Chapter 827: Chapter 81: Take Action (Part 2)

"It sounds like we’re caught in that... what’s it called... dilemma with them?" Ya Qiaoxi glanced at the two vehicles of the Sand Rose with the corner of her eye and said softly.

"Prisoner’s Dilemma," Candle Dragon said. "As long as we all trust each other, everyone remains unharmed. But we’re unable to trust that the others believe in us, and the final result can only be..."

"How about this, just stick with me." Nagano Souta, who had been silent and listening the whole time, spoke up. "As long as I’m here, I guarantee that neither the Sand Rose nor other Free Hunters will lay a finger on you."

"No need." Sun Hang politely declined Nagano Souta’s kindness. "Honestly, I’m quite interested in dealing with these people..."

...

...

"All vehicles, attention. All vehicles, attention. We are about to exit Sunfall Ridge." A deep, hoarse male voice echoed in the public communication channel. It was the accountant driving the heavy trailer, using a voice changer to disguise his voice. "According to the latest data from the Dragon City Sandstorm Observation Center, the Death Sandstorm No. 5198 is currently to the northwest, 7.6 degrees off from Sunfall Ridge, and twenty-seven kilometers away. According to the original plan, we will split into three convoys again, leaving through exits numbered one, seven, and nine on the northwest side of Sunfall Ridge. If you find yourself targeted by the Death Sandstorm, please immediately announce it on the public communication channel."

The reading on the car’s thermometer was gradually dropping, and the surrounding terrain was becoming increasingly flat. The number of lava pools around was also rapidly decreasing.

Just as Sun Hang was pondering what tactics the opponent might take, a call request suddenly appeared on the private communication channel.

"Hello, who is this?"

"I’m... I’m the one from the car you saved at the Naihe Bridge." The voice of a young woman came from the other end of the communicator.

"Oh?" Sun Hang exchanged a glance with Candle Dragon, who shrugged without saying a word.

The other side hesitated for a long time before speaking, "Uh... I just wanted to warn you... someone in the convoy... seems to want to harm you."

"Oh? How do you know that?"

"How I know isn’t important! You just need to know—"

Before the other person could finish, Sun Hang interrupted her, "Did they pay Sand Rose fifteen million to take our lives?"

"Huh? You already know?!" The other person sounded quite shocked.

"How is the situation on Zhiyuan Star?"

The other person couldn’t be bothered to follow Sun Hang’s quip and hastily said, "They... they seem to want to unite everyone in the convoy to attack you... We also received a private communication... But I can assure you, we absolutely won’t attack you..."

"Not long ago, I saved you. Logically, if you aren’t heartless bastards, upon receiving this message, you’d likely be prompted by your conscience to inform us... Guess why they would tell you, who might leak the information, this message?"

"Wha— why?"

"Because they need us to know about it, and you’re the best messengers," Sun Hang said. "No one wants to make the first move, and that anonymous account paying fifteen million to Sand Rose is the lit fuse... If the message didn’t leak, Sand Rose would likely pocket the money and know nothing. But once the message is out, they have no choice but to accept the deal."

"Ah..."

"Not only that, but there’s a high likelihood you’ll also become their targets... If you want to survive, stick close to the White Tiger, don’t fall behind."

"O-okay... thank you..."

Sun Hang ended the call, mumbling to himself, "As expected, just as expected... But to be fair, there are still some people with a conscience among these Free Hunters and mercenaries. It’s a pity those two are too weak; otherwise, they’d make good recruitment candidates."

"Are you sure you don’t need me to escort you?" Nagano Souta asked once more.

"No need."

The exit of Sunfall Ridge finally appeared directly in front of the convoy. Just as the convoy began to split, several cars abruptly cut in, surrounding Sun Hang’s car and Ya Qiaoxi’s motorcycle. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The heavy trailer and White Tiger Mecha took the right-side exit, while Sun Hang’s car was herded into the traffic heading through the left-side exit.

Sun Hang rolled down the window, looking at the car that had bumped into their side mirror multiple times, and greeted with a smile, "Yo, looks like you’ve got plenty of hands on deck!"

The driver of the other car was a robust female driver, her face and neck almost entirely covered in ambiguous tattoos. Startled when she noticed Sun Hang talking to her, she quickly pulled out a pistol and fired a shot at Sun Hang’s head!

"Bang!!!" The distinctive sound of a high-caliber hunting pistol thundered through the convoy.

"What the hell? Weren’t we supposed to wait until we got some distance from the other two convoys before making a move?" The gangly girl following Sun Hang’s car cursed into the walkie-talkie, "Fifteen! Why’d you shoot early?!"

"He! He seems to have realized something!" The burly woman, referred to as Fifteen, continued pulling the trigger. The head of the pretty boy in the passenger seat was blown to bits, and his headless body slumped down, but around Candle Dragon, the main target of this attack, a thick ice wall suddenly appeared, embedding into the SUV’s interior, withstanding even the Magnum rounds that could blow people apart.

Looking at the bullets lodged in the ice wall, Fifteen unwillingly put down her pistol, massaged her wrist sore from the recoil, and gripped the steering wheel with both hands, fiercely steering the car to collide with Candle Dragon’s SUV!

"Bang!!"

The SUV was slammed to one side, and Ya Qiaoxi, who was on the other side of the SUV, followed pre-arranged plans, tossing several grenades into the windows of the cars beside them, abandoned her motorcycle, and jumped into the SUV through the open rear door.

"Damn it, these Sand Rose lunatics!" Ya Qiaoxi cursed while hurriedly closing the car door and rolling up the bulletproof-glass windows.

With several screams and explosions, two cars engulfed in flames and smoke were thrown aside, but the vehicles close behind quickly caught up, sticking closely to the side of the SUV.

"Attack!!" Seeing that both sides had ripped off the pretense, the gangly girl no longer held back. After a loud command to attack, she climbed through the sunroof.

She grabbed the heavy machine gun welded on the all-terrain vehicle roof and sprayed bullets at the SUV’s driver cabin!

Not to be outdone, other Free Hunters and mercenaries from the surrounding vehicles also opened fire on the SUV, filling the air with gunfire and explosions.

"Sun... Sun Hang is dead?!" Ya Qiaoxi exhaled a breath, but when she looked up, she was startled by what appeared to be Sun Hang’s "body" slumped in the passenger seat.

"No," Candle Dragon shook his head.

"Then... then this..." Ya Qiaoxi pointed at the body, "Can someone still be alive after getting shot in the head?"

"It’s just a puppet," Candle Dragon replied.

Under Ya Qiaoxi’s horrified gaze, the body’s skin quickly lost its color and turned into a mass of pale mycelium, molded into a humanoid shape, which then scattered over the seat.

"Then... where did Sun Hang go?"

"If I’m not mistaken, he’s probably gone to find the mastermind behind this farce," Candle Dragon said.