Chapter 421.3: Virtual Reality Game... In Virtual Reality Games?!?!?!?!?!

Listening to Cowley's reminder, Battlefield Cheerleader nodded, maintaining his reticent persona, and replied, "Mm."

Cowley said no more.

He trusted this man who could hunt Deathclaws alone wouldn’t face any trouble when dealing with a few patrolling soldiers.

The group approached the other side of the slope of the dune, crawling on the ground. They carefully climbed towards the top of the dune.

The distant gunshots became more urgent.

In that flickering gunfire, the people crawling on the dune could vaguely see a huge figure.

It was a giant worm.

Its body was as thick as ancient trees, and only a part of its tens of meters length had burrowed out, with half still buried underground.

Perhaps it was disturbed by those horsemen, as it twisted its huge body like a dragon overturning rivers and seas, stirring up rolling sand and dirt.

Battlefield Cheerleader’s eyes widened as he saw a dozen soldiers thrown off their mounts by the monster. One of them was even swallowed whole, man and camel, by a gaping maw.

This creature was pretty fucking cool.

Even if thrown into the Tide, it would be considered an elite-level mutant.

But in Clearspring City, where concrete and steel are everywhere, this guy probably couldn't burrow...

Within a few breaths, that troop of cavalry had suffered heavy casualties, and the captain-like figure loudly ordered his subordinates to retreat from the monster's attack range.

"Sandworm! Spirit of the Desert above... It's a sandworm!" Lying next to Battlefield Cheerleader, the dark-skinned man's right hand tightly gripped his gun, his eyes flickering with fear.

Another merchant guard cursed, "... Damn, it's actually that monster, glad we didn't pass this area."

One guard frowned. "Something's not right... How can they not know there's a sandworm here?"

The dark-skinned man thought for a moment and said, "Maybe they were in too much of a hurry, or maybe they've never patrolled this area."

Although sandworms had terrifying combat capabilities, their range was relatively fixed. Basically, they wouldn’t move locations.

And... This large mutant wasn’t like those elusive man-eating ants, it was quite easy to identify its activity range. Logically speaking, those desert dwellers shouldn't have been ambushed by this creature.

Listening to the others' conversation, Battlefield Cheerleader also felt that something was wrong.

However, that wasn't something he needed to consider now.

The surviving patrol team was quickly approaching where they were.

Cowley's expression was stern as he watched the group of cavalry, having already flicked off the safety of his rifle. "Everyone get ready, open fire when they cross 100 meters in front of that forked cactus directly ahead of us!"

"Yes!" Battlefield Cheerleader took a deep breath, aimed at the group, hesitating whether to raise the muzzle by an inch.

But even if he did, it seemed meaningless. At a distance of 100 meters, 11 assault rifles... Even if he missed, it was more than enough to turn them into human sieves.

The few hundred meters passed in a flash, and soon the cavalry was right in front of them.

At the same time, having come so close, the group clearly also noticed them.

Seeing those muzzles pointed at them, the captain who had just escaped from a dangerous situation changed his expression and yelled, "Spread out on both flanks!"

Under such circumstances, there was no need to doubt the identity of the other side.

Any legitimate merchant convoy would not point their guns at them.

Almost simultaneously, Cowley ordered. "Fire!"

11 rifles simultaneously unleashed firepower, the barrage of bullets turned the cavalry into disarray.

In the end, Battlefield Cheerleader couldn’t bring himself to shoot at the members of the Lion Kingdom who he had no grudge with. He lowered his gun and shot the camels.

After a burst of intense gunfire, nine soldiers fell from their camels, leaving bodies scattered on the ground.

Quietly waiting for a while, the dark-skinned man said in a muffled voice, "I'll check for survivors."

As he was about to get up, Battlefield Cheerleader stood up first. He shook the bayonet on his rifle, and walked down the dune. "I'm an awakener, I'll handle it."

Cowley nodded, signaling to the other merchant guards. "Cover him."

The dark-skinned man nodded, not thinking too much, and lay back down.

With rifle in hand, Battlefield Cheerleader pointed at the captain closest to him, carefully approaching.

Under the sparse moonlight, he saw the man's hand tucked near his waistband, and couldn't help but curl his lip.

In a low voice, Battlefield Cheerleader whispered, "Hey, I'm sorry for killing your mount, but I have my difficulties."

"If you don't want to die, best lie there and don't move."

In the darkness, those eyes opened a little. Battlefield Cheerleader could see the surprise and confusion hidden behind them.

To avoid suspicion from the man behind him, he didn't explain. He pretended to stab the ground a few times beside the captain before grabbing the equipment.

The man seemed to realize something. He didn't make any rash moves, but quietly pointed to his waist.

Battlefield Cheerleader glanced over. Seeing a flare gun, he immediately understood his meaning. He quickly grabbed the flare.

After making sure nothing was left behind, he continued to the next body, collecting their equipment one by one.

Of the nine soldiers who escaped the jaws of the sandworm, only the captain survived.

Battlefield Cheerleader felt a bit conflicted, but there was no time to think more about it. He was only able to carry their equipment back up the dune.

