Chapter 52: Alliance Real-Time Intelligence

The person stepping out of the vehicle was none other than the bounty hunter Li Ye had encountered in Thunder Canyon.

At this moment, the other party looked quite surprised as well.

"Thanks to you for saving me, otherwise those bastards would have made a killing," he let out a long breath.

Upon hearing these words, Li Ye instantly realized what was happening, and his heart began to pound wildly.

"You don't mean..."

Sure enough, the bounty hunter pulled something out from inside his coat—it was precisely the City Structure Blueprint!

According to his account, about an hour and a half ago, he had unexpectedly acquired this fine item after killing an elite goblin.

As a bounty hunter accustomed to traveling far and wide, he naturally understood the value of this City Structure Blueprint.

He therefore decided to cash in on the blueprint immediately to secure his gains.

In fact, he had already found a buyer: the Tarot Alliance.

When the neutral wilderness boss Sir Henry appeared, this bounty hunter had been working for the Tarot Alliance, helping to collect goblin coins and artwork. Naturally, he knew they would definitely be able to handle this blueprint.

However, out of caution during the transaction, he had kept his wits about him.

He had maintained a distance of three kilometers from the predatory cities and demanded that they send a single vehicle with a single driver, carrying 57,000 crystal coins, to conduct the trade.

Instead, the Tarot Alliance chose to send a convoy to ambush and encircle him.

Although that sum of money wasn't particularly large to them,

not spending it would save even more.

Seeing Li Ye staring intently at the blueprint without blinking, the bounty hunter immediately understood.

"Then I'll just sell it to you. I'm not greedy, just give me a fair price."

"This..."

Li Ye was momentarily put in a difficult position.

"I don't have many crystal coins on hand, only a little over 18,000," he replied.

Hearing this, the bounty hunter's mouth twitched involuntarily.

Compared to the market price of 57,000 crystal coins, this was equivalent to a thirty-percent discount, turning a friendly price into a broken-bone price.

A few seconds later, he waved his hand helplessly.

"Fine, you did save my life after all."

While exchanging money and goods simultaneously, Li Ye fell into deep thought.

Truth be told, he would have loved to get it for free.

This blueprint was practically equivalent to a whole row of goblin helicopters.

If those 18,000-plus crystal coins could be saved, they could be used to purchase a substantial amount of supplies.

However, he ultimately dismissed the thought.

"Forget it, it's already great enough to have the chance to acquire this blueprint, and at a mere price of over 18,000, I've made a massive profit."

At the same time, he glanced at the other man.

"Who knows, I might even collaborate with this guy in the future."

Considering that the bounty hunter's off-road vehicle was practically on the verge of falling apart, Li Ye simply used the manufacturing workshop to craft a brand-new Tier 1 off-road vehicle and gave it to him.

He also thoughtfully fueled up the vehicle, threw in a Falcon assault rifle, a Gale rocket launcher, a packet of Blue-Heart potato seeds, and a packet of Morning-Light wheat seeds, alongside plenty of rations and fresh water.

Compared to the money saved from the discount, these supplies were hardly worth mentioning.

The bounty hunter was somewhat astonished.

"I have to say, the foundation of a mobile city is truly wealthy," he remarked with emotion. "No wonder so many people rack their brains and risk everything just to own a mobile city of their own."

"Say, brother, why don't you just join the Tomorrow?" Old Zhou, standing nearby, suggested. "The wilderness is simply too dangerous; living on a mobile city is at least stable and comes with security guarantees."

The bounty hunter thought about it for a moment, then gently shook his head.

"Thank you for your kind intentions. The Tomorrow is indeed powerful, but I prefer the life of sleeping under the stars in the wilderness."

Li Ye did not press the matter any further.

After all, in the apocalyptic wasteland, everyone had their own way of living.

After a brief farewell, the bounty hunter boarded the off-road vehicle and drove off into the distance.

Not long after, the motorcycles sent out by the Tomorrow for scouting also returned one after another.

Li Ye carefully stored the City Structure Blueprint and walked straight into the cab.

Using his Lord's Bracelet, he logged into the A4 communication channel.

In fact, the A4 communication channel was not open 24/7 and remained shut most of the time.

When logging into the communication channel for the first time, Li Ye had seen the channel announcement:

[A4 communication channel opening hours: 12:00-13:00, 18:00-19:00]

[If it is outside these hours, please do not continue waiting.]

[Please understand that the city radio cannot operate around the clock, as its energy consumption is extremely high. Each activation consumes 5% of the city's energy, followed by an hourly consumption of 6%.]

Li Ye glanced at the time; it was precisely 17:51.

"I'll just wait for a bit then."

A few minutes later, the A4 communication channel opened.

A flurry of messages instantly appeared on the screen.

[Vanguard: Is everyone doing well?]

[Echo: No issues on my end, what about the others?]

[Forest Gull: No issues here either. That wilderness boss still hasn't been touched by anyone.]

[Moon Shadow: Boss, are you guys getting close?]

[Bronze Wanderer: Still a few days away. The roads here are terribly difficult to traverse.]

Li Ye glanced at the group member online list, which clearly displayed 7/8.

Aside from the five mobile cities currently present, the remaining two were named "Roamer" and "Horizon".

The Roamer was currently online, while the Horizon was offline.

He simply typed out a question.

[Tomorrow: Why is the Horizon offline? Did it fail to log in, or was it wiped out?]

[Bronze Wanderer: The Horizon was located in the southern region of the wasteland. It has probably entered the desert zone by now and lost contact with us.]

[Roamer: Tier 2 city radios can only facilitate communication between mobile cities within the same region.]

[Tomorrow: Understood, thanks for the info.]

Shortly after, the mobile cities began exchanging intelligence.

[Moon Shadow: I've already reached the Giant Forest, just waiting for you guys to rendezvous.]

[Bronze Wanderer: The western region where the boss and I are located has abundant mineral veins, but due to the mountainous terrain, mining is extremely difficult.]

[Forest Gull: I have currently explored deep into the shifting labyrinth. The monsters here are primarily snake-men, and the threat level isn't too high overall. I'll try my best to traverse this shifting labyrinth and see what lies beyond the eastern part of the wasteland.]

[Vanguard: Mm, remember to be careful. Put your own safety first no matter what happens.]

Li Ye rapidly browsed through this intelligence.

Judging by Forest Gull's situation, it truly wouldn't be able to rendezvous with the others and could only continue operating as a lone wolf.

To be honest, Li Ye was also quite curious about the region beyond the eastern wasteland; at present, that was the only area that remained unexplored.

[Moon Shadow: Tomorrow, how is it over on your end? Any intelligence to share?]

Li Ye thought for a moment, then typed a line of text onto the screen.