Chapter 88: What the Hell Is That Thing
Two days later, Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu had already become surprisingly competent drivers of the solar-powered cart, handling acceleration, deceleration, and turns with smooth coordination, while also figuring out quite a few practical tricks on their own along the way.
For example, when passing over uneven, bumpy ground, it was best to slow down a little, because going too fast made it very easy for the cart to flip.
If there was a ditch on the ground, they could not just charge into it blindly, or the wheels would get stuck, and then they would have to bribe the labor camp prisoners with food to pry the cart out. However, if the ditch was narrow, less than thirty percent of the wheel's width, they could simply roll straight across it without trouble.
When faced with a large pit that was clearly impassable, the correct move was not stubbornness but patience. They would stop the cart, move stones and dirt to fill the hole, and only then drive across.
Of course, the most important rule of all was simple and absolute.
They needed sunlight.
Li Dao Xuan watched as the two of them reached this level of proficiency, and he decided it was time to test something far more important.
The real question was whether the cart could leave the box.
He had already tested it himself. Whenever he tried to control an object remotely, or even push it by hand, nothing could be taken out of the box. The moment anything reached the glass wall, it would stop as if hitting an invisible barrier.
But would the tiny people, driving the cart themselves, be able to pass through?
"Yiye, go tell Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu to drive the cart along the official road for three li, then come back."
The order was delivered. Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu did not question it at all. They never did. Thinking was optional, obedience was not. When Dao Xuan Tianzun gave a command, they simply carried it out.
"Let's go, three li along the official road," Gao Chuwu shouted as he grabbed the steering plow. "Daniu, open the sunshade."
"Got it."
The shade was pulled back, the solar cart came to life, and soon they were speeding along the official road.
Yellow dust swirled behind them. Compared to the rough wilderness, the road was far smoother, and the cart ran with much greater ease. Before long, they reached the edge of the box.
Li Dao Xuan fixed his gaze tightly on the glass wall of the miniature world.
Every time he controlled something himself, it would stop here.
And yet this time…
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu were not restricted at all. The cart passed straight through the glass wall without the slightest resistance, vanishing from sight in an instant.
"Heh, it worked." Li Dao Xuan felt a spark of excitement, the kind a scientist might feel after a successful experiment. "As expected, direct control is unreliable. The key is making things that the little people themselves can operate."
Three li passed in the blink of an eye. Soon, a shadow flickered at the edge of the box, and the solar cart drove back in. Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu were grinning from ear to ear, laughing loudly on the cart.
"We completed Dao Xuan Tianzun's command!"
"Yiye, go tell those two idiots that next, they need to expand their driving range. At the very least, they must be able to travel back and forth between Gao Village Family and Bai Yuan's stronghold."
After receiving the new order, Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu immediately looked up at the sky. It was perfect, not a single cloud in sight, and the sun was blazing fiercely enough to roast a man alive, so there was no need to worry about losing power halfway.
They bowed toward the sky.
"We will set out for Bai Yuan's place immediately."
"Go ahead, and bring some food to Bai Yuan while you're at it." Li Dao Xuan's caretaker instincts flared up again, as he worried his tiny people might go hungry. "Take rice, flour, and bring some salt and sugar too."
"Alright!"
The two idiots sprang into action at once, hauling several hundred jin of food onto the cart. The load partially covered the solar panel, reducing its efficiency by at least ten percent.
Watching this, Li Dao Xuan could not help but think that this solar cart had originally been designed as a toy, with no consideration for cargo capacity at all. The next version would need a proper carriage attached, with the solar panel mounted on top so that transporting goods would not block the sunlight.
Good. Once an idea appeared, it had to be acted on immediately.
He quickly opened the shopping website and contacted the same seller as before.
"I need more solar carts. Do you have smaller or larger sizes?"
The shop owner was overjoyed. "Dear customer, we do not have anything smaller, but we do have larger ones. We have five centimeter and fourteen centimeter models."
Li Dao Xuan did a quick calculation in his head. A five centimeter model would become about ten meters long in the late Ming world, roughly the size of a bus. A fourteen centimeter one would turn into a massive twenty eight meter vehicle, basically a super heavy cargo truck. Both would be extremely useful.
"Alright, send me three fourteen centimeter ones, ten five centimeter ones, and thirty three centimeter ones. Make sure every single one works properly. I do not want any defective products."
The shop owner was practically glowing with excitement. "Rest assured, dear customer, every unit will be tested before shipment."
While Li Dao Xuan was placing his order, Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu had already finished loading the cart and were preparing to depart for Bai Yuan's stronghold.
The distance between Gao Village Family and that place was quite long, more than thirty li. On foot, it would take about two hours, but with the immortal cart, the two of them felt no pressure at all, only excitement.
"Chuwu, do you still remember the way?" Zheng Daniu asked.
"Of course I do. I may be dumb, but I can remember a road."
"Let's go then."
"Open the shade completely and push the speed to the limit."
…
At the same time, deep within the forested hills.
Patrol officer Cheng Xu had just locked onto a band of rebels.
A few days earlier, he had left Gao Village Family and pursued Wang Er into the northern mountains. He quickly located the cave where Wang Er's group had been staying, only to find it empty. Wang Er had already fled further north with the villagers.
Inside the cave, Cheng Xu found only a few corpses, villagers from Wang Village who had been killed during the rebellion led by Zheng Yanfu and Zhong Guangdao.
A new magistrate from the Donglin faction was about to take office, and Cheng Xu needed results fast.
After a moment of thought, he came up with a rather crooked plan. He selected one of the corpses, cut off its head, smeared it with blood and dirt until the features were unrecognizable, and presented it as Wang Er's head, hanging it at the city gate.
Surprisingly, the trick worked.
News of Wang Er's death spread across Chengcheng County almost instantly, and the remaining rebels were terrified. Many minor leaders abandoned their posts and fled, while numerous desperate peasants dropped their weapons and returned home to dig for bark and wild roots.
With the situation calming down, Cheng Xu found it much easier to restore order. All that remained was to defeat the last few scattered rebel groups, and he could claim to have turned the tide and redeemed himself.
The group he was watching now was one of the last.
Their leader was called Little Overlord, a ridiculously common nickname. His combat strength was mediocre at best, and he commanded fewer than two hundred men. For Cheng Xu, dealing with such an opponent would be effortless.
He led just over a hundred government soldiers, lying in ambush in the forest beside the official road. In the distance, Little Overlord's ragged troops shuffled forward slowly.
A cold smile crept across Cheng Xu's face.
"When they get closer, I will give the order. You will charge out and strike directly at the rebel leader. Make sure you take that dog's head."
"Yes, sir!"
Cheng Xu fixed his gaze on Little Overlord, completely unaware that far down the road, a strange, massive vehicle had appeared, hurtling toward them at a speed of eighty kilometers per hour.