Chapter 402
Chapter 402 First Encounter
From the moment she got off the plane to the handover process, Xia Xinyan hadn’t said a word.
Her mind was occupied with thoughts of Ling Mo.
Or rather, what had just happened.
The corny lines he had used… well, they weren’t really corny, they were just romantic, and in the past, they would have given her goosebumps. She wasn’t the type to handle direct emotional conversations very well—perhaps it was because she wasn’t good at expressing feelings, or maybe she was just relatively introverted in that regard.
But more importantly, the dissonance between her past memories and her current life made her feel that her interactions with Ling Mo were a bit off.
—But that was then.
Back then, Ling Mo had often said such cheesy lines, and each time, it left her speechless for a long while. But somewhere along the line, she had developed an immunity to his sweet talk… or rather, she had gotten used to it.
Just like the affectionate actions he had taken toward her. After a while, it just became normal.
Only, this kind of habit was different; it wasn’t that she lost feelings after getting used to it, but rather… it touched her.
—No! Wait! It wasn’t touching! No!
It was just a slight stir within her heart, making her want to… want to submit to Ling Mo’s words and truly rely on him, letting him handle everything while she became nothing more than a lucky charm.
She felt lazy.
Okay fine, she admitted she liked Ling Mo, but… she shouldn’t feel this giddy! That was so against her character!
Why had she felt happy back then?!
Her dignity…
“What’s wrong? Xinyan?” Ling Mo’s voice finally pulled her back to reality.
The chubby guy and the others had already completed the handover with the big guys, so from now on, they were in charge of things here. The rest would only be in charge of assisting outside, or serving as quick rescue when things went south.
At that moment, they were riding in the armored vehicle heading towards Cang Hai City—an object conjured by Ling Mo, since the distance from here to the center of Cang Hai City was quite significant, and walking there would just waste energy. Given the uncertainty about the dangers inside the city, it was better to be fully prepared.
Moreover, the vehicle was electric, making almost no noise, thus minimizing the chance of attracting monsters.
It was worth mentioning that Ling Mo had set up five braking systems to prevent brake failure.
The others were currently monitoring the armed vehicle’s firepower, keeping an eye on their surroundings, while Xiao Bai and the fox were resting in a corner. Bai Yu had released a swarm of mechanical bees to scout ahead to Cang Hai City, leaving only Ling Mo driving and Xinyan next to him in a daze.
That’s why Ling Mo called her to bring her back to reality.
He noticed Xinyan had been in a daze the whole way.
Xia Xinyan tilted her head to glance at him and shook her head, “It’s nothing, just thinking about Cang Hai City.”
“Don’t worry too much. Even if we encounter dangers we can’t handle, we still have ways to escape,” Ling Mo said softly, then chuckled, “If even a single stronghold can take us down, then there’s probably no hope for this world.”
“Right?!” the chubby guy agreed, nodding, “Those idiots can only be so smart, right? At most, they’ve got the advantage of fighting on home turf. As long as we gather battlefield information in advance, we can outsmart them. If worse comes to worst, let Old Ling toss a few nukes their way. That’ll teach ‘em!”
Xia Xinyan smiled and replied, “Yeah.”
If only it were that simple… If things could be resolved with a few nuclear bombs, her past self wouldn’t have been pushed to a desperate end.
But it was just an excuse; she wasn’t really worried about it.
However, this relaxed atmosphere didn’t last long before Bai Yu suddenly issued a warning, “Right side… there’s a monster coming. What the heck is that?!”
“You’re asking us?” the chubby guy immediately looked at him, “Crap, right now, you’re probably the only one who can see that thing…”
“I see it,” Monica pointed to the aiming screen of her machine gun turret.
The chubby guy paused, also swinging his turret towards the right, then shared the same question as Bai Yu, “What the hell is that?!”
The aiming screen showed a massive silhouette quickly closing in on them, rising up from the large dust cloud.
It was… definitely not a human.
“A dinosaur? No, dinosaurs aren’t that short. A crocodile? No, crocodiles aren’t that round. A gecko? That doesn’t make sense either. Maybe a giant lizard?” The chubby guy’s face was nearly glued to the screen, “So, Old Ling, should we open fire?!”
Meanwhile, the central control also displayed the creature’s image. Ling Mo thought for two seconds and nodded, “Open fire. There’s no need to hold back.”
While it was a scouting mission, there was no rule saying they had to sneak around. If it came down to it, they could fight. After all, they were fewer in number, so they could afford to run if things got bad; just relocating would suffice.
Xia Xinyan simply watched the monster, not saying a word.
The demons near the stronghold were much cleverer now, and their strength was superior to other wandering monsters. One of their primary objectives was to figure out just how smart these demons had become.
Maybe this could be an entry point.
After receiving Ling Mo’s permission, the chubby guy and Monica didn’t hesitate and immediately opened fire on the gigantic, awkward monster, unleashing a barrage of high-velocity explosive shells that rained down on it. The resulting explosions made the monster emit a series of ear-splitting screams, rolling to the side in an attempt to avoid the shells.
But the difficulty of standing-still shooting was almost easier than playing an FPS game. The chubby guy and Monica could hit that monster with their eyes closed, so its evasive moves were ineffective.
After suffering another attack, it seemed like it realized this, producing another piercing scream before suddenly leaping and burrowing into the ground, vanishing from sight.
The chubby guy was shocked, “Crap, this guy is a master at digging!”
Monica glanced toward the ground.
Xia Xinyan also looked down, her expression serious, “Mo Mo, how’s the vehicle’s defensive capability?”
Ling Mo seemed to understand what she was worried about and just smiled, “Don’t worry, it can withstand a bite, and it has ejection mechanisms—just be ready.”
Xia Xinyan immediately fastened her seatbelt.
In the next moment, a crack suddenly appeared in the ground ahead of the speeding armored vehicle. As the vehicle rolled over, the ground split open violently, and the monster with its gaping maw managed to swallow the entire armored vehicle before smashing it into the sky—too bad it was too hard to bite down on.
Immediately after, Ling Mo activated the emergency ejection system. The vehicle’s roof exploded off, and the seats along with everyone, including the fox, were ejected out into the air.
Next, the vehicle’s self-destruction protocol ignited all the ammo stored inside, and a gigantic fireball exploded, instantly engulfing the monster still suspended in mid-air.
