Planting a Sun

Xia Leng braved the scorching sun, advancing another 10 kilometers or so; he was now halfway to his first destination.

The sky remained cloudless, the massive sun baking the earth with its magnificent, unreserved radiance.

This couldn't help but remind Xia Leng of a popular children's song from the old era:

I have a beautiful wish

To plant the sun when I grow up

Plant one, and it will bear many, many suns

One to send to the South Pole

One to the Arctic Ocean

One to hang in winter

Hang in winter

One to hang at night

Hang at night

He was starting to wonder if that brat had actually succeeded in planting the sun...

Fortunately, after leaving the national highway, Xia Leng entered a dilapidated town.

The vast town was deathly silent. The streets were littered with rusted, abandoned vehicles, and climbing plants grew and propagated with reckless abandon, tightly wrapping every protrusion as if dressing the city in a green garment.

These seemingly gentle plants, however, would strike the moment you drew near; their wrist-thick vines would lash out like pythons, binding you tightly until your bones shattered and the thorns on their surface pierced your skin to drain you into a withered husk.

The doors to the various shops lining the streets were mostly wide open, but the interiors were in shambles, any items of value long since scavenged by other drifters or mercenary squads.

Deeper inside the buildings, one might still find things like expired food, but entering them in broad daylight was no different than charging headlong into a dragon's den of mutated monsters.

Xia Leng walked along the sides of the street, using the shop signs to shield himself from the blistering sun.

As long as he didn't venture deep into the buildings, he wouldn't be attacked by light-fearing mutated beasts.

However, there were others of his own kind who could adapt to any environment, and they would quietly deliver a far more lethal blow!

Walking through the shadows, Xia Leng suddenly stopped, standing perfectly still like a marionette.

He used his keen hearing to detect movement behind him; he knew those three bikers had been tailing him ever since he left the bar.

They hadn't made a move yet, perhaps still debating whether Xia Leng's strength meant he was a Baptized One.

Could it be they wanted to avenge the two companions who had likely already become excrement for some other mutated creature?

In truth, it was far more likely that these three had their eyes on the potentially valuable Light Blue Crystal inside Xia Leng's skull, enough to sustain them for a long time.

An ordinary person wasn't without a chance against a First-Tier Baptized One, provided they had a gun and good aim.

And with each of the three men wielding a modified homemade shotgun, that became their greatest reliance.

No matter how strong your recovery was, it was difficult to regenerate a brain after it had been blasted apart by a shotgun at close range; at best, you would end up like a "Tai Sui," a vegetative state of endlessly growing and rotting flesh.

Xia Leng didn't want to keep wasting time with them, so he decided to finish them off right here in the town.

Buildings that offered cover were better than being a living target for enemy gunfire in the open wilderness.

Thus, after a brief moment of thought, Xia Leng turned and entered a ruined grocery store by the street.

Meanwhile, on a hillside at the edge of town, five hundred meters away.

The three bikers, clad in black jackets and sunglasses, sat on their motorcycles, observing the direction of Xia Leng's position through binoculars.

"That bastard has been in there for nearly ten minutes and hasn't come out. Could he have found some treasure?"

They had watched through their lenses as Xia Leng entered and failed to reappear.

Generally, buildings were relatively dangerous places during the day, and most people wouldn't linger unless they were someone special.

"Boss, I have a feeling that guy might have realized we were tailing him. He might be setting a trap for us to walk into. Should we wait a bit longer?"

"Fine, let's wait a while. I don't believe he'd dare sleep in a nest of those monsters."

And so, they remained at their vantage point on the hillside, waiting once more.

Yet, after another ten minutes of waiting, Xia Leng was in the shade while they were under the sun, their sweat pouring down like waterfalls; even the umbrellas they had scavenged from somewhere were of little use.

Finally, the bikers couldn't take it anymore; the scorching sun had made their tempers extremely volatile.

"Damn it!! I don't believe the three of us with guns can't take down one First-Tier Strength-type Baptized One!"

The leader of the bikers tossed his umbrella aside, twisted the throttle, and rode his motorcycle down the hillside, his two subordinates quickly following suit.

They were so certain Xia Leng was a First-Tier Baptized One because his lean frame didn't look particularly powerful, yet he possessed strength no ordinary person could achieve, capable of crushing a man's wrist bone with just his fingers.

They guessed Xia Leng was a newly mutated Baptized One who hadn't had his powers for long and hadn't yet mastered his strength.

These bikers had hunted such newly mutated Baptized Ones before, digging out valuable blue crystals, which was why they were so fixated on Xia Leng.

As for avenging their companions, that thought had never crossed their minds.

On the other side, Xia Leng, who had remained hidden inside the grocery store, sat against the wall, regulating his breathing to maintain peak energy for the three guys about to arrive.

He took the loaded Peace Gun out of his backpack and gripped it in his hand, hoping that after being maintained by that leader for so long, it would still be able to fire normally.

If it were just a head-on melee against those three bikers, Xia Leng would be absolutely confident in crushing them right now.

His current concern was the three homemade shotguns in their possession; although Xia Leng had acquired a self-healing ability with decent recovery, the process would consume a massive amount of his energy and physical strength.

Once all his stamina was exhausted or if he were shot in the head, he might never be able to recover again.

"You've finally decided to show yourselves."

Xia Leng remained expressionless, listening to the gradually approaching roar of motorcycles; he could guess that they had become impatient from being baked by the sun, and no longer wanting to bother with stealthy ambushes, they were driving directly toward his location.

He lightly touched the trigger with his fingertip, pressing himself against the wall with a textbook-perfect grip; the moment an enemy appeared in his line of sight, he would immediately raise the pistol and pull the trigger without a moment's hesitation.

Although Xia Leng had never fired a gun before, the knowledge of marksmanship seemed to have already existed within his mind, ready to be put into practice.

Screech~

The harsh sound of three motorcycles braking echoed as they stopped around the grocery store.

Xia Leng heard the faint crunch of their leather boots stepping on gravel as they slowly approached his position.