The car gently drove off the highway without encountering any obstacles.
"Is that it?"
David felt this job was too easy, even less challenging than sneaking an interface into Burger King in the subway last time.
The people in the car rolled their eyes at this rookie.
Rebecca leaned in to explain, "It means the person who assigned you the job did a good setup. Getting special permits and military tech set up during these times means the intermediary is pretty capable."
"Actually..."
"Ahem." Lucy coughed, "We just transport the stuff. Itâs good the intermediary is capable."
Pila also leaned in, "Speaking of which, whatâs the pay? A job this smooth canât pay much, depends on whatâs being transported."
"Well... itâs a bit complicated, but the pay shouldnât be less than 60,000."
"Thatâs pretty decent."
Eight people, 60,000, split evenly means each gets 7,500. Considering they only had to make a few runs, that was quite a sum.
Upon hearing this number, everyone seemed satisfied, and David was completely taken aback.
For chip thieves like them, making 100 euros in a day was already goodâ
And they just made 7,500 in one go?!
He felt like a night club hostess who just stumbled into the scene, experiencing a shift in his perception of moneyâ
Or rather, this shift had been happening ever since he started getting jobs from Burger King.
"Heyâ" Lucy tapped Davidâs head, "What are you planning to do with this money? You seemed really strapped for cash?"
"I... I donât know. Iâll probably boast to my mom first, then buy some new implants? Arenât we going to change careers soon?"
Pila grinned and waved a hand in front of David, "Haha, with your small build, you need to train more to get implants. Check out my arm, isnât it awesome?"
Lucy just stared silently at the empty road and the Evil Land.
Boast a bit, spend a bit, get new prosthetics, then take on more dangerous jobs.
More dangerous jobs, more money, better implants, and then... more dangerous jobs.
The life of a mercenary.
"...No long-term goals?"
"Buy a house?"
"That is quite a long-term goal."
But on closer thought, a 200,000-euro Moon ticket was probably small change to people like Burger King.
So what was it all for?
Lucy aimlessly looked around, even connecting to the rear-view camera to watch other sceneryâ
Then her expression changed: a police car was tailing them!
"NCPD! On our tail!"
"Huh?"
Pila also connected to the camera and looked; his smile vanished, "This is a problem..."
He then burst into loud laughter, "Letâs see how good the copâs driving isâMan, weâve got company behind us!"
"Saw that already, just waiting for the right time to lose them!"
The two Columbus Freight trucks stomped on the gas!
Reaver in the police car also accelerated suddenly!
Old Han in the car was even more terrifiedâshould he hide in the back seat and pretend he didnât see anything?!
"Please stop chasing, youâre obstructing justice!"
"Iâm just following to seeâwhatâs wrong with that in such a chaotic Evil Land?"
Reaver didnât budge, tightly tailing the two trucks!
As long as he didnât fire a shot, he was in the right!
The car he was now driving was a Villefortecotis Dominator, a light armored vehicle designed for NCPD. If he got outrun by these Columbus Freight trucks, he might as well crash into a rock and end it!
Pila also noticed this, "Drive onto the Evil Land. His car is urban-specific, our chassis is higher, he canât keep up!"
Rebecca frowned, "Hey, his car is urban-specific, but ours are not off-roaders either, plus we have military ordnance... hey!"
Bang!
The first bump as the car left the highway was jarring, but the vehicle held strong!
Reaver twisted the steering wheel, ignoring Old Hanâs terrified gaze, and veered off the pavement!
The second big jolt hitâboth vehicles slowed down, but driving like this would inevitably lead to them falling apart!
Who would survive?
The two vehicles bumped and slid on the Evil Land, the passengers getting dizzy, but to outsiders, it might seem a bit funny...
Because the vehicleâs speed wasnât actually that fast.
With a clunk, parts began falling off the Columbus Freight truck with the higher chassis!
"This is bad!" Rebecca jumped around frantically in the backseat, then pulled out two small handguns!
Lucy quickly restrained her, "We canât shoot. If we shoot, it means weâre really in trouble!"
"Then what do we do?"
"We..."
Buzzâ
A drone appeared in the sky, connecting a signal.
Lucy quickly spoke into the comms channel, "That police car is crazy!"
...
Watching the drone footage, Lille frownedâscrewing up such a simple job?
But on closer inspection, both sides of the chase seemed quite restrained, the speed looked slow as a snail to the Wanderers on Lilleâs side.
Despite the slow speed, the vehicles were already smoking and dropping parts without opening fire. The situation seemed somewhat subtle.
Continuing with the droneâs observation...
The officer in that NCPD Dominator looked familiar.
A normal right eye, the left eye fully mechanical Prosthetic Eye, wearing a red vest...
That righteous detective from the game, Reaver Ward? Instead of protecting the mayor, heâs here chasing a legit NCPD contract vehicle?
Lille didnât bother figuring out whyâwhatever the case, he had to stop the pursuit or those two Columbus Freight trucks would soon fall apart.
"Take aim, thereâs a police car chasing them."
The passenger seatâs V mounted the gun on the window, "Take out the car, leave the people?"
"Shoot the car, spare the people."
The vehicle started, darting out from behind a boulder!
Both sides of the chase spotted them, and with the help of the Prosthetic Eye, they could also see the long gun barrel mounted on the car windowâ
In the police car, Old Han and Reaver felt chills down their spine...
Raccoon dog!
Old Han immediately lunged at Reaver, pinning him down!
Bam!
The tungsten nail armor-piercing bullet easily pierced the already damaged car armor, entering through the right headlight, passing through the front wheel hub, and then exploding the rear tire!
The entire car spun out of control, hitting a bump on the sand dune, flipping over!
Reaver in the car only felt the world spinningâ
Bam.
The car crashed to the ground.
The whole vehicle flipped, and Reaver struggled to lift his head, seeing the Columbus Freight truck slowing down drastically, billowing black smoke, and leisurely driving away.
Blood trickled down his cheek, and his Prosthetic Eye suddenly flashed a string of errors.
[Warning! Prosthetic malfunction!]
[Warning, unidentified signal detected... ]
[Detective, you have more important things to investigate rather than chasing down your colleagues]
[The Nightingale Project led to the deaths of dozens of Wanderers, which started the whole thing. If you seek justice, why not go after the responsible parties who are still alive?]
[Hereâs a clue: Alex Pushkin, Biotechnology Marketing Department employee]
[Before you have solid evidence, youâd better investigate secretly. Need I say why?]
Raccoon dog, Nightingale Projectâa series of keywords connected in Reaverâs mind, realizing those people were indeed in the Evil Land.
And the Nightingale Project was the start of the chaos that day, leading Reaver to instinctively link the Lizard Men to it.
Unexpectedly, the clues he needed came from that fugitive.
"Burger King..." Reaver struggled to push away the metal piece trapping him, "Old Han? Weâve got a lead... Old Han?!"
Old Han had been thrown out of the car, looking dazed, muttering incoherently...
"Stop chasing, please stop chasing..."
Reaver breathed a sigh of relief but had no intention to pursue further.
...
"Nice jobâthere wonât be any repercussions for that police car. It was just a rookie."
A desert sports car roared its engine as it pulled up next to the two trucksâ
The wild yet beautiful design of the car caught everyoneâs eye...
What a cool car.
Except for Lucy, everyone silently gulpedâthey couldnât imagine the thrill of sitting in such a car.
"Unload at the small town ahead, then weâll settle up. Follow along."
West Tuan sped away in a flash.