"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The gunshots drew nearer.
Bell, lying in a pool of his own blood, realized that Death was slowly approaching him. Even without the bandits currently delivering finishing shots, with a large hole blown in his abdomen and his hand clutching it finding only a foul, slippery mess, he didn't have long to live.
At least...
At least before he died, he had to take someone down with him.
Inside his sturdy leather jacket, his Glock 19 pistol, with a full 16-round magazine and composed of only 34 parts, already had its safety off. Weighing a net 594 grams and using 9mm pistol rounds, the Glock 19, though it might take many shots to kill an ordinary person, was exceptionally concealable and portable.
"Tap."
"Tap."
The bandits' boots were of considerable quality.
Artificial leather wouldn't make such a "crisp" sound on this kind of ground. In an era where leather materials were hard to come by, such a pair of boots was definitely worth a fortune.
"Tap."
The moment the footsteps stopped behind him—he was lying prone, hands clutching his abdomen—Bell cast aside all pain and thoughts, spun around, and raised his pistol, instantly aiming at the newcomer's head!
But...
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull the trigger.
The newcomers weren't the bandits Bell had imagined. Although they were all in civilian clothes, the weapons simultaneously pointed at him, and the face he had glimpsed once at the entrance of the Truckers' Association president's office, all revealed the perpetrators' identities:
The Australian Military.
Bell's mind had never been clearer than at this moment.
Everything suddenly became clear—the supplies the government had gone to great lengths to "mobilize" weren't meant to support those unwelcome outsiders. Instead, through this simple sleight of hand, they were generously delivered into the hands of the military.
Otherwise, it was simply inexplicable that such important supplies were being transported solely by a civilian convoy.
This was still a relatively positive thought.
If he were to think more grimly... if the army had already fallen out with a government that, under public pressure, was reluctant to increase military spending—reducing the residents' quality of life to deal with Honkai Beasts that hadn't even appeared in the eastern city clusters was something the not-so-bright local residents would never accept—then the cities were probably doomed.
Of course.
These matters weren't for Bell to consider; they merely flickered through his mind like a revolving lantern.
The startled soldier, the moment the pistol was pointed at him, immediately ducked to avoid the line of fire—a rather standard maneuver—then, without hesitation, pulled the trigger, aiming at Bell's chest.
"Bang!" xN
"Crack."
Firewood crackled on the sand.
In the pitch-black night, Lu Xing had lit a bonfire. A Honkai Beast's body naturally didn't need warmth; he was doing it merely for a greater sense of ritual.
Below a large, leeward sand dune.
Lu Xing had found a pocket oasis, less than 50 square meters in area. Here grew a few low-lying shrubs and dried thorns, their color already turned from green to brown, and a small puddle that was almost dry.
The scarce water mixed with the even scarcer desert soil had turned into an unpotable mud slurry, barely half a centimeter deep.
Then.
Lu Xing discovered a small creature that was neither human nor Honkai Beast: a Thorny Devil (Australian Moloch horridus).
Only palm-sized, the Thorny Devil was very "cool."
Thorny Devils are native Australian creatures, their entire bodies covered in armor-like thorns, closely resembling the "earth dragons" of human fantasy.
This was the first time Lu Xing had encountered a creature other than humans and Honkai Beasts.
When the little thing was discovered, it was showcasing its extraordinary ability—to survive in the arid desert environment, Thorny Devils can "absorb water" with their limbs: fine grooves all over their bodies could filter and channel moisture through their skin to their heads, then "slide" it into the Thorny Devil's mouth.
And so.
This Thorny Devil became Lu Xing's pet to pass the time. Killing too much of anything eventually leads to weariness. Upon seeing a life form that was neither beneficial nor harmful to him, Lu Xing, for a rare moment, calmed down and began to observe these wonders of nature.
Perhaps the Thorny Devil sensed something.
From the moment Lu Xing appeared until now, the little creature showed no intention of fleeing. Instead, some other restless little lives hidden near the oasis became Lu Xing's test subjects.
Sand Scorpions.
These translucent creatures, with pale yellow bodies, were lured out by the bonfire Lu Xing had lit just before they fully entered hibernation.
Then, they were skewered on a not-so-thick shrub branch and roasted by the bonfire—this too was for the sense of ritual. After all, for creatures like scorpions, most ways of eating them involved cutting off the tip of the tail and then chewing and swallowing them raw.
Well... coating them in flour and deep-frying them tempura-style was also an option.
Lu Xing didn't intend to eat them—although he had grown shark-like teeth, the tongue in his mouth was merely for show, unable to taste flavors or manipulate food. Instead, he was trying different methods to inject Honkai energy into them.
After the experiment.
The situation was somewhat different from what Lu Xing had imagined: in the world of Sanbengzi, there were indeed some supernatural species. Whether these lives were catalyzed by Honkai was difficult to determine, but they certainly did not contain Honkai energy.
If they could become so powerful without Honkai energy, then with the enhancement of Honkai energy, wouldn't the species born from it be even more interesting?
With nothing better to do, Lu Xing gave it a try.
However, he failed.
All the Sand Scorpions injected with Honkai energy instantly turned into fine sand and trickled through his fingers; they couldn't even withstand the smallest iota of Honkai energy.
A Sand Scorpion he tried to eat.
Was similarly eroded by his body's "rejection response"—Honkai Beasts don't have digestive systems. The moment the Sand Scorpion entered his mouth, the tube-like constructed tissues within his body swarmed it like octopus tentacles, surrounding and tearing the food apart in just half a second, then it turned into "fine sand" and disappeared.
"Hmm..."
Lu Xing didn't experiment on the Thorny Devil, which he had grown quite fond of.
The Honkai Beast body still held many mysteries. These things could only be discovered slowly through trial and error; there was no need to rush understanding himself.
If he wanted to know more.
Perhaps raiding a few laboratories was the best way.
"Rustle."
Silky sand slid off his body.
Lu Xing stood up rather abruptly. The Thorny Devil, which had been rooted to the spot, finally found its chance and "whooshed" away—most lizards in Australia aren't slow runners, especially the smaller species.
Lu Xing had rested enough.
Just as he was preparing to resume his journey—
"Bang!"
Gunfire from afar shattered the tranquility of the night.