When the ssage ca through the loudspeaker, the expressions of the Giant Hamr rcenary Corps mbers inside the armored vehicle grew even uglier.
No one had expected the initiative to shift completely into the other party’s hands in just a matter of monts.
More importantly, the other party was staying over 150 ters away, completely dashing any hope of a counterattack.
At such a great distance, the threat their firearms could pose was minimal.
Of course, they could try to get closer to shoot or repair the tire, but either choice required them to get out of the vehicle.
And with the enemy’s Gun Technique, getting out of the vehicle was tantamount to becoming a living target. They might not even need to get out—if they tried to aim through the firing ports, the enemy would probably shoot them first.
Ren Hong felt a bitter taste in his mouth, but so things had to be done by him. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the loudspeaker button. "Friend, let’s talk this through. It’s a misunderstanding. This is all just a misunderstanding."
"Is that so?" Lin Xinghai’s tone was laced with amusent. "Then why didn’t you stop when we fired a warning shot earlier?"
"Ahem! Well... we thought your gun had misfired!" Ren Hong managed to force out an excuse.
"And before that? Why didn’t you allow our signal to connect?" The amusent in Lin Xinghai’s voice grew stronger.
"Our signal receiver was damaged when we were breaking out of the zombie horde." Ren Hong’s words ca much more smoothly this ti, as this was an excuse he had prepared earlier.
"Fine, then! Ti to pay up!" Lin Xinghai had no desire to banter any further. He cut straight to the chase, laying out his demands. "I want all the Elental Crystals, Energy Crystal Stones, and ammunition in your vehicle. Hmm... and don’t say I’m unreasonable. I’ll let you keep 100 regular bullets, just in case."
"My friend, isn’t that price a little too steep?" Ren Hong said, his voice laced with anxiety.
"I’m not interested in debating this. We all know perfectly well why we’re in this situation. I’ve made my demands. Of course, you’re free to refuse." After saying his piece, Lin Xinghai switched off the loudspeaker and ignored them.
The choice was simple now: their lives or their wealth.
Of course, for Ren Hong and his n, there really was no choice at all. Without their lives, no amount of wealth was worth anything.
...
Ling Xiu and the others, having witnessed the entire process, had only one thought... How satisfying!
Normally, when dealing with any other rcenary Corps, they had to be extrely cautious. Even when they were in the right, they’d have to tread lightly and offer appeasents if the other party got upset.
But with Lin Xinghai at the helm, the situation was completely reversed. Of course, they were still in the right—Lin Xinghai was just being a bit more domineering about it.
"Okay, they’ll definitely agree. But we have another problem: we need to send soone over to supervise them and make sure they hand everything over."
"Whoever goes to supervise might be in so danger. Anyone willing to volunteer?" Lin Xinghai asked.
If no one supervised, they would have no way of knowing if the other party had actually handed everything over.
Lin Xinghai thought for a mont, then added, "You can rest assured. As long as they don’t have a death wish, they won’t dare try anything. If they do, I guarantee I’ll leave every last one of them here."
He himself couldn’t go, of course. Without him pinning them down, the rest of his team posed no threat.
However, Lin Xinghai noticed that after he finished speaking, the others were all looking at him with strange expressions.
"What’s wrong?" Lin Xinghai asked, curious.
"Nothing. It’s just... I guess you’re not infallible after all, Brother Lin," Ling Xiu said with a laugh.
Before Lin Xinghai could even ask, he had his answer. He saw Zhang iling, in the back seat, split into two in the blink of an eye.
It was only then that he rembered: Zhang iling’s Superpower was creating a doppelganger. What amazed Lin Xinghai was how incredibly realistic it was.
If he hadn’t seen her create the doppelganger with his own eyes, he would have been completely unable to tell which was real and which was the copy.
It wasn’t just a visual illusion, either. Even when he probed with his Perception Power, both of them felt real.
"Does your doppelganger have senses?" Lin Xinghai asked.
That would be a requirent for supervising them.
"Yes, it does. In fact, unless you attack it, you’d never know it was a doppelganger just from normal conversation or contact." The one who replied was Zhang iling’s doppelganger. She even extended her hand for a handshake.
Seeing this, Lin Xinghai reached out and shook her hand. He was once again astonished.
The touch felt completely real, warm even. It was utterly indistinguishable from a real hand.
"I can imagine this doppelganger of yours could be incredibly useful in... certain situations," Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but remark.
"I wouldn’t be so optimistic," Zhang iling said with a hint of resignation. "This doppelganger will dissipate if it’s hit with a single punch from an ordinary person. More importantly, it only lasts for three minutes."
The first part didn’t seem like a big deal to Lin Xinghai, but if it only lasted three minutes, then the Superpower’s utility was indeed quite limited.
Just as they finished their discussion, Ren Hong’s reply ca over the loudspeaker: "Agreed!"
Lin Xinghai switched on his loudspeaker as well. "Excellent. Since you agree, put all the Elental Crystals, ammunition, and Energy Crystal Stones outside the Armored Vehicle now."
"I’ll be sending a team mber over to inspect. Only after we confirm you’ve put everything outside will I permit you to start repairing your Armored Vehicle. So if you want to get it fixed quickly, don’t waste ti."
With the zombie horde steadily approaching, the mbers of the Giant Hamr rcenary Corps didn’t dare delay any further. They imdiately followed Lin Xinghai’s orders, reluctantly hauling the goods out of their vehicle.
Once they had moved most of it, Zhang iling created another three-minute doppelganger and sent it over to quickly conduct an inspection.
It seed the other party had accepted their reality. They didn’t try any tricks, leaving only the 100 rounds of regular ammunition for themselves and moving everything else out of the vehicle.
Things were much simpler after that.
With Lin Xinghai’s permission, the mbers of the Giant Hamr rcenary Corps imdiately disembarked. They quickly retrieved the wheel and used their repair equipnt to crudely weld the axle assembly back together. While it was nowhere near as sturdy as before, the vehicle was now barely drivable.
Before they left, Lin Xinghai switched on the loudspeaker one last ti. "It’s been a pleasure. One last thing—an introduction. My na is Lin Xinghai, a mber of the Heaven-Sundering rcenary Corps. When you get back, I’ll have our commander have a ’talk’ with you."
Hearing Lin Xinghai’s words, Ren Hong’s mouth fell open. All he could taste was bitterness.
Just monts ago, he had been comforting his rcenaries with phrases like, "revenge is a dish best served cold," and had sworn that once they got back and repaired their cha, they would definitely make trouble for the Superpower Alliance.
But now, before he could even think about getting even, his opponent had already declared they were coming for him.
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