Youthful Madness

"Deputy Commander Bai, it's not that I won't let you save them—it's that they're already dead. Listen... even the screams have stopped." Tan Jie was sweating anxiously.

"Then I'll go collect their bodies."

Tan Jie: "..."

Do you fucking not understand human language!?

King Snake and the others also gathered around him. No matter how they tried to persuade him, they refused to let Bai Ye go outside.

Bai Ye let out a long sigh. "Sigh."

Putting on an expression of disappointment, he sighed and walked away.

For some reason, as everyone watched his receding figure, they found his back especially lonely.

After a long while, Tan Jie spat a thick gob of phlegm onto the ground and cursed furiously, "Madman! That kid is a complete and utter madman.

"You have no idea—if I hadn't carried him back just now, he would've been drained dry by the Taboo Object and died outside."

No one responded to his curses. The crowd silently tossed stones down from the city wall to drive away the hyenas outside, yet different thoughts arose in their hearts.

They also thought Bai Ye was a madman, because on this wasteland, only madmen would throw away their lives to protect people unrelated to them.

They had all heard Bai Ye's roar outside the city just now, and they remembered it in their hearts.

But they felt that this madman was hundreds, even thousands of times better than the current two commanders.

These people, born in the age of catastrophe and never having seen civilization, did not know that a hundred years ago, such madmen had another title.

People of the Civilized Era a century ago called them... heroes!

In an unnoticed shadow, a pair of eyes vanished along with Bai Ye's departing figure.

When Bai Ye returned to his temporary residence, there was not the slightest trace of loneliness left on his face. He excitedly took off his shirt and stood before the mirror. His once thin, shriveled body had now been replaced by sleek, streamlined muscles.

In the battle just now, he had shot twelve hyenas, and the Breath of Bones had returned twelve strands of Blood Qi. Strengthened by those twelve strands, his body, long weakened by malnutrition, had finally regained its vitality.

Feeling the abundant strength within him, Bai Ye curled his lips into a smile. Though his physique still could not compare to Tan Jie's as a Genetic Modifier, it had at least surpassed that of an ordinary adult man. And he had only killed twelve mutated hyenas.

If he killed the entire Hyena Pack and the Hyena King, how much stronger would his physique become?

What truly delighted Bai Ye was not merely the improvement in his physique. More importantly, he could save even more time!

The logic was simple. With the same one minute of stopped time, a skin-and-bones person could run two hundred meters, while a strong person could run three hundred meters, or even farther!

That meant that within the same amount of time, his efficiency would greatly improve, effectively saving time.

"It's not enough! I'm still not strong enough! I need more... more strength!" A flame called ambition ignited in Bai Ye's eyes.

He knew clearly that Time Stop could only be considered a trump card to be kept in reserve, an aid to help him acquire more power. Time was limited; every bit he used was one bit less.

So he had to use his limited time to exchange for more strength!

Only then could he ensure that when time ran out someday, he would still possess the power to protect himself.

On this crisis-ridden wasteland, only strength was Truth.

There were not only all kinds of mutated beasts here, but also powerful Genetic Modifiers, Mechanical Augmenters, and even more mysterious Transcendents. This was an era where the strong ruled everything.

In the memories of the body's former owner, he had seen far too many bloody incidents.

Murder? It was nothing new.

A piece of blackened bread, a bottle of cloudy water, even a single glance could become a motive for murder.

I'm hungry, and you happen to have food in your hands. Sorry, but you have to die.

You said you wanted no conflict with the world and would not clash with anyone? When the slave-catching squads came knocking, they would show you what despair truly meant.

Knock, knock, knock...

A burst of knocking interrupted Bai Ye's thoughts.

"Deputy Commander Bai, the Hyena Pack has retreated. The commander is holding a victory feast and asked you to come over."

The moment Bai Ye heard there was a feast, his eyes immediately lit up. After fighting for so long, he was just getting hungry.

He opened the door, and in an instant, possessed by the spirit of a master actor, his body went limp as he draped himself over the younger man who had knocked.

The young man was startled. "Deputy Commander Bai, you..."

"Help me over," Bai Ye said weakly.

The young man looked at Bai Ye's frail expression, then recalled the scene of him risking his life earlier. Respect rose in his heart, and he quickly supported Bai Ye with great reverence.

The victory feast was naturally held at the Tire Tavern again. Gray Soil Town was too poor; it only had this one