A man with an effeminate aura got off the motorcycle.
He walked to the roadside, sizing up the off-road vehicle that had crashed into the ditch under the glare of the headlights.
His sinister gaze scanned the surroundings, eventually locking onto the space behind a boulder.
“Hey there, friend.
Looks like you’ve run into some trouble.
Need some help?” Lucius squinted and smiled.
Morse, the wolf Thiren, also walked over.
He scanned the area but found nothing unusual.
“Lucius, who are you talking to?” Lucius didn’t answer his question directly.
“Nothing.
Let’s go, Morse.
Our friend here doesn’t seem very welcoming.” Leaving the bewildered Morse behind, Lucius mounted his motorcycle, revved the engine twice, and sped off toward the Inner Ring.
Morse quickly got on his motorcycle and followed.
Watching the two beams of light fade into the distance, Jiang Yu stepped out from behind the boulder.
Lucius?
Morse?
He had never heard of them.
They were probably bikers from the Old Oil Well Zone.
But what were they doing here?
He didn’t have much intel on hand and didn’t know much about the biker gangs.
Fortunately, they had left before he could draw his blade.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have minded playing the part of a biker himself to experience what it felt like to be a wild road warrior.
After driving a long distance, the two motorcycles stopped.
Lucius pulled out a walkie-talkie and tuned it to a specific channel.
“A little bug has sneaked into your territory, right near Route 13.” Recalling the sudden surge of trepidation he had felt just moments ago, Lucius smirked.
He tucked away the walkie-talkie, twisted the throttle, and sped away.
At this point, Jiang Yu had no idea that his coordinates had been leaked and that the nearby rebels were closing in on his position.
Dragging the off-road vehicle back onto the road, he continued driving toward his target destination.
The cool night breeze dispelled the fatigue in his mind.
Gripping the steering wheel, Jiang Yu sensed his surroundings.
As the vehicle went deeper, a growing sense of unease became stronger.
Quiet.
It was too quiet.
He couldn’t even hear the chirping of insects in the wilderness.
Suddenly, a faint point of light shot into the sky at extreme speed.
As it reached its apex, the barely visible spark erupted.
The dark canopy of the night was instantly torn open, and the world lit up as bright as day.
A flare!
*Just as I thought,* Jiang Yu said to himself.
Immediately after, more flares shot into the sky, illuminating the surrounding area as bright as day.
Needless to say, those two must have tipped off the rebels.
With no time to waste, Jiang Yu slammed on the gas.
The engine roared, and he drove toward an area not illuminated by the flares.
The vehicle climbed onto the rugged Gobi.
Before long, several beams of light appeared in his rearview mirror—car headlights.
He was somewhat surprised; he had expected it would take longer for them to track him down.
There were only four rebel vehicles pursuing him.
Soldiers on an open-top off-road vehicle raised their rifles and sprayed a volley of bullets at the fleeing vehicle in the dark.
Unfortunately, the road conditions were too poor.
They emptied two magazines before finally blowing out one of his tires.
“The enemy’s vehicle seems to have stalled.
Surround him!
According to the outpost, the enemy is likely a close-combat expert!
Don’t let him get close, suppress him with direct firepower!” a harsh voice roared over the walkie-talkie hanging from a soldier’s chest.
Two off-road vehicles accelerated hard, overtaking the seemingly stalled car while unleashing a relentless barrage of rifle fire at its chassis.
Bullets rained down on the vehicle, instantly riddling it with countless holes.
The four military vehicles surrounded the bullet-riddled car in the center, and dozens of automatic rifles fired continuously for a solid minute.
Much to their disappointment, however, no blood pooled out of the vehicle.
A rebel squad leader sensed something was wrong.
Just as he was about to warn his comrades, a brilliant flash of blade light erupted.
The car next to him was sliced cleanly in half.
The soldiers on board cried out in panic as they scrambled out of the ruined vehicle, taking cover behind the other cars with weapons in hand.
Jiang Yu, who had already dodged to the side, was slightly surprised.
*It didn’t explode?
I guess movies are all lies; cars don’t blow up that easily.* “Over there!” a loud shout rang out, followed by a dense hail of gunfire.
Jiang Yu’s figure blurred as he vanished from his spot.
With black Haki wrapping around his fist, he threw a heavy punch at the nearest off-road vehicle.
The massive force sent the off-road vehicle flying, rolling several times on the ground.
The soldiers inside, none of whom were wearing seatbelts, were thrown clear and slammed heavily onto the dirt.
They groaned in pain, unable to get back up.
A quick-thinking soldier pulled the trigger at the ferocious figure, but after only a couple of shots, his magazine emptied.
Looking closely, the intruder stood there, completely unfazed and without even dodging.
The soldier was ecstatic, thinking he had hit the target, only to see the man open his dark, metallic-glowing fist—and two squashed bullets fell to the ground.
Another flash of blade light, and another off-road vehicle was predictably sliced in half.
