As the jeep followed the trajectory illuminated by its yellowish headlights through the city filled with abandoned buildings and into the southeastern area in the deep night, Long Yuehong felt his heart involuntarily rise.
Although he was no longer a complete newbie to the Greylands, this was his first time experiencing something that took him directly to the "front line."
This was different from the riot in Weed City; this could barely be called a real battle.
Just as Long Yuehong quietly took a deep breath to calm his inner nervousness, Shang Jianyao grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and took out the small blue-and-black speaker from his tactical backpack with the other.
After pressing it a few times, an exciting melody echoed inside the jeep.
This time, the music didn't have any vocals, but it made Long Yuehong feel a little hot-blooded, as if he had become a lone hero, about to take on a hundred enemies.
"What's this music called?" he asked, tilting his head curiously.
Compared to before, he was noticeably calmer.
"I don't know, it's just instrumental music," Shang Jianyao replied with a smile, swaying his body. "You can call it the Battle Anthem."
As Long Yuehong felt the eagerness and excitement brought by the music, and watched the tan all-terrain vehicle steadily move forward through the ruins filled with collapsed buildings and damaged roads, he couldn't help but sigh:
"It was really useful that the team leader had us drive around Redstone Collection before..."
Although they couldn't possibly know the condition of every road in such a short amount of time—after all, the scale of this city ruin wasn't small—they had a clear understanding of the location of the buildings and the frequently used roads in the main areas.
Coupled with the map provided by Alerter Song He, they could easily head to their destination, even though it was already the middle of the night.
Hearing Long Yuehong's sigh, Shang Jianyao turned his head to look at him and said in confusion:
"I thought you would have understood the importance of familiarizing yourself with the environment back in Weed City."
"That time, Bai Chen was mainly leading the way, so I didn't feel it deeply," Long Yuehong explained honestly.
Shang Jianyao expressed his understanding and earnestly suggested:
"Hide-and-seek is the best way to get familiar with the environment. I'll take you to the Vigilance Church's Mass next time."
Is it just you who wants to go? Long Yuehong didn't say what he was thinking.
He stopped chatting and tried to adjust his state.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Baimian gave an order through the walkie-talkie:
"Turn off the headlights, slow down, and turn on the sound system."
They had already arrived in the area of the Ayer Supermarket and the Sixth Heaven Mall, but they didn't hear any intermittent gunfire or artillery fire.
Shang Jianyao immediately rolled down the car window, adjusted the content playing on the small speaker, and turned the volume to the maximum.
Soon, a high-pitched male voice came from inside the jeep, as if merging into the darkness:
"We are the Relic Hunter team, entrusted by Alerter Song He, here to deliver arms!"
"We are the Relic Hunter team, entrusted by Alerter Song He, here to deliver arms!"
Because the volume was too loud, Long Yuehong's ears were ringing in the passenger seat, and his mind was filled with these words echoing.
He opened his mouth, subconsciously wanting to say something, but the words he spat out were drowned out by the sound waves.
Inside the tan all-terrain vehicle in front, Bai Chen's expression in the driver's seat became a little strange.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Baimian noticed her change and asked loudly.
She manually closed all the car windows, reducing the "pollution" of Shang Jianyao's voice to a level that didn't affect the conversation.
Bai Chen took a breath and said, as if she didn't know whether to laugh or cry:
"When I used to wander around the Greylands, I often drove to different settlements to exchange items.
"Sometimes, for convenience, I would also get a large loudspeaker and keep shouting what I wanted."
Jiang Baimian observed the surroundings and asked curiously:
"For example?"
Bai Chen was silent for a few seconds before looking ahead and saying:
"Rice, flour, and canned food in exchange for kitchen knives, pistols, bullet casings, and various metal items."
Jiang Baimian chuckled:
"Did you think of 'We accept broken pistols, broken rifles, and broken submachine guns' for Aunt Nan's place?"
Bai Chen pursed her lips and said:
"Every wanderer who has had a similar experience knows a few lines."
Before Jiang Baimian could respond, she said in a deep voice:
"Team Leader, we're almost at our destination. Pay attention to your surroundings."
"Oh, she's angry..." Jiang Baimian "muttered" casually.
"I'm not angry," Bai Chen replied quickly, looking ahead.
"Then you're just embarrassed?" Jiang Baimian asked with a smile.
Bai Chen didn't say anything.
Jiang Baimian accepted it and, while sensing electrical signals, used the moonlight outside to constantly look at the buildings and ruins on both sides of the road.
In less than a minute, she picked up the walkie-talkie and said:
"You can turn off the sound system now, and keep a sufficient distance from us."
Every muscle in her body was slightly tense, ready to respond to accidents at any time.
A few dozen seconds later, two figures emerged from a collapsed building on the front left.
They held assault rifles and followed a cleared road down to the stopped all-terrain vehicle.
In the surrounding darkness, an unknown number of guns were aimed at this side.
The two figures were wearing animal masks and hoods, making it impossible to tell at a glance whether they were Red River people or Grey Speak people.
