CHAPTER 641: CHAPTER 313: TOLL FEE

Bam!

The steel cage was opened, and dozens of survivors captured by Brother J regained their freedom. Half of them were members of the looted bus convoy, and most of the capable fighters in the team had been captured.

Of course.

If they were women, even if they had fighting capacity, they were still ’played’ by this group first.

"Daddy!"

The girl from the bus rushed down to the middle-aged man whose shoulder was injured.

"Thank you!" The middle-aged man, pale-faced, seemed to have just snapped back a bit from despair.

Out of sympathy, Lin Xian ordered Shu Qin to return their vehicles and the looted goods to this convoy; other train groups also gave them some supplies, as a form of mutual aid in the apocalyptic journey.

The remaining people were survivors from other convoys, and judging by their state, they’d been locked up in this iron cage car for at least two or three days. Now released, each person was visibly excited. Those wearing helmets and shackles were some superpower users; Lin Xian discussed with other teams, and some joined the small teams of the United Train, while others joined the bus convoy; otherwise, they would be left dead in the wilderness.

However, their combat abilities were not weak, and Ocean was eager to recruit them.

Lin Xian picked up one of the shackles and discovered it contained a remote-controlled high-voltage electric discharge device, specifically designed to limit some low-level superpower users. Moreover, the Red Vulture Group, a convoy of forty-plus people, surprisingly had two vehicle-mounted Arc Pulse Cannons and 20 standard rocket launchers, alongside various explosives, ammunition, and even self-destructing drones, completely unlike amateurs, which made Lin Xian and others perceive something unusual.

At the same time, the United Train Team obtained a lot of useful information from the group of captives.

Most importantly, information about the Desert Iron Alliance mentioned by Brother J, which reportedly became notorious for its violent raids within the Western Desert and the Tage Desert’s range over the past month or so. Despite continuous sieges from major Survivor Alliances and Phoenix Society’s interstellar army stationed at places like Jin River, this force not only managed to evade eradication but also grew stronger.

Using a mad dog alliance mode that provokes attacks, fleeing survivors avoided them as much as possible. The Iron Alliance would raid and kidnap weaker groups and escape using the vast, uninhabited terrain of the Gobi Desert when meeting larger convoys, then organize more mad dog convoys to counterattack.

Unless faced by very large alliance convoys, even several hundred-strong convoys couldn’t deal with this group. Major alliance convoys preferred to pay ’passage fees’ to avoid trouble, but this didn’t ensure peace. A bribe might ensure safe passage from one sand bandit team, but there’s no guarantee another won’t attack by nightfall; in this apocalypse, raiders won’t abide by any rules.

Ultimately, survivors aimed for escape, while this sand bandit bunch was purely extreme apocalypse marauders, setting up hidden outposts in the desert, reveling wildly in the apocalypse.

"You... Are you going to pass through Akse next?"

As the United Train Team was tidying up and preparing to depart, the sunburnt youth spoke up.

"Yes, do you know anything?" Shi Deyuan replied directly.

The youth hastily said, "I know something, I’m not sure if it’ll be useful. There’s a large convoy stationed in Akse, and their leader openly claims that he knows a secret route to bypass all sand bandits and reach Quan City, offering to sell this secret at the price of one Level 1 Blood Essence for every five people."

"What?" Everyone exclaimed.

"One Blood Essence for five people?"

"Does anyone believe this? It’s a scam, right."

"Openly claims?" Shi Deyuan laughed mockingly, cursing, "What idiot came up with this? Are sand bandits deaf or blind to this open information? Why would they allow people through?"

Lin Xian sensed something unusual and asked the youth, "You mean, you were attacked because you didn’t pay this passage fee?"

The youth nodded quickly, explaining, "At first, none of us believed it, but people from that convoy said they negotiated with the sand bandits, and most of this Blood Essence was meant to be handed over to the Iron Alliance, so essentially, it’s just a passage fee."

"Now I understand." Qian Deli stared at him and said, "So, basically, those guys are in cahoots with the sand bandits."

"Why don’t the sand bandits just rob everything outright and be done with it, instead of complicating things?"

"That’s why it must be a scam..."

The youth shook his head, looking distressed, "I can’t say for certain. But I know that large convoy has been stationed in Akse for two weeks, untouched by sand bandit attacks. Plus, due to the Dark Mark issue, they don’t allow other convoys to stay overnight at Akse. Many convoys hesitate to venture deep into the desert fearing sand bandits and are also concerned about nighttime zombies and Abnormal Bodies, so they chose to station around Akse, grouping together for safety. But at night there are many zombies and Abnormal Bodies, making them difficult to resist; either they pay the passage fee or take a detour. Our convoy detoured, and ended up..."