Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 21 21. Set out from the city and head into the wilderness!

It is difficult for people who have been living underground to remember how terrifying it is when the sun shines on the earth.

The endless scorching sun can turn any organic matter into dehydrated meat, then mercilessly ignite it. During the day, there may even be an overwhelming foehn wind blowing, and any unit operating outdoors must do everything possible to avoid the scorching light.

At the turn of day and night, hurricanes would occasionally blow up yellow sand and even some bricks and stones into the sky. It was not uncommon for the ground parts of some cities that were trying to build to suffer huge damage as a result.

Communications over long distances must be maintained constantly. Otherwise, if communications are interrupted one day and intelligence cannot be accurately updated, it is not impossible for other companies to raid important facilities...

Independent mercenaries also have this kind of errand running work - the reason for mentioning this is that before setting off, Seifer also took on some maintenance and investigation commissions for related facilities along the way.

The reward wasn't much, but it was on the right track. It would also help Lin Shenxue quickly understand some of the techniques used by the people of this world. It was essentially a win-win situation.

The sound of mechanical announcements echoed in the dedicated parking area. Seifer sat on the most luxurious-looking chair. When he heard the connection sound from the rear of the vehicle and the screen in front of him showed that the engine was connected, he announced in the team communication that he was ready.

On the city's largest projection, 'daytime' has entered the countdown, and the small doors on the metal wall leading to the outside have been closed.

The communication was noisy, with many people actively expressing their opinions, but then being suppressed by even louder voices. This environment made Seifer a little unhappy.

The most upset person was probably Lin Shenxue. She had initially claimed she was "going to blend in and gather information." After ten minutes of this nonsense, she closed the call and left a message saying she'd contact her if she needed anything.

I hope she's just looking at it instead of fixing it... Otherwise, when the engine starts, Cypher will have to look for the inheritance in a pile of unknown matter.

"Alright, mercenaries, this mission is simple. The estimated journey time is two nights and one day. Keep alert and stay in touch with each other during the night. If a fleet as large as ours is intercepted by pirates..."

Tien's voice sounded very energetic, even too energetic.

"Just go to the sand and count the balls!"

It felt like a character like that wouldn't survive a single mission, but then Cipher thought about the mobile base with its main gun she was riding on, and felt like she might be overthinking it.

There are three armed patrol cars from the Edge Node City on this trip; there are five transport vehicles, including Sefer's car, each of which carries a huge amount of supplies back and forth, but they are currently empty when they go.

There is also a mobile base led by six mercenaries, who are said to want to go to the next city to recruit more people and bring back the damaged dog tags.

Inside, all the mercenaries fell silent and began to exchange their names, the titles of their mobile bases, etc. When it was Sefer's turn to ask, he hesitated for a moment.

"I don't plan to use this car as my main base for now. I'll decide after I replace it."

As he spoke, he subconsciously glanced back. Behind his seat, the large cylinder that was completely embedded in the car body was lying there perfectly still.

In the UI interface, the task of its highest-level protection item is still highlighted.

You can change the car, but you have to take this thing away... I don't know if the car will be paralyzed instantly if it is really removed.

While he was thinking, the alarm at the gate switched to a flashing yellow warning light. The giant gate, as heavy as a city wall, slowly opened to both sides under the pull of the bottom and upper slide rails and a series of auxiliary hydraulic rods.

Seifer tapped his ears and could feel the silicone texture, which was very soft.

The shaking of the ground and the alarms that followed their own set of rules made this city hidden under the sea of sand seem to come alive.

The first thing to face is the surging hot current, which carries wind and sand, passes through the narrow passage compared to the relatively open desert, and roars into the underground city at a speed visible to the naked eye.

For some reason, Sefer's first concern was not how the people in the city would survive, but rather that after so much wind and sand settled, the people who were cleaning the square and doing logistics maintenance would probably curse their mothers.

The convoy filed out in an orderly fashion, heading diagonally upwards. Just when Seifer was thinking this was going to be a boring trip, Tien's communication came through. "Although you're joining as a freight vehicle, you should still join the mercenary channel. This will make communication much faster."

"Of course, it's okay if you don't want to. Just follow my car and be a good boy. It's not bad, ha, ha, ha!"

The paused laughter sounded unpleasant. Seifer casually tapped the armrest with his fingers and chose to remain silent.

Then join the mercenary channel.

"Oh? There's a new guy here. Tell me your name so we can get to know each other. I'm the I/O Enterprise mercenary, 'Pier' C13."

"I'm C7 'Pier'..."

"I'm……"

In addition to corporate mercenaries, the names of independent mercenaries are also quite interesting, such as Badger, Stairs... highlighting the diversity.

Cypher cleared his throat. "I'm Red Bolt, callsign T59."

——When this name was mentioned, everyone's reaction was very flat. It seemed that they had looked up the current evaluation level and found that it was a newcomer who had never completed any tasks. So they said hello and that was it.

It’s a pity that Sefer was worried that he would meet someone familiar with this code name and react violently like Laika.

"You really think too much, Red Crossbow."

Leica's voice sounded somewhat helpless during the communication: "I'm your communicator, so I can connect immediately. In the independent mercenary support system, you can even change your name and call sign..."

"As long as you don't repeat yourself, it's fine. Anyway... the death rate of mercenaries is quite high. You should take care of yourself and live a little longer, Red Crossbow."

Ever since she adjusted the voice output for Cypher, Leica's emotions have become a little subtle, not as calm and composed as before. If I'm not mistaken, she probably adjusted Cypher's voice to be similar to that of his predecessor, Red Arrow?

In the full-frame image of the front of the vehicle, the pitch-black desert is now illuminated quite brightly by the light projected by dozens of vehicles.

On the undulating sand dunes, a strong wind caused by the alternation of day and night was blowing. The flying sand was like a curtain covering the sky and the earth, making it impossible to see what the sky looked like.

The huge ruts formed by the car in front crushing the sand were emitting a beautiful blue glow. As long as we followed this track, we would definitely not deviate from the course.

The wind and sand were strong, but it was a rare opportunity to leisurely follow the convoy and operate the vehicle automatically without having to operate the vehicle. After a moment of consideration, Seifer suddenly started a conversation.

"Speaking of which, I'm very curious."

Occasionally, the sound of keyboard tapping could be heard from Leica's side, and she casually responded, "What are you curious about?"

"I asked around a bit, and I didn't hear many mercenaries mention having dedicated liaisons, so I'm a little curious... When you heard that Red Arrow had changed personnel, why didn't you just cut off contact?"

"I...are you free now, Red Crossbow?"

"Okay, cruise control."

There was a moment of silence on Leica's side, then he sighed. "It's not a particularly dramatic story. After listening to it, get back to work. You still need to improve your mercenary rating and pay off your debts, right, Red Crossbow?"

Can we not mention debt?
　A new month, new people, new books, give some, give some...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)