The streets were full of wind and sand, the only sound of barking dogs was left in the reddish mist, and the noise of gunfire in the distance had stopped.

Hiding in an abandoned shop along the street, Malik nervously stared out the window at the street, his heart pounding.

It was at least 500 meters away from where he had been sniped.

If nothing else, the sniper probably didn't catch up, or even notice that he had quietly changed position.

But even so, Marik still didn't dare to take it lightly, and was still carefully observing the situation outside.

At this time, the icon of [Restore Communication] suddenly popped up on the helmet eyepiece, which startled him.

"......"

Looking at the belated signal, Marik cursed in his mouth, reached out and quickly turned off the signal interface, and entered a state of radio silence.

After less than two seconds of recovery, the signal disappeared.

Looking at the gray icon, Malik finally breathed a sigh of relief, and a hanging heart was also relaxed.

This way, even if the alliance captures his teammates, they will not be able to lock down his general location.

Thinking of Valen, who died tragically, Malik's heart couldn't help but be terrified.

No way.

The shattered carriage of brains was so impactful that his stomach couldn't help churning after all this time.

Judging that he was out of trouble, Marik took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

To be honest, he didn't expect the alliance to send fighter jets, and the signal jamming bomb was even more unexpected to him.

There is only one explanation –

From the moment they entered the area, all of them were targeted.

Even before they started their move, the other side had already discussed every step to ambush them.

Thinking that his group had crept into the sack that the other party had arranged in advance right under the other party's nose, Marik couldn't help but feel a pang of heat on his face.

That's stupid!

“…… Gotta find a way out of here. ”

With a silent remark in his mind, he poked his head out of the window to confirm the direction of his escape.

However, just then, he noticed a mutated eagle owl standing in the broken streetlamp across the street.

The eagle owl stared at him intently, staring at him, its fat cheeks rising and falling slightly.

At that slightly defiant gaze, a sense of foreboding suddenly arose in Malik's heart.

Almost subconsciously, he let go of his grip on the rifle and reached for the silenced pistol at his waist with his right hand.

In order to prevent the vigilance of the alliance when escaping, it is the best solution to solve this hidden danger in advance!

However, before his right hand could touch the pistol at his waist, a huge force suddenly and silently slashed into his popliteal fossa.

"Bell!"

A dull dull thud rang out, followed by Marik's low growl of pain.

"Ahh

After being stabbed in his right leg, he subconsciously bent his knee and landed one knee on the ground.

Luckily he was wearing a power suit, otherwise the knife would have chopped off his calf.

Before Malik could recover from the intense pain, the touch of the sharp object pulling out of his popliteal fossa made every neuron in his body tense!

Almost subconsciously, he swung his right fist and smashed it behind him, and his arm hit the short knife that slashed sideways impartially.

"Bell ——!"

The sound of metal echoing through the abandoned shop, and Malik, who turned around, finally saw the attacker.

It was a woman in a cloak.

There was a deep scar on that weather-beaten face, and there was hatred deeper than a scar in those eyes.

Facing the eyes engraved with hatred, Marik's pupils unconsciously shrank.

“…… Who are you? ”

His intuition told him that this guy was not from the Alliance!

The man didn't answer, but stepped forward, closing the distance between the two sides again.

"Look for death!"

Seeing the man rush up with a knife in his hand, Marik smiled coldly and raised his rifle to fire.

However, less than a second after the sudden burst of gunfire erupted, half of the receiver was slashed off by the flickering knife light.

So fast!

Startled, Malik reflexively pulled out his pistol and fired, but only after two shots, the man who had rushed closer grabbed his arm and slammed several shots into the ceiling.

Large clouds of rubble dust shook off the ceiling and drenched Marik in the face.

Shocked and angry in his heart, he raised his foot and kicked forward, but he didn't think that he stepped on the cloak and was easily flashed by the man's sideways.

"Hum—"

The flipped sword light made a hollow-breaking hum, and with the volley's flipped figure, it slashed at the outside of his left knee with a thunderous force.

This time he was stabbed in each leg.

