Chapter 545: United in the Same Boat

Two off-road vehicles traveled quickly along the bumpy dirt road, kicking up rolling clouds of dust.

He Yuzhu drove in the lead; the numbers on the dashboard showed they had driven more than thirty kilometers away from the point of the firefight.

He scanned the rearview mirror, confirmed there were no trailing vehicles, and quickly turned into a side road half-hidden by wild grass.

After driving another ten-plus kilometers, they discovered a dilapidated Farm at the end of the road; several broken wooden houses stood under the moonlight, the tin on the roofs rattling as the wind blew.

He Yuzhu stopped the car, turned off the headlights, clicked on a flashlight, and walked into this abandoned Farm.

He checked for a long time before selecting a house that was slightly more intact.

He Yuzhu lit a Candle, the candlelight flickering in the wind, and the four of them each found a broken chair and sat in a circle.

"Judging from the news obtained from that soldier, the enemy already knows our route; we must discuss what to do next!" He Yuzhu's gaze swept across everyone's face.

Nina, however, covered her stomach first and said, "I didn't even get to eat that good rabbit meat; I'm really too hungry. Little He, do you still have anything to eat?"

He Yuzhu nodded, then pulled several flatbreads and a few military cans from his backpack.

Seeing the flatbreads, Nina immediately became happy and said, "Your flatbreads are tastier than large loaves of bread."

He Yuzhu took out a can opener, opened the four cans of Beef Canned Food one by one, and handed them to the group: "Make do with this!"

"This isn't making do; it's already a delicacy. Little He, do you still have that delicious sauce?" Vasili looked at He Yuzhu expectantly.

"I do!" He Yuzhu pulled that bottle of homemade sauce out of his large backpack.

After finishing the meal, Nina looked at He Yuzhu and said very firmly, "Vasili told me that the enemy has already confirmed my identity, but they don't know who you are yet. So... let's split up; I cannot implicate you."

He Yuzhu laughed: "Nina, who are you looking down on? Do you think I'm the type of person who fears trouble?"

"The situation is different now. Hundreds of patrol teams are patrolling Route 66; it will be very difficult for us to break out of this encirclement. If we split up, even if something happens to us, you can still escape!" Nina said.

Su Qing, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke: "I have thought of a way that could allow us all to pass through Route 66 smoothly."

"Don't keep us in suspense, tell us quickly!" He Yuzhu urged.

Su Qing said: "Tomorrow, you go to Route 66 to hijack a cargo truck, put Nina inside a cargo box, and perhaps you can sneak through the checkpoint."

After hearing this, Nina immediately widened her eyes and looked at Su Qing as if looking at a madman: "Mr. Su, this idea of yours... isn't it too childish? Hiding in a cargo box, how could it possibly pass through a checkpoint?"

He Yuzhu's eyes flickered; he understood the subtext of Su Qing's words.

If he did this, he would expose his trump card, but now that they had reached a critical moment, whether to do it or not, Su Qing had handed the decision-making power to He Yuzhu himself.

"This method is feasible; I agree." He Yuzhu had already made up his mind.

"Little He, you agree with this idea too? Have you both gone crazy?" Nina stared fixedly at He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu stood up, walked to a dilapidated wardrobe in the corner, and patted the cabinet door, "Let's do an experiment, Nina; you hide inside the cabinet."

Nina kept shaking her head: "Why? Are we playing hide-and-seek?"

He Yuzhu cast his gaze toward Vasili, wanting to see his attitude—if the two of them wouldn't even give him a chance to test it, he would abandon this method.

Vasili stood up and patted Nina on the shoulder, "It's such a simple thing, there's no harm in you trying it."

Nina looked at He Yuzhu's firm gaze and quickly pulled open the cabinet door, and a mouse suddenly darted out.

"Ah!" Nina screamed in shock.

Vasili hugged her: "It's okay!"

Under the illumination of the Candle light, the wardrobe was completely empty, with only a few dust-covered spiderwebs hanging inside.

Vasili found a broom and carefully cleaned the inside of the cabinet.

Only then did Nina reluctantly turn sideways and step inside, closing the cabinet door behind her.

"Vasili, you can open the door now."

He Yuzhu moved his mind and had already taken Nina into his space.

Vasili stepped forward, carefully pulled open the cabinet door, and discovered that it was completely empty inside.

