HLM -Chapter 825 The Fermenting Ghost Car Rumors

Wang Bo could swear that he did nothing to the pickup truck stealing the ore that day—the driver overturned the vehicle all on his own due to his own mistake. Yet when it came to court, the driver solemnly swore that his car had been attacked by a ghost.

“The car was moving slowly. Because it was a mountainous area, I was being extra careful not to go too fast. When I finally saw the ghost car, I successfully stopped. But then it felt like some kind of monster rammed into us, and the car flipped!”

The judge gave him a very serious look. “Sir, did you drink alcohol before coming to court?”

The courtroom erupted in laughter.

The group of ore thieves were extremely aggrieved. The others inside the vehicle also gave similar testimonies:

“We really saw a ghost car! The car suddenly got pushed, and then it flipped!”

“It was terrifying—my God! I was in the back seat, and I swear when I turned my head, I saw a ghost clinging to the window!”

“It’s warm weather right now, but when we were driving, the car was freezing cold! Freezing! Freezing!”

Standing in the plaintiff’s seat, Wang Bo rolled his eyes. These people either had persecution delusions, or they were deliberately trying to use this ridiculous story to divert attention and reduce their sentence.

But that was impossible—Wang Bo was determined to send them to jail. He needed to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, making sure every monkey with ulterior motives understood the thunderous consequences of provoking him.

The case itself didn’t attract much public attention. What did become popular were the lively rumors of a ghost car on Highway 8.

The cars previously stopped at checkpoints had claimed they encountered the ghost car, and with the thieves swearing in court, the story quickly spread like wildfire.

After the trial ended, Wang Bo drove back to town, only to find an unprecedented number of cars parked along the streets.

He turned to Atulu in confusion. “What’s going on? Why are there so many cars?”

Atulu looked around mysteriously, then whispered, “They’re all here to catch the ghost car. These people believe it really exists and say they’re patrolling Highway 8 to capture the ghost no matter what!”

Conely walked over, looking baffled. “Don’t they know about demon car decals? When I was in Wellington and Auckland, I personally saw several cars with those stickers.”

Atulu added, “We’re from a small place—people here… don’t really use their brains.”

Wang Bo calmly said, “They definitely know about demon decals. I think they’re just bored and looking for entertainment.”

Conely shrugged. That explanation was good enough.

But things weren’t that simple. New Zealanders love mysterious folklore—many places have legends about bigfoot, stone people, and so on. People talk about it for fun, though most don’t believe it.

The ghost car rumor on Highway 8 attracted attention because everyone who claimed to have seen it crashed afterward. And they all said the same thing: after seeing the ghost car, their vehicle was attacked by a strange force.

Sitting in his office, Wang Bo began to seriously consider whether he should put more effort into pushing the ghost car legend forward.

He realized it could greatly boost Sunset Town’s reputation. Word-of-mouth ghost stories were far more effective than promotional videos on TV.

Work had been slow lately. The Vajona couple invited him to a Green Party event, but he declined, saying that Sunset Town was undergoing extensive construction and he couldn’t leave.

It wasn’t an excuse—he actually did want to meet influential people. But he was genuinely tied down.

It sounded contradictory, so he explained it to himself: during the construction phase, contracts and invoices constantly came in for approval. He had to sign them, but that was it—just sign. No manual labor.

So he couldn’t leave, but he also wasn’t too busy.

With nothing else to do, Wang Bo went to join the ghost car investigation activity. He wanted to see people’s real attitude and interest toward the rumor.

Atulu wasn’t wrong—the people joining the activity were as idle as Wang Bo. Most were unemployed young adults.

New Zealand’s economy hadn’t been doing well. The agricultural and livestock industries had declined in recent years, global economic issues reduced the number of tourists, and lower employment rates naturally followed.

Since the ghost car never appeared during the day, the hunters rested in the daytime, mostly hanging around at the Flaming Mountain Bar—drinking, bragging, dancing.

When Wang Bo walked into the bar, the bartender greeted him. Suddenly, a tall, handsome young man appeared in front of him, holding a small video camera. Someone beside him was carrying a laptop, blocking Wang Bo’s path.

“Hello sir, are you the mayor of Sunset Town?” the young man asked enthusiastically.

Wang Bo looked at him, confused. “Yes, do you need help?”

The young man waved excitedly. “Everyone, let’s greet the highest-ranking official of the ghost car’s location. Mayor, hello!”

“Hello… what is this?” Wang Bo asked, bewildered.

“This is a livestream. You don’t know about live broadcasts? I show the audience what they want to see. For example, the ghost car incident—they want to see it, so I plan to catch the car on stream.”

Wang Bo understood immediately. He had heard of livestreaming before moving abroad, but was too busy to follow it. And after living three years in a nearly deserted rural town, he paid even less attention to such things.

He quickly realized the young man must be an influencer—he looked the part, and he came with a driver and tech staff.

Good influencers know how to turn everything into content. This young man was no exception. He followed Wang Bo closely, relentlessly asking for detailed information about the ghost car.

Wang Bo got annoyed. If you want secrets so badly… I’ll give you some made-up ones.

He cleared his throat and motioned mysteriously for the young man to come closer. Softly, he said:

“If you want to know things others don’t, maybe I can tell you…”

“Do you know who originally owned this land? A noble family from Europe. They built a castle in the mountains and fenced vast farmland and pastures. But no one inherited the estate, and the family gradually died out.”

“We all know how cruel fate can be. Do you think the ancestors and descendants of that noble family would accept such an end? They wouldn’t. So if they turned into ghosts… I wouldn’t be surprised.”

The young man wasn’t stupid. He blinked and said, “Um, Mayor… what does this have to do with the ghost car?”

“You want a connection? Then I’ll give you one.”

A hoarse, elderly voice suddenly sounded from nearby.