63: Chapter 63 The Human Alliance's Deal

Captain Ma Shangwu quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

He also knew in his heart that his three strange objects were superior in grade, but their downside was that they were rather useless.

They ranked high but performed terribly in actual combat; in terms of cost-effectiveness, they might not even compare to the practical strange objects from yesterday.

Ninety crystals, although not reaching his expectations, was already an incredibly generous offer.

If it were any other convoy, they would never get this kind of treatment.

Captain Ma Shangwu nodded decisively. "Fine! Ninety crystals it is!"

"Shall we trade on the spot right now, goods for goods, or wait for Captain Liu to return before making the exchange?"

"No need to wait for her, I can get the goods right now."

After saying this, he turned and walked toward his exclusive vehicle, casually opening the storage compartment.

He effortlessly took out exactly ninety cold, dark wraith cold crystals and stacked them neatly.

His movements were incredibly casual, as if this strategic divine material that various convoys fought desperately for...

...was nothing more than worthless gravel in his hands.

Captain Ma Shangwu stood there, his pupils shrinking slightly, inwardly shocked.

He had originally thought that the trading authority and inventory control of the wraith cold crystals were entirely in Captain Liu Ruyan's hands.

He didn't expect Zhou Che to be able to pull out such a large batch of goods so casually, without even needing to ask anyone.

Doubts aside, the benefits in hand were absolutely worth it.

Captain Ma Shangwu immediately handed all three strange objects over to Zhou Che and carefully put away the ninety wraith cold crystals.

He did not linger, turning to quickly leave the camp and rush back to the Human Alliance station.

Trading with this top-tier power was indeed quick and straightforward.

Of course, it could also be that they were simply fabulously wealthy.

Zhou Che put away the three new strange objects. Just as he placed them in his vehicle's storage compartment, Wang Laowu and the other two, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately stepped forward quickly.

The three of them looked solemn and extremely serious, without the slightest hint of ease.

"Mr. Zhou, something has happened!"

Then, the three of them spoke one after another, chiming in.

They reported every single detail without missing a word: Li Yiming going out to trade for supplies and failing to return for a long time, Brother Kun of the Trainee Convoy lying, and them seeing the exclusive fish bag with their own eyes.

After hearing the whole story, the smile on Zhou Che's face slowly faded, and a cold, fierce aura flashed in his eyes.

He was truly enraged.

The Mountain City Convoy Circle was clearly a stable area where various major forces coexisted, and all convoys acted according to the rules.

Yet someone actually dared to lay hands on a Transcendent of the Dawn Convoy in broad daylight!

This was no longer a simple case of dog-eat-dog robbery; it was a blatant provocation.

They simply didn't respect him, Zhou Che, or the Dawn Convoy at all!

With a thought, Zhou Che immediately opened his system's exclusive panel.

His gaze locked onto the number of people assigned to the Guardian Sequence.

[Guardian Sequence: Number of Assigned Persons: 0]

It had returned to zero!

Completely zeroed out!

This meant that Li Yiming was one hundred percent dead!

When a Sequence binder dies, the system instantly reclaims the Sequence authority—there was absolutely no mistake!

The moment this fact was confirmed, the doubts in Zhou Che's heart grew even heavier.

He rubbed his chin with his fingertips, calmly reviewing the situation, and the more he thought about it, the more off it seemed.

He had dealt with Brother Kun, the captain of the Trainee Convoy, before.

The man was tactful and sensible, knew the rules, understood when to advance or retreat, and had high emotional intelligence.

If this were before the apocalypse, he would have been a national idol at the very least.

Shouldn't make such a foolish mistake of losing the greater picture for a small gain.

To kill a Transcendent over a bag of lousy fish meat, risking offending the Dawn Convoy and triggering a war between the two convoys?

It was completely unreasonable, pure idiocy!

An old hand like Brother Kun would absolutely never do such a losing business.

