Chapter 542: Duel

At nightfall, He Yuzhu quietly snuck into ToledoPier.

Under the cover of night, he skillfully made his way into the ADM warehouse area.

Four towering grain elevators stood under the night sky, surrounded by hundreds of giant silos, like a group of silent giants.

Su Qing had introduced them before; each silo could hold five thousand tons of grain—this warehouse area was stockpiling a full five hundred thousand tons of grain.

Making this trip was more substantial than transporting grain on dozens of cargo ships.

The security at this warehouse was not tight; there were only two patrol teams, twelve men each, mechanically circling the warehouse area.

He Yuzhu lurked in the shadows, and as soon as a team walked past the corner, he flashed over and pressed against the nearest silo.

This was his first time using the System to collect bulk grain.

He silently thought to himself: "System, where is the collected grain stored?"

An electronic voice rang in his mind: "The host only needs to pay gold, and the System will carve out grain storage caves on the rocky ground within your space. The excavation cost for each large cave is 10 kilograms of gold."

He Yuzhu did some mental math: one hundred caves would be one thousand kilograms of gold, which was quite expensive; fortunately, he had obtained quite a bit of gold this time, otherwise he really couldn't afford it.

"System, dig now, start with two hundred. By the way, if the grain is placed in these rock caves, it won't spoil, right?"

"Stored for a century, the quality remains as it was."

"Then hurry up and start, how long will it take to finish?" He Yuzhu continued to ask.

"One hundred can be completed every hour."

"Then start digging immediately!" He Yuzhu ordered.

"Gold has been collected, excavation officially begins."

He Yuzhu did not immediately start collecting grain, but instead moved his consciousness and entered the System Space.

He just watched quietly as the System carved the grain storage caves into the ground.

Two hours passed quietly, and two hundred caves were completed; not only were they arranged neatly, but the cave walls were also exceptionally smooth.

He Yuzhu left the space, satisfied.

He shuttled between the grain warehouses, collecting the grain in the silos.

He Yuzhu calculated that in one minute, the System could empty a five-thousand-ton grain silo.

In less than two hours, all one hundred silos were completely emptied.

He did not delay, running along the riverbank; he wanted to collect the other large grain warehouse as well.

JiajiGrainDepot had built three elevators on the shore, and there were sixty large silos in the park.

He Yuzhu followed the same pattern, dodging guards while collecting grain, and in less than an hour, he had collected all the grain.

When the sky turned pale, He Yuzhu returned to the hotel and gently woke Su Qing.

The two did not say a word, tacitly packed their things, and drove into the morning mist.

Two days later, PittsburghHiltonHotel.

Vasili and Nina had been waiting in the room for two days, and they were overjoyed to see He Yuzhu and Su Qing appear.

A smile appeared on Vasili's tense face, "Nina and I were just discussing whether you two would come."

He Yuzhu smiled and did not continue to chat about this matter.

The four closed the door and began to discuss the next move.

He Yuzhu did not stand on ceremony and said directly: "We cannot stay here; we must leave immediately. We will decide the specific plan on the road. Also, this NewYorkerOffRoadVehicle cannot be driven anymore; it must be changed."

Nina nodded in agreement.

He Yuzhu asked the three to pack their luggage, while he went to a shopping center, claiming to buy things, but actually looking for a car.

An hour later, He Yuzhu drove back a nearly brand-new BuickBusinessCar.

He picked up the three from the hotel and drove straight west.

Three days later, the western section of Route 66, deep in the Gobi Desert.

The wheels kicked up dry dust.

Along the way, they had already encountered three waves of robbers; unfortunately, those who wanted to rob them were all killed in return.

The long hours of driving made He Yuzhu feel bored, and he stared blankly at the boundless wilderness.

Su Qing, in the passenger seat, flipped through a thick stack of newspapers, trying to find useful information.

Vasili, in the back seat, repeatedly disassembled the M1SubmachineGun they had seized.

The fuel gauge of the Buick suddenly lit up with a yellow light, and He Yuzhu complained: "This car really consumes a lot of fuel, and I don't know where there is a gas station."

"I've traveled this road; there should be a gas station ten miles away," Nina said.

"If there's no gas station, we'll have to walk out of the desert!" He Yuzhu joked.

The road became increasingly dilapidated; the asphalt surface had long since disappeared, leaving only gravel and potholes gnawing at the tires.

Abandoned ranch fences were crooked, and the distant mountains appeared distorted in the shimmering heat waves.

The climate here was exceptionally strange, basically belonging to the "wear a cotton-padded jacket in the morning and gauze in the afternoon" type.

