3: Robbery

About ten minutes later, Li Xiao and the other two arrived at the visible edge of the map.

There, Li Xiao saw an arced light barrier extending infinitely to both sides. He tried to touch the light barrier, but there was no anomaly.

"It seems this is the demarcation line of the safe zone. Once we pass this light barrier, we will no longer be protected!"

Li Xiao drew his pistol from his waist and set the firing mode to single shot. He had no doubt about the system's warning; perhaps some of the two billion players who came over had already lost their lives.

On the way, he entered the communication channel again, and many people had already reported being attacked by unknown forces after leaving the safe zone.

Even more, some not only lost their entire unit but were also severely injured themselves, pleading for rescue in the chat channel.

Despite the potential dangers ahead, Li Xiao resolutely stepped out of the safe zone.

"Advance stealthily. If you encounter hostiles, try to avoid combat!"

Li Xiao formulated basic countermeasures, then headed straight east without looking back.

After an hour of walking, Li Xiao and his two companions finally approached the road.

In fact, they could have been faster, but for safety reasons, they basically walked a bit, observed a bit, fearing they would encounter people.

This was a town road, a two-way single lane. Perhaps it had just rained a little, neither too heavy nor too light, leaving the road surface damp and cool breezes stirring the leaves to tumble across the road.

"Up or down?" Li Xiao asked. He saw no signs of human habitation in either direction and was unsure which way to choose.

Fortunately, Di Yun still had some reconnaissance ability. After carefully examining the tracks on the road, he judged that heading north was likely closer to a population center.

As for the reason, it was probably because the tire tracks heading northeast were denser.

"Alright! We'll follow the road north and see."

Soon, their movement trajectory left a winding path on the map, and the real-time environment within a five-hundred-meter radius along the way was recorded by the map system.

After walking about two more kilometers, Di Yun suddenly discovered a stone bridge ahead, with a river about twenty meters wide flowing beneath it.

And on the other side, at one end of the bridge, Li Xiao actually saw a checkpoint, with a heavy machine gun mounted in a circular sandbag fortification.

Next to it was a military tent, and near a folding dining table outside the tent sat three armed soldiers. They were wearing black combat uniforms, with their bulletproof vests and helmets hanging nearby, playing poker.

"It's Black Hawk Empire forces!" Di Yun immediately said in a deep voice.

"Is it the Black Hawk Empire that Ye Ming mentioned earlier?"

"Yes, Commander. This Black Hawk Empire launched a lightning offensive globally, catching various countries off guard. Now, over seventy percent of the regions are under their control!"

"That's right!" Ye Ming added, "Squad Leader Di is correct. All Black Hawk Empire troops wear black combat uniforms, usually with a black eagle pattern on them, making them easy to identify."

Li Xiao frowned slightly. Although the river was only twenty meters wide, the current was somewhat swift. To the east and west, there was no other visible place for quick passage.

"What should we do? Should we fight our way through?"

Time was precious, and Li Xiao really didn't want to waste it on detours.

"Although there are only three enemies, there are no usable covers around the bridge, making it difficult for us to get close. A long-range attack cannot guarantee eliminating the opponents immediately. Once they enter the heavy machine gun fortification, it will be very difficult for us to break through!"

Di Yun quickly analyzed the battlefield situation. Even Li Xiao, who didn't understand military tactics, knew that with this three-person bridgehead position, let alone Di Yun being the only one with normal combat effectiveness among them, even if a squad or platoon came, it would be difficult to take it down without heavy firepower.

"But Commander, don't worry too much. Their tent must have fuel and food supplies. We can wait until night to launch a surprise attack. That way, we solve the problem of one resource, fuel, and our food problem can also be resolved."

Oh, and food. If Ye Ming hadn't mentioned it, Li Xiao wouldn't have remembered. Although Di Yun and Ye Ming both carried a field ration, it would be gone once eaten.

The same went for ammunition; it couldn't be refreshed or reset. Once used up, they could only rely on scavenging.

Li Xiao glanced at the sky. It was noon, still eight or nine hours until nightfall.

"No, this is too much of a waste of time. We must think of another way!"

As Li Xiao was speaking, a car horn suddenly blared from behind. The three turned around to see a jeep with jungle camouflage rapidly approaching.

The car was moving very fast, probably around seventy kilometers per hour, but they could still make out a Black Hawk Empire soldier inside, likely an officer.

The car stopped briefly at the bridgehead checkpoint before driving away. The three soldiers merely conducted a routine check before returning to their table.

Seeing this, Li Xiao suddenly had a bold idea.

"Let's go, we're going to hijack a car!"

"Hijack a car? What does the Commander want to do?" Ye Ming asked.

Di Yun seemed to understand Li Xiao's words: "Commander, good idea! I think we can try it!"

Li Xiao nodded to Di Yun, and the two retreated without minding the bewildered Ye Ming.

About three or four kilometers from the bridge, Li Xiao said to Ye Ming, "Ye Ming, we need to hijack a car now and then enter the checkpoint for a surprise attack. Do you have any way to puncture the tires?"

"Ah! So that's it. I actually do have something that can puncture tires!"

Ye Ming suddenly understood and quickly opened his portable toolbox. Li Xiao and Di Yun looked over, seeing many things inside the toolbox: portable hydraulic pliers, a complete set of repair tools, electronic measuring equipment, and even detonators and C4 explosives.

However, these were not what he intended to use. He took out a row of rhomboid, foldable steel objects from a compartment in the toolbox, one side of which had sharp four-centimeter conical spikes.

"This is..."

Li Xiao found this very familiar; it was specifically used for anti-car ramming and tire puncturing, but he had forgotten its professional name.

"Riot spikes, two meters long, can be used against non-military-grade run-flat tires!" Ye Ming whispered, "We just need to place them in a slightly undulating depression on the road surface, and approaching vehicles won't easily spot them in advance and react in time!"

"That's it!"

Li Xiao immediately had Ye Ming set up the spikes, while they searched for roadside cover with good firing angles to wait for their prey.

Half an hour later, a black SUV appeared, driving at nearly eighty kilometers per hour. Li Xiao silently disengaged his pistol's safety.

Sure enough! The SUV driver slowed down slightly after noticing a slight depression in the road ahead, but then they seemed to spot the sudden appearance of the spikes.

Screech!

A piercing sound of Sudden brake pull out rang out, and blue smoke rose from beneath the SUV's wheels. The driver slammed on the brakes, but it still couldn't prevent the SUV from driving over the spikes.

Bang!

Ultimately, the SUV's front left tire failed to avoid the spikes and blew out on the spot.