Absolute Gate

Chapter 51 The Problem Lies with Party A

Late at night, in the town of Dongda.

To the east are the towering mountains we just crossed, and to the west is the even more precipitous Dongda Mountain Pass, at an altitude of 5130 meters.

Because of the town's comprehensive accommodation, dining, and gas station facilities, most travelers choose to stay overnight before challenging the Dongda Mountain Pass the next day.

The Tijuana family's team was no exception; they were resting.

Their team originally consisted of six people, but a landslide occurred, and two drivers died on the spot.

Fortunately, the other gold-ranked player and the three silver-ranked players remained vigilant, which is why they survived.

However, this also shows that they have found the right direction.

The God Master and Endless Summer's group did indeed head in this direction, but they didn't know how far they had gone. This small town was full of tourists, and perhaps the person they were looking for was hidden there.

"Airo, have you noticed anyone acting strangely in town?"

The man, known as Airo, had a Chinese appearance, curly hair, dark skin, and handsome features. He was wearing a windbreaker and holding a bracelet made of animal bones.

When he returned from outside, the three people inside immediately questioned him, speaking fluent Spanish.

Airo said solemnly, "No, none of the travelers noticed anything unusual."

The other three sighed, "If they don't use multi-dimensional energy, it will be very difficult for us to track them down."

"We've been attacked by night stalkers several times, and even though we know we're heading in the right direction, but..."

Ai Luo looked out the hotel window and said, "It's hard to say. The Night Wanderer has no defined range. Maybe we've been misled and have been moving away from our target."

At that moment, a bearded man held up his phone: "Look at the platform, that newbie's bounty has increased again."

"Oh?"

Everyone checked their phones and logged into the mercenary platform.

Sure enough, someone else has issued a bounty for the Master of the Gods and Demons. The poster is 'Blackberry', with a bounty of 120 million, plus 10 kilograms of lightning-struck wood, and the penalty is death.

Upon seeing the price, the group's breathing quickened.

Lion Grass lost a squad, so the bounty was only 80 million; the Ruan family lost a promising bloodline member, so the bounty was only 100 million.

What deep-seated grudge does Blackberry have against the other party that warrants such a large bounty?

With all that added up, the total bounty for the God and Demon Master has reached 300 million.

Most importantly, there's also lightning-struck wood, which can increase electrical resistance, directly ignoring the damage caused by a certain amount of current.

Consuming one kilogram of lightning-struck wood grants immunity to 100mA of electrical current damage. This stuff is extremely rare and highly sought after; each auction on the platform costs at least ten million per kilogram, sometimes reaching forty or fifty million.

"Accept the mission immediately!"

The group accepted the mission without hesitation; the more bounties they took, the more money they would earn.

The Tijuana family, despite their terrible luck and the fact that they had the most members killed by ghosts and spirits, never issued a bounty.

Because they are not a true blood-related family like the Ruan family, nor are they as loyal as Lion Grass.

The Tijuana family has weak internal bonds and is purely united by self-interest.

Apart from the direct descendants of the clan leader, 90% of the other family members are adopted sons, or even adopted sons who have been adopted by their adopted sons.

Every year, these adopted sons have quotas to meet, including completing a certain amount of commissions and handing over a certain amount of income to the family fund.

This is actually more like a company. Tijuana has considerable influence in several medium-sized countries in Southern America, so recruiting more Awakened Ones isn't difficult. So, if a few Bronze-level cultivators die, they're done; they can just hire more.

It's impossible to offer a reward out of one's own pocket just because a few deliverymen have died.

Of course, revenge is still necessary, as long as there is profit to be made.

"I remember this Blackberry. The Sisterhood has a bounty of 860 million on his head. Does he still have the mind to put a bounty on someone else?" Airo asked, somewhat puzzled.

The bearded man said, "Who cares? As long as there's something to gain, that's fine. Maybe we can even track his whereabouts and report it to the Illuminati to make some money."

"Ask him why he offered a bounty on Wu Dong, and whether you encountered him somewhere. Ask him to provide us with information about his whereabouts."

Everyone nodded. Of course they had to ask. Their biggest problem right now wasn't anything else, but that they couldn't find a target.

Airo had a ring woven from thin vines wrapped around his little finger. He rubbed and played with it, immediately establishing a connection with Blackberry.

"Blackberry, blackberry, I am a hyacinth."

As soon as he made the call, the other party answered.

After chatting for a while, Airo's expression turned serious.

