Stefan was inside the car waiting for them. "Found anything?" He asked when he saw the two come out of the convenience store.
Jack lifted the fuel canister in his hand.
"Is that… Are you…?" Stefan was unable to complete his question.
"Yep. Pop up the fuel tank door," Jack answered.
"Yes!" Stefan exclaimed. He was very happy they could continue using this car. He had been sitting on the driver's seat savoring the feel. He didn't know when he would be able to drive a car again after this.
He pulled the lever underneath the seat that opened the fuel tank door. Jack then poured the fuel into the tank.
"Huh," Jack remarked after finishing pouring. "The texts are gone once the fuel is gone. Now this canister is just a junk item."
"What texts?" Stefan asked.
"Touch this and you can see for yourself," Naomi handed Stefan the adhesive bandage.
"Whoa!" Stefan had the same reaction as Jack.
"Use it," Naomi said. "You only have one shield left."
"Are you two sure?" Stefan asked. This item was found by Jack and Naomi, after all. "You two also have a broken shield."
"We can take two more hits. You die if you get hit once. Do you want to die?" Jack asked.
"Go ahead," Naomi said. "I have something else to protect me."
With the two's blessing, Stefan used the item. It was the same as using an item outside this dimension, it was thought-activated.
Fragments of shield appeared above Stefan's head. Those pieces were then assembled and formed a full shield. Stefan now had two shields floating above him.
"Okay, let's resume our journey," Jack said.
"Hop on!" Stefan said. He was already back in front of the steering wheel.
"Um… Can I drive this time?" Jack asked.
"Nope," Stefan replied.
"Sigh… Okay, then I sit shotgun this time."
"Nope," Naomi also gave the same reply. She was already sitting in the front passenger seat.
Jack grumbled before jumping onto the back seat.
Stefan started the engine. He pressed the honk button and made two loud honking sounds before the car started moving.
Naomi slapped Stefan's arm. "Are you trying to tell the enemies where we are? That monster truck can be nearby!" She scolded.
"Oops, my bad!" Stefan apologized. He got carried away because he could still drive.
He stepped on the gas hard and the car sped forward. If anyone heard his honking, they should be away already by the time those people came.
They continued going in the direction Jack pointed, but it turned out there was no road going in that direction. If they wanted to continue going straight, they had to ditch the car and walk on foot. They weren't willing to. So, they went on a roundabout way.
After another hour of driving, they came to an area that seemed to be a residential complex. Like the other places in this pocket world, everything was in ruin, as if a great battle had occurred here a long time ago.
Suddenly, Jack yelled, "Stop! Stop!!"
They had been cruising at a decent speed, so Stefan wasn't able to respond fast enough when Jack started yelling. He was still confused as to why Jack asked him to stop when he heard loud popping sounds, four times. He knew what those sounds were the instant they entered his ears. They were the sound of tire blowouts.
Stefan was an experienced driver. He knew what to do when this kind of thing happened, which was not to hit the brakes. Doing so would cause him to lose control of the car. He instead stepped on the accelerator a bit before slowly letting go. His car continued onward stably.
However, the tire blowouts were not their only predicament as a wall of ice was suddenly erected in front of them.
The car smashed into the ice wall. The collision was rather powerful because the car was still speedy. Neither Stefan nor Naomi wore seatbelts. They were thrown forward and crashed into the car's windshield before slamming into the ice wall.
Jack had been ready ever since he yelled for Stefan to stop the car. The reason he yelled was that he had spotted a spike strip on the road. The one that was usually used by the police to stop speeding vehicles. He only spotted it by accident. His eyes were originally not on the road. He was instead surveying the surroundings for movements in case an enemy was hiding nearby. That's why he was a little late when he warned Stefan.
When he saw the ice wall appearing, he stood up on the rear seat. The car slamming into the ice wall produced a strong momentum which he used to perform a long jump. The force sent him flying over the ice wall. He somersaulted above the wall before landing on the other side.
As he landed, he also caught movements coming from his left and right. Several people ran out of the ruined houses beside the street and headed to him.
His wrench was ready in his hand. The earlier battle with the old elf's team had given him enlightenment on his sword's heart technique. He could be said to have reached the intermediate state. His expertise in sword control had gone up a notch.
Even without mana sense. He only needed a glance before his wrench moved to intercept all the incoming attacks.
The enemies felt as if Jack only made one swing, but his arm had actually performed several complex movements that accurately struck their weapons. They felt a strong impact that caused them to take several steps back.
Jack saw four opponents. Were these four the other half of the old elf's team? Either way, Jack couldn't risk them using tools on them. He had to reduce their number while they couldn't react.
All these four didn't have complete shields. Jack's eyes quickly identified one who only had one shield left. That person was his target. His extreme speed brought him in front of that person, who was an ethereal.
The ethereal was visibly startled when he found that Jack was already in front of him. Jack's wrench was lifted high, ready to strike as if a guillotine's blade.
