The night was getting darker, and a layer of mist filled the wilderness. A black iron car sped past, startling the animals living in the bushes, and causing constant movement.
Four pairs of eyes were hidden in the bushes, and they could see clearly. The leader was none other than Zhou Jinru.
"This is the fifth car that has passed by. It seems that all parties in the Rust Belt are paying close attention to the noise caused by Huang."
He had already learned from Amiya that Huang had returned. Of the four covert operators, two were seriously injured, one was undamaged and one was missing.
The operators who arrived at the Tenan State stronghold one after another met with the mercenaries of Black Steel International, temporarily condensing into a force that cannot be ignored.
So far, only Walton has contacted Rhode Island. He told Rhode Island not to act rashly. Colombian officials are concentrating their efforts on the Rust Belt, but it has just happened so far away that they cannot rely too much on this force.
When Zhou Jinru heard Amiya relaying these words, he almost dropped the lunch box in his hand. This man was not good at anything else, but he was quite diligent in giving bad checks.
Zhou Jinru knew that he couldn't count on them, let alone the Rheinland Life Mobile Combat Force on the other side. The target they were investigating was the deep sea, which did not overlap with Zhou Jinru's target. The two sides could only exchange intelligence.
Depend on yourself for everything.
Zhou Jinru grabbed the binoculars hanging on his chest and looked into the distance. Their current location was very close to the location where Huang was attacked. Out of caution, he did not choose to approach immediately, but hid his off-road vehicle. In the bushes, four people squatted and observed.
"Huang hasn't woken up yet, and we don't know what happened at that time, but the only thing that's certain is that the Rust Belt pays great attention to this matter."
Zhou Jinru was half kneeling on the ground, with three operators surrounding him.
The Undertaker, who was a representative of combat effectiveness, didn't know much about this place. Breeze from the medical team knew nothing about the Rust Belt. Zhou Jinru looked at Li.
Li hesitated and said: "I left my hometown a long time ago, and I am very unfamiliar with the Rust Belt, but I think something is going to happen here. There are usually not many connections between various settlements, unlike Mobile City. It’s very abnormal for them to be so nervous now due to the frequent exchanges between them.”
Zhou Jinru breathed out a sigh of relief. Li's words were exactly what he was thinking.
"Since there are so many pairs of eyes watching, we won't go over and join in the fun."
The four people got in the car again, bypassed the site of the incident, and headed north. At dawn, they saw a town in the wilderness.
"The wind and sand are really strong."
Zhou Jinru jumped out of the car, reached out to wipe away a layer of sand and dust on the window, and took out Originium fuel from the trunk to replenish energy.
"Doctor want to rest here?"
Breeze put on his goggles and came to him with his staff to watch him complete the filling work.
"I've seen the map. This town is the only way to Saint-Aral. There's a wasteland a few hundred kilometers to the north. However, this place has been abandoned for a long time. Only some people who can't go to big cities to work are still there. Stay here."
Snapped.
After closing the trunk, Zhou Jinru also put on his goggles: "Weifeng and I will go in first and take a look. You guys take your time."
Li asked loudly: "Doctor, don't you need my protection?"
"We're not here to fight."
Zhou Jinru responded and walked towards the town with Wei Feng.
Most of the sand was blocked by the buildings on the outskirts of the town, but the rest was unbearable, especially when a strong wind blew, carrying sand particles and hitting the face painfully.
“There are no electric lights on the road, and there are even few wires.”
Zhou Jinru glanced around and saw only a few scattered lamp posts, but the bulbs were still damaged.
In a place that doesn’t even have electricity, I’m afraid the living conditions won’t be much better.
"From a profit perspective, the Colombian government made the right choice to abandon this place. It will take at least forty years and three generations of hard work to change the environment here, but under the influence of the Origin Stone Disaster, it is impossible. "
Zhou Jinru saw everything in his eyes, but in the end there was nothing more.
It is a straight road with some storefronts on both sides of the road. Most of the storefronts are shabby, and quite a few of the stores have been closed for a long time, with only a few still open.
"There are many towns like this in the world. Some are deep in the mountains, and some are near water sources. They are basically places that are not easily affected by the Origin Stone disaster. They don't need to get on the ship, and they won't leave their homes."
