CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 42: FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES

The supervisor wanted to analyze the other’s psychology through observation.

However, he ultimately failed to achieve his goal. Qu Jianlei had long been used to drooping his eyelids.

This was a habit he developed while on Blue Star, due to his occasional bouts of illness.

In fact, he wasn’t surprised by the situation the other person described; it was nothing more than identity deception.

On Blue Star, such tactics had long been played out in various ways.

So he calmly asked, "I suppose it’s inconvenient to provide us information on these people?"

The supervisor answered without hesitation, "We haven’t even tried to inquire because... we’re in high-end business."

A very clear disassociation, while not forgetting to boast about themselves.

"I understand," Qu Jianlei did not comment, "We’ll come again tomorrow morning."

The supervisor looked at the food box in his hand and asked again, "Really not eating anything?"

"No need," Qu Jianlei waved his hand and walked out, with Xiao Jing following closely behind.

That night, the two spent the night at the entrance of the Energy Block Store, buying food from a street-side restaurant.

There were night patrols in the affluent area, but the Energy Block Store had its own guards.

The patrol wanted to check their identities, but Qu Jianlei responded coldly.

"No one’s driving us away as we sit here. Do you have anything else to ask?"

It must be admitted, privileges exist everywhere. The patrol was used to rich people and naturally didn’t want to provoke these two mysterious guests.

The night passed without words, and the next morning, the supervisor returned, having truly settled things this time.

Regarding the crystals, his offer was ten kilograms of gold for B-level, fifty kilograms for A-level.

He finalized a total of six crystals: five B-level and one A-level.

According to this price, just the crystals nearly exhausted the gold supply.

Qu Jianlei, of course, could not agree and straightforwardly stated, "Fifty percent off; suitable for trading, otherwise forget it."

The supervisor naturally wouldn’t let him bargain so much; after some negotiation, they settled on sixty percent off.

Qu Jianlei usually disliked bargaining, but the amount was too large this time, making it necessary to be serious.

The supervisor also found himself parched, having never dealt with such a tough negotiator.

However, it became much easier to talk next—one kilogram of gold exchanged for one thousand silver coins.

That is, one gram of gold for one silver coin, one silver coin buys one Energy Block.

One kilogram of gold could buy a thousand Energy Blocks, and at seventy percent, it would be 0.7 kilograms of gold.

However, the Energy Block Store sold large Energy Blocks, which could be cut into one hundred small blocks.

They referred to these small blocks as "li blocks," ten "li blocks" counted as one "fen block."

Qu Jianlei simply exchanged two kilograms of gold for thirty large Energy Blocks.

He then used eight kilograms of gold to exchange for eight thousand silver coins, leaving himself with thirty kilograms of gold.

However, eight thousand silver coins were a bit too much, so he exchanged them for the Energy Block Store’s silver card.

The silver card was similar to a silver note, a small plastic card with anti-counterfeit features, available in denominations of a hundred and a thousand.

Remarkably, this silver note was accepted not only within the Hongwu Settlement but also in other Energy Block Stores.

Though an internal token, it had better circulation than the privately minted silver coins of various settlements.

In fact, eight thousand silver coins were enough to buy a decent armored vehicle.

After obtaining the silver card, Qu Jianlei went on a shopping spree in various markets.

The settlement only had tens of thousands of people, so suddenly having such a big spender naturally attracted much attention.

Fortunately, he was escorted by guards transporting Energy Blocks, making others think twice before contemplating anything.

His shopping speed was very fast, as he had already calculated everything in advance.

In less than an hour, he completed a large purchase, spending more than six thousand silver coins.

Besides food, water, fuel, and ammunition, he also purchased a generator, winch, water purification system, amongst other items.

There were even some books, and an electromagnetic cannon.

After completing the purchases, he hired people to transport the goods to the off-road light truck, securely tying them down.

The guard who had previously eyed the silver token was dumbfounded at the sight, "How much money do these two have?"

Under the watchful eyes of many, Qu Jianlei drove the fully-loaded light truck out of the Hongwu Settlement.

As soon as he left, he floored the accelerator, speeding away.

At least four forces had already set their sights on him. When they saw the light truck leaving swiftly, they immediately pursued relentlessly.

There were even vehicles setting up roadblocks ahead.

Qu Jianlei channeled his Inner Breath to his eyes, and today’s visibility was about three kilometers.

This gave him an advantage; his eyesight was better than others using telescopes since eyeballs are more flexible than focusing lenses.

With this advantage, he weaved left and right, running over thirty kilometers to forcibly break out of the encirclement.

Bullets kept landing around the truck, clearly intending to force him to stop, but Qu Jianlei paid no heed.

His truck was loaded with ammunition, fuel, and Energy Blocks. If the opposite side really aimed to shoot him, it could cause a deadly explosion.

Of course, he also had to be careful, in case there was a madman who didn’t care about capturing and just wanted to attack.

Just after bursting through the encirclement, he spoke in a deep voice, "Xiaojing, raise the protective shield!"

