"Of course, no problem. But if you rush into the Eastern Kingdom, you'll definitely attract attention."
"Do you have any good ideas?"
"Heh~ Although the Upper System gave us clues, I found some clues of my own.
There's an Eastern Kingdom family with close ties to the so-called God's People. They seem to have run into some trouble recently. When the time comes, you can barge in, use your strength to solve their problem, and become honored guests."
Su Rui's smug voice rang out, then he thought of Texas again:
"Texas will be acting with us too, right? Mrs. Sicilian probably still won't give up on finding out about you by then. Actually, I also contacted someone for you—Emperor's Penguin—but it'll take some time to get Emperor here."
Texas nodded. "No problem. Until then, I'll stay with you."
It was only killing. For both her and Vulpisfoglia, it was something they had long grown used to. There was no need to hesitate.
Su Rui's voice rang out again. "Then it's settled. We just need to reach the Eastern Kingdom."
Ambush Encounter
With nearly all their plans settled, Su Rui continued guiding Vulpisfoglia and Texas along the planned route toward their final destination, the Eastern Kingdom.
However, they still ran into a minor complication on the road.
One afternoon, while Texas was driving, Su Rui suddenly spoke up:
"Someone's caught up with us, and it's more than one vehicle. They seem to know your location somehow."
As Su Rui spoke, red dots appeared in Vulpisfoglia's vision and on Texas's phone, gradually closing in around their vehicle.
"What should we do?"
Having grown accustomed to working with Su Rui, Texas instinctively looked at her phone. Sure enough, the route Su Rui had planned was already displayed on it:
"Their vehicles will move dynamically too, so don't worry about crashing into them. Just drive. Vulpisfoglia and I will handle clearing the obstacles."
As Su Rui spoke, the explosives they had used before appeared in Vulpisfoglia's hands.
Compared to Texas, Vulpisfoglia had a more direct and seamless partnership with Su Rui. As a result, she could deal with the pursuing enemies more efficiently.
"Oh, and we probably won't be able to shake them off so easily this time. Find a chance to head into the canyon. It's one of the routes they'll have to take anyway."
As Su Rui spoke, another destination appeared on Texas's phone, and the planned route extended toward it.
"Got it."
Texas nodded. Vulpisfoglia then began following Su Rui's guidance, lighting the explosives and throwing them at the angles and with the force he had calculated.
There was no need to completely destroy the pursuing vehicles. Blowing out a tire or damaging an engine was enough to leave them stranded and prevent the people inside from catching up anytime soon.
Listening to the explosions behind them, Texas glanced into the rearview mirror and discovered in surprise that, although Vulpisfoglia's explosives seemed completely untargeted when thrown, the pursuing enemies behind them kept crashing into them as if drunk. Two vehicles even collided with each other and were blown over by the explosives.
Such terrifyingly powerful calculations.
Quietly glad that Su Rui was her friend rather than her enemy, Texas continued driving, leaving the pursuing vehicles behind amid a trail of explosions.
This appeared to be a planned encirclement. Even vehicles ahead of them began approaching, trying to ram them head-on.
Texas continued firmly along the route Su Rui had set, while Vulpisfoglia lit an explosive and threw it diagonally ahead.
A single simple explosion threw their formation into chaos. Every vehicle blocking the way was either blown over or forced to turn aside by the blast, and Texas drove through without effort.
With no need to hold back and someone ensuring their operation went smoothly, Texas found herself getting fired up as she drove. She floored the accelerator across the wasteland, making the off-road vehicle bounce over the uneven wilds.
However, it was impossible for a vehicle driven continuously for so long not to develop problems.
Almost the instant they drove into the valley Su Rui had marked, Texas heard the engine die.
Using the remaining momentum, she guided the car into the valley and pulled the handbrake.
"Leave the explosives in the car, Vulpisfoglia. Light the fuse and get out fast. Then hide. I've already picked the location."
As Su Rui spoke, Vulpisfoglia acted quickly. She and Texas hid behind a massive boulder in the valley and waited for their pursuers to arrive.
