Xiao Han followed the tracks. As far as he could see, there was nothing but endless yellow sand. The tyre tracks left by Luo Qing and her fleeing group stood out like creases on a folded piece of paper.
The coordinate radar showed his current position, so he would not get lost. They were heading towards the outer edge of the Somar Desert. The weather forecast indicated that a sandstorm had passed through this area some time ago.
The monotonous desert landscape was giving Xiao Han visual fatigue. After more than half an hour of pursuit, a moving off-road vehicle appeared in the distance. His spirits lifted. "Finally caught up!"
The view worked both ways. The Rose Arms members in the vehicle also spotted Xiao Han.
"It is the Thorn!" Su Li cried out.
Luo Qing's expression tightened. She quickly scanned their surroundings. Seeing only one vehicle in pursuit, her anger surged.
"One person dares to chase us alone? Do they really think we are that easy to deal with?"
"Turn around and—"
"Boom-boom-boom—"
The Thorn opened fire with everything it had. Grenades and missiles rained down on Luo Qing.
Luo Qing ducked her head. "Ahem. Keep running for now. Wait until he runs out of ammunition!"
Sparks and explosions followed as the two vehicles chased and fled across dune after dune.
---
The ragged pilgrims trudged along the ridge of a sand dune. The elderly leader breathed in hoarse, heavy gasps. Sweat soaked through his clothes. He unhooked a water flask from his packhorse and took a shaky sip, but it did nothing to relieve his exhaustion and thirst.
The old pilgrim looked back at his group. Everyone looked listless. This small remaining handful were the last pilgrims. He remembered when he was young, tens of thousands of his fellow countrymen had set out on this journey. After years of wind and rain, only these twenty-something people remained. Some had died. Some had given up.
Sometimes, the old pilgrim could not help but doubt whether Phironia really existed. But if he gave up, that would mean denying all his years of perseverance.
The sound of engines came from afar. Xiao Han and the Rose Arms vehicles appeared on the horizon, trailing clouds of sand.
The pilgrims were not surprised. Seeing that the two vehicles firing at each other were not heading towards them, they relaxed and stood still, waiting for them to pass.
Just then, another small missile missed its target and hit a patch of sand. Suddenly, something changed.
The ground began to tremble. At the spot where the missile had struck, the sand collapsed. Quicksand poured down, revealing a dark, gaping hole. The hole grew wider and wider, as if the earth itself was opening its mouth.
The appearance of quicksand meant there was a huge cavity beneath the desert!
"What is that?!" The pilgrims stared at the hole, their mouths gradually falling open.
---
[You have discovered a hidden location [Phironia-08]. You have earned 1,000 exploration experience.]
[Hidden requirement of [Bounty Hunter (Rose Arms)] has been met.]
"Eh?" Xiao Han nearly swerved and rolled the car.
What the hell?!
Was he really this lucky by accident?
Why did his good fortune have to be wasted on something like this? Damn it!
The quicksand hole was still expanding. He remembered that a sandstorm had passed through here a few days ago. Perhaps the sand layers had shifted, and his missile had triggered a chain reaction.
He was very curious about what Phironia was, but hunting down Rose Arms was more important for now.
He marked the spot on his coordinate radar and continued driving in pursuit.
The two vehicles quickly disappeared into the distance.
The old pilgrim's hands trembled. His face was full of excitement. He called out to his stunned companions behind him.
"Th-there! That must be Phironia! Let us go there at once!"
The pilgrims grew excited, rushing eagerly towards the gradually stabilising hole in the ground.
"The treasure of Phironia... the treasure of Phironia..." the old pilgrim murmured incessantly, tears streaming down his weathered face. He felt that all those years of persistence were finally about to pay off.
---
After chasing for a few more kilometres, the Thorn ran out of ammunition. No matter how fierce its firepower, there was always a limit. Xiao Han let out a long breath. This chase, which had dragged on like a grandmother's foot-binding cloth, was finally about to end.
"Surely that bunch of women up ahead will stop now. If they still won't stop and fight me, you would be too cowardly."
"That guy has finally run out of ammunition!"
