Chapter 81

Many people might think the female lead is about to appear, but that's just an illusion. You can't expect a part-time taxi driver to randomly pick up a beautiful woman who then falls in love with the driver at first sight.

In fact, after receiving the order, Zhao Mai called the other party. The voice on the other end of the line was that of a boy in his voice-changing period, probably around his early teens—after all, the voice-changing period is exactly that age! He brought his supplies and the giant-toothed beast, fully armed, and rushed to the "incident location." There, he saw a boy with thick glasses, a buzz cut, wearing a middle school uniform, a backpack on his back, a bag in his hand, and a face full of acne, eagerly waiting for him.

Zhao Mai parked the car by the roadside and knew this was definitely someone who needed to be transported. The fate coin in his chest was slightly warm, vibrating to indicate the direction of his fellow. However, the acne-ridden boy didn't rush to get in the car. He circled Zhao Mai three times, examining the car from front to back.

"Are you surnamed Xue? This is indeed the car you ordered." Zhao Mai had clearly told him the license plate number, but why was he still checking? Zhao Mai was getting impatient and opened the trunk: "Don't bring all your stuff into the cabin; the big items should go in the back. Let's get this straight, the journey is special, and I can't guarantee that everything will arrive."

"What should I call you, sir?" The boy seemed very nervous, not knowing where to put his hands after getting in the car. Zhao Mai, looking at him through the rearview mirror, noticed his eyes constantly examining the car's interior, as if he were a thief preparing to steal. However, he didn't emit any dangerous aura; otherwise, the supplies would have sensed it.

"Sir or not, I'm only about a year older than you." Zhao Mai maintained a high standard of service with a smile and said, "I'm surnamed Zhao, you can call me Mike, it sounds more Western. Although I accepted the order, the destination isn't shown, so I need to ask you, where are you planning to go?"

"Um, actually, I don't know. I just want to leave here and be able to travel to another world."

"Another world isn't necessarily better. At least the food isn't as good as here, and I can guarantee that 100%." Zhao Mai looked around; it didn't seem like the kind of place where the police would suddenly appear to give him a parking ticket. Since he had the time and leisure, he turned around, smiled, and asked, "Are you traveling alone, and will you come back? Do you want to stay in this world?"

"As long as I can travel, I really don't want to stay here anymore." Xue Acne was thin and weak, but his eyes were very determined, clearly having made a big decision. His voice was filled with resentment, like a desperate rock song: "No one cares about me, no one loves me. What's the point of me staying here? Big Brother Mike, can you really take me away? Are you some kind of special psychologist?"

"If I were a doctor, I would know how to advise you." Zhao Mai rubbed his nose with his finger and said, "You say you want to travel. First, tell me, do you have a fate coin? Also, explain how you contacted me. My line of work is a bit special, and I need to confirm your identity."

Actually, Zhao Mai wasn't trying to confirm his identity but to gather information indirectly to understand the process of traveling, taxi services, and the entire job. The complete instructions on the ride-hailing app required two coins to unlock, which controlled the information he needed most when he was most short of money.

"Oh, I found it at home while looking through my grandfather's collection of ancient coins. Is this it?" He took out two Kaiyuan Tongbao coins from his shirt pocket, and Zhao Mai's fate coin reacted even more strongly.

The Kaiyuan Tongbao was the currency used by Emperor Gaozu of Tang when he abolished the Sui dynasty's wuzhu coins, witnessing the rise and fall of the Tang dynasty, and is one of the five great imperial coins. However, Zhao Mai couldn't figure out whether the Kaiyuan Tongbao had the effect of a fate coin or if the fate coin had transformed into the shape of a Kaiyuan Tongbao. He didn't have the ability to authenticate ancient coins, so he couldn't determine if these two coins were from the Tang dynasty, leaving the mystery unsolved.

"Right, these are the ones. You're lucky to find such rare items." Zhao Mai nodded and said seriously, "What's next?"

"Actually, I found these coins a long time ago. At the time, I thought the two Kaiyuan Tongbao coins were grand and impressive, so I secretly took them to play with for a few days, not knowing they had other uses. Today, because of some things, I was in a very bad mood and wanted to leave here. I didn't know where to go, so I wrote 'travel to another world' in the destination field of the ride-hailing app. I didn't expect that someone would actually accept the order. After that, my phone popped up some warning messages, and I learned about the fate coin."

"Okay, all of that is correct." Zhao Mai deliberately asked, "Do you remember the warnings? Repeat them to me."

"Ah, do I have to go through all that trouble?" Xue's acne turned red, and it was clear he was easily irritated, either due to his teenage years or his upbringing.

"Stop complaining. I have to recite the five lectures, four beauties, and three loves every time I get in the car." Zhao Mai grunted twice and deliberately put on a serious face. "If you want to go to America, the embassy interviewer will ask you all sorts of questions, and you have to answer them, right? Think about it, how many travelers go to America each year, and how many travel to another world? Naturally, this is more strict. Are you unhappy that I'm asking you a few questions?"

"Big Brother Mike, I'm wrong. I can't recite it, but can I read it?" Xue Acne quickly took out his phone, flipped through it for a while, and then said, "First, to start the journey to another world, you need to pay a fate coin. Both ways require payment, even for a one-way trip, you need to provide the return fare, or the driver has the right to refuse to carry the passenger..."

Xue read for a full ten minutes, and Zhao Mai listened while nodding seriously. Now he knew that when returning with a passenger and an empty car, the rules for transportation were different. After all, this was a passenger vehicle, and there were restrictions on transporting goods besides the driver's personal items. First, coins from two worlds without an exchange rate could not be brought back, and most non-magical items were also banned. Magical items were also subject to conditions; items with a power level lower than the destination world had a chance of being brought over.

Items like spatial bags would be confiscated, but non-spatial containers were unaffected, which is why the water bladder was brought over, but the water was gone. Surprisingly, living beings could be transported, even if they weren't the passenger who paid the fate coin. Zhao Mai guessed that this was because sometimes special situations might arise, such as prepaying the coin to have the driver pick up a passenger who didn't have a coin. If living beings couldn't be transported, it would essentially become a murder taxi.

The safety of the passenger was a top priority, and Zhao Mai fully supported this. If not for this rule, the supplies would have become dust in the spatial passage.

Compared to the strict rules for an empty car, the rules when a paying passenger was present were much more relaxed. At such times, most things could be brought, with the only restriction being not to exceed the power level of the destination world, and bringing more items would consume more coins. Zhao Mai estimated that he could transport some items to the other side, but not something like a nuclear bomb—of course, he couldn't get one anyway.

There were over forty rules, and if they were all written out now, it would be enough for the author to update three chapters. Since they weren't relevant to the current plot, Zhao Mai didn't bother with them. After listening, he asked again, "What kind of place do you want to go to?"

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