"How do you open this thing?" Bai Ye was puzzled as he faced the bloodstained mechanical arm. His dagger couldn't cut through it, and he didn't understand mechanics, so he couldn't open the arm's interior.
"Li Zuo, can you open it?"
Li You walked over with a complex expression. "You... are also an Extraordinary Being?"
The fear of his brother suffering and the fear of his brother driving a luxury car were both vividly displayed in his demeanor.
"Would you believe me if I said no?" Bai Ye retorted.
Li You gave him a look that said, "Do I look like an idiot?"
"What is your Extraordinary Ability? How did you kill so many people in an instant?"
"I'm not telling you." Bai Ye didn't explain that he wasn't an Extraordinary Being. He really wasn't; he was just an ordinary traveler. The Time Stop ability was merely a result of the different time flows between two eras.
"That's not fair. I thought of you as a friend and even told you my Extraordinary Ability."
"Heh." Bai Ye let out a cold laugh and started to reveal secrets: "I may be afraid of death, but I'm even more afraid of the rest of my life..."
"Brother, I was wrong, stop it, stop it..." Li You's face turned red, and he quickly begged for mercy.
"I'll help you with the mechanical arm."
The two of them struggled mightily and finally managed to turn the mechanical arm into a pile of scrap metal.
"Fuck! Wang She, you really deserved to die! Even at death's door, you couldn't say a single honest word!" Bai Ye cursed in anger. After all the effort, there was no money inside the mechanical arm, only some intricate mechanisms that could be used for ambushes.
"Motherfucker, let's go, what a waste of time!" Bai Ye kicked the mechanical arm and then turned to get into the off-road vehicle that Tan Jie had brought.
Once Li You got in, he started the car.
"You can drive?" Li You looked at Bai Ye in surprise, watching him skillfully handle the vehicle. Suddenly, he felt like Bai Ye wasn't a Wastelander.
"What's the big deal? It's not like you need anything other than hands to drive," Bai Ye scoffed, not mentioning that he had failed the driving test three times before passing.
"But why are you driving back? That's not the direction to Dawn City."
"Obviously, we're going back to Graysoil Town."
Bai Ye gave him a disdainful look. "Don't use that brain of yours, which isn't even as oily as a peanut, to question my decisions.
In a little while, it'll be dark. As a Wasteland Hunter, I solemnly tell you, traveling the wasteland at night is tantamount to suicide."
Bai Ye was telling the truth. The wasteland was ten times more dangerous at night than during the day. Even the most experienced Wasteland Hunters wouldn't choose to hunt at night. If they were unfortunately stuck in the wild, they would find a hidden and safe place to hunker down.
Besides, he wanted to save some time; there was only one minute left. What if they encountered danger in the wilderness?
Graysoil Town, though at risk of Mutant Beast attacks, was at least temporarily safe and offered a place to stay.
......
Yellow sand, carried by the wind, swept through the streets of Graysoil Town, scattering gray feathers around hundreds of corpses.
The road, interwoven with blood and yellow earth, cracked like a spider web, with a half-rusted soda can stuck in the crevices, rolling in the wind and sand with a hollow echo.
Clang, clang, clang...
The soda can rolled past Li You's feet. Looking at the desolate and empty town, he couldn't help but ask a soul-searching question: "Wait... where is everyone? Where did all the people of Graysoil Town go?"
Despite the calamity, Graysoil Town had survived with three to four hundred people. But in just an hour, everyone was gone!
Bai Ye bent down to examine the traces on the ground, and suddenly it all became clear to him: "There are many footprints here, and drag marks from heavy objects. If I'm not mistaken, everyone ran away."
"Ran away?"
"That's right. Graysoil Town isn't big, and many people heard what that knight girl said. Plus, when Wang She and the others drove off to chase us, the residents mistakenly thought the Commander had fled, which naturally caused more panic, so they all ran."
"Fuck, these people ran fast. I was hoping to find a doctor to bandage my right hand!" Li You grimaced, holding his right hand and cursing in dissatisfaction.
Aside from his life, his right hand was his most precious asset, and he was afraid of leaving a lasting injury that would affect his ability to use his Extraordinary Ability in the future.
"They may run fast, but can they run faster than you?"
Li You's face turned awkward. "Can we not talk about that?"
"Let's go, find a place to settle."
After several hours of work, the two of them set up a relatively sturdy brick house, sealing the windows and doors.
Food wasn't an immediate concern, as Li You had previously stolen supplies from the Tire Tavern, including drinks and cockroach protein bars, but no meat.
Li You thought meat was hard to store and took up space, so he didn't take any. By the time they returned to the Tire Tavern, it had already been looted by the residents.
The gray sparrows outside were Mutant Beasts, and their meat was already contaminated and inedible.
"What were you thinking? You'd rather take alcohol than meat?" Bai Ye grumbled.
"You can hunt for meat, but not for alcohol. In the wasteland, you can do without anything but alcohol!"
Li You took a swig of the cheap liquor, feeling like his right hand hurt less.
"Alcohol is the essence of grain; the more you drink, the younger you get! It not only fills you up and boosts your courage but also numbs pain and disinfects. Where else can you find something so good?" he said, blowing a smoke ring.
Bai Ye asked with a dark expression, "And what's with the cigarettes?"
"Cigarettes are more valuable than gold! You could spend them like money, and with the stress of surviving in the wasteland, you need to relieve some tension... Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?! Beating up a disabled person, do you have any conscience?!"
"Go smoke somewhere else!" Bai Ye shooed the annoying Li You away, then continued to stare at the cockroach protein bar.
I could tolerate the cockroach protein bar, provided I hadn't tasted meat!
Ah, gulp!
Bai Ye swallowed the pitch-black, cockroach-antennae-laden protein bar in one go, not daring to chew for fear of throwing up.
"Ugh..."
"Brother Ye, you look like you just ate shit."
"Ugh... this stuff is worse than shit, stickier than shit, not as sweet as shit, and shit is free while this costs money!"
"Is it really that bad? I eat this stuff every day and don't make such a fuss. You've only been Deputy Commander for a few days, and you've already forgotten your roots." Li You muttered quietly.
"That's because you've never had anything good!" Bai Ye glared at him.
He now missed the days of the Civilization Era immensely. By this time, he would have already gone to the barbecue stall downstairs, drinking beer and eating skewers.