"This Nutrient Paste isn't actually nutritious. It just tricks your stomach into thinking it's full. If you drink it every day, you'll end up sickly before long."
Uncle Dong took the five coins, shook his head, and pulled out a Small Stool to sit across from Cheng Ye.
"Your dad left you quite a bit. Besides, you're an inspector now. Why make things so hard for yourself? The food at the Big Meat Canteen next door is great."
"The Big Meat Canteen?"
Cheng Ye shuddered, unpleasant memories immediately flashing through his mind.
When he'd first arrived in this world, the name had fooled him into going inside. But the moment he saw the menu, he'd bolted without a second thought.
"Big meat" was what Xingfu City residents affectionately called cockroaches.
They piled the big meat onto Board Candy. Supposedly, it crunched when you bit down and was bursting with juice!
But Cheng Ye had decided that unless his life was in danger, he'd eat as little of the stuff as possible—or better yet, none at all.
If he wanted protein, Nutrient Paste extracted plant protein. It wasn't absorbed as efficiently, but at least there were alternatives.
"I can't get used to that stuff. This is better."
"Fair enough. You grew up in the Inner City, after all. Even the cheapest stuff there is Synthetic Meat."
The corners of Uncle Dong's wrinkled eyes twitched as he watched Cheng Ye chew his Board Candy with a loud crunch, his expression wistful.
"When you first came out here, you were ready to kill yourself. I never thought you'd adapt so quickly. It's only been two months, and you're already starting to take after your dad."
"The environment forced me to change. There was no choice. My dad forced himself to be this way, too."
Cheng Ye shrugged, pretending to take it lightly.
Ever since he'd arrived in this world and gotten his bearings, he'd never stopped pretending. Even around people he knew well, he never let himself appear weak.
In this man-eating Wasteland, you never knew if the person who'd attack you next would be someone right beside you.
The two of them chatted on and off.
The sun gradually sank in the west. Just as the last sliver of sunset disappeared below the horizon, Cheng Ye's Defense Communicator suddenly vibrated.
[Liu Bi: Meet me at the usual place. I've got a surprise.]
"Brother B's calling me. Uncle Dong, I'll get going."
"Take care."
Cheng Ye pulled out his Pendant, tied it around his neck, and hurried off. After crossing two blocks, he reached the main road and boarded the only bus in the Buffer Zone.
The route connected the eastern and western ends, crossing the entire Buffer Zone.
Since it was a Trolleybus, it ran free of charge during Flood Season, and it was fairly crowded.
He boarded at the Electronics Factory Staff Residential Area stop and got off at the Training Ground stop.
Cheng Ye stepped off and landed steadily on his feet.
The air was thick with the smell of Gunsmoke. In the distance, the Training Ground—shaped like a Vegetable Greenhouse—had already lit up.
Not far from the bus stop, a broad, tower-like man with stubble and a tactical vest waved at him.
Cheng Ye couldn't help smiling.
If there was anyone in Xingfu City he could trust, it was the man in front of him: "Brother B," Liu Bi.
As Cheng Long's comrade, who'd shared life and death with him, Liu Bi had been sent out alive by Cheng Long during their last Field Mission. Cheng Long had also entrusted his only son to the Rough Guy.
"I haven't even told you what the surprise is, and you're already grinning like that?"
They met up, and Liu Bi looked puzzled.
"Did someone tell you ahead of time?"
"Huh?"
"I don't know. I don't know what you're grinning about."
Liu Bi smacked his lips, pulled half a bag of darkened jerky from his pocket, and waved it in front of Cheng Ye. "It's Synthetic Meat from the Inner City. I know you can't stomach the big meat, so I went out of my way to get some for you."
"Don't mention it. I don't want to have to tell Old Cheng later that his son starved to death."
"Thanks, Brother B." Cheng Ye didn't refuse. He'd have plenty of chances to repay Liu Bi if he returned alive from a Field Mission. If he died out there, the debt would die with him. Consider it something Cheng Long had paid in advance.
He took the jerky and pulled out a strip, chewing it slowly. A faint taste of beef touched his tongue.
Despite having "meat" in its name, Synthetic Meat was actually made from plant protein, with a little Beef Powder added for flavor.
The rich people in the Inner City wouldn't touch it, but in the Buffer Zone, it was a first-rate delicacy.
"Also, starting today and lasting through the Field Mission, you'll get a hundred free bullets a day."
"Why?"
"Don't look so surprised. Old Ding approved it. Those bastards in Halin's faction have been getting more and more brazen. They've started openly taking bribes from survivors in exchange for letting them through. Old Ding's furious. Next time we go out, he'll probably get serious. A lot of people might die."
At the mention of the struggle between the East West Factions, Liu Bi's expression turned grave.
Apart from when it came to protecting the inspectors' interests, the two factions were always at each other's throats.
That was exactly what the high-level officials in Xingfu City wanted to see. The Checkpoint had some power, after all. If only one side had a say, it would inevitably be harder to manage.
This arrangement suited them just fine. The Easterners led by Ding Yishan and the Westerners led by Halin fought tooth and nail, while even a casual remark from the high-level officials was treated by the two leaders like an imperial edict from the Old Era.
"If they're raising the requirements for the Field Mission, won't that make things worse for me?"
Cheng Ye's face paled.
Even an ordinary Field Mission was dangerous enough. If the requirements went up, he'd get dragged into the Factional Struggle too.
