Last Totem Novel - Chapter 42

Chapter 42 Retreat
Just as everyone was trembling in fear, a red light suddenly flashed through the pitch-black window. Tie Zha looked out and saw two meteors dragging golden tail flames into the sky.

“Explosive rocket!” Old Di shouted. Immediately after, there were two loud explosions! Along with the dazzling light, two huge fireballs ignited in the air. In an instant, the flames shone red in the sky. Sha Feng’s shrill screams were deafening, and countless black dots fell to the ground with flames …

The explosion produced violent shockwaves that shook the vehicles, causing the windows of several of them to shatter! At the same time, terrified screams came from the walkie-talkie!

After a few seconds, everything returned to normal. The sun hung high in the sky, and the sea of sand returned to a clear sky. For a moment, the surroundings were as quiet as if nothing had happened. If it weren’t for the residual smell of smoke in the air, he might have thought that everything just now was just a dream.

Afterwards, Tie Zha and Old Di got out of the car and counted people to treat the injured. Most of the guards were bitten by Sha Feng, but all of them were slightly injured. A single shot of antidote was enough. Among the creatures of the Sand Sea, the toxicity of Sand Peak was relatively low. However, their numbers were huge, and if they were bitten repeatedly, their lives would be in danger.

“I didn’t see anyone from car number four.” “Yes, I don’t see Mike and the others.” Some of the guards noticed.

Afterwards, Tie Zha and Old Di brought people to Sandy Land Vehicle No. 4. The front right window of the sandy car was broken. Because the sandy car was taller, it could not be seen from the ground. Old Di shouted a few times, but no one inside answered. Seeing this, everyone looked at each other, and a bad premonition filled their hearts.

Tie Zha stepped forward and grabbed the handle of the sand truck, signaling for everyone to retreat. Then, he suddenly pulled open the car door! The moment he opened the door, a garrison member tilted his body and fell out of the car. He hurriedly caught it. At this moment, a buzzing sound suddenly sounded from inside the car, and a black figure the size of a fist rushed out!

He swiftly slapped the black shadow flying towards his face. With a muffled sound, the black shadow crashed into the car and spat out green slurry. The black figure was completely black, with four pairs of transparent wings. A few centimeters long black spike appeared on its tail. This thing was Sand Peak, one of the most common creatures in the Sand Sea. The Sand Peak alone was not terrifying. It was a horrifying swarm of bees that covered the sky and could sweep through almost all living things.

Tie Zha then placed the unconscious garrison on the ground and climbed into the car to inspect it. After confirming that there was no danger, the three unconscious garrison members were moved out of the car in turn.

Half a bucket of water was examined by Old Di, who picked out the sting and injected it with antidote. However, the four guards had been bitten several times and their faces were swollen like balloons. Old Di suggested arranging for a rattlesnake to send them back to Tieshan Town for treatment. These people would have to stay in bed for at least two weeks before they could recover.

Tie Zha secretly complained in his heart. Before he could reap anything, he had already severely injured four of his team members. The medical fees and remuneration were also a large sum of money, plus the two mechs had each fired a valuable explosive rocket, all of which had to be borne by him. Looks like they shouldn’t bring people out this time. After all, in the sand sea, the survival ability of this group of rookies is very limited. He hesitated for a moment and thought about whether he should go back as a whole.

Old Di seemed to have seen through his thoughts. He pulled him to the side and whispered, “There are no undead or uninjured in war. Since we’re out, we need to complete the mission as much as possible. They’re just injured and won’t cost much. The two explosive rockets will then follow up and say that we’ll suppress the violence/use it up. We have a certain ammunition budget every year.”

Iron Slag thought for a moment. If he brought his men back now, Lena would probably laugh at him.

“Oh ~ baby ~ I was bullied by a sandworm ~ I’m fine ~ Big sister will take you out ~ Ah ~”

Thinking that Lena would say that, Tie Zha agreed to Old Di’s suggestion. Next, a pilot and four injured people returned to Tieshan Town first, and the rest of the team rested on the spot.

When night fell, Tie Zha sat alone on the sand and looked at the stars, while Ye Xinling hurriedly set up a tent and prepared dinner. At this time, the two garrison members pushed each other to the side of the iron slag. One of them said hesitantly, “Brother Tie, I’m Big Head. Do you remember?”

Tie Zha shook his head, indicating that he had no impression. The other party continued, “When you were young, you went to the Giant Mulberry Store … I even helped you keep watch.”

“Since you’ve known me since you were a child, don’t turn around when you speak. If you have something to say, just say it directly. I can’t understand what you’re doing.” Tie Zha grinned and said.

“It’s still Brother Tie.” Big Head pushed his teammate beside him. The teammate continued, “Brother Tie, we are all from the town. We are also soldiers to support our families” Then he pushed Big Head, and Big Head continued, “Come here and take risks. If something happens to us, we won’t be able to uncover our family.”

