Free Web NovelChapter 128: Chapter 121: Encounter in the Wild 2
Although the website couldn’t be traced by the authorities, Guan Tong didn’t want it to become a hotbed for illegal activities.
He quickly updated his previous post about service fees, adding the statement: "I will not assist in any illegal or criminal activities."
He could, however, fulfill this particular client’s request. free𝑤ebnovel.com
He had plenty of food and supplies at the moment. The provisions he’d brought with him were enough for half a year’s use. Then, Yu Hong and Zhao Yu had hauled over a significant amount of supplies from the thugs’ car, most of which was food. All told, he had enough to eat for over a year.
Guan Tong himself certainly didn’t need that much. If a camp was short on food, he was willing to sell some of his surplus. He could earn some Sublimation Coins and help others who were in need—a win-win situation, so why not?
So, he sent a private message to the person who had posted the commission.
Site Admin: "How much food do you need? For how many people, and for how many days? I might be able to provide some of it."
The client, nicknamed "Flying Owl," replied: "You’re providing it, Site Admin? Hasn’t someone already accepted the commission?"
Site Admin: "I’ve already added a statement to the pinned post. I will not assist in any illegal or criminal activities."
Flying Owl: "..."
When Guan Tong saw that "Flying Owl" didn’t reply immediately, he found it a bit strange.
’If Flying Owl’s camp is short on food, wouldn’t a legitimate source be better than stealing from an official supply depot? If they actually took stolen goods from some warehouse manager, weren’t they afraid of the authorities hunting them down to settle the score?’
A full three minutes passed before Flying Owl replied: "Fine. We need a month’s worth of food for ten people. The coordinates are listed below. Please send it as soon as possible, Site Admin."
Guan Tong read the reply and narrowed his eyes.
’...I can’t shake the feeling that this guy is trying to bait me.’
Guan Tong had always trusted his intuition. He’d felt something was off the moment he saw the commission post, and this exchange only made things feel stranger.
’If they are trying to bait me, what’s their goal? Do they want to figure out how I transport goods in and out of the city, or are they trying to follow the trail back to me?’
Guan Tong mulled it over for a moment, then decided to send Shadow to scout the area around the coordinates. He needed to find out if someone was setting a trap for him.
...
"You... Who the hell are you people?!"
In a camp somewhere, only one of a dozen thugs remained, kneeling on the ground. "Who are you?" he rasped, barely clinging to life. All his comrades were dead. He no longer cared about the rule forbidding speech; he just wanted to know who had killed them before he died.
Five people stood before him. The leader held a silenced pistol—the same one that had just picked off at least eight of the thugs.
The man with the pistol didn’t answer the survivor’s question. He simply raised the weapon and fired. The bullet struck the thug between the eyes, and he collapsed, dead.
A woman to the side used a text-to-speech app. A synthesized voice asked, "Captain, he made a sound. Why didn’t you wait for the Sound Hunter?"
The captain also used his phone to generate a reply. "I was just giving him a quick death. Besides, this is no time to waste, Xu Wei."
The woman named Xu Wei nodded.
Just then, a burly man walked into the camp and surveyed the scene. He raised his phone, and a synthesized voice said, "This crew snatched a ton of supplies. They must have killed a lot of people to get it! Damn it, they got what they deserved!"
Captain: "Got it, Old Iron. Zhang Qian, send our coordinates to base. Have the recovery team come get these supplies and take them to the nearest city."
Another member of the team replied, "Understood."
This small group was Squad Five, one of the five Official Teams.
Their captain was a former national shooting champion whose exclusive Psychic Power item was a silenced pistol with infinite ammunition. The other members were all formidable in their own right.
They had been dispatched from the city along with Squad Two, with two primary objectives. First, to investigate the existence of a mysterious organization. Second, to assess the living conditions of the population outside the city walls.
Since leaving the city, they had discovered that the outside world had essentially reverted to a dog-eat-dog society. The people living out here had to abide by the law of the jungle, or they’d be devoured, with not even the bones left to pick.
So, they had requested "purge authorization" from their superiors, which was granted after some consideration. This gave them the authority to engage and eliminate violent gangs in the field. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
This gang was the third one they had taken down in the last few days.
Zhang Qian: "Captain, coordinates sent."
The captain nodded. "Let’s move. On to the next sector."
He strode toward their vehicle, leading the way. The other team members exchanged glances behind him.
Xu Wei: "Why is the captain in such a rush?"
Old Iron: "It’s good that he’s got some drive. Remember how he was after we got back from Holy Grail Island? Now *that* was worrying."
Zhang Qian: "Looks like that failure hit him hard... He’s probably trying to score a big win to prove himself again."
The others nodded in agreement.
Back on Holy Grail Island, their Squad Five had been one of the first groups to arrive, getting very close to "Shadow," the person who had claimed the Holy Grail.
But in the end, despite having a five-to-one advantage, they were effortlessly wiped out by Shadow. The only survivor was Xu Wei, who had been tasked with luring away the army of the Living Dead at the church entrance and hadn’t gone inside immediately.
After that challenge, everyone in Squad Five was understandably dejected. This was especially true for their captain, Xu You. He had harbored great hopes that his team would seize the Holy Grail and win glory, but instead, they had met with utter defeat.
In retrospect, if he, as the captain, had made the rational decision to abandon the fight for the Holy Grail—like Dragon Soul, the captain of Squad One, had done—they might have been able to rank in the top ten based on their kill score.
But his decision had led to the team’s elimination, costing them a spot in the top ten. Although his team members and even higher-ups like Dr. Zhang hadn’t blamed him, Xu You couldn’t forgive himself.
Even after hearing the recent news that possessing the Holy Grail granted the "Infinite Psychic Power" buff, he still felt it was no excuse for leading his team to annihilation.
At the end of the day, their crushing defeat was because he had been too eager to claim the Holy Grail, rushing into an attack without first scouting out Shadow’s abilities. That responsibility was his alone, as captain.
So, after receiving this mission to investigate outside the city, he had thrown himself into it with renewed vigor. He was determined to complete this mission and return with high-value intelligence.
Xu You thought as he walked, ’We’ve come out this time, eliminated three bandit strongholds, and recovered a large amount of supplies, but we still haven’t found any intel on that mysterious organization... And we still need to conduct an in-depth investigation into the living conditions of ordinary survivor camps.’
’I wonder if we’ll be able to make any more progress before tomorrow’s rules expire...’
Lost in thought, Xu You reached the side of their vehicle.
Just then, he caught a glimpse of movement in the vehicle’s side mirror. A black SUV was heading their way.
’Who’s that?’
He spun around instantly. The other four members of his team had also fanned out into combat formation, their eyes fixed on the approaching vehicle.
The black SUV drew near, slowed, and came to a stop.
The doors opened and several figures emerged.
The one in the lead was a young man wearing headphones, followed by a bespectacled young man, a teenager in a pullover sweater, a little girl who looked very young, and...
When they saw the last person to get out of the car, the expressions on Xu You and his team’s faces changed dramatically.
Gu Fei?!
