients he was starving for; at that moment, even the bone-deep chill started to melt away.