Xu An looked at the tracker in her hand. A week had passed, yet the position displayed on the instrument remained within the lighthouse.
"I won't wait any longer, Mom. We'll do as we planned. I'll go down first and wait. I don't believe she won't come out.
The only valuable things in this desert are oil and gas. The lighthouse will definitely organize a large team for extraction.
That woman has offended so many people; she definitely wouldn't dare to venture out alone to find supplies. She'd surely hunker down within the protected zone of the lighthouse's influence.
Xu Yan nodded, "Alright, you go down first. I'll wait for that woman to come down, and I'll follow behind her."
Xu An nodded, then left to buy some equipment at the garden fountain.
Her previous hunting rifles were no longer sufficient. The urgent priority was to acquire more reliable weapons.
Looking at the remaining balance in her card, Xu An walked into a weapons and equipment store.
There were few customers in the store. The overall industrial metal style of the decor made the entire hall appear cold. Firearms of various sizes were hung on the walls, with price tags for the weapons displayed next to them.
Xu An was not surprised that the lighthouse allowed the sale of weapons. It was because the lighthouse possessed sufficient armed forces; they were not afraid of anyone buying a gun and causing trouble on the lighthouse.
The dazzling array of firearms on display made Xu An's eyes blur. However, the prices marked on them were also prohibitive.
Upon seeing the string of zeros behind the price tag of a heavy machine gun, Xu An couldn't help but feel a tremor.
So expensive... but so tempting...
A voice from the side interrupted Xu An's fantasy, "You can only look, not touch. The weapons have anti-theft systems that can electrocute people."
Xu An had just been wondering if the owner wasn't afraid of losing anything. Now it seemed she had been worrying unnecessarily.
"Boss, do you have any smaller, portable guns with less noise?"
Hearing the voice, a young man, who looked older but spoke languidly, stretched and stood up from a lounge chair.
"What's your budget?"
Xu An didn't have a specific concept herself. "Why don't you recommend some first?"
The man sized up Xu An. Although she was beautiful, she looked unfamiliar, not like the usual crowd from the second level. He didn't hesitate for too long and smiled as he said to Xu An,
"Then follow me. The things outside are all junk. I'll show you my 'treasures'; those are the real good stuff."
Xu An, feeling a bit lost, followed the man into the back room. Only upon entering did she understand why the man called the firearms outside "junk."
Indeed, compared to laser guns, light beam cannons, and gamma rays... the ones outside were truly "junk."
Xu An forced a calm demeanor and pointed to a small laser gun, "How much is this?"
"These are all things I've tinkered with and researched myself. They're cheaper than the junk outside. If you want to buy it, just give me a thousand transaction coins."
Xu An: "......" A thousand transaction coins, that's really cheap... o(*￣︶￣*)o
When she heard the young man say that he had developed these weapons himself, Xu An guessed that the man's identity was not simple.
After some thought, Xu An decided to buy it. After reluctantly swiping a thousand transaction points, she turned and left the weapons store, once again praying in her heart, "I hope 'they' are worth this 'wasted money' I spent today!"
The young man's cheerful voice came from behind her, "Beauty, come back if you use it well, and I'll give you a 10% discount! ......"
Xu An: "......"
Returning home again, Xu An studied how to use the laser gun. After eating lunch, she bid farewell to her mother and left the lighthouse alone.
Not long after, Xu Yan entrusted Goudan to Xiang Qin's care and registered for the lighthouse's extraction team, heading towards the oil and gas fields together.
As expected, the day after Xu An went down, that woman also left the lighthouse with the main team.
Xu An's location was not far from the lighthouse; she could still faintly receive signals from the lighthouse.
"Nannan, I see that woman. She's also joined the extraction team and is responsible for oil and gas transportation."
"Got it."
"I'll send you the transportation schedule......"
Xu An looked at the schedule sent by her mother, and a smile curved her lips.
On the other side, Xu Yan looked at the woman with evasive eyes with a cold expression.
The woman kept her head lowered, not daring to meet Xu Yan's eyes. Ever since she saw Xu An and her mother return safely that day, she had gone to question the three brothers, only to find out that the three brothers had never returned.
She panicked. A huge fear followed her everywhere, lest Xu An discover she was the mastermind and come to trouble her.
She only dared to register for the extraction team on this descent after personally witnessing Xu An leave the lighthouse.
......
The extraction team was fast. In less than half a day, they had brought everyone to the previously established base station. The oil and gas stored there were transferred to the transport vehicles by everyone without much effort. Another group, wearing professional protective gear, headed towards the oil wells.
Xu Yan, due to her delicious cooking, had been exceptionally recruited into the logistics kitchen. She added some pre-prepared senna leaves to the woman's food.
She never showed any strong emotions towards the woman from beginning to end. She wanted to ensure the woman couldn't detect any clues.
The woman walked up to Xu Yan, wanting to say something, but her old face turned red with embarrassment, and she couldn't utter a word.
She numbly took the food and turned to leave.
Three hours later, the woman drove a vehicle filled with oil and gas, following at the rear of the team, and began to head towards the lighthouse.
Xu An looked at the time on her watch, estimated that the time was almost up, and drove her car towards the transport team.
Midway through the drive, the woman suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She quickly reported to the team leader via the walkie-talkie, saying she needed to relieve herself.
"Why are you so troublesome! Hurry up! You follow behind us, we won't wait for you."
"Yes, yes, yes, I'll be quick, thank you, Captain."
She parked her car amidst a sand dune, got out, and prepared to relieve herself. Just as she finished attending to herself, she noticed a shadow blocking the sky above her head. She looked up and saw a familiar face.
"You... why are you here?"
"Surprised? Ever since you bribed those three brothers to silence us, you should have realized that this day would come for you too!"
The woman seemed to want to explain something, her arms waving in the air, muttering constantly, "It's not... you listen to my explanation......"
Her body retreated continuously, her eyes darting around, trying to escape.
"You'd better save that explanation for below!"
Xu An didn't want to listen another word. She had tolerated this woman's existence for long enough!
"Ah—"
The woman let out a scream. The next second, a blood hole the size of a soybean appeared on her forehead. Her pupils, stained red with blood, widened immensely. She looked at Xu An as if in disbelief, and then her body collapsed heavily onto the ground, stirring up a cloud of sand.
"Tsk, the destructive power is not bad. It wasn't a waste of my thousand transaction coins."