Then the problem lay in the shadows.

Either the Transcendents under him were privately arrogant and conceited, relying on their faction's protection to rob and silence someone on their own;

Or, from beginning to end, this matter had nothing to do with a human robbery, and there was another hidden truth!

Zhou Che suppressed the doubts in his heart and systematically issued orders.

"Don't jump to conclusions on this matter yet. We won't wrong an innocent person, but we will never let a bad one go."

"Once Captain Liu Ruyan, Lin Wan, and the other two return from exploring the Main City, I will send them to the Trainee Convoy to conduct a thorough investigation."

"Find the survivor holding the fish bag, confront them face-to-face, and ask for every detail clearly."

"I've interacted with Brother Kun, and he's a decent person. He's highly unlikely to be the mastermind, but it's hard to say what kind of morals his subordinates have."

Then he looked at the three of them and commanded in a deep voice:

"Go right now and count the entire convoy's headcount, checking it carefully."

"From the time we settled in the Mountain City Convoy Circle until now, take inventory of all personnel who went out, stayed behind, or were on duty.

See if anyone else is missing besides Li Yiming."

The three dared not delay and immediately took their orders to count the headcount.

Zhou Che didn't feel like standing outside in the wind, so he turned and went back inside his modified divine car.

Crossing his legs, he unscrewed a cold cola, the icy soda flowing down his throat.

Suppressing the hostility in his heart, he quietly awaited the results of the tally.

It took only about ten minutes or so.

Wang Laowu and the other two hurried back, their faces looking even worse than before, drenched in cold sweat and looking panicked.

"Mr. Zhou, the headcount is finished! Something has happened, something big!"

"When we first settled in Mountain City, we accurately counted everyone. Today, after reviewing and checking, a total of four people are missing from the entire convoy!"

"One Transcendent, Li Yiming, and three ordinary survivors!"

The cola can in Zhou Che's hand paused slightly, and his eyes instantly filled with solemnity.

He wouldn't have known without asking, but hearing it gave him quite a shock!

He had originally thought it was just an isolated incident of Li Yiming being killed.

He didn't expect that in less than a single day, four people would silently go missing!

The most bizarre part was this.

All the anomalies in the entire city were clearly being forcibly suppressed by an unknown powerhouse, lying dormant and not daring to harm anyone!

The entire convoy circle seemed perfectly safe, practically a pure land in the apocalypse.

Yet, precisely during this safest of times, his people were mysteriously disappearing one after another, without making a single sound or leaving any trace!

This matter carried an indescribable sense of evil and bizarreness.

"Have you found out the times and locations of their disappearances?" Zhou Che asked in a deep voice.

The three nodded quickly and reported in a rush, "We have!"

"The circumstances of all four disappearances are exactly the same!"

"They all left the perimeter of the camp on their own, and once they stepped outside our guarded range, they completely lost contact and never returned!"

A chill ran down Zhou Che's spine, and he instantly grasped the key point.

As long as they stepped outside the range of the Dawn Camp, they would encounter danger, dying instantly and vanishing without a sound!

This meant that some unknown, terrifying existence had precisely targeted the Dawn Convoy!

Moreover, the opponent's strength was immense, their strikes clean and swift without leaving a trace, making them far more terrifying than ordinary anomalies!

"The three of you, immediately take a team to patrol all areas around the perimeter of the camp."

Zhou Che waved his hand and ordered,

"Search carefully, don't miss a single inch, and see if you can find any traces of a struggle, bloodstains, or residual anomalous aura."

The three immediately took their men to patrol the perimeter of the camp at full speed.

But after a thorough search, they found nothing.

The ground was clean and tidy, with no bloodstains, no mutilated corpses, no signs of a struggle, and no residual anomalous aura.

Four people had completely and cleanly vanished, just like that, without any rhyme or reason.

It was as if they had never existed in this world.

With pale faces, the three quickly returned to report.