Counterkill

Qu Jianlei's instincts were sharp, and his reactions were swift.

Unfortunately, Cracked's reactions were not slow either. He jerked the wheel in time.

Qu Jianlei's head slammed heavily into the truck bed, and stars instantly burst before his eyes.

"Fuck!" he cursed, but opening his mouth made his lower teeth knock against his upper teeth again.

Fortunately, he had been circulating his power throughout his body. Though he had not gone all out, it still offered some protection.

Then another burst of gunfire rang out, this time aimed at the cab.

Luckily, although Cracked was rather dull, his more than twenty years of wilderness survival experience were no boast.

He worked the steering wheel, skillfully swerving left and right, while the light truck's front windshield was bulletproof as well.

Xiao Jing sat in the passenger seat. Even with his seat belt on, he was flung about, and it took him quite a while to recover.

He braced himself and immediately shouted, "Black Sky Bro is still in the truck bed!"

Even he had been tied down so securely and still been tossed dizzy. Black Sky Bro had been standing in the truck bed.

Cracked pressed his lips tightly together, his eyes exceptionally bright. After a pause, he said, "It's an emergency."

By an old adventurer's habitual way of thinking, whoever held the steering wheel had the greatest authority.

As for the one controlling the machine gun in the back, if he got thrown off, that only meant he had not been vigilant enough. He should not blame others.

It was only because Cracked knew there were quite a few flammable and explosive items in the truck bed that he had not simply swung the truck sideways and fled.

The reason he was handling it this way was that he still hoped that half-grown boy called Black Sky could regain control of the machine gun.

Xiao Jing narrowed his eyes, drew the Laser Pistol at his waist, and aimed it at him. "Drive properly!"

There was little expression on Cracked's face, but this time he answered quickly, and his hands never stopped moving. "People will die."

"I believe in Black Sky Bro!" Xiao Jing clicked off the pistol's safety and spoke through gritted teeth. "I'll count to three..."

"Huh?" Cracked glanced at the rearview mirror. He had already figured out how useful the mirror was.

Now, he spotted something unusual. "He jumped out?"

"Oh, then it's fine," Xiao Jing said, switching on the safety and putting away his pistol.

Cracked's face finally lost its indifference. He shot Xiao Jing a surprised glance. "You trust him that much?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Xiao Jing replied as if it were only natural.

"Tsk." Cracked clicked his tongue, paused, then could not help adding, "The enemy's numbers are unknown."

Adventurers were bold, but they were not without caution.

"So what if there are more of them?" Xiao Jing snorted dismissively. "You've never seen how formidable Black Sky Bro is..."

Once Qu Jianlei finally regained control of his body, he grabbed two guns, unfastened his safety straps, and jumped straight out of the truck.

How many enemies there were was not his concern. The key was to suppress their firepower so the truck could leave safely.

He had chosen his moment well and landed behind the truck.

Unfortunately, winter had only just passed, and there was not much dust to conceal him. The enemy had probably seen him land.

But that did not matter. Hunched over, he darted and leaped from side to side as he rushed forward.

The ambushers did indeed spot him. Two Gauss Automatic Rifles opened fire on him.

No third gun began spraying the truck.

Seeing this, Cracked immediately understood. "So there are only two guns... I'll use the machine gun to support him."

Just as he was about to straighten the truck out, Xiao Jing spoke coldly. "Drive your truck properly. The rest is none of your business!"

Cracked looked at him, utterly helpless toward this child. "Are you sure you're not getting him killed?"

"I'm sure," Xiao Jing answered without hesitation.

"Then should we drive a little farther away?" Cracked asked.

He did not care much about Black Sky, aside from a vague sense of awe. What he truly cared about was this child.

"Do whatever you want," Xiao Jing replied blandly.

Perfect! While the enemy's firepower was drawn away, Cracked yanked the wheel sideways and rapidly drove the truck away from the battlefield.

The ambushers also realized something was wrong and fired another burst, hitting the truck bed.

Taking advantage of the fact that only one enemy gun remained focused on him, Qu Jianlei leaped sideways.

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

Behind a small dirt mound, someone flung his arms wide and fell backward. He had clearly been hit.

Qu Jianlei tossed aside the Laser Rifle, grabbed the Gauss Machine Gun, and continued darting forward in a crouch.

"Damn it," someone on the other side muttered. "Does he have to be this ruthless?"

Before the words had even faded, a stream of machine-gun bullets came flying over. He hurriedly buried his head in the dirt.

In this kind of situation, once your firepower was suppressed, annihilation was not far away.

Qu Jianlei kept suppressing them as he charged forward, completely unconcerned with ammunition consumption.

There were three ambushers in total: two Gauss Automatic Rifles and one long blade.

He picked off the two survivors with the machine gun.

The man he had knocked down earlier was not completely dead. Qu Jianlei gave him another slash, severing his neck.

Unfortunately, the three of them were truly poor. After searching carefully for quite some time, he found only a small amount of ammunition and Nutrient Solution.

