The engine of the Ford Raptor let out a terrible roar. Large puffs of black smoke were ejected out of the exhaust. The tires rotated so fast that they skidded while producing harsh sounds of rubber friction. The vehicle instantly shot forward. The mud the tires rolled up shot more than ten meters behind the truck.
With impeccable timing, Sheyan jumped onto the back of the pickup truck at that exact moment while holding an old man who had fainted from fright. Although he had knocked down a few people while jumping onboard, he succeeded in boarding. Under his shout, all of them found something to tightly hold on to.
But the fearsome mudslide had already invaded the outer edge of the town, moving forward resolutely with a calm, stubborn, but simply unstoppable force! It did not matter whether the buildings in its way were rotten or solid, all of them were unable to resist its impact! They collapsed like dominoes!
From the moment Brother Black's foot stepped on the throttle, it never left its position, as if it had been soldered onto the throttle. The pickup truck, carrying the fate of everyone on it, streaked across the town road like a raging dragon, the mud left in its wake at least two meters high and the roar of its engine hoa.r.s.e. Everything blocking its way, including other vehicles, was savagely smashed away! The terrible shaking caused some of the pa.s.sengers on the Raptor to throw up violently. A few pa.s.sengers even tied themselves to the vehicle to make sure they would not fall down.
The sky was already starting to turn bright at this time, so they could already see the mudslide. The speed of the mudslide may seem really slow from a distance, but when it got close, they could really feel how pressed for time they were! Every inch the mudslide advanced by was an inch of human living s.p.a.ce lost. It really was a race against death itself!
As the mudslide approached, the sound it made turned even more deafening. They watched helplessly as hundreds of thousands of tons of rocks rolled down along with the mud; the sight so breathtaking it felt like the entire world was collapsing! Even some residents who had already evacuated to the safe area could not help running further away, screaming; the farther they distanced themselves, the safer they felt.
The smell of wet soil a.s.saulted everyone's nose, mixed among it the fragrance of pine after being ground and crushed. Many people tightened up when they saw the distant Ford Raptor speeding over like it was surfing on waves.
The reason this spot was a safe area was due to the existence of a deep gully here. The width of the gully was about 20 meters, but its depth was over 200 meters. By the time the mudslide reached this spot, it was already stretched to its limit, and even if there were occasional surges, they would all flow into the gully.
So, as long as Brother Black could drive across the highway bridge spanning the gully, they would be safe.
However, although the highway bridge may seem to be in good condition, cracks had actually appeared in the supports due to the cras.h.i.+ng impact of a few boulders. If Kulutego had not reinforced the supports with his biological power, the bridge would already be on the brink of collapse. Fortunately, Brother Black's driving skills was exceptional and he could always escape from danger at critical moments. The pickup truck had actually been caught in the mudslide several times, but it could always rush out of the mud like a raging horse.
This appeared hard to believe, but it was actually not difficult for Mogensha, who could even figure out a bullet's ricochet trajectory, to avoid the rocks inside the mud. He even performed a miracle with his driving technique less than 50 meters away from the highway bridge when they were about to be caught up by the mudslide. Anyone's reaction at such time would be to step harder on the gas pedal, but Mogensha chose to slam hard on the brake instead.
The cost of that was the truck ending up getting submerged in a large amount of mud for a few seconds, but the benefit was even more obvious - if the truck had not stopped for a few seconds, it would have collided into a rock that was at least as big as a three-storey building!
Alice Cullen, standing in the distance on an Alaskan pine tree, could not help muttering, "Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds have nerves made of steel!"
The face of her father, Carlisle Cullen, was grave.
"They're a bunch of humans who've wrestled with death for a long time. That's the only way they can be so calm during critical moments of life and death! Wait, what's that?!"
Carlisle Cullen suddenly turned his head, his sight drifting. He seemed to be staring into the clouds in the sky, but also at the rain pouring down, or at fate itself. Even an old vampire like him, who had lived since 1640, turned pale in an instant. He was terrified! He was gripped by fear!
