Da-da-da!!
Outside the base, as Lu Hao raised his machine gun and took down two remaining mercenaries, there was no further resistance ahead.
"They slaughtered the natives here."
"This group is too brutal."
When they reached the abandoned town, they found corpses scattered everywhere. This group of mercenaries had slaughtered the native tribe here.
In the face of powerful modern weapons, the native tribe's spears had no chance of resistance.
"Don't waste time, we need to get out of here quickly before the mercenaries react."
When they found their off-road vehicle, they discovered that the four guides they had hired were gone.
"They probably discovered the mercenaries were massacring the native tribe and were afraid of being discovered, so they ran off."
Lu Hao looked at the smashed car window and the emptied supplies inside, shaking his head. He already guessed that this group had run away.
But he couldn't blame them. After all, the mercenaries were too brutal. These four likely concluded that Lu Hao and his group wouldn't survive, so they decided to run for their lives.
"All our supplies are gone."
Ada saw the looted supplies and was furious, "These guys... I'm going to report them when I get back. They won't get any payment."
According to the original agreement, they paid half the price when they set out, and the remaining half was due upon their return.
Now they could save half the money.
It's just that losing the supplies was a bit troublesome.
Fortunately, they took the keys, so they might even be able to keep the car.
"We can hunt for food occasionally, but what about drinking water?"
Colonel Bird and Colonel Banner both furrowed their brows, their expressions heavy.
Running out of water in the desert is a serious matter.
"I still have a bag of water here."
Jack unbuttoned his jacket, revealing the water bag hidden in his inner lining to everyone. Ada exclaimed in delight, "Jack, you're my angel."
While everyone else was discussing, Lu Hao grabbed a shovel and started digging in the sand under a dune.
"Lu Hao, what are you doing!?"
Elsa noticed Lu Hao's unusual behavior and quickly asked. The others also looked over.
"Digging for water."
Lu Hao kept his head down and dug, not bothering to reply.
"You wouldn't be planning to dig a well right now, would you!?"
Jack teased with a smile. Lu Hao then threw down the shovel and, out of everyone's sight, pulled out two boxes of bottled water, shaking off the sand on top.
Everyone was stunned. Wild bottled water under the sand!?
Lu Hao chuckled, "I was prepared for them. I deliberately buried two boxes of water under the sand. This should be enough for us to reach the next water source."
In reality, he had taken it out of his storage ring and then used the shovel to sprinkle a couple of handfuls of sand to make it look like he had dug it up.
"Lu Hao, you're my god!!"
Hearing that it was Lu Hao who had hidden the bottled water, Ada praised Lu Hao excitedly.
Colonel Bird and Colonel Banner were also overjoyed. With water, they wouldn't have to worry.
"You rascal… you're really reliable."
Even Jack had to admit that it was fortunate that Lu Hao was on this expedition, otherwise, their group would likely have perished in the desert.
Elsa also looked at Lu Hao with a hint of admiration. Lu Hao always stepped up to help them overcome difficulties at critical moments.
Such a reliable man is attractive to women.
"Don't just stand there, get in the car."
Lu Hao's storage ring held a lot of supplies. If they rationed the food, it would be enough for their group to make it back.
And they had more drinking water than they could swim in.
So he wasn't worried about running out of supplies at all.
The group rushed into the car. Jack slammed his foot on the gas pedal. With the roar of the engine, they shot off, quickly fleeing from the Buqi Laoqi base.
Colonel Bird and Colonel Banner followed closely behind.
Clang-clang-clang!!
Ada unloaded the gold she was carrying. The gold bars clinked together with a crisp sound. She looked satisfied, "I've struck gold."
"..."
Lu Hao looked at the less than ten kilograms of gold at her feet. He couldn't understand how she had struck gold?
"Oh no, my grandfather's remains."
Elsa suddenly cried out. Lu Hao patted his backpack, "Don't worry, I've taken care of your grandfather's remains."
"Lu Hao, thank you so much."
Hearing that Lu Hao had already collected her grandfather's remains, Elsa was filled with gratitude, and she hugged Lu Hao and kissed him. "I'm so lucky to have you on this journey."
"Yeah, we're lucky to have Lu Hao on this trip, or we'd have come back empty-handed."
Ada nodded in agreement. If they hadn't had Lu Hao as their guide, they wouldn't have found the Buqi Laoqi base. The gold inside the base would most likely have been taken away by those mercenaries.
Jack was driving the car. He said in a low voice, "It's not like those mercenaries got away with it!?" Two tons of gold, I wonder if he'll get it back.
"Later, we'll find a safe place to contact the Earl, let the Earl contact the local government to send bombers, and blow those bastards to smithereens."
Ada cursed angrily.
Boom!!
At that moment, a huge explosion erupted from the base behind them.
They turned around in shock and saw the entire base collapsing with the explosion.
"What's going on? Did Colonel Bird contact the local bombers so quickly!?"
Ada was completely baffled.
Lu Hao looked at the collapsing base and his expression turned strange. He guessed, "Maybe the mercenaries' explosives detonated other explosives in the base, triggering a chain reaction, leading to the collapse of the entire base!!"
"Haha, then they really got what they deserved!"
Ada clapped her hands in delight, "It's better for that gold to be buried under the base and wait for the UN to dig it up than for those guys to take it."
At least her pay would still be safe.
Lu Hao smiled but said nothing. There was indeed twenty tons of gold under the base, but it was unclear if the UN would give Jack and his group a share after digging it up.
On this life-or-death treasure hunt, Jack's gains were not as substantial as the million dollars he extorted.
"Wait… we seem to have rejoiced too soon."
Lu Hao's face suddenly turned serious.
"What's wrong?"
Ada and the others were full of suspicion.
"A sandstorm is coming."
The explosion at the base unexpectedly kicked up a sandstorm, rushing towards their convoy with lightning speed.
"Close the windows, everyone hold on tight."
Jack roared, stepping hard on the gas pedal to try to get out of the range of the explosion's impact before the sandstorm arrived.
This wasn't a normal sandstorm, it was a sandstorm caused by the shockwave from the powerful explosion, which in theory shouldn't kill anyone.
However, even so, this sandstorm was still troublesome for them.
Because the yellow sand blown in by the sandstorm would damage the car's functions, possibly causing the car to break down.
Then they would be in a real bind.
"Go! Go! Go!!"
Amidst Ada's screams, Jack stepped hard on the gas pedal, raising a cloud of dust in the desert, relentlessly accelerating to full speed to escape the range of the sandstorm.
Colonel Bird and Colonel Banner followed closely behind.