Chapter 60 The Klepto And Gambler
"Let's go!" Leon roared to Quinn, who still hadn't begun driving.
However, even Caitlyn's voice echoing his command couldn't get the bus moving.
The reason was simple: Quinn couldn't drive!
She just figured she'd have to hit a few buttons and give it voice commands to move—and she was right! Vehicles were automated, so that's all she needed to do.
The problem was that she didn't know what buttons to push!
Phan shot out of her truck, yanked open the woman's door, and set up the autopilot feature.
"If you spin out of control, use voice commands and tell it to do what you want!" The asian woman yelled, "It's set up. Now, go!"
"Y-Yes! Ummm… Go to the Sanctuary!"
Phan's forehead almost burst a blood vessel. Leon already saved her, Quinn, and Kira once, and she didn't want to owe him any more favors.
Assuming he'd save them, which wasn't likely if the bus didn't start moving!
"Switch seats, you idiot!" She yelled.
"B-But you're part of—"
"How are you so smart and yet so fucking stupid when it comes to basic things!?" Phan yelled.
"If you can't drive, it doesn't matter what my role is! Moreover, how the fuck can't you drive!? Move!"
"LET'S GO!" Caitlyn yelled, echoing Leon's orders.
The sight of a tiny human having a full-blown meltdown was comical. However, no one laughed because he would eventually return to normal.
A massive horde of almost four hundred was zeroing in quickly. The only reason they hadn't caught up was that most weren't at a high enough level.
So they needed to move before the higher level ones caught up.
Quinn complied with Phan's order and hurriedly moved to let her take over.
"To Lemmox! Drive as fast as possible." Phan roared.
The truck came to life and started accelerating at a strong speed.
The pickup trucks and moving trucks followed after them.
Leon's group flew behind everyone and watched the scene unfold. He requested that Caitlyn not try to get involved for the survivors.
He felt the trial wouldn't be so simple and wanted her to retain power for the impending sub-trial awaited them.
So he patiently watched the truck speed off with adrenaline pumping in his little heart.
"For safety, remove safety restrictions and go faster!" Phan yelled.
"Request denied." The truck replied.
Phan looked out of the rearview mirror and saw men moving around the earth wall far faster than the vehicle.
"Death is coming, we need to increase speed!"
"Request denied."
"There's a chance of projectiles hitting us or collisions from objects.
Temporarily release restrictions until objects moving behind the vehicles are no longer present." Quinn said calmly.
"Request pending for confirmation."
Phan's eyes widened in shock.
"Temporarily release restrictions while confirming the veracity of the order while the road is open and threat of collisions is minimal." Quinn said.
"Oooof!"
"Awk!"
The truck strapped them in tighter, and the car hit a far faster speed.
Phan was shocked but understood that people had different skill sets. Quinn was a thinker and talker, and Phan was all action. So in a depressing turn of fate, Phan needed the redhead who couldn't drive—to drive.
Leon was grateful that the truck was moving, but it immediately caused an issue.
The trucks moved together for combined defense and firepower, and now the candidates that needed protection split from the less important survivors.
So protection was a decision between 300+ female survivors and forty candidates.
Unfortunately, he couldn't communicate with the drivers. So he waited to see what would happen.
Amazingly, the group of five trucks split, with three moving to Quinn and Phan and two for the survivors. It was an amazing development that Leon was proud of.
The communication and planning were solid.
Whiiiiiiiiirl! BOOM!
An explosion went off over the new drivers.
And another.
The men had caught up and cleverly spread out to avoid another river attack or area of effect spell.
"Tch. We need more area of effect casters on the retrieval teams, fast!" Leon grumbled.
"At this rate, we'll lose the entire fleet unless we deplete our resources before the final trial!"
Caitlyn and Lindy could kill swathes of men. However, they were also the most critical when facing the unknown threat Leon anticipated.
They had restorative magic items but were scarce, and many could need them. So if they attacked, it would limit their resources moving forward.
More importantly, it wouldn't be enough.
The main problem was that the trucks' tires couldn't withstand a single magic attack. Killing 350 of them was worthless if one derailed multiple trucks and buses.
They were in a serious predicament, and Leon needed to make decisions quickly.
"WE NEED SOMEONE WHO CAN CAUSE A CRASH!" One of the running men yelled.
