Once they were out of danger, the armored vehicles began to slow down. The convoy finally came to a halt five kilometers away from the Hell Tornado.
Even from this distance, they could feel the terrifying gale. Rocks the size of washbasins were swept up and pulled toward the Hell Tornado.
But the Hell Tornado had appeared as quickly as it vanished. After just three minutes, it dissipated at a rate visible to the naked eye.
The countless tons of dirt and rock it had swept into the sky now rained down like hail.
Even though the convoy was more than five kilometers away, it was still battered by the falling debris.
An Armored Vehicle was even struck by a boulder weighing over a hundred pounds, reminding Lin Xinghai yet again of nature's terrifying power.
If not for the shelter of the Armored Vehicle, even if he hadn't been swept up by the Hell Tornado directly, he would never have survived such an indiscriminate, wide-area assault when it dissipated.
"All hands, disembark and perform maintenance checks," Roger ordered once the barrage of sand and rock had ended.
Lin Xinghai jumped down from the vehicle as well. He noticed the people from the other vehicles were also disembarking. Apparently, this was standard procedure.
In truth, there wasn't much to inspect on the Armored Vehicle. The thing wasn't made of simple sheet metal but forged from high-strength Alloy. Even a direct hit from a rock weighing over a hundred pounds wouldn't do much damage.
Even the two multi-purpose SUVs could withstand such an impact.
Therefore, the inspection focused on two main areas.
The first was the engine. After all, they had been pushing it past its limits to escape. If they didn't perform maintenance now, it would very likely cause problems down the line.
The second was the rocket thrusters. Lin Xinghai did a quick count and discovered that the rear half of the Armored Vehicle was fitted with a staggering 16 rocket thrusters.
No wonder this 50-ton hunk of metal could accelerate to near-flight Speed in just a few seconds.
In addition to basic inspections, the most important task for the rocket thrusters was refueling their Energy source.
The Energy used by the rocket thrusters wasn't conventional fuel or nitrous oxide, but a type of Energy Crystal Stone.
Judging by the pained look on Roger's face, this stuff was... definitely expensive.
"Is this type of Energy Crystal Stone what we're looking for on this mission?" Lin Xinghai asked.
"More or less, but these are double-compressed Energy Crystal Stones, which are even more expensive. The replacements will cost around 3,000 Points in total," Roger said, wincing.
Lin Xinghai was a little shocked to hear that. From what he understood, this was about how many Points a typical First Level Mercenary Corps could expect to save from a single mission after deducting all expenses.
After half an hour of maintenance, the convoy set off again.
The rest of the journey was uneventful, and they soon reached the outskirts of Tianshan City.
The view was filled with dilapidated buildings and stretches of ruins.
The cataclysm had raged for 20 years; any building left standing was a testament to its solid construction.
At the same time, the Zombie Detector in the vehicle began to blare continuously.
At first, only one or two Zombies appeared on the detector.
But as the vehicles pushed forward, that number rose rapidly, soon exceeding 10, then reaching 20, and then 30.
These Zombies were scattered at first, but the commotion from the advancing convoy caused them to converge.
What shocked Lin Xinghai even more was that nearly half of the red dots on the detector were deep red, which signified Intermediate Zombies!
This meant the Zombies here were an order of magnitude more dangerous than the ones outside the city.
Watching the number of red dots on the Zombie Detector continue to climb, Lin Xinghai couldn't help but swallow nervously.
He didn't know what they would face if they went deeper, but even the Zombies that had appeared so far were more than his Squad One could handle.
The Intermediate Zombies, in particular, were incredibly lethal in close quarters.
Fortunately, the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps didn't plan to advance using their previous formation.
The two multi-purpose SUVs, which had been basically useless until now, moved to the very front of the formation and drove side-by-side.
At some point, a Mercenary had taken a seat in the gunner's nest on the roof of each vehicle, and the "Heavy Machine Guns" mounted there had been activated.
The phrase "activating a Heavy Machine Gun" sounded strange, but it was the truth.
The barrels of the two Heavy Machine Guns actually began to extend, and a blue light spread over the entire weapon, starting from its base.
Lin Xinghai wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he could have sworn he saw sparks of electricity crackling around the muzzles.
It was safe to say that once activated, the Heavy Machine Guns looked far more impressive and intimidating. They didn't even resemble Heavy Machine Guns anymore.
Of course, no one had actually called them Heavy Machine Guns. That was just Lin Xinghai's initial impression.
Just then, Roger came to his side and began explaining their strategy. "We'll use the two Electromagnetic Railguns to create a crossfire. As long as they have enough Energy and ammunition, they can quickly eliminate even a thousand Zombies charging straight at us."
'So the so-called Heavy Machine Guns were just my own assumption after all.'
Roger, of course, had no idea what Lin Xinghai was thinking, so he continued, "Squad Two and Three will provide support from the center. In addition to handling any Zombies on the flanks, they'll also deal with any unexpected situations."
"To be precise, the 'Heaven-Sundering' and 'Celestial Frost' Mecha will be the ones handling it."
As Roger spoke, the two Armored Vehicles from the rear overtook them, moving into the middle of the convoy. The hatches on their roofs began to open slowly.
Fang Tianhe and Shen Han, the corps' two strongest fighters, were already inside their Mecha, on standby and ready to deploy at a moment's notice.
"So our job is to guard the rear?" Lin Xinghai asked. Seeing his squad, which had previously led the charge, now bringing up the rear felt a little strange.
'Of course, getting used to it is a minor issue. The real pain is that if we advance using this strategy, we won't be stopping to collect any Elemental Crystals!'
'What about my Blood Qi Power? I was planning on making a huge haul!'
"Yes. Guarding the rear is a relatively easy job. You could say it's a chance for us to rest."
"Of course, you won't get to rest," Roger said. "With so many Zombies to use as targets, this is a perfect training ground. You have to take this opportunity to improve your Gun Technique as quickly as possible."