Why is my territory in a 2D anime art style?

"Young lord over there!"

A rather friendly shout almost made Sui An think he had returned to the first day of pioneering the territory.

Three men were standing on a small transport vehicle in the distance, and one of them was waving in their direction.

Sui An was fiddling with something on the watchtower, unsure of their intentions, but he first activated an energy shield from his heart before shouting, "What do you want?"

Compared to the three wild adventurers he encountered the first time, these three were clearly more sensible this time.

They stopped about ten meters away from the wall, probably because the wall was now tall and sturdy, no longer as simple as it used to be.

Although that area was actually his territory, Sui An generously didn't care.

"The three of us want to ask you something, is that convenient?" the man shouted.

Sui An nodded: "Go on~"

Seeing that Sui An agreed, the three men drove closer. The leader, who looked the oldest, was wearing a special metal breastplate. He asked Sui An questions through the wall.

"My name is Song Ming. Have you seen a vehicle similar to this transport truck pass by your area recently?"

Sui An frowned. This way of asking the question reminded him of something unpleasant. He looked at the two transport trucks in front of him, on which the character "He" was painted.

So, it really was the He family who came looking for us?

Sui An relaxed his brow and said calmly, "I've seen this kind of car before, but if you're talking about one with 'He' written on it, I haven't noticed it."

Upon hearing Sui An's denial, the three people in the car exchanged glances, whispered among themselves, and then Song Ming asked again:

"Have you seen anyone ambush a transport vehicle on Line 7 recently?"

"Ambush a transport vehicle! Is it a transport vehicle from Ping An Trading Company?"

Sui An exclaimed in surprise and quickly asked, "Who has the nerve to do this? I certainly haven't seen it. If I had, they would have silenced me too."

Song Ming frowned and quickly added, "It's not a transport vehicle from Ping An Trading Company, it's a vehicle from the He family."

Sui An immediately breathed a sigh of relief and asked softly, "The He family? Which He family?"

Song Ming quickly pointed west: "It's the He family over there, in a level-three territory. You don't know them, do you?"

"Oh, it's the He family, I know them!" Sui An nodded and added.

"However, I haven't seen anyone ambush vehicles. My area is relatively peaceful."

"Okay, thanks!"

Having roughly grasped Sui An's meaning, Song Ming could only refrain from asking further. However, before leaving, he added, "If you see anything about the He family's transport truck recently, please ask someone to inform the He family. They will surely reward you handsomely!"

Sui An quickly waved with a smile, his expression somewhat ingratiating: "Definitely, definitely~"

The three of them drove the transport vehicle around and left Sui An's territory, heading towards Jiangcheng.

As the car drove further and further away, the slightly overweight professional driving it frowned and complained.

"Brother, this is the third territory we've entered. It's a desolate wasteland with few people. We don't even know where Old Master Xu got into trouble. Searching aimlessly like this isn't going to work."

Song Ming, sitting to the side, also seemed somewhat disheartened: "Fatty, what's your hurry? Didn't Master Xu pay you?"

The fat man laughed and said, "There is some, but with this little salary, how can it compare to finding Grandpa Xu's bounty incense? Just one valid clue can get you 500 source stones!"

Song Ming shook his head, leaned back in the car, and closed his eyes to rest: "Let's take our time looking. This kind of job of finding people is all about luck."

"Big brother!"

But the young man who was sitting in the back of the truck and didn't talk much suddenly spoke up.

"Didn't you think that wall you just saw looked familiar?"

"A wall?" Song Ming closed his eyes and recalled for a moment, then slowly opened them: "It's the same as the He family's territory, just a lighter color, so it looks familiar."

The young man quickly explained, "Young Master He Chong's wall is level 3, while this person's territory is only level 1, so his wall must also be level 1, which is why the color is lighter."

Song Ming sat up straight, turned to look behind him, and asked coldly, "Zheng Heng, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Zheng Heng looked at his boss and calmly began to explain.

"I checked the records. The day Grandpa Xu left, the truck was carrying 21 sets of core materials for the wall, which were intended to be given to Young Master He Chong. Now that he's gone, the goods must be gone too."