"Has the Night Wanderer been temporarily eliminated? Very good..."

"But the mark also contains psychological resistance? Hmm, no wonder the matsutake mushrooms failed."

"Banda Grassland? No, we haven't gotten there yet, but we'll be there soon."

"Disguised as a woman? Okay, I understand."

"Yes, we were attacked by ghosts and spirits, but we have already killed the Night Wanderer and sent it back to Mount Lu."

Ailo hung up the call, and his teammates all gathered around.

"What do you mean? Wu Dong disguised himself as a woman?"

Airo nodded: "It was Endless Summer disguised as a woman. They are a man and a woman. Blackberry fought with them before, and they had no grudge against each other. It was Wu Dong who ambushed him."

The group was surprised: "An ambush?"

Ai Luo explained, "This newcomer is really arrogant. Instead of thinking about getting out of 985's territory as soon as possible, he dares to ambush mercenaries everywhere."

"Blackberry was just passing by, camping on the grassland with three friends, when suddenly they were attacked by ghosts and spirits, which detonated the car and injured them on the spot."

"Then Wu Dong and Wu Jinxia appeared and almost killed him."

"However, Blackberry is a gold-level mercenary after all. He got away after paying a price, but he was still angry and didn't have time to waste with the other party, so he issued a bounty order, wanting only Wu Dong's life and ignoring everything else."

"That's what just happened. Wu Dong must still be on the Bangda Grassland."

Hearing this, the group felt a deep resonance!
Because they had also been tricked by ghosts and spirits in the same way. The first time was when two deliverymen from their family were delivering something to the Ruan family. They were eating hot pot and singing on a yacht when suddenly the yacht exploded.

The recent landslide was a similar case, but only the driver died.

It is common knowledge that ghosts and spirits are currently very weak. Once people are on guard, they will be largely ineffective in cases of accidental killings.

That's why the family dispatched several of their best fighters to take the life of this Demon Lord.

Airo continued, "What we can be sure of now is that we don't need to worry about the ghosts for the time being; they've already been taken care of by Blackberry."

"However, Wu Dong has already become an enlightened being."

Everyone was astonished: "What? He's already an Awakened One?"

Everyone's hearts pounded. Why would they still call the Master of Gods and Demons a newcomer, even though he was so famous and had wiped out the Matsutake Squad?
One very important reason is that this guy is not an enlightened being.

Most simple possessors of calamity artifacts are the kind of people who can be killed instantly with a single shot.

The potential ceiling might be very high, even capable of taking down some big shots, but the floor is also incredibly low.

Aside from his special characteristics, he was just an ordinary person. But becoming an Awakened One is different; he gains experience, skills, and abilities from another universe, and his body may even become stronger, greatly increasing his margin for error.

Is Endless Summer really that capable? How could she help a newcomer become an Awakened One in such a short time? Could Endless Summer be Pavas?
"Blackberry instructed us that the other party was very cunning and that we must kill them with swift and decisive action."

"Come on, let's leave now!"

The four of them set off decisively, driving their newly purchased car straight to the highest point of the Dongda Mountain Pass.

The car sped through the night, and although the road ahead was at a high altitude with many curves, Airo's driving skills were extraordinary.

"Our team is already too far behind. We must get to the Bangda Grassland as soon as possible. Fasten your seatbelts."

"Yes!"

"Um!"

Airo floored the accelerator and sped towards the bend ahead, seemingly with no intention of taking the turn at all.

With a whoosh, in the dead of night, on an empty highway, a car sped off the cliff.

"Magic Shield!"

Airo cast a blue magic spell on everyone in the car, and at the same time, he took out a pen and wrote on the car body: 1kg.

Suddenly, the car felt lighter.

A shockwave appeared around them, and the off-road vehicle shot out from the mountaintop like a cannonball.

After flying a long distance, its speed decreased sharply due to air resistance.

Then a strong wind blew, and the plane tumbled and swayed like a paper airplane, making the four of them bounce around violently, but they seemed used to it.

The bearded man in the passenger seat snapped his fingers and even manipulated the wind, propelling their car through the night sky. Before long, they arrived at the grassland.

The other two took out infrared binoculars and kept looking down at the ground, searching for suspicious persons.

"Flying is still the fastest."

No need to circle around or take detours, just slide down the mountain and you'll arrive.

"Ailuo, we've spotted a group of herders, and there's a wrecked car there."

"Okay, lower it."

At Ai Luo's command, the bearded man manipulated the wind direction to lower the car's height.

