Opportunity

Time seemed to freeze for a split second.

Watching Chen Chong throw the flying knife, everyone in the security squad, including Captain Liu, felt their scalps go numb.

Captain Liu's face changed drastically as he roared:

"What the hell are you doing? Wait! He isn't—"

"Fire! Fire! You bastards! Kill them all for me!"

Before Captain Liu could finish his sentence, the bald man's roar cut him off.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—

Over a dozen long guns on the ridge spat tongues of fire, the gunfire instantly drowning out everything else.

Two members of the security squad were struck immediately; bullets poured down like rain, causing their bodies to shudder violently as they died in the blink of an eye.

The rest of the men dove behind the uneven terrain at the first opportunity, hiding in this natural trench. However, they remained pinned down by the suppressive fire, unable to lift their heads and only managing to return a few shots here and there, their momentum completely eclipsed by the Skull Gang.

Seeing another of his subordinates hit and wounded, Captain Liu's eyes turned bloodshot. He poked his muzzle out to gun down two Skull Gang members, only to be forced back by even more intense gunfire.

He scanned the area with bloodshot eyes, searching for the culprit, only to find that Chen Chong had vanished from the battlefield!

Deep underground.

Chen Chong moved rapidly along a tunnel just wide enough for one person.

The spot where he had been standing was exactly where an Earth Dragon had previously burrowed; he had scouted his escape route the moment the Skull Gang appeared.

"The soil in these Hunting Grounds is soft, a paradise for Earth Dragons. The tunnels they just dug are reinforced by the slime on their bodies, though they'll likely collapse eventually... but it's enough for me to get away."

Chen Chong gauged his surroundings by the faint light filtering down from the tunnel entrance and sprinted at full speed toward another patch of light ahead.

He reached it quickly and quietly poked his head out, discovering he had emerged on the flank of the battlefield. With both sides frantically pouring lead at each other, no one was paying any attention to him in the distance.

Chen Chong's eyes flashed:

"Captain Liu, don't lose face; the General Manager will miss you."

He scrambled out of the tunnel, kept his body low, and quickly circled to the rear of the gentle slope. Sure enough, he saw several off-road vehicles in the distance, marked with skull insignias.

Chen Chong's heart rate quietly accelerated.

If the security squad was wiped out, who would know where he went? Thunder Dragon Company would simply assume he died in the Wasteland.

This was exactly the kind of opportunity he needed.

Chen Chong glanced at the ridge; the Skull Gang members were all focused on shooting, and no one noticed him appearing in their rear.

He immediately stood up, opened his stride, and sprinted at full speed toward the off-road vehicles!

Chen Chong reached the convoy quickly, confirming that no one had been left behind to guard them and that the keys were still in the ignitions.

Clearly, the Skull Gang, having come to ambush Thunder Dragon Company, never imagined anyone in the Hunting Grounds would dare steal their vehicles.

Gunfire roared in the distance. Chen Chong looked back to confirm the Skull Gang still hadn't spotted him, then quickly checked the vehicles, choosing the newest one with the most fuel.

There was a spare fuel drum on the vehicle, so he grabbed two more from the others and found a map.

He opened it and immediately grew excited.

"No. 97 Settlement... Lichuan!"

Chen Chong gripped the map tightly, took a deep breath, and without looking further, rolled it up. He did a quick sweep and found a large bag of Magic Food Nutrient Paste and two jugs of fresh water, loading everything into his vehicle.

The whole process took less than two minutes. He jumped into the car and was about to close the door when he suddenly remembered something.

Chen Chong started the engine, confirmed the vehicle was functional, and immediately jumped back out.

He stripped a spare tire from a nearby vehicle to add to his own, then used his combat knife to slash the tires of all the other off-roaders. He climbed back in, released the handbrake, and slammed on the gas.

The off-road vehicle let out a roar, shot forward like a bolt, and left the battlefield behind in the blink of an eye!

He left the Wasteland behind!

"Hahaha!!!"

Chen Chong could no longer contain his excitement; he burst into loud laughter and pounded the steering wheel.

