Chapter 258 The Encounter on the Fifth Ring Road

  The gate of Boulder City.

  The man in full-body plate armor stood like a statue, his temperament from top to bottom was out of tune with his surroundings, attracting the frequent glances of passing mercenaries and merchants.

   Not only because of his height of 2.5 meters, but also because of his armor from the top of his head to his toes, with almost no gaps. Even the steel plate welded helmet has only a few small eyes that seem to have slipped through the net.

This guy…

   Don’t you use your eyes to see the road?

  Two mercenaries lined up at the gate of the city, they have nothing to brag about.

   "I bet that armor can't carry me."

   "Shh, keep your voice down, that guy might be an Awakened."

   "So what about the Awakened? I have killed more Awakened than Death Claws!" The mercenary didn't panic at all, and the 50-meter land at the gate of the city was also within the jurisdiction of the militia.

  Don't talk about the awakened ones.

   So what if it's a Bonchewer tank?

  The towed artillery on the huge wall is enough to crush all armor.

  The companion next to him obviously didn't believe his words, and said with a sneer.

   "Stop bragging, I don't know who **** their pants at the sound of Death Claw."

   "You **** say it again!"

   Not paying attention to the comments of the people around him, the man in armor stayed at the door for a while, then walked to the Yuanfangfeng Hotel across the street.

   The waiter standing at the entrance of the hotel was not too surprised by this man in heavy armor. Among the many guests he had received, the attire was conservative at best, not even odd.

   Not to mention wearing something, even if he didn't wear anything, he wouldn't say a word.

   "Welcome, sir, do you need a room?"

  A dull sound came from the armor.

   "This is the northern suburbs?"

   "North suburb?"

  The waiter was stunned for a moment, then answered subconsciously.

   "This is Boulder City, not that kind of country place."

  The man continued to ask.

   "Northern Suburb, how to get there."

   Facing the scarlet in the gap of the helmet, the waiter felt his heartbeat freeze for half a beat. He wanted to say something perfunctory, but his Adam's apple moved and said.

   "Go straight up the elevated road along the road ahead, then go east, and you will see a crooked building, and then go north..."

  The man nodded, without saying a word of thanks, he dragged his bulky body and walked towards the elevated road.

  The man didn't seem worried that the person he asked for directions would lie to himself.

  The waiter standing at the entrance of the hotel stared intently at the man's back, and muttered something in his mouth.

   "Damn..."

   "How come the eyes are the same as those of the eater."

  …

  【The fat sheep is already on the road. 】

  The edge of the Fourth Ring Road.

  In an abandoned shop, a man in a fur coat was sitting in front of an extinguished brazier, holding a crumpled note in his hand.

   This note has been held in his hands for some time.

  His name is Wu Qiu, a mercenary, and an awakened one.

  In Boulder City, awakening is not a particularly rare thing, but there are very few people who are clearly awakened and still make a living like him. Many business groups and caravans are very happy to recruit awakened people into their teams, and spend a lot of money to train them and give them the best weapons and equipment.

  On the wasteland, only fists are the greatest protection. Strong force can not only deter young people, but also effectively reduce risks and insurance premiums. Businessmen in Boulder City are particularly sensitive to these two things.

  However, Wu Qiu is different from them.

  One is that he hates living a life of restraint, and the other is that his reputation is really not very good.

  Because two employers died in his hands, the middleman who introduced him to the job lost a lot of money, and few people are willing to introduce him to jobs that come from above and above.

but…

Who cares?

   At least he is quite satisfied with his life.

   Serving as a guard for those cunning profiteers, the reward is up to 10 chips a day, but if that weak and arrogant wretch is robbed, this number may be multiplied by a hundred or even a thousand times.

   Fame?

   Not as good as paper to wipe your ass.

  However, Wu Qiu does not consider himself a predator, although he knows quite a few predators, and occasionally takes jobs from them.

   Like now.

  A week ago, a batch of spirit leaves came out of nowhere in Boulder City, and a bottle of 10 chips a bottle of diluent made many people rich.

  Someone was eyeing this piece of fat and offered him a price.

   Grab two blue jackets from the northern suburbs, and don't care about the others. In addition to the goods they shipped to the northern suburbs, they could get an additional 5,000 chips.

