"Hurry, run! We're free!"
The moment Lin Ke opened his eyes, he saw innumerable frail and skinny people dressed in coarse flax clothing escaping through the hole in the high-voltage power grid as if they had gone mad, much like wild horses that had thrown off their reins.
A piercing bout of pain went through Lin Ke's mind, and a great deal of memories suddenly appeared within. His most recent memory was of himself repairing an aging game console that he had been using for six years when, all of a sudden, he started convulsing all over, and his vision blacked out. When he opened his eyes the next time, he had already come to this place.
"This place… seems to be Destiny…" muttered Lin Ke to himself as he rubbed his temples.
Scaffolding was built all around the ancient desert ruins. A yellowish-brown curtain covered the scaffolding, completely blocking it from view. The only thing exposed was a passage entrance—over two meters tall—which led to an underground crypt.
Under the mercenaries' supervision, slaves entered the underground crypt to dig for treasures in the ancient ruins. The slaves then carried the treasures to the tents outside to carry out categorization and packing before military trucks finally transported them to the Wastelands Gang.
The camp was surrounded by and completely trapped within high-voltage power grids. However, for some reason, a violent earthquake had broken out in the underground crypt during the excavation process today. The dying screams of slaves could even be heard coming from within, as though there was seemingly something unclean inside the crypt.
The camp's power supply was temporarily cut off; the power grid had also taken a break and stopped working.
As such, some slaves had taken advantage of the interval where a large number of mercenaries entered the underground crypt, and security manpower in the camp was insufficient to steal a desert jeep during the chaos. They had crashed it into the power grid and forcibly ripped open a hole, triggering the slaves' wills to escape.
Lin Ke swiftly sorted out the memories rushing into his mind, and his expression changed into one of alarm. "The Wastelands Gang alarmed a mysterious underground creature while excavating an ancient ruins site, causing the ground to cave in and quicksand to form. Isn't this the description of a major event in Destiny's background plot?!"
Beneath his feet currently was an exploration-style dungeon named 'Underground Crypt of Death' that would form after the game officially began.
All the zombies inside the Underground Crypt of Death were mercenaries and slaves that had zombified after their deaths. In other words, a large number of slaves had died in this incident!
Lin Ke's scalp exploded, and he broke out into a cold sweat all over. He didn't have any time to think about why he had transmigrated into the game at all. There was only one thought in his mind right now—run!
Lin Ke looked around him. Various treasures excavated from the underground crypt were placed on an awning mat on the floor. He was a slave in charge of selecting and categorizing items. The mercenaries at the tent entrance had already left at some point, either to suppress the slaves or to battle in the underground crypt.
With his sharp eyes and quick reflexes, Lin Ke grabbed a golden bangle and put it on his wrist. Then, he met up with the other slaves and ran outside together with them.
The ruins excavation site was in utter chaos. Gunshots rang out repeatedly in the underground crypt. In the camp, the mercenaries' gunshots also constantly rang in their ears.
The mercenaries drove back and forth in cars that had been modified for use in the desert. In the backseats, machine-gunners continuously raked their surroundings with gunfire. Escaping slaves fell in groups as though they were leaves suppressed by gales.
There was no way one could outrun jeeps or quicksand with their legs, much less bullets.
Lin Ke's figure came to a stop, and he stopped following the others to escape. Instead, he tiptoed and surveyed his surroundings. In no time, Lin Ke found a standalone mercenary camp in the northwest. Based on his understanding of the Wastelands Gang, the remaining vehicles must be parked there for sure!
Several slaves wanted to charge into the camp to seize weapons, but the defending mercernaries' firepower suppressed all of them; the slaves collapsed to the ground while charging over. Corpses covered almost the entire mercenary camp's entrance.
Some slaves that had managed to snatch weapons from the scattered mercenaries hid behind blockhouses and fought back with great difficulty, shooting out of the blue every once in a while. The rest of the time, they were suppressed by the other party's formidable firepower and didn't even dare lift their heads.
However, Lin Ke weaved through the escaping crowds and quietly advanced toward the mercenary camp from the side.
