Doomsday America.

Chapter 245 Sugar Apples

Chapter 245 Sugar Apples (5k)

"Um!"

Lucien nodded emphatically.

"We'll talk about our problem after we find Margaret and her group!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lucien turned and left, quickly getting dressed back in his tent.

Martin then leaned closer to Gavin and whispered something.

"Boss, you're putting too much pressure on me. I might not be able to accurately track their location."

"Although I saw the tire tracks of the Iveco, those things are too easy to lose their mark. Although there has been little maintenance on American roads in the past month, resulting in a lot of dust, the few tire tracks have become clearer."

"But no matter what, wouldn't it be incredibly embarrassing if I couldn't keep up?"

"Shameful?"

Upon hearing this, Gavin simply shrugged.

"What's shameful about it? As long as you've tried your best, that's enough. Let's go get a car ready."

As he spoke, Gavin waved to his men.

Eugene, Martin, and Philip followed Gavin toward a vehicle in the Lucien camp.

As Gavin approached, the Lucien camp crewman, who was packing up equipment next to the vehicle, quickly stood up with two bundles of rope and said to Gavin.

"Gavin!"

"Hmm, it's me. I'd like to borrow this car for a bit. You should have enough cars, right?"

"what?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter was slightly taken aback, then quickly nodded in response.

"Yes, of course we do, but—this Cadillac is fine, we actually also have a Lamborghini!"

Haha~

Gavin chuckled and patted his shoulder after hearing what his friend said.

"No thanks, I don't need a Lamborghini. I'm already tired of that junk. I'll just borrow this Cadillac."

After saying that, Gavin pointed to the Cadillac's fuel tank and smiled at Eugene.

"Eugene, check the car, and remember to check the fuel tank."

"Um."

Eugene didn't say much, and went straight over to inspect the Cadillac.

Soon after, the four of them got into the car, with Gavin himself in the driver's seat. He started the car and drove it to the entrance of Lucien Camp.

Gavin took out his walkie-talkie and spoke as he watched Lucien, who was already dressed, get into the car.

"Flight team, follow the ground convoy later to the Cedar Camp nickel mine to begin tracking."

"Sean, how long can your Black Hawks fly?"

At this point, Gavin asked Sean a question.

Upon hearing this, Sean quickly replied.

"Boss, hovering consumes more fuel than cruising. Each of our helicopters can fly for about four hours. So, if we're not sure we can find the target quickly, after we arrive at Cedar Camp, we'll have the three helicopters follow you one by one to carry out the operation."

At this point, Sean thought for a moment and then said, "Wait, I'm not right. Doing it one by one will cause subsequent aircraft to lose track of the target."

"So, let me bring my two trainees with me. I'll follow you in one plane first, and once the flight time is up to the scheduled time, I'll fly back and transfer to Edward and Steve's plane to continue searching for you and begin our work. That should be fine."

"OK, Sean, your flight team can decide on the work plan themselves. Get ready to move out."

Gavin nodded and gave the order to take action. The three planes immediately took off, and the huge roar and waves made Lucien, who was carrying weapons on his body, look at them with envy.

"Mazefak!"

A moment later, Lucien couldn't help but curse and said.

"When will we get something this good!"

"Haha, bro, stop messing around. We don't lack airplanes, we lack pilots! We don't have any of our men who can fly those things!"

Chandson replied helplessly, then patted the pickup truck door.

"Stop dawdling, buddy, get in the car! Odin's waiting for us!"

"Ah ha, Odin, what a damn image! I'm getting a little excited. How did Gavin even think of keeping two crows? And he really does have a scar on his eye!"

As Lucien got into his car, he glanced in Gavin's direction and made a joke. A moment later, his two cars started moving and passed Gavin to the front of the line.

From Granite Beach to Cedar Park, Lucien knew this road much better than Gavin.

Therefore, Gavin didn't mind following behind Lucien.

The group drove very fast and soon returned to Cedar Park.

