The Hunt Begins

Lying in the faint, dim light from the elevator entrance were four thoroughly dead people.

Forbes wasn't afraid of dead bodies. On the contrary, he was somewhat excited. After all, he came from a funeral service business. Dead bodies represented business and money to him. Right after that, Forbes noticed Lin Ke—who was squatting beside the corpses and rummaging through them.

"Oh, you're out?" Lin Ke took out his cellphone and glanced at the time—9:31 p.m.

The time was just right.

"Boss, nobody followed after me today. I didn't manage to bait any fish."

In response, a smiling Lin Ke pointed at the four corpses on the floor and replied, "They're all here. People don't necessarily need to follow after you to be considered fishes."

Forbes looked thoughtful at his words. After staring at the corpses for a while, realization dawned upon him. He pointed at the four corpses on the floor and asked, "Boss, do you mean that these four people stayed at the entrance to intercept me?"

"If not, then what do you think they were doing…"

Excitement burst forth from Forbes's initially dull and gloomy eyes at once. He trotted over to Lin Ke in high spirits and asked, "Did you find anything good on them then, Boss?"

Lin Ke—who was already done with the battleground cleanup—got to his feet and replied, "It's not safe here. Let's talk on the way out."

Those four men had been on the phone with the Jack Gang's leader before the ambush. Should the Jack Gang's leader not receive any news from them for a long period of time, he'd definitely become suspicious and bring his men out to check on the situation.

The two of them walked out of the back alley. Forbes was just about to go down the path and leave when Lin Ke grabbed him. He waved the car key in his hand. "Let's drive back today!"

He then pressed the unlock button on the car key. The headlights and taillights of a car at the roadside started to blink. The car also emitted a beep, indicating that it'd been unlocked.

"Wow!" Excitement was written all over Forbes's countenance. Disregarding the other time when he was hiding in the desert jeep's trunk, this was his first time actually sitting in a vehicle.

The Jack Gang foursome's car was just like the owners themselves—every part of it gave off a wild and arrogant air. The vintage sedan had a long, slender body, and its sides were emblazoned with the words 'Jack Gang' and the image of dancing flames. It looked swift, fierce, and exaggerated.

Lin Ke slipped into the driver's seat, inserted the key, and started the car.

Vroom!!

Lin Ke's shoulders lifted slightly, a look of surprise on his face. "Those guys sure know how to have a good time. I didn't think that they'd actually stuff such a powerful heart into this antique!"

Lin Ke secretly apologized to the four men mentally. The foursome had looked like scenesters, but little did he expect that they were actually rather fastidious in their taste when it came to cars. They'd gotten themselves a classic, vintage sedan, but installed within was a roaring beast instead—a V8 motor.

If he could find somewhere to offload it, this car was worth at least 40,000 to 50,000 Wastelands Coins. However, the difficulty level of offloading this thing was a little high. After all, all the modification garages in Sand City were backed by gangs.

Driving this car somewhere to offload it was basically the same as delivering oneself into a trap.

It wasn't that the Jack Gang held that much influence, but rather, it was because the other party could tell that the car was stolen from elsewhere with just a glance. Since they could just cash in on a fellow villain, why should they take any money out of their own pockets?

Forbes sat in the passenger seat excitedly.

Lin Ke rolled down the car window, and Sand Condor swooped right into the car, crashing headfirst into the meticulously-maintained genuine leather seats.

Treasure Hunter Rat buried its head into the genuine leather seats and rolled about in comfort, awfully thrilled. Look, even it could tell that this car was good stuff!

Lin Ke drove the car out. The sounds of the V8 engine were perfectly adjusted. The roar that the engine produced when he stepped on the gas pedal stirred his blood as if it resonated with him, making him feel as though he and the car had become one.

Lin Ke tapped his hand against the steering wheel. He was so fond of the car that he could hardly tear himself away from it.

Sand Condor rested against the rear door. Its long neck leaned out of the window, hanging outside of it. With every turn of a corner, its head swayed back and forth, waving about with the wind. Sand Condor looked very much like a wastrel that was drowning their sorrows over relationship woes with alcohol.

