The Main Urban Area was flooded, and the suburbs weren't much better.
A thin layer of standing water still covered the ground, barely reaching over the tops of their shoes. Small whirlpools spun across the surface.
Cheng Ye walked nearly four kilometers north before he finally spotted a bus parked at a stop.
"Sir, due to the heavy rain damaging the Buffer Zone's power infrastructure, we've been notified that bus service will no longer be free starting today. Fares are back to the usual rates."
The Middle-aged Driver was wiping down the windows with a rag. He saw Cheng Ye approaching and gave him the heads-up.
"Also, the bus won't depart until there are five passengers. If you want to leave before then, you'll have to pay five times the fare yourself."
During the High-Water Season, the Hydroelectric Station had plenty of electricity, so people could use it as they pleased.
But now, with the rain continuing to batter the region, the Hydroelectric Station was struggling to keep itself afloat. It had no choice but to open its floodgates to ease the pressure.
As a result, the free bus service, which had lasted only a month and a half, came to an abrupt end, returning to regular paid operations.
"How much per person?"
"Two Happiness Coins."
"Let's go. I'll pay for five."
Cheng Ye glanced at the empty road behind him, then pulled out a ten-value Happiness Coin and dropped it into the fare box.
If it had been nearby, he would've walked. But the North and South Stations were both way out in the suburbs, at least fifteen kilometers from the Main Urban Area.
"Sure. We're leaving now."
The driver was just following the Public Works Department's rules. Seeing how readily Cheng Ye paid, he realized the man was no ordinary passenger.
He quickly put away his rag and climbed into the driver's seat. Once the motor had warmed up, the bus shot off like an arrow.
On the way, Cheng Ye saw several buses heading in the opposite direction, along with long lines of more than a dozen people by the roadside, all making their way into the city for work.
The wheels sent half-meter-high waves surging up as they rolled through puddles, splashing the pedestrians' raincoats and drawing a chorus of curses.
Even so, not one of them chose to get on a bus to the Main Urban Area.
"Was it always like this?"
Sitting in the front row, Cheng Ye couldn't help asking the driver.
"Before? It was a lot worse than now." The driver's hands paused on the steering wheel. He grinned. "At least nowadays, once these people get into the city, they can scrape together something to eat. Back then, whenever the Buffer Zone got hit by a major Natural Disaster, the streets would be littered with bodies. A thousand people could be gone just like that."
As he spoke, the driver sharply turned the wheel. The bus drifted around a puddle, and the ceiling lights flickered with the jolting.
Cheng Ye's gaze swept past the window. That simple maneuver earned the driver a thumbs-up from the refugees on the roadside.
"Back then, even the people collecting bodies had to queue by district. You've got it good now."
Good?
Cheng Ye fell silent. For some reason, Edmund's dying wails came back to him.
Happiness. A lie.
When every beautiful illusion in his mind had been shattered, it must have hurt terribly.
The bus rattled over the uneven road and pressed onward. The Chemical Plant Staff Dormitory blurred into a gray silhouette behind the curtain of rain.
Suddenly, Cheng Ye's gaze sharpened.
"Sir, do you want me to stop here?" The driver caught Cheng Ye's reaction in the rearview mirror and asked.
"Yeah. Stop here."
The Chemical Plant Residential Area was about two kilometers from the North Checkpoint, but through the bus window, Cheng Ye could already see a familiar figure standing by the roadside, waiting in the rain.
As soon as he got off, the figure hurried over, not caring that rain and mud splattered her Trouser Legs.
It was none other than Luo Xiaoxue.
"Sister Luo, what are you doing out here so early? It's pouring. Yiyi must be scared, home alone."
"Cut the nonsense. You're going to the North Station. How could I sleep?"
Luo Xiaoxue's voice was hoarse, as if she'd spent the whole night awake.
"The North Station isn't some man-eating place. Brother B has gone there on duty plenty of times."
Warmth stirred in Cheng Ye's heart. In his previous life, he'd been a rootless weed, raised in an orphanage from childhood.
He'd always had friends around as he grew up, and he'd never lacked people to talk to. Yet whenever he heard others speak of their families, he'd quietly envied them.
Now he understood. This was probably what family meant: someone who cared about you from the bottom of their heart, someone who worried about you.
"He's him. You're you."