While two of the three helicopters were parked on the roof of the nickel mine, Lucien also led his men to inspect the situation at Cedar Park.

When Lucien and his group came out of the nickel mine, Gavin and his two companions were standing at the entrance of the security room smoking.

From a distance, watching the smoke surrounding the three, Lucien lit a cigarette and led his younger brother closer to them, saying...

"That bitch Margaret is really gone, it's unbelievable. I really saw that bastard Nathan too, damn it, sometimes I really want to kill him, but I never thought of doing it this way!"

At this point, Lucien's eyes were practically brimming with wariness.

He walked up to Gavin with a look of lingering fear on his face, and while smoking with his younger brother, he continued to speak with lingering trepidation.

"The crucial point is that Margaret's camp appeared to have vanished without offering any resistance!"

"The guys who dealt with them must have operated while they were asleep; they didn't even give them a chance to fully wake up before they finished their work!"

"Even if we replaced Margaret's camp with ours, I doubt things would be much better. Our guys would probably sleep like logs after they fall asleep!"

"With just one or two sentries, damn it, I don't think my sentries are necessarily more reliable than the guy with the nails hammered into the security room!"

"Luckily, their primary target wasn't us, but those sexy young women!"

At this point, Lucien turned to look at Martin, a questioning look in his eyes.

He already knew that Martin was a legendary old hunter.

Meeting Lucien's questioning gaze, Martin threw away his cigarette butt, stomped it out, and said.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not sure if I can track them down. All I know for now is that they were driving an Iveco van, and it must have been going incredibly slowly and making very little noise."

"As for the number of people who attacked Margaret's camp, I guess it was only three, or even fewer!"

"One of them was short and agile, one was very strong, and the last one was not very noticeable, mostly observing and rarely taking action."

"The guy with the nails hammered into the security room and the guy with the nail on Lenerson's neck are probably the same person. Lenerson's head was probably only hit twice with the back of a fire axe. The assailant's hammer blows were incredibly precise and powerful!"

"In short, this was a premeditated and organized attack. The attackers had a clear objective and were extremely capable. They had basically figured out the composition of Margaret's camp before the operation, and we cannot rule out the possibility of an inside man."

"But our goal now isn't to solve the case, but to find them by following the only tire tracks that can serve as a clue?"

At this point, Martin couldn't help but purse his lips, glancing lazily at Lucien before speaking.

"Lucian, we have to thank the dust of the past month, and even more so the fact that there haven't been many cars on our roads for the past month."

"It was precisely because of the significant increase in road dust that I had a slight chance to apply my knowledge of trace evidence; otherwise, it would have been an impossible task. Even if you brought in 007, they wouldn't have been able to do it without GPS and satellite assistance!"

Martin is right. If the road wasn't so dusty and covered in grime, how could you possibly find a car just by its tire tracks?

Are you kidding me!

It's only somewhat possible if that car leaves drift tire marks on every corner.

And now—

Looking at Martin, whose eyes were both lazy and serious, Lucien remained silent for a moment, then patted Martin on the shoulder, and then simply reached into his pocket, pulled out a beautiful gold watch, and handed it to Martin.

"Do a good job, buddy. This is all I can give you. Consider it my thank-you gift."

"Huh?"

Upon hearing this, Martin looked at Gavin while holding his gold watch, and said to Lucien.

"I don't care about your gold watch, you idiot. I'm not working for you, am I, boss?"

"Haha, that's right, but since he gave it to you, you should accept it, Martin."

Gavin waved to Martin, who then smiled, put the gold watch in his pocket, and pulled out a beautifully packaged cigar, tossing it to Lucien.

"Don't think I didn't reciprocate; these are cigars from my eldest brother's family. Have them and try them out. We can set off now!"

After speaking, Martin returned to the Cadillac and got into the driver's seat.

While Gavin and the others got into the car, Lucien chased after them all the way to the driver's side window of the Cadillac and leaned against the window to speak to Martin.

"I owe you a favor, and I'll remember it. I also hope you'll take it seriously, hunter buddy!"