The recent modification of the off-road light truck wasn’t just talk; he had equipped the light truck with a grid alloy protective shield.

The shield’s defense couldn’t match that of an armored vehicle—primarily because an armored vehicle is integrated, while the shield is just an added component.

However, its ability to shield vital parts was not inferior to an armored vehicle. If one piece wasn’t enough, more could be added.

But ultimately, it was a hastily made modified product, lacking even a transmission device and could only be manually raised.

Xiaojing, in this thirty-kilometer desperate escape, was jolted until he was dizzy and disoriented, and his face was ghostly pale.

But indeed, being a child from the wasteland, he didn’t throw up after all.

Upon hearing Black Heaven brother’s words, he began to unbuckle his seatbelt, "Brother, remember to drive on a flat area."

In the tension of the moment, Qu Jianlei impatiently replied, "Do you even need to say that?"

Xiaojing, with a belt tied around his waist, slowly climbed towards the truck bed.

This was a grueling process, but fortunately, he was young and light, and after five minutes, the shield at the rear of the truck was raised.

When Qu Jianlei modified the vehicle, he only installed a protective shield at the rear.

Firstly, for easy escape, and secondly, adding too many shields would increase the load, even though he chose a very lightweight alloy plate.

Ultimately, it was still an issue of poverty; there were lighter and tougher shields available, but he couldn’t afford them, could he?

After the shield was raised, Xiaojing started crawling back to the front, this time against the wind, which was even more difficult.

After about ten minutes, he finally climbed back into the driver’s cab, "I need a nutrient injection and some water."

Qu Jianlei, while keeping his eyes on the road ahead, stuffed a nutrient injection into his mouth, nodding as he spoke, "Good job!"

The next moment, a series of dull sounds came from behind the vehicle, indicating that the pursuing vehicles were frustrated and started firing a machine gun.

In another vehicle, someone shouted through a car-mounted intercom, "Which turtle-born madman went bonkers?"

"It’s the crazy man’s team," another intercom chimed in, "That guy’s mentally unstable."

"Plug into his frequency!" The one who cursed adjusted the frequency.

"Are you crazy or what? Everyone worked hard; we’re not here to watch everything blow up!"

A flamboyant voice came through, "What the hell do you know? That guy might have a mutated beast crystal on him!"

It wasn’t really a surprise that this news got out; Qu Jianlei had just acquired six mutated beast crystals.

How many people are there in the entire Hongwu Settlement? Those who can hold onto crystals aren’t ordinary people.

These people all knew each other; it was normal for outsiders wanting to purchase crystals to inquire among each other.

In fact, those who were offered but didn’t sell their crystals were also concerned about the buyer’s actions.

As for who the buyer was, there was absolutely no need to ask.

Even if Qu Jianlei wasn’t making large-scale purchases, just seeing him being constantly guarded by people from the energy block store would make it clear.

The crazy man’s attitude was very clear: if they couldn’t keep the other party’s goods, they’d rather blow it up.

Mutated beast crystals, although rich in energy, remain relatively stable and might still be intact.

"Of course, I know," the person on this side cursed back, as if they were not informed.

"You see the mutated beast crystals, I see why that guy bought so many crystals!"

There are many uses for mutated beast crystals, but someone buying in such large quantities may have found a new use for them.

However, upon hearing this, the crazy man snickered darkly, "Are you sure you can get them to talk?"

The other side leisurely replied, "How will we know unless we try?"

"I don’t care about that," the crazy man resolutely refused, "Blow him up, better than letting him escape."

"Too bad we left in a hurry and didn’t bring the machine cannon!"

"What’s in your head?" The person on this side was a little exasperated, "It’s just one person, just stay on him!"

On the other side, the two were one big and one small, with the smaller one not even reaching the gas pedal, leaving the bigger one to drive continuously.

However, the pursuing vehicles had more than one person each; it all depended on how long they could endure and how far the other side could run.

"Aren’t you tired!" the crazy man muttered, but didn’t argue further.

He acted impulsively, favoring emotion over reason; the wasteland never lacked people like him, but he also accepted reasonable suggestions.

Qu Jianlei didn’t know that the pursuers’ mentality had changed, he was still driving the light truck at full speed.

He was surprised that although they sporadically opened fire from behind, it turned out... they were conserving ammunition?

This point confused him a bit; in his memory, almost every survivor in the wasteland was ruthless.

Things they couldn’t get themselves, even if destroyed, would not be given cheaply to others.

Moreover, he still had thirty kilograms of gold, which could not be blown up no matter what.

What Qu Jianlei didn’t realize was that the supervisor indeed kept the gold information confidential.

It didn’t matter if other things leaked out, but the seventy kilograms of gold in the bag couldn’t be known by others.

Qu Jianlei couldn’t figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it, focusing instead on their desperate flight.

He had acquired quite a lot of supplies this time, which made the load on the vehicle heavy but still within its capacity.

The fuel consumption would undoubtedly be slightly greater, but the speed wasn’t much slower than others.

However, the gap was closing bit by bit, which was an undeniable fact.

(Updated to this point, seeking support during the new book phase.)