The mercenaries currently had their full attention on quelling the rioting slaves and rescuing the people in the underground crypt. Combined with the manpower shortage, there were practically no defenses set up at the side of the mercenary camp.
Being small and skinny, Lin Ke hid behind blockhouses the whole way and actually managed to infiltrate the camp successfully while the mercenaries weren't looking.
Gunfire sounds directly opposite the camp were exceptionally intense at the moment. A hunched over Lin Ke hid in a corner of the camp.
"I've already ascertained the location of the cars, so I'm just missing the key now." Lin Ke was rather familiar with the operations and makeup of the Wastelands Gang's mercenaries. After all, they were a force that he had farmed so many times in the past that he wanted to puke.
The mercenary teams were grouped by their tents, where each tent formed a three-man team. Each of the three members performed their own roles, which were: the driver, main gunner, and machine-gunner in charge of suppressive fire, respectively.
Finding the key was neither a difficult nor an easy task. As long as he could enter the tents, he'd have a chance at finding a car key.
Lin Ke began to take action, and he stealthily shifted about outside the tents. The camouflage-colored tents blocked light out completely, so it was impossible for one to see what was going on inside. Additionally, a mess of gunshots and explosions was currently taking place, so it was very tough for one to tell whether there was anyone in the tents. Should Lin Ke make a mistake in his guess, he would be delivering himself right into a trap.
He crept up to the nearest tent. The moment he got near, he heard cursing and swearing from inside.
"That bunch of damned dogs! How dare they interrupt my afternoon nap! I'm going to kill all of you when I get out there!"
Goodbye, and next, please.
Lin Ke didn't waste any time. As the mercenaries carried out their riot suppression and massacre, several escaping slaves had already been gunned down. Combined with the 'Sword of Damocles' suspended over his head—i.e., the quicksand that might break out anytime—Lin Ke didn't have much time left.
He circled around to another tent in the distance and listened carefully for a while but didn't hear anything. After a brief moment of observation, he lifted a corner of the tent flap and sneaked in at lightning speed.
Lin Ke's eyes swept across the interior, and he discovered that all of the owners' belongings were still there. He made haste and searched through them.
On the table, in the clothes' and trousers' pockets…
At last, he found a key in the pocket of a top.
"Got it!" Lin Ke raised his eyebrows, and a look of joy came over his face.
Practically at the same time, a line of text that only Lin Ke himself could see appeared in front of him.
[You've obtained Desert Jeep (Modified) Key]
"Huh? A system panel?" Before Lin Ke could check it out, the heavy and solid footsteps of someone in army boots suddenly came from outside, and they were becoming louder and clearer.
Someone's here! A violent shiver went through Lin Ke, and perspiration instantly drenched his back. His eyes swiftly swept across the tent interior. He practically couldn't find a place that he could hide in…
Rustle!
Someone lifted the tent flap roughly. The person stood at the entrance and took a sweeping glance at the inside, and then he stood still.
Lin Ke, who was hiding under the bed, could only see a pair of black army boots at the entrance. Nervousness and unsettlement filled his heart. That person is standing at the entrance instead of coming in. Has he discovered something?
Lin Ke's brows knitted together tightly as he carefully thought back to his actions just now. He shouldn't have left behind any signs of his presence.
The mercenary's eyes swept across the interior while he stood at the entrance. Then, he made a beeline for the clothes rack and rummaged about in the clothes' pockets.
After searching for half a day, the mercenary finally grew impatient. He grabbed the clothes and started to shake them. "Damn it. Where exactly did that fellow put the key?"
The cards, snacks, dagger, and photographs inside the pockets dropped all over the floor, but there was simply no sign of the key at all.
"F*ck! Where exactly has that wretched fellow hidden the key?" Having failed at finding the key, the mercenary exited the tent while swearing angrily.
Lin Ke waited till the mercenary's voice faded completely before carefully climbing out from underneath the bed. He picked up a dagger, which was sheathed in a leather cover, along the way.
[You've obtained 1 Sharp Dagger]
Next to the translucent notification in front of him was even the dagger's various stats. However, Lin Ke honestly didn't have the time to take a close look at the small dagger's stats at the moment. He lowered his head and glanced at the flax clothing he was wearing. There wasn't even a single pocket where he could store items on his whole body.