"Pah, a bunch of poor bastards!" Qu Jianlei spat resentfully. "They made me waste so much ammo."

Cracked drove over just then and could not help speaking when he heard that. "Anyone coming out to look for food at this time is bound to be poor."

Qu Jianlei glanced at him blandly. "Not necessarily."

The first Mutated Beast Crystal he had obtained had come from a poor bastard who had wanted to knock him out from behind.

Cracked did not argue with him. "Should we dig a pit and bury them?"

"You do it," Qu Jianlei said, glancing at Xiao Jing. "I'll go retrieve the Laser Gun."

The two of them still did not fully trust Cracked, and Cracked knew it well.

Previously, he had not been particularly interested in this little two-person group.

Two brats traveling together, who knew what kind of dumb luck had gotten them a batch of supplies. That was all.

But today, he had witnessed Black Sky's fighting style firsthand and had been deeply impressed.

Whether it was combat awareness or physical skill, he was worthy of being called a top-tier adventurer.

What shocked him most of all was Black Sky's marksmanship. It was truly... incredible!

As an experienced adventurer, he knew all too well just how powerful a sharpshooter could be within a team.

Yet Xiao Jing scoffed at his assessment.

"You don't understand at all. For Black Sky Bro, marksmanship really isn't his strong suit."

Xiao Jing could not conveniently say that Black Sky Bro's movement speed was even more astonishing, but at the very least, he believed marksmanship was not the main point.

He could even sense that Black Sky Bro himself did not think highly of his shooting skills. Instead, he focused more on improving his physical fundamentals.

In short, after witnessing this battle, Cracked had new expectations for Qu Jianlei's abilities.

Qu Jianlei retrieved the Laser Gun, but he did not simply stand by and watch Cracked work.

He took out a drill bit, connected it to the winch, and began drilling into the ground, helping dig the pit while complaining.

"The ground is frozen too hard. Even digging a pit is difficult... Those guys must've been blind, making us work so hard."

Xiao Jing finally could not hold it in any longer. "Bro, they actually dared to rob us with just those two guns... Were they desperate from poverty?"

The Vehicle-Mounted Machine Gun on the light truck far surpassed two Gauss Automatic Rifles, whether in power or price.

Qu Jianlei curled his lip. Using little to win big was perfectly normal, was it not?

Considering Xiao Jing was still a child, he could not be bothered to explain much. "Cracked, explain it to him."

Cracked actually did as he said, explaining while digging. "Those people were poor to begin with..."

Anyone who had to come out looking for food as soon as winter ended was basically waiting for rice to go into the pot.

When they saw a vehicle passing by, how could they not take a shot at it? As for whether they could win, that was another matter.

Under normal circumstances, passing vehicles would not get entangled with them, because they could not be sure how many ambushers there were.

In fact, ambushers generally believed that as long as they could take out the Machine Gunner, their odds of winning would be fifty-fifty.

Normally, vehicles would choose to flee because... there was no need to cause too much trouble.

Those wearing shoes would not have a Hard Fight with those going barefoot. That was common sense.

Cracked thought the same way. "Generally, we'd leave something behind and go. We can't let them work for nothing, can we?"

Xiao Jing immediately exploded when he heard that. "Our truck has so many explosives! What if they blow it up?"

"If they blow it up, they can still pick up some parts," Cracked answered Calm and Collected. "For them, any gain is enough."

Xiao Jing was instantly dumbfounded. "Do they really have to be so ruthless? Launching such unreasonable attacks just for a little gain?"

Cracked looked at him helplessly. "That's why we usually leave a little something behind, as road tolls... Meeting is fate."

The muscles at the corner of Xiao Jing's eyes twitched nonstop. "You call this fate?"

"Of course," Cracked said frankly. "Otherwise... what would you call it?"

"Get to work," Qu Jianlei called to the two of them. "We still have a long way to go."

The moment he spoke, neither of them said another word. Xiao Jing obeyed Black Sky Bro, while Cracked was... somewhat afraid now.

They continued onward after that and encountered other ambushes, but more often than not, ordinary people were unwilling to provoke them.

Fifteen days later, they arrived in the territory of Hongyi Settlement.

Xiao Jing let out a long breath. "We're finally here. I desperately want to take a bath right now."

He had never had that habit before, but this winter had been far too comfortable. Even someone without such habits could be spoiled into having them.

"Hongyi can only be a temporary rest stop," Qu Jianlei said blandly. "This isn't a place where we can stay."

Xiao Jing looked at him in astonishment. "Didn't we agree on Hongyi?"

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

He could not tell them about Mr. Sai. "If you two want to stay, I can leave behind some resources."

He did not want his own affairs to drag anyone else in.

"If you aren't staying here, neither am I," Xiao Jing said decisively. "I'm going with you."

Then he looked at Cracked. "Old man, I can only help you this much. You're free now."

Cracked's face was full of struggle. After a long while, he finally asked, "Where are you going?"