Chapter 1 Han Xiao's Pursuit

Han Xiao followed the tracks all the way, his eyes met with an endless expanse of yellow sand. The tire tracks of Luo Qing and the others' escape were as conspicuous as the creases of a folded piece of white paper.

The coordinate radar displayed his current location, preventing him from getting lost. At this time, he was heading towards the outer edge of the Somal Desert. The weather calendar information indicated that a sandstorm had occurred in this area a while ago.

The monotonous desert scenery made Han Xiao feel a little aesthetically fatigued. After chasing for more than half an hour, an off-road vehicle suddenly appeared in the distance, and he was immediately refreshed. "Finally caught up!"

Vision is relative, and the Rose Armed members in the off-road vehicle also discovered Han Xiao.

"It's Thorns!" Su Li exclaimed.

Luo Qing's face tightened, and she hurriedly looked around. When she found that there was only one pursuer, anger rose from her heart.

Daring to chase after them alone, does he really think they're easy to deal with!

"Turn around for me..."

"Boom boom boom—"

The Thorns unleashed its full firepower, with榴弹 (liudan, grenade) and missiles chasing after Luo Qing in a wild bombardment.

Luo Qing shrank her head and said awkwardly, "Ahem, let's escape for a while, and wait until he runs out of ammunition!"

All the way with sparks and explosions, the two cars chased each other, crossing one sand dune after another.

...

The ragged pilgrims trudged hard on the crest of the sand dunes. The old pilgrim at the head of the group gasped for breath, his back soaked with sweat. He took down a water bottle from the packhorse, shakily took a sip, but could not relieve his fatigue and thirst.

The old pilgrim looked back at the team. Everyone looked listless. This small group of remaining people was the last of the pilgrims. The old pilgrim remembered when he was young, tens of thousands of compatriots from the fallen kingdom embarked on the journey. After years of wind and rain, only these last twenty or so people remained. Some died, some gave up.

Sometimes, the old pilgrim couldn't help but wonder if Philonia really existed, but if he gave up, it would be denying his years of persistence.

The sound of an engine came from afar, and Han Xiao and the Rose Armed's car appeared in sight, dragging a rolling sand dragon.

The pilgrims were not surprised. Seeing that the two cars bombarding each other did not seem to be heading towards them, they were relieved, stood in place, and prepared to wait for the two cars to leave.

At this moment, a small missile missed again and hit a patch of sand. At this moment, a sudden change occurred!

The ground suddenly vibrated. Where the missile exploded, the desert collapsed, and the quicksand slid down, rumbling to reveal a dark hole. The hole continued to expand, like the earth opening its mouth!

The appearance of quicksand proved that there was a huge cave under this desert!

"What's that?!" The pilgrims looked in the direction of the hole, their mouths gradually widening.

...

[You have discovered a hidden location 【Philonia-08】, you have gained 1000 exploration experience.]

[【Bounty Hunter (Rose Armed)】 hidden requirement has been achieved.]

"Huh?" Han Xiao almost lost control of the car.

What the hell?!

Was he so lucky by accident?!

How could his European luck be consumed in such a place, dammit!

The quicksand cave was still expanding. He thought of a sandstorm that passed by here a few days ago. It may have been due to changes in the sand layer that he triggered a chain reaction with one shot.

Although he was very curious about what exactly Philonia was, it was more important to hunt down the Rose Armed at the moment.

After leaving a mark on the coordinate radar, he continued to drive in pursuit.

The two cars quickly drove away.

The old pilgrim's hands trembled, his face full of excitement, and he called out to his stunned companions.

"That, that must be Philonia, let's go over there quickly!"

The pilgrims became excited and rushed impatiently towards the gradually stabilizing cave.

"Philonia's treasure... Philonia's treasure..." the old pilgrim muttered to himself incessantly, tears streaming down his face, feeling that his years of persistence were finally about to be rewarded.

...

After chasing for a few more kilometers, the Thorns' ammunition ran out. No matter how fierce the firepower was, it would eventually run out. Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. This pursuit, like an old lady's foot binding, was finally coming to an end.

"Those women in front should stop now, right? If they still don't stop and beat me, you're too chicken."

"That guy finally ran out of ammo!"

