Snowfield Pursuit

Night spread in, swallowing the entire Li Mountain.

The Martial Arts Hall's courtyard stood empty. Floodlights illuminated the entire yard, yet the surrounding rooms were swathed in darkness.

Only the study was lit. Looking in from outside, one could clearly see a silhouette reclining in a Rattan Chair, as though asleep.

"Whew~"

"Woo-woo~"

When Lin Tuo transferred his consciousness into his Avatar and began descending toward the land, the first sound he heard was the howl of the freezing wind.

The wind was not particularly strong, but perhaps because it passed through the nearby mountains and produced some kind of echo, it sounded especially loud and mournful, as if the earth itself were weeping.

His eyelashes trembled. When he opened his eyes, the frigid wind swept fine snowflakes straight into his face.

Cold seeped in through his collar and down his neck, drilling into his clothes. Even Lin Tuo, whose physique far surpassed that of an ordinary person, shivered instinctively.

"So cold!"

The thought surfaced in his mind.

He instinctively pulled up the zipper of his thick coat... Before entering, he had already concluded that the temperature in the Sandbox was extremely low.

Thus, he had first placed his Avatar in the Martial Arts Hall within the Sandbox, rummaged out a lightweight down jacket, cotton shoes, and gloves for winter, and armed himself from head to toe.

Though his current body could withstand winter in a single layer of clothing, he was not some masochist. Since he had the means, naturally he would keep himself warm.

Now, it seemed that decision had been wise.

He vigilantly surveyed his surroundings. In his field of view lay a dim Wilderness, vast and empty. Behind him rose the mountain range, while not far ahead was a road battered beyond repair.

A thin layer of snow covered the ground beneath his feet. Clearly, this place was in the depths of winter.

It was roughly dawn, though daylight was still some distance away.

Lin Tuo took a moment to acclimate to the environment. Only after confirming that there was no danger nearby did he raise his head and look toward the sky.

In the dim night, wisps of black cloud hung overhead. Only sparse starlight filtered through the gaps, barely providing enough visibility.

"Better than I expected." Lin Tuo removed one glove and exposed his right hand to the air.

Apart from the cold, he could faintly feel traces of stinging pain.

The Aether within his body was more active than usual.

"Radiation." Lin Tuo softly uttered the word, his gaze growing heavier.

From the description in the Operation Log, he had concluded that the "Annihilation Bomb" responsible for the disaster was likely some kind of Super Weapon less powerful than a nuclear weapon, but similar in nature.

Though it was not a nuclear weapon, the energy released by its explosion had clearly still produced a phenomenon resembling "radiation."

And caused countless lives to perish.

Before entering, Lin Tuo had already prepared himself mentally. He believed that since so many ordinary people here had survived, there was no reason for him, who had already begun Body Tempering, not to endure it.

Things were just as he had expected.

"This level of radiation can indeed make me feel a stinging pain, but it's very slight. As long as I don't stay for too long, it won't be a problem."

Reassured, Lin Tuo put his glove back on and began getting his bearings.

Recalling the lights of what had seemed to be a settlement that he had glimpsed from high above earlier, he took a deep breath and ran at a steady pace along the ruined road, which was already completely impassable for vehicles.

"Following this road, I should be able to find a city."

"Rumble..."

Meanwhile, somewhere beyond a mountain from Lin Tuo.

If one raised the viewpoint and looked down from midair, one would discover three modified vehicles staging a chase across the snow-covered Wilderness.

The smaller one took the lead. With its headlights off, it threw the two cars behind it far into the distance, careening across the Wilderness like a mad bull.

Its engine roared itself hoarse.

Farther behind it, the other two modified off-road vehicles drove with their headlights brazenly on, appearing much more "relaxed."

Their huge, ferocious tires churned up sheets of snow, leaving four deep ruts across the Wilderness.

A closer look would reveal that several soldiers in dark military cotton coats sat inside, clutching firearms.