After looking around for a while, the woman wearing a bull mask said in the Grey Speak language:
"Are you the Relic Hunters who accepted Hverger's mission?"
"Yes, we retrieved Hverger's arms and want to sell our share to the town guards. I wonder where Captain Han is?" Jiang Baimian explained with a smile, completely unaffected by the guns pointed at her.
"Retrieved them?" The woman wearing the bull mask was quite surprised.
Jiang Baimian gave a "hmm":
"Alerter Song can testify."
The woman wearing the bull mask was silent for a few seconds before picking up the walkie-talkie and reporting this matter to Han Wanghuo.
Before long, the constable came over himself.
He was wearing black clothes and no mask.
After checking Hverger's arms and the Old Task Force's supplies, Han Wanghuo, who was carrying a rifle and two "Joint 202" pistols, didn't waste any time and asked directly:
"What do you want to trade for?"
"The town guard's military exoskeleton device," Jiang Baimian, wearing a delicate monk mask, replied frankly. "One unit. You can deliver it after this war is over."
Seeing Han Wanghuo frown, she added with a smile:
"Anhebastis is already repenting in the church and is willing to make more contributions to Redstone Collection's fight against the Subhumans.
"When the situation stabilizes, you should be able to get a new military exoskeleton device through him. This may take a year and a half, but you can afford to wait, and we can't."
Han Wanghuo was silent for a while before saying:
"I can't directly agree. I'll discuss it with the others."
Knowing that he couldn't make the decision in Redstone Collection, Jiang Baimian expressed her understanding:
"Alright.
"But please be quick. We can wait, but the Fishmen Mountain Monsters won't."
Han Wanghuo nodded slightly and walked to the side.
A few steps later, he turned his head and asked:
"Aren't you afraid that the town guard will forcibly requisition and even kill and steal?"
Jiang Baimian laughed.
But before she could make a reply befitting the "ultimate villain," Shang Jianyao, who had already driven the jeep over, shouted loudly:
"We trust you!"
Han Wanghuo was stunned for a moment before saying with a somewhat bitter expression:
"There are some things that I can't stop either."
He didn't say anything else and walked to the side of the collapsed building to communicate with several powerful figures in the town guard using the walkie-talkie.
A full ten minutes passed before he walked back to the all-terrain vehicle and said to Jiang Baimian and the others:
"Deal."
"Happy cooperation." Jiang Baimian originally wanted to extend her right hand to shake the other person's hand, but considering the customs of Redstone Collection, she gave up on this idea.
Although she knew that Han Wanghuo wasn't a believer of the Vigilance Church and that shaking hands wasn't something to be concerned about, the residents of Redstone Collection around them all believed in Old Granny Nether. What if their handshake aroused suspicion and they decided to stop the transaction?
It's better to be safe than sorry!
Han Wanghuo exhaled and talked about the specific plan:
"You give me the arms and supplies first, and I'll distribute them. After we repel the Fishmen Mountain Monsters and severely damage them, we'll transfer an 'AC-42' military exoskeleton device to you."
"No problem," Jiang Baimian said without any hesitation.
Han Wanghuo, on the other hand, was a little uneasy and asked carefully:
"Aren't you afraid that we'll lose the war with the Subhumans, and even those two exoskeleton devices will fall into their hands?"
What he really wanted to ask was, aren't you afraid that we'll renege on the debt afterwards?
Shang Jianyao once again answered first:
"We'll get them back."
He said it with unusual confidence.
Jiang Baimian laughed and helped add:
"We can collect debts with weapons."
Seeing that the other party was so confident, Han Wanghuo began to notify the town guard members in various parts of the defense line, telling them to come and collect new supplies in groups at different times.
This didn't mean that they didn't have any guns and bullets now, but that they had to be prepared to break up into smaller groups and fight for a long time in the urban ruins.
While the supplies were being distributed, Han Wanghuo looked at Jiang Baimian and the others:
"Do you have anything else?"
Jiang Baimian had already made plans and asked with a smile:
"Do you want to hire mercenaries?
"Just give us a week's worth of food. The main thing is that we have to watch over our property and not let it get lost."
She wanted to take this opportunity to give the team new training so that they would have the experience to deal with similar situations in the future.
Han Wanghuo picked up the walkie-talkie again, walked to the previous location, and discussed it with the several nominal subordinates.
This time, he returned quickly and nodded, saying:
"Alright.
"Just follow me."
As soon as they were hired, Jiang Baimian immediately entered a state of work.
She looked in the southeast direction and said:
"Captain Han, don't you think it's strange?
"The Fishmen and Mountain Monsters haven't attacked yet, and it's been so long?"
They had all arrived here from the Vigilance Church in the north of the city, and the supplies they brought were almost distributed.
Along the way, they hadn't heard any obvious gunfire or artillery fire.
"That's also why we hired you," Han Wanghuo said with a solemn expression. "The small team that first discovered the Fishmen Mountain Monsters hasn't returned."
The southeast corner of the urban ruins was eerily silent.