Although the blade only left a shallow scratch on the power armor, it still caused Marik to let out a low, stinging roar.

The distance between the two sides is too close!

Almost shoulder to shoulder, nose tip to nose!

Malik felt like a clumsy elephant, and the woman in the cloak was like a rat scurrying around him, biting left and right.

Although that attack was like a gua sha and couldn't hurt his power armor in the slightest, it wasn't a way to keep fighting!

Just as he tried to stabilize his figure, the man suddenly jumped backwards, distancing himself from him.

Malik's heart wrinkled with alarm, and an ominous premonition crept up the back of his head.

At this moment, the flames of the explosion suddenly exploded from behind him.

The bomb seemed to be attached to his back, and the boiling flames made him have no time to react, and he stumbled forward like a blow to the back of the head, and was pressed to the ground by the hot shockwave.

[Alert! The power parts are badly damaged! 】

A yellow alarm fluttered on the helmet's eyepiece, and Malik only felt as if the parts of his body had been blown out of place.

Whether it's a mechanical part, or a flesh-long part.

Shaking his groggy head, he was about to stand up with his hands on the ground, but he felt a brick-like thing "snap" against the back of his head.

Cold sweat instantly drilled out of his forehead and poured into his collar along the junction of the helmet and armor.

Malik didn't think much of it, and immediately gave up resistance and honestly lay on the ground.

He was completely convinced.

After some fighting, he can already be sure that he is no match for this guy at all, even if he is wearing power armor.

"I surrender ......"

The woman didn't speak, but just looked at the street lamp not far away, and looked at the eagle owl standing on the street lamp.

As if to understand her eyes, the eagle owl fluttered its wings and flew into the sky, circled around and flew to the north.

Watching the eagle owl leave, the woman withdrew her gaze from the sky, and then looked back at the disciple of the Enlightenment who was lying on the ground.

In a voice that didn't fluctuate, she spoke slowly.

"Take it off yourself."

……

On the other side, under the half-collapsed skyscrapers, a "Xiaguang" power armor came out of the shadow of the ruins.

I saw that the cuirass cast of pottery steel was crawling with cratered bullet holes, messy scratches almost covered the light gray paint, and a pair of alloy forged mantis knives were almost curled!

He looked embarrassed, as if he had just crawled out of the ghost gate.

Only a seasoned veteran could see that the injuries were all skin trauma, and most of them were concentrated in the detachable cuirass.

As for the mantis knife, not to mention, that thing is a consumable, especially when it hits an opponent with the same armor, and the blade is a normal thing.

It's even more incredible to be able to use these two mantis knives to the end!

This guy is a master!

Looking at the power armor that came out from under the building, the [Taran Raider], who was standing in front of the captives, opened his arms with a smile on his face and took the initiative to meet him.

"Well done bro! Would you like to consider joining us in the sand-"

The player grinned, unloaded two mantis knives and threw them on the ground, then decisively stretched out his right hand.

"You're welcome! Get paid, brother. ”

"Gan! Is it so ruthless? ”

The player smiled.

"Not necessarily, it mainly depends on the situation."

Taran Raider: "......&¥#@!" ”

Gan!

Who do you look down on?

However, bad mouth is bad mouth, and the salary that is said to be good will still be given.

Moreover, the money has been paid to the mercenary guild of the alliance in advance, and there is no need to pay it on the spot.

After receiving the bounty, the player did not rush to leave, and walked to the outside of the city with a smile on his face and stood guard.

The mission isn't over yet.

The previous encounter was an impromptu arrangement, and he received the task of cooperating with the latter to complete the connection with key NPCs, and he could only get the rest of the money according to the completion of the entire mission process.

As a professional casual player, he still has this kind of professional ethics.

Looking at the head of the desert corps with a deflated face, Junichiro Akikawa, who was also doing odd jobs, threw the combat knife in his hand and walked over with a hippie smile.

"Old bald, you're seducing retail investors again."

Hearing this presumptuous name, the Taran raider almost choked on the spittle, and turned his head and cursed.

