Chapter 49: The Last Warrior – Section 1

It was a convoy that appeared quite large. Though from high above, their size was only comparable to that of ants, their sheer number proved their scale. With Black Hair’s keen eyesight, he could even spot dozens of puppet bug transport vehicles among them.
Dozens of puppet bugs already constituted a significant force for the scavengers of Xieke Planet. Even OldOld Buick, after saving up most of his life, only owned one such vehicle. This showed just how valuable such machinery was to scavengers. Yet to Black Hair, these ancient machines, which could only function on land, no longer held any interest.
The problem was that the location of this convoy happened to be right in the path of the sandstorm!!
Taking a slight breath, Black Hair frowned. From his current vantage point, it was easy to predict the fate of these scavengers. The sandstorms of Xieke Planet were infamous—shaking the ground and even uprooting entire sand dunes was commonplace. Faced with such formidable natural forces, despite forming a dense formation, those scavengers were likely to leave not even their bones behind. As a passerby, it would be normal for Black Hair to ignore such matters. Xieke Planet was an extremely harsh environment, and those who managed to survive there usually accepted the possibility of dying at any moment in the desert.
However, since he had seen them, it went against Black Hair’s principles not to help.
As the sandstorm in the distance drew closer, Black Hair finally sighed and lowered the nose of his shuttle, diving toward the convoy below. At that moment, the scavengers below seemed to notice his presence as well. Several burly men climbed to the highest points of the puppet bugs and frantically shouted at Black Hair while waving the tokens in their hands. Black Hair noticed that it was an ancient signal language, likely conveying a warning of danger below and asking him not to land.
Seeing this, Black Hair’s interest in these scavengers grew even more, along with a sense of admiration. Scavengers who still cared about others under such circumstances deserved respect from every angle. At that moment, Black Hair thought of OldOld Buick. If not for his help back then, he might have already died in this vast desert. The scavengers of Xieke Planet truly lived up to their reputation—each one was a formidable individual.

The shuttle’s speed was extremely high; in the blink of an eye, Kurokami had descended to a height of just a few hundred meters above the ground. At the same time, the effects of the external environment on the shuttle began to become apparent. Kurokami could already feel the slight shaking of the craft—caused by turbulent updrafts from the ground—proof enough of how harsh the conditions outside were.

Yet even so, Kurokami could still land. His only concern was rescue. No matter how advanced Black Prison’s craft might be, it was still just a shuttle, less than a kilometer long with a volume far smaller than that of a cargo ship. Saving the people below wasn’t a big problem, but their goods and machinery simply couldn’t be loaded.

Hopefully, these guys would know what’s important. Kurokami sighed softly, glancing down at the men still waving frantically at him, his gaze now tinged with a hint of pity. Those puppet insects might mean little to him, but to these men, they represented their means of livelihood. It was likely they couldn’t afford one even after half a lifetime of saving. If they had to abandon them like this, who knew if they’d go mad.

With those thoughts, Kurokami didn’t stop moving. Soon, the shuttle landed beside the convoy amidst the raging winds. As soon as he stepped out of the cabin, he was surrounded by a group of men.

“Hey, kid. Didn’t we tell you not to come down? How did you still descend? A sandstorm is coming soon. Don’t you care about your life? Don’t you know how terrifying the sandstorms on Xieke Star are?” From the crowd, a dark-skinned man pushed his way through and began reproaching him.

Though his words were harsh, they only brought warmth to Kurokami’s ears.

“You don’t need to explain anything to me. I know what I’m doing, and I understand Xieke Star. I know the power of the sandstorms here.”

“Then why did you still come down? You’re really reckless. Hurry up, run away before the sandstorm hits. Maybe you can save your life. Before leaving, could you at least take our family members with you? They’re not strong enough to survive here. Just name your price—go back to Kuukare and get it from Old Bek. We definitely won’t let you get taken advantage of!” The dark-skinned man, seemingly unaware of Kurokami’s calm expression, assumed he was some inexperienced rich kid and spoke anxiously, waving at the others as he cursed loudly.