   Wu Qiu agreed without even thinking about it.

   In his opinion, these 5,000 chips are no different from picking up for nothing.

He bribed the gangs in the slums to help him track him down. Then he hired more than 20 cannon fodder from the slums, gave them weapons, taught them how to shoot, and promised them a reward of 50 chips. Two live.

  50 chips.

  For the people in the city, it is less than a month's salary, but for those survivors who ate leftovers and scavenged for a living, these fifty chips are enough for them to easily spend the first half of the year.

   Of course, a team cannot have only cannon fodder.

   In order to be safe, he also sent four of his men to help.

  According to the plan, they will do it when those people are close to the edge of the Fifth Ring Road. If there is no accident, there should be results by now.

   Just then, footsteps came from outside the door.

   Putting away the note in his hand, Wu Qiu raised his eyes to look at his subordinates standing at the door.

   "Any news?"

   Wu Qiu is ready to receive his reward.

  However, what he didn't expect was that the subordinate standing at the door lowered his head and didn't speak.

  The heavy expression on his face made Wu Chou vaguely guess something, and couldn't help narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Ran?"

   Sweat oozed from the man's forehead.

  Feeling the snake-like gaze, he said bravely.

"yes…"

   Wu Qiu stood up abruptly from his chair.

  I saw him striding to the door, grabbing the man by the collar, pushing him against the door frame, and staring into his eyes.

   "There are only eight people on the other side. Why did you bring more than twenty people to block them, but you told me... let them slip away?"

  Feeling the murderous sight, the man's face was full of horror, and he explained quickly.

"Well, it can't be completely blamed on me. There are indeed only eight of them, but four of them are awakened. Those cannon fodder are useless at all. I have emphasized with them countless times, divided into two teams, and outflanked from the side, but they only Knowing how to rush forward in one go, and retreating in a swarm after being hurt..."

  He didn't even dare to say that in less than fifteen minutes, half of them were killed by the opponent, and the opponent was almost fine except for a slight injury.

  So that he and the other three brothers dared not go up...

   "What a waste!"

   Sure enough, I can't count on these guys!

   Throwing away the collar in his hand, Wu Chou cursed, turned and walked back, and picked up the Drone X-2 assault rifle leaning against the leg of the chair.

   "Call the brothers."

   "I personally lead the team this time!"

  He still doesn't believe it.

  It’s just a group of blue coats, what tricks can they play!

  Wu Chou is only worried about one thing now, those blue coats went back to hide in the cave after they made a deal and couldn’t come out.

  If this is the case, the ghost knows when he will have to wait until he can close the deal.

  …

  Linghu Wetland Park South Gate.

  Five people and one bear are escorting the caravan from the outpost, marching towards Qingquan City with high morale.

  Although there are more guards this time than last time, one man and one bear, but the money walking in the caravan is much, and the eyelids still can't help but twitch.

  He didn't doubt the fighting power of these blue jackets, after all, he had seen it several times with his own eyes.

  Whether it's the archer, the hunk who can use a machine gun as a rifle, or the "mechanical hand", their combat effectiveness is all the same.

However…

  Those people were slightly injured in the last battle, and this time they went to Boulder City with another group of people.

   There is no meaning of contempt.

  He just felt like they were kind of on an outing...

   "Damn it! It's a bear with a tail..."

   "Okay, okay, don't be sad," Sisi patted his tail, and said comfortingly, "I'll take back the VM later, okay?"

   "What the hell? Has it been tacitly agreed that I will give it for free!" Yaya, who was riding on the back of the big white bear, protested.

  Roshan Damomo: "Wait, wait a minute, why do I feel like I've become a mount?"

  Sisi looked aside with a subtle expression.

   "I didn't say that."

   Fujito, who was walking in the back row, said worriedly.

   "Don't interrupt Yaya, you are a scout, keep an eye on the front."

  Speaking of which, since she got the beta qualification, she has been playing this game as a simulation business game. Every day, she is not managing the Fujiteng hut, or visiting Qiucao Qiuye sisters' house.

   This is her first time to such a dangerous place.

  Looking at the timid Fujiteng, Yaya riding on the bear's back said proudly.