"You may not understand, but I must admit, Margaret meant a lot to me, she—"

"Hey! Stop pretending, Lucien, everyone knows the stupid thing you did to Margaret!"

Inside the car, Philip interrupted Lucien and yelled at him from a distance.

After being interrupted, Lucien couldn't help but look at Philip, and continued with a wry smile.

"Heh, Lone Ranger, I know you better than you know us!"

After saying that, Lucien left the Cadillac and returned to their car.

As Martin started driving, Eugene nudged Philip on the shoulder and chuckled.

"Lone Ranger, I bet the boss is right, there's definitely something going on between this Lucian and your little leader Margaret!"

"Believe me, Lucien's gaze wasn't just a simple look of wanting to rape a woman; it was practically a poem written in his eyes, haha~"

"Shut up, redhead, nobody wants to hear your bragging!"

Philip was a little annoyed because he actually quite liked Margaret.

Although Margaret only slept with him for the one night she stayed with him, she slept with him far less often than Cynthia, the actress from Saint Valley.

But—how should I put it?

Margaret's skin and figure, maintained by money, along with the noble temperament cultivated by her wealthy family and her unintentional glances, are far more appealing than the Saint-Germain actresses!

Seeing that Philip had interrupted him, Eugene immediately wanted to say something to Philip.

Before he could even speak, Gavin, who was in the passenger seat looking at the map and comparing Martin's tracking direction, suddenly started cursing at the two people in the back.

"Shut up, don't keep me from checking the map!"

"Uh, okay, boss!"

Eugene awkwardly made a zipping motion over his mouth, while Martin followed the faint traces in his eyes, driving out of the nickel mine area and heading south towards Cedar Park.

For a master tracker like him, even a slight musty smell suddenly appearing in the forest after the rain, or less dew on a certain leaf than on other leaves, are all helpful clues to support his tracking!

Although the changes in dust on the road were extremely subtle, they were as clear to him as navigation in a video game.

Of course, when he drove to certain sections of road that had been washed by strong winds or heavy rains, he still had to stop the car and, under the expectant eyes of the team members, lie down on the road to carefully search and confirm!

After driving around for nearly forty kilometers, Gavin, who had been holding a map and checking the route, frowned slightly.

He gently grasped Martin's wrist as he gripped the gearshift and said...

"Martin, stop the car!"

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Martin stopped the car in surprise. He didn't know what Gavin had discovered, so he looked at Gavin with a puzzled expression.

Gavin handed the map to Martin and pointed to the route on it.

"Take a look at the map, Martin. After leaving the nickel mine in Cedar Park, we passed through Jonestown, Warrenttown, around Lake Travis, and then further through Bekafftown."

"Then we changed direction and continued circling Lake Travis for fourteen kilometers before turning right!"

What lies ahead of us?

"Thorn Cliff Town!"

"Further ahead of Thorncliff Town, you can see that location on the map!"

"It's a cliff-like area surrounded by water on three sides and the upstream inlet of Lake Travis. It's a natural settlement accessible only by the road from the direction of Thorncliff, and it's also Persband Park, boasting cliff terrain and a commanding viewpoint!"

"Hmm? Pesbender Park?"

After hearing Gavin's explanation, Martin took the map and looked around along the route he had just taken.

After leaving Margaret's Camp, they didn't just circle around Lake Travis; they were almost at Stranglethorn Vale!

Behind the Cadillac, seeing that it had been parked for a long time, Lucien got out of the car suspiciously, and irritably went to the driver's side and knocked on the window.

Seeing this, Martin opened the car window, showed Lucien the map that Gavin had marked, and also told Lucien about Gavin's conjecture.

After explaining, Martin simply asked Lucien.

"Lucian, did you guys come to this Pesband Park that my boss mentioned when you were exploring before?"

"Peisbender Park?"

Upon hearing this, Lucien frowned and shook his head.

