Anti-Addiction Mechanism

The shopkeeper did not take Scavengers seriously, but when there were too many of them, they could still be troublesome.

He pondered for a moment before asking, "Will those people leave together?"

Old Wu nodded and answered helplessly, "There's a high chance they'll head back together. If we want to make a move, the cost will be high."

"Let's get the details first," the shopkeeper decided. "Confirm that guy's identity."

They were local tyrants on the outskirts of Hong Si Settlement, but it was not easy to find out a Scavenger's background.

The Scavenger circle was quite closed off and did not welcome outsiders asking questions.

It was not until dusk that Old Wu finally learned something through a Scavenger he knew.

"Second Brother, he's actually an idiot... but apparently One-Eyed Wolf thinks highly of him."

As for why Tu Zuo Fu valued Qu Jianlei, no one in the Scavenger circle would dare leak that information.

Second Brother thought for a moment and nodded. "Then hire someone at the Garbage Dump to keep an eye on him and find out what else is behind this guy."

Before long, the Scavengers sold their goods and bought some supplies they needed. Then the three vehicles formed up and headed back.

On the ride back, everyone brought up the old topic again, hoping Qu Jianlei would take the lead in organizing this matter.

Qu Jianlei remained silent. Only when they pressed him too hard did he finally say, "I'm afraid of dying too."

"No one isn't afraid of death," someone retorted loudly. "But you're different from us."

Qu Jianlei could not help rolling his eyes. "I don't believe no one realized that the antidote itself is a rare medicine!"

Everyone froze at those words. Then someone sucked in a cold breath. "So they killed people to save medicine?"

They could not be blamed for realizing it so late. If Qu Jianlei had not learned the details of the injection beforehand, he would not have dared to be so certain.

Yet several people remained Calm and Collected, clearly having already grasped the key point.

The filthy woman even gave a bitter smile. "Little Qu, you're the only one who'd openly say something like that."

This inside information was truly shocking. Anyone with even a little sense of propriety would not dare announce it in public!

Only an idiot like Qu Jianlei would not think so much and blurt it out directly.

Yet Dirty Woman's words became the best footnote to Qu Jianlei's statement. For a while, no one in the vehicle spoke.

After some time, Collins spoke up. "Little Qu, if you have any other suggestions, tell us all of them."

"No," Qu Jianlei shook his head decisively. "We'll take things one step at a time."

What he needed to worry about was different from what these people needed to worry about.

Not long afterward, whispers rose inside the vehicle—clearly, everyone was discussing countermeasures.

When the truck was still more than ten kilometers from Luan Shi Camp, Qu Jianlei asked to get off.

This was the closest point to his home, and he intended to walk back and rest.

Only after he left did Collins speak in a sinister tone. "We don't have much time left."

Dirty Woman sighed. "We can't go mining next. The urgent priority is to spread people out and gather information."

Giving up scavenging would affect their short-term income to some extent, but their lives were at stake. Which mattered more? In the end, the Scavengers had underestimated the severity of the matter from the beginning.

They had thought that after escaping the initial slaughter, they could just muddle through their assignments afterward.

It was not until another living person died that they realized the situation was far more serious than they had imagined.

However, someone snorted. "It's only a few days without earning money. That's manageable. But who can guarantee we'll even find any information?"

"Heh." Collins sneered. "Even if we can find information... who can guarantee we won't be silenced?"

Once that question was raised, everyone's expressions turned even uglier...

Qu Jianlei returned to his little nest and carefully inspected it. He found that no one had come by and nothing was missing.

Great!

Then, instead of sleeping, he took out the paper packet—there was still a trace of antidote left inside.

Using the flexibility of his wrist, he had secretly hidden away this tiny amount without anyone noticing.

The others had treated their paper packets the same way. Presumably... some of them would also be thinking about the antidote's composition.

However, Qu Jianlei shone a flashlight on it for a long time and still could not figure out what ingredients it contained.

The key problem was the lack of testing equipment... he thought gloomily.

When it came to research, Qu Jianlei actually had some confidence. But now, all he could do was sigh helplessly.

As he sat there blankly thinking, his head suddenly began to swell with pain again.

This was the second time he had felt this swelling pain since receiving the injection.

His spirits immediately lifted. Without hesitation, he pulled out the Nutrient Solution and lined the bottles up on the ground.

Perhaps... eating the antidote had triggered some kind of related reaction?

This time, the swelling pain was not as intense as last time, but it lasted much longer.

Two minutes after the pain began, Qu Jianlei started holding a horse stance, maintaining it for nearly twenty minutes.

Then he sat cross-legged on the ground, assumed Five Hearts Facing Heaven, and guided his qi to his dantian.

The results this time were astonishingly good. His sense of qi was exceptionally strong, and it also consumed an extraordinary amount of calories.

The big-headed, small-bodied cartoon Xiao Hu appeared in his mind again, though it still did not remain for long.

Maybe... four or five seconds?

