Please add this to your favorites, recommend it, vote for it, and show your support in any way you can!
Gu Su led seven skeletons along the weed-choked road until they reached a car that had been abandoned for years.
The moment he looked over the car, he understood completely why these vehicles had been left here, unwanted and treated as trash. Time had long since gnawed away all their value.
Thick rust completely covered the body. The original paint had long since flaked away, leaving not a trace of its base coat—only a dull reddish brown that felt rough and gritty to the touch.
The sheet metal, once fairly sturdy, had grown as thin as a cicada's wing under years of wind, rain, and sun. Gu Su lightly poked it with a finger. With a tearing sound, he made a small hole, and his fingertip came away dusted with fine rust particles.
The rubber on all four wheels had deteriorated and melted away over time, turning into dark, sticky puddles that glued the car firmly to the ground. No amount of weathering could shift it even an inch.
Weeds grew wildly through gaps in the hood and the window frames. Their thick roots had not only split the body in several places, leaving behind a series of ugly cracks, but had also forced their way inside. They had eaten away at the once-precise components until nothing was recognizable, leaving only a heap of rusted metal lumps.
This wasn't a car anymore. It was a pile of rotten junk with no recycling value, not even as good as gray-quality trash.
A brainless beast passing by wouldn't even glance at it.
Even a cunning low-tier monster like a Goblin would think this piece of junk far less useful than a sharp stone picked up off the ground.
It couldn't be used as a weapon, and it couldn't shelter anyone from the elements. It just took up space.
It was precisely because they were so useless that these abandoned cars had been left lying here for so many years. No one had taken them apart for scrap or cleared them away as debris. They had simply rotted amid the weeds and rust until they became part of the ruins.
"Trash."
Gu Su stared at the rusted wreck and gave a quiet, scornful laugh, his voice full of disdain.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he couldn't help pulling a self-mocking smile.
In his current impoverished state, he was worth even less than the trash before him.
He glanced at the skeletons lined up beside him. The beast-bone clubs, dead branches, and sharpened stones gripped in their bony claws looked so pitiful it hurt to see.
Their combat strength was probably worse than that of primitive people who ate raw meat. If they ran into that Goblin leader who knew resurrection magic, they wouldn't even make a decent mouthful.
"Even the most useless junk can yield something useful if you rummage through it enough," Gu Su muttered to himself.
He wasn't expecting to dig up some divine weapon. As long as the scraps were even a little better than the bone clubs in the skeletons' hands, the effort wouldn't be wasted.
He immediately waved at the skeletons and gave an order. "Get moving. Turn over every abandoned car nearby. Don't leave a single nook or cranny unchecked!"
The seven skeletons sprang into action, their bony claws scraping against the rusted car bodies with an ear-piercing creak.
Some worked together to right an overturned car, some crawled into the battered interiors to search, and others crouched down to sift through the gravel and weeds beneath the vehicles.
Gu Su got to work as well. He smashed a car door open with a rock and reached beneath the mold-covered seats to search.
After all that effort, he really did manage to scavenge quite a few treasures.
He pried off several blackened but still sharp screws, then hammered them one by one into a thick branch to make a crude spiked club. It whistled through the air when he swung it.
He tore out some rotten leather from beneath a car seat and wrapped it around a few strands of copper wire whose insulation had peeled away, cobbling together several pieces of chest and arm protection. They offered little defense, but at least they could fend off a Goblin's claws.
He also took a section of discarded exhaust pipe and ground it sharp with a rock, turning it into a crude dagger. It felt heavy in his hand and was far sturdier than beast bone.
None of these items qualified as proper equipment. The system couldn't even be bothered to assign them attributes; they weren't even as good as gray-quality trash.
But Gu Su was already quite satisfied.
He handed the spiked clubs and dagger to the skeletons with the sturdiest frames and draped the ragged leather armor over them.
Once armed, those pitiful skeletons gave off a hint of menace. At least they no longer looked like a bunch of weaklings anyone could crush with a casual squeeze.
Gu Su didn't rush to deal with the remaining abandoned cars. He knew exactly what mattered most right now.
Destroying the Goblin nest and dealing with its leader, who could revive its kin, were vital to his survival.
In his search, he had already taken every useful sharp component, sturdy piece of fabric, and metal pipe.
The rest was either sheet metal so rotten it crumbled at a touch or worthless, decayed debris. He could leave it where it was; no one would covet it.
After all, even the Goblins in these ruins looked down on this junk.
Once the Goblins were dealt with, he would have plenty of time to come back and dismantle the vehicles properly, gathering more useful materials.
Compared with the time and effort required to chop down trees or break rocks, these cars, though rotten, still had metal frames. They were undoubtedly the most convenient and efficient source of materials.
Whether he needed sturdy materials to repair the rotting fence or parts to try assembling the Earthbound Vein Power System in the future, he could scavenge them from these wrecks.
With that thought, Gu Su glanced at the seven skeletons beside him.
They still stood in formation, ghostly flames flickering in their hollow eye sockets, their bony hands gripping their newly made crude weapons. They remained motionless at his side.
They had no idea that Gu Su had already added "dismantle abandoned cars and haul materials" to their future task list.
Gu Su took one last look at the wrecked cars lying in the weeds.
In his eyes, these future "supply depots" had already become a treasure trove waiting to be mined.
He didn't linger. Turning around, he set off again along the narrow path worn into the ground by passersby.
Their formation had already been adjusted into the same cautious arrangement as before: four in front, three behind.
The four skeletons equipped with spiked clubs and leather armor led the way. Gripping their weapons, they steadily pushed aside the vines and weeds blocking the path.
The other three guarded Gu Su from behind and on either side, their hollow eyes warily sweeping the shadows for anyone who might leap out and ambush them.
Unlike before, when he had been on edge, Gu Su now felt much more confident.
At least the skeleton squad had upgraded its equipment a little. They were no longer just empty-handed bone frames. Even if they ran into that Goblin leader, they might actually stand a chance.
With his confidence restored, he even had some spare attention to take in the scenery along the way.
Trees lined both sides of the road, their canopies blocking out the sky. Thick roots had cracked the ground, and lush green vines climbed their trunks, wrapping tightly around the buildings in the distance.
Through gaps in the leaves, Gu Su could make out several partially collapsed buildings. Their walls had peeled away, exposing the mottled steel and concrete beneath.
All kinds of signs still hung on the outer walls, but after years of wind and sun, their lettering had grown too blurred to read. Only a few incomplete shapes could be made out—perhaps the logo of a supermarket, or perhaps a restaurant sign.
Most of the buildings stood with their doors open, glass scattered across the floor. Weeds a person's height grew inside, making it clear they had been abandoned for countless years.
Yet when Gu Su's gaze fell on those dilapidated buildings, a glint flashed in his eyes.
A supermarket meant supplies. A restaurant might still have cookware or even fuel. Even an ordinary home might turn up some useful metal items. Every one of these places would be a key target for him to scavenge in the future.
Of course, that would have to wait until he had dealt with the problem right in front of him.
Before you continue