Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 645 - 643: Driving

In the vast circular stadium, drums and gongs blared, firecrackers burst in unison, colorful banners fluttered in the wind, and the place was packed with people. Audiences of various styles waved the flags of different battle vehicle teams, shouting slogans with great enthusiasm and occasionally creating impressive human waves.

The Pelican dropped in altitude, coming to hover five meters directly above the racetrack.

The guide flung open the hatch and with a hearty "HEAVE-HO!" jumped down, followed closely by Li Ang and the others, who landed nimbly on the ground.

All around them were racers who had already assembled their battle vehicles, leaning against their variously shaped machines in teams of four.

Since each vehicle had to accommodate four racers while also balancing weapons, armor, and speed, almost every battle vehicle was one or two sizes larger than real-world off-road vehicles. The weapons mounted on them also varied, including metal claws, tank cannons, serrated blades, Flamethrowers, harpoons, missiles, and oversized fly swatters.

Seeing Li Ang and his group appear, some racers cast curious, probing glances. In their eyes, these four were just ordinary bank employees; their data strength didn't even surpass that of the guide.

Randomly generated passersby are participating in the competition? Aren't they afraid to die?

Curious as they were, the racers, in their own games, had always been the center of their worlds—each one proud and aloof. So, none of them actually approached to mock Li Ang and his group.

"This is it."

The guide led Li Ang and his companions to an open area where a glowing blue cube and a large pile of parts were placed on the ground.

"In the Death Battle Vehicle Competition, racers must use materials specified by the organizers, which are easy to cut and assemble, to build their battle vehicles."

The guide elaborated, "If the battle vehicle's armor is too heavy, its speed will be slow. If the armor is too thin, it's easily pierced. Engines, tires, shock absorbers, radiators, weapons... A racer must have a profound understanding of every single part of the battle vehicle and balance all these factors. Of course, you can also use some standard models provided by the organizers. Standard models may not pursue extremes in certain aspects like vehicles built by engineering-focused racers, but they excel in balance, are easy to operate, and are robust and reliable."

The blue cube on the ground originated from the sandbox simulation game *Besiege*. It was the so-called basic construction module, which could be pieced together with various parts around it, like building blocks, to form a complex machine. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Li Ang and his companions had never participated in a Death Battle Vehicle race before, and they didn't have enough time to figure things out. So, after a brief discussion, they requested a standard model battle vehicle from the guide.

After all, on the racetrack, they could acquire parts and modify their vehicles by destroying others' battle vehicles. They just needed to observe how the other racers operated and learn as they went.

Soon, the guide had staff members bring over a battle vehicle.

This battle vehicle somewhat resembled a United States STRYKER armored vehicle. It was gray, relatively flat, with extremely thick armor and four explosive-resistant tires on each side. It was equipped with a 25mm autocannon and a 12.7mm heavy machine gun on top, and had light machine gun firing positions at the rear and on both sides.

Notably, the vehicle's armor had many screw holes and slots of various sizes, apparently for attaching additional parts.

"Wow," Sunset Gold Smelter's eyes lit up as he patted the front armor of the battle vehicle, producing deep, muffled THUDS. "Impressive! The armor strength is way beyond that of main battle tanks in the real world."

"It's all just data," the Witch remarked indifferently. "This scenario is different from the others—you can't take anything with you."

The Witch's tone sounded subtly discontented.

Previously, in the train carriage, the players had discovered that items in this world seemingly couldn't be placed in their inventories; they could only be carried on their person.

"Just now on the aircraft, I briefly used my Spiritual Sense to scan the Pelican's internal structure," Li Ang mentioned casually. "The interior does indeed have engines and thrusters, but its mechanical construction is very crude, nowhere near capable of generating propulsion adequate for the aircraft."

"Because it's just data in an isolated sandbox, they only need to set some parameters to get objects moving. There's no need to replicate every detail..." Sunset Gold Smelter mused. He sighed with some regret, saying resentfully, "The level of technology in this world is at least a hundred years ahead of reality. If only we could bring the technology back to the real world..."

"Let's not dwell on that," the Witch shook her head. "The System wouldn't be so kind as to let you take a bunch of future technological creations. You know that theory on the forums, right?"

At these words, Sunset Gold Smelter's eye twitched.

In recent months, a theory had gained popularity on the forums: that the direction of the mainstream technology tree in the real world influences the System's judgments within the battle arena games. If the mainstream in the real world were technology, the battle arena games would actively limit the spread of future technological creations; if the mainstream were Magic, they would actively limit the physical spread of Magic Tools. This supposedly included limiting the types of scenarios players could engage in, covertly increasing the difficulty for players carrying special items, and making it impossible for players to bring special items back to reality.

All of this was just an unconfirmed speculation—the battle arena games might do this to prevent scientific and technological progress in the real world from advancing too rapidly. This would allow humanity's collective achievements to overshadow individual players' efforts, contradicting the System's original intent to select the most adaptive Transcendents.

"If we can't take the technology, so be it. We have more pressing issues now." Li Ang shrugged nonchalantly, looked at his three companions, and casually asked, "So, who's driving?"

Li Ang wasn't asking if they had driver's licenses. Players above Lv15 were typically versatile, so driving itself wasn't an issue. The challenge was whether they could drive *well*.

"This battle vehicle seems to have foolproof operation. The driving system isn't complicated," Li Ang said, looking at the steering wheel inside the battle vehicle and scratching his head. "But driving it well probably won't be easy. Anyone up for it?"

He glanced at his three companions. Sunset Gold Smelter immediately waved his hand. "Don't look at me. I'm at a 'just graduated from driving school' level."

"...I can't either," the Witch stated calmly.

She had learned to drive for a while in the Syndicate. But after mastering broomstick flight, she always opted for her Cleaning Robot when going out; any remaining driving skills had long since been forgotten, as if returned to her instructor. She could handle bumper cars, but driving such a large battle vehicle... She'd rather pass.

The three players looked at each other, then turned their gaze to the silent Dusk Knight.

"...I can drive," the Dusk Knight suddenly spoke, his voice low and husky. "I learned to operate tanks and armored vehicles in Hawaii. For battle vehicles, the principles should be roughly the same."