"Got it, got it, got it!"
Hu Lushou nodded repeatedly: "Anyway, we’re just following you. By the way, after you pass Quan City, are you heading to Jin City or Luling?"
Hu Lushou chuckled, "Just asking. If you’re heading to Dawn City, I could tag along."
"You’re going to Dawn City?"
"Yes." Hu Lushou said as he pulled out an Identity Card from his pocket, as thin as a cicada’s wing: "A mid-level citizen identity for No.1 Underground City in Dawn. It cost me a fortune!"
Lin Xian took it and saw that the card had a new Federation citizen ID, containing Hu Lushou’s personal fingerprint, voiceprint, and retinal information, which was somewhat similar to the electronic information he had previously recorded with the Phoenix Society in Xilan.
"I’m not sure if I’ll go to Dawn City, but I’ll definitely head towards Luling."
Hu Lushou sighed in relief: "Great! I feel much safer being with your large group."
"By the way," Lin Xian looked at him, "How did you end up in Akse?"
"Ah, don’t mention it," Hu Lushou sighed, "I originally went from Hengshan Pass to Longjiang, trying to chase that Silent City. Damn it, who would’ve thought we’d encounter something strange. Our dozens of convoys got lost in a sudden Extreme Night expansion of Star Abyss No.5. By the time we came out, hey... we ended up in the Western Desert."
Lin Xian raised an eyebrow, "Are you saying you crossed the Star Abyss?"
Hu Lushou hesitated in his tone: "It’s hard to say because we traveled at night, and all information devices failed, but our dozens of convoys must’ve been lucky. That, uh, Dark Mark seemed to all be attracted to Silent City. Dear God, huge objects in the sky, eerie corpses underground, terrifying things everywhere—it was like a parade of a hundred ghosts. Now I don’t even know if Silent City still exists. I guess it’s probably over, with reportedly eighty or ninety thousand people up there."
"Right." Hu Lushou suddenly looked at Lin Xian and said, "There are survivors in the Star Abyss!"
"Oh, well," Hu Lushou made a speculative sound, "I guess it might be some Nightwalker people or something. Anyway, there’s a group of daredevils investigating there, but they’re all on the outskirts. Speaking of..."
Hu Lushou furrowed his brow, "If you’re talking about crossing the Star Abyss, it’s unlikely, because we could still feel the power of the dark invasion. The deeper you go, the stronger it gets, and the sky gets darker to the point you can’t see your fingers. So, I suppose I just happened to muddle my way around the edge of the Star Abyss to get here."
"Then you’re really lucky."
Lin Xian looked at Hu Lushou with some inexplicable expression. They had barely escaped from Yijin City after leaving Xilan City, almost facing total annihilation. Yet, Hu Lushou managed to guide a convoy around the edge of Star Abyss No.5 from Longjiang into the Western Desert. You have to admit that this guy has a bit of fortune on his side, even when encountering sand bandits, he didn’t suffer immediately, and he actually made a big profit.
"Is there anything else?" This content belongs to n̷o̷v̷e̷l̷f̷i̷r̷e̷.net
Hu Lushou quickly turned around and ran to a corner where a safe was placed. He took out a specially designed storage box and went over to Lin Xian. Pressing his finger on the fingerprint unlock device, there was a hiss, and the metal box opened.
Lin Xian’s gaze fell upon it and saw inside the box 10 dark red Blood Essences. From the size, it was clear they were second-level Blood Essences, varying in color, still carrying a slight stench.
"A small token, a bit of appreciation for Captain Lin for helping me this time,"
Hu Lushou said with a sheepish smile.
Lin Xian looked at Hu Lushou with interest, "Straightforward."
"It’s genuine, no other meaning!" Hu Lushou hurriedly said, opening the upper layer of the storage box: "And there’s also this."
As Hu Lushou opened the upper layer of the storage box, the lights in the basement flickered suddenly. Lin Xian’s eyes narrowed as he looked around, noticing the chandeliers and some hanging metal objects seemed to be drawn by some gravity, slightly tilting toward the storage box.
Lin Xian’s gaze was fixed as he saw on the bottom layer of Hu Lushou’s storage box, quietly resting on a layer of foam, a 12.7 mm silver-black armor-piercing bullet. The bullet was clearly used, covered in wear marks, even with a smudge of black blood left. However, the instant Lin Xian saw it, an overwhelming radiation dizziness and the icy breath of the dark invasion rushed in.
Hu Lushou looked at Lin Xian, speaking somewhat mysteriously
"To tell the truth, Captain Lin, this should be a..."