Su Li was the Thorn's creator. She noticed something was wrong with it immediately.
Luo Qing breathed a sigh of relief, then said fiercely, "Turn around!"
The two vehicles were about four hundred metres apart. Xiao Han had already stopped his car. When he saw the Rose Arms off-road vehicle turn around decisively, a smile crept onto his face. He kept firing with his sniper rifle.
At four hundred metres, he could get off about eight to ten shots.
Four armour-piercing needle rounds punched through the bulletproof glass. On the fifth shot, he aimed at the driver.
Luo Qing, in the passenger seat, suddenly raised her hand in front of the driver. The bullet seemed to hit an invisible barrier. A rippling, white, concussive light flashed in the air. The warhead was crushed by the reaction force, flattening into a metal disc that hung in mid-air.
"A force field-type superpower." Xiao Han narrowed his eyes. This would be tricky.
Although superpowers varied wildly, some people did awaken similar or even identical abilities. Force fields were a major branch. Force fields, elemental manipulation, physical enhancement, and transformation were all common types.
Force field abilities manifested as telekinesis, creating barriers from thin air, and forming invisible impacts. They were naturally somewhat counter to gunslingers.
With that in mind, Xiao Han immediately loaded a Heim Round and fired again. Luo Qing tried to block it with her force field as before. The warhead was crushed, releasing a pale green poison gas. Everyone in the vehicle was instantly poisoned. They felt dizzy, nauseous, and chest tight, with continuous damage over time.
From the combat log, Xiao Han learned that Luo Qing was level thirty, the same as him. Her force field ability had not yet developed to the point where she could manipulate gas.
The next round was a high-explosive incendiary, which ignited the interior of the cabin. However, the fire was quickly extinguished by a fire extinguisher. This was a vehicle used for escape, so it carried a fire extinguisher to prevent fires and explosions from disabling it.
Xiao Han's plan to force the enemy to abandon their vehicle failed, but he was not discouraged. He fired two more Heim Rounds. The Rose Arms off-road vehicle was now surrounded by thick green poison gas, like a plague chariot.
After these few shots, the enemy was only a hundred metres away.
Xiao Han put away his gun, floored the accelerator, and charged straight at their vehicle!
Su Li's expression changed slightly. "Get out of the way! The Thorn's armour is too thick. We cannot match it in a collision."
The driver turned the wheel, trying to pass the Thorn by. Xiao Han saw this and turned the same way, but he was a moment too late. He only clipped the rear of their vehicle. He had intended to wreck their off-road vehicle, then use the Thorn to kite them endlessly. But the Rose Arms people had reacted in time and dodged.
Only then did Luo Qing realise that the Thorn, even without ammunition, was not toothless. She suppressed her anger. "Forget it. Do not engage him."
Their vehicle turned and sped off for a few dozen metres. Luo Qing noticed that the Thorn was not chasing them. She thought Xiao Han had given up and breathed a sigh of relief, then ground her teeth.
"I will let you off for now. When reinforcements arrive, you are dead!"
The moment the thought crossed her mind, an invisible wave erupted from the Thorn, spreading outwards. Their off-road vehicle suddenly lost power, slid for a few dozen metres, and stalled where it sat. The people inside were thrown about.
In the back seat of the Thorn, Xiao Han had activated the electromagnetic pulse jammer. The Thorn itself also lost power.
Xiao Han sighed. This was his last resort to prevent the enemy from escaping. He had not wanted to use it, but seeing that Luo Qing was not brave enough to stop and fight, he reluctantly accepted mutually assured destruction. Even if he could repair the Thorn, it would take at least ten minutes.
Now it was time for man-to-man combat.
"Electromagnetic pulse! The vehicle is dead!" Luo Qing's mind went blank. After being outmanoeuvred time and again, her anger finally boiled over. She got out of the car and charged forward in long strides. Her force field pulsed at the soles of her feet, sending her metres with each step. She shot towards Xiao Han like a cannonball, the force field flickering around her.
"Do you want to die so badly?!"
Her roar reached Xiao Han's ears before she did.