At that moment, the man in the front passenger seat, clearly an officer from the insignia on his shoulder, wore a gloomy expression as he said, "Where are we now?"

In the back seat.

Hearing this, a soldier held a flashlight in one hand and pressed a paper map against his knee with the other. After checking it, he answered, "Mine Town is ahead. We're not far now—five minutes at most."

"Mine Town? Looks like that hunter was heading there. That car's fuel tank wasn't full. After running this far, it must be almost out of gas." The officer said.

Then he raised his voice and barked, "Everyone, stay sharp! Check your weapons and prepare to make the arrest! If we let the target get away, every last one of us will be punished when we return to the company!"

"Yes, boss!"

The response came mixed with the sound of guns being readied.

Before long, the outline of a small town appeared in their view.

Collapsed buildings, dilapidated walls. Outside the town stood a battered, rust-covered steel windmill. At a glance, the place looked like nothing more than ruins.

Only the sparse lights within the town showed that humans still lived there.

When the soldiers' convoy approached, bursts of savage barking rose from the town, followed by a commotion. Faint firelight flickered into view.

"Boss, the target abandoned the vehicle!" The driver pointed at a stalled car outside Mine Town, its engine dead on the Wilderness, and shouted.

"Keep driving," the officer said. At the same time, he drew a pistol and pulled the trigger into the sky.

Bang!

Amid the low whistle of the bullet tearing through the air, the commotion in the town abruptly fell silent. The two vehicles drove into the town as if entering an unguarded realm, following the ruined road into the Central Plaza before coming to a stop.

They saw that quite a few people had already gathered in the town.

Compared to the heavily clothed, armed soldiers, these people were far more miserable.

Most were short and thin, wearing filthy, ragged clothes so tattered that their original appearance could no longer be discerned. Their hair was disheveled, their faces caked with dirt, and a foul stench clung to their bodies.

They gripped "weapons" like wooden clubs and steel rods, huddling together in terror and timidity as they looked over with reverence.

Under the firelight, some people could vaguely be seen bearing obvious deformities.

These were Mine Town's refugees.

"Where is the person in charge here?" As a group of soldiers jumped from the vehicles with guns in hand and cautiously swept their muzzles around, the officer narrowed his eyes and asked harshly.

No one answered.

There was only fear on the refugees' faces.

"Here! Here!" A disturbance suddenly broke out behind the crowd.

A tense yet forceful voice rose.

The crowd parted like receding tides, and a middle-aged man hurriedly squeezed out. He wore a worn cotton jacket on his upper body and a relatively intact pair of work pants below.

Several thugs carrying rifles followed behind him.

However, compared to the firearms in these soldiers' hands, those few battered rifles were no better than fire pokers, their intimidation far exceeding their actual effectiveness.

"Officer, I am the person in charge of Mine Town. May I ask what orders you have for us?"

The person in charge swiftly glanced at the soldiers' uniforms and the insignia on the vehicles behind them before saying with a fawning smile.

As he spoke, he deliberately puffed out his chest, making the polished metal badge hanging there more conspicuous.

The badge was brass, embossed with a burning flame against a backdrop of a forest standing amid the snowfield.

It was Burning Fire Company's insignia.

"We are carrying out an arrest operation," the officer said expressionlessly as he looked down at him. "A Wasteland Hunter stole company property and injured our people. Not long ago, the target abandoned a vehicle and entered this town."

At this point, the officer suddenly tilted his head slightly upward. His high nose twitched as he said, "I have confirmed that the target is in this town and has not left. Now, you will immediately gather everyone to assist us in searching for and capturing them. Do you understand?"

Meanwhile.

Inside a collapsed building at the southwest corner of the town's Central Plaza.

A figure watched the scene in the plaza through a window. Their eyes flickered, then their body moved, silently vanishing like a civet cat.

Not far away.

In another patch of shadow, Lin Tuo, dressed in a black down jacket, slowly emerged from the darkness. He glanced at the vanished figure, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.