Machinery Fanatics

"Shh, don't make any noise!" Lin Ke ran over to Forbes quickly. Under the faint starlight, he saw that half of Forbes's body had sunk into the ground and was tightly stuck. "Why are there holes in the Gobi?" Lin Ke was bewildered as he frowned.

Forbes placed his hands on the ground and pushed as he felt a chill in his heart.

"Slowly stretch your feet to check around. Is there anything around your feet? Remember to be careful when you stretch your feet!" Lin Ke said calmly.

Forbes was so panicked that his six vital organs were on the verge of failing. But when he heard Boss's words, his prior worries and stress were wiped out. He had found his support pillar. Forbes followed Lin Ke's instructions and focused on his lower body. His two legs moved around slowly as he tried to feel around with the soles of his feet.

Soon, Forbes's army boots touched a hard, pointed object. He was so frightened that his body started trembling. However, he still probed around seriously.

"What have you found?"

"Looks like a trap. There are many spikes below. Boss, leave quickly. If not, people of Machinery Holy Cult will come around," Forbes chokingly said in a low voice, sounding a little teary.

"What will happen to you if I leave?"

"Me dying is better than both of us dead!"

Lin Ke was initially mad. He then let out a laugh, got up, and glanced down at Forbes. Although he could not see Forbes's face in the darkness, the two trails of tears were very clear under the stars.

"You don't trust me? It's just a group of Machinery Holy Cult fanatical followers. What is there to be afraid of!" Lin Ke's tone was flat as if he was not afraid of being discovered.

Forbes had a frozen expression as he stared straight at Lin Ke.

Although the darkness covered Boss's awe-inspiring face, the self-confidence exuding from his body was as dazzling as 1,000 suns, making it impossible for anyone to look at him directly!

Lin Ke did not idle around. He had already guessed that this trap was probably set up by the fanatical followers patrolling the Grand Canal to improve their meals.

One must know that there was only one such canal in this Desolate Gobi. The animals in the Gobi hid from the sun during the day and ventured out to find food and water during the night. If this trap was triggered, those fanatics could have a sumptuous meal.

The fanatical followers heard Forbes and must be on their way now. However, their situation was not beyond hope. Otherwise, Lin Ke would not be so calm.

"Little Treasure, dig and loosen the sand from the side while I try to pull Forbes up! Forbes, take a deep breath. Let's give it another shot! Sand Condor, lower your altitude, and monitor the fanatical followers who are coming over. As soon as I give the order, blow at them with [Engulfing Sand]!"

Lin Ke gave out three orders in a row. Treasure Hunter Rat, Forbes, and Sand Condor all started moving.

Treasure Hunter Rat buried its head close to where the trap was and started digging. Lin Ke tugged at Forbes's arm with both his hands, trying to pull him out.

Sand Condor was originally napping as it 'positioned and hovered' in the air. After hearing Lin Ke's order, it immediately opened its eyes and quietly lowered its altitude, closing in on the fanatics.

Treasure Hunter Rat quickly dug a hole and immediately used it as a starting point, digging up sand furiously to 'untie' Forbes.

…

"Is the trap you dug useful? Can it catch any prey?"

"That's right! Our stomachs are in your hands. Don't play around with us!"

"Believe me. I was a hunter for two years before following the cult. The water level of the Grand Canal is shallow at night, so animals will definitely come here to look for water. This trap took more than half an hour to complete. I can't be shooting myself in the foot, right? Just look forward to eating some game tonight!"

"I believe you this time. If we can't eat any game tonight, you won't be able to get out of our tent tomorrow!"

As soon as this was said, everyone's headsets were filled with waves of strange-sounding laughter.

The Machinery Holy Cult's fanatical followers also had a hard time in the Gobi.

Machinery City's sphere of influence was in this Desolate Gobi. Hence, they could only live in the Gobi. If it weren't for their worship of machinery and desire to join the cult, nobody would stay in this deserted place for a few years.

"Ah!"

Everyone was laughing and cursing. Suddenly, it felt like someone had pressed the pause button.

The laughter stopped, and so did the cursing.

All five of them froze in place, pricking their ears.

"By the way, did you hear anything just now?"

"I heard it faintly. The sound seems to have come from behind."

"I heard it too; it seems to be a wail…"

"Wait! Could it be that our trap was triggered?"

As soon as these words were said, everyone's eyes lit up at the same time. Like a mink who had seen a chicken, they all turned and retraced their steps.

They were chatting happily as they walked.

"The wail was quite loud and clear. From my two years of experience as a hunter, this prey is definitely not small!"

"Haha, apart from sand scorpions and geckos, I haven't eaten meat or fish for almost a year!"

"We already got the prey, and the trap is a ready-made fire pit. Let's have a barbecue tonight."

"Will you still doubt me in the future?"

"No, we don't dare to. You are now the boss!"

"During the day, we look towards the leader of the team for guidance. At night, you are the real decision maker."

