Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 18: Transaction failed

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Hearing Bai Chen's reminder, Jiang Baimian, who was half-turning to communicate with Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong, turned his eyes to the front.

On both sides of the soft and rotten road are unusually sparse woods. There are some swampy features on the left, dark, muddy, and many mosquitoes. On the right, weeds are overgrown, and a black car full of mud spots is parked in the open.

With Jiang Baimian's knowledge, it is not difficult to recognize that this is an off-road vehicle, and it has obviously been modified many times, either actively or passively, and the tone and feel of many places cannot be unified.

Three people stood outside the off-road vehicle, either wearing old padded jackets, or wrapped in nitrified fur, or wearing a wrinkled, obviously short black woolen coat.

They have simple cigarettes directly wrapped in brown tobacco leaves in their mouths, and they have weapons of different styles in their hands, including the "United 202" pistol, the submachine gun nicknamed "Rainstorm", and the rifle from the old world.

There are also two heavy motorcycles next to the three people, which are black on the bottom and painted with red patterns, giving people a feeling of publicity and wanton.

A man was sitting on each of the two motorcycles. They were wearing helmets with their masks pulled down, and each carried a miniature submachine gun.

"What can you see?" Jiang Baimian did not panic, but seized the opportunity to ask Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong.

Having pulled down the car window, Shang Jianyao, who probed into the front, replied immediately:

"Good food."

"..." Long Yuehong looked at the windshield and wanted to express her judgment, but Shang Jianyao disturbed her thoughts, and for a while she forgot what she was going to say.

Jiang Baimian did not criticize Shang Jianyao, but nodded:

"It looks good."

The skin of the five people's faces was rough, but they didn't feel yellow and thin.

This shows that they are usually at least able to ensure food and clothing.

This is different from ordinary wilderness wanderers!

At this time, Long Yuehong finally recovered his thoughts and said quickly:

"Good equipment!"

Whether it is an off-road vehicle that has been modified many times, a heavy motorcycle, or the clothes on his body and the weapons in his hand, they all show the difference between those people and ordinary wilderness wanderers.

Jiang Baimian nodded lightly and said:

"It can be preliminarily judged that they are a team of relic hunters who have mixed well, or a group of wilderness robbers who have mixed well, and sometimes there is no difference between the two."

As soon as she finished speaking, Bai Chen added:

"The way that SUV was modified said it was burning oil.

"It means those people are familiar with the area and know where to refill the petrol, or have the confidence to get out of the wilderness before the petrol runs out."

Seeing that the two sides were getting closer, Jiang Baimian didn't say more, picked up the grenade gun and said:

"You pick up the 'Berzy Warrior' and put it in the window so they can see it at a glance."

Long Yuehong was suddenly a little nervous:

"Team leader, will there be a fight?"

"Who knows?" Jiang Baimian smiled and said, "Ah yes, remember one thing, in the wilderness, showing one's muscles is a sign of friendliness. Justice, fairness, and communication only exist at the muzzle of a gun."

Bai Chen agreed:

"We call this 'respect is only among the strong'.

"Many wanderers in the wilderness once hoped that there are strong people who are kind, kind, full of love, sympathetic to the weak, willing to help themselves, but unfortunately, this is closer to fantasy. Maybe there are such people, but they are certainly not many, it is difficult Encountered, rather than expecting them, relying on their own is more effective."

"The former 'Salvation Army' can really be counted, but now..." Jiang Baimian's voice became lower.

"Show our bad dealings, and they will show a friendly side..." Long Yuehong nodded thoughtfully, understanding the words of the team leader and Bai Chen.

He immediately had new doubts:

"Why should I do this? They can only see Shang Jianyao's side."

Before Jiang Baimian could answer, Shang Jianyao laughed and said:

"Are you going to play hide and seek

"Does it mean that there is really no one hiding there?"

Jiang Baimian followed with a smile and said:

"It's a nondescript metaphor.

"Long Yuehong, you pick up the 'Berzy Warrior' and get ready, in order to deter the enemies who may be lurking by the swamp and protect Bai Chen, who is focusing on driving.

"Also, if you don't do this, even if there are no enemies hidden by the swamp, the other party can guess that the people in the car lack enough experience and are prey to try."

Long Yuehong suddenly realized:

"I understand!"

He immediately picked up his assault rifle and mounted it on the partially retracted window.

Shang Jianyao on the other side had already set up the "Berzy Warrior" and asked eagerly:

"Team leader, can you judge the situation by yourself and shoot?"

Jiang Baimian snorted:

"It's quite bold, those people in front are obviously not very easy to deal with.

"Well... You can shoot in three situations. One is when I ordered it, the other is when they continue to approach us, and the blocking is ineffective, and the third is when they show signs of aiming."

While speaking, there was less than ten meters of straight-line distance between the gray-green four-door jeep and the black off-road vehicle and heavy motorcycle.

