58: Unexpected Ambush

Valentine heard the squad leader’s tease and stammered out a response, somewhat flustered:

“Oh, Brother Glenn, don’t tease me.”

“Isn’t it because I’m worried about you charging ahead by yourself being too dangerous?”

“With the two of us by your side, we can share some of the firepower for you later.”

Glenn chuckled, his voice filled with slight relief as he sighed:

“Your intention is enough for me.”

“Later, let this old guy go first.”

Valentine gave a silly grin and stopped talking.

Subsequently, the internal communication channel of the First Assault Squad fell silent again.

Fang Yun drove behind and to the left of the squad leader, his heart calm.

Although the competition with Valentine had already begun, Fang Yun had never doubted whether he could achieve the final victory in the bet.

As long as Fang Yun wanted to, there were countless ways for him to win.

For example, Fang Yun could activate “Void Walker” and kill most of the Nightwalkers, then leave one to deal with using a pistol to achieve victory.

As for the restriction “unless necessary, do not use bionic limbs,” he would just use “for the safety of the Buckle Family members, I decided to kill them all” as an excuse (dog head).

Just as Fang Yun was driving and his mind was wandering, suddenly, “Eagle Vision Wolf Gaze” (bionic eye) activated.

Immediately after, “Krennikov” automatically triggered.

In Fang Yun’s vision, the entire world suddenly slowed down.

“Eagle Vision Wolf Gaze” automatically marked the dangerous factors on the road ahead.

Fang Yun looked ahead and saw that about five hundred meters in front of “thunder”, there were dense red dots marked by “Eagle Vision Wolf Gaze”.

At the same time, the System’s notification sound suddenly echoed in Fang Yun’s consciousness.

“Ding! Sufficient elements detected. <Combat Mission: Beginning of the Trial of Blood and Fire · First Ring (Unexpected Ambush)> has been triggered.”

【Mission Type】: Combat Mission

【Mission Name】: Beginning of the Trial of Blood and Fire · First Ring (Unexpected Ambush)

【Mission Requirement】: Destroy the landmine trap set by the “Black Hand” settlement near the valley entrance.

【Mission Restriction · Time】: 3 minutes remaining

【Mission Restriction · Location】: Near the entrance of Aureole Valley

【Mission Restriction · Other】: None

【Mission Reward】: 200 System points

【Mission Penalty】: First Combat Squad is almost completely wiped out, Buckle Family suffers heavy losses.

When Fang Yun saw a patch of red dots suddenly appear in his line of sight, he had already sensed that something was wrong.

The mission issued by the System further prompted Fang Yun to take immediate action.

Fang Yun opened the internal communication channels of the First Assault Squad and the Buckle Family vehicle convoy, and simultaneously shouted in both channels, issuing a warning to others:

“Stop quickly!”

“There’s a landmine trap ahead!”

All members of the Buckle Family were startled by the warning Fang Yun issued.

Valentine was the first to react.

After hearing Fang Yun’s warning, two thoughts flashed through Valentine’s mind:

『Landmine trap? Really?』

『Given Fang Yun’s personality and strength, he shouldn’t be lying.』

Thinking this, Valentine quickly stepped on the brakes, and like Fang Yun, he also shouted loudly in both communication channels:

“Brake quickly! There’s a landmine trap ahead!”

The vehicles following Valentine, although they hadn’t figured out what was happening yet, were forced to step on the brakes due to his sudden deceleration and could only follow him in slowing down.

Just as the Buckle Family members were hesitating whether to listen to Fang Yun and Valentine’s warning and stop, Karl’s voice sounded in the internal communication channel.

Karl issued a command in a steady voice:

“All personnel, stop.”

Hearing the command, the Buckle Family members no longer hesitated and immediately stepped on the brakes.

In less than a minute, the Buckle Family convoy had all stopped in unison.

After all the vehicles had come to a complete stop, Karl then opened a separate chat window in the internal communication channel and asked Fang Yun:

“Fang Yun, how did you discover there’s a landmine trap ahead?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you. If I didn’t believe you, I wouldn’t have had the family members stop.”

“It’s just that we are very close to the entrance of Aureole Valley now, and if we delay, it might allow the ‘Black Hand’ settlement people to prepare.”

Hearing Karl’s question, Fang Yun replied with a confident tone:

“I definitely wouldn’t issue a warning without evidence, and I definitely wouldn’t cause everyone to miss the opportunity for nothing.”

“In fact, I installed a pair of very powerful bionic eyes.”

“Just now, the automatic warning function of the bionic eyes suddenly activated, marking a large number of landmine markers in the sand hundreds of meters ahead.”

“I trust my own bionic eyes.”

Karl was silent for a few seconds after hearing Fang Yun’s words.

『Although the possibility that Fang Yun is a mole sent by the “Black Hand” settlement cannot be ruled out, based on my observations, this possibility is very small.』

『Moreover, there are Toke and Valentine vouching for Fang Yun.』

『...Fang Yun’s words should be credible.』

『Why would the “Black Hand” settlement people set up a landmine trap so far from the valley entrance?』

『The information the middleman sold me didn’t mention landmine traps. That is to say, the landmine trap was set up by the “Black Hand” settlement people in the last few days.』

『Could it be...』

『No, it’s unlikely.』

『...』

『Forget it, let’s deal with the current problem first.』

Karl’s brain worked rapidly, and many thoughts popped up in just a few seconds.

After a brief silence, Karl made a decision, closed the separate chat window with Fang Yun, and said to all the Buckle Family members in the internal communication channel:

“Family members, I am certain that Fang Yun’s warning just now is true.”

“Now we have to face a problem, which is how to find a safe path through the landmine trap ahead.”

As soon as Karl finished speaking, the communication channel immediately exploded.

The Buckle Family members spoke in a jumble in the communication channel, expressing their thoughts:

“Ah? How is this possible?”

“The ‘Black Hand’ settlement people are really cunning, setting up a landmine trap near their stronghold entrance.”

“Aren’t the ‘Black Hand’ settlement people afraid that these landmines will blow up their own people?”

“Where did they get so many landmines?”

“Could it be that the ‘Black Hand’ settlement people knew we were coming to attack them today?”

“...”

Just as the Buckle Family members were discussing in confusion, Fang Yun’s voice caused the communication channel to instantly fall silent.

“Uh. It shouldn’t be that troublesome. I can use my Hacker ability to turn off all those landmines.”

“That way, we can get through.”