"Roll Nima, Lao Tzu's name is Taran! You're bald, your whole family is bald! ”

The laughing man rolled his eyes and said with a grin.

"Cut, whoever remembers such a serious name, it sounds like an NPC."

The Taran raider snorted.

"And you, like a corpse?"

The laughing man rolled his eyes to the sky.

"."

Although this guy is not from the Desert Corps, Taran is familiar with him, including the sand sculptures that often hang out with this guy.

Since they always do tasks together, Taran seduced the two more than once and simply joined the desert corps, but the latter never agreed, and the former didn't bother to mention it again after talking too much.

Not everyone likes to join an organization.

And it's really not attractive for Tarland to go to his desert legions, they don't have great benefits, they rarely appear in the center of the wasteland stage, and they can mess up with the occasional scrap job.

This time, he was able to receive the task issued by the manager himself, and to be honest, he was a little flattered.

After all, the operation in Eternal Night Harbor should have been screwed up......

After a few casual conversations with a few casual players, Taran turned and returned to the clearing where the captives were being held.

The brothers in the corps should have finished their trial.

Just as he expected, the [medical miracle] in charge of the interrogation came over.

"They're done, they're the Desert Scorpion's people."

"Desert Scorpion?" The Taran Raider frowned, muttering in thought, "What the hell." ”

Medical miracles are succinctly reported.

"Listen to their own explanations, they should be the special forces of the Enlightenment Society, and the backbone members of them are all residents of the Vault, and a few of them are awakened people who have been injected with gene-induced expression agents."

The Taran Raider's eyes lit up and he smiled.

"Cow, we've knocked over a special forces!"

The medical miracle said with a subtle expression.

"If I'm not mistaken...... There should be no regular army in the Enlightenment, and theoretically all units are 'special forces'. ”

The Taran raider coughed.

"It doesn't matter! The important thing is that we stand up! ”

Looking at the overly optimistic regimental leader, the medical miracle sighed, paused for a moment and continued.

"Judging from the results of their separate interrogations, they were attracted by radio signals just like us, at least this can show that they and the NPC named 'Zhuang Lan' should not know each other."

"Besides, their commander is a talented person, and he wants to go with you, and he plans to use the signal base station in the ruins of the building as a bait to catch us off guard...... And then it hit the muzzle of our gun. ”

To be honest, when he first heard the regiment commander's plan to come up with one thing at a time, he was full of pessimism in his heart, and he was even ready to eat sand in the desert for a month.

With the communication situation of the Great Desert, the other party may not be able to receive the signal, and if it does, it may not care, and if it cares, it may not send a group of people over with great fanfare.

As a result, I didn't expect that the other party really received this clue, and also attached importance to this line, and sent a whole company of troops over.

It can only be said that chess is an opponent.

"Hahaha, it's a talent, but it's a pity that it's still half a son behind me," the Taran Raider laughed out loud, touching his chin and urging, "What about this talent?" Where is he? ”

When the medical miracle heard this, his expression suddenly became embarrassed.

"Well, there are no ...... captives The sand sculpture said that he seemed to see a guy in power armor, but let the man run away, and I don't know if it was the leader of the gang. ”

The Taran raider glared.

"Damn, ran away?! What is this shit for—"

"Who the hell are you talking about!?"

Before Tarran's words could be spoken, a violent voice came from the side.

The two of them turned around and saw the [Desert Eagle] with a sniper rifle on his back walking towards this side.

He was followed by two other people.

One of them wore a desert-colored cloak, while the other had an embarrassed face, sturdy with rope.

"People are here! The commander of that desert scorpion. ”

Pulling the rope to drive Marik to the front, the sand sculpture yelled at Taran.

“MMP！ I know all day long that I bragg, I let Lao Tzu do the work, you can treat me as the head of the regiment! ”

The old face of the Taran raider turned red, and he tried to refute but couldn't, and finally held back his words.

The medical miracle looked at the sand sculpture in amazement.

"Yes, brother, you caught the man?"

The originally aggressive sand sculpture blushed for some reason, coughed dryly, and said hurriedly.