The four people in the car were all drowsy from the heat, and plus they were all hungry, so no one wanted to speak.

He Yuzhu took out three pieces of chocolate and handed them over: "Have a bite to tide you over; once we find a diner, we'll have a big meal!"

Nina took it and curled her lips weakly: "Want to go to a diner? Go three hundred miles ahead; on this stretch of road, you won't even see a ghost."

The car bumped for another half hour, and a rusted iron sign was stuck crookedly on the side of the road, which read: "Five miles ahead—OldJohnGasStation. Hot dogs, car repairs, and tire patching."

The car rushed up a hillside covered with withered grass, and the gas station appeared in view: a dozen wooden houses surrounded a courtyard, and many strange symbols were painted on the dilapidated iron gate.

He Yuzhu quickly drove the car into the courtyard.

As soon as the four got out of the car, they felt that the atmosphere was a bit off; not only was there no warm greeting from the Boss, but there was also a faint smell of blood.

He Yuzhu's eyes sharpened, and he immediately cast his gaze toward the repair shed.

Two people stood in the repair shed, wearing jeans and shirts wide open, revealing hairy chests, and another person was lying under a car.

Two people standing there, cigarettes held in their hands, stared fixedly at He Yuzhu and the others; especially the white man with a scar on his left cheek, whose tongue kept licking his chapped lips as his gaze swept over Nina.

Vasili had already touched the holster at his waist.

Su Qing leaned close to He Yuzhu and whispered, "Another trap."

He Yuzhu, however, suddenly smiled and walked straight toward the three men, his tone even carrying a hint of ease: "Boss, four hot dogs!"

Daobalian sauntered up to meet them, baring his teeth, which were stained yellow by smoke: "The boss is dead; who told him he wanted to overcharge me!"

"Did you kill him?" He Yuzhu asked calmly.

Daobalian did not answer He Yuzhu's question; he looked at the Buick, then glanced at Nina: "Nice car... the girl has flavor, too."

There was a sound from under the car, and a burly man like an iron tower slid out on a wooden board with wheels; he stood up quickly and also came toward He Yuzhu's side.

The 3 men surrounded them with malicious smiles.

He Yuzhu already understood in his heart that a fierce battle today was unavoidable.

These bandits who called themselves cowboys were very fast at drawing their guns; it was said the fastest took less than 0.2 seconds.

"Be sensible." Daobalian spat his cigarette butt onto the sandy ground and ground it out with the tip of his boot, "Leave the car, leave the girl, empty out your money, and then get lost, and you might still live."

The burly man stared at Nina and gave a lewd smile: "Little girl, come play with us, otherwise... dying in this place is no different from a wild dog."

He Yuzhu suddenly smiled and mocked: "You are cowboys, don't you value fair duels the most? Dare to play with us? Dare you?"

Daobalian raised an eyebrow: "How do you want to play?"

"Naturally, a duel in the way you are most skilled at." He Yuzhu stared fixedly at them.

Daobalian laughed out loud, looking at He Yuzhu as if looking at a joke, "Good! Very good!" He turned his head and named him: "Graham, you go first."

Vasili shoved his revolver into He Yuzhu's hand and whispered: "Be careful!"

He Yuzhu curled his lips: "Don't worry, I'm faster than him!"

On the sandy ground, He Yuzhu and Graham stood back-to-back.

Daobalian began to count the steps, his voice drawn out long: "One... two..."

The moment he counted to "six," the two of them turned around abruptly—He Yuzhu's movement was as fast as lightning.

Bang!

The sound of a gunshot exploded.

A flower of blood burst from the center of Graham's brow, and his whole body fell backward, slamming into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Daobalian's expression changed drastically, his right hand lunging toward the pocket of his jeans to grab his gun.

He Yuzhu's gun barrel had already turned.

"Bang!"

The second bullet tore through the scorching air and drilled precisely into Daobalian's chest.

He flew backward more than two meters, fell onto the sandy ground, and splashed up a cloud of dust.

He Yuzhu then turned his gaze to the short, thin white man: "Your turn."

The short man's right hand had been stuck in his pocket the whole time; seeing He Yuzhu's movements were so fast, he knew he was done for today.

He saw a whirlwind spinning toward them and shouted: "Wait a moment, let's duel after the strong wind passes!"

The whirlwind swept quickly across the courtyard; for a time, sand and stones flew in the courtyard, choking people so they couldn't open their eyes.

The short man had already aimed his gun at He Yuzhu.

"Bang!"

The third gunshot pierced through the howling of the gale.

Su Qing's cry rose abruptly: "Zhuzi—!"