Just as it was about to land, Ai Luo took out her pen and crossed out the data she had written earlier with a slash, then glanced at the ink in her pen.

At the same time, the car body sank and landed on the ground.

They drove over and saw a group of herders gathered there, discussing something.

A little inquiry revealed that four people had paid to camp here, and their car suddenly exploded in the middle of the night.

This grassland is owned; you have to pay the herders to camp there. So, the herders will definitely be concerned about something like a car explosion.
Of course, the grassland was very open, and the campsite chosen by the four of them was far away. By the time the herders saw the fire and rushed over to put it out, the fire had already been extinguished and the herders had run away.

"Have you seen anything strange?" Airo asked in fluent Mandarin.

A herdsman gestured excitedly: "Yes! I was the first to spot the explosion. Believe me, I really saw a ghost, like a cloud of fog."

"There was another guy who was like a monster, jumping very high and knocking the ghost mist to the ground."

"I also saw purple light bullets!"

After exchanging glances and asking for more details, Ailo sensed the residual multi-elemental energy at the scene and simulated the battle, confirming that Blackberry's information was completely accurate.

The four Blackberry friends were camping when they were suddenly attacked by ghosts.

The herdsmen's description of seeing someone fighting the night spirit is perfectly accurate, only lacking further details. But that's to be expected; seeing a person and a ghost leaping about from a great distance, aided by the firelight of the explosion, already demonstrates exceptional eyesight.

"Do you know where they ran off to?" the bearded man pressed.

The herdsman shook his head.

The group was helpless; the grasslands were not cities, and at night it was pitch black.

However, Ailo had already sensed the energy of the icy aura: "Extremely cold energy... The herdsmen also saw the purple light bullet... Rumor has it that the Endless Summer's armor is as cold as the void."

"He and Wu Dong attacked the Blackberry quartet..."

"They went that way... Let's go!"

Airo hurriedly got into the car and led his men in pursuit.

And at the same time.

Forty kilometers ahead of them, someone was already chasing them.

They were a man and a woman, both exuding a powerful aura.

The man was wearing a helmet and a black leather jacket, looking like a biker gang member.

The woman was wearing sunglasses and a long black trench coat, which billowed behind her in the strong wind, revealing that she was only wearing a strapless top underneath, showing off her fair skin and perfectly sculpted muscles.

Both men were wearing gray-black overalls and were riding Coolpad motorcycles at high speed on the national highway.

The cold wind blowing through the woman's hair created a wild beauty.

The woman, with a leaf dangling from her mouth, said, "Jordan, there's a problem with the client this time."

"Oh? Sister Silver Ring, what kind of problem could the client have?" Jordan asked curiously.

The woman said coldly, "How many times have I told you? When you're out in public, you should refer to yourself as a plant."

Jordan said blankly, "Okay... Sister Longkui, I feel that Blackberry is right. We all saw the car explosion and the flames earlier."

Longkui's voice was icy: "Blackberry said he didn't know about the God and Demon Master at first, he was just passing by."

"When I saw ghosts and spirits attacking campers and setting cars on fire, I thought it was a disaster and I stepped in to save them."

"It turned out to be Endless Summer and her group, a total of four people, who turned around and attacked him, the one who had helped them."

"Fortunately, Blackberry is a gold-level mercenary. He escaped at a cost, but he was still angry and too lazy to waste time with the other party, so he put down a large bounty."

Jordan said with a perfectly normal expression, "Indeed, it's not impossible. This God Master is a reckless person. Instead of trying to escape the territory of 985, he ambushed the mercenaries."

"His spirit is too weak for now, so it's difficult for him to kill people by creating accidents. So he's doing the opposite, attacking himself to lure out the nearby mercenaries so he can launch a surprise attack! How insidious."

Longkui scoffed and shook her head: "You believe that?"

"Unending Summer and her group of four, instead of trying to hide themselves under 985's search, deliberately allowed ghosts and spirits to attack them while camping, destroying their car, all to lure nearby mercenaries?"

"What if Blackberry didn't make a move? Then the Endless Summer gang's actions were simply stupid, needlessly increasing the risk of exposure."

"And even if they succeeded, what did they gain? Did they kill Blackberry and make a fortune? No, Blackberry escaped successfully and even offered a hefty bounty."

"It's fair to say that this story doesn't make sense, whether you look at the outcome or the likelihood of it happening."

"This Blackberry is lying to us."

……

(End of this chapter)