Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei took a closer look. The hand reaching out of the sedan held a small, delicate machine. Its design was simple, it was in good condition, and it seemed to have a camera and four propellers.
The machine was black, just like the sedan, but much cleaner. It looked as though someone had wiped it down to keep it in good shape for selling.
"This thing's definitely useful. Don't worry, it comes with all the parts. Take a look."
As he spoke, the man drew his hand back and brought out something else. "The remote control. You can use this to control the drone. It has a little screen, so you can watch what the drone sees."
"This is a real find. I don't show it to just anyone. What do you think? Want to consider it?"
Lu Xi'an was genuinely tempted. With this, whenever they reached a new place, it could work alongside the Mechanical Dog and expand their field of vision, so they wouldn't miss any blind spots.
The drone could also fly up to check places the Mechanical Dog couldn't reach. They wouldn't need to send anyone out, and could stay safe themselves.
Why would the person in the sedan be willing to trade away something this good?
Could he have more than one drone?
Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei exchanged a glance. Yao Wei seemed just as uncertain, but couldn't make up her mind right away.
"What do you think?"
Lu Xi'an asked Yao Wei.
"What are we trading for it?" Yao Wei asked.
So that was what she was hesitating over.
"That's something we need to think about carefully..."
Lu Xi'an sighed inwardly. The drone was incredibly valuable. What did he and Yao Wei have that the man might want, and that would be worth as much as a drone?
He instinctively glanced down at the Mechanical Dog, which was acting as a box by Yao Wei's feet in the passenger seat.
That was absolutely out of the question. The Mechanical Dog was vital to him; it wasn't for sale.
The Mechanical Dog at Yao Wei's feet seemed to notice Lu Xi'an looking at it. It suddenly moved, changing from a box back into a dog. Red light flickered in each of its eyes.
Lu Xi'an was slightly surprised. He had never seen the Mechanical Dog in this state before.
Yao Wei was also puzzled, and looked down at it.
She seemed to think of something. She looked at the Mechanical Dog, then at the remote in the man's hand.
"Hey, you two, want to think it over? If you're interested, I'll slow down. If we keep going, we'll reach those guys' base!"
The sedan's horn blared again.
But Lu Xi'an ignored the man's calls. Seeing Yao Wei's movements, he understood what she was thinking and asked the Mechanical Dog, "What, you think this thing's useful too?"
The light in the Mechanical Dog's eyes began to flicker.
That settled it for Lu Xi'an.
The Mechanical Dog had never been wrong about whether something was useful. If it thought the drone would come in handy, then it certainly would—and would prove its worth eventually.
It was possible that the Mechanical Dog's idea of "useful" wasn't the same as Lu Xi'an's, but he didn't mind trusting it a little more.
Yao Wei glanced at Lu Xi'an and seemed to get her answer from his expression. She made up her mind and said, "Stop the car. I'll get out and talk to him. You stay in the car, and don't turn off the engine. We need to be ready to leave at any time."
Lu Xi'an had almost said, How are you going to negotiate with him when you barely say three words? But then he remembered how many words Yao Wei could get out when it mattered—like just now.
So he did as she asked, first shouting to the man, "Let's talk after we stop. Get out of your car."
The man asked, "What about you?"
"We'll get out too," Lu Xi'an replied.
"Okay."
The answer came over the horn, and the sedan came to a stop.
Lu Xi'an hit the brakes as well.
The two cars stopped slightly offset from each other, one behind the other, with the sedan in front and Lu Xi'an's car behind it.
After making sure Yao Wei's car had stopped, the man in the sedan said, "I'll count to three, and we'll open our doors. Then I'll count to three again, and we'll put our hands out first. Then I'll count to three one last time, and we'll all get out together. Sound good?"
"Sure,"
Lu Xi'an agreed.
Yao Wei had already tucked her gun into its familiar spot at her waist, where she could reach and draw it in one smooth motion.
The man in the sedan started counting. "One, two, three."
"Click."
The driver's door of the sedan opened.
The driver's and passenger's doors of Yao Wei's car opened too.
Yao Wei glanced back at Lu Xi'an. He smiled and said, "We need to put him at ease. I'll stay by the door and cover you. If anything goes wrong, I can get back in quickly."
Yao Wei said nothing more.
"One, two, three."
The horn on top of the sedan sounded the second set of instructions.
Three pairs of hands emerged from the two cars. The pair from the sedan held the drone and remote, while the four hands from Yao Wei's car were empty.
"One, two, three."
At the third count, all three of them got out at once.
Lu Xi'an stepped outside and stayed by the door. His hand was already on the Submachine Gun, but he kept it hidden behind the car door.
The man was indeed wearing a coat, ragged and filthy. But with his long hair and sunglasses, he looked fierce and unruly.
He grinned, revealing uneven teeth. "Finally, I run into a couple of decent people. You're all right—you didn't just start throwing punches without a word."
Yao Wei skipped the small talk and asked, "What do you want?"
"Mainly, I want to make a friend. If you're willing to trade properly, we can be friends."
"I'm generous with my friends. Tell me what you've got, and I'm open to anything."
Yao Wei thought for a moment. "Would a gun work?"
She had just picked up two guns from the dead, and already had one of her own. She didn't need so many for the time being.
She wasn't worried that the man might use a gun against her and Lu Xi'an. She trusted her own abilities.
Besides, the man had been traveling alone with a large amount of supplies. Yao Wei didn't believe he was unarmed.
"Uh..."
The man seemed a little hesitant.
"There's a magazine of bullets with it," Yao Wei added.
She'd also taken fourteen bullets from the bodies.
"I mean, give me the gun and the ammunition separately," the man said. "Wouldn't want it to go off by accident."
He really did seem to be trying to make a friend. In Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's eyes, the drone was worth far more than a gun.
Could something be wrong with it?
Yao Wei frowned slightly. "Make the machine fly."
The man grinned. "Relax, there's nothing wrong with my merchandise. Look."
He switched on the drone, set it on the sedan's roof, then operated it with the remote.
The drone was in perfect working order. Its four propellers spun, and it lifted into the air.
Yao Wei no longer hesitated. She had Lu Xi'an take the guns they'd just acquired out of the car, remove the magazines, and bring them to her. She traded a gun for the drone, then traded a magazine and bullets for the remote.
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