As for Treasure Hunter Rat, it sat with one leg crossed over the other. Its back also laid against the genuine leather seats. It sat in repose with its eyes closed, acting totally like a big boss as if the driving Lin Ke and the co-driver Forbes were its chauffeur and henchman.

Apart from the Silver Army Ants that had already turned into metal, both of Lin Ke's two other pets… were drama queens!

Lin Ke had previously been thinking about offloading the car. However, upon seeing how smoothly he drove it—it was like an extension of his body, and he and the car had 'merged as one'—he abolished the thought right away.

However, judging from the mission's difficulty level, he still had a need to continue staying in Sand City for a while. Moving around Sand City's slums alone was already enough to break someone's legs. It was honestly inconvenient without a car.

Well, someone had given him exactly what he wanted now. How could Lin Ke possibly bring himself to turn them down, right?

As for the terribly conspicuous 'Jack Gang' mark on the car, Lin Ke didn't care much about it. The Jack Gang might be small, but it was still a gang in the slums at least. The logo and mark on the car could also help to scare off some car thieves and hooligans.

As for the Jack Gang finding their way to him through the car? Wasn't that even better? It saved Lin Ke the trouble of having to find them himself.

On the way back, Lin Ke made a rough mention about their rewards today. He had found a total of over 8,000 Wastelands Coins on the four men. Judging from the amount, they had probably just collected protection money from some street and had made an impromptu trip over, so they hadn't even had time to give the money to their higher-ups.

Their four handguns were intact and in passable condition, so they could fetch 1,000 to 2,000 Wastelands Coins. Last but not least was the Jack-O'-Lantern V8 Classic Sedan. Driving it down the slums' roads instantly made him feel as though he was above the rest.

Lin Ke went over to the ATM machine by the road. He deposited the larger bills into the card and kept the small change for daily expenses.

[21,000 Wastelands Coins have been credited to your bank card ending with 2234 on 17th April 22:03 p.m. You currently have a balance of 102,240 Wastelands Coins.]

Upon seeing the SMS notification—which told him that his balance had broken through the $100,000 milestone—a hint of a smile involuntarily appeared at the corners of Lin Ke's lips. He was getting closer and closer to his target now.

After depositing the money, Lin Ke casually bought some snacks and supper to reward the 'extras' in the 'film crew.' He then drove the car back to the inn.

The Jack Gang's infamy still proved itself very useful.

Lin Ke pressed on the car horn the whole way back. The passersby—who had initially turned to look back furiously—suppressed their anger and hastily ran a mile away at once when they saw the Jack Gang logo on the car, saving Lin Ke quite a bit of trouble.

There were no parking lots by the road at the inn, so Lin Ke decided to park the car opposite the road instead. This way, he could have a clear view of it, even when he was upstairs in his room.

On the way back, Forbes also passed Dave's message to Lin Ke.

"Alright, noted. I'll personally handle the transaction myself tomorrow," replied Lin Ke. He knew very well that he couldn't play the fishing trick for too long. What he was after was money; he didn't want to trigger all sorts of disputes and end up impeding his plans. Thus, he decided that he'd just pack the remaining three microchips up and directly sell them away tomorrow.

Forbes had smartened up today and went to bed early. As long as he was dead asleep, he wouldn't be awakened by the women's screams at night anymore!

Lin Ke tucked his hands behind his head, contemplating how he should deal with Alonso and Moros.

The light breeze blowing through the window felt very comfortable. It was as if a gentle, tender woman constantly behaved coquettishly and cajoled him into sleeping by his ear.

Squeak, squeak! Treasure Hunter Rat suddenly sounded a warning anxiously.

"What? Someone's trying to steal the car?" Without a second word, Lin Ke hopped off the bed. He went over to the window and looked out.

With the roadside light illuminating the area, Lin Ke saw a group of non-mainstream scenesters surrounding his beloved car. Judging by the logos on them, every one of them was from the Jack Gang.

The men didn't leave after they found the car. On the contrary, they turned around and glanced at the small seven-story building Lin Ke was in and gestured to it. They then crossed the road and approached the inn.