"Sort of, I picked it up...... It doesn't matter. By the way, my lieutenant was killed by me, a headshot! ”

The sound was so small that the medical miracle couldn't help but suspect that something was wrong with his ears.

At this moment, Taran suddenly noticed the stranger in the cloak, and cast an inquiring glance at the man.

"Who is this?"

Seeing the two people standing opposite him casting an inquiring gaze at him, the man in the cloak reached out and took off his hood.

Looking at the vicissitudes of life, a surprised expression appeared on the face of the Taran raider.

Woman?

In the great desert full of dangers, it is rare to see a lone traveler.

And women who act alone are even rarer.

The man bowed slightly, and introduced himself.

"My name is Zhuang Lan."

The medical miracle and the Taran raider glanced at each other, and the look of surprise on their faces became even more obvious.

"You are Zhuang Lan?"

Zhuang Lan nodded and said slowly.

"Yes, the survivors of Vault 68, the organizers of the Watchmen...... Before your tentacles reached the Great Desert, we had been fighting against the Enlightenment forces for a long time. ”

After a pause, she continued.

“…… Also, the signal you received was sent to you by me. ”

The Taran Raider frowned slightly, staring at her intently, trying to see the flaw in her face.

"I don't understand, since you sent the signal, why didn't you come out to see us."

Zhuang Lan was silent for a while, looking at the half-collapsed skyscraper on the side.

"Because...... This is not the place to talk. ”

"You can get the signal, and those who shouldn't get it will get it. I wanted to wait for you to leave before I followed, but I didn't expect you to stay here and not leave. ”

There was some subtle embarrassment in the air.

Thinking that it was his own idea to ambush the people of the Enlightenment Society here, Taran couldn't help but reach out and touch the bridge of his nose.

Seeing that a certain leader of the group was still doubting the identity of the NPC next to him, the sand sculpture hesitated for a while, and finally coughed dryly.

"I don't think there's any need to doubt her identity...... Truth be told, this guy was actually caught by her. ”

As he spoke, he pointed to Marik, who had been tied up into rice dumplings.

When the medical miracle standing on the side heard this, his eyes were about to bulge, and he looked at the woman who didn't look like he was very good at fighting.

That's it?

Can you flip an awakened person in power armor?

In fact, it's also because he entered the game late, and he only got the helmet in the last year, so he doesn't know much about what happened in Vault 0.

However, Zhuang Lan was very modest and did not emphasize that the prisoner was captured by himself.

Seeing that a pair of eyes fell on the captive, she paused for a moment, and cast her gaze away.

"Although there were some accidents, it was a blessing in disguise, but we didn't expect to catch a big fish."

Looking at the guy who was tied up into a dumpling, Taran raised his eyebrows slightly.

"You mean this guy?"

Zhuang Lan nodded slowly and said.

"Malik, captain of the Desert Scorpion, a senior disciple of the Enlightenment...... I had heard his name before I left the Enlightenment. At that time, he was already famous, but he didn't expect that he hadn't grown at all over the years. ”

"You are really our people......" Malik turned his head and stared at Zhuang Lan deadly, his face gloomy as he squeezed out a cruel sentence from between his lips, "You are a traitor, you betrayed the Vault, betrayed everyone......"

The corners of Zhuang Lan's mouth curled up into a playful smile, but that playfulness quickly turned into self-deprecation.

Burning yourself with the idea of "burning a new era", only to find out that you are just a hopelessly evil pen...... What about her before?

She didn't believe it at first.

That is, until she finds the lost administrator's journal and digs up the bloody truth with her own hands.

Sure enough, managers know managers best.

What saved her from hell was enlightenment.

But that fire was also what they planted......

Facing the hateful gaze of the male, she said in a voice that didn't have too many waves.

"If you're interested, I can tell you the story of Vault 68, and once you know the full picture of history, you'll know who the real traitors are."

"However, I think it's a pointless thing, and even if you know what we're going through, you won't necessarily sympathize with us. People will only believe what they want to believe, and they will only empathize with it when it hurts, and I used to be the same as you. I don't know which shelter you're from, you'll need to find your own journal...... If there is still this opportunity. ”

Marik said with a sneer.