Keep deducing! Qu Jianlei's brain began spinning madly.

One bottle of Nutrient Solution after another went into his mouth, and he occasionally took a few swallows of water.

Fortunately, his material circumstances had improved greatly. Otherwise, he truly would not have been able to withstand such consumption.

He did not know how much time had passed when he reached for another bottle of Nutrient Solution and grasped at empty air.

He had finished all eight bottles of Nutrient Solution just like that?

He had a feeling that if he persisted just a little longer, the Nameless Qi Refining Art would rise to the next level.

But he had taken out eight bottles of Nutrient Solution precisely to set up an "anti-addiction mechanism" for himself.

No matter how high the completion rate was, he had to stop when it was time to stop. Too much was as bad as too little!

He had specifically trained his self-control. Most people with Asperger's Syndrome had poor self-control.

But for someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, anything he wanted to accomplish had to be accomplished.

Eight bottles of Nutrient Solution were already an eight-day supply. That was truly no small amount.

He took a deep breath, slowly opened his eyes, and organized the Nameless Qi Refining Art in his mind.

Sure enough, this version of the Qi Refining Art was more complete than the previous one.

Even so, he still did not try circulating it through the heavenly cycle. He simply focused obediently on guarding his dantian.

After resting for a while, he stood up and felt that his body... was unusually light.

As for whether some grime had seeped out through his skin, Qu Jianlei said he had not noticed.

On the Wasteland, taking a bath was nothing more than a fantasy.

It was not that there was no water anywhere. Some water even looked quite clear.

But once someone took a bath, who knew what kind of mutation might occur in their body? It was even possible that they could die on the spot.

Back on Blue Star, Qu Jianlei had paid considerable attention to personal hygiene, but he was not a clean freak. Otherwise, he never would have endured these six years.

On the Wasteland, staying alive was what mattered most. Whether one bathed or smelled bad was simply not something people could afford to care about.

Then he walked out of the underground den and looked up at the daylight. "It's already afternoon before I knew it?"

He went to Fat Sister's general store and asked whether anyone wanted to buy the weapons he had put up for sale.

On the Wasteland, weapons were always easy to sell, but Fat Sister said that most people asking about prices wanted to buy them cheaply.

Qu Jianlei would rather keep them for his own use than sell them at a low price.

So he asked about something else. "Do you have any information on Black Fur Steel Bristle Rats? I can buy it."

Black Fur Steel Bristle Rats were Mutated Beasts, but their mutations were very stable. They were widely recognized as Mutated Beasts that could be safely used.

Their meat was apparently nothing special, but the key was that they provided a high amount of calories. They were also ordinary Mutated Beasts and not hard to kill.

Fat Sister looked at him in surprise. "You're going to become a Hunter?"

"I'm just a little curious," Qu Jianlei replied vaguely. "If I get the chance, I'd like to see one for myself."

Fat Sister glanced at him. "I do have some information, but I can't guarantee how current it is, or whether there are any hazards."

"I want relatively recent information," Qu Jianlei did not want to spend money on old news.

As for whether there were hazards, no one could guarantee that. Where there was prey, there might also be hunters.

In any case, he was not suited to becoming deeply involved with the Garbage Dump. If he wanted more calories, he could only hunt Mutated Beasts.

More importantly, he had not eaten meat for over six years. Once that craving was unleashed, there was no stopping it.

Fat Sister thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't have anything recent right now. Ask me again in a couple of days."

If he had still been the old Silly Qu, she would not have minded cheating him and selling him some relatively outdated information.

However, when she thought of the weapons he was currently consigning with her, she felt there was no need to take that risk.

She could look down on him in her heart, but for him to go from having nothing to acquiring so many weapons in such a short time was clearly no accident.

Qu Jianlei nodded. This was not something that needed to be rushed. "Will the information come from the Red Bull Team?"

He knew that Fat Sister's younger brother ran with a Hunter team.

Fat Sister glanced at him and snorted softly. "Why would Hunters release information about prey? I have other channels."

Qu Jianlei did not doubt her words. Fat Sister was not a professional information broker, but she certainly had plenty of connections.

But... Old Cripple's information should not be bad either, right? With that thought, he turned and headed outside the camp. If he moved quickly, he could reach the place before dark.

As for his business at the Garbage Dump? He was no longer giving it much thought.

Those Scavengers insisted on making him take the lead, and he truly hated that kind of coercion.

The two camps were seventeen or eighteen kilometers apart.

Fully armed, he moved at a brisk pace. If everything went smoothly, it should not take more than two hours.

However, accidents were perfectly normal on the Wasteland. After he had walked around ten kilometers, a sudden warning rose in his heart.

Without thinking, he threw himself sideways, then rolled repeatedly.

A string of bullets immediately struck the spot where he had just been standing, kicking up sand and dust into the air.

Only then did the gunshots reach him—the unmistakable sound of a Gauss Automatic Rifle.

"An ambush!" Qu Jianlei's face instantly darkened.

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