   "Hmph, don't worry, the intuition of the perception system is passively triggered! I've tried it several times!"

  Fatty: "Don't move around, I...I mean the bear's fur is messed up by you."

   "It's okay! I'll help you rua!"

   Boss Xia had no choice but to help them make a saddle for the bears with leather for the set of iron cans on Yaya.

   One thing to say, Boss Xia's hands-on ability is still very strong, and the products made by temporary DIY are much easier to use than the unscrupulous ones made by mosquitoes.

   Yaya riding on the fleshy body is like a heroic female knight, and the 300-kilogram plate armor is full of security.

   Of course, the premise is not to speak.

  The two caravan guards looked at each other, and they all looked at the only normal guard at the same time.

  Kaya swallowed.

   "Are you sure they have fighting power?"

   He has both arms painted and hopefully this isn't the last assignment of his career.

  Xu Shun nodded and said seriously.

   "Of course! I've seen it."

  Qian Lai coughed lightly.

   "To be honest, I have an ominous premonition... The group of people we met before are obviously not like ordinary predators."

  Wang Zhong, who had been silent all this time, nodded.

   "Indeed, it looks like cannon fodder being called to make up the numbers."

  Xu Shun frowned, wondering.

   "Doesn't that just mean that they are all a bunch of rabble?"

  Qian Lai shook his head.

   "The rabble will not take the initiative to shoot at us. They are not professional looters, they are just a group of temporary workers. It is obvious that someone has organized them."

   It may be difficult for people who have never been to Boulder City to understand, but for them who live there, this kind of thing can be said to be commonplace.

   Not only militias and mercenary groups will recruit in the slums, but also the looters. And because the gangs there generally sell stolen goods for the looters, it's easy for the looters to find a group of temporary workers who rob there, as long as they pay a gun in advance.

  Even as long as you give enough, it’s okay not to issue weapons. Many scavengers can make iron pipe weapons themselves. This is the same as building a shack, it is almost an essential survival skill for them.

  According to Qian Lai's own experience, that attack was more like a temptation.

  The other party was not sure enough, so they decided to mobilize some cannon fodder to try their skills. It's hard to say how the other party will evaluate their strength, and whether they will give up the idea of ​​attacking them.

  He and his boss suggested that it would be better to rest for a few days before starting.

  But the boss was in a hurry to exchange the spirit leaves for chips. This time not only doubled the shipment, but also gave him a purchase list worth 100,000 chips.

  The pot camel machine can no longer satisfy the appetite of the Lord of the Northern Suburbs. That adult is obsessed with buying second-hand machines in Boulder City, and wants to get back no matter what it is.

   "I can only be more careful."

   Glancing at the cemetery-like city in front of him, Qian Lai muttered in a low voice.

  Hope nothing will happen...

  …

A city full of concrete ruins is like a labyrinth. There is more than one road from the northern suburbs to Boulder City. Experienced merchants will usually memorize more than ten roads, and analyze this time based on all factors such as weather, temperature, and intuition. which way to go.

  For the hunter in the maze, it is not an easy task to catch the rabbit that got into the ruins.

   But there are always more ways than difficulties.

  Most predators will set up an observation point at a high place, monitor one or two blocks that can be seen, and then predict which one they will choose based on the direction of movement of their prey.

  Located on a high-rise building within the Fifth Ring Road, a mercenary in a gray coat was lying on the side of the damaged wall, looking at the street not far away with a telescope in his hand.

  His name is Sha Chi, one of Wu Qiu's capable generals, and he mainly serves as a sniper and scout in the team.

  When he saw the team appearing in the camera, there was a look of surprise in his eyes, he immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and said excitedly.

   "Boss, they're leaving!"

  After the brief electric tone, Wu Qiu's unbelievable voice came from the intercom.

"you sure?"

  In the morning, those people had just crossed the edge of the Fifth Ring Road. It hadn't even been a day, and they immediately embarked on the road to Boulder City.

  Aren't these people going to take a day off?

   Sha Chi said immediately.

"I'm sure...that direction can only come from the Wetland Park! There are nine people in total, besides the two-headed cow carrying the goods, there is also a white bear, which should be their pet. They are heading to No. 1101 Street, probably intended to pass through the commercial complex there."