Su Li was the manufacturer of the Thorns and immediately noticed the abnormality of the Thorns.

Luo Qing breathed a sigh of relief, and then said fiercely, "Turn around!"

The two cars were about four hundred meters apart. Han Xiao had already stopped the car. Seeing the Rose Armed's off-road vehicle turn around resolutely, a smile appeared on his face, and he kept firing with his sniper rifle.

Four hundred meters was enough for him to fire about eight to ten shots.

Four armor-piercing bullets pierced the bulletproof glass, and the fifth shot was aimed at the driver.

Luo Qing, who was in the passenger seat, suddenly raised her hand and blocked it in front of the driver. The bullet seemed to hit an invisible barrier, and a circle of impactful white light burst out in the air. The bullet head was flattened by the reaction force and became a metal disc, suspended in the air.

"A force field Esper." Han Xiao's eyes narrowed, feeling tricky.

Although Espers were strange and varied, some people would awaken similar or even identical abilities. Force field was a large branch, and force field, elemental manipulation, physical enhancement, and transformation were all common abilities.

The manifestation of force field abilities was to manipulate objects from the air, form barriers out of thin air, and condense invisible impacts, which were inherently somewhat restrained against gunmen.

With this in mind, Han Xiao immediately loaded a Heimdall bullet and fired again. Luo Qing still released the force field to block it as before. The bullet head was crushed, releasing the light green poisonous gas inside. Everyone in the car was immediately poisoned, feeling dizzy, lightheaded and experiencing chest tightness, continuously losing health.

Han Xiao learned from the combat information that Luo Qing was also level 30 like him, and her force field ability had not yet grown to the point where she could control gas.

The next bullet was a high-explosive bullet, which ignited the inside of the car, but it was quickly extinguished by the fire extinguisher. This was a car used for escape, and it carried a fire extinguisher to prevent fire and explosion accidents.

Han Xiao's plan to force the enemy to abandon the car was declared a failure, but he was not discouraged. He fired two more Heimdall bullets, and the Rose Armed's off-road vehicle was surrounded by a thick green poisonous gas, like a plague chariot.

After these few shots, the enemy was only a hundred meters away from him.

Han Xiao put away the gun, stepped on the accelerator to the end, and slammed into the off-road vehicle!

Su Li's face changed slightly, and she hurriedly said, "Get out of the way quickly, the Thorns' armor is too thick, we can't crash into it."

The driver heard the words and quickly turned the steering wheel, wanting to brush past the Thorns. Seeing this, Han Xiao also turned in the same direction, but was a step too late, only brushing the tail of the off-road vehicle. He originally wanted to crash the enemy's off-road vehicle, so that he could kite the enemy with the Thorns, but the Rose Armed's people reacted in time and dodged it.

Luo Qing then realized that even if the Thorns ran out of ammunition, it was not a toothless tiger, so she could only suppress the anger in her heart, "Forget it, don't entangle with him."

The off-road vehicle turned and ran for dozens of meters. Luo Qing found that the Thorns didn't chase after him. She thought Han Xiao had given up, and breathed a sigh of relief, then gritted her teeth.

"I'll let you off for now, when the reinforcements arrive, it will be your death!"

As soon as the thought fell, an invisible wave centered on the Thorns, spread out with a bang. The off-road vehicle suddenly lost power and slid dozens of meters due to inertia, paralyzing in place, and the people in the car fell on their backs.

In the back seat of the Thorns, Han Xiao activated the electromagnetic pulse jammer, and the Thorns also lost power as a result.

Han Xiao sighed. This was the last resort to prevent the enemy from escaping. He didn't want to use it originally, but seeing that Luo Qing didn't have the guts to stay and beat him, he could only helplessly suffer both losses. Even if he could repair the Thorns, it would take at least ten minutes.

Next is the duel between people!

"Electromagnetic pulse! The car is broken!" Luo Qing's mind buzzed. Being calculated again and again, she finally couldn't suppress her anger. She got out of the car and charged forward, the force field erupted from the soles of her feet, and she could stride several meters in one step, like a cannonball rushing towards Han Xiao, the force field around her body flickering.

"You want to die that much!!!"

Before the person arrived, Luo Qing's roar had resounded in Han Xiao's ears.