"But we investigated the territories surrounding the He family before we came, didn't we? This lord is just a lucky guy who awakened as a builder. His parents were level 3 combat professionals who followed a hunting party and died several years ago."

"The wall he just built must have cost at least five or six hundred source stones. With his background and wealth, how could he afford to spend so much money to build such a high-quality green wall? Could it be that he picked up the materials from Grandpa Xu's car?"

"I remember that there were 21 sets of core materials for the wall on Grandpa Xu's car, which seemed to be just enough for the area of ​​a level one territory."

Song Ming immediately sat up straight. Although Zheng Heng's consideration was unlikely, it was indeed very meaningful.

He pondered for a moment, then voiced some questions.

"Let's put aside the possibility that this kid might have some luck..."

"But with what Grandpa Xu is wearing, no one except a mid-level professional should be able to kill him easily, and even a level 1 territory should be difficult for him. But if Grandpa Xu can't beat someone, he can run away."

"But if Grandpa Xu is indeed dead, why didn't the person who killed him take the evidence?"

Zheng Heng smiled slightly, seemingly unsurprised by Song Ming's question; he gave a sinister smile.

"Brother, you've gone down a dead end. Is it possible that Grandpa Xu died at the hands of a Source Beast, and then this kid picked up the materials?"

"In that case, if we capture this kid, can we also get the bounty?"

"Even if someone finds Grandpa Xu's body later, we can't ignore the fact that this kid found Grandpa Xu's materials. At most, we didn't investigate thoroughly enough, and we didn't intentionally deceive Master Xu."

Zheng Heng's unique way of thinking opened up a new world for Song Ming. Yes, who says that Grandpa Xu must have been ambushed and killed?

Can't they die at the hands of the Source Beast?

Anything can happen in the wilderness!

Anyway, Master Xu was just asking for clues.

The two of them didn't even consider that Xu Jun was just missing, after all, being missing in the wilderness for three days would be difficult even for a mid-level professional.

Seeing Song Ming deep in thought, Zheng Heng climbed over from the back of the cart and added another sentence.

"If we could find some of Old Master Xu's personal belongings in this kid's territory..."

The fat man who had been driving suddenly stuck his head out, looking a little hesitant.

"That kid's territory is only level 1, but the three of us aren't intermediate-level professionals, and with that wall around, won't we be a bit difficult to deal with?"

Zheng Heng rolled his eyes at the fat man who suddenly appeared: "We're not source beasts, why do we have to attack that wall? We just need to activate the energy shield. It's only a level 1 energy shield. If the three of us attack the same spot at the same time, it'll definitely break!"

"Even if this kid really has some luck and manages to finish that wall, there won't be much left. I just took a look from afar, and there are only two white crossbow watchtowers."

The fat man nodded, but then raised a new question: "If we wipe out his territory, won't Master Xu be unable to see the wall then?"

"Bang!"

Zheng Heng reached out and smacked the fat man on the head, producing a crisp echo.

"Are you stupid? Boss, don't we have a recording camera? You've forgotten our livelihood? What kind of reconnaissance mission are we going to do without one!"

He subconsciously scratched his head, but the fat man was still unconvinced: "Can't we just take a picture and go back?"

Zheng Heng was so angry he didn't want to talk anymore, but Song Ming kicked the fat man.

"Without any supporting documentation from his territory, how could Master Xu believe it based solely on photos!"

"Therefore, not only must his territory be destroyed, but this kid must also be eliminated, otherwise he'll cause trouble if he goes and speaks recklessly in front of Master Xu!"

"If you're going to do it, go all the way!"

Everything seemed to make sense now, and the fat man's breathing suddenly became heavy.

Song Ming turned his head and saw the greedy eyes of the fat man and Zheng Heng. It was as if he could see the white source stones through their pupils, and he was immediately moved.

He murmured softly, "Now, there's just one problem: where can we get some of Old Master Xu's personal belongings..."

A green wristband slowly appeared before Song Ming's eyes, and Zheng Heng said softly.

"This green wristband slightly amplifies my strength. It has the words 'Xu Jun' engraved on it. I gave it to Grandpa Xu in private when I was handling some personal matters for him. Absolutely no one knows about it."

"Brother, but if we hand this over, the reward will be..."

"I'll make it up to you!"