“Right, right, right. We don’t earn much, but we can barely make ends meet. There are some old and some young …”

The two of them stammered for a long time before they understood what they meant. Probably, they felt that the sand sea was too dangerous and hoped that Tie Zha would give them a hand and lead the team home.

Tie Zha thought for a moment and felt that it was indeed inconvenient to bring these people along. Their ability to survive in the sand sea was too low. So he replied, “Alright, call Old Di over and leave for Tieshan Town tomorrow morning.”

Upon receiving a positive answer, the two players immediately cheered and praised the iron slag one by one. The iron slag casually waved its hand and told them to call someone. Not long after, Old Flute came over. After listening to Tie Zha’s arrangements, Lao Di sighed and scolded, “These two bastards, let’s see how I’ll deal with them when I get back.”

“There’s no need to make things difficult for them. I didn’t think about it. After all, the sand sea is too dangerous.” Said Tie Zha.

Hearing Tie Zha’s words, Old Di remembered what Lena had told him before he left. She said that although the iron slag was fierce towards the enemy, it was somewhat soft-hearted towards her own people. She thought that iron slag could not control people, so she asked Old Di to help him be a bad person when necessary. Whoever should be executed, let Old Flute take action first.

However, Iron Slag had already personally promised to retreat. The two ruffians probably told the whole team the good news. Now, it was too late to correct the order. Upon returning to the camp, Old Di immediately asked which two of them had requested it. He didn’t expect that the two of them would actually dare to directly ask for instructions from the iron slag. Iron slag was a famous fierce god, the most ruthless law enforcer in Tieshan Town. Logically speaking, when they had the intention to retreat, they should first discuss it with the old flute before asking about the iron slag. However, they had accidentally asked the right person. If they went to find Old Di first, they might have been executed by Old Di on the grounds of “shaking the morale of the army”.

As matters stood, Old Di had no other choice but to arrange the return journey tomorrow according to the requirements of the iron slag. In the meantime, Old Flute secretly wrote down the names of these two troublemakers in his pocket book. The two of them had already been assigned to the third-line personnel. The so-called third-line personnel didn’t have his share of benefits. He did all the dirty and tiring work, and cannon fodder was also a priority for him.

“What kind of soldier are you afraid of dying for!” Old Di cursed in his heart.

The next morning, the team finished their preparations and began to return to Tieshan Town. However, on the way back, he encountered a strange thing.

[Captain, Alice has detected that the vehicle that left yesterday suddenly changed direction about a hundred kilometers away from the camp. Originally, they were heading south towards Tieshan Town, but at that coordinates, they turned east. Twenty-seven minutes later, their coordinates began to be lost. Alice can monitor the coordinates within a range of 300 kilometers, so it is possible that the loss of the signal was caused by someone. Alice suggests that the captain go to the coordinates of the turning point to check.]

Since the coordinates of the turning point of the vehicle were on the way back, the whereabouts of the five garrison members were also involved. Half a day later, Tie Zha arrived at her destination at Alice’s prompt.

Old Di sent people to search around the coordinates for a while. Soon, someone reported that they found five corpses. They were the five garrison members who left yesterday afternoon. Old Di rushed to the scene and found that the five corpses were stripped naked and half buried in the sand. Everyone had a bloody hole in the back of their head. They were probably shot at the back of their head. Based on the traces of the scene, Old Di quickly determined that the murderers were professional soldiers, and there were quite a few of them. The murderer’s goal was clear-to seize the sand trucks and supplies.

There was no law in the sand sea, and it was almost the norm to kill people and steal goods. It was said that most of the teams that hunted sand worms every year died at the hands of their own people, not sand worms.

Tie Zha frowned as he looked at the five corpses. Not only did he have to face the cost of losing thousands of personnel and equipment, he also had to face the loss of five lives. These people were still gulping down ale in the Black Fire Bar a few days ago …

“Old Di, bring someone back first.” Iron slag said.

“Tie Zha, what do you mean?” Old Di asked as he closed his eyes for the corpse.

“I brought him out. I should be responsible to the end. You guys go back first.” Tie Zha said calmly.

“Let’s go together. Let’s go back together.” Old Di pulled out his pistol and said, “If I go back by myself, Big Sister will definitely kill me.”

“It’s not convenient for you to follow me. I prefer to act alone.” Tie Zha explained.

At this time, Big Head, who had retreated last night, stepped out of the queue. “Brother Tie, there are my brothers here. Let me go with you. Although Big Head is afraid of death, his brothers should not die in vain.” He said after holding back for a long time, “Brother Tie, there are my brothers here. Let me go with you. Even though Big Head is afraid of death, his brothers should not die in vain.”

“That’s right! Big Head is right!” “They are all soldiers. At worst, they will only have one life.” “My brother has been killed, and he still doesn’t dare to go. What kind of man is he!” “Brother Tie, count me in.”

Tie Zha looked at the excited crowd and waved his hand, shouting, “Brothers, let’s go!”