Chapter 897: Airplane

On the plane, Li Huowang gazed out the window at the scenery, observing the houses that looked like matchboxes. He slowly raised his left hand to his mouth and opened it, revealing a black and white dice he had just picked up. But Li Huowang knew it wasn't a coincidence; this was *the* dice.

As Li Huowang looked at the scenery, he asked the fingernail-sized dice in his hand, "Why did you secretly follow me? What do you want?"

"Don't answer. I can't hear you even if you speak now. No matter how powerful you once were, you're just a tiny, immobile trinket in my hand now."

"Dice, I don't know if you were helpful last time. I'm a Si Ming now, and I can never go back, but I can still influence things on that side."

"We've had quite a few dealings by now; we're practically acquaintances. Why don't you do what you're good at?" Li Huowang's gaze dropped, fixing on the dice in his palm. "You can't help here, but you can help me on that side. Don't tell me that as the head of the Zuowang Dao, you can't even manage this small task."

"If you do this well, I can give you benefits. But if you can't, or if you try anything sneaky, don't blame me for what I do to you. In my eyes, you're nothing! I can make you die with absolute ease."

With that, to demonstrate his power, Li Huowang opened his mouth, tossed the dice, and threw it directly into his mouth. His expression contorted as his upper and lower teeth pressed down slightly. The dice in his mouth immediately deformed, as if a little more pressure would cause it to crack. Li Huowang spat it out, then continued to glare at the saliva-covered dice in his hand, marked with two rows of indentations, and threatened, "Do you understand!?"

Just then, a flight attendant in uniform walked down the aisle. Li Huowang quickly closed his hand and smiled, nodding at her. Once the flight attendant left, Li Huowang quickly opened his hand again and continued speaking to the dice, "I'm not asking you to do anything too difficult. I just want you to help me look after the people I care about on that side." He paused slightly, then added, "And Li Sui. Don't play dumb with me; you know what I care about."

Just then, Li Huowang suddenly felt someone staring at him. He quickly turned his head and saw Zhao Lei. Zhao Lei was staring at Li Huowang, mouth slightly agape, frozen in place with his phone in hand.

"I know you've offended many people, and neither side likes you. So, it's settled. As long as you can do this, I'll protect you from now on. You'll be my 'Heart Disciple'." Li Huowang finished, pocketed the dice, and glared at Zhao Lei. "What are you looking at!?"

Zhao Lei's lips trembled slightly, but he said nothing, turning back to scroll on his phone. Li Huowang saw the scenery outside getting lower, indicating that their destination was nearing.

"Alright, that's enough talk. Once we land, you take this flight back to our own 'Big Elephant'. This murky situation isn't for someone at your level to wade into." With that, Li Huowang tossed the dice with the teeth marks under the seat in front of him.

After getting off the plane, Li Huowang had no idea where he was. He couldn't understand the surrounding text, but the only thing he could discern was that it was very hot, seemingly a tropical region. Zhao Shuangdian, already changed into a short-sleeved shirt, walked ahead, quickly dialing a number on his phone, seemingly contacting someone.

Taking this opportunity, Qingwanglai approached Li Huowang again. "Actually, we had another helper before, but unfortunately, she couldn't come. If she were here, our chances of success would be even higher."

"Who? Why isn't she here?"

"You didn't let her come. You sent her back to her hometown, letting her parents manage her, not allowing her to leave."

"Yang Na?!" Hearing this, Li Huowang's expression instantly changed. He poked Qingwanglai's chest repeatedly with his finger. "I'm warning you! Don't let her get involved here! If you dare to let her touch any of this, I'll ******* kill you!"

"Li Huowang, honestly, you're being a bit unreasonable. Why do you always like to make decisions for others? What if she herself wanted to join?"

Li Huowang's teeth clenched, and his expression turned ferocious again. "She's sick! Her current thoughts aren't her true thoughts! I'll say it again, don't drag her into this!"

"Alright, I understand. No need to repeat it. You made it very clear when you took her away before."

Seeing Qingwanglai's attitude, Li Huowang didn't want to clash with him at that moment. He forcefully pulled off the rubber mask on his head, revealing his true face.

Honking sounds came from the front as several off-road vehicles appeared, driven by foreigners. "Let's go," Zhao Shuangdian said, tilting his head slightly in that direction and walking towards the vehicles.

Outside the airport, Li Huowang saw that the area was even more desolate than he had imagined. An airport should ideally be in a big city, but here, outside the airport, there was only a small town that he could see the end of with a single glance. A few minutes later, the off-road vehicles left the small town and drove into the desolate Gobi Desert.

When he saw the driver turn the steering wheel, pulling the car off the asphalt road and into the Gobi Desert, Li Huowang reached his hands behind him and gripped his familiar knife handles. "They'd be here? This doesn't look like a place where people would live," Li Huowang asked Zhao Shuangdian, who was in the passenger seat.

"How do you know they're necessarily human?" Zhao Shuangdian asked, crossing his arms. He then pulled open a compartment above the car window, took out a pair of dark red sunglasses—darker on top, lighter on the bottom—and put them on.

Time passed slowly, and the sky gradually darkened. When the off-road vehicles, with their low beams on, reached a depression in the Gobi Desert, they slowly came to a stop.

"Get out, grab your gear." Everyone immediately exited the vehicles and opened the trunks. They had been traveling all day with hardly any rest, yet everyone was now incredibly serious and somber.

When Li Huowang saw Zhao Shuangdian gradually assembling a pitch-black sniper rifle, he frowned and drew his two knives. "Wait, you get to use that, and I only get these?"

"Shall we swap? If I give it to you, would you know how to use it?" Zhao Shuangdian asked, offering him the firearm. Li Huowang ultimately didn't take it. He had indeed never used one, and an unfamiliar firearm wouldn't be as effective as his own reliable weapons.

"Li Huowang, over here." Hearing the call, Li Huowang turned his head and immediately saw Wujie and Chen Hongyu taking a heavy piece of clothing and a helmet out of their trunk. Li Huowang remembered these items; they were his old bulletproof vest.