In order to completely eradicate the possibility of slaves stashing treasures away when excavating the ancient ruins, the Wastelands Gang had made all of them wear specially-made flax clothing. To put it simply, it was a piece of flax fabric with three holes cut out for the head and arms to protrude from.
Lin Ke didn't change his clothes or shoes because he had a small and skinny physique. There was a huge difference between his physique and that of the strong and muscular adult mercenaries. Not only would wearing such clothes and shoes not bring him any boons, but it would also affect his current speed.
Thus, Lin Ke bit the bullet and stuffed the dagger into the crotch area of his trousers. Stuffing a blade into the crotch of one's trousers was something that nobody would favor. Despite the dagger coming with its own leather cover, Lin Ke, nevertheless, still felt a hint of coolness at his crotch.
Lin Ke lifted a corner of the tent flap and observed the outside. When he was sure that no one was outside, he left in a flash.
To prevent loss and confusion, car keys were debossed with their corresponding vehicle number. A hunched over Lin Ke circled around the camp fringes to where the mercenaries had parked the cars in the camp and began to search for a jeep numbered '777.'
There were evidently many more enemies here than in the tents. Mercenaries hopped onto modified jeeps in groups of two to three. The car engines roared to life, and they drove off swiftly, entering the desert to pursue the escaping slaves.
The small and skinny Lin Ke deftly weaved through the parked jeeps, avoiding the mercenaries joining the battle while searching for his 'private jeep.'
Found it! Lin Ke's eyes swept to and fro, and he finally found the jeep with the car plate number 777. However, just as he was about to go over, another two batches of mercenaries showed up one after another and drove out in pursuit.
Lin Ke didn't become anxious. Instead, he hid underneath the car and waited patiently. At times like this, the more anxious one became, the easier it was for things to go wrong.
Lin Ke waited until the two batches of mercenaries had completely left before he climbed out from underneath the car. Then, as though he was a rat scurrying across the street, he quickly crossed the empty path and climbed into the jeep.
The modified desert jeep was fully open-air. It had no doors and no roof. What it had were just a windscreen and the steel frame itself. Almost all unnecessary facilities had been removed for the sole purpose of installing a heavy machine gun in the backseat, making the car layout crude and simple.
"Phew, next up is the main show now." Lin Ke breathed out heavily. Despite having played the game for six years, he was, nevertheless, still nervous in this instant. In the past, he could still come back to life after he died, but should he die now, he would be dead for real.
He had already paid the price for saving the game console's 800 yuan reparation fee with his life. However, God had granted him a revival token now; If he let it go to waste again, he would really be left with nothing.
This particular body of Lin Ke's was frail and skinny; it also leaned toward the shorter end. Thus, he had to adjust the seat slightly so that the tip of his foot could step on the gas pedal.
Through the windscreen, he observed the current situation.
The battle at the camp entrance was nearing its conclusion. Without ammunition replenishments, the slaves that had obtained weaponry had less and less basis on which they could continue their resistance. At the moment, a team of mercenaries was already quietly approaching them.
A short distance away in the desert, several desert jeeps were pursuing the slaves. The scene was no different from a one-sided hunt and massacre. How could slaves that had run out barehanded possibly fight against 'steel behemoths?'
Machine-gun fire raked the surroundings without pause, and bullets embedded themselves into the slaves. Gunpowder exploded, and the huge explosive force rendered the slaves' internal organs badly mangled. Their intestines slipped out all over.
Blood spurted from the slaves that were shot in the arms and legs. They fell onto the ground as they moaned and groaned in pain and agony before they were crushed under the jeeps' wheels.
Lin Ke set his sights on the parking lot's side entrance. Not only did the parking lot's side entrance in the mercenary camp lead directly to the desert, but it was also a road free of obstacles.
Since several jeeps were currently out on pursuit duty, the barricade at the entrance was raised high up in the air and provided no obstruction at all.
Boom!
Lin Ke had only just inserted the key into the slot when he suddenly heard a thunderous explosion coming from the direction of the underground crypt. He could feel the ground shaking, even while seated in the jeep.
