Among the three organizations, Burning Fire Company and Gray Mountain Group were roughly equal in strength. Divided by a river, they ruled on opposite banks, barely qualifying as the "two poles" of the Wasteland world.
As for Floating Apocalypse, it was a rather special organization. It did not operate under a corporate model, and its structure was extremely loose.
For example, both Blaze and Gray Mountain were highly centralized, with their own bases, industries, armies, and so on.
Floating Apocalypse was different.
It was more like some kind of club. It had branches in every human base city and maintained more of a cooperative than competitive relationship with the two major companies.
It only recruited Evolvers, did not accept refugees, and imposed far fewer restrictions.
Any Evolver could apply to join, receive an identity plaque, and become a Wasteland Hunter.
Put simply, they entered the Wasteland on their own, killed Mutant Beasts, or unearthed Relics from the Old Era, then sold valuable items to Floating Apocalypse in exchange for payment.
They could also purchase supplies through the organization.
It sounded somewhat like a trading house, and Floating Apocalypse would occasionally issue exploration missions as well.
Overall, it provided an option for Evolvers unwilling to join major companies and lose their freedom.
"So, you're a Wasteland Hunter from Floating Apocalypse? You're an Evolver too?"
In the room, Lin Tuo sorted through his thoughts after listening to Hua Xi's account and asked.
At that moment, the little girl was laboriously chewing a tough piece of dried meat. Hearing him, she nodded.
It was not surprising.
Precisely because she was an Evolver and naturally resistant to radiation, she had retained the appearance of a normal human rather than becoming deformed.
"What about those people outside? Why are they after you?" Lin Tuo asked again.
At that, Hua Xi grew angry. "They're a Scout Team raised by Burning Fire Company. They want to steal my stuff!"
Then, perhaps because food had finally reached her stomach and her spirits had improved considerably, she immediately recounted what had happened.
In short.
Some time ago, while exploring a mountain range, Hua Xi had accidentally discovered a cache of Arms Cache buried inside a cave, likely left behind when war broke out in the Old Era.
But she could not carry it all by herself, so she had taken only a few samples to the nearest Floating Apocalypse outpost—the so-called Hunter's Home—and sold them.
She had traded them for a large, expensive backpack and planned to return to carry out more.
But she had not expected to be secretly targeted by Burning Fire Company.
A squad had followed her into the mountains to rob her. With life and death hanging by a thread, Hua Xi had no choice but to flee with a batch of arms, injuring several of them and stealing a vehicle to escape.
"Those soldiers came to capture me." Hua Xi said indignantly. "If I hadn't been injured, starving, and out of fuel, I would've shaken them off long ago."
Was that so...
Lin Tuo's gaze flickered. For the moment, he had no way of determining whether she was telling the truth, but that was not particularly important.
"So you're the victim, then."
"What else?" Hua Xi snorted.
Lin Tuo smiled but said nothing. He merely thought that though this girl was young, she had escaped from a squad's encirclement. She was clearly no simple character.
But then again, on this Wasteland, without some skill and without relying on a major force, how could anyone possibly survive?
At that thought, Lin Tuo let out a soft sigh inwardly.
"Right. Since you're an Evolver, do you have an Extraordinary Ability too? What is it?" After a brief moment of reflection, Lin Tuo suddenly asked curiously.
Extraordinary Ability... it had piqued his interest.
"I don't! I'm just an ordinary Evolver. Not every evolved human has special abilities." Hua Xi's clear black-and-white eyes flickered as she flatly denied it.
"Heh..." Lin Tuo wore an unconvinced expression. Just as he was about to press her further, his movements abruptly froze, and he turned to look out the window.
Hua Xi also seemed to sense something and pricked up her ears.
Outside the window.
Not far away, a burst of commotion seemed to be rapidly approaching. Lin Tuo rose and peered through a crack. His expression shifted slightly.
It was those soldiers and the town's refugees!
At their head was that officer.
Lin Tuo was somewhat surprised. He thought they should have been searching at this moment. There was no reason they should have found this place so quickly.
"Those people caught up to us, didn't they?" Hua Xi grew anxious as well, her expression taut. "That leading officer has a dog's nose. As long as he's not too far away, he can smell my scent!"
A dog's nose?
Did she mean some ability like an enhanced sense of smell?
Lin Tuo's heart stirred, but this was not the time to ask in detail.
At that moment, the soldiers in the street had already raised their rifles and aimed them here.
"The target is upstairs! Surround the place! Someone, come with me and storm the building!"
As the officer roared, the refugees holding iron rods hurriedly closed in. Lin Tuo frowned. Those refugees posed no threat to him, but the dozen or so soldiers were different.
Those were more than ten guns!
Lin Tuo's current combat strength was still far from enough to withstand firearms head-on.
Moreover, they were most likely Evolvers as well. Their strength, durability, and reflexes far surpassed those of ordinary people. With superiority in both numbers and weapons, they were enough to threaten Lin Tuo.
Even if this was only an Avatar, considering that the Avatar and his main body shared the same condition—when one was full, the other did not go hungry—Lin Tuo strongly suspected that injuries suffered by the Avatar would also be reflected on his main body.
Of course, he could switch his consciousness back to his main body and then unleash his full power directly.
With one punch, let alone this lot, he could destroy the entire surrounding area.
But the situation had not yet reached that point.
"Let's get out of here first." Having swiftly made his decision, Lin Tuo turned around and glanced at the tense Hua Xi without saying anything.
He merely pulled more than a dozen grenades from his backpack and quickly set them in place.
Then, with one hand carrying the backpack full of ammunition and the other lifting Hua Xi, who had been tied into a ball, he pushed open another window and leaped out.
At the same time.
The refugees downstairs erupted into shouting. The room's sealed front door was kicked open, and several soldiers carrying daggers and firearms rushed inside.
Then they stared in shock at a small pile of grenades roasting in the stove.
"Not good! Fall back!"
"Boom!!"
Amid startled cries, a violent explosion rang out. Chaos erupted at the scene. Glass shattered, and flames rose with billowing smoke into Mine Town's ink-blue sky.
Meanwhile, in the center of town.
With several quick thrusts, Lin Tuo used a steel pipe to puncture the tires of one car. Then he jumped into another, took a moment to familiarize himself with it, and said to the captive tossed into the back seat, bound like a rice dumpling:
"Hold tight."
Then he slammed the accelerator and drove the modified vehicle out of Mine Town, straight into the morning Wilderness.
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