“…… What do you want to say? Are the Wastelanders lying to us? ”

Perhaps thinking that sentence was too stupid, Zhuang Lan didn't answer his question, nor did he look at him again, but turned his gaze to the friend from the alliance in front of him.

"Long story short, send you that signal...... Actually, I just want to tell your administrator that I completed the original bet, and this is the administrator log of Vault 68. In addition to the logs, there is a map on the hard drive that you can use to find its ruins, even though there is nothing left. ”

As she spoke, she took out a thumb-sized card from her bosom and handed it to the hand of the person in front of her.

The Taran Raider solemnly took the card and inserted it into the VM in his left arm to complete the data reading.

"Our manager asked me to bring you a message, glad that you kept the agreement, and that your freedom is no longer borrowed from him, and from now on it is all yours."

After a pause, he continued.

"Of course, one yard to one yard, the Eastern Empire is still wanted by you, after all, you killed their people."

"Thank you...... As for the Eastern Empire, I will use my own way to atone for my sins. ”

Zhuang Lan bowed slightly, raised his head and continued.

"There's one more thing I think I need to tell you."

The Taran Raider said immediately.

"Speak!"

Zhuang Lan continued.

"We, the Watch Watchman's intelligence network in the Great Desert, have discovered that the Enlightenment has recently uncharacteristically halted its efforts to expand its sphere of influence in the Great Desert, and instead moved the personnel and materials scattered across the Great Desert to the area around Vault 13."

The medical miracle was stunned and asked puzzled.

"Gathering people and supplies? What do they want to do? ”

The main reason why the alliance can't help the Enlightenment Society is because these guys are too good at hiding.

The factory of the Southern Army still has a coordinate, and the weapons and ammunition of these guys are all made in black boxes, highlighting a flexible deployment, and it is not too easy to transfer.

Now that they have gathered personnel and supplies, aren't they afraid of being served in one pot?

"I don't know," Zhuang Lan shook his head, thought for a moment and continued, "Vault 13 is located near the wreckage of the base of the rail elevator, and it is said to be a thousand meters deep. According to unreliable sources, it appears to have served as a preparatory option for the 'handle'...... If you don't know what a 'handle' is, please pass it on to your administrators for me. ”

The Taran Raider looked at her intently and spoke hurriedly.

"I know about Project Torch...... You mean, there can withstand a neutron-killing level of strategic weapons strikes? ”

Zhuang Lan shook his head.

"Theoretically, all shelters can withstand it, but Vault 13 should be characterized by a relatively large area due to the peculiarity of its location? Supposedly able to accommodate millions of people? Of course, I don't know exactly what happened inside, and even the coordinates of this vault were kept secret before...... Still, I'm sure Mr. Malik must have been in that promised land. ”

Seeing a pair of eyes looking at him, although Marik was panicked, he still smiled coldly.

"Do you think I'll tell you?"

"It's hard to say, but I think that gentleman should be able to change your mind."

Zhuang Lan glanced at Marik meaningfully, and then looked at the warrior of the alliance in front of him.

"I'll leave this guy to you, I hope you don't let him go, at least let him disappear for a while."

"We will," Taran nodded solemnly, looking at her and continuing, "what about you?" What's next for you? ”

Zhuang Lan said without thinking.

"I'm going to use his identity to sneak into Vault 13 and take a look, maybe I'll be able to figure out what the Enlightenment is doing inside."

Hearing this crazy idea, Marik's eyes widened involuntarily.

"Pretend to be me?! You, what the hell are you kidding! You can't get in! ”

He was originally quite honest, and suddenly struggled, but according to his two strengths, the animal would not be moved by him, and he would be pressed to death.

Looking at Malik, whose face was full of panic, the corners of Zhuang Lan's mouth curled up with a hint of playfulness.

"How do you know if you don't try? I'm still a little confident in my camouflage skills. ”

Hearing that the Enlightenment Society has always regarded Vault 13 as its big rear, she has long wanted to sneak in there to take a look, but unfortunately she has never found a suitable opportunity, nor has she found a suitable person to drop the bag.