As Wei Feng spoke, he casually pushed open the wooden door of a store that was open. This was a grocery store.
Zhou Jinru followed him through the door. He glanced at it and couldn't help frowning. In theory, the grocery store should have a lot of miscellaneous things, including simple food, daily necessities, and a small amount of entertainment books. After all, it was facing a group of people. foot traffic throughout the town.
But there is something strange about this store. The owner is a middle-aged Mediterranean man with a big belly. He is sitting behind the cashier and reading a magazine. Most of the cupboards in this store have been emptied, leaving only Small quantity of goods.
This town is located on a transportation thoroughfare. As long as they don’t want to struggle without losing supplies in the wilderness, most travelers will choose to resupply here before embarking on the journey. This means that the inventory of this store will not be particularly short, let alone There will be a situation of being evacuated now.
"Boss, I want to buy some cans, these are not enough."
Breeze spoke a Colombian lingua franca and held up two cans, the only ones left in the cupboard in front of her.
"No more, these are the only two cans of peas left. You can buy canned beef or other food."
"how so……"
Breeze grabbed two cans and a few meat cans and put them on the cashier. While taking out the money, he asked: "Boss, didn't I have a lot of goods when I walked here last time?"
"Last time?"
The boss looked at Wei Feng suspiciously. It was hard to recognize her with the goggles on, but when he looked at the coins that were twice as much as the consumption amount, he finally "recognized" Wei Feng.
"Oh, it turns out it's you. I remembered. I still have some canned peas in stock. Do you want them?"
"Yes, let's bring it together."
Breeze leaned against the cashier, took out another large note, and complained: "Who emptied this place so that I can't buy anything."
The boss grabbed three cans from the cabinet under the cash register and placed them in front of Breeze. He said casually: "A group of mercenaries came over yesterday. They took away a lot of goods. There is no way. It will take a few days to replenish the goods."
A few minutes later, Zhou Jinru walked out of the grocery store carrying a bag of cans. He and Breeze did not return, but walked deeper into the town.
The grocery store owner and the others rested in an abandoned courtyard in the town, and I don’t know if they are gone now.
"From the description, it looks very much like the Integration Movement. Some of the mercenaries in this group are wearing white coats. They wear eye-catching white coats in the rust belt of Colombia. There is also a Cartesian woman who sounds very similar. Wendigo team, I wonder if Tallulah went with this team.”
That Carters woman is most likely Froststar.
Zhou Jinru's heart was beating wildly. He had thought about the white rabbit for a long time, but he didn't expect it to be right in front of him.
"Doctor, have you fallen in love with Frost Star of the Integration Movement?"
Breeze's words made his heart tremble, and he said calmly: "How is that possible?"
"You have everything written on your face. I'm not an idiot."
Zhou Jinru was stunned. He was wearing goggles. Even if he had an expression, it shouldn't be so obvious. Could it be that Breeze was also a master of face reading?
He quickly changed the subject: "I want to know if Shuangye is among them. Shuangye and Shuangxing have met before and what happened between them. Shuangye has always been thinking about the snow monster princess. I think they may be together now. Together."
The abandoned courtyard is located on the other side of the town. After walking a few more steps, by the time Zhou Jinru came here, the courtyard had already been deserted. It was deserted, not even a single person in sight.
Squeak.
Pushing open the courtyard door, Zhou Jinru stood next to the extinguished fire. He turned his head and took a look. There were no circuit facilities around, so in the dark, the people who lived here temporarily could only light fires for lighting.
"At least thirty people have lived here temporarily. They used discarded furniture and wood to build temporary bathrooms. In addition, I also found this."
Breeze circled around and found something in his hand, a slender branch that seemed to have been broken off from a tree not far away.
"What's so special?"
"It was thrown on the ground where a lattice game was played. Adults should not be interested in this kind of game, so this mercenary also brought some children with them during the operation."
Zhou Jinru held the branch and gently turned the fire, and a wisp of green smoke came out.
"If we catch up now, there is a high probability that we will collide head-on with the Yeti team from the Integrated Movement. Unfortunately, there are only four of us now. Otherwise, I really want to give it a try."
