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墨書 Inktalez
The scorching sun beat down on the land, and the evening light showed no signs of relenting.
Behind the hills lay four or five corpses of Stone Leopard Dogs, with Fu Qinqin and Jia Jia crouched beside them, planning to extract the sharpest teeth. These could fetch a decent amount of pocket money if they were taken back.
Many believed in superstitions, claiming that carrying dog teeth could ward off evil spirits, so these items could sell for several thousand dollars, provided they were of the best quality.
Fu Qinqin stood up and kicked one of the Stone Leopard Dog corpses aside. She had messed up; her dagger hadn’t pried out the good tooth but had instead sliced it off due to its sharpness, leaving her feeling somewhat frustrated.
Just as she was about to call Jia Jia over to check on their captain's battle situation, two elongated shadows appeared before them, illuminated by the slanting sunlight.
The two looked up warily and saw it was their captain and Lu Fei Fan.
Unlike before, Lu Fei Fan and the horse team were carrying large packs. Noticing Fu Qinqin's frustration, the captain tossed his backpack to Jia Jia. With a puzzled expression, Jia Jia unzipped it. Sunlight flooded into the bag, and the reflection from its contents nearly blinded her!
Fu Qinqin leaned in for a closer look and was taken aback as she pulled out a piece of amber-colored mineral that resembled stone…
“What is this…” Fu Qinqin stared at the object in her hand.
“An unexpected find,” the captain said with a smile as he stroked his chin.
Lu Fei Fan was also pleased; they had just discovered a trove of gold ore inside a cave, along with a heap of discarded metal—though most of it was useless junk.
The Stone Leopard Dogs were attracted to shiny objects, which had indeed led them to an unexpected gold mine. Although unrefined, the purity of the ore was close to eighty percent. Based on the activity range of the Stone Leopard Dogs nearby, they had also found over a dozen pieces of raw gold ore in a river nearby.
“Hehe.” Jia Jia was quite satisfied as she slung the backpack filled with gold ore over her shoulder. She then kicked aside one of the Stone Leopard Dogs beneath her feet, no longer interested in extracting dog teeth for wealth.
The four of them soon returned to the convoy, where Da Fu Ge was preparing to bring Jiu Ye over for a look. To their surprise, Lu Fei Fan and Jia Jia had just returned.
When Lu Fei Fan and Jia Jia tossed the two bulging bags of gold ore to them, the group erupted in excitement, especially Cai Bi, who let out an enthusiastic howl.
After Da Fu Ge estimated the value of the gold ore, he realized it could be worth nearly a million. To earn a million from just one battle was an incredible stroke of luck for them.
The unexpected windfall had everyone buzzing with excitement, fueling their enthusiasm for the mission ahead.
The convoy quickly departed, heading along their predetermined route. Besides the unexpected fortune, Lu Fei Fan's combat performance had also led the horse team to reassess him.
"Your Knife Technique is impressive," one of the horse team members remarked before the vehicles roared to life.
This comment caught Fu Qinqin and the others off guard; it was the first time they had heard their captain praise a newcomer in such a manner.
Fu Qinqin exchanged a meaningful glance with Lu Fei Fan, who closed his eyes to rest, choosing to ignore it. He couldn't tell if the captain's words were intentional or accidental, but Da Fu Ge's knowing smile made him feel as though he was being sold out.
As the convoy moved against the golden glow of the wheat fields, the sun dipped toward the horizon, signaling that night was about to take over.
Under the cover of darkness, the convoy traveled for over an hour before stopping to set up camp at a location marked on Da Fu Ge's map, flanked by two towering cliffs resembling knife peaks.
"Why aren't we traveling at night? Wouldn't that be more efficient?" Lu Fei Fan asked, puzzled.
"Humans' vision and hearing are far inferior to those of wild creatures, especially mutated ones. We're getting close to K Zone. Our vehicle's engine is too loud, and this road is difficult to navigate. If we drive without lights at night, we might encounter danger. But if we use lights, we risk attracting predators," one of the horse team members explained to Lu Fei Fan.
"So we're camping here and will set out again in the morning," Lu Fei Fan nodded in understanding.
"You've already started learning," the horseman said, patting Lu Fei Fan on the shoulder before he crawled into his sleeping bag to sleep.
Da Fu Ge arranged the night watch, with shifts every two hours. Perhaps out of consideration for the newcomer, Da Fu Ge only assigned Jiu Ye, Fu Qinqin, and Da Biao along with himself for the watch, sending everyone else off to sleep.
The temperature in the Gobi Desert dropped sharply to zero at night. Fortunately, the experienced Da Fu Ge started a fire, and everyone gathered around it to heat their food before finishing dinner and retreating into their sleeping bags.
The originally quiet night would have passed peacefully, but that was not the case when midnight struck.
A long howl of a wolf shattered the silence of the night.
At this hour, it was Jiu Ye on guard. Da Fu and the horseman were the first to wake up, and soon everyone else lost their sleep as well.
"Captain, look! There seems to be something over there!" Da Biao was the first to notice the situation in the wilderness outside.
Lu Fei Fan followed their gaze. In the darkness, there was indeed light moving, and then came a startling sound—gunfire!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As the sounds grew closer, they realized it was a car. People were shooting from the vehicle towards the back, and they could hear wolves howling in pain as they were hit. However, it seemed there were still many wolves behind them; Lu Fei Fan could clearly see several dozen moving figures.