Luckily, just as she was frustrated, Malik came to the door.

Although he is a disciple, he is a senior disciple after all, and he can touch some things that ordinary disciples can't touch, but he will not be as conspicuous as a "guide".

The most important thing is that she has worked as an intelligence collector in the Enlightenment Society, and she has his resume and personal information, and imitating others may be goofs, but imitating this guy will not.

She even has the confidence that she will not show her stuff even if she sleeps in the same bed with his wife.

The medical miracle suddenly raised its head.

"Ah...... I have an idea. ”

Before Zhuang Lan could speak, the Taran raiders had already taken a vigilant look at him.

"What's your bad idea?"

"What is a bad idea, can the idea that the master came up with have those bad ideas of yours?" The medical miracle glanced at him, looked at Zhuang Lan and continued with a smile, "I think it, your subordinates are either dead or captured, and you go back alone, if no one suspects it, then it will be called a ghost." ”

Zhuang Lan said cautiously.

"It's a yes thing to be suspected, but it's nothing, I've been in intelligence before, and I know very well how they will interrogate me and how to gain their trust."

The medical miracle said patiently.

"That being said, it's still hard to do that, right? It's better to pick someone out of our side to be your captive, so you can go back and make a mission. ”

Zhuang Lan looked at him with a confused expression.

"This ...... Do you know what you're talking about? Captured by the Enlightenment? This is no joke......"

Those guys don't have to deal with the means.

For the enemy, especially the captives who have no use value, they will directly go to the memory retrieval device and squeeze out the memories in their heads.

As she spoke, she looked anxiously at the soldier's superior, but instead of feeling anything wrong with the idea, the latter touched his chin thoughtfully.

After a while, Taran, who had finished his heart, raised his head and said with a somewhat surprised expression.

"Shhh...... You can come up with some useful ideas once in a while. ”

A hearty smile appeared on the face of the medical miracle.

"Hey, if you had listened to me earlier, our corps would have become T0 a long time ago."

The Desert Eagle pursed his lips dismissively.

"Rip some eggs, you."

He admits that the idea is okay, but with this little cleverness, he wants to be T0, and the streets are full of T0 powerhouses.

Zhuang Lan: "......?" ”

Although she didn't understand what they were exchanging, she could feel from the tone and demeanor that it didn't mean negative.

Are these guys serious?!

Zhuang Lan looked at several people with a worried face and said.

"I can't let you take any chances."

The medical miracle smiled and waved his hand.

"It's a little bit old, we didn't go to prison when we were in Eternal Night Harbor. Well, since I came up with this idea, let me do a medical miracle—"

"Just let me, the head of the regiment (the big man), be this prisoner!"

Before the words of the medical miracle could be heard, the Taran Raider and the Desert Eagle shouted impatiently.

With such an interesting task, how can it be cheaper for teammates?

And when they found out that someone was stealing the show with them, they suddenly stared at each other.

"Why don't you even grab a yarn from our corps, and you have a half-dime relationship?!"

"Laugh, Lao Tzu is also a member of the alliance, why does it have nothing to do with me? It's you, you're the regiment commander, are you embarrassed to rob us civilians? ”

"Why do you have a hammer relationship with civilians?!"

"Don't rob it, sure enough, it's still a miracle for me-"

", play with the new ones."

"! I've been playing for more than half a year, and it's still new?! ”

Looking at the people who were arguing over "who is going to die", Zhuang Lan was speechless, but also couldn't help but be in awe in his heart.

Although she couldn't understand their language, she could feel that they sincerely hoped that the person who survived was her comrade-in-arms, and the person who went to die was herself.

What loyalty......

is different from Zhuang Lan, looking at the group of noisy guys, Malik, who was tied into zongzi and thrown aside, has a different feeling.

It's okay to pretend to be a prisoner......

Inevitably, I despise their interrogation methods too much.

Just pretended to be a corpse.

His face was indifferent, but there was a sneer in his heart.

"Hehe, look for death!" (End of chapter)