Looking at Cowley, he handed over the signal gun he held. "This is the captain's signal flare... I stabbed each of them twice. I made sure no one survived. I've collected their equipment, I suggest we leave here immediately."

As he spoke, he was actually quite nervous inside. His Federation Language was as segmented as usual, but fortunately, Cowley didn't suspect anything. Instead, he nodded in approval.

Taking the silver signal gun, Cowley unloaded the flare inside and handed the gun back to him. "This is your trophy, keep it."

The dark-skinned man suggested in a muffled voice, "I suggest we dispose of the bodies, otherwise it might attract the Lion Kingdom’s patrol."

"It is such a big commotion. As long as the kingdom's patrol isn't deaf, they definitely noticed. Nearby patrols are probably already on their way.” Battlefield Cheerleader looked back at the bodies behind him. "Let the mutants deal with them."

Cowley nodded seriously, agreeing with his point.

A single patrol team was insignificant. The priority was to immediately return to the Army. No matter what, they couldn't let the Lion Kingdom's people find out.

"Makes sense, we must move immediately!"

Watching the group disappearing on the dune, Andre finally breathed a sigh of relief while lying on the ground.

Although he didn't understand what had happened... It seemed he had been saved.

Quietly waiting for a while, until the sound of camel hooves came from a great distance, he struggled to stand up.

Ignoring the gunshot wound on his leg, he staggered over to his dead mount, pulling a gold-sealed scroll from the saddle.

Confirming the scroll was still there and intact, Andre finally relaxed.

He wasn't any patrol team captain, but the king's personal guard.

The Falcon Kingdom's allied forces with the Army had penetrated deep into Oasis No.9.

If reinforcements didn't arrive, their fate would probably be the same as the Honey Badger Kingdom, disappearing into these rolling sands...

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Driven by faith and loyalty, he gritted his teeth, hastily bandaged the gunshot wound on his leg, flipped his backpack on his shoulder, and continued limping north.

Time passed quietly.

The morning sun rose again over the lands.

At the junction of the southern plains of the River Valley Province and Sunset Province, a group of about 30 people was slowly moving toward Clearspring City.

20 soldiers riding camels escorted five camel-drawn wagons.

Those held their ammunition and supplies, as well as a person of special status.

Riding a camel next to the middle wagon, the middle-aged man wearing a turban raised his binoculars, looking towards the east.

Seeing the lush trees and boundless mountains in the distance, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

Slowing down, he approached the wagon, leaning close to the window and softly speaking, "Your Highness, the New Alliance's territory is just ahead."

The person in the wagon seemed lost in thought, and after a moment, a very soft response came. "

Mm

, tell everyone to hurry up."

"Yes." The guard respectfully responded, kicked the camel, and sped to the front of the group.

"The River Valley Province is ahead! We're only the last 100 kilometers away from Clearspring City, everyone, speed up!"

The group picked up the pace, moving towards the plains on the south side of the mountains, and soon, a settlement under construction came into view.

Container boxes were laid out on the open ground.

Shirtless people were busily moving supplies from the boxes to a nearby construction site.

The man riding the camel frowned and sped up, leaving the group to walk over to those people.

Noticing the man on the camel, many stopped their work and curiously sized him up.

Directing the reconstruction at the construction site, the camp's leader, Ma Ban, saw the situation and immediately frowned, calling over a construction worker. "What's going on over there?"

"A caravan came from the desert... Well, at least they seem like a caravan. They stopped on the west side, and we’re not sure what they want. Maybe they plan to do business with us?"

Intuition told Ma Ban that things might not be that simple.

After thinking for a moment, he remembered the woman the administrator had entrusted to him, so he instructed, "Call Teresa over."

"Yes!" The construction worker nodded and immediately ran towards the back of the camp.

Before long, Teresa, who had left her post, followed the construction worker over.

At this moment, Teresa was dressed in dirt-resistant jeans and a beige T-shirt, her head covered with a simple sun hat.

It was true. The environment and work they did had a big impact on a person.

In just two weeks, there was not a trace of royal dignity about her. Aside from her appearance and physique, she was no different from the other workers at the camp.

Ma Ban didn't know her specific identity, nor had he asked the administrator in detail, but spoke in a businesslike tone, "People have come. We're not sure of their identity, perhaps you can offer us some advice."

Teresa nodded seriously. "No problem, leave it to me."

Without any nonsense, Ma Ban gestured, leading her towards the west side of the camp.

After walking over, Ma Ban glanced at the group, and shouted at the man in the lead, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The man on the camel was about to answer, but the next second, his gaze suddenly fell on the face of the woman next to Ma Ban. His pupils contracted as he emitted a murderous intent.

He recognized her!

Even if burned to ash, he would recognize it!

"Teresa..."

Hatred for the Falcon Kingdom made his eyes blood-red. He no longer had time to think about why he saw this face here.

Squeezing out the name through his teeth, the man unhesitatingly raised his gun and screamed, "The queen of the Falcon Kingdom! The people of the Falcon Kingdom are here!"

The situation escalated suddenly. Although unclear about his intentions, seeing him pull out a gun, the soldiers of the New Alliance also raised their weapons.

In an instant, the situation turned tense.