"I've never been here before. It's quite a distance from my camp. When I led the expedition, the towns near Granite Beach Camp and Margaret Camp alone were enough to carry all our stuff."

"We don't have enough people, damn it, we can't easily walk too far, especially since getting to Persband Park would be a huge detour!"

At this point, Lucien looked at Gavin and asked with his eyes downcast.

"So, Gavin, do you think the people who attacked Margaret might be hiding in Perthbender Park?"

"I'm not sure!"

When asked by Lucien, Gavin shook his head in response.

"I'm not one of them, so how can I be sure of their whereabouts? But—"

"But," Gavin said, leaning over Martin in the driver's seat, pointing to the park on the map through the driver's window.

"However, if the other party is indeed hiding in Pesband Park, then this natural cliff park, surrounded by water on three sides and situated on high ground, only has one entrance and exit: the highway towards Thorncliff!"

"Considering the steep drop of the cliffs, they'll probably spot us on land as soon as we cross Thorn Cliff Town and head towards them!"

"this----"

Lucien's brow furrowed even more as he stared at the park on the map, which was surrounded by water on three sides and accessible only by one road, and said with a grim expression.

"In that case, Gavin, should we take a different route, and try to approach Perth Bend Park discreetly from those areas surrounded by water on three sides, using some small boats?"

"But then, damn it, we're not even sure they're hiding there!"

"If we've gone to the wrong place, haven't we wasted a lot of time!"

"Yes, but if we rashly approach via the only main road, isn't it possible we'll inevitably encounter a trap and that the enemy is prepared?"

Gavin asked a question in return, then sat back in the passenger seat, took out the walkie-talkie under Lucien's slightly cold expression, and said softly.

"Sean, this is Gavin. How tall are you right now? I can't see you!"

"Boss, this is Sean. I'm cruising at an altitude of 2,400 meters. Nicholas's telescope has been watching you the whole time!"

OK.

Upon hearing Sean's confirmation, Gavin, still holding the map, continued speaking.

"Sean, we may have found the location of the mysterious survivors' camp, but it hasn't been confirmed yet, and the location is not convenient for ground exploration."

"Have Nicholas and Paul look at a map and take a look from the air above Pesband Park. Try to confirm if there are any signs of survivors living in the area!"

"Of course, avoid being spotted by any potential survivors on the ground. Just use the high-powered binoculars on the plane to conduct reconnaissance from a high vantage point!"

"Roger that, boss. We'll head to the area near Pesbender Park right now; it's only six kilometers away!"

Sean quickly replied to Gavin and then piloted the helicopter toward the vicinity of Persband Park.

The helicopter was very fast, and in just a few minutes, Perthbender Park, surrounded by water on three sides, came into view of Paul and Nicholas.

Paul and Nicholas, holding binoculars, peered through the thin clouds, trying to observe the marks on the ground as closely as possible.

As he looked, Nicholas exchanged pleasantries.

"Our boss is somewhat similar to our former staff officer. He seems to prefer simulating the enemy's actions from a psychological perspective rather than relying on precise intelligence."

"Just by looking at a map, I might not be able to guess the enemy's location. It's a bit like gambling, isn't it?"

"cut!"

Hearing Nicholas's words, Paul scoffed and cursed at Nicholas.

"Don't use your brain, which's only good for flying fighter jets, to judge the big boss's decisions. The more elaborate and complicated the boss's plans, the safer we are, because all safety comes from lengthy and tedious preparation procedures!"

"Besides, we're very close to Pesband Park; it'll just be a quick glance, it won't cost much—wait!"

Just as Paul got to this point, his voice suddenly changed.

At the same time, after observing intently, Nicholas decisively took out his walkie-talkie and spoke.

"Boss Gavin, this is Nicholas. We've probably pinpointed the target's location!"

"Although we didn't see any flames or smoke above Pesbender Park, but—damn it, I saw three or four candied apples on the road leading to the cliff!"

"That is, human heads strung together and held up by ropes!"

"I don't think that's something a zombie could do!"