CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 50: COUNTERKILL

Qu Jianlei’s intuition was strong, and his reactions were swift.

The unfortunate thing was that the crevice’s reaction wasn’t slow either, and the maneuver was timely.

As a result, Qu Jianlei’s head slammed hard against the truck bed, and stars sparkled in his vision.

"Damn!" He couldn’t help but curse, but as he opened his mouth, his lower teeth clashed against his upper teeth.

Fortunately, he had always been circulating his energy throughout his body, though not at full power, but it still had some effect.

Immediately after, another burst of gunfire sounded, this time targeting the driver’s cabin.

Luckily, although the crevice was quite wooden, his twenty-plus years of wilderness survival experience weren’t just for show.

He maneuvered the steering wheel skillfully, dodging left and right, and the light truck’s front windshield was bulletproof too.

Xiaojing sat in the passenger seat, though he was strapped in, he was still tossed around, needing a while to react.

He steadied himself and then shouted, "Brother Black Heaven is still in the truck bed!"

Even though he was tied tightly, he was being tossed dizzy. Brother Black Heaven was standing in the truck bed.

The crevice’s mouth tightened, eyes extraordinarily bright, pausing before saying, "The situation is urgent."

The habitual mentality of veteran adventurers is that the person holding the steering wheel has the greatest power.

As for those controlling the machine gun in the back, if they’re thrown off, it’s their own lack of vigilance, don’t blame others.

Also, he knew there were quite a few flammable and explosive items in the truck bed behind, otherwise, he would have skidded horizontally to escape.

The reason he was operating like this now was that he hoped the kid named Black Heaven would regain control of the machine gun.

Xiaojing squinted his eyes, drew the laser pistol from his waist, and pointed it at the crevice, "Drive properly!"

There was no expression on the crevice’s face, but this time he didn’t answer slowly, nor did his hands stop, "Someone might die."

"I trust Brother Black Heaven!" Xiaojing unlocked the pistol and said through gritted teeth, "I’ll count to three..."

"Huh?" The crevice glanced at the rearview mirror. He had mastered the function of this mirror and found it useful.

Now he noticed something unusual, "He jumped off the truck?"

"Oh, then it’s fine," Xiaojing turned off the safety and put away the pistol.

The crevice finally showed a reaction on his face, glancing at Xiaojing in surprise, "You trust him that much?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" Xiaojing answered as expected.

"Tsk," the crevice clicked his tongue, paused, but couldn’t hold back, "The enemy’s numbers are unclear."

Adventurers are very brave but don’t lack caution.

"So what if there’s more?" Xiaojing snorted dismissively, "You haven’t seen how awesome Brother Black Heaven is..."

After Qu Jianlei finally controlled his posture, he grabbed two guns, unlocked the protective strap around him, and jumped off the truck directly.

The enemy’s count wasn’t his concern, the key was to suppress the enemy’s firepower to allow the truck to leave safely.

He timed his jump well, landing behind the truck.

Unfortunately, winter had just passed, and there wasn’t much dust cover, so the enemy probably saw him land.

But that didn’t matter, he crouched and jumped left and right, dashing forward.

Sure enough, the ambushers noticed him, and two Gauss Automatic Rifles opened fire on him.

There wasn’t a third gun firing at the truck.

The crevice saw this and reacted instantly, "So there are only two guns... I’ll go support with the machine gun."

He was about to aim the truck head-on when Xiaojing spoke coldly, "Just drive your truck, nothing else concerns you!"

The crevice glanced at Xiaojing, feeling quite helpless towards this kid, "Are you sure you’re not endangering him?"

Xiaojing replied decisively, "I’m sure."

"Should we drive a little further away?" the crevice asked.

He didn’t care much about Black Heaven, at most feeling some inexplicable awe, but was quite concerned about this kid.

"Whatever you want," Xiaojing replied indifferently.

Great! The crevice took the chance while the enemy’s firepower was distracted and swerved sideways, driving the truck swiftly away from the battlefield.

The ambushers realized something was wrong too, and fired another burst, hitting the truck’s tailgate.

Qu Jianlei took advantage of the enemy having only one gun left, jumped sideways.

Then he quickly raised the Laser Rifle and fired a three-round burst.

Behind a small mound, someone spread their arms and fell backward, clearly hit.

Qu Jianlei dropped the Laser Rifle, picked up the Gauss Machine Gun, and continued crouching and jumping forward.

"Damn," someone on the other side muttered, "Do you have to be this ruthless?"

Before the words were finished, a string of machine-gun bullets came, and he hurriedly buried his head in the dirt.

In this scene, once the firepower is suppressed, their demise isn’t far.

Qu Jianlei continued to suppress and charge forward, disregarding bullet consumption.

The ambushers totaled three, two Gauss Automatic Rifles, one Long Blade.

The two still alive were spot-killed by him using the machine gun.

The one he knocked down earlier wasn’t quite dead, so he finished him off with a slash, severing the opponent’s neck.