He turned his head abruptly and looked at He Yuzhu in shock.

He Yuzhu, however, had no expression on his face and said indifferently: "Close the cabinet door and wait two minutes before opening it."

Two minutes later, Vasili pulled open the wardrobe door again; Nina was squatting in the corner of the cabinet, her eyes somewhat dazed, as if she had just woken up from a brief dizzy spell.

"This... Little He, do you know sleight of hand?" Vasili was incredulous.

He Yuzhu nodded: "Do you still think Su Qing's suggestion is childish now?"

Vasili shook his head vigorously: "This is too magical! I have never seen such a magic trick!"

Nina, meanwhile, looked at the three of them with a face full of confusion: "What exactly happened?"

"We are saved! Nina, you just disappeared into thin air inside the wardrobe; Little He can perform magic!" Vasili shook Nina's shoulders vigorously.

"I suddenly felt everything go black and lost consciousness!" Nina asked, puzzled: "Why on earth is this?"

Vasili said excitedly: "Nina, don't ask why; we will just do as Little He suggests."

Nina was curious in her heart, rolled her eyes, and said: "Vasili, you go in and try it once too!"

Vasili actually gladly complied.

He Yuzhu had no choice but to demonstrate it again.

After seeing all this, Nina actually hugged He Yuzhu with a sense of relief and gave him a hard kiss.

He Yuzhu was full of embarrassment and looked at Vasili, but Vasili just smiled without caring at all.

One had to admit, the Russians are indeed open-minded.

The four of them agreed on a strategy and then rested separately in the two cars.

Just as the east began to turn white like a fish belly, He Yuzhu drove onto the road.

He parked the car on the side of Route 66, waiting for a suitable truck to appear, but after waiting for a long time, he still hadn't found a suitable one.

After waiting for about an hour, a truck loaded with many large wooden crates came rumbling by.

"That's the one." He Yuzhu made up his mind.

He quickly got out of the car, stood in the distance, and pointed his Pistol at the truck's window.

The white truck driver hurriedly stopped the vehicle, but he sat inside without moving, looking at He Yuzhu with a puzzled expression, "My truck has already been checked many times, why check it again?"

"This is an order from above, there's nothing I can do!" He Yuzhu slowly approached the driver, and while he was still arguing, struck him unconscious with a single hand-blade blow, then immediately stowed the person into his space.

He Yuzhu jumped into the truck's cab, drove the vehicle off the road, and followed the original route back to that abandoned Farm.

At the Farm, Su Qing and Vasili were already prepared.

The truck backed into the empty courtyard, He Yuzhu jumped out, and the three of them worked together to pry open two large wooden crates with crowbars, moving the machines inside out and throwing them on the ground.

After discussing it, the four of them decided to have Nina and Vasili hide inside the large wooden crates.

To ensure the two could breathe easily, He Yuzhu drilled holes in the two crates and removed some seat cushions from the off-road vehicle to put inside, which made the two feel much more comfortable.

"Let's go," He Yuzhu said concisely.

He and Su Qing sat in the cab and drove the truck toward Los Angeles.

The journey was not smooth sailing; the truck had traveled less than fifty kilometers when it encountered the first checkpoint.

Several soldiers signaled for them to stop, and He Yuzhu slowly pulled the vehicle to the side of the road; they approached, carrying guns with unfriendly expressions.

"What are you transporting?" a soldier asked, staring at He Yuzhu.

"Some mechanical parts, being delivered to the Port of Los Angeles," He Yuzhu handed over the shipping manifest.

"We need to open the crates for inspection!" a white officer said.

"No problem!" He Yuzhu agreed very readily.

Several soldiers climbed into the back of the truck and used crowbars to pry open every wooden crate, discovering that they were filled with printing machinery and contained no contraband.

The white officer scrutinized He Yuzhu for a long time before asking, "Which country are you from?"

He Yuzhu took out his forged Passport and said with a grin, "I was born in New York."

The white officer gave a mocking smile and carefully checked the vehicle's registration documents; finding no issues, he finally waved his hand, "Alright, go ahead!"

Just as He Yuzhu got back into the truck, a person looking like a Patrol Police officer walked over from a distance and waved at him, telling him to get out of the vehicle again, "You can't leave yet; I need to call your company to verify your identities!"

He Yuzhu sneered, "Sir, there's no need for all that trouble, is there!"