Chapter 30: He Clumsily Pinched His Fingers… Part 2

“Liya is the Research Society’s insect research expert, familiar with their habits and weaknesses. But you—you’re a Mechanical Puppet. You might very well be one of the soldiers that served back then, here to exterminate the Insect Clan, right?”

“You must know the Insect Clan better than we do, and how to fight them. So I hope you’ll join us. Our goals align.”

One let out a light chuckle, neither confirming nor denying.

It said flatly: “What are you two hiding?”

Basero and Liya both froze at the same time. The landship slowed down, but Basero reacted first, steadying the accelerator and bringing the speed back to normal.

He kept his eyes forward, following the landships ahead.

“There have been an unusually high number of Insect Clan attacks. A new leader must have emerged in their nests… possibly even a King Insect,” the lady said with conviction.

…

“We’ve left the First Danger Zone. We’re about to enter the Second Danger Zone.”

Inside the landship, Joel sat in the passenger seat, his eyes glued to the map. After scanning it up and down for a while, he looked up at Xie Jianxun. “Little Xun, aren’t you tired? Want me to take over?”

Xie Jianxun replied easily: “I’m fine, not tired at all!”

His hands gripped the steering wheel, accelerator at half-throttle. He easily kept pace with the convoy.

He’d just eaten lunch and felt full of inexhaustible energy.

If it weren’t for the desert wind kicking up fine particles that lingered in the air, he’d really want to open all the landship’s glass canopy and enjoy the fierce rush of wind at high speed. It would surely be exhilarating.

A massive convoy.

An endless expanse of desert.

No wind, no clouds—but in his imagination, they existed, vivid and real.

He suddenly felt grateful to be part of this joint operation. Just this trip alone would give him memories to savor for a long time.

Back at the estate, looking out through the glass windows, that version of himself could never have imagined crossing such a vast expanse.

Like a bird.

Joel leaned on the passenger armrest, propping up one leg, grinning wide.

“Feels good, right?”

As he spoke, he lowered his voice. Faint snores came from the trunk where the other members dozed. “The first time I floored it in a landship, I felt the same.”

“I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs, let my voice echo across the sky.”

“And then?” Xie Jianxun asked, intrigued.

Joel shrugged and hugged himself in mock fear. “Then the Captain slapped me and said I was making noise.”

Xie Jianxun burst out laughing, chuckling nonstop.

As he laughed, he said, “Did Magm Captain take everyone out on trade routes a long time ago?”

Joel: “Yeah, we’ve been running convoys together for almost ten years. Ten years! Last year, the Captain said this year marks the tenth anniversary. He wants to throw a huge celebration feast, invite other trade teams and Adventure Groups—everyone to drink our booze.”

“Badi said he’d use his savings to buy gold, smash a gold ring on each brother’s finger. For the eleventh anniversary, another one. One a year, until our hands and feet are covered. Said our brotherhood should shine like gold, never fading…”

He trailed off there and fell silent.

Xie Jianxun sneaked a glance via the rearview mirror, but the angle was wrong—he couldn’t see Joel’s expression.

After a moment, Joel acted like nothing happened. “Thirsty? I’m thirsty. Want some water?”

Xie Jianxun went along: “Sure, thanks, Joel.”

Joel half-stood in the passenger seat, stretched his foot through the gap, and kicked at the guy in the trunk sleeping like a dead pig until he woke him.

“Anong, why are you sleeping so hard today… Get me a bottle of water. And one soda for Little Xun—uh, soda.”

Anong rolled over with a grunt and kicked another guy in the stomach.

The man clutched his gut in pain, rolling away in his sleep.

He mumbled: “Oh, I’m thirsty too. I want soda.”

Even as he said it, he obediently grabbed a bottle of water and a soda. After Joel chugged half his water, Anong eyed the plastic bottle longingly.

“Can… can I have a sip?” He swallowed hard.

Joel: “We brought plenty this time. Just grab your own.”

Anong shook his head, still staring at Joel’s bottle.

He insisted: “We need to conserve supplies. Can’t make the Captain worry.”

The burly man paused silently, then handed over his half-empty bottle. He watched Anong sip it cherishingly. When a third remained, Anong screwed the cap tight, resealed it with the plastic wrap, and handed it back.

Joel took it but didn’t drink more.

He slumped back into the passenger seat, his expression falling.

He muttered a curse under his breath, not sure who at: “That damn thing. Ever since we got back last time, he’s been like this.”

Catching Xie Jianxun still holding his soda with one hand, Joel raised a brow. “Can’t twist it open? Look at that frown… Give bro a smile, I’ll open it for you.”

Xie Jianxun quickly schooled his expression, wedged the soda between the seat gap, and twisted it open. “No, no, I got it.”

Just then, the convoy crested a high dune slope and plunged down, speeding forward.

Xie Jianxun keenly noticed: the sand was softening.

It felt sticky, like the landship’s underside was sinking slightly. The whole convoy had to slow, even with the pedal floored.

His fingers tightened on the wheel.

Joel straightened in the passenger seat, his brown eyes scanning outside through the glass, acting as lookout.

“We’re about to leave the Second Danger Zone and enter the Third Danger Zone,” he said gravely, quick and serious.

The two in the trunk roused from their daze, scrambling to peer out.

“The Third Danger Zone has lots of Flowing Sand River branches—small-scale, dense, hard to detect. The landship’s anti-gravity undersides prevent getting stuck in water or sand, so it can barely handle minor branches. But if it really gets trapped, it’s trouble…”

“Under what conditions would a landship fall into a Flowing Sand River and not get out?” Xie Jianxun suddenly asked from the driver’s seat.

