With the roar of engines, the convoy showed not a shred of intention to stop, continuing directly along the planned route toward the target location.
Meanwhile, on the rock face they had ignored, Meow-Da lowered his arms again. Looking at the pitted ground around him and his armor, which now looked as if it had been polished, he scratched his head in a bit of confusion.
Is... is this an attack?
But why does it feel like the force is even lower than a Jagras's attack in the Ancient Forest?
It felt just like when a Herbivore, after being patted by him out of curiosity for too long, finally got annoyed and impatiently nudged him aside.
So, does this actually count as a surprise attack, huh?
Or are they reminding me because I'm in their way here, huh?
Humans other than Hunters are so hard to understand, meow...
This kind of complicated situation was still a bit too difficult for a little kitten to understand.
Just as Meow-Da was puzzled and couldn't find an answer, the rock face beneath his feet suddenly emitted the sounds of gradual cracking.
Craaack—Crack—
"Meow?"
The next moment, the ground beneath Meow-Da's feet instantly gave way. The overwhelmed rock fractured inch by inch in an instant, and Meow-Da, standing atop it, slid down along with the cliff face.
Yes, the missiles indeed hadn't caused any harm to Meow-Da. Their biggest effect was to polish his armor—which had been covered in a layer of dust from the Outer Ring's sandstorms over the past two days—making it bright and new again.
But for this rock face, it was a different story.
The rocks, having endured years of erosion from wind and sand, already had many cracks. After suffering the saturation bombardment of the missiles...
Coupled with the substantial weight of the Chainblade Dragon armor and the Great Sword...
The stones at the top of the cliff could no longer hold.
The cracks instantly turned into cross-sections, and the patch of rock at the summit directly shattered into many fragments of varying sizes.
And amidst these brown rock blocks, a white figure was so conspicuous and abrupt.
"Meow-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa!!!!"
As the saying goes: ninety degrees is a cliff, eighty-nine degrees is a slope.
Not to mention this slope was more than eighty-nine degrees.
To prevent injury, Meow-Da subconsciously curled up into a ball, looking like a real plush dumpling on the rock face.
Rumble, rumble, he rolled right down the cliff.
Then, due to various coincidences, he happened to smash right into the cargo hold of the truck in the middle of the moving Karon convoy—the one imprisoning Lucy.
The speed was so fast that no one could react in time.
Even the two Autonomous Support Units that had been following the convoy failed to react.
After all, in their enemy detection judgment, that area had already become a safe state.
They didn't realize there was still someone in there at all.
As Meow-Da, dragged by Mother Earth, rolled down at high speed and collided with the truck, the side of the cargo hold taking the frontal impact was directly breached, a hole torn open by the sharp edges of Meow-Da's armor.
Subsequently, after the first wall of the cargo hold cushioned the blow, Meow-Da was finally brought to a stop by the wall on the other side.
It was only then.
Realizing he had finally stopped, the dizzy Meow-Da subconsciously relaxed his curled-up body and instinctively spread out into a 'big' shape.
Just like that, he looked dizzily at Lucy, who was looking at him with a face full of surprise.
"Meow... so... so many humans looking exactly the same, meow..."
Inside the cargo hold, upon hearing that the "Fleetfoot Patroller Type II" and "Heavy Raider Type II" in the convoy had both locked onto a target and fired missiles, Lucy's original movement to take out her phone had frozen.
Too late.
It was already too late.
Just a moment of hesitation had implicated an innocent passerby.
Sure enough, with these unpardonably wicked guys, she shouldn't have hesitated in the slightest!
But before she could make the next move to switch to calling the police, a violent impact suddenly struck.
The next moment, a figure wearing white armor suddenly crashed through the truck wall in front of her and fell in.
Even though it was a reinforced cargo box, in front of him, it was like paper.
Lucy looked at this uninvited guest who had suddenly popped out and barged into the carriage.
Upon discovering there were no wounds on Meow-Da's body, her first reaction was happiness.
Although she didn't know what caused it, it was truly great that an innocent person hadn't been hurt because of her.
But after hearing Meow-Da's subconscious words, her expression instantly turned into astonishment.
"A... A child?!!"
She had actually dragged a child into this?!
At the same time, the "Fleetfoot Patroller Type II" and "Heavy Raider Type II" quickly rushed to the side of the truck the moment Meow-Da entered the carriage.