"This power... Is it the power to change destiny? So strong, so terrifying! How can a power like this contain the will of a human?!?!"
***
After waiting for 2.3 seconds, Brother Black stepped on the accelerator again. He knew that if he stopped for even half a second longer, a giant rock would fall from above to cause serious damage to the truck.
The powerful engine roared again, and the vehicle burst through the mud ferociously like a furious horse unwilling to resign to its fate. The highway bridge was less than ten meters away from them now. At this moment, time seemed to have stopped...
The Ford Raptor was Ford's cla.s.sic pickup truck. Its frame was made from high strength steel, which not only improved the durability of the vehicle body, but also further ensured the safety of the pa.s.sengers. Not only that, with the help of AdvanceTrac and RSC (Roll Stability Control) technology, its driving performance was first-cla.s.s, boasting a maximum output of 400 HP and a peak torque of 400 lb-ft. It was known as one of the most powerful pickup trucks in the world.
But at this moment, as if by coincidence, when the Ford Raptor struggled through the huge pit that had been smashed by the previous rock, a flat rock the size of a basin whirled flat onto a muddy pit nearby, causing a large splash of mud. Just then, another rock happened to be in the way of the splashed mud.
Because of the angle, the mud underwent a bizarre refraction to barely avoid the car's carefully designed waterproof system and shot into the Ford Raptor's exhaust pipe! It happened at a critical moment when Brother Black released the throttle to avoid a stone in front. The engine, which was still roaring loudly, went out instantly. The vehicle, which was specially designed to deal with extreme terrains, slowly glided seven or eight meters forward before the engine let out a sound like the coughing of a dying old man. It slowly came to a halt.
At this time, the Ford Raptor was only five or six meters away from the highway bridge!
But the frightening thing was that there was a huge rock more than 5 meters in diameter tumbling down right above the pickup truck, along with a huge amount of mud!!
All this felt like a long-prepared conspiracy and trap! It could even be said to be destiny!
Sheyan and Mogensha may be able to escape from this situation, but none of the others on the truck could. After so much effort to bring them here, could they the contestants be willing to give them up? When one was unwilling to give up, one may just do something really irrational.
Like the current Sheyan, for example. He jumped out of the truck as soon as the engine died and raised his hands up high! Was he trying to go against destiny?
An intense dark green light spread from those hands, almost blinding the eyes of the Cullen vampires.
A giant pair of mechanical gloves appeared on both his hands. All the mechanical parts on the gloves were spinning in different directions, the gloves themselves spewing black smoke. Sheyan grabbed the Ford Raptor which weighed at least four ton and threw it in the direction of the highway bridge!
The large pickup truck was thrown more than ten meters away. It made a raucous, violent sound of friction in front of the bridge and produced lines of sparks before it finally stopped upright but sideways on the bridge highway.
Seconds after throwing the vehicle, Sheyan was struck by the huge rock and disappeared within the muds.
Edward Cullen, the most powerful vampire in the Cullen family, could no longer keep his composure.
"This human is so unbelievably powerful, yet he's willing to give up his life for others? Even the prophets from legends would find that difficult to do!"
Alice Cullen suddenly said, "Aunt Salem is on the truck. She's a good woman, I have to save her."
After she acted, Carlisle Cullen also joined in on the rescue mission.
The pickup truck could no longer be driven, and the highway bridge was showing signs of collapse. One would have to rush to the middle of the bridge to rescue the semi-conscious people on the truck. In fact, not everyone had the courage to wait at the end of the highway bridge, as it was really dangerous. Debris and rocks would splash over, and they could do quite some damage to ordinary people. A hit in the head could easily cause concussion.
Only Zi, Reef, No. 7 and Ramtas had the guts to rush to the truck to rescue the survivors, but with the help of the vampires, the rescue work progressed smoothly. When the last person was successfully brought to safety by Edward Cullen, the vampires of the Cullen family found that those bunch of mysterious people had already vanished without a trace.
