Embers Ad Infinitum

The Old Task Force’s jeep traversed the lofty mountains and mountains, driving south along the barely preserved and poorly maintained road.

Their destination was a place called Tarnan. This was the only foreign trade point established by Mechanical Paradise. Only factions that obtained their trust or could provide important strategic resources knew of its existence.

Redstone Collection and Weed City were one of them.

The Rootless caravan—which mainly focused on logistical transportation—didn’t have this qualification because Mechanical Paradise was a large faction that had the lowest chances of lacking logistical abilities.

Jiang Baimian and the others were currently Weed City’s trade representatives. They had obtained this through Shang Jianyao Brotherhood’s Weed City branch president, Xu Liyan. They were genuine and bona fide.

Before leaving Redstone Collection, they also asked Song He for permission to be Redstone Collection’s trade representative as a backup in the event that Xu Liyan suddenly disowned Shang Jianyao as a brother.

Although Xu Liyan wouldn’t do anything to Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao with Pangu Biology looming over him, he could secretly send a telegram to Mechanical Paradise and say that the four of them were cheats to vent his displeasure.

“I’m so hungry, so hungry, so hungry. I’m really hungry[1]…”

The song played by Shang Jianyao’s small speaker echoed in the jeep, almost making Long Yuehong suffer auditory hallucinations.

“I’m so thirsty, so thirsty, so thirsty. I’m really thirsty…”

They were currently in a mountainous area, one that had a severe shortage of water. It was even more so during a winter with little rain.

A day ago, the Old Task Force had finished their water reserves. They had failed to find a water source after that.

They followed the traces of possible water sources and arrived at two places before finally confirming that the corresponding area was seriously polluted. Some indices had exceeded the mark by countless times.

By digging up the roots of certain trees, Shang Jianyao and the others didn’t feel like they were in a pressing situation. However, this was limited to the reason that they weren’t immediately dying of thirst.

Jiang Baimian observed the terrain outside the window and said in a relatively confident tone, “There should be a water source if we continue forward.”

“Yes.” Bai Chen agreed.

Phew… Long Yuehong heaved a sigh of relief. He only now realized that the lack of water was more uncomfortable than facing the merfolk and mountain monsters’ charge. The latter only took a few minutes; things were over once it was done. Even if he didn’t survive, there was nothing to worry about thereafter.

Instead, this current state was chronic torture.

In order to reduce his saliva secretion, he didn’t even want to speak.

Shang Jianyao—who was part of the driving shift—was still in high spirits. Apart from his slightly chapped lips, there was no sign of him being affected.

“Sigh, I forgot to exchange for the Dragon King’s mask. Otherwise, I could still ask for rain.” Shang Jianyao expressed his regret.

Ever since they left Redstone Collection, the Old Task Force members no longer habitually wore masks. Only Shang Jianyao would occasionally scare Long Yuehong with his smug monkey face.

He even called him ‘idiot,’ something Pigsy was often called in Journey to the West.

“The Dragon King makes it rain on his own; there’s no need to pray for rain.” Jiang Baimian corrected Shang Jianyao’s mistake.

As they spoke, they circled around the tall cliff and entered a valley with slightly moist brown soil.

“Slow down,” Jiang Baimian reminded him. “The visibility here isn’t good; I wonder what will happen after we make a turn.”

Shang Jianyao and her senses were limited by distance. They were not omnipotent.

Shang Jianyao looked at Jiang Baimian in the passenger seat, raised his foot from the accelerator, and slowed the car down.

He always followed good advice.

Slowly, the military-green jeep circled around the rock wall as it leveled the mud path.

Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian immediately felt everything brighten before them.

The first thing they saw was a meandering stream. There were gravel and pebbles in the stream, accentuating the abnormally clear water.

On both sides of the stream were large rocks. Silt stuffed up the crevices, outlining the main colors of the surrounding area.

Beyond them were towering trees. Some of them had withered, and some still had some greenery. They lined a dirt-covered path.

Jiang Baimian then turned her gaze and saw dozens of people nearly 100 meters upstream.