"Damn it, drive faster! I can barely hold on! There are more and more of these things!"
From within the car came another chaotic burst of machine gun fire, bullets spraying wildly into the darkness, hitting very few of the pursuing wolves.
"Captain?" Da Biao asked, seeking clarification from the leader.
"Let's wait and see," the cavalry decided not to rush into action.
In the darkness, the vehicle continued to flee desperately in their direction, but its visibility was poor at night. Suddenly, there was a crash as the car hit a rock and came to a halt.
Amidst the night, curses could be clearly heard from the wilderness.
"Damn it! How are you driving? Are you trying to get us killed? Turn around and start it up!"
"I... I turned it off; I can't start it now!"
"Move aside, let me try!"
They attempted to start the car several times, but it refused to come to life, only producing the sound of the engine sputtering.
Eventually, even the last person trying gave up.
"Enough with the chatter! Grab your guns and fire!"
Immediately, two people took cover behind the vehicle and began firing backward.
"What a bunch of fools," Fu Qinqin said, chewing gum as she watched the idiots shooting wildly into the night. Such reckless firing would only attract more predators; they were likely not far from death.
"Alright, let's go take a look," the cavalry ordered.
Everyone jumped into the vehicle, which then started moving toward the stranded car a few dozen meters away. As the two vehicles approached side by side, they simultaneously turned on their headlights, illuminating the dark area ahead. Countless pairs of glowing, sinister eyes belonging to gray wolves stared back at them.
Lu Fei Fan assessed the number of wolves and estimated there were about forty to fifty. They seemed surprised that anyone would dare venture into the wilderness.
“Open fire!”
At the command from the cavalry, several people crouched on the vehicle and began firing. Streams of fire erupted in the night, and bullets rained down on the wolf pack like a fierce storm. Amidst the howls of anguish, blood splattered as many wolves fell lifeless to the ground. A number of stunned wolves hesitated for a moment before suddenly fleeing into the darkness.
Seeing the wolves retreat, the cavalry let out a sigh of relief. “Fortunately, it’s not a Thunderfang Wolf pack!”
The convoy arrived in front of the stranded Jeep, where two disheveled individuals were crouched behind it—one tall and one short. Their faces were barely discernible due to their filth, and they emitted a strong odor.
“What brings you here?” the cavalry asked.
“We are from the Sword Serpent Squad,” replied the tall guy, while Ai Na Ge shrank back in fear, unwilling to step forward.
“Are you out of your minds driving around recklessly in the wilderness at this hour?” Da Biao questioned sternly.
“We didn’t want to either, but we had no choice,” explained the tall guy.
“Captain! There’s someone else in the car!” Jia Jia suddenly shouted, pointing his gun at a figure lying on top of the Jeep.
The cavalry moved closer, and Lu Fei Fan glared at the two fellows. The tall guy rushed over and shouted, “Don’t shoot! He’s our companion!”
“Companion?” The cavalry captain frowned skeptically. “Then why did you leave him alone in the car?”
“He... he’s injured,” the man said, then climbed into the vehicle and gently shook the unconscious person, calling out, “Wake up, wake up.”
“Are we at the base?” the injured man asked weakly.
Cai Bi went over to check, pulling back his shirt to reveal bandages and bloodstains on his abdomen. Cai Bi paused for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. He slowly began to unwrap the bandages, intending to inspect the wound and see if he could apply some medicinal powder.
Suddenly, the injured man grasped Cai Bi's hand tightly, earnestly pleading, “Please... help us, save the captain...” He coughed weakly.
The horseman tore a sleeping bag from Lu Fei Fan and tossed it to the Tall Guy, who then helped the injured man drink some water before urging Cai Bi to treat his wounds.
“You, come here and tell us what happened,” the horseman pointed at the frightened figure hiding behind the vehicle.
After hesitating for a while, the man stepped forward cautiously and said, “We were on a mission and accidentally stumbled into a beast's den. When we were being chased, we fled into an abandoned base. But eventually, those beasts found us and besieged the base. During our escape, the captain and a few others stayed behind to cover us.”
The horseman immediately pulled out a map. Da Fu Ge and Fu Qinqin shone their flashlights on it to illuminate the details.
“Where is that base located on the map?” the horseman asked, gesturing for the man to point it out.
“About here,” he indicated a spot on the map. “Yes, right here.”
The horseman circled that area on the map and instructed Da Fu Ge to fix their vehicle. He provided them with some weapons and ammunition, telling them to drive back with the injured person and report the situation to the base.
“Captain, are we going to rescue them?” Fu Qinqin asked.
"The abandoned base is half a day's distance from here. Even if we rush there, we might not be able to save their captain. We should notify the Expeditionary Force and have them send a rescue order to the teams operating in that area," Ma Dui thought for a moment and concluded.
Jiu Ye had sealed an emergency communication to the Free Federation base, uncertain of how they would respond.
Meanwhile, Ma Dui was intently studying the map, lost in thought.
"What's up?" Da Fu Ge leaned over to ask.
"Take a look at this," Ma Dui pointed at the map. "This is the abandoned base of that Fellow we just encountered."
"Hmm?" Da Fu Ge noticed something as well. "It's only ten kilometers away from the K Zone where the Thunderfang Wolves appear."
"Exactly, that's what's strange. Why would there be a Special Operations Team there, and how could the base not know about it?" Da Fu Ge also felt that something was amiss.
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