“Get lost! What are you all standing around for? Go back to work! Hurry up and surround those puppet bugs, link them together, and reinforce the armor—we depend on these old cars to survive now! How the hell can you guys be so slow!!”
At his outburst, the crowd that had gathered around immediately scattered. But Hei Fa froze in place. Before the burly man could turn around, Hei Fa reached out and grabbed his neck.
“Did you just mention UncleOld Buick?”
“What are you doing?” The dark-skinned man turned around, glancing unhappily at Hei Fa’s hand, but he didn’t dare move. Having spent long time in the lower levels of society, they still had some judgment. Although Hei Fa’s movement wasn’t violent, few people in entire Xieke Star could control someone so quickly. The burly man couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, realizing he had misjudged this thin man as just an ordinary person.
Yet Hei Fa’s action still startled the onlookers. The crowd that had dispersed quickly gathered again. Hei Fa, with his sharp eyes, even saw a burly man silently pulling out a wrench from behind them.
With an awkward smile, Hei Fa withdrew his hand and said apologetically, “I’m sorry. Really sorry. I was just a bit nervous. UncleOld Buick is an acquaintance of mine. I was just surprised to hear you mention him.”
“Really?” The dark-skinned man glanced at Hei Fa distrustfully, touching his neck where there was still a faint pain. He was shocked. If that thin man had really wanted to attack, it would have taken only an instant to break his neck—no more difficult than crushing an ant.
“That’s right,” Hei Fa shrugged. Then he pointed at the massive sandstorm approaching rapidly in the distance. “But there’s no time to explain now. The sandstorm is coming. My shuttle isn’t big enough to carry all the equipment. If you want to survive, I can take you all with me, but don’t expect to keep those cars. Don’t doubt me—I just came through the heart of the sandstorm. I know its power is far beyond what those old cars can withstand. No one will survive here.”
“Is it that serious?” The dark-skinned man was shocked by Hei Fa’s words.
“Mm. It might even be worse. So you’d better make a decision quickly. And don’t worry—I’m friends with UncleOld Buick. Since you know him, I won’t harm you.”

“This…” The dark-skinned man hesitated for a moment, but seeing the sandstorm approaching rapidly, he finally gritted his teeth and turned to shout loudly. Soon, hundreds of scavengers gathered around him. After hearing his explanation, they all looked in the direction of the black-haired man.

The black-haired man shrugged indifferently and stepped aside to clear the entrance to the shuttle. At the same time, he could faintly hear arguments among the scavengers, mostly revolving around the issue of abandoning their supplies. Many were reluctant to part with what they had worked so hard to obtain and loudly asked the dark-skinned man to allow them to take those goods with them. However, the dark-skinned man was clearly a stubborn man and refused their requests, only urging them on repeatedly.

Soon, the scavengers were persuaded by the dark-skinned man and ran toward the shuttle. One after another, they rushed in through the entrance he had cleared, casting grateful looks at the black-haired man.

Seeing this, the black-haired man nodded inwardly. Truly a group that knew how to prioritize. If they were subordinates recruited by OldOld Buick in recent years, OldOld Buick’s forces must have grown much stronger as well.

That stingy old fox. Thinking back to how OldOld Buick had looked when he was extorted by him, the black-haired man laughed inwardly.

There were roughly four or five hundred scavengers in total. Under the constant urging of the dark-skinned man, they all boarded the shuttle quickly. And just as the black-haired man had said, they didn’t take any supplies with them. The dark-skinned man was the last to board. After closing the cabin door with the black-haired man, he finally let out a long sigh and glanced at him.

“My name is Sturi, sir. Though I still don’t know your name, you’ve saved all of us. We will definitely repay you. If you need anything on Planet Shek, just ask. When we return to Kukare, we’ll definitely take care of it for you.”

“You’re welcome,” the black-haired man replied with a faint smile, turning toward the control room. “We’re not completely out of danger yet, so it’s too early for you to thank me. If we can’t reach a sufficient altitude before the sandstorm arrives, even though this shuttle has an extremely strong hull, it’s likely to be buried by the flying sand and debris.”

“I trust your skills,” Sturi said with a chuckle. “I just wonder what your relationship is with OldOld Buick? If possible, could you tell me?”

“Me?” The black-haired man glanced at the dark-skinned giant who still distrusted him, then laughed. “I’m just an old friend of his. I did him a favor back then, and he sent me away with a puppet worm. I’m here to collect the interest.”
“Huh?” Stury wasn’t expecting such an answer from the black-haired man and was stunned…
Old friend? DadOld Buick, does he have such a young old friend?