   "This group of people is different from the ones we encountered before, the four awakened ones are not in the team!"

  Hearing this, Wu Qiu's eyes flashed with excitement.

  The commercial complex on Street 1101, the half-collapsed shopping mall, is a good place to loot houses, especially if the four awakened ones are not in the team, it is great news for him.

  The only pity is that the time is too short. They didn't expect these people to leave there, and they didn't have time to ambush in advance.

   But it's not a big problem!

  The number of people on my side is fully twice that of those people!

   Wu Qiu made a decisive decision immediately.

   "Go around to their west side and support us on the roof! Listen to my gunfire!"

"receive!"

   Sha Zi's face was full of excitement.

   Putting down the walkie-talkie in his hand, he was about to put away the binoculars and pick up the sniper rifle on the ground. However, at this moment, he suddenly saw the armor riding on the bear, looking straight towards him.

  That action frightened him all over, the telescope almost fell out of his hand, and he quickly hid behind the side bunker.

   Coincidence?

   not like…

   That movement is too obvious.

   Realizing something, Sha Zi's face changed slightly.

  The one riding on the bear's back is probably an awakened one!

  …

   "Why do I feel like something is looking at me?" Looking at the tall buildings behind him, Yaya, dressed in tin cans, frowned.

"where?"

  Tail quickly raised the binoculars hanging around his neck, and looked in the direction of Yaya's line of sight, but he saw nothing except for layers of ruins.

  There are too many buildings there.

   There may be eyes hidden in every window.

  As the caravan NPC said, it’s fine if you’re alone, but if you’re a team, there is no secret at all to enter here.

   "A perception system of level 12, it is estimated that there are 18 to 19 points of perception," Sisi, who was holding a submachine gun, moved the brim of his helmet and muttered, "It can't be ignored."

   "Can't determine the location?" Fujiteng looked at Yaya and asked.

   Yaya said helplessly.

   "I just have a higher perception, and it's not a cheat."

   Too bad it's too far away.

   Her talent would have come in handy if she had been closer.

   A group of people drove the two-headed cow and continued to move forward.

  There are more and more ruins and buildings around, the wreckage of cars and billboards are everywhere, and there are half buildings across the street.

  There are bunkers that can be hidden everywhere, and the nerves of the people are gradually tense.

Only less than 200 meters away from the ruins of the commercial complex, looking at the half-collapsed ruins in the distance, Qian Lai, who was walking in the middle of the caravan, motioned for everyone to stop, and talked with Xu Shun, who was carrying a rifle beside him, for two sentence.

  Xu Shun nodded with a serious expression, and walked in front of the players.

   "Pass the ruins in front, and then go west 1.2 kilometers to the camping site. For safety, we need to send someone to the front to investigate. Uh, or I should go-"

   "Leave the investigation to Tail! Tail is agility!" Tail volunteered to raise his hand, and the sickle assault rifle in his hand had already opened the safety.

   Sesame Paste, who was following beside him, also took a step forward, clenched the PU-9 in his hand, and said nervously.

   "Me, I'm also in the agile department, I can go with you!"

  But at this moment, Yaya, who was riding on the bear's back, suddenly spoke.

   "Do you have to go through here?"

  Xu Shun stared at the subtitles for a moment, his expression immediately became serious.

"what have you found?"

  Yaoya nodded silently, staring intently at the ruins two hundred meters ahead, and whispered.

   "This distance is a bit vague...but it shouldn't be wrong."

   "Someone's over there—"

  Before the voice fell, a gunshot was suddenly heard between the tall buildings in the distance.

  Hearing the gunshot, everyone was startled, and immediately retreated to the side bunker to avoid, but soon they found that no one was injured at all, and even the bullet didn't fall beside them.

   "Another gang?!"

   "The gunshots are coming from the tall buildings due west of us!"

   "Is there another group here?"

"Probably!"

   "It doesn't matter which group of people it is, bring the cattle in!" Qian Lai anxiously pushed Kaiya, and urged, "Go!"

   That's worth hundreds of thousands of chips!

   If you lose it, the boss will definitely kill him!

"Oh shit!"

  Kaya gritted her teeth.

  Although reason told him that it was best not to do this, he still bit the bullet and ran out with a short body.