They were mainly men; they wore all kinds of clothes and carried all kinds of weapons.

Jiang Baimian’s gaze moved from the old cotton jackets, dirty down jackets, and greasy leather coats to the side of the road. She discovered many cars and many tents.

The armed people slowly drew water, busied themselves by preparing lunch, sat on the ground, laughed loudly, or teased the women whose hands were tied behind them. Occasionally, they would slap the male captives that were glaring at them.

“A band of bandits.” Bai Chen—who was in the jeep’s backseat—looked out the windshield and voiced her judgment.

They were a large band of bandits that had just robbed a caravan or a wilderness nomad settlement.

When the Old Task Force saw the bandits, the bandits’ guards also discovered them.

“Boss, there’s new prey!” The black-haired, blue-eyed bandit excitedly reported to his leader.

After winter, there were fewer caravans, and all the settlements were tightly guarded. Their harvests had been lacking, so they could only barely survive.

Today, perhaps due to a Kalendaria’s blessing, they had just tracked down a caravan in the morning and robbed many supplies and people. Now, they had encountered a lone jeep entering the valley.

Their leader was a muscular man in his thirties. He was nearly 1.75 meters tall, and his golden hair was disheveled. His body was rather muscular.

The blue color of his eyes was very faint, and his face was abnormally rugged. He wore a helmet with horns on his head, and it was unknown which city ruin he had dug that out from.

Upon hearing his subordinate’s report, the leader looked over and laughed. “They are like a weak and helpless lamb that entered a lion’s territory. Go, bring them back. Let me see what kind of travelers dare to traverse Mount Chilar in the winter.”

This was a stretch of the Old Mountain Range.

After a pause, the leader added, “Send four cars. They might just be scouts for a caravan.”

There might be many vehicles, personnel, and weapons behind them.

“Yes, Boss!” the black-haired, blue-eyed bandit replied loudly before beginning to call for his companions.

At this moment, they saw the military-green jeep retreat out of the valley by reversing.

The other party seemed to have forgotten that the car could turn and do a U-turn.

“Haha!” The bandits let out all kinds of strange cries as they brandished their weapons and rushed into their designated vehicles.

They love timid prey like this the most! This often saved them a lot of bullets.

When the cars started and chased after the target, the captured men and women retracted their disappointed and despairing gazes.

They thought they could be saved. Unexpectedly, only a jeep came.

This looked like a Ruin Hunter team that had happened to pass by and come to get water.

With excited shouts, two SUVs and two pickup trucks carrying more than ten bandits crazily drove to the corner, not wanting their prey to escape their line of sight.

Just as the first car drove around the bend, the driver’s gaze suddenly froze.

The military-green jeep was quietly parked dozens of meters away. Its body was tilted like a short wall.

Behind the jeep, a man—who was not short—was wearing a black, metallic skeletal structure with the help of his companions. On the side of the jeep, a slightly petite woman had mounted a rifle to the hood.

On the other side of the jeep, a woman in a gray camouflage uniform with a ponytail was half-kneeling. She carried a heavy single-shot rocket launcher on her shoulder.

Rocket launcher!

The pupils of the bandit driver and his ‘passengers’ in the first car suddenly dilated.

The next second, Death spewed out flames.

Boom!

The bandit leader—who was waiting by the stream for his subordinates to bring back their prey—heard a deafening sound as soon as he lit a charred-yellow, homemade cigarette he had seized.

Bam!

The homemade cigarette fell to the ground before it reached his mouth.

In his eyes was a rapidly expanding fireball.

This crimson fireball instantly swallowed the pickup that had rushed ahead and was about to make a turn toward the pickup truck.

This scene was imprinted in everyone’s hearts like an oil painting.

Bang!

The SUV—which was in the second spot—failed to brake in time and slammed into the burning pickup.

Piang!

The glass on its side shattered as a bullet drilled into the driver’s seat.

As the driver’s blood splattered, a few ridiculous thoughts uncontrollably flashed across the bandit leader’s mind. A trap! It’s a trap! We’re surrounded!

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[1] [Annotation text missing]