Since all their luggage was stored in Su Rui's System Space, there was nothing in the car now except explosives. There was no need to feel bad about losing it. At worst, they could just take one of those people's cars later.
Vulpisfoglia gripped her blade tightly, ready for what came next.
Going by Su Rui's style, it was time for a slaughter, wasn't it?
Vulpisfoglia did not forget to remind Texas, "I'll take the lead later. You follow behind and support me."
With Su Rui's assistance, Vulpisfoglia could be said to be absolutely safe. Texas, on the other hand, might get injured and slow them down.
"I understand."
Texas nodded instinctively. Since they needed to remain quiet, she subconsciously assumed this was Su Rui's arrangement as well.
However, there was no time to wait or think. Their pursuers had already entered the valley and spotted the vehicle.
They were cautious, sending only one person forward to inspect it carefully.
What they did not expect was that, aside from the explosives in the vehicle, Vulpisfoglia had also placed explosives in the cracks between the stones beneath their feet.
Placing a truly dangerous trap around an obvious trap was the best way to deal with humans.
With flashes of fire and thunderous blasts, more than a dozen unlucky people were sent flying.
Su Rui's voice sounded regretful in Vulpisfoglia's mind. "Less than a third of them got blown up? There are way too many people following you. Is Mrs. Sicilian really that capable?"
"She's the public face of Syracuse right now. Without enough skill and influence, she wouldn't be able to keep all those families under her control."
"From what I can see, she hasn't been controlling them very well."
Su Rui and Vulpisfoglia continued their conversation. Although Texas could not hear Su Rui's voice, she could still guess what he meant from Vulpisfoglia's replies.
But none of that had anything to do with the battle. She gripped her sword and watched the enemies, who had become even more cautious after the explosion.
Vulpisfoglia gently patted Texas on the shoulder and instructed her:
"Hide on the rocks up high. Don't attack until I call for you."
This was probably Su Rui's arrangement, right? Texas nodded, then slipped away through the shadows.
When the enemies drew close enough, Vulpisfoglia charged out directly, swinging her blade and taking two lives in an instant.
"They're here!"
Although they had only seen Vulpisfoglia, that did not stop the pursuers from shouting and rushing toward her. Before Vulpisfoglia could continue fighting, however, she received Su Rui's warning:
"Run! This way—hide behind that rock!"
Without hesitation, Vulpisfoglia swung once and turned to flee, even leaving the enemies preparing to attack her stunned.
But they soon lost any chance to think, because an explosive crossbow bolt came flying toward them.
They Were Too Stubborn—No One Surrendered
The first explosive crossbow bolt was followed by a second, then a third.
Thanks to Su Rui's guidance and assistance, Vulpisfoglia was not injured at all. She dodged the explosive bolts behind her all the way to the cover of a massive boulder.
But the pursuers behind her, who had originally been preparing to rush Vulpisfoglia in close combat, were blown to pieces by their own allies' explosive bolts. Fragments were scattered everywhere.
"Are they out of their minds? Using explosive crossbow bolts when their own teammates are close to the enemy? Syracuse's families are seriously extreme."
Su Rui could not help complaining in Vulpisfoglia's mind. Vulpisfoglia, who had just run a large circle and was still breathing heavily in fright, retorted irritably:
"As if your usual ideas aren't even more extreme than theirs?"
"That's different. I care about friendly forces. I don't want any ally to get hurt... unless that ally is as annoying as Little Venice."
Su Rui argued back as he casually conjured another explosive into Vulpisfoglia's hand.
"Don't light it. Just throw it."
Following Su Rui's assistance, Vulpisfoglia threw the explosive at the calculated angle, then hid behind the boulder. A moment later, she heard another explosion.
"What happened?"
Vulpisfoglia asked curiously as she moved to another position according to Su Rui's instructions.
"Although I don't know why those crossbowmen, who should theoretically be their allies, are willing to use explosive bolts without caring whether the front line lives or dies, we can use that."
As Su Rui spoke, Vulpisfoglia saw the image he showed her.
