Jiang Yu didn’t know much about the rebels’ strength, having only seen some exaggerated posts on the Inter-Knot.
The only other source was the intel provided by Shepherd.
According to him, the rebel base where the hostage was kept was merely a logistical supply depot.
It wouldn’t have any heavy weaponry deployed, only a bunch of low-level grunts.
Before coming to the Outer Ring, he had believed it.
As for now, he felt it was a bit sketchy.
He should first check if there was any useful intel inside the rebel outpost.
He didn’t want to just charge blindly into the rebel base to rescue the hostage.
Though called an outpost, it was actually just a small, three-story tower.
As an outpost for the base, it didn’t require much manpower—they only needed to report in daily to let the base know everything was fine, that they were still alive, and that no enemies had attacked.
As for the biker alliances in the Outer Ring’s Old Oil Well Zone, they weren’t exactly enemies.
Sometimes, the rebels even had to trade with them for supplies.
Therefore, the sole purpose of these outposts was to guard against the defense forces of New Eridu launching an assault.
There were no patrolling soldiers on the top floor of the watchtower, only two surveillance cameras scanning the area outside.
Jiang Yu bypassed the cameras and made his way to the back of the tower.
Two off-road vehicles were parked behind the tower, with no one on guard duty.
Everyone was likely inside.
Due to prolonged laxity, these people seemed to have lost all vigilance.
Just as he was about to find cover to observe the outpost, three sudden bursts of gunfire rang out behind him.
Jiang Yu’s reflexes were swift.
The long sword at his waist left its sheath, unleashing two slashes that intercepted the bullets.
*Damn it, these rebels actually knew how to set up hidden sentries!* Since he had been spotted, his only option was to carve a path straight through.
With a slight exert of force under his feet, strength comparable to a high-ranking Ethereal erupted from his body.
Two strides brought him directly to the entrance of the watchtower.
A soldier stepped out with a gun to check the situation, only to be blasted back by his punch.
The rifle in the soldier’s hands was shattered into two pieces by the punch.
The man flew backward, crashing against the wall with a dull thud, dead on the spot.
Another rebel soldier was dumbfounded.
By the time he reacted, Jiang Yu was already in his face, kicking him flying.
When he was first spotted, Jiang Yu had been slightly panicked.
After all, he had only been hacking Ethereals inside Hollows, and he wasn’t sure how he measured up against his own kind.
Only now did he realize that with a physical body on par with a high-ranking Ethereal, dealing with ordinary rebel soldiers was an absolute breeze.
Strolling casually toward the communications room, he saw a rebel soldier standing guard at the door with a raised gun.
The moment the soldier saw Jiang Yu, he pulled the trigger.
But before two bullets could even leave the chamber, Jiang Yu flashed forward and kicked him into the communications room with a sweep of his leg.
Inside the communications room, a soldier was shouting into a transceiver.
Jiang Yu drew his long sword and threw it.
Like a sharp arrow, the blade pinned the radio operator to the console.
“Hello?
Hello?
Outpost A, Outpost A?
Are you still there?
Please respond if you copy!” Jiang Yu walked over to the communications gear and picked up the walkie-talkie from the lifeless radio operator’s hand.
“Copy that!
Copy that!
This is Outpost A, this is Outpost A.” Jiang Yu replied in the same tone.
Two seconds later, a voice from the other end cursed, “Fuck!
Dumbass!” Jiang Yu’s handsome face flushed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Urgent footsteps echoed from the corridor outside.
It was likely the hidden sentry rushing back.
Jiang Yu drew his pistol from his lower back and aimed it at the doorway.
The moment a head peeked out, he blew it off with a single shot.
Thud!
The soldier collapsed flat onto the ground just outside the door.
Jiang Yu ejected the magazine and reloaded it, using the action to refresh his [Hawkeye] trait.
Searching the communications room, he found only a military tablet, some daily supplies, and some weapons and ammunition.
He also looted tens of thousands in cash from the rebel corpses.
Unfortunately, the system refused to recognize it, deeming the money “illegal funds.” *Son of a bitch.
I took this money fair and square, why doesn’t it count?
Does everything have to go through legal channels?* He decided to have Rein look into who ran the banks in New Eridu later.
He grabbed some military rations and swiped the military tablet.
After a moment’s thought, he also took a rifle just in case.
Though his physical body was already incredibly strong, it was always better to be prepared.
The attack on the outpost had already been exposed.
The defense along the way would surely tighten.
He had to reach the target base in the shortest time possible.
He climbed into the off-road vehicle and searched around but couldn’t find the key.
Suddenly, he had an idea.
He flipped down the sun visor above his head, and a ring of keys fell down.
Unrolling the map Shepherd had drawn, he took one look and immediately rolled it back up.
*This god-awful piece of garbage is better left unread!* He turned on the military tablet.
Unexpectedly, it had a network connection—likely connected to the rebels’ intranet.
After messing around with it for a bit, he finally managed to open the map.
When he clicked on the map, an authorization password prompt popped up on the screen.
Jiang Yu resisted the urge to smash the tablet and randomly typed in a string of numbers.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Password incorrect.
He tried eight 8s next, but it was still incorrect.
The window of the off-road vehicle rolled down, and *whoosh!* An unidentified object flew out, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Unrolling Shepherd’s hand-drawn map once more, he first located the current outpost’s position, then the target location.
It wasn’t just a short distance away.
Fortunately, the outposts and bases in between weren’t very densely distributed.
If he went all out, he should be able to arrive before the rebels tightened their cordon.
Revving the engine, the off-road vehicle surged onto a rugged dirt path.
Fortunately, the vehicle was decent, so driving on this wild, unpaved terrain wasn’t too bumpy.
Billowing dust danced in the air like soaring dragons as the off-road vehicle sped toward the setting sun, leaving the neon-lit, bustling metropolis behind.
…
Night fell completely.
To avoid drawing the attention of the rebels, Jiang Yu kept the headlights off and navigated by moonlight, maintaining a steady speed on the dirt road.
Slip in quietly, keep a low profile.
He was here to rescue a hostage, not to wipe out the rebels.
Traveling along, Jiang Yu avoided the scanning ranges of many outposts and barely encountered any patrol vehicles.
But whenever a Hollow blocked his path, he had to take a long detour.
With the route changed and the environment pitch-black, he could only rely on his superb sense of direction to stay on course.
“Human GPS” had been his nickname before he crossed over.
Suddenly.
Two beams of light pierced the sky ahead.
Headlights!
Jiang Yu quickly steered the vehicle off the road.
Because it was too dark, he couldn’t see the ground below clearly, and the front of the car plunged straight into a deep ditch, leaving the rear end sticking high up in the air.
Pushing the door open, Jiang Yu jumped out of the car.
The distant beams of light grew brighter, and the roar of motorcycle engines gradually became clearer.
Jiang Yu stared at the rear end of his car pointing toward the sky.
*Vehicles breaking down in the wasteland should be a common sight, right?* Hopefully, it wouldn’t attract their attention.
Unfortunately, things often had a way of turning out exactly as one hoped they wouldn’t.
The motorcycle engines gradually idled down, and two beams of headlight swept over, illuminating the off-road vehicle nose-down in the ditch.
“Lucius, what…
is the situation here?”