Blood and Sand

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The thunderous pounding of steel drums mingled with the roar of engines, like muffled thunder rolling across the land.

Dust billowed across the wasteland. More than a dozen spiked steel-frame vehicles gave chase from behind, while a lone motorcycle raced madly ahead!

Shen Feng twisted the motorcycle's throttle to the limit, speeding through the wasteland with Firefly.

As they rode, Firefly explained what a breeding stock was.

The humans living in the nuclear wasteland had all suffered radiation to varying degrees, and it was almost always excessive radiation, causing mutations and diseases in their bodies.

After generations of reproduction, humans without physical mutations had become exceedingly rare!

And once mutations appeared, they could easily be inherited, resulting in all kinds of defects in the next generation.

This was especially apparent in male genetic material.

For ordinary people, it was not much of an issue. But for large tribes with great ambitions, it was fatal.

To conquer more land and ensure better continuation, they needed healthier offspring!

Thus, people with fewer inherent defects and less disease were known as breeding stock.

Healthy people who had never suffered any radiation-induced mutation were known as the highest-grade flawless breeding stock!

Of course, as Firefly put it, they were people untouched by the curse.

One important reason the Crow Tribe had continued growing stronger over the past decade or so was that they possessed a flawless breeding stock!

Through the constant birth of healthy, powerful offspring, along with intermarriage with and absorption of other small tribes, the Crow Tribe had grown into a major tribe with nearly ten thousand people!

It was precisely this blood connection that gave them a deeper sense of recognition and belonging toward the tribe.

However, these newly born descendants were not flawless breeding stock themselves, because their mothers often carried genetic defects as well.

Over the past few years, the Crow Tribe's flawless breeding stock had been used almost dry, and the quality of his genetic material had also declined considerably. That was why the Crow Tribe desperately needed new flawless breeding stock to continue their tribe!

It was said that anyone living in this wasteland for a long time would suffer radiation to some extent. Therefore, the Crow Tribe's flawless breeding stock was kept in a deep underground pit, isolated from the outside world, and had his genetic material collected by the tribe at regular intervals.

After hearing this, Shen Feng could not help cursing inwardly.

If those people caught him, he would become a damn milk cow, living the sunless life of livestock!

With a soft whoosh, a finger-thick iron throwing spear streaked past the motorcycle and buried itself deep in the ground.

Shen Feng turned his head and saw the pursuers on the steel-frame vehicles raising one throwing spear after another, ready to hurl them at him!

Every one of those throwing spears was made from steel rebar, their tips incredibly sharp. If one hit, it would punch straight through him!

With a loud bang, a gasoline-filled Molotov cocktail shattered ahead of the motorcycle, instantly erupting into a ball of flame.

Shen Feng ducked low and shot through the fire, shouting to Firefly behind him, "Climb into my arms!"

At once, Firefly nimbly climbed from Shen Feng's back to the front and slipped into his arms, wrapping herself around him face-to-face.

At the same time, Shen Feng narrowed his eyes, and the skin on his back slowly petrified.

With a piercing clang of metal scraping metal, a throwing spear glanced off Shen Feng's back and flew away, even throwing up a shower of sparks.

Firefly's face went pale. If she had not climbed to the front just now, her body would have been pierced through!

Two steel-frame vehicles came speeding toward them in the distance. They were Gray Feather, Scar, and the others!

They had already shaken off the mayor's obstruction. Their modified vehicles were faster than the others, and they had quickly caught up.

"Gray Feather! Gray Feather!"

"May the great god Jingwei watch over us! May the Crow Tribe live forever!"

"The Crow Tribe forever!"

At Gray Feather's appearance, the tribal hunters cheered and roared. Clearly, he held enormous prestige within the tribe.

"Catch the breeding stock! You can wound him, but he must be taken alive! And that woman too! Her value is no less than the breeding stock's! She must be unharmed!" Gray Feather roared. "Beat the war drums and sound the horns! The great god Jingwei will hear our prayers and grant us breeding stock and immortality!"

