Forbearance Mistaken for Weakness

This was the first time in more than six years since Qu Jianlei arrived in the Wasteland that someone had voluntarily helped him.

Thinking of how other transmigrators could make a name for themselves from the very start, while he had struggled just to stay alive... it really had not been easy.

He felt he had to make one thing clear. "All the spoils are mine."

There was no need to say that to anyone else, but Morrison was different. The man was far too shameless.

Sure enough, Morrison froze again. Four weapons, and not one for me? The slightly chubby man and Red Hair had two longswords between them, and they had borrowed a Gauss Automatic Rifle. Red Hair also had a short dagger at his waist.

Morrison could not make sense of it, and he could not help speaking up.

"I'm more or less one of your people. Even giving me a short dagger would strengthen our group's fighting power, wouldn't it?"

Qu Jianlei could not be bothered to answer him. Even if I gave you a weapon, would you dare kill anyone?

More importantly, I'd have to watch out for you pulling something!

He shot the man a sidelong glance. "One of my people... are you even worthy? This is called paying back what you owe!"

Morrison was instantly rendered speechless. You don't understand how to build up a team at all. No wonder you're still a lone ghost wandering around.

"Then can I at least strip a pair of pants off someone?"

His pants had been punctured by Silly Qu. If Extremely Cold Weather hit, he could die.

Qu Jianlei said nothing, which counted as permission.

Morrison searched the bodies with practiced ease. Aside from ammunition and some small items, he found a tube of Nutrient Solution on Red Hair.

With his back to Qu Jianlei, he was about to quietly open the Nutrient Solution.

Something hard and icy pressed against the back of his head, and a cold voice sounded. "Want to die?"

Morrison was so hungry that his eyes had turned blue, but... he did not want to die! He felt so wronged that he wanted to burst into tears, but the two cold corpses before him reminded him what kind of person stood behind him.

He could only obediently put down the Nutrient Solution.

The next problem was that burying corpses... also took strength.

But Morrison truly did not dare say anything more. He did not even dare slack off.

Whenever he could not resist the urge to be lazy, he told himself: That fool really will kill people! As for why the timid, submissive Silly Qu had become like this, he could not figure it out either.

It took him more than two hours, but he finally buried the two bodies in the Garbage Dump and cleaned the bloodstains off the ground.

Then he dropped onto the ground, panting heavily, feeling as though his whole body was about to fall apart.

Just then, Qu Jianlei spoke. "Hungry? I can lend you a gun..."

Really? Morrison eyed him suspiciously, feeling that something was off. "What would I use a gun for?"

"Go hunt other Scavengers," Qu Jianlei said with lowered eyelids. "We split the spoils fifty-fifty."

Morrison blinked for a long time before asking, "Kill who?"

"Anyone you want," Qu Jianlei replied, his face still expressionless. "It'll solve your food problem too."

Morrison stared blankly at him for quite a while before slowly shaking his head. "I don't dare."

He was timid, though now that his stomach was empty, killing someone was not entirely out of the question.

But there was one problem: his leg was injured. If a Scavenger turned the tables on him, he would not even be able to run.

Being hungry was miserable, but he still did not want to die.

"Heh." The corner of Qu Jianlei's mouth twitched in a perfect humorless smile. "That's all the ambition you've got."

Then that was all the ambition he had. Morrison did not want to explain—there was no point wasting calories.

The dirty woman noticed Qu Jianlei killing again.

After pondering for a moment, she instructed the young man beside her, "When you take the goods out later, let Little Qu inspect them on your own initiative."

"Let him inspect them voluntarily?" The young man was clearly unwilling. "Wouldn't that make us a laughingstock?"

"What do you know?" the dirty woman snorted. "Just do as you're told."

The young man ultimately could not argue with his sister-in-law. Before long, he took the goods out and went straight to Qu Jianlei.

Qu Jianlei had been a little puzzled at first about whose person this was, but then he remembered.

The first person to voluntarily request an inspection had appeared. Soon afterward, a second one came by.

The third to show up was the short, sturdy man who had once tried to drive a wedge between him and the Scavengers.

This man was even more straightforward. After the inspection, he proactively requested, "While you're at it, use your Tricycle to haul my goods too."

Qu Jianlei gave him a puzzled look. "While I'm at it?"

"I'll pay," the short, sturdy man said, startled, then forced a smile. "I can't use your vehicle for free, right?"

Qu Jianlei nodded and said expressionlessly, "Wait a moment."

There was not enough cargo to make a special trip with the Tricycle, and in any case, he was not the one pulling it now.

After that, people gradually came over for inspections.

As for how many people had witnessed him killing, Qu Jianlei himself did not know.

But everyone could see that he now had a Gauss Automatic Rifle and three longswords at hand.

There were plenty of sensible people among the Scavengers, and most knew how to protect themselves.

Even some people who had not been involved in that incident came to have Qu Jianlei inspect their goods.

—They did not know why the others were doing it, but there was no harm in following suit.

