Through her powerful vision, Lemuen could clearly see the crossbows held by the people in the vehicles behind them; she could even see the metallic glint reflecting off the weapons.
At this moment, they naturally understood what the opposition intended to do. These people no longer planned to deal with them quietly; instead, they aimed to bury them right here in this deserted place.
Thump... Thump-thump... THUD!!
In the next instant, several crossbow bolts suddenly streaked toward them from behind, striking the rear glass and the trunk, leaving scars where the bolts scraped away the paint.
However, it wasn't long before the next volley of bolts assailed them again. Perhaps the pursuers were aware that the power of the weapons they carried was somewhat lacking, so they intended to rely on volume. They planned to break through this heavily defended vehicle with round after round of fire—if one volley wasn't enough, they'd use two; if two failed, they'd use three. Eventually, there would be a moment when they pierced through.
The people on the opposite side were in no rush. Even if the Lungmen Guard Department (LGD) were to head toward such a remote area, it would take quite a long time—and those meddling LGD officers might not even be able to reach this place.
It wasn't that they had the courage to provoke the LGD. They were merely a group of desperate mob thugs, not some super-villains intent on wantonly destroying the city. They had already dispatched their low-level hoodlums to intentionally cause incidents like multi-car pileups, keeping the LGD operators tied down in various locations.
Combined with how remote this area was, by the time the LGD arrived, they would likely have already returned to enjoy their spoils. At that point, the officers would only be left with tasks like cleaning up corpses and washing the pavement.
"Dammit, this is my new car that I just had repaired a few days ago! What kind of grudge do you people have against the rear of this car? Why must you attack its butt?"
As Lemuen watched the newly repaired car being scarred again, her fragile heart couldn't help but twitch. Seeing the vehicle damaged once more, she felt the urge to grab her revolver, crawl out of the sunroof, and spray these hooligans with lead to send them to divine judgment a little earlier.
"At a time like this, the thing you care about most is actually the damage to the car?"
Hearing Lemuen's words, even Shirayuki, a person of very few words, couldn't help but retort. She didn't know how these two managed to remain so at ease while facing enemies that outnumbered them at least ten to one.
"Perhaps the one suffering the most injuries on our side is this car. It hasn't had many good days since it started following us," Jeanne remarked from the driver's seat. Meanwhile, Lemuen continued to output fire incessantly with her various firearms, seemingly having no time to chat.
"However, I might actually make a bit of a scene in a moment. I hope you can explain things a bit to the LGD afterward."
Jeanne turned her head slightly to look at the pursuers behind, a cold sneer appearing on her face. It seemed that after being chased by the enemy for so long, she was finally ready to make her move.
What is the deal with these two? Can you please watch the road while driving! Are you trying to get us killed by looking behind while going this fast!
When Shirayuki saw Jeanne looking completely toward the rear, a sensation of stiffness flowed from the top of her skull to the tip of her tail. She felt like her cause of death was going to be a car accident. However, seeing Jeanne navigate the turns as skillfully as if she had memorized the entire route—even swerving to avoid a stray cat—she realized this person's driving skills must be maxed out.
"I don't have much interaction with the LGD, but given the current situation, Lungmen won't be so strict as to pursue your issues. The blame should fall on Lungmen's poor public security instead."
Hearing Shirayuki's words, Jeanne felt reassured and prepared to give them something "big." The car, already moving fast, accelerated once more, roaring as it pulled away from the opposition.
Next came a series of consecutive turns, yet Jeanne continued to drive while looking backward. If this had been anyone with a weak heart, they would have likely been scared into a cardiac arrest. The pursuers behind accelerated again, biting hard on their heels. However, it seemed their acceleration had reached a limit; they were no longer able to easily control their vehicles at such speeds.
The two sides were now like bolts of lightning, weaving through the deserted roads. The surrounding environment gradually became desolate, reaching a point where no signs of human life could be found.
"You two stop for a moment; leave the rest to me! Now... take this!"
Jeanne suddenly shouted loudly, an excited look appearing in her eyes. She was going to settle the score for being chased for so long and teach them a lesson!
Lemuen stopped firing her gun. Before either of them could ask Jeanne for specifics, a row of pitch-black iron thorns suddenly erupted from the ground, standing tall like a high wall.
At the very moment these iron thorns pierced through the ground, they "coincidentally" flipped the vehicles chasing them. Subsequently, the cars behind that didn't have time to brake crashed into the iron thorns one after another, yet they failed to make even a dent in the black spikes.
Whether because of the severe crash or some other reason, a violent explosion occurred the moment those vehicles collided. The explosion was so intense that several wheels were blasted high into the air, eventually landing near Jeanne's group, who had stopped in front of the black thorns. The wheels rolled for a moment before falling powerlessly to the ground.
"How tragic... I reckon it'll be difficult to find any survivors in that pile of wrecked cars. No need for an ambulance; it's more appropriate to call the crematorium directly."
Looking at the flames in the distance and then at the tire that had flown right next to their car, Lemuen clicked her tongue.
However, even with such a catastrophic accident occurring on the other side, Lemuen's vigilance toward the enemy did not diminish. She held her revolver, pointing it toward the rear, ready to unload a cylinder into any enemy that might appear. Still, she wasn't entirely sure what those black thorns that had suddenly popped up were. She only knew Jeanne had manifested them—could this be Jeanne's Originium Arts?
"Their cars must have been loaded with Originium bombs or something similar. Otherwise, even a crash wouldn't cause an explosion of this magnitude. You could say they brought this on themselves."
Watching the raging fire and the occasional secondary explosions, Lemuen felt relieved that they hadn't caught up and hadn't had the chance to throw any bombs near them. As she said, a mere car accident wouldn't trigger such a blast. Originium vehicles themselves have extremely high safety standards because an explosion could potentially affect innocent bystanders and turn them into Infected.
Because of this danger, vehicles powered by Originium are required to have incredibly high safety ratings. Even if they had modified the vehicles, one rarely hears of a modder brave enough to tamper with the Originium power safety devices. If someone were truly reckless enough to touch that area, the vehicle would be less of a car and more of a living bomb—essentially a suicide squad using modified cars as disposable weapons.
Thinking of this, Lemuen silently withdrew her firearm and made sure all the windows were shut tight to prevent any tiny Originium shards from scratching them. If they were accidentally scratched by flying Originium fragments, their lives would be completely rewritten.
On the other side, the remaining enemies felt a surge of fear from the frequent explosions. They decided to wait for the wrecks to finish exploding before advancing, even if it meant potentially letting Jeanne's group escape. As mere hired hands, they weren't willing to take on that much responsibility.
After all, they knew exactly what was in the leading cars. If they got "scratched" by that stuff, their future would likely be worse than the poor souls currently in the fire. Thus, they stood by and watched as the flames continued to burn in front of the iron thorns, the sound of explosions ringing out like fireworks—except this time, the fuel for the fireworks was their own comrades.