Boom boom—boom boom—

The steel drums thundered, even drowning out the engines.

Bwooooo—

Bwooooo—

The passengers on the steel-frame vehicles blew spiral horns taken from mutated bulls, answering the rumbling drums!

For a moment, the roar of engines, drums, and horns intertwined, sending everyone present into a feverish frenzy.

War drums and horns were fine companions for the hunt. They could disrupt the prey's mind and scare the soul out of it!

Shen Feng gave a grim smile and shouted at Firefly, "Want to hear some music?"

Without waiting for Firefly's answer, his silicon-based brain began operating at high speed, sending a stream of data stored in his mind to the speakers in his chest.

"Hahaha, Mad Max!" Shen Feng roared, and the theme song from Mad Max, Brothers in Arms, instantly began playing. The impassioned drums and music stirred the pursuing Crow hunters' hearts. Unable to understand what was happening, they were stunned by the music, and their speed actually slowed.

"Don't stop! Catch him! This breeding stock is priceless!" Gray Feather had already realized the music came from the breeding stock, and he shouted in near-delirious joy.

"Throw!"

Throwing spears fell like rain toward the motorcycle ahead.

Shen Feng gritted his teeth and endured the strikes of the spears. He suddenly caught one with a backhanded grab and hurled it out with all his strength.

With a dull thud, a Crow driver's head was instantly pierced through. His speeding steel-frame vehicle crashed into a huge boulder with a boom, bursting into blazing flames.

Shen Feng caught another throwing spear and flung it out in an instant.

The spear grazed Gray Feather's neck and buried itself deep in the back of his seat, making him break out in a cold sweat.

"Shoot his wheels! Use Molotov cocktails!"

Molotov cocktails kept exploding in front of the motorcycle, igniting raging flames. Amid the wild music, drums, and horns, Shen Feng shouted to Firefly, "There are a few cylindrical things in my backpack, each with a string on top. Do you remember how I taught you to use the lighter? Light the strings, then throw them out immediately!"

Firefly immediately poked her head over his shoulder, opened the backpack, and quickly found what he meant—several homemade firecrackers as thick as teacups!

Since Shen Feng had been unable to buy explosives or ammunition before coming here, he could only buy a few large homemade firecrackers to make do. Though they were merely firecrackers, they were more powerful than double-bang firecrackers, enough to stun someone at close range.

He had originally intended to use them to scare wild beasts, but he had not expected them to come in handy here.

Firefly immediately opened the windproof lighter, lit a firecracker's fuse, and casually tossed it into a steel-frame vehicle behind them.

The driver and thrower inside froze. Three seconds later, a deafening boom sent them sprawling, while the steel-frame vehicle instantly lost control and swerved aside.

"Hahaha, it works!" Firefly laughed. She had always been good at throwing stones, so she immediately lit the remaining firecrackers one by one and threw them into several steel-frame vehicles.

Deafening explosions rang out continuously. The steel-frame vehicles all slowed down, and the drivers of two of them were even stunned enough to crash into each other.

The remaining pursuers slowed somewhat as well, immediately opening up the distance between themselves and the motorcycle ahead.

"Shen Feng, there aren't any left." Firefly rummaged through the backpack and told him.

"Get back behind me." Shen Feng's expression turned grave as he spoke in a low voice.

He had only brought a few of those things to begin with, so it was only natural that they were gone.

The most serious problem now was that the motorcycle had very little gasoline left. It would soon be unable to keep going!

"We're changing vehicles. Hold on tight!" Shen Feng whispered into Firefly's ear.

Firefly immediately wrapped both arms around Shen Feng's neck and coiled her legs around his waist, clinging to him tightly.

Shen Feng took a deep breath, abruptly slowed down, released the handlebars, drew two daggers from his waist, and leaped toward a steel-frame vehicle roaring toward them!