Chapter 94: Passivity All the Way—How Is That Fair?

Lin Mu hurriedly opened the global convoy rankings.

First place: [China] Handsome Boy Convoy (20/50) — 6,716,511 points.

Second place: [China] Rose Convoy (27/50) — 2,114,721 points.

Third place: [Sakura] Eight-Headed Serpent Convoy (27/30) — 2,111,437 points.

[...]

Seventh place: [China] Qin People Convoy (28/30) — 1,878,851 points.

As expected.

That Eagle convoy had vanished, and he had taken eighty percent of its supplies.

Fine. He had finally found a duel target, and then he had gone and killed them off.

Then this Sakura convoy would be his next target.

Still, the convoy upgrade card was not exclusive after all; the top three all had one.

So the first-place exclusive card must be one of the other two?

If that was the case, the only possibility was the vehicle core advancement card.

Lin Mu clicked his tongue. All of the rewards were going to a convoy. What about his personal rewards?

Forget it. More was more; close enough would do.

[...]

Congratulations, you opened a silver chest and obtained 15,000 liters of gasoline, 750 mithril ingots, and 1,500 iron ingots.

Oh-ho!

One hundred and fifty times the yield!

The convoy upgrade card was incredible!

So did that mean the other two... no, wait, one of those convoys had already been wiped out by him.

Sure enough, he was right.

The Rose Convoy’s points were climbing at a terrifying rate.

Lin Mu swallowed hard.

He really wanted it.

Though resources were already useless to him, he did not mind having more.

But the Rose convoy was one of their own, at least for now.

Eight-Headed Serpent, who told you to be Sakura? If not you, then who?

"Hold off on the duel card a little longer... but what if they lose?"

It was not impossible. If they ran into the Rose team, they really might be defeated.

And then...

Though they were all Chinese convoys, resources were still better kept in his own hands.

After all, no one could guarantee that they would not become enemies in the disasters to come.

Pulling himself back to the present, Lin Mu could not help thinking about the next battle.

"I just hope the next one is a solo fight. Otherwise, I’ll honestly feel a tiny bit guilty."

After collecting another wave of resource crates, the convoy continued forward.

Lin Mu was a little uncertain about the situation now.

By past experience, the second week should be harder than the first.

But this time, the battle had started from the first week.

So the old rules were not entirely applicable.

If it was still like last week, then this disaster would be the easiest one yet.

Lin Mu propped his legs on the console and leaned back in his seat.

"001, bring me a bottle of iced soda, and wash some fruit for me while you're at it."

"Yes, Master."

Exactly noon.

"A special battle has begun. Both sides, please make your choice."

A yellow coin appeared in the air, and two options surfaced before Lin Mu, heads and tails.

What did that mean?

The option representing heads dimmed.

"Both sides have made their choice. The coin will now be flipped."

Huh?

Lin Mu stared at the vanished interface.

Wait. They had just forced a choice like that?

"Captain, there’s a golden coin in the sky."

"Did the vehicle turn just now?"

Lin Mu frowned deeply. Although he had been resting, he had still been watching the screen.

The vehicle had been going straight the whole time. It had not reached any intersection, and it had not turned at all.

Under normal circumstances, they were supposed to encounter an intersection before a battle or a resource crate would appear.

So why had the fight started while they were still in motion, without them even knowing what the other side looked like?

"The coin is heads. Please choose your battle mode."

"..."

Lin Mu’s mouth twitched. They had been passive from start to finish, and they were still being asked to choose? Was this fair?

"Please confirm!"

Confirm what?

"A team battle will begin in five minutes. This team battle will be a three-person team battle. Both captains are to select two members each to take part.

Any usable weapon may be employed in this battle. The map is an urban ruin, in a circular area with a radius of 1,000 meters.

Anyone who leaves the area will be eliminated!"

A countdown appeared in the sky.

Passive or not, as long as there was loot, that was enough.

Lin Mu picked up the walkie-talkie. "Shu Xin, come to my vehicle right away. As for the rest of you, whoever has the best solo combat ability gets a reward."

"Captain, me, me, me! I can take on four grown men alone."

"No good, Captain, choose me. I run like the wind."

"You mean run away? Captain, I’m really obedient."

"..."

Listening to the noise over the radio, Lin Mu was speechless.

He had chosen Shu Xin for her physical condition. That agility of hers would come in handy at critical moments.

Even if he did not necessarily need it, he had to have it.

"Enough, stop shouting. Zhang Qian, get over here now!"

Letting them come on their own would take forever.

Screech.

"Brother Mu, I’m here."

It was not only Shu Xin who came, but Shu Yi as well.

Shu Yi’s eyes were full of worry, but she had no way to refute Lin Mu’s words.

"Don’t worry. It’s only a three-person team battle."

Lin Mu pulled out a pile of things.

A USP pistol, an AK-47, a hand crossbow, a mithril longsword, a dagger, mithril leather armor, a bulletproof vest...

He laid out every kind of protective gear and weapon he had.

By then, Zhang Qian had also arrived.

"Perfect, you’re here too. Put on whatever you can. The other side is definitely armed too, no need to think twice about that. And take these two bulletproof helmets as well."

In short, he brought out everything that could be used to arm them.

There were still three minutes left, and everyone hurried to change into their gear.

After dressing and readying their weapons, the three of them vanished from Shu Yi’s sight.

Her eyes were filled with anxiety.

Flash!

The three appeared amid a stretch of ruins.

"This looks a lot like our Blue Star."

Shu Xin studied the wrecked buildings. The architecture really was quite similar.

Even the writing looked the same...

"Captain, do you think this could be Blue Star after we left it?"

Looking at the calendar hanging on the wall, Lin Mu shook his head.

"Probably not. It’s a calendar from the year 2402, so it definitely isn’t. Let’s find the people on the other side first. A kilometer is neither too big nor too small."

If there were not so many ruins, it would actually be pretty small.

But these ruins were all skyscrapers, each one twenty or thirty stories high. Finding someone in them would be a real headache.

"Captain, can your backpack open?"

Lin Mu tried it.

"Yes, it can."

Zhang Qian asked, "Do we have anything like bombs? If we blast the area flat, wouldn’t that solve it?"

Lin Mu raised an eyebrow.

"You little genius. Too bad we don’t have bombs."

They did have quite a few grenades, but using those to blow up buildings was not nearly enough.

"Then it looks like we can only search bit by bit."

As for shells, those could not be detonated at all.

He had tried. It simply was not possible.

"We do not necessarily have to search bit by bit."

Lin Mu took out a machine.

"An infrared detector. I believe it’ll speed up the search."

"You’re the fastest. Take this and look for them."

He tossed it to Shu Xin.

She was quick and nimble, and she could run fast too, making her the perfect fit for the task.