Joel thought it over and replied cautiously: “Probably if it hits a branch that’s too big in volume, or if the anti-gravity device breaks.”

Xie Jianxun drove on, holding back.

He couldn’t help it and sneaked a glance at the undercarriage compartment.

He thought: What was it I said back then?

He was just a repair newbie, and Huo Jing trusted him so much—only for the ship to drop underground… Uh, maybe that guy was half-baked himself, all guts, daring to ride a ship he’d repaired!

Whatever. Badmouthing behind someone’s back wasn’t cool. The guy had taught him plenty.

Joel shouted: “Slow down, slow down! Turn coming!”

Xie Jianxun snapped to full attention. Under the lead ships’ turn signals and Joel’s directions, he eased speed, swung a wide arc, and crept across the open patch ahead.

Truth be told, to anyone unfamiliar with the desert, it’d look ridiculous.

A whole group treating empty ground like the enemy, tiptoeing around, then sighing in relief.

Luckily, this Danger Zone wasn’t huge. The convoy passed without incident.

The sun set, and the desert, scorched all day, finally cooled. Gray-blue shadows stretched across the land, dunes rolling endlessly with sparse dry grass.

They’d driven ten straight hours; drivers had rotated three or four times.

Even if the ships could keep going, the people couldn’t.

Butts numb from sitting, no cushions in the trunk.

Short stints were fine, but this long? Pure torture.

Xie Jianxun rubbed his eyes awake to find Anong sitting across from him, grinning cheerfully.

Three or four hours earlier, he’d finished his second shift, handed off driving to Joel, and crashed in the trunk.

Anong was big-boned, filling two-thirds of the trunk.

But he’d squeezed into the corner to give the team’s little repairman some legroom.

He had thick, bushy brown hair swirling like a bird’s nest on his head, gray-brown eyes, thick lips, and a mouth that always curved up in a dopey smile.

Like the others, he wore a brown tough jacket with four leather pockets on top, cargo pants cinched at the ankles below.

Seeing Xie Jianxun awake, he patted his own thigh.

Xie Jianxun tilted his head, puzzled.

Anong grinned and pointed at himself: “If you feel cramped, put your feet on my leg.”

“Huh?”

Xie Jianxun blinked, shaking his head firmly. “No way!”

Who puts dirty shoes on someone’s clean pants? He’d be a total jerk!

Anong insisted: “I don’t mind your shoes.”

Xie Jianxun distracted him quick, pulling a lime-watermelon soda from his Light Brain Space and shoving it into Anong’s hand.

Anong’s eyes went wide. “Soda?”

Xie Jianxun nodded with a smile. “Lime-watermelon flavor. Wanna try?”

Anong took a tiny sip, froze as the taste hit, speechless for a long moment.

“…Delicious!”

He nodded vigorously, then puzzled: “Watermelon? What’s watermelon? Is that the flavor?”

Before Xie Jianxun could answer, the landship slowed abruptly.

The convoy halted en masse, braking to camp in the lee of a dune.

After the last brief break, nearly twelve hours of driving had exhausted everyone.

Anong screwed the soda cap tight and tucked the bottle into his jacket. The hem was tucked into his waistband, so it wouldn’t fall, but it made a weird bulge at his chest.

Joel spotted it. “Anong, what’s with the chest swelling?”

“It’s soda from Little Xun—lime-watermelon!” Anong said proudly. “You wouldn’t know what watermelon tastes like.”

Joel patted his chest dismissively. “Look at you bragging. Bet the Captain knows. Go show off to him.”

Camping, dinner—the first proper rest in two days.

Xie Jianxun got a small tent to himself.

Logistics Laike asked his preferences. He said anything worked, just something hot—the desert nights chilled fast.

Laike winked and handed him a can of thick white lamb soup.

Sprinkled with white pepper, salt, green onions, a squeeze of sea buckthorn juice, heated on the Quick Heat Stove until the can’s iron bottom charred black. He brought it over steaming.

Xie Jianxun took a big gulp and scorched his mouth, frantically huffing cool air.

There was still a small bone wrapped in lamb in the thick soup, topped with a bit of soft cartilage. Xie Jianxun cherished it and lifted it from the soup, slowly biting into it with his molars.

The cartilage snapped crisply in his mouth. After swallowing the hot soup, he finally felt warmth spreading through his body.

Through the bustling crowd of the Joint Group coming and going, he looked up and spotted a familiar figure in the gaps between the people at first glance.

Under the pitch-black, curly bangs, pale blue eyes curved slightly.

It was like a calm gaze piercing through the sea of people, landing precisely on him.

Their respective merchant teams were having group meals, so they couldn’t just leave on their own. Xie Jianxun picked up his canned lamb soup and raised it from afar in a toast to One.

One mimicked him perfectly, holding up its plate to show off today’s main course: a grilled lamb chop.

Xie Jianxun grinned, lowered his head to grab a cup, then raised it to show One.

Green juice, very sour—he didn’t even know what it was called.

One also lifted its cup, the exact same color. They must have been drinking the same beverage, probably supplied wholesale from somewhere.

Xie Jianxun laughed, the small flame of the Quick Heat Stove casting a glow on his cheeks.

He didn’t know what there was to be so happy about—maybe the lamb soup had him all excited. He waved toward One, pinched his fingers together to make a heart, puckered his lips playfully, and blew several kisses.

One seemed stunned, frozen in place—or perhaps it was rapidly searching its chip database to figure out what two fingers pinched together meant.

After a moment, the Mechanical Puppet smiled and pinched its fingers together as well.

One heart.