The pressure of the past few days finally found an outlet, and he couldn't stop tears of laughter from welling up in his eyes. He wiped them with the back of his hand, but perhaps because he had drunk too much water that morning, the tears just kept coming.

The gray Wasteland blurred into pencil-sketch lines as it receded, the memories of these past days rapidly becoming fuzzy and unreal.

The off-road vehicle sped westward across the land, leaving everything behind, drifting further and further away.

After venting for a moment, Chen Chong regained his composure.

"The Hunting Grounds are south of the settlement, and the northwest is the direction of Lichuan. As long as I drive west and follow the safe routes on the map, I can make it back."

Chen Chong spread the map on the passenger seat and adjusted his course against the vehicle's compass.

No. 97 Settlement was two hundred kilometers from Lichuan as the crow flies. Even if the roads in the Wasteland were terrible, he was fully prepared; he should arrive after a single day of driving.

One day, and he would be home.

Chen Chong's emotions stirred once again.

This was a rare opportunity indeed. With the Skull Gang and Thunder Dragon Company locked in a bloody battle, absolutely no one would care where a mere fighter like him had gone. Even if someone realized it, he would already be far away from that place of trouble.

Chen Chong felt the urge to hum a little tune, to floor the accelerator, or even to lean hard on the horn.

But ultimately, some things had changed him forever; he merely let these thoughts pass through his mind before casting them aside, continuing onward in silence.

He glanced at the compass to verify his heading, but his gaze suddenly sharpened.

The compass needle wobbled erratically, as if affected by a powerful magnetic field, unable to lock onto any direction.

"Bzzt, bzzt, bzzzzzzzt—"

Chen Chong watched for a moment, witnessing the compass accelerate until it spun wildly as if completely broken.

A strange weight settled in Chen Chong's chest.

Yet, he quickly adjusted his mindset. Although the cloud cover was thick, the light of day was still faintly visible; as long as he kept heading generally west, even if he were off by a thousand miles, he should eventually reach the vicinity of a Satellite City.

As long as he returned to the civilized world, everything would be alright.

"Stop the car."

Just as he was thinking this, Chen Chong heard a soft call coming from the backseat.

What was that sound?

Chen Chong's eyes narrowed, and he instantly shifted his gaze to the rearview mirror, wearing an expression as if he had seen a ghost.

He truly suspected he had seen a ghost.

Because, amidst the pile of supplies in the backseat, a young girl was sitting there, though he had no idea when she had appeared.

Screech—

The off-road vehicle plowed two deep furrows into the black soil before sliding to a halt sideways.

The slammed-on brakes made Chen Chong sway, and he whipped his head around to see the girl still sitting there perfectly fine, unmoving.

He couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

Without a doubt, this was an extraordinarily beautiful girl; even having seen many Central City celebrities on television, Chen Chong had never seen anyone more stunning than this.

Her features were exquisitely refined, her skin as white as fine porcelain, and her small, oval face possessed a dreamlike, magnificent quality that seemed to glow with its own halo, leaving one dazzled.

This face looked as if it had been generated by a high-level AI, yet it was more harmonious, realistic, and flawless than any virtual image.

Perfect was the only adjective Chen Chong could think of.

Her hair, like black satin, was braided into two plaits that hung over her chest, and she wore silver-rimmed round glasses that made her lake-like eyes appear gentle. This attire slightly masked her beauty, yet it also made her unapproachable elegance feel more accessible, like a girl next door.

Her clothing was also somewhat strange: a silver-white, one-piece bodysuit that appeared to be some kind of combat suit, looking both sci-fi and form-fitting.

The combat suit perfectly outlined her curvaceous figure; she was roughly 1.7 meters tall, with rising peaks and a waist that could be spanned by a hand, possessing a physique that matched her face.

In both his lifetimes combined, this was the first time Chen Chong had seen such a beautiful girl, and he couldn't help but be stunned.

The girl seemed accustomed to this expression, simply sitting quietly with her hands at her sides, her voice like a clear, cold spring:

"Please stop the car, I—"

The pleasant voice came to an abrupt halt.

Before the girl could finish, she saw a fist rapidly enlarging before her eyes!