She had only thrown the explosive at the feet of one person at the front, but the crossbowmen in the rear immediately fired explosive bolts at its landing point as if they had aim assist.
"Although their crossbow bolts are single-shot, there are five crossbowmen in total. They're not that easy to deal with."
Su Rui looked at the people in the image, who were cursing at the crossbowmen and scattering apart, sounding puzzled.
"Why aren't they retreating? I was planning to wipe them all out anyway, but in a situation like this, shouldn't someone be trying to run already?"
"These are Syracuse families. You can't judge them by common sense."
Vulpisfoglia answered Su Rui casually, then found another position.
She sent a signal to Texas, who had already moved behind the enemy, marking several targets Texas needed to handle. Then Vulpisfoglia and Texas charged out from different corners at the same time.
Dropping down from above, Texas landed among the crossbowmen. A rain of sword strikes stunned the four closest to her, while Vulpisfoglia appeared behind the one crossbowman still able to react and swung her blade as he turned toward Texas.
Texas did not remain idle either. Together with Vulpisfoglia, she quickly eliminated the remaining four stunned crossbowmen at close range.
Then all that remained were the people carrying only melee weapons.
"I scanned them. They don't have any ranged weapons or explosives. Looks like they're scared of being blown up by us. Most of their explosives are still in their cars, and they're afraid you'll set them off."
Su Rui spoke casually as he marked every opponent in his Scanning Vision.
"Don't get too close. Stay on the edges and don't let them surround you."
As Su Rui spoke, Texas and Vulpisfoglia fought together against the approaching pursuers.
When blood stained the ground beneath their feet and only a single-digit number of pursuers remained, they finally became afraid. They tried to run, only to find Vulpisfoglia and Texas blocking their path from both directions.
"We surrender. Please don't kill us."
The remaining pursuers threw their weapons to the ground, clasped their hands over their heads, and declared their surrender to Vulpisfoglia and Texas.
"Does this really happen in Syracuse families? They were so tough just now. Shouldn't they have fought to the last man?"
With few people left, Su Rui's voice came directly from the phones in Texas and Vulpisfoglia's pockets.
The remaining surrendering pursuers looked up in confusion, then hurriedly lowered their heads under Vulpisfoglia and Texas's warning stares.
"When wolves gather in packs, they naturally have courage... but lone wolves usually aren't so brave."
Vulpisfoglia sighed, exchanged a glance with Texas, then gripped her weapon and charged at those who had laid down theirs.
Su Rui's voice had been heard. Aside from Texas, their partner who had nearly run out of options, no one else could be allowed to live.
For some reason, Vulpisfoglia felt that after Texas realized Su Rui's voice had been heard, she seemed even more eager than Vulpisfoglia to eliminate the enemies before them.
But Texas probably did not know Su Rui might be able to materialize, did she?
Vulpisfoglia was puzzled, but Su Rui spoke at that moment:
"I thought you two would let them go."
"Even if you hadn't said anything, we would still have dealt with them... surrendering at a time like this means they can never be forgiven."
Vulpisfoglia glanced at Su Rui's materialization progress. It had reached sixty percent.
He said it felt wrong, yet his materialization progress had jumped four percent at once. Heh, Su Rui.
Vulpisfoglia smiled inwardly, then looked at Texas. "Should we rest for a while and continue on?"
"No, you two should get some proper rest. I scanned their vehicles and found a pretty good one. We need to deal with the explosives they stored and search their cars for supplies while we're at it."
"No problem."
Vulpisfoglia nodded, while Texas looked toward the pursuers' corpses.
"Should we search their pockets for supplies too?"
"Uh, no. They're all bloody and mangled, and there's nothing valuable anyway. I'd have to wash my hands after searching them, and that sounds like too much trouble."
Su Rui stopped Texas, then assigned her a new task.
"Texas, dinner is up to you today. Vulpisfoglia and I will gather the supplies."
"No problem."
Texas looked over the various cooking utensils Su Rui had laid out, nodded, rehung her weapon at her waist, and began examining the ingredients Su Rui had taken out.
Before you continue