The desert under the scorching sun bakes all the water molecules on the surface, turning all cool objects into scalding hot. Even in the shadow where the sun cannot shine, the granular yellow sand is still warm, and the distant horizon It is shaking and swaying, which is a manifestation of the heat in the air condensing. Watching it for a long time makes people dizzy.
The three chariots advanced in a scissor shape, with Xiao Jinzi's leopard-shaped chariot leading the way. Ma Tao and Little Fatty Xijia followed side by side, one on the left and one on the right. The reason was that Xiao Jinzi said that he had a way to find something in this vast desert. There is no way to leave without going in the wrong direction.
The most terrifying thing about the desert is not only the scorching heat and lack of water, but also the sense of direction that can make even the soul lose. Even if you walk in one direction, you will find as you walk that you don’t know when. It has deviated a lot and is going further and further away.
The convoy climbed over one sand dune and prepared to drive to another higher sand dune. Behind the three chariots, there were a few sun-exhausted humans, dragging their feet, and the furthest one could almost lose sight of the team. Now, in this busy desert, there is no chariot or water. As a result of falling behind, the only thing waiting for him is death.
Soon, when the last guy half-opened his chapped lips, dragged his heavy legs, raised his head and squinted his eyes to look up at the undiminished sun above his head, his eyes rolled, and he fell down, and then , driven by inertia, it rolled down under the sand dune that it had just climbed up, bringing with it a stream of smoke and dust.
One person looked back and noticed that he had rolled down, but when he saw that the team did not stop because of him and continued to drive, he pursed his lips that were also split, reached out and touched his arms, and looked at the others. They were all dragging their bodies to follow the team like walking zombies. No one noticed that he quickly leaned down, unscrewed the bottle cap in his arms, quickly pulled out the straw inside, took a strong sip, and then hurriedly tightened it. He continued on his way, but his chapped lips were much moister.
"Another one fell"
Through the car screen, Su Lanxi discovered that there was one less person following the car.
"Are there 6 left?"
Ma Tao responded while driving the chariot.
After Fatty Xijia killed those people before, Ma Tao took this opportunity to stop those people from following the car, and deliberately increased the speed of the car to speed up their physical exertion. If he just left , it is very likely that these people will form a group in an instant. Although they will not cause much harm to their own side, Ma Tao still cannot do it directly. After all, these people are not all evil people, and they have not done anything evil. The best way is to give them a glimmer of hope and slowly use the harsh environment to take advantage of them and eliminate them one by one.
It has to be said that these people are all a burden and have no effect at all. They are not even qualified to be cannon fodder. In other words, they have no value at all. As long as they have some value, Ma Tao is willing to give them a hand.
The world is like this. Who cares about worthless things? Rubbish should be put in the trash can.
I don’t know when, but I also learned to be evil...
With a sigh in his heart, Ma Tao increased the speed slightly to get rid of these people as soon as possible, so that they could fend for themselves.
However, Ma Tao still underestimated the tenacious vitality displayed by human beings in the face of death. Until the sun, which had been tyrannical for a day, began to gather energy and gradually showed signs of leaving, and the high temperature began to gradually weaken, and these guys who followed behind There were actually four people, two men and two women. I didn't know how the three of them survived. This perseverance somewhat impressed Ma Tao, but that was all.
"Stop...Stop!!!"
One of the surviving men suddenly ran up to Ma Tao's chariot with a force that he didn't know where and waved his hands to ask them to stop.
Ma Tao hesitated and finally chose to stop, but he was not ready to get out of the car.
The red Merkava stopped, and the other two chariots naturally followed suit.
"What are they going to do?"
Su Lanxi looked at the man in front of the chariot who was so tanned that he looked like a black-faced father-in-law through the screen and asked.
"You'll know soon"
Sister Su Lanyu said.
Seeing that he had stopped the chariot in front of him, the man let out a deep breath, calmed down the exhaustion of just gathering his strength to run over to stop the chariot, and looked at the red steel behemoth in front of him with a hint of breathlessness. "Please... take a rest, we can't hold it any longer..."
"How about... let's take a break."