But the previous command not to harm Lucy conflicted with the current situation, making them dare not act rashly at all.
And Karon, supported by several other men, arrived before the breach Meow-Da had smashed open.
He immediately looked with some anger at the man standing to the side who served as the maintenance crew, shouting with a furious face:
"What is going on?! How did you perform the pre-operation checks?! Do you still want to become an official elite member or not!!!"
The man being scolded by Karon was somewhat timid and submissive, not daring to speak.
After all, in his impression, he had clearly checked every vehicle properly. The condition of the cargo boxes was clearly excellent, not fragile enough to break upon a single collision!
But he didn't dare to speak, nor did he dare to ask.
Because saying anything now would look like quibbling and shirking responsibility.
Mainly, what normal cargo box breaks just from someone bumping into it?
It couldn't be that the little runt was so physically tyrannical that he could smash directly through a cargo box and remain unharmed, only suffering a bit of dizziness, right?
Not to mention that right now, from his occasional dizzy mumbling, the voice one could hear was simply that of a child.
That made it even more impossible.
After scolding his subordinate, Karon was just about to pull Meow-Da out from inside and silence him to shut him up for good, but his hand, having reached halfway, had to stop.
Because he discovered that the Eldest Miss of the Montefio family, who had been incomparably cooperative the entire way, was shielding the other party behind her.
Her face was full of anger, just like a big mother cat protecting her cub.
"In the name of Luciana Auxesis Theodoro de Montefio, I will absolutely not let you harm him!"
Although Lucy's expression was extremely angry, her gorgeous dress really held not a shred of deterrence for Karon's group.
However, even though Karon wasn't intimidated, the client's commission conditions were laid out right there.
No matter how much he felt she wasn't a threat, the condition that she "must not suffer any harm" made Karon dare not even rush up to forcibly pull her away.
Having been in the Vanishing Wolves for so many years, this was the first time he had to swallow such anger.
But as long as he thought of that commission fee, so generous it was rarely seen once in a decade...
Karon decided to endure it.
After all, it was just a kid. Even if he was lucky enough to escape death in the missile bombardment, what waves could he make?
Not to mention, these two units were high-grade Autonomous Support Units that Boss Thorne had obtained from the military.
In the Outer Ring, there weren't many people who could be their match.
Moreover, he still had a trump card he hadn't activated yet.
After all, that was the Montefio family estate. To be safe, in terms of Autonomous Support Units, what he brought was even stronger than the elite team led by Ryza.
However, not taking any action with his hands didn't mean he would relax his tongue and say nice things.
"Don't forget your identity, Eldest Miss."
The corner of his mouth pulled into a savage arc as he continued to threaten:
"You'd best be obedient and pray that the person who commissioned your kidnapping can settle the final payment on time. Otherwise, if even a single point isn't met, I don't mind making you taste the suffering you should have eaten along this road a hundred or a thousand times over."
He wasn't some wild dog that only knew how to bark madly.
Saying this wasn't purely to vent the unhappiness in his heart.
It was more to dispel any will to resist that this Eldest Miss might have, and to make his concession look less obvious.
Even if she had acted perfectly cooperatively aside from this incident, Karon didn't mind saying a few more words.
It would be best if she stepped aside out of fear, so he could silence the witness directly.
This could be considered speaking from experience to some extent.
After all, there had been existences before who pretended to cooperate while actually plotting how to escape the whole time. Back then, he had suffered a big loss because he was inexperienced and had let his guard down.
But Lucy was dismissive of his words, still firmly shielding Meow-Da with a look of determination.
After all, as the client, she had known the specific details of the commission all along, so before the final payment was settled, she was very confident in her own safety.
Seeing that Lucy wasn't buying it, Karon had to roughly repair the carriage before returning to the driver's cab.
But when he saw the load weight, Karon unconsciously frowned slightly again.
"Damn it, a light bump, and a truck carrying only four people shows a full load?"
The lackey driving beside him scratched his head and comforted him:
"It's probably just the weight sensor malfunctioning. Don't worry too much about it, Brother Three."
Making up his mind to teach that kid a harsh lesson once they got back, Karon stopped dwelling on it and directly arranged for the convoy to prepare to move forward.
Meanwhile, in the vehicle behind him.
