"Hey, buddy." The mercenary walked up to the car and tapped the severely deformed hood with the muzzle of his gun, "Can you get out by yourself? Uh, don't get me wrong, I mean, do you need emergency services..."

He frowned, stepped back a few steps, spread his hands toward the car, and continued, "Looking at the state of these cars, it seems you've been through some intense battle."

No one responded to him, and the car door remained closed.

The entire convoy just stood there silently, without any movement.

"Something's wrong, something's definitely wrong..." came a murmur from the crowd.

"Can you sense the memetic aura inside the cars?"

"Yes... but it's really weird..."

"Could it be..."

"Shh, don't speak nonsense!"

"I'm really wondering, are the drivers humans or something else... Damn it, someone take off whatever's blocking the windshield!"

"If it were anomalies, they would have just driven straight through already, wouldn't they? Simmons would be dead, or at least have a few broken bones by now... But they stopped obediently when Simmons told them to."

"Hey, Simmons, go up and take a look!" a Hunter urged.

"I'm not going!" Simmons, the mercenary who stepped up to stop the car earlier, shook his head, "There's definitely something wrong with this convoy!"

"Aren't you known for being brave? Why are you chickening out now?" another bearded mercenary mocked.

"Bearded man, you shut the hell up, I may be brave, but I'm not stupid." Simmons spat on the ground, "You don't know shit, this isn't chickening out, it's being cautious!"

"How about this, Simmons, I'll give you a thousand bucks." The hunter who coaxed him earlier spoke again, "If you go up and open the car door, this thousand bucks is yours."

"A thousand bucks? To take this risk?" Simmons shook his head with disdain, "Keep dreaming!"

"I'll add another five hundred!" The bearded man extended five fingers, "No, make it a thousand, just go open the car door. My thousand and Green Eyes' thousand, all yours!"

Simmons swallowed hard... Just opening a car door could earn him two thousand bucks, such a good thing doesn't come by every day... But after a few seconds, he still shook his head, "Not doing it."

"I'll add two hundred too."

"If you open the car door, I'll give you another five hundred!"

The crowd started shouting, quickly accumulating the "reward pool" to six thousand eight hundred bucks.

"Simmons, if you don't do it, I will... anyway, who opens the door doesn't matter." The bearded man suddenly said, "If I go open the car door, the offered amounts still count, right?"

"Of course, it counts!"

"Whoever opens, opens!"

"Bearded man, you go, let that coward Simmons back off!"

The crowd jeered.

"Everyone shut up!" Simmons shouted, "Six thousand eight, right! I'll do it!"

The crowd immediately quieted down.

Under the watchful eyes of dozens, Simmons cautiously walked to the left side of the lead car of the convoy.

He took a deep breath, raised the gun's stock, and gently tapped on the driver-side door twice.

"Hey, buddy." Simmons called out to the car, "Mind if I open the door for you?"

As before, there was no response from inside the car.

"Hoo..." Simmons exhaled heavily, slung his assault rifle over his back, and drew his handgun from his waist.

He aimed the handgun at the driver's seat with his right hand, while his left hand slowly rested on the door handle.

Simmons held his breath and pulled hard.

"Shit!" Simmons cursed, "The damn door is stuck!"

His sudden profanity startled everyone, but once they realized it was just the door being stuck, the tense atmosphere relaxed.

"Simmons, do you need us to find a hydraulic clamp?" The bearded man shouted.

"Maybe try the other doors, they can't all be stuck, can they?"

Simmons inspected the door again, then pulled on the handle, saying with some confusion, "The car body doesn't seem deformed... Also, the feeling the door handle gives me... is a bit weird..."

"What's weird?" asked Green Eyes, the hunter.

"When I tried pulling the door, it actually feels like it's loose... It's not stuck, but rather feels like it's being sucked in by something." Simmons described.

"Maybe try pulling harder?" suggested Green Eyes.

"Someone come over and keep an eye on the people inside for me." Simmons waved at the onlookers, "I'll give each of you five hundred bucks!"

Everyone looked at each other, no one stepped forward.

"Damn it, a thousand each!" Simmons shouted.

"His turnaround is pretty quick." Sun Hang said to Candle Dragon with his hands in his pockets, watching the spectacle from afar, "This guy was just raising prices, and now the roles have reversed."

"Can you tell if the people inside are humans or anomalies?" Candle Dragon asked.

"Judging by the memetic frequency, the infection level is high, but it hasn't reached the danger threshold yet." Sun Hang pondered for a moment, "But we can't rule out the possibility of methods that hide the true infection process... If the people inside were ordinary infected, there's no reason not to get out of the car by now, right?"

"I can't feel anything." Xue Yue suddenly said, "Inside those cars, I can't sense any emotions."

As the saying goes, heavy rewards bring out the brave. Simmons was like this, and so were the hunters and mercenaries.

After raising it to thirteen hundred, two mercenaries stepped forward, positioning themselves behind Simmons. Then, they climbed atop some street-side ruins, setting up their guns above Simmons.