The soldiers on the remaining vehicle stared blankly as the humanoid beast of a monster walked toward them.
Strong—too strong!
They were on entirely different levels!
The brief clash just now had utterly terrified this recruit.
Moments later, the soldiers scrambled out of the vehicle and fled in all directions.
Jiang Yu didn’t pursue them.
He wasn’t bloodthirsty, and now that he was exposed, killing them all wouldn’t change anything anyway.
The distant rumble of helicopter engines faintly echoed from the horizon.
The enemy’s reinforcements were approaching.
Looking in another direction, the sky was brightly illuminated by artificial lights.
The glare there was intense; there was likely a base.
As for whether it was the one holding the hostage, he would have to check it out to know for sure.
“Calling HQ!
Calling HQ!
The enemy has extremely strong individual combat capabilities!
Suspected elite soldier of the Defense Force!
Repeat!
Suspected Defense Force elite!” A rebel soldier hiding behind cover bellowed into his walkie-talkie.
He cautiously poked his head out to glance in the direction the off-road vehicle had gone, finally letting out a long sigh of relief.
Before long, static hissed from the radio.
“HQ copies, HQ copies.
Reinforcement squad is on the way…” Jiang Yu expected more and more pursuers to swarm him now that he was exposed.
To his surprise, however, not only did no pursuers show up, but even the helicopter that had been tracking him from the sky had vanished.
*Did they lose me?* Putting it out of his mind, he drove the off-road vehicle up onto a high ridge.
Below was an immense crater mine, its depths lit up as bright as day.
Looking down from above, he saw a massive mining facility.
Clearly, the rebels had converted it into a base.
The entire site was mostly swallowed by a Hollow, with only a few core lighting rigs and buildings remaining exposed.
The off-road vehicle stopped at the cliff’s edge.
Jiang Yu pushed the door open and got out.
He noticed that numerous instruments had been set up along the Hollow’s border, guarded by armed rebel soldiers.
Just then, two rebel soldiers walked out of the Hollow, carrying a supply crate.
Judging by their strained posture, the crate was far from light.
It looked like the rebels here were harvesting ether resources from inside the Hollow.
Jiang Yu pulled out the map made by Shepherd, unfolding it to study.
Since there were no reference points whatsoever, he couldn’t tell if the base below was the one holding the hostage.
But according to Shepherd’s intel, the hostage should be at a supply depot.
Looking at the environment below, it had absolutely nothing to do with “supply.” It was definitely not here.
He climbed back into the car, restarted the engine, released the handbrake, pressed the clutch, and shifted gears.
His movements were highly practiced, but because he was thinking about which direction to take next, Jiang Yu didn’t notice he had shifted into the wrong gear.
*Vroom—* The car engine roared, and the off-road vehicle surged straight toward the cliff.
The sudden weightlessness of the vehicle falling snapped him back to reality.
Instinctively, he turned the steering wheel.
It was beyond saving.
His only choice was to abandon ship.
But before he could even push the door open, the entire car plunged into the Hollow…
Meanwhile, back at the site of the clash with the pursuers.
An infantry fighting vehicle equipped with the latest heavy autocannon roared to a halt, and its rear doors swung open.
A man clad in a rigid exoskeleton power armor stepped down, his falcon-sharp gaze scanning the lingering smoke and wreckage of the battlefield.
His eyes ultimately locked onto a crumpled, overturned military off-road vehicle.
With the heavy clanking of his exoskeleton armor, the man walked toward the vehicle.
With every step he took, the ground trembled slightly.
Running his alloy-armored fingers along the crumpled contours of the chassis, he closed his eyes, mentally reconstructing the battle.
Next, he walked over to another vehicle that had been sliced cleanly down the middle, running his hand over the smooth, clean cut.
*Clank—* A soldier in heavy combat gear stepped up beside the man, carrying an incredibly heavy greatsword in both hands.
“Major?” Aided by his exoskeleton, the man effortlessly took the greatsword, holding it upright in front of his chest.
He closed his eyes, visualizing the single strike that had sliced the vehicle in half.
Suddenly, a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes, and a brilliant arc of light erupted.
It was the exact same strike that Jiang Yu had used to cut the vehicle in half!
“As expected, the Major is an absolute genius!” the soldier flattered.
The man paid no heed to the flattery, tossing the greatsword back to the soldier.
The heavily geared soldier stumbled but managed to catch it.
This weapon was custom-built by Headquarters at an astronomical cost.
Paired with the Major’s alloy armor, a single swing could easily cleave even the strongest high-grade Ethereal, allowing him to hold his own even against high-threat Ethereals.
“The General Staff authorized me to field-test this newly developed alloy exoskeleton.
I didn’t come here to listen to your flattery.” “Heh, Major, understood, understood.
Thank you for making the trip yourself.” “Judging by the combat traces, that little mouse isn’t with the Border Defense Force.
Let’s catch the scurrying pest first.
Those old fogies at HQ are eagerly waiting for the combat data on this armor.”