Chapter 158: The Cicada, the Mantis, and the Oriole

The man wearing diving goggles looked around, and making sure no one had noticed him, reoriented himself and plunged back into the ground, heading straight for the three vehicles at the back of the convoy.

A small mound of earth bulged in the shifting quicksand, moving at a frenzied pace.

He first swam to the underside of a carriage, poked his upper body out, held his breath, and slowly pressed his head against the bottom of the compartment.

Ripples spread across the area touched by his head.

Half of the man's head thus bizarrely appeared inside the cargo compartment.

Viewed from the outside, the sight was intensely terrifying, resembling someone with half a head stuck inside a vehicle.

Daring not to enter his entire body in broad daylight, the man left only his eyes exposed inside the compartment to observe.

The interior was pitch black, with only massive crates vaguely discernible, piled on top of one another.

"Not this one, it's full of supplies!"

Before long, he emerged beneath the bottom of the second truck. Repeating the same trick, he sneakously floated half his head into the corner of the compartment, only to be instantly stunned by the scene inside.

What the hell kind of truck compartment was this? It was completely a young girl's boudoir, and there was even the scent of perfume in the air!

The next second, he saw two girls with their heads pressed together, staring fixedly at a tablet in their hands.

The man thought to himself... Heh, not bad luck, target acquired!

Afterward, he stealthily dived back underground.

The intelligence the man had received stated that the convoy setting out from the Iron City originally consisted of seven vehicles, with three more added right before departure.

He had already checked two of them—one was cargo, and one was the target for this mission. As for the very last one... Hmph, prepare to meet your doom!

At the underside of the last cargo truck, the man didn't even bother to poke his head in for a look; he directly retrieved a fire-element explosive from his backpack and attached it to the vehicle's undercarriage.

After setting the timer, he swiftly plunged into the earth and sped away in some unknown direction.

The fatal countdown was underway!

3, 2, 1, 0...

Boom!

Just as everyone was still admiring the dance of thunder, the truck at the very rear of the convoy suddenly erupted with a deafening roar, instantly transforming into a massive fireball.

The compartment was violently flipped high into the air by the upward shockwave, then disintegrated into flying shards of scrap metal that scattered in all directions.

The immense shockwave even blew over the vehicles that were slightly closer.

Yet beyond that, the debris falling from the sky seemed to be mixed with severed human limbs!

The situation seemed to be developing in an unpredictable direction.

Captain Liu Bin's usually exceptionally calm face instantly distorted when he heard the deafening explosion.

He incredulously poked his head out to look toward the rear of the vehicles, but was met only by scorching flames and rolling heatwaves.

No longer caring about his image, he grabbed the communication device in the vehicle and roared:

"All units, report casualties immediately!"

However, only a single vehicle replied:

"Carriage of vehicle number two damaged, all personnel inside have normal vital signs!"

As for the third vehicle, there was no response for a long time.

Liu Bin no longer possessed his previous poise; his teeth were slightly chattering, whether from fear or hatred.

Just seconds ago, an entire carriage of soldiers had vanished into thin air right under his nose.

This was something he had never anticipated since the departure.

As one of the captains of the Iron City Lord's Mansion Guard, he had been ordered by the City Lord to escort the Lord's daughter to the Energy City for an arranged marriage.

After careful consideration, he decided to blend into an ordinary convoy to travel together, accompanied by all the members of the guard under his command.

As for Chen Pingkui's convoy, he had also secretly sent people to investigate his background and past transport records, finding no overly egregious dark history.

This plan had been approved by the higher-ups and received the City Lord's personal consent. Only a handful of people knew the itinerary, and he had fancied this arrangement to be flawless.

Moreover, along this journey, he felt he had concealed himself very well, but... but why had he still become the target of an attack?

No, that's not right. My itinerary was leaked right from the very beginning.

The vehicle that exploded was a troop carrier; why wasn't it the little princess's carriage?

Was the troop carrier just happenstance, or was someone acting with deliberate intent?

Where on earth had that attack just come from? He hadn't spotted the attacker at all!

If the attacker was targeting them, who could it be? Or rather, among those who knew his operation plan, who held the greatest suspicion?

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became...

Liu Bin's mind raced. Setting those issues aside for a moment, what should he do now?

Immediately afterward, he issued an order:

"All personnel, ready your weapons, get on top of the vehicles, guard against secondary ambushes, and secure the other cargo trucks!"

Failing to read the situation clearly, he chose to treat everyone as an enemy, and those closest to them were naturally the members of Chen Pingkui's convoy.

He even suspected that Chen Pingkui and the two factions of wastelanders locked in fierce combat were actually colluding.

Taking advantage of the distraction from the fight ahead, they had secretly ordered someone to execute the bombing!

Liu Bin told himself inwardly... This battle must end quickly. As long as they could capture a live prisoner, they could extract useful information.

Operating in an environment where friend and foe could not be distinguished made one feel constrained.

Though somewhat hesitant before, after having his own vehicle of brothers blown to the sky, he had abandoned all mercy.

In his plan, the best outcome was for all three factions to be captured alive, forcing their mouths open one by one to interrogate the full story.

Even settling for second best, he had to take control of the convoy.

Unfortunately, on his side, the available combat strength was reduced to just four men and four guns, which was not enough to achieve fire suppression across the board.

The heavy weapons had detonated along with the previous explosion.

He, who had previously felt the most secure and fearless, was now treading on thin ice.

He could no longer afford to take risks. If the next wave of surprise attacks happened to hit another vehicle, he couldn't even begin to imagine the consequences.

...

The carriage where the cutie was located was currently lying on its side in the quicksand. There were obvious dents on the side of the compartment, but it had not been breached.

The interior of the compartment was in utter chaos, with the cutie and Baojuan buried beneath a large pile of clothes and shoeboxes.

"Miss, Miss, are you alright!"

Baojuan sat up frantically from the pile of shoeboxes, her ears still ringing, and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"I told you, call me Cutie until I change my name! Ouch, that hurts like hell!"

The cutie shoved aside a pile of clothes, crawled out from underneath, and muttered:

"Don't panic when things happen, post it on your Moments first! Huh, where is my comms device?"

"Miss, what should we do now?"

Baojuan was truly frightened by the explosion just now, her voice tinged with a hint of crying.

The cutie rubbed another spot on her head—this was the second time she had bumped her head today—yet her expression was remarkably calm, displaying a composure far beyond her years:

"Find the tablet, I want to see what's happening outside.

"Don't worry, Baojuan, our compartment here is custom-built and tough as nails. Continuing to hide inside is the safest thing to do!"

Baojuan thought to herself... Who was just screaming and shouting to get out a moment ago? Now she knows to turtle up inside, huh?!