Jinling?
Chen Jian looked at Xu Lie, who was still bound and unable to move on the ground, a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
From Chuansha to Jinling, as he remembered, was nearly 900 kilometers in a straight line. Without highly mobile vehicles, was it really possible to go there just like that?
Even at a forced march pace, without rest, it would take about 20 days.
This period was exceedingly long, and the variables were too great.
Chen Jian found it hard not to suspect Xu Lie had ulterior motives. After all, the recent refugees had already taught him a lesson, and now Xu Lie was so blatantly sharing information about the "bounty"—it was simply too absurd.
So, he didn't respond to Xu Lie's words at all but instead asked him the three most basic, yet most important, questions.
First, where could food and water be obtained.
Second, where to find ammo supplies.
Third, how to entirely kill the mother body.
Xu Lie, appearing unreserved, answered one by one:
"Within all of Chuansha City, you won't be able to find any directly consumable food; most of the water sources have already been tainted by the mother body."
"But in the forest outside the city, food is abundant and the water is safe."
"As for ammo supplies... perhaps you should ask the Mechanical God Sect about that; we almost never use firearms in combat."
"What kind of joke is this?"
Chen Jian asked in astonishment:
"No firearms, no heavy weapons. Do you expect to take down a twenty-meter-tall monster with the fruit knife you've got?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Lie snickered, responding:
"You know that's a fruit knife? That knife is merely a tool, for starting fires, cutting meat, peeling fruits."
"Though the physical quality of Holy Blood members far exceeds that of normal people, our combat relies on intelligence."
"We spend a lot of time tracking prey, finding weaknesses, setting traps. When we finally decide to make a move, even a single bullet is unnecessary..."
"So, how were you planning to take down this monster in Chuansha City?"
Chen Jian interrupted Xu Lie, insisting:
"Tell me."
Xu Lie looked around and began to speak:
"If you want me to speak, it's quite simple. I don't ask that you release me; at least move these stones out of the way first."
"The iron spikes on these are rubbing against my wound; it's very painful."
Chen Jian nodded, giving Lei Jie a look, and the latter immediately moved the stones away.
Everyone noticed that the wounds on Xu Lie's left leg and left abdomen had completely stopped bleeding, and there was even a slight tendency of them closing up.
Though there were no signs of healing yet, the speed of recovery was absolutely astonishing.
Goodness, a saintly body?
Chen Jian cautiously placed his fingers on the trigger while Xu Lie, after a satisfying groan, began to answer:
"Actually, you should know better than I do that the monster's strengths and weaknesses are both very pronounced."
"Strong regenerative abilities, high flexibility, massive size, and it controls a group of subordinate monsters."
"Facing something like this head-on is very difficult to win."
"But it has a rather fatal weakness, which is its overly complex blood circulatory system that severely impairs its clotting ability."
"In fact, it really doesn't have a clotting ability matching its size."
"So if you create a cut that continues to bleed, it won't take long before it bleeds to death."
"As for how to prevent its muscles from contracting to stop the bleeding... that's our secret."
As Xu Lie finished, Chen Jian was left speechless.
He had thought that the confrontation between humans and monsters, or at least this group of "Holy Blood" members against monsters, would be a clash of man and beast, sword and fire, armor and flesh.
But now it seemed that wasn't the case at all?
Bleeding, preventing muscle contraction...
These so-called Holy Blood members aren't planning to give that mother body a massive dose of muscle relaxant injection, are they??
What is this?
Battlefield medics, using potions to kill the enemy?
It really was like Xu Lie said, their organization relies on wits in combat...
"I think I know how you plan to do it."
Chen Jian took a deep breath and said:
"Then let's go take down that monster, and when we return to Jinling, we'll discuss how to split the bounty."
"We can fully cooperate; you provide the information we need, and I guarantee your safety."
"Also, you've delayed long enough."
Chen Jian shifted his gaze from the corner of his smart goggles and continued:
"Tell your friends to put down their weapons; don't waste their efforts."
"They're already at the edge of the warning zone; one more step, and I'll order them to be taken out as enemies immediately."
Upon hearing Chen Jian's words, Xu Lie's expression changed instantly.
He stared into Chen Jian's eyes, incredulous, and asked:
"How on earth did you see that??"
"That's not important."
Chen Jian held the radio he had confiscated from Xu Lie, pressing a few keys casually, and intermittent signals came through.
"An antique, civilian-grade radio, still using analog, almost like a child's toy."
"You probably don't understand the principle behind this thing, or else you wouldn't have kept it on continuously, exposing all your allies' positions."
"Did you think it was you observing us?"
"Wrong. From the moment you turned on the radio, we already had all your information."
"You should be glad you didn't lie to me about my questions and grateful that the codeword you used was 'wait' rather than 'attack'."
"Otherwise... you'd be dooming not only yourself but also them."
As the words fell, Xu Lie, lying immobile on the ground, felt a chill envelop his entire body.
He had always thought he was disguised well enough and acting naturally enough.
But if they knew he was acting from the start, was all his painstaking performance even meaningful?
Cold sweat soaked Xu Lie's back as he recalled Chen Jian's words.
A child's toy...
This walkie-talkie, incredibly precious, not even the technology-obsessed Mechanical God Sect could decode its workings.
Yet in the eyes of the person opposite him, it was just a toy.
More terrifyingly, Xu Lie could sense that the other wasn't exaggerating at all.
He even knew their team's codewords, meaning all the conversations between Xu Lie and his team were monitored by them...
Xu Lie looked at Chen Jian's calm face, and in that moment, he no longer had any desire to resist.
So, he put away his pretended ease and said solemnly:
"Then let's cooperate."
"I concede."