Meow-Da, who had pretty much recovered from his dizzy state, shook his head, which still felt a bit like the world was spinning.
Then, Meow-Da, having come back to his senses, sat up abruptly.
Although he was still a little dizzy, Meow-Da had heard Karon's threats to Lucy clearly.
Then Meow-Da immediately realized something was wrong.
The kitten's brain quickly sorted out the current situation through Karon's words, and then he slammed a paw pad fiercely.
Meow-Da nodded affirmatively and said:
"Kidnapping! And hurting others for no reason! These are the bad guys Boss talked about, meow!"
As a Felyne born and raised in the New World, the people in both the New World and the Forbidden Lands were sufficiently kind and friendly.
This made it so that when faced with human attacks, he didn't react immediately at first.
If he were purely a Felyne from the New World, he might have been at a loss and wouldn't know what to do.
Even hearing Karon's words just now, he might not necessarily have reacted.
But Meow-Da was different.
He had a Boss named Andrew.
Under Andrew's influence, although Meow-Da was as kind as other Felynes, he wasn't ignorant of so-called malice.
And this situation matched perfectly with the scenarios in the stories Boss told where big bad villains kidnapped the weak!
And in times like this when the Boss wasn't around, it was the turn of the Felyne Hero to punish the wicked and protect the weak!
Thinking about encountering a chance to do these things for the first time, Meow-Da actually felt a little excited.
But just as Meow-Da prepared to get up, jump off the truck, and punish all these bad guys directly, he was held down by Lucy, who was watching him with a face full of worry.
"Don't worry, don't be afraid! I will protect you!"
"Meow?!!"
Wait! This situation isn't right! As the Hero, how am I being protected by the weak one!
Shouldn't it be like in the stories Boss told, where I act chivalrously as a Hero, and then after saving the person, I leave dashingly without leaving a name, leaving only a view of my back?!!
Thinking of this, Meow-Da immediately began to struggle while carefully controlling his strength, simultaneously shouting loudly:
"Let go of me, meow! I am Boss Andrew's Palico, and also a Master Rank Felyne Hunter recognized by the Guild who can hunt independently! So it should be me protecting you, meow!"
If it weren't because he couldn't bear to leave his Boss and had promised to hunt together for a lifetime...
Otherwise, according to the Guild's strength assessment, he would have long since been able to go independent and conduct hunts alone!
Just like his master, the Palico of the famous Sapphire Star, Rani!
Because he was afraid of hurting Lucy, Meow-Da only dared to exert force gently, and in the end, he failed to successfully break free from Lucy's suppression.
Coupled with that childish voice, it actually made Lucy start to think this was some child's delusion.
After all, things like 'Boss's Palico', 'Guild', and 'Cat Hunter' were things never heard of in New Eridu.
No matter what, if such an organization truly existed...
As the Eldest Miss of the Montefio family, it was impossible for her to have never heard of it.
Combined with this outfit that looked like cosplay...
Sure enough, did the child take the story settings told by his parents as real?!
Even Karon, sitting in the truck's cab ahead, had the same thought as Lucy. He shook his head disdainfully and stopped paying attention to the rear.
So Lucy, who didn't take it seriously at all, thought Meow-Da was trying to be brave to protect her. She reached out directly to rub his head, comforting him:
"Children should act like children. Don't worry, Big Sister won't let anything happen. This kind of thing should be left to the adults!"
Feeling the long-lost head pat, Meow-Da subconsciously narrowed his eyes in comfort.
But he quickly came back to his senses.
"No, I'm not a child! I'm already an adult, meow!"
He shook his head vigorously to throw off the hand that wasn't his Boss's. Knowing that at a time like this, he should present the facts before others, Meow-Da decisively broke free from Lucy's hand when she wasn't paying attention.
Then.
Under Lucy's astonished gaze, he completely ignored the speed of the fast-moving truck and leaped directly down through the hole Karon had roughly repaired.
Lucy, who hadn't reacted in time to stop him, immediately rushed to the edge of the hole, wanting to call out Meow-Da's name.
But realizing she didn't even seem to know the other party's name, Lucy had to struggle to lean her head out.
She wanted to see Meow-Da's condition clearly with a face full of worry.
But what happened next caused Lucy to freeze directly on the spot.
____
New Story: Bleach: Dominating Soul Society in One Sting
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