SS1 5.1 - Night Ride
In the evening, I went to departure station. There were several teams who would also go to the hunt at night. They were busy warming up their car while waiting for the sun to set in the west. I passed several of them before arriving before Jie Ten Bie.
As the data from Torrak had stated, all member of Jie Ten Bie were Chinese from mainland, seven males and two females. All of them were ex-member of PLA and had devoted heart for CCP. However, despite their patriotic trait, they didn’t use Chinese car, weapon, or equipment.
Their cars were two units Toyota Land Cruiser in roll cage configuration. Their sidearm was Sig P228R. Their carbines were Sig 553. Their precision rifles were AW 338. Their webbing and coms were Italian made, while their combat knives were from Solingen, a Germany manufacture.
Then, Sum Ting Wong had a big smile in his chiseled face before welcoming me, “Brother Berg, thank you for join with us for the hunt.”
“Yeah,” I casually replied.
“We short one car, so can we use yours,” Sum Ting Wong said. “We will pay the fuel.”
“Sure.” Wasting no time I took out the HMV.
“You will ride with Hou siblings. I believe you already know them.”
“I do.”
“And please have no worry. I already warn them to not provoke you by all means.”
“I see.”
“W 0-1 and W 0-2 will also ride with you,” Sum Ting Wong added while pointed his thumb at two demi-humans who stood next to Hou siblings. “And if you fancy one of them, feel free to use them however you like.”
“I will.”
“Well then, you can warm up your car.”
Without delay I started HMV’s engine. Then, Sum Ting Wong explained the hunting plan. Our objective was to eliminate orc and goblin that infested Sidra Forest. In two nights and two days, we would try to kill them as many as we could.
As he pointed Sidra Forest’s location using a map in his tablet Sum Ting Wong said, “160 km south of Karmen, through a flat and hard surface of Millar Plain, we should be able to reach the last safety area before midnight. Get a good rest, and then start the hunt in the first morning right away.”
“The air is cooler at night so it’s suitable for a ride, but more than half of monster is nocturnal,” I said. “Is it really okay to drive across open plain at night?”
“It’s absolutely fine,” Sum Ting Wong confidently said. “There are several outposts along the Millar Plain, and the guards in this outpost do a really good job in ensuring the monster population in this plain stay low.
Other than that, we will have recon drone above our head all the time. In case a flock of monster approaches our position, we will have the initiative to engage or evade them.”
I nodded before asking, “How high the number of orc and goblin in Sidra Forest?”
“Very high, but if we can clear this forest and establish a network of outpost on it, we will be able to build a new town in middle of Millar Plain,” Sum Ting Wong explained. “That’s the very reason why Manager Torrak flow lot of hunting team to Sidra Forest for the last few months.”
“I see.”
Sum Ting Wong then introduced me to the rest of Jie Ten Bie, and after asking me to synchronize my coms to Jie Ten Bie’s network we then departed.
---
In casual mood I drove the HMV at 40 km/h, following the Land Cruisers in front. We turned the light on, but everyone also mounted their NVG in their helmet. The exception was W 0-1 and W 0-2. They had natural night vision capability, so they didn’t need NVG to see under the darkness.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
When I took a glance at rear compartment, I found W 0-1 and W 0-2 still carried out the lookout duty faithfully. They vigilantly scanned the area around the road while holding their bow and an arrow. W 0-1 scanned our left, while W 0-2 scanned our right. As for Hou Lie Sie, he still played War Thunder using his PSP. He already played the game since we left Karmen two hour ago, but showed no sign he would stopped soon.
Meanwhile, Hou Lie Fuk who sat next to me kept smoking and threw the ash and the cigarette butt in the HMV’s floor. When he wanted to put the light on the cigarette butt off, he would also pressed it in the dashboard directly. So far, he already created six burnt mark on the dashboard before him, and every time he did it he would did it while smiling at me.
Other than that, every time Hou Lie Fuk spat out his phlegm he would also threw it straight to the HMV floor. And so, my brand new HMV now accumulated cigarette butt, cigarette ash, and phlegm more than any amount I had accumulate myself for the whole of my life.
“K-or-orrrk…. Cuih!”