Su Lanxi glanced at Ma Tao and her sister, and said something in a low voice, as if she was afraid that her suggestion would make Ma Tao angry.
It must be admitted that Su Lanyu is indeed a bit more cold-blooded than Su Lanxi when faced with tests of human nature. I can't say that he is cold-blooded. It's just that Su Lanyu has seen many things more clearly and experienced more. Of course, these are painful experiences. , Therefore, Su Lanyu could be indifferent to what happened to those unrelated people, but Su Lanxi could not. This was precisely because what she encountered from the beginning had a lot to do with Ma Tao.
"Listen to you"
Seeing her little face full of nervousness, Ma Tao smiled slightly and agreed without hesitation. Unless he had to, he didn't want to erase the remaining kindness in Su Lanxi. After all, it didn't count at all. What, even if Su Lanxi didn't say anything, Ma Tao also planned to take a rest.
If it weren't for the purpose of dragging down the energy of these people, Ma Tao would have been ready to rest on the spot. Looking at the time now, after all, they have been traveling for a day and a night, and they are exhausted physically and mentally. It is time to stop. Take a break.
"How much water do we have?"
Staring at the man standing in front of his chariot, Ma Tao asked without looking back.
asked.
“It should be enough.”
Su Lanxi replied.
"Are you really planning to give it to them?"
My sister, Su Lanyu, looked at her silly sister slightly differently and shook her head.
"Find me the smallest bottle"
After Ma Tao finished speaking, he put on the silver-clad mecha, checked his weapons and equipment, took a bottle of water from Su Lanxi and got out of the tank.
As the saying goes, if you don't go out for the morning glow, the sunset will travel thousands of miles. After getting out of the chariot, Ma Tao looked up and saw that the sunset in the desert was as red as fire, and the only two clouds on the horizon were illuminated red.
"That's all I can give you"
Ma Tao said and threw the water bottle in his hand to the man.
The man who got the water was about to drink it, but the other man was afraid that the guy who got the water would drink too much, so he rushed over to grab it. The man who got the water couldn't help it, and the two soon started fighting, but it looked like When he came out, the guy who got the bottle of water obviously had a physical advantage over the latter. He knocked the competitor who dared to grab the water to the ground in a few seconds, then kicked him down and rolled him to the sand dune. It went down.
"Pooh!"
The guy who finally won held the bottle of water in his hand and spat at the loser who had not climbed up from the sand dune. Of course, there was no saliva, and then said, "This is what I came for, why should I give it to you?"
As for the two women, looking at the poor guy at the bottom of the dune who was trying hard to climb up but fell down again and again, their eyes simultaneously turned to the hands of the man standing on the dune, and finally, they were fixed on his hands. of the bottle of water.
Seemingly noticing that the two women were looking at him, the winner opened the water bottle arrogantly and drank most of the water in two gulps. The two women who were looking at him were pursed their lips, but their chapped lips reminded them that their bodies were already exhausted. Severe water shortage.
Ma Tao was too lazy to pay attention to them, let alone think about them. He pretended not to notice their fighting behavior. He stretched out his hand to signal the chariots of Xiao Jinzi and Xijia and said loudly, "I'm not leaving today, I'm just resting here."
The most abundant thing in the desert is sand. You can’t even dig it up, it’s endless.
The three chariots were separated by a distance of nearly ten meters in a Z-shaped pattern. In the middle, there was a bonfire with some boiling water and other food boiled on it. Most of them were contributed by the little fat man Xijia. In this guy's chariot The things he reserved were really all kinds of strange and varied. He took out no less than seven or eight kinds of food alone, not to mention meat, dried vegetables, salty pickles, and even preserved fruits. Ma Tao I finally know how he got so fat.
Of course, Ma Tao understood that the purpose of his doing this was to take the initiative to bring them closer. After all, although these things are expensive and difficult to buy, don't forget, as long as he can leave the desert and return to the town successfully, , with their strength, they can get whatever they want. The most important thing is that Xiao Jinzi said that he has a way to not get lost in the desert. This is the fundamental reason why Xijia decided to follow him and them. Otherwise, with the chariot, he can go out independently. What he is afraid of is not the monster, but getting lost in this ghost place with no way out, and eventually being eaten alive here in obscurity.