Unfortunately, these three were really poor; after a thorough search, he only found a small amount of ammunition and nutrient injections.

"Pft, a bunch of paupers!" Qu Jianlei spat in annoyance, "Wasted so much of my ammo."

Just then, Crack also drove up and couldn’t help but chime in, "Those who come out to forage at this time are definitely paupers."

Qu Jianlei gave him a faint glance, "Not necessarily."

The first Mutated Beast Crystal he acquired was from a pauper who tried to ambush him.

Crack didn’t argue with him, "Shall we dig a hole and bury them?"

"You do it," Qu Jianlei gave Little Jing a brief look, "I’m going to retrieve the Laser Gun."

The two still had some reservations about Crack, and Crack was well aware of this.

Previously, he really wasn’t that interested in this small two-person team.

A couple of kids getting lucky and acquiring some supplies, that’s all there was to it.

But today he witnessed Black Heaven’s combat style in person, and he was quite impressed.

Whether in terms of combat awareness or skills, he was indeed a top-notch Adventurer.

What astonished him the most was Black Heaven’s shooting skills, they were... divine!

As a seasoned Adventurer, he understood the immense impact a Divine Shooter could have on a team.

However, Little Jing sneered at his assessment.

"You just don’t get it. For Brother Black Heaven, shooting isn’t even his strong suit."

Little Jing couldn’t say it directly, but Black Heaven’s mobility was even more astonishing, yet he believed shooting wasn’t the main focus.

He could even sense that Brother Black Heaven himself didn’t place much importance on his shooting skills, but rather focused on enhancing his physical abilities.

All in all, witnessing this battle, Crack had new expectations for Qu Jianlei’s abilities.

Qu Jianlei retrieved the Laser Gun and didn’t just watch as Crack did the work.

He took out a drill and connected it to the winch to start drilling into the ground, effectively helping to dig the hole as he complained.

"The ground is frozen hard, it’s tough to dig a hole... These guys are blind, making us do all the work."

Little Jing couldn’t hold back anymore, "Brother, with just these two guns, they dared to rob us... Are they just desperate?"

The vehicle-mounted machine gun on the light truck far surpasses two Gauss Automatic Rifles, in both power and price.

Qu Jianlei smirked, small gains with big risks, isn’t that normal?

Knowing Little Jing was still a child, he didn’t bother explaining much, "Crack, explain it to him."

Crack really listened to him, explaining while digging, "These people are already poor..."

Having to come out for food right after winter, they’re basically scraping the bottom of the barrel.

When they see a vehicle passing by, how could they not attack?

Whether they can overpower the vehicle is another matter.

In most cases, passing vehicles choose not to engage because they’re unsure of how many people are lying in ambush.

In fact, ambushers generally believe that if they can take out the machine gunner, the odds are fifty-fifty.

Typically, vehicles choose to flee because... it’s not worth getting into too much trouble.

An old saying goes, ’those with shoes won’t fight recklessly with the barefoot.’

Crack thought along these lines, "Generally, we’ll drop some things and leave; can’t let them work for nothing, can we?"

On hearing this, Little Jing was furious, "With so many explosives on our vehicle, what if they blow us up?"

"Even if blown up, they can pick up some parts," Crack replied calmly, "For them, any gain is enough."

Little Jing was stunned, "Do they have to be so ruthless? Such unreasonable attacks just for some gain?"

Crack looked at him helplessly, "That’s why we usually drop something as a toll... A chance encounter is a kind of fate."

Little Jing’s facial muscles twitched, "You call that fate?"

"Yeah," Crack looked at him frankly, "What else would you call it?"

"Let’s get to work," Qu Jianlei called to both of them, "We have a long journey ahead."

When he spoke, both of them fell silent; Little Jing respected Brother Black Heaven, while Crack was... somewhat intimidated.

They continued their journey and encountered other ambushes, but more often than not, people didn’t want to provoke them.

Fifteen days later, they arrived at the Hongyi Residence Area.

Little Jing let out a long breath, "Finally here, I really want to take a bath now."

Previously, he didn’t have this kind of habit, but this winter was too comfortable, and even without a habit, one formed.

"Hongyi is just a temporary stop," Qu Jianlei remarked indifferently, "This isn’t a place where we can settle."

Surprised, Little Jing looked at him, "Wasn’t Hongyi the plan?"

"Hongyi is no longer safe," Qu Jianlei replied casually, "I don’t want to stay here."

He had no intention of discussing Mr. Sai’s matters, "If you two want to stay, I can leave some resources."

He didn’t want his personal affairs to involve anyone else.

"If you’re not staying, I’m not staying," Little Jing decisively said, "I’ll go with you."

Then he turned to Crack, "Old man, this is as far as I can help you; you’re free now."

Crack’s face was full of struggle, and after a long while, he asked, "Where are you heading?"

(To be continued, seeking support during the new book period.)