After all, Silly Qu was not taking anyone's garbage. What was the big deal about letting him look it over?

Qu Jianlei did not take anything, but Morrison secretly pocketed some relatively cheap garbage instead.

Qu Jianlei pretended not to see it. Since he had a helper who was greedy for life and afraid of death, he could not exactly watch the man starve to death.

He did not concern himself with upholding justice. The Wasteland had no such custom.

He had nearly starved to death plenty of times himself, yet he had never seen anyone uphold justice for him.

If you would not fight for your own rights, were you expecting someone else to help you?

Before they knew it, evening was drawing near, and the Tricycle was fully loaded.

This time, they were not transporting goods toward Qu Jianlei's camp, but to another place nearly twenty kilometers away.

By the time Morrison dragged the Tricycle there, stumbling with every step, four hours had passed.

The Scavengers went to sell their garbage to people they knew, and Morrison took his own haul to sell as well.

Qu Jianlei also went to a general store. He had three longswords and planned to sell one.

Gap Tooth's sword was rather badly damaged.

The owner of the general store was a Cripple who also knew Silly Qu. He named a price directly.

"One damaged Vibrating Blade... three tubes of Nutrient Solution."

That was rather excessive. A brand-new Vibrating Blade was worth nearly fifty tubes of Nutrient Solution.

Qu Jianlei was not good at bargaining, so he said expressionlessly, "Add more."

"Don't even think about it," Cripple snorted. "You can dig one up anywhere in the Garbage Dump. You think it's that valuable?"

Qu Jianlei looked at him speechlessly. "Then I'm not selling it."

Could one find a usable Vibrating Blade in the Garbage Dump?

It was not impossible, but the odds were too low, about the same as winning the lottery jackpot.

"Not selling?" Cripple looked at him.

Though he had noticed the many weapons on the other man, he knew exactly what Silly Qu was like.

He did not believe this fool would dare make a move. At most, out of consideration for the weapons, he merely snorted in displeasure.

"If you're not selling, quit wasting my time. Fucking buzzkill."

Sure enough, Qu Jianlei did not react. He picked up the longsword, turned, and left.

Although he had a gun, he knew there was no need to make things bloody in a place like this.

Besides, he knew his social skills were poor. Those filthy words might have merely been verbal fillers, so he ignored them.

However, Mohawk Head at the entrance of the general store saw his reaction.

No matter what kind of society it was, nothing was ever entirely black and white. It was normal for people to wait outside a general store for easy prey.

"So cowardly even with a gun?" Mohawk Head's eyes lit up. This guy... was worth targeting.

He touched the short dagger at his waist, thought for a moment, and turned to leave.

Not long afterward, he returned with two men. One carried a Gauss Automatic Rifle, while the other carried a longsword.

Mohawk Head now had a Short-barreled Shotgun in his hands. "Cripple, where's the guy?"

The store owner knew their kind too. Half-heartedly, he replied, "Ask around yourself. He's from Luan Shi Camp."

"Luan Shi?" Mohawk Head bared his teeth in a grin. "A little place like that dares call itself a camp? That guy looked pretty timid?"

"He's a fool," Cripple said with a wave of his hand. "Go, go, go. I'm busy."

"Busy my ass!" Mohawk Head's expression darkened. "You need a lesson?"

"You want to teach me a lesson?" Cripple raised his hand, revealing a Laser Pistol. His face sank. "That guy's called Silly Qu... now get lost!"

"Thanks, Cripple," Mohawk Head said with an unconcerned smile, then turned and left with his men.

Cripple watched their backs, shook his head indifferently, and lowered his head to wipe down his Laser Pistol.

Qu Jianlei had not expected his restraint to be mistaken for weakness.

He found Morrison, who had just licked a Nutrient Solution packet clean, a faint trace of satisfaction on his face.

"Alright, get to work. I need to head back to camp."

"Let me take a puff first." Morrison took out a small plastic capsule the size of a pinky finger, filled with blue liquid.

Qu Jianlei watched expressionlessly. He knew the capsule contained a cheap Hallucinogen that was addictive.

Cigarettes were also sold in the Wasteland, but they were expensive. Compared to cigarettes, Blue Beauty not only smelled fishy and rancid, it was even more harmful to the body.

But some people liked the stuff, and Morrison was evidently one of them.

Qu Jianlei could tell that the man had not bought any bandages or anything else. Other than Nutrient Solution, all his money went on Blue Beauty.

But that was someone else's choice, someone else's life. What did it have to do with him? Morrison first bit open the capsule and took a deep puff. Then he stuffed the capsule into his mouth and began chewing it.

His eyes narrowed, his face full of bliss.

At the same time, Mohawk Head and the other two spotted them. The man carrying the longsword gave a soft exclamation.

"Huh, isn't that useless Morrison?"

Morrison was actually far more famous than Silly Qu. Qu Jianlei did not hurt people, while Morrison was a universally acknowledged menace.

"Two Ants, quite the pair," said the man carrying the Gauss Automatic Rifle. "We'll wait outside the camp."