NOVPUBThe originally planned 21-hour journey was shortened to 14 hours by Chen Fei, who drove nonstop.
Apart from the occasional bird falling from the sky, hitting the car window in a bloody mess and startling everyone, no other incidents occurred.
On the grasslands, indeed, no animal could catch up with the Mobile Base Vehicle moving at full speed, and even if they could, they couldn’t keep up for long.
The Mobile Base Vehicle left the grasslands, passed through forests and canyons, and entered a dry and desolate area, where a clearly visible road soon appeared ahead.
It was more of a trace of where wheels had compressed the ground rather than a road; judging by the distance between the left and right wheel tracks, it was likely similar to that of Chen Fei’s Mobile Base Vehicle.
Adam: "Unknown mechanical body detected straight ahead, number 2, distance 5 kilometers, speed 0."
"Unknown mechanical body?"
Chen Fei muttered to himself and then gave an order.
"Load the railgun, prepare to fire."
The railgun on top of the Mobile Base Vehicle extended out, aimed straight ahead, and was ready to fire.
At that moment, Chen Fei’s phone rang, the caller ID still showing the mysterious number "000000."
After picking it up casually, a stern voice came through.
"Disarm immediately, disarm right now!"
"An unknown mechanical body detected ahead, are you confirming it’s friendly?"
Chen Fei slowed down the vehicle, the railgun on top was to guard against those two unknown mechanical bodies.
The Mobile Base Vehicle was not part of any battlefield data link nor did it have a friend-or-foe identification system; Team 04 had been independent from the start, hence there was no need for allies.
The two unknown mechanical bodies had entered his field of vision; they were two "large spiders" with eight legs each, their backs carrying railguns and large-caliber machine guns. If remote-controlled, they would be remote-controlled combat robots; if operated by AI, then they would be bionic combat machines; if manned, then multi-legged step-in combat mobility armor.
Same appearance, different control methods, slightly different terms used, and some differences in tactics.
"Confirmed as friendly, those are automated combat machines, disarm immediately!"
The voice on the phone confirmed the identity of the mechanical spiders, not hostile targets.
"’Adam,’ disengage the firing mode and retract the railgun."
As Chen Fei spoke, the railgun aiming at the two automated combat spiders retracted back onto the roof of the vehicle.
Since they were automated combat machines, they likely had some level of friend-or-foe recognition intelligence. If the guns remained aimed, it might trigger a preemptive counterattack; no wonder the voice on the phone was so urgent, nearly leading to a firefight.
Railgun against railgun, without a high-intensity protective barrier or magic shield, everyone was at risk, potentially not even needing a second shot.
"Follow the tracks; a vehicle will come to guide you, end of communication."
The phone call was disconnected.
The railgun muzzles carried by the two octoped mechanical spider combat robots in front of the Mobile Base Vehicle slowly turned away, clearly remaining on alert.
Just then, a cloud of dust approached rapidly from a distance.
Chen Fei soon made out a motorbike with a semi-closed body and a roof, kicking up a cloud of dust as it sped along.
The high-speed bike carved a large arc from the side as it approached the Mobile Base Vehicle, signaled with a hand gesture to Chen Fei at the driver’s seat to follow, then accelerated, leading the way about a hundred meters ahead, maintaining this distance between them.
The other party must be the guide vehicle and personnel mentioned in the phone call.
Without a proper road, the tracks on the desolate Gobi turned exceedingly tangled and chaotic; following them to find the place would likely lead far astray. Explore stories on freewebnovel
Following the motorbike, the scenery around was consistently desolate with no sign of human habitation, not even a hint of green to be seen.
The local great desert had disappeared; with the help of ability users, transforming the Gobi into a greenland was not difficult. This desert was likely preserved deliberately, offering unobstructed views and occasionally sight of pairs of octoped mechanical spider combat robots. Unauthorized individuals probably couldn’t leave from inside, nor could anyone enter from outside.
An hour later.
Guided by the motorbike, Chen Fei inside the Mobile Base Vehicle saw a large cluster of snow-white buildings and vast, unending stretches of green with towering trees that were even taller than the buildings; the wilderness also showed some patches of greenery occasionally.
The motorbike rider pointed toward the cluster of buildings.
A slowly flowing river crossed a steel-framed bridge with five pairs of piers firmly rooted in the water, wide enough to allow four Mobile Base Vehicles to pass side by side.
Following the motorbike across the bridge, they finally encountered a proper asphalt road, four lanes bi-directional with dedicated bicycle and pedestrian paths, seemingly entering a world of human civilization abruptly.