"Try if you can capture Frost Star? You have already captured a regicide, isn't that enough?"
Zhou Jinru's eyes were a little blurry: "Of course it's not enough. If I can catch Shuangxing, then I will have a bargaining chip to face the Patriots."
"patriot?"
"It's nothing, I'm just thinking about it, don't worry about it."
They stayed here for twenty minutes. The mourner arrived belatedly in his off-road vehicle. The four people met again and described the situation at hand. The mourner shook his head and said: "It is unwise to look for the integration movement now. Our strength If it’s not enough, it’s very likely to be eaten by the other party.”
"That's right."
Zhou Jinru clapped his hands: "They are obviously walking on the same road as us, going to Saint-Aral. They also have children with them. I am very curious about what they are going to do."
Li Li walked around the yard and came back: "I just found some fruit peels and vodka glass bottles in the nearby garbage dump. I didn't find any food residues or any empty cans, and there's this."
Li held a slender hair with two fingers. If you look carefully, you will find that it is a light pink hair, with the second half of the hair tip being gray-black.
The mourner judged: "This is Sister Shuangye's hair. It seems that she did spend the night here and is now following the integration movement all the way north. She should be a prisoner now."
Zhou Jinru glanced at his watch: "It's almost time. Let's catch up. Don't follow too hastily. Local gangs disguised as Rust Belt, 'give one away' to our old friends."
The four of them quickly took out a tarp from the trunk and pulled it up on the outside of the off-road vehicle. They drove out of the town and followed under the rising sun. The Undertaker was an expert, and Zhou Jinru drove the Fu to scan his emotions. source, and soon discovered the target.
…
"Sister, there is a tail behind us."
A member of the Snow Monster team retracted his head that was leaning out of the car window and reported the situation to Frost Star, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
"We are extremely unfamiliar with the Rust Belt. What happened before has attracted a lot of attention. Since they can track it, let them follow. After entering the area under our control, someone will naturally deal with the tail."
Shuangxing closed her eyes, and her will was quickly implemented. The convoy stopped vigilance and moved forward at a constant speed. The car behind them seemed to have no intention of catching up, and followed them leisurely, saying goodbye all the way.
…
"It's interesting. They don't want to take action. They have been discovered anyway, so just follow them."
Zhou Jinru put down his binoculars and said seriously: "They don't want to make too much noise for the time being. It seems that I want to thank Huang. The consequences of her making a big fuss are affecting the decision-making of the integration movement cadres. But such a move It has also been proved that the Integration Movement has a certain influence in Saint-Aral, at least in the vicinity of Saint-Aral, and they want to eliminate us on their territory."
The mourner who was driving frowned: "So the integration movement has already taken control of Saint-Aral?"
"Won't."
Li shook her head and looked at Zhou Jinru.
Zhou Jinru said with satisfaction: "Continue."
"The man who controls Saint-Aral is Russell Demos, the godfather of the Rust Belt, and while he's a complete asshole, he will never side with the Integration Movement."
Breeze asked strangely: "You know him very well?"
Li gritted his teeth: "Yes, in the past twenty years, he has manipulated the population business in the Rust Belt, selling a large number of vulnerable young and middle-aged people to factories around the world, and taking part of their hard-earned money. I heard that he is from An old Victorian family, now in ruins, he still has the pride of the aristocracy and will not be complicit with an organization like the Integration Movement."
Breeze thought for a while and shook his head: "I don't remember the Demos family in Victoria. Maybe he abandoned the surname, just like Penguin Logistics in Texas."
Zhou Jinru sensed that Li's emotions were mixed with anger. Russell's behavior made her feel angry, perhaps because she felt the same.
Not long ago, a significant number of workers fleeing St. Martin came from the Rust Belt, and Russell's agreement with Brave New World also included the provision of high-quality workers.
So Li's description is basically accurate.
Next, the convoy in front moved forward, and Zhou Jinru also followed. They stopped to rest, and Zhou Jinru scalded cans to eat and sleep. This situation lasted all night, but in the early morning of the next morning, a sudden sandstorm disrupted the situation. All rhythm.