Of the five people over there, three with simple cigarettes had raised their guns, and the other two were crawling on heavy motorcycles, holding the accelerator handle in one hand and a miniature submachine gun in the other.

If it weren't for the muzzles of grenade guns and assault rifles sticking out of the car window here, they might have switched positions and launched an attack.

Because the black off-road vehicles and heavy motorcycles are not parked on the "main road", but in the open area of sparse woods, although the two sides are getting closer, there is no danger of encountering each other.

During this process, Bai Chen lowered the speed of the car and made the jeep move a little bit to prevent the other party from overreacting.

Suddenly, Jiang Baimian shouted loudly:

"Do you know what happened to the anomaly in the depths of the swamp last night?"

The middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing a crumpled black woolen coat and holding a "Rainstorm" submachine gun, spit out the simple cigarette in his mouth, and responded loudly:

"It's too far apart, I don't know!"

Jiang Baimian shouted again:

"What are you doing here?"

"Winter is coming, hunt more beasts and prepare!" The middle-aged man had messy eyebrows and an old scar at the corner of his right eye.

His whole personality is fierce, like a brown bear wearing human clothes.

Without waiting for Jiang Baimian to shout again, the middle-aged man asked back:

"What are you doing here?"

Jiang Baimian responded:

"We are ruin hunters!"

"Remain hunter..." After the middle-aged man whispered a word, he suddenly laughed, "A few months ago, news came from the depths of the swamp, saying that a city ruins that had never been recorded before were found there, ah, maybe, last night The anomaly in the depths of the swamp is related to this matter! Although there are several months between the two events, who can deny it? Hunters, do you want to know the approximate location of the ruins of the city? It can be exchanged for food!"

He roared so loudly that everyone in the jeep could hear it clearly and clearly.

Shang Jianyao stared at the outside intently, as if a short burst would come at any time.

Suddenly, he asked:

"Team leader, he yelled too loudly and hurt our ears. Do we need to shoot?"

"...No." Jiang Baimian first returned to Shang Jianyao, and then raised his voice, "We have military cans, energy bars, and compressed biscuits, you can ask for a price!"

The middle-aged man's eyes moved slightly:

"Sixty military cans!"

"That's it!" Jiang Baimian didn't seem to think about bargaining at all, just perfunctory.

At this time, the jeep had passed the location of the black off-road vehicle, and the distance between the two sides gradually widened.

The middle-aged man did not insist, and responded loudly:

"Hopefully there is a chance to trade next time!"

After he finished speaking, he maintained an alert attitude and watched the jeep drive farther and farther, beyond the shooting range.

"Boss, why didn't you shoot?" At this moment, the thin young man in an old padded jacket next to him asked anxiously with a simple cigarette in his hand.

"Yes, boss, although they are not weak in firepower, we have that thing!" The man with a shaggy face on a heavy motorcycle straightened up and pointed to the trunk of the black off-road vehicle, "Their materials Certainly a lot!"

The middle-aged man shook his head:

"No matter what, our losses will not be small.

"Not worth it, not worth it."

The young man in an old padded jacket and holding a "United 202" pistol said inexplicably:

"Boss, people die for wealth and birds die for food!

"Besides, isn't it just to see who is fierce and fierce in the wilderness? Anyway, it may die inexplicably tomorrow, so why don't you give it a shot today!"

The middle-aged man glanced at him coldly:

"On the wilderness, only the ruthless and fierce can't live for long.

"There are not many pure prey here, most of them are both hunters and prey. If we are blindly afraid of damage, then we will soon become weak enough to become the prey of others.

"Look at those beasts. When they are full, they will not force an attack when they encounter a beast that is almost powerful. They know that once they are injured, they may become the prey of others, so they should reduce unnecessary hunting.

"Aren't you better than beasts?"

The other, a slightly older man wrapped in animal skins, holding an old world rifle, and smoking a simple cigarette, echoed:

"The boss is right, and, didn't you find out? The food for the gang just now was military cans, energy bars and compressed biscuits!

"Don't you know what this means

"Normal relic hunters are only in this state when they just set off from a certain border town in a certain city of the great power, and there seems to be no market town or city of the great power that we know of nearby."

Another man sitting on the motorcycle muttered:

"Maybe they just found an old world military warehouse?"

The middle-aged man at the head sighed and said:

"Okay, let's stop fighting."

He immediately smiled:

"Don't you realize that they are likely to pass by that place? There are not many routes for vehicles in this area, and there are not many people who know that there is a mutation there.

"Get in the car, the distance is almost there, let's follow quietly, and when they encounter that big trouble and fight to the limit, we will clean up together!"

The other men suddenly showed surprises:

"Yes, boss!"

They got on the dirt bike very aggressively and started the heavy motorcycle.