Lights flickered in the sky from time to time, with a huge bowl-shaped barrier upside down covering the cluster of buildings on the ground, the edge of the barrier extending over the riverbank, possibly making the bridge crossing the thirty-meter-wide river one of the crucial passageways in and out of the barrier.
Drones flew low overhead occasionally, seemingly observing the Mobile Base Vehicle that had come from afar.
Inside the barrier’s coverage, the ground was no longer the yellowish saline-alkali land with white alkali marks but fertile black earth covered with lush vegetation.
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
The roof of the mobile base vehicle echoed with dull thuds.
Fifteen soldiers, clad in single soldier tactical armor with the blue glow of magnetic plasma engines flickering behind them, parachuted onto the roof.
Through the feed from the optical cameras, Chen Fei could make out that they were wearing Henghai Tactical Weapons Group’s top-of-the-line "Dragon King" assault heavy armor, a standard tactical infantry squad reinforcement for the escort team.
A Crystal Jet silently arrived above and behind the mobile base vehicle, matching its speed.
The escort had been upgraded by more than one grade.
This time, even if the target in the cage caused trouble, it would hardly be able to do anything significant; letting it run would not allow it to escape three steps.
The motorcycle continued to lead the way at the front.
Whether it was deliberately cleared or always like this, there were not many vehicles on the road, and even pedestrians were rarely seen, with the occasional light rail train swiftly passing overhead on elevated tracks.
The destination was a yard, where at least dozens of humanoid combat mechs stood ready, while there were not many humans, likely for fear of being invaded by psychic powers and controlled to perform various dangerous acts like the crazed animals encountered along the way.
The motorcycle stopped, and the rider dismounted, raising his hand high towards Chen Fei, signaling that they had finally arrived.
"We’ve arrived!"
At this moment, the officer who had been anxious throughout the journey finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The journey had been fraught with dangers, especially the moment the ground-effect vehicle fell, almost convincing him that he was about to die.
Fortunately, the pilot of the ground-effect vehicle had put forth his utmost effort, barely ensuring a safe landing for everyone, but the vehicle was broken into pieces, and even the pilot was injured, quickly taken away by a nearby aircraft; the officer’s squad remained on the ground, continuing to guard and wait for other transportation for the mission target.
After the mobile base vehicle came to a stop, the cage that imprisoned the mission target and the chair, as well as the floor fixing six magic instrument short columns, were all released; the doors swung wide open.
The officer was the first to jump out of the vehicle, saluting the approaching liaison officer.
"’Dark Night’ special service squad, Squad C of the first company, squad leader Yuan Zheng, leading the escort, has arrived, the detainee is intact, please verify!"
"’Fire Owl’ special battle group, Major Li Xinliang taking over!"
The officer in charge of the handover returned the salute.
Both sides coincidentally ignored the S-class psychic ability user, Mr. Ye, and Chen Xiao’er, who had been called halfway to help in an emergency.
After all, this was a secret escort mission; once they arrived, there was no further need for those two, as the rest was the receiver’s job.
The mission target, who had been without food, drink, sleep, and silent, was taken off the vehicle to begin identity verification; the magical bell was still clasped over Chen Fei’s headphones, continuing the brainwashing Divine Song.
"Does this song really work?"
Major Li Xinliang, who was verifying the identity of the mission target, was the first to react.
He was not a rigid person and realized that the escort team had purposefully added an extra pair of headphones, most likely for a reason.
A black cat or a white cat, as long as it can catch mice, it’s a good cat.
As long as it could suppress this troublesome spirit, any method was acceptable.
"It should, it should..."
Officer Yuan Zheng turned and looked towards the S-class psychic ability user who had already come outside the vehicle.
"He can’t shut off his senses, so there should be some effect."
Mr. Ye had to admit that Chen Fei’s accidental correctness, although he couldn’t prove whether there was an effect, everything had been much calmer after the headphones were put on along the journey, probably too brainwashed to cause trouble.
"Whose headphones, I’ll borrow them for a while."
Major Li looked towards Yuan Zheng and others, and then at Mr. Ye, his gaze finally settling on Chen Fei, who was still holding his phone.
"Mine, should I send you the playlist?"
Chen Fei didn’t plan to hand over his phone; what if someone needed to contact him without it?
"That works!"
Major Li Xinliang took out his phone and immediately photographed the playlist from Chen Fei’s phone.
To be precise, Major Li’s phone was a military phone with default communication modes and frequencies incompatible with civilian networks, utilizing a military communication network with enhanced encryption functions, though its other functions weren’t much different from civilian phones.
Chen Fei unbound the headphones and transferred the wireless control of the headphones to Major Li’s military phone.
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