Snap, snap!
The scene of the scaffolding around the ancient ruins falling apart completely entered Lin Ke's sight. The fissures in the ground rapidly spread outward in all directions and extended greedily to any and every area.
Several mercenaries also heard the horrifying sound. All of them ceased their gunfire and turned as one to look in the direction of the explosion.
"Oh no, the cave-in and quicksand are about to start!" Cold sweat covered Lin Ke's forehead, and his countenance changed abruptly. Without any hesitation, he turned the key and started the desert jeep.
Vroom!!
The loud boom of the high-speed engine revving to life rang out. Lin Ke started the car with practiced motions, U-turned, and sped out with his foot on the gas pedal.
[You've successfully started the Desert Jeep (Modified) and activated your Special Ability, Basic Driving]
[Basic Driving Progress: 0.1%… 0.2%…]
Lin Ke rammed his foot all the way down on the gas pedal. The jeep's ultra-fast acceleration pressed his entire body against the seat. He firmly held the steering wheel with both hands, not daring to let down his guard in the slightest.
This f*cking modified desert jeep really is a piece of sh*t. In order to reduce weight to the fullest extent, they actually removed the seatbelt as well.
The desert jeep traveled as fast as lightning and charged right out of the mercenary camp, blowing up clouds of sand and dust the whole way.
When the mercenaries guarding the side entrance saw a jeep racing away in front of them, they were baffled for a moment.
The person in the driver's seat just now seemed to be… a slave wearing flax clothing?
"F*ck, why was he in the parking lot?"
The mercenaries stared blankly for a moment before they regained their senses. Then, they lifted the walkie-talkies at their chests and shouted into it. "A slave has stolen a car and escaped! Attention, all units! The car plate number is 777! Car plate number 777!"
Through the rear-view mirror, Lin Ke saw the mercenaries on guard duty speaking into their walkie-talkies. Then, he directed his line of vision to the desert jeeps pursuing and slaughtering the slaves in the desert. Two of the jeeps started to drift on the spot, made a U-turn, and charged toward him.
At the same time, the booming explosions in the underground crypt were getting louder and louder. The scaffolding had already completely collapsed; the yellowish-brown curtain covering the scaffolding had also fallen along with it.
The entire underground crypt sank into the ground. The land around the ruins also began to sink, gradually forming an inclined dip.
All the sand and earth beneath their feet converged at the epicenter. Everyone, be it the resisting slaves or the mercenaries in the camp, was extremely terrified upon seeing what was happening.
There was nothing more terrifying than quicksand and sandstorms in a desert.
Right now, quicksands have formed! The grim reapers had come!
"Run! Hurry, run!"
The mercenaries howled as they ran toward the parking lot. At a time like this, who gave a damn about suppressing the slaves?!
The cave-in speed was much faster than their running speed. The people near the quicksand epicenter sprinted fervently, only to find that they simply couldn't run out of the vortex, no matter how hard they tried. In no time, they were devoured by the quicksand.
Like a leaf sinking into a vortex, the camp was buried by quicksand in the blink of an eye, disappearing from sight.
The quicksand vortex became larger and larger. As though an invisible pair of hands was pulling them, everyone who couldn't flee in time was dragged into the vortex's epicenter and sucked into an unknown place.
The mercenaries madly dashed toward the cars and scrambled into them. They started the cars, put them into gear, and stepped down on the gas pedals in one smooth motion. Cars sped off at high speed from the side entrance.
It was just that sand dunes were slowly beginning to rise in front of their windscreens. In the cars, everyone's visual angles also gradually began to rise. In fact, they could already see the sky without even needing to lift their heads.
The jeeps' roaring engines sounded much like ancient behemoths, but it was to no avail. All of them were mercilessly dragged into the epicenter by the quicksand's silent power and devoured.
Upon seeing this, the two jeeps that had initially U-turned with intentions to block Lin Ke from the front hastily spun around.
At times like this, whoever still followed orders were fools! Compared to their lives, what did employment relationships even count as?!
However, just as they were U-turning, Lin Ke weaved through the two jeeps coolly and raced off the whole way…