"Relax. I'll protect you. I'll make sure you die after everyone else."
It sounded like a comforting promise, but it only made Cheng Ye feel even less secure.
By the time he entered the Training Ground, he'd quickly slipped into a Highly Focused Learning State.
Draw. Fire. Shoot.
He quickly used up all one hundred bullets. Compared to before, his results on the twenty-five-meter pistol target had improved. He could now fire a 10-round Rapid Fire, with a spread of about fifteen centimeters—roughly a six-to-eight-ring score.
That wasn't bad by modern standards. He could be called an Amateur Proficient Shooter.
But in the Wasteland, it only earned him a "not bad" from Liu Bi.
"You're smart, and you learn much faster than most people. You can quickly imitate my stance and get about sixty percent of the way there. But shooting doesn't actually require that much intelligence. In fact, being a little dumb makes it easier. Take the Recoil Absorption movement, for example. You keep trying to anticipate it, thinking you can calculate the Ballistic Parabola."
"But a dumb bastard like me..." Liu Bi suddenly drew his pistol and fired ten shots in rapid succession. "I just pour all my strength into the butt of the gun the instant I pull the trigger, and hammer the recoil into the ground like I'm pounding dirt."
Cheng Ye stared at the target, his pupils shrinking. The spread of the ten shots was no more than five centimeters—almost all bull's-eyes. By modern standards, it was absolutely Olympic-level marksmanship.
But he'd clearly copied Liu Bi's stance and shooting technique. How could the gap between them be so huge?
"Know why Old Ding never gives those clever guys in Halin's faction the big jobs that earn merit?"
Liu Bi suddenly lowered his voice. "Two months ago, in the Old City District, three young guys all got their heads split open by a Tentacle Monster that could spit Acidic Liquid. That freak didn't follow any of the patterns they'd worked out. It grew new ways to attack."
Then he suddenly pulled open his tactical vest, revealing a vicious Claw Mark over his heart. "And this scar? I took it for your old man. We'd figured out that the Infected couldn't hear gunshots, but that bastard had sharp ears anyway. Tell me, are the rules of the Wasteland made for people who know how to write formulas?"
"What should I do?"
"Forget the technique. Don't think. Train your muscles to remember the impact of the recoil. That's ten thousand times more useful than remembering the trajectory with your brain."
Easier said than done.
Cheng Ye nodded blankly. He had no idea whether he'd ever be able to learn Liu Bi's way of doing things.
But he understood one thing: until he completed a Field Mission, survived, and overcame his fear of the Wasteland, he absolutely couldn't give up his reason and turn into a mindless brute.
His brain was all he could rely on.
"Training's over. Next, we'll practice Close Combat."
The sounds of blows rang out as Cheng Ye attacked and Liu Bi defended.
With anger bottled up inside him, Cheng Ye attacked like a madman, punching and kicking. But he couldn't even break through Liu Bi's guard.
Cheng Ye suspected that if Liu Bi weren't worried about bruising his pride, he could easily fend off every attack with one hand.
That damned brute. That damned Wasteland!
Before long, Cheng Ye was panting and completely drained. Only then did Liu Bi shout for him to stop.
"Getting better. I can feel your anger now. That's right. Let your anger control your body in a fight, not your useless reason!"
"Think of me as your enemy. Bite me, take me down. That's how you improve!"
The theory that anything could be solved by acting like a brute.
Cheng Ye didn't argue. He'd realized long ago that there was a Gene Gap. Modern people and Wastelanders had developed their genes in completely opposite directions.
The former were good at thinking and dealing with people.
The latter were good at fighting and getting along with the Infected.
For example, when it came to eliciting information from survivors in the Quarantine Zone, Cheng Ye had gotten the hang of it in only two months, while Liu Bi had been doing it for over ten years and still couldn't be called proficient.
His predecessor's Combat Gene was pitifully weak. Compared to Liu Bi, he was a complete academic failure. If he wanted to bridge the Gene Gap, he had only one option besides hard work: more hard work!
"Training's over for today. Get a good night's rest. I'll call in sick for you tomorrow morning."
The freedom to take time off was one of the perks of having a secure job.
Liu Bi's home was farther east, in the Fertilizer Plant Staff Residential Area. They parted at the bus stop and boarded buses heading in opposite directions.
The streets outside the window began to race past, but Cheng Ye could still feel that nameless fire burning in his Chest Cavity, growing hotter by the second!
The helplessness of being unable to beat a man with one hand left him constantly wondering: what would he do if an Infected had Liu Bi's fighting ability?
Just give up?
No. I'm going to survive. I still have to go home. I absolutely can't die in the Wasteland for no reason!
Get stronger.
I want to get stronger!
I have to get stronger!
Countless voices roared in Cheng Ye's heart, and he couldn't help clenching the Pendant hanging around his neck.
After tonight, the Collector would be activated.
Waste Pastry, since you brought me to the Wasteland, at least make yourself useful!
I should be able to get a contract today. Readers who haven't invested yet, hurry up!
I hope you'll approve of this brand-new Wasteland story.
For the new-book period, I'm planning on two chapters a day: one at 8 a.m. and one at 6 p.m., for about six thousand words total.
It's not easy being a new book, so please don't put it on your reading list and forget about it! Your continued reading, votes, and collection mean a lot to me.
Bows repeatedly!
Before you continue