All the food was prepared by Ma Tao himself, Xiao Jinzi and little fat man Xijia. As for the four poor ghosts who were lucky enough to survive until now, Ma Tao had no intention of letting them get close, mainly because he couldn't trust them.
Ma Tao did not let the sisters Su Lanyu and Su Lanxi get off the chariot, but directly brought them to the chariot. The two sisters have always kept their faces hidden and covered their faces with veils, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble. Keeping people in the same chariot is also a way out for Ma Tao to leave for himself, no matter what happens. In any situation, a counterattack can be guaranteed as soon as possible. After all, their tanks do not have the offensive and defensive SE equipment such as volleys to control the entire field.
When dinner was ready, Ma Tao was still going to give some to the four people. If he didn't give it, Su Lanxi's sympathy would probably overflow again. However, it was not what they had prepared now, but some dry food. Biscuits and steamed buns, of course, Ma Tao will not let them eat enough, just like the bottle of water.
At this time, you have already seen what it means to be a winner. The man who got the water before has completely taken over the two women, hugging him from left to right, extremely happy. The two women must also have drank the water. He tried his best to please, but as for the loser who didn't get the water, he lay down on the sand in dejection. If he hadn't been breathing heavily, Ma Tao would have thought he was dead.
"Women will always be the slaves of men"
Xijia's words came from beside him. This guy actually held a can of melon seeds and smacked the melon seeds while talking, as if he was on vacation, very comfortable and leisurely.
"Anymore?"
Ma Tao asked, staring at the half-filled can of melon seeds in his hand and smelling the aroma of melon seeds in the air.
To be honest, Ma Tao himself has almost forgotten what this thing tastes like. It is impossible to say that he is not greedy.
"Here you go, I still have more"
Xijia casually handed the jar of melon seeds to Ma Tao without caring at all, and turned around to get something else.
Comparing one person to another is so irritating. Ma Tao sighed inwardly at his poverty. He didn't expect that after being reborn, he would even care about other people's melon seeds.
"Hey! You guys, this is for you."
Raising the food in his hand, Ma Tao threw it directly. Similarly, the guy who got the water earlier grabbed it. Ma Tao looked at the other man who had been lying there, but he couldn't actually say that he was screaming. Grab, because he didn't move at all, and it seemed that he had exhausted all the energy to grab. Ma Tao knew that if nothing else happened, this guy would be thirsty, tired, and hungry. In addition, the temperature at night would plummet. He I probably won't make it through tonight.
Back at the campfire, Xiao Jinzi and Xijia were already eating. They were drinking vegetable soup, eating pickles, and stewed rice. This set meal can be said to be the top luxury in a desert like this at this moment. The existence of na.
"Hey, is your trip in vain?"
Ma Taohui
When I arrived, I heard Xiao Jinzi asking Xijia something.
"What are you talking about? What have you done in vain?"
He sat cross-legged on the still warm sand and picked up his food. Taking this opportunity, Ma Tao also planned to get to know the Siga in front of him, who was known as the "Iron Barrel Shield".
"He is the escort hired by the Red Flame Caravan this time. He was hired to earn escort money for this trip. What a coincidence. He caught up with a sandstorm, which is quite unlucky."
Xiao Jinzi took a sip of vegetable soup and said.
"oh"
Ma Tao nodded.
Speaking of the Red Flame Caravan, Ma Tao suddenly thought of that woman who looked like Medusa.
"Isn't it? This trip is definitely in vain. A natural disaster like a black sandstorm is beyond human power. However, I won't have any losses, but I will definitely not be able to get the employment fee."
Xijia chewed the things in his mouth, which made his already fat face look even fatter. Affected by the food in his mouth, he spoke with a slightly loud tongue.
"Recruitment fee?"
Ma Tao instantly heard the key thing from his words.
"Well……"
Little Fatty Xijia was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had let it slip, but then he thought about it, now that even the caravan was gone, this trip must have been ruined, so he didn't care anymore, and continued: "Actually, it doesn't matter, I am I was asked to protect a group of things that were favored by the Creation Alliance. As for what they are, I don’t know.”