Lin Ke did a quick count—there were a total of ten people!

"To think they've actually found their way here." Lin Ke grabbed his jacket, shrugged it on, and began to check whether there were ample bullets in the ammo clips. "Little Treasure, wake Forbes up."

Treasure Hunter Rat immediately leaped onto Forbes's face and began to practice the Military Boxing Fist1 on him.

Both Lin Ke's pistol and tactical machine pistol were equipped with silencers. After hanging both weapons on the gun sling, he took out the pump-action shotgun from underneath the bed. "There's usually no need for this big guy when I'm out, but it has finally come in handy now."

It wasn't like Lin Ke hadn't expected the Jack Gang to come after him; he just didn't expect that they'd move this fast or that there would be so many of them.

He loaded the pump-action shotgun full in one go, the snap of the magazine being loaded crisp and clear.

Lin Ke grabbed Sand Condor by its neck and shook it awake. "Sand Condor, the corridors aren't advantageous in bringing out your abilities. Go to the top of the building and stay there to wait for my command."

The army ants on the floor had already stirred themselves up according to Lin Ke's wishes. They followed his instructions and filed into a line. They then climbed into a slot in the sling under his flax top.

The Silver Army Ants were currently Lin Ke's biggest insurance. If he couldn't guarantee complete annihilation of the enemy, he'd never deploy them. Besides, shotguns were invincible when fighting in a narrow, cramped space like this, okay?

Forbes was woken up by Treasure Hunter Rat's mad flurry of punches, and he swung off the bed, causing Treasure Hunter Rat to be flung out with great force. Fortunately, Lin Ke grabbed hold of it with his quick reflexes.

It was then that Forbes noticed that Lin Ke had already fully geared up at some point and was holding a shotgun while half-squatting on the floor. "Boss, you…"

"Shh! Don't talk. Hurry and get dressed."

Forbes was still in a daze, but he tiptoed upon seeing Lin Ke's actions and began to get dressed.

Treasure Hunter Rat jumped off Lin Ke's arm and quickly scurried over to the door. It squatted in the corner, perked its ears up, and listened closely, constantly reporting the enemy's positions to Lin Ke.

Soon, Lin Ke also heard the wild footsteps coming up the stairs. They were so loud and violent that it seemed like they were beating drums and clanging gongs as they walked.

The group of men must have already gotten a hold of our room number and are coming straight for us. Lin Ke slowly got up. He stood at a spot roughly a meter away from the door, aiming the shotgun's pitch-black double gun barrels right at it.

The fierce, violent footsteps abruptly stopped after they reached the fourth floor, making it seem as though the sounds from before were all just figments of one's imagination.

"Little Treasure, you can come back now."

Treasure Hunter Rat ran back to Lin Ke from the door. It scrabbled at Lin Ke's trousers, climbed back into the gun sling, and joined the Silver Army Ants.

The light from the corridor shone into the room from under the door.

Soon, shadows entered Lin Ke's sight and blocked out the light.

They were already at the door.

"This is Room 505. Does anyone know how to unlock it? Come over and open the door."

"Nobody knows how to unlock it. We can just charge right in."

"It's dark inside, so they must be asleep. If all we charge in at once, he definitely won't be able to react in time!"

"Alright. Stand back, all of you. I'll kick the door open."

The men outside had kept their voices low and whispered to each other to avoid rousing Lin Ke from his sleep. However, they never ever would've expected that Lin Ke had been expecting them for a long time.

Since the large group had dropped in on him so passionately in the middle of the night, how could Lin Ke not give them a bit of a surprise as the host?

Bam!

A boor from the Jack Gang kicked the wooden door open with his foot! Just as he was about to charge in, the light from the corridor spilled into the room.

With his shotgun raised, a brazen smile appeared on the corners of Lin Ke's lips. "Surprise, motherf*cker!"

Boom!

Dazzling sparks burst forth from the shotgun's muzzles, and the muscular man standing at the entrance took the full brunt of the two shotgun shells in the gun barrels.

The shot caused his body to explode into pieces, and he became badly mangled.