Chapter 71: Is There Really Power or Not?
Chen Yun placed the rental card against the sensor on the electric scooter’s dashboard. The vehicle came to life, ready for use at any moment.
“Player Chen Yun failed to operate a level 2 mount. Level 2 driving skill proficiency +1. Current proficiency: 1/300.”
…
“Player Chen Yun failed to operate a level 2 mount. Level 2 driving skill proficiency +1. Current proficiency: 4/300.”
…
A string of system notifications left Chen Yun dumbfounded. He hadn’t moved at all—so how was his proficiency increasing?
He glanced at the scooter: the front wasn’t missing, the wheels were intact, everything was as it should be.
Then he checked the scooter’s durability: 300/300, perfectly full!
What was going on? Could it be that the system had grown a conscience, letting him gain proficiency just by sitting on the mount?
With that thought, Chen Yun stepped off the scooter, and the notifications ceased immediately.
A smile spread across his face. If that was how it worked, what did he have to worry about? After all, reaching 300 proficiency wouldn’t happen in a hurry, so why not enjoy a ride while steadily improving his skill?
He climbed back on, twisted the throttle, and rolled out of the docking station.
Barely a few meters beyond, Chen Yun sensed something was amiss. He had the throttle wide open, yet the scooter was slowing to a crawl.
He looked down, instantly stunned—the dashboard was dark.
No power. An electric scooter without juice couldn’t move.
“Damn it, what a lousy company! Renting out scooters without a full charge—what a scam!” Chen Yun pushed the scooter back to the docking point, parked it, and picked another. He swiped his card to activate it, saw the battery indicator at full, and drove off with confidence.
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Just a few meters out, Chen Yun stared at the lifeless dashboard, bewildered. Out of power again? But the indicator had said full! Was the dashboard faulty, just a trick?
He abandoned the scooter and tried a third, a fourth, a fifth—all the same. None made it more than a few meters before dying.
“Screw this, I’m filing a complaint!”
Fuming, Chen Yun grabbed the store’s complaint phone and dialed.
“Hello, this is ‘Swift Bird’ Transport Rental Company, how may I—”
“I want to complain!” Chen Yun cut the customer service woman off with a roar. “Are you renting out scooters without power? What if someone has an urgent matter and your negligence delays them? Can you take responsibility?”
The service rep was momentarily dazed. Out of power? Impossible. The scooters were always charging. The company had abandoned traditional chargers and instead used patented wireless magnetic rapid charging technology. As soon as a scooter was docked, it charged—no matter how little battery was used, it would be filled. A full charge from empty took just five minutes; how could any scooter be out of power?
“Sir, please calm down. Could you tell me your exact location? We’ll send someone over immediately to assist you. If this inconvenience was due to our fault, we apologize and will waive your annual rental fee.”
“A check? What’s there to check? Do you think I’m bored enough to lie to you? I’m on XX Road, your branch number 64,” Chen Yun grumbled.
“Thank you, sir. Our staff will arrive within five minutes. Please wait. Have a pleasant day, goodbye.”
“Pleasant? Pleasant, my foot. Hmph, I’ll see what excuses you come up with once your people check the scooters!” Chen Yun hung up and waited by the entrance, arms folded.
Less than five minutes later, a young man in a blue uniform, the Swift Bird logo emblazoned on his chest, arrived in an electric car. He spotted four scooters parked outside instead of at the docking points, then saw Chen Yun waiting at the door. He frowned and asked, “Sir, did you make the complaint call?”
“That’s me.” Chen Yun stayed put, still angry. “See for yourself—those scooters have no power. You really dare rent them out? Has greed driven you mad?”
No power? The staffer was puzzled. He walked to one scooter, swiped his card, and the dashboard stayed dark. He tried another—same result.
This was strange. How could they be out of power? He managed this area, checked the scooters several times a day, always returning those left outside to their docking points to prevent such incidents. He’d been here an hour ago; every scooter was fully charged. Could their batteries have suddenly failed, and all been rented by this unlucky customer?
“Sir, I don’t know why these scooters suddenly have no power, but I apologize for our lapse. To show our sincerity, I’ll apply to waive your annual rental fee. I’ll find you a fully charged scooter right away, so you won’t be delayed.”
He swiped his card to activate a scooter parked at a docking station, checked the dashboard: battery at 100%.
---
“Sir, this scooter is fully charged. Please take a look.”
Seeing the staff’s earnestness and sincerity, Chen Yun’s anger eased. He wasn’t unreasonable; perhaps he’d simply been unlucky and picked the only dead scooters.
He walked over and checked—the battery was full. Chen Yun nodded, “Alright, I’ll take this one. As for your so-called sincerity, don’t bother. I don’t care about the money. Just make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“That I can guarantee,” the staffer replied, relieved to see Chen Yun was easy to talk to.
“Good. I’m off.” Chen Yun activated the scooter, twisted the throttle—and barely five meters out, the scooter slowed and stopped.
“Damn!”
Chen Yun was nearly beside himself, jumping off and pointing at the dead dashboard, eyes red as he shouted at the staffer, “Come here and look—this is what you call fully charged? This is your guarantee?”
The staffer hurried over, stunned. It had just shown full power at the docking point, so how could it die after leaving—and so completely?
“Sir, please… please calm down. I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ll swap it for another scooter. This time, I guarantee, absolutely, absolutely, it’s fully charged.” The staffer forced a smile, swapped scooters, and to be sure, after seeing the battery indicator at full, he didn’t let Chen Yun ride immediately. Instead, he took a spin himself, circling twice; the battery didn’t drop at all. Only then did he hand it to Chen Yun. “Sir, you saw it yourself. I rode it just now—no issues at all. Please take this one.”
“Alright.” Seeing the staffer ride twice with no problems and the battery still full, Chen Yun felt reassured, activated his own card, climbed on, twisted the throttle…
“Damn! What the hell is going on?”
This time, even before Chen Yun could curse, the staffer, watching the scooter die again, swore aloud. He was nothing but confused now—a muddled mess in his head. He’d worked here three years, and never encountered a situation where a scooter lost power as soon as someone rode it. Was Chen Yun some kind of insulator, able to interrupt the scooter’s circuitry?
“I… want… an… explanation.” Chen Yun stepped up to the staffer, teeth clenched, glaring, his words slow and deliberate.