   "Hey, don't go, I'm not sure if the gunshot is coming at us."

  Sisi yelled at him, but the NPC obviously didn't understand what she was saying.

  Standing at the tail of the alley exit with a rifle in hand, he suddenly sighed sentimentally.

   "Maybe this is life."

   Poor beater.

   This game is always true in strange places.

   "Don't worry about what it is, what should we do now?" Roushan Damo said nervously, "Is there someone in the ruins in front?"

   Yaya riding on her back nodded, and a heavy voice came out from the armor.

   "And there are still a lot of people! Wait, they came out of the ruins, and they seem to be coming towards us!"

  Although it was very blurry, she could see that those figures were shaking!

  Fujito raised his head nervously.

   "Is it a predator?"

   "Well, I don't think it's important in this case." Sis pushed the brim of the steel helmet and said analytically, "Even if they can prove their goodwill, we have to let them put down their weapons first."

   "Don't be afraid, there's a tail!" The tail excitedly loaded the rifle in his hand and stuck it next to the bunker, "Shh, it's coming!"

  Sisi used half of her energy to load her own submachine gun.

   "Oh! It's about to go! By the way, Awei, don't rush too fast for a while, we will turn around from the side... They probably want to surround us, we have to fight out before then."

   "Ocquer!"

   Don’t let the newcomers behind you underestimate it!

   Just when Tail and Sis were ready to meet the enemy, Kaiya was driving the last cow into the alley beside him.

  In the commercial complex directly across the street, a machine gun was suddenly placed on the window.

   There was no time to react at all. Flames sprayed from the top of the bipod, and dense bullets shot out, rampaging on the ruins.

  The two-headed bull was killed on the spot.

  Caught off guard, the caravan guard driving the cattle was also shot in the thigh.

   "Fuck!"

  Kaya, who was shot in the leg, broke out in cold sweat from the pain, and immediately lay down on the ground, sticking tightly to the back of the raised concrete waste on the street.

  The bullet landed right in front of his cover, splashing a meter of dust. The stones that shot out fell on his face, making his heart jump with fear, but he didn't dare to move at all.

   "Damn, I'm so stuck!"

   "Help me!"

   "Stay on your stomach!"

  Another caravan guard, Wang Zhong, immediately pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it over.

  Dense fog soon filled the street.

  However, the gunshots did not stop because of this, and they still fired three rounds in the direction of Kaiya, as if intending to nail him there.

   Not daring to move casually, Kaiya pressed her ears firmly to the ground, her expression suddenly changed and she shouted.

   "They're coming toward us!"

   "Azimuth?"

   "What direction can it be! Just the ruins in front! At least 10, no, maybe 20!"

   Just as he shouted, the 20 mercenaries had already divided into two teams and rushed towards the alley 200 meters away.

  Wu Chou, who personally led the team, had a look of anger on his face, the rifle in his hand was already loaded, and he spat out cursingly.

   "Damn, this stupid thing! I told him to wait for my gunshot! Why did he do it without authorization!"

   It took him a lot of effort to get ahead of this group of people and arrive at the ruins of the commercial complex.

  The problem that could be solved by simply holding a gun to the forehead has now turned into a head-to-head contest.

very good.

   There is at least one awakened person on the opposite side, and a bear with a steel plate hanging on its chest?

  Although he doesn't think those people are his opponents, he hates adding additional variables to the plan.

   However, at this moment, another gunshot was heard in the distance.

  The sound of breaking through the air came from overhead, and the machine gun that was firing bursts to suppress the street went out instantly.

  Wu Chou was startled, and immediately understood what happened, and then shouted loudly.

   "Sniper!"

   "Spread out and hide, be careful of the building facing west!"

  …

"two."

  The 20th floor of the ruins of a tall building.

   Lying by the glassless floor-to-ceiling window, Ye Shi took a deep breath, pulled the bolt with his bandaged right hand, and ejected the hot bullet casing from the chamber.

   This sniper rifle was captured by him from the mercenaries of Boulder City, and it has been used for some time.

  The position of the original sight has been replaced by a thermal imager.

   This good thing was taken by him from the official website for 2,400 silver coins. It supports 6x zoom, and all heat sources exposed outside the bunker have nothing to hide in front of this thing.

