"Ramming the Golden Mountain, Toppling the Jade Pillar, and Bowing Down in Worship?"
The desert stretched on with almost nothing to obstruct the view. The scorching sunlight mercilessly beat down on the endless highway.
The atmosphere in the jeep turned serious at Kurapika's words.
"I noticed those two vans turn onto this highway from a side road ten minutes ago, then follow us. They've kept almost exactly the same distance this whole time."
Shira anxiously glanced back a few times. "Kurapika, could you be imagining things? There's only one highway, after all. It's normal for them to drive slowly behind us, isn't it?"
"Maybe I am imagining things." Kurapika frowned uncertainly. "It's just that I was driving pretty slowly, and they still haven't overtaken us. That's strange."
Generally speaking, on a flat highway, drivers didn't like staying right behind a slow vehicle.
Not honking or overtaking did seem a little suspicious.
Shira couldn't help worrying. She clutched her dress, and the wrist with a fresh bandage trembled slightly.
Gelman looked toward the vans through the rear window. "They're making a move."
The van behind them lowered its window, and a man leaned out. His face was familiar to Gelman, Kurapika, and Biscuit.
"Gelman! The person in the car up ahead is Gelman, right?" Monkey Xiyou called through a megaphone, his voice amplified. "Pull over. We have something to discuss with you."
"Xiyou..." Biscuit frowned. "So that guy's done pretending."
She'd been quite surprised when Gelman first told her that Xiyou was on Beyond's side.
You couldn't tell at all from the way he acted. She'd even thought Xiyou was loyal to the old man, Chairman Netero.
"He knows we're in contact," Gelman said. "I know where he stands, and you do too, so he has no reason to keep hiding