At dawn, after the trap was set, while the sky was still Chaos, the figures of a group of human bandits slowly emerged on the horizon.
Ayla was right; the carefully staged "tragedy" had worked, and sure enough, someone had taken the bait.
The equipment of this gang of bandits was nowhere near the level of Ayla's scavenger camp.
Leading the way were several modified off-road vehicles, with menacing spiked fenders welded to their front ends, oversized wheels crushing the gravel of the wasteland, and even a heavy machine gun mounted on the roof.
Several wasteland motorcycles cruised along both sides of the convoy, with weapon platforms mounted on their flanks.
Almost everyone was armed with firearms: automatic rifles, double-barreled shotguns, flamethrowers, and so on...
Most outrageously, several burly men wearing crude exoskeleton Power Armour were clustered in the center of the group, their mechanical joints gleaming coldly in the morning light.
In terms of numbers, the bandits and the camp were roughly equal, but in terms of equipment, the two sides were not even in the same league.
What made the people in the camp even more nervous was that the other side was unusually cautious.
The convoy stopped 300 meters from the camp and began to observe from a distance.
Some people raised simple binoculars to peer in this direction, and some even wore bionic noses, sniffing the scents carried on the wind from a distance.
"Boss Gunshi, everything should be fine now." A short man with goggles and a mohawk approached the tall man in the center of the group, who was wearing simple Power Armour.
"The strong smell of blood is unmistakable. Look over there, it's much more damaged than when we came last time. It seems the Tusag Hound have done quite a bit to them."
The big guy, nicknamed Gunshi, had a face full of scars and a mechanical prosthetic limb hanging at his side; he looked like a tough guy who was not to be messed with.
But he was by no means a reckless fool; on the contrary, he was extremely cunning.
Despite all indications that the hounds had indeed inflicted heavy damage on the opposing camp, and despite his own superior equipment, he remained hesitant to make any rash moves.
"No rush, let's observe further." Gunshi narrowed his eyes, his voice low.
Inside the camp, people hid behind shacks, staring intently at the bandits who were parked in the distance through makeshift binoculars.
Seeing that they were hesitant to attack, the timid scavengers were sweating with anxiety. "Could it be... that our trap has been discovered?"
Ayla, however, showed no sign of panic.
Aside from her superhuman physique, her most powerful talent is actually her perception.
She not only possesses vision and hearing far exceeding those of ordinary people, but she can also read the general emotions and thoughts of the people around her in a form almost like color.
This ability endowed her with extraordinary insight.
From three months old, she often heard strange whispers or glimpsed unsettling visions in her dreams.
But deep within her mind, there seemed to be a barrier protecting her, which she could block out at any time if she wanted to.
At that moment, she clearly understood why the gang of bandits had stopped.
It wasn't fear after discovering a trap, but rather a pure sense of caution and observation.
Gunshi is testing the waters, weighing the options, and deciding whether it's worth taking action.
Therefore, what she needs to do is to offer the other party a little "temptation".
Ayla gave the order in a low voice.
The scavengers immediately understood and pretended to be badly injured. Some had bandages on, some had casts on, and they swayed as they dragged sacks full of stones to the outskirts of the camp.
In front of the bandits in the distance, they dug a pit shovel by shovel to bury their "comrade's body," staging a gruesome scene of post-battle burial.
Sure enough, less than two minutes after the bandits caught sight of the pitiful scene of people scattered in twos and threes, wrapped in wounds and buried corpses, the convoy roared to life and headed toward the camp.
A cold smile crept across Ayla's lips.
Ultimately, their caution is just a facade; deep down, they're nothing more than a bunch of thugs begging for food in the wasteland—they have some brains, but not many.
Upon seeing their prey in such a miserable state, these men could no longer conceal their greed, wishing they could all rush to the front to grab the largest share of the spoils.
The campsite was located on a hill, surrounded by long, gentle slopes.
The bandits' convoy rolled over gravel and ran into the first line of traps halfway there.
The extremely exposed animal traps were scattered sparsely on the slope, seemingly only intended to protect against Tusag Hound.
Upon seeing this, the bandits burst into laughter, mocking the camp's scavengers as utterly foolish. Amidst their laughter and curses, they continued driving uphill.
They were completely unaware that this was just another illusion presented by Ayla.
The real killer move is hidden in the second line of defense.
Beneath the soft sand lay shoddy, homemade landmines made by scavengers.
The term "inferior quality" refers only to the workmanship and stability of standard military-grade landmines.
In the scavengers' simple mindset, this life-saving device is naturally best piled up as much as possible.
Therefore, each inferior mine contains more than three times the TNT equivalent of a regular military mine.
To further increase the lethality to humans, a large number of iron plates were buried in the sand.
When the explosives detonated, the loose sand and iron fragments were scattered in all directions, creating a debris storm.
The first to suffer was that imposing modified off-road vehicle.
One of its wheels ran over two low-quality mines, and the violent explosion sent it flying into the air, where it disintegrated in front of everyone. The heavy machine gun on the roof didn't even have a chance to fire.
A dozen or so low-quality mines exploded in succession, sending waves of dirt and metal fragments flying everywhere.
In just one round, the off-road vehicle was completely totaled, the motorcycle was nearly half destroyed, and more than twenty bandits were rendered incapacitated on the spot.
The remaining thirty men lay prostrate on the ground in terror, utterly terrified.
The leader of the Gunshi had been through many years in the wasteland, so his reactions were extremely quick.
He immediately calmed his panicked subordinates and issued new instructions.
They ceased advancing, established a foothold on the spot, and launched a ranged attack on the camp from the hillside.
They brought a lot of heavy weapons; at worst, they could raze this camp to the ground!
Amidst the flames and smoke, the bandits set up heavy machine guns and carried out rocket launchers, preparing to unleash a barrage of fire on the camp.
Just as they were about to open fire, the camp gate suddenly burst open, and a lone figure charged out towards the bandits.
It was a tall, yet excessively beautiful figure.
Her long, jet-black hair fluttered in the morning breeze, and her bright purple eyes were sharp as knives. She was alone, carrying only a power spear, without any heavy weapons.
He strode towards a group of fully armed bandits who were running towards him from several hundred meters away.
The bandits were taken aback at first, then burst into laughter.
"Is this woman insane? Rushing out to her death all by herself? Kill her!"
At Gunshi Stone's command, the gun barrels all turned and aimed at the rushing figure.
Ayla gazed at the gun muzzles and flashes of fire, her eyes showing no fear. Instead, she narrowed them slightly, her amethyst-like eyes burning with a fierce fighting spirit.
In the last battle, she had already proven to everyone her leadership abilities.
Now, she was going to let these bandits, and the people in the camp behind her, witness firsthand what true individual combat power was.