  Combined with his perception ability, it is simply an artifact.

   Without hesitation, seeing that the mercenaries had found him, Ye Shi immediately moved his gun and fired at the looters who were scattered into the ruins.

  This time the hit was on the chest.

  The man who fell on the ground did not die immediately, but wailed to his teammates for help.

  Ye Shi quickly pulled the bolt of the gun, and instead of rushing to refill the gun, he stared at the bunker beside him, preparing to sit on the sidelines.

   But he waited until the man died, but no one came out to help him.

   "Three..."

  Ye Shi cast a glance at the VM left beside him, two green dots had already dispersed from the alley, and the remaining four green dots were guarding around the caravan, staying with the NPCs.

   "It should be Tail and the others."

  Those two are old players, and they must know what to do in this situation.

   "It's so annoying... I can't hit here at all."

  Ye Shi muttered, picked up the sniper rifle and hung it on his back, took out the submachine gun and held it in his hand, walked across the corridor full of corpses of gnawers, moved to the safe passage, and quickly went downstairs.

   A Hell Breath parked downstairs.

  Although the road conditions in the city are difficult for vehicles to pass, two-wheeled motorcycles are generally better than four-wheeled vehicles.

  The general "chug" sound of a tractor sounded.

  Ye Shi quickly started the engine, followed the route planned in advance, and circled to the south side of the battlefield at the fastest speed.

  There is an office building with hundreds of floors here, which is a landmark that he and his teammates have explored before. Ye Shi even remembered that he found a lot of office supplies and printing paper there.

   The eaters below the 20th floor have basically been eliminated. Even if new alien species spread up in the past two months, it will not cause much trouble.

  The sound of gunfire in the distance continued one after another.

  Ye Shi vaguely heard the sound of Pu-9 strafing, within 50 meters of the combat distance, the battle situation has obviously entered a fever pitch!

   Anxious, he turned off the engine of the motorcycle and threw it on the side of the road. He climbed up the half-collapsed concrete wall to the second floor in two steps, then rushed into the safe passage and moved to the office area on the 20th floor.

  Using the gun **** to smash open the French window, Ye Shi lay on the ground, set up the sniper rifle again, and aimed at the battlefield half a street away.

  Adjusting his breathing rate, he was about to pull the trigger when a warning signal suddenly appeared in his heart, and he picked up the sniper rifle he had just set up and left the window.

  Almost at the same time, a tube came in through the window and hit the ceiling not far from him, blasting a burst of flames.

  The heat wave from the explosion spread, and large concrete stones fell from the ceiling. Fortunately, Ye Shi escaped in time, but he was not injured.

   "MMP!"

  How did these **** find themselves? !

  Looking at the group of predators downstairs, five people separated out and surrounded him.

   Ye Shi, who hastily rearranged the sniper rifle, thought something bad was going on in his heart.

   Less than 500 meters away, if I go downstairs at this time, I must just bump into them!

  Ye Shi pulled the trigger hastily, but there were too many bunkers on the street, and the looters who had already discovered his position did not reveal too many openings for him, and easily dodged the shot.

  Ye Shi hurriedly pulled the bolt of the gun, chattering.

   "Oh my god, I just bought the equipment that I haven't warmed up yet, so I can't do it!"

  Farewell, Brother Guang.

  Five against one is a little bit out of martial arts.

   Be merciful!

   I don’t know if the planner Ah Guang heard his prayer, but when Ye Shi hurriedly continued to shoot, something happened suddenly.

  A figure covered in steel appeared at the center of the battlefield at some unknown time.

  The firepower of the two warring parties was obviously at a standstill. Whether it was the caravan guards or the predators, they were a little confused by this guy.

  The eyes of the tail hidden behind the cover are bright.

   "Sh! That armor is amazing!"

   Much better than Yaya!

  Sisi's face was serious.

   "... Awei, don't take it lightly, he may not come to help us."

   Turning a blind eye to the surrounding atmosphere, the person standing in the center of the battlefield glanced left and right, and fell silent for a while.

  Under the armor, a ghostly voice suddenly floated out.

   "How to get to the northern suburbs."

-

   (Thanks to the leader of "Qing Ningzi" for the reward!)

  (end of this chapter)