Hou Lie Fuk threw another thick phlegm to HMV’s floor before turning his gaze to me.
“Brother Berg, do you have something we can eat?” Hou Lie Fuk casually asked. “Something light, but enough to fill our stomach until we can have proper dinner at the last safety area.”
“Wait for a moment.”
While maintaining my right hand on the wheel, I used my tablet to buy 10 pieces of assorted bun and 10 boxes of juice. Then, I took a bun from the bag and handed over the rest to Hou Lie Fuk.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Hou Lie Fuk accepted the bag with a big smile. He immediately took a bun and ate it, but he didn’t hand over the rest to rear compartment.
“The buns and the juices are for everyone,” I casually said.
“I will hold Hou Lie Sie’s share,” Hou Lie Fuk said while munching his bun. “As for W 0-1 and W 0-2, you don’t need to worry about them.”
“…”
I didn’t argue, but wasting no time I bought another pair of buns and juices and handed it over to W 0-1. Then, W 0-1 was about to take it when Hou Lie Fuk gave me a sharp glare.
“Brother Berg, didn’t you heard me? You don’t need to worry about them.”
“If they don’t get proper intake, they won’t be able to properly carry out the lookout.”
“Our drone will make up for it,” Hou Lie Fuk said as he snatched the second bag from me.
“…”
I said nothing, but I happened to see W 0-1 glanced at the bun in Hou Lie Fuk’s hand with longing while W 0-2 swallowed her saliva hard. Unfortunately, I could do nothing about it for now.
At the Sume time, as Hou Lie Fuk looked at the bun in his hand I saw a familiar gleam in his eyes. It was a gleam from insatiate greed and jealousy that manifested into inability to see other people enjoyed something nice. I saw this gleam for the first time on my first roommate’s eyes when I was an exchange-student in MIT.
His name was Shi Shie Pee and coincidently or not, he was also a Chinese from mainland China. In a glance he was a nice and polite guy, but appearance could be deceitful.
One day, I ate a big bag of roasted peanuts while watching a movie. Shi Shie Pee than came and politely asked me for the peanut. When I gave him a nod, he just took the whole bag. When I told him to take his share and leave the rest for me, he smiled before asking me to let him had the whole bag and then left before I gave him my reply.
After that, it was getting worst and every time he took something from me right when I started enjoying it, and most often before I gave him my approval, he would have the same gleam in his eyes. When I checked his background, I found Shi Shie Pee was far from a poor. His father was a big shot in CCP, and his monthly allowance was five times bigger than mine.
Compared to me who had to take weekend part-time job in nearby supermarket to fund my school project or get the money to buy steak once in a while, Shi Shie Pee was like a king while I was only a damn peasant among peasant. Therefore, his behavior provoked my curiosity. I really wanted to know why he seemed like have an obsession with my peasant food.
So, I asked my uncle to secretly give Shi Shie Pie a quick diagnosis. My uncle had two post-graduate degrees. One was for studying psychoanalysis for pathological behavior, and the second was for studying personnel development & management. He also spent half of his life as HR manager in a huge multinational corporation. Therefore, he completed the diagnosis and observation only in a few days.
“That kid has inability to see someone eat something he deems nice,” My uncle told me. “And this something nice is including ordinary food. As long as the people who eat it enjoy it so much, he won’t be able to see it. He will try to take the food for himself as much as he can.
I don’t know if it’s because he is being raised that way or it’s a result of psychological trauma, but I’m very sure of one thing. It’s just a symptom for his worst flaw. With a correct guidance, maybe, he will be able to balance it and become a decent folk, and who know if he can even turn it into an effective means to survive in crooked environment. It’s just that I don’t have time or intention to spare right now.
So, in his current state, you should avoid him and limit further interaction at minimum. Nothing good will comes from mingles with folk like him.”
Later on, Shi Shie Pie became my sworn enemy even though I already avoided him as much as I could. He even hired triad goons to kill me. If it was not for my big family strong influence, I would have become fish food in bottom of Charles River.
As for my current situation, Hou Lie Fuk’s shitty personality and bad manner was not the biggest issue I had to worry about. So for now, I just brushed it off and put my mind back on the wheel.
*****