They were gaining on the survivor trucks—fast. The group was now within a quarter mile and could see their targets.
Ratatatat!
Whiiiiiiiirlllll! Boom!
Boom!
BOOM!
The men weren't concerned with killing each other. Leon's actions united them in killing the females en masse.
They were smart enough to avoid attacking Caitlyn and Lindy, but they weren't reserved with everyone else.
"Caitlyn, we're in a desperate position. In thirty seconds, we'll lose everyone, so we should make a demonstrate—"
A massive black warp gate abruptly opened under the feet of fifty men. They fell through it instantly, sending a massive feeling of vertigo waving through their bodies.
"Wait! WhaaaaaAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!"
Thud!
"AaGgHhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhH!"
THUD! Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud-thud-thud.
A massive white warp gate opened up in the sky to the left of the black warp gate. When the people fell into the first, it dropped them through the second.
"Wait… what!?" Leon cried.
It was Reversal!
He looked for Cynthia but didn't find the woman. She was in the front of the caravan, hidden by multiple trucks!
Leon followed the truck line until he found the truck at the back.
Kira was dancing around with an ecstatic look on her face. The blonde he saved in his sketchy lift service the day before was far more animated than he had ever seen.
—
"Did you see that!?" Kira cried, "THAT is how you use that power!"
Minx, Mindy, and the other retrieval team members stared at the previously crazy-mumbling girl with shock in their eyes.
They had all seen Cynthia cast the spatial magic. Yet Kira did as well.
The odds that they asked for the same god or competitor gods were low, so the sight left them perplexed.
Minx's eyes widened in understanding.
"Klep-to." She whispered, "Crazy yellow-haired one. Can you steal powers?"
"Crazy? Never mind that. As a matter of fact, I can. I duplicate them, but yes."
"GREAT! Can you duplicate my power!?" Minx cried.
"W-What!? I don't know what your power is. And why would I want it, crazy cat woman?" Kira snapped sassily.
Minx narrowed her eyes, and her amethyst iris' glowed neon pink.
Kira started trembling when she felt intense killing intent emanating from the woman.
"H-Hey… I didn't mean anything by it!" The blonde stuttered.
"I can't duplicate another power again so soon. It has a cooldown period, and the mana requirements are unknown. So it's dangerous to even use the one I'm stuck with."
"Wait. So you're saying that your power is a gamble?" Minx asked in interest.
Her bloodlust instantly dissipated as she asked.
"Y-Yes. I don't know what it will do. It could do anything and even change my body. I have no clue what will happen." Kira replied, "I was also told not to attack, so I'm already in trouble."
"Hoh? How interesting. So if I blame things on the problem child, then I can make it work." Minx muttered with her knuckle on her chin.
Kira didn't know what the woman was mumbling, but she did know it wasn't good.
"Okay, Mindy. Someone's already broken the rules, and I have an out. It's a shaky one, but it's a solid excuse.
So tell me what would be good enough to prevent execution."
"Sis, no!" Mindy cried, "[Leo] wants you to listen to him."
Minx's eyes lit up with excitement. "That's it! I'll be his pet for a week if he isn't grateful for what I did!"
"Sis! Please!" Mindy cried while hugging her sister. Her pink hair and snow-white ears popped vibrantly against Minx's all-black attire.
"Perfect. I got it. I need something that will split the males from the females." Minx whispered.
"[I bet] that the power's usage will make Leon grateful for what I did, and if he isn't then I'll be his pet and do whatever he asks for a week."
"Sis! He could ask you to join his harem!" Mindy cried, "Then you might get mind controlled!"
Minx's eyes flashed with excitement and thrill. "How interesting! This is turning into one hell of a gamble!"
"Sis!" The small, pink-haired cat cried.
Minx's eyes filled with madness. "[Skill Gambling]."
Ding!
A notification flashed across her eyes. When she saw it, she chuckled in amazement.
"Perfect!" Minx chuckled while looking into the distance.
She didn't make any movement. Instead, she took note of the battlefield from the corner of her eye and spoke quietly.
"Chasm."
Immediately after activating her new power, Minx's eyes widened in shock.
"I… fuck me." She laughed nervously, "I guess I'm a pet for the next week. If I'm not dead."