"Do you still need to protect the Creation Alliance's things?"
Xiao Jinzi immediately expressed disbelief upon hearing this.
"Why don't you need it? In Tower Town, the Creation Alliance has issued many escort missions. The prices are not low, and the rewards are quite generous. It's just luck to get them. Everyone rushes to take them. , that... people don’t look down on anyone who has no strength. If I weren’t famous, no one would look for me.”
Xijia disagreed. There was a proud look on his face when he said this, but when he thought that this time the mission had failed, his face became depressed again.
"My guess is that the Blazing Caravan took the order and then expanded the team before hiring you."
Ma Tao said casually. He was not very sure at first. He only paused slightly when speaking through him before asking. However, seeing the awkward expression on Xijia's face, he knew that he had guessed correctly again.
Although the name of Xijia's nickname "Iron Bucket Shield" in front of him sounds like a sense of security, it also indirectly shows that he is good at defense, or to put it more bluntly, this guy is good at retreat. His name , obviously given by those who came back alive after going on missions with him. It sounds good, but it has a more or less derogatory meaning. How can the caravan be willing to hire such a person? Every time he encounters danger, , I am sure that I am not sure, but others are not sure. After all, this is a master who can only protect himself.
"By the way, I saw a woman in your caravan who was protected by the Guardian of Dawn. Was it the mission she issued?"
Seeing that he stopped talking, Ma Tao changed the topic to the woman.
"You mean Mist? That's right, all the tasks of the Creation Alliance are issued by her, and her status in the Creation Alliance is not low."
Xijia knew who Ma Tao was talking about as soon as he heard it. After all, there is really no other woman who can be protected by the Guardian of Dawn.
"Mist..."
Ma Tao repeated, secretly remembering the name in his heart.
"It is said that this woman obeys the direct orders of the 'general', the two supreme leaders of the Creation Alliance. She has quite a lot of power."
After Xijia finished speaking, he saw the expressions of confusion on the faces of Ma Tao and Xiao Jinzi, and said in surprise: "No way? Don't you live in Tower Town? Don't you know any news?"
"You're really right, we are..."
Xiao Jinzi chuckled and was about to speak, but saw Ma Tao winking at him and closed his mouth again.
"To tell you the truth, we have just arrived in Tower Town not long ago. As for where we came from, I can't go into details. We have only heard of the Creation Alliance. It is said to be a very powerful force."
Ma Tao pretended not to understand anything, looked into his eyes sincerely and answered.
“So that’s how it is”
Xijia suddenly realized it and didn't think too much about it. After all, it is not difficult to find out these things in Tazhen. Moreover, this is not a password at all. He just thinks that Ma Tao and the others are in some unknown small villages around Tazhen. The lucky man who came out continued: "This Creation Alliance has two big leaders, divided into generals and marshals. This general is named Bai Jiang. He likes to be alone and his whereabouts are unpredictable. Very few people have seen him. This other commander, named Su Shuai, is basically in charge of all major and minor matters in the entire Creation Alliance."
"Isn't that just a hands-off shopkeeper! A big butler?"
Xiao Jinzi said.
"Forehead……"
In one sentence, Xijia was speechless for a long time before he replied: "You can say that, but you must not know the other names of these two big men. Let me tell you, this is also meeting me. You may not know if you ask others.”
"What's your name? So mysterious?"
Ma Tao was also intrigued by him and asked.
"I only found out through inquiring inside the Red Flame Caravan these past two days that General Bai has another name. What is it called... a string puppet?"
As if to appear extra cautious, Xijia deliberately covered it with his hand before speaking.
"String puppet? What the hell?"
Ma Tao was stunned when he heard it. He had never heard of this thing before.
Later, after returning to the tank, Ma Tao learned from the mouths of sisters Su Lanyu and Su Lanxi that the string puppet is a kind of puppet that is controlled from above by strings or by thin wires tied to the controller. , a simple string puppet with a string tied to each leg, hand, shoulder, ear and the bottom of the spine. It is a toy controlled by a person. But what does it mean when a person is called a string puppet? ?