The previous night, Luo Xiaoxue had been hesitant on the phone, stumbling over her words. Even when she hung up, there'd still been a note of doubt in her voice.
But today, Cheng Ye saw nothing in her expression but an edge as sharp as a blade.
She was no longer a full-time housewife. She had returned to the warrior who'd fought the Infected eight years ago.
"Everyone has their own fate. It's decided by Heaven, but even more by ourselves!"
"Everything you told me last night? I'm treating it all like bullshit. I don't want to hear it, and I don't care to."
"But today, I'm standing here waiting for you. I want you to look me in the eye and answer me!"
Luo Xiaoxue spoke one word at a time, her expression solemn:
"It's easy to go with the current and hard to fight against it. The road you've chosen won't be easy. What's pressing down on you isn't just a mountain. It's a massive boulder, heavy enough to grind a person to dust at any moment."
"If you go forward today, it could mean utter destruction. But take even half a step back, and you'll be worse off than dead!"
"If you want to survive, you can only fight with everything you've got."
"Cheng Ye, are you ready to fight someone to the death?"
Fight with everything I've got?
Luo Xiaoxue's barrage of questions caught Cheng Ye off guard.
But soon he couldn't help laughing, the corners of his mouth lifting.
Over the past two months, he'd stood on rooftops again and again. What he'd lacked was never the courage to die, but a reason that could convince him to give up.
Now he hadn't just failed to find a reason to give up. He'd found a reason to keep living.
So what did he have to fear from a fight to the death?
Besides, he was alone now. Everyone at the Checkpoint had families to think of, things to worry about, and interests to protect. Who would dare step forward and risk their life against him?
"Sister Luo, trust me!"
"Other than the Infected, no one at the Checkpoint can touch me."
He patted the service pistol at his waist, his smile growing more carefree.
The position of inspector wasn't high-ranking, but in the Buffer Zone, there were very few people who could casually take his life.
On the other hand, if he wanted someone dead, all he had to do was raise his hand and squeeze the trigger.
No worries. No qualms.
At worst, he'd flee into the Wasteland, keep company with the Infected, and wander the ruins and wilderness.
"Fine. I trust you!"
Luo Xiaoxue nodded firmly and reached into her shoulder bag.
Inside was the Buffalo Combat Pistol Cheng Ye had planned to buy earlier. Judging by its condition, it had only just come off the assembly line.
Luo Xiaoxue had clearly gotten up before dawn to buy it for him at the supplies exchange.
"That gun of yours is too weak. It might scare people, but it won't do much against the Infected."
"Use this one. It packs a punch. If someone comes for your life, make him taste a bullet first!"
"Okay!"
Cheng Ye took it gently and slid it into the empty holster on his right side.
"So, I'm off?"
"Go on. And remember, once I'm off work, I'll still be here waiting for you to come home."
"Mm."
There was nothing more to say. That one promise alone weighed heavily on Cheng Ye's heart.
He turned around. To his surprise, the bus was still waiting where it had stopped.
When the driver saw Cheng Ye looking over, he smiled and waved. "You paid five times the fare. I'm supposed to take you all the way to your destination."
"Thanks."
As Cheng Ye got on, the driver shook his head with a sigh. "Sir, you've got too much of a murderous aura about you. Anyone timid would probably be scared to death."
"What if they aren't scared?"
"Then they probably really want to die." The driver shrugged. "Back when I was still out there, before I joined Xingfu City, I always gave people like you a wide berth."
"Oh? What did you do?"
"Don't laugh, but I used to be a Third-rate Killer!"
The Middle-aged Driver chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "But then I got a wife and a son. Once you've got people tying you down, it's like wearing shackles. I couldn't keep doing that job."
"So now I'm even more afraid of people like you."
"Afraid I'll fly into a rage and spill blood five paces away?"
"Not really. We're all living on borrowed time. We're not those big shots in the Inner City. There's no point in fighting to the death."
"Then what?"
"Can't say. Can't say."
Cheng Ye's smile gradually faded as he eyed the Middle-aged Driver with newfound interest.
The Wasteland was vast, with no shortage of strange things.
If even a bus driver could be this clever, surely no one at the huge North Station would do something foolish?
Wishing all our dear readers a happy weekend! A new day is here—please vote, keep reading, and add this to your favorites!
Before you continue