"Mars, you are the closest to the trap and have been pretty quiet. Are you preparing to enjoy the feast by yourself?"

"What are you talking about? Am I that kind of person? I'm hurrying over to see what game it is!"

There was heavy breathing from the walkie-talkie.

The remaining four were also walking towards the trap, pricking their ears as they waited for Mars's report.

But at this moment, a wave of noisy howling came from the walkie-talkie; it was as though ghosts were weeping and wolves were howling. Next came the noise of gravel clattering.

Just when they thought it was a signal problem, Mars's voice came from the walkie-talkie.

"Bah, bah! Why do we still have sand storms in the Gobi at night!" Mars covered his eyes with both hands. Plenty of sand was flying into his mouth as he spoke. He was originally approaching the trap, but a gust of wind inexplicably traveled over halfway through his journey, blurring his vision. The searchlight's light couldn't even penetrate one meter as though a sandstorm was sweeping across the entire Gobi.

Mars steeled himself and passed through the violent wind vortex. He turned his head and shone at it with the searchlight, finding that it was a cyclone of four to five meters in diameter.

"This is really weird. Why is there such a large cyclone on the ground at night…" Mars murmured as he continued to walk towards the trap.

It was very common for cyclones to appear in the Gobi, but they usually only occurred during the day. Their diameters were at most one or two meters. Mar had never seen such a large cyclone before. However, this was not important!

What was more tempting than a barbecue on a cold night in the Gobi?

Mars shone his searchlight thoroughly as though he was searching for something on the ground. Soon, he saw a black hole—about one meter in diameter—where his light passed.

Stepping forward quickly, Mar shone the searchlight into the trap, and his face suddenly changed. "The trap is empty. There is no prey!"

The walkie-talkies descended into silence. No sound was heard.

One second later…

"Hahaha. Mars, your joke isn't funny at all!"

"If there are no prey in the trap, that means it must have been hidden by you."

"Please, tell us what kind of good stuff it is. My stomach has already started growling."

Mars had a puzzled and incredulous look on his face. The trap was clearly triggered. Why is there nothing? The most important thing is that the others do not believe me!

Mars slowly enunciated his words, "I'll say it again. The trap had been triggered, but there really is no prey here!"

The others were all taken aback when they heard Mars's solemn tone.

This fellow does not sound like he is joking.

But how could this be possible?

The trap was triggered, and we heard it. How could there be no prey?

"Wait! We will be arriving shortly!"

Soon, the other four people gathered at the location and saw the empty trap.

"I'm really not joking. I don't have a place to hide the prey." Mars raised his mechanical bracer and spun around. There was really nowhere for him to hide anything.

The fanatical follower who laid the trap squatted on the ground, holding his searchlight as he buried his head. "There is no blood on the barbs, but the trap wall has been trampled on. There are signs of digging at the edge of the trap."

The fanatical follower pulled his head out of the trap and shone his searchlight around it. "Huh?" The fanatical follower saw a clear trail of dragging beside the trap.

As the searchlight continued to shine further, a few messy shoe prints appeared at the end of the trail.

"Cross-grain sole, non-slip rubber, and zigzag stripes about one centimeter wide… This seems like the Wastelands Gang mercenaries' military boots."

As soon as the words came out, the five trembled as their eyes brightened.

"It must be the agents from the Wastelands Gang who are here for infiltration. It will definitely be a great achievement if we can catch them. Maybe we can all enter Machinery City!"

The searchlight continued to shine further. The messy shoe prints had become orderly, and four shoe prints extended a trail into the distance.

"There are two agents in total."

"Shhh! We must not talk about this. If we mention this, the other teams will want a share of the pie. By then, we won't get any reward out of this. There are only two agents; the five of us can take them down easily!"

The five quickly reached a consensus. This matter should never be disclosed so that others could not take this opportunity away from them.

"Turn the searchlights to the lowest luminosity. We must not alert other teams."

"Let's give chase by following these shoe prints."

…

Under the double excitement of experiencing a crisis and surviving through it, Forbes's body trembled uncontrollably.

Forbes quickly came up alongside Lin Ke, repeatedly gasping as he said, "Boss, you saved my life from the grim reaper. From now on, you are my leader, and I will follow you for the rest of my life."

"Is there a need to? Although there were some small troubles along the way, the situation is still far from 'offering yourself for marriage as a form of gratitude.'" Lin Ke didn't think this was a big problem. With Treasure Hunter Rat and Sand Condor working with him already, he was not stumped by this unexpected situation.

Forbes had a serious expression as he quickly ran in front of Lin Ke. "Boss, I am serious! This is a century-old tradition of my tribe. Since you've saved my life, I will spend the rest of my life repaying this kindness. Although it was a small effort on Boss's part to help me, this is a great debt of gratitude to me!"

[Forbes's loyalty to you has reached 100 points.]

[Forbes has requested to be your servant. Accept/Reject]

Lin Ke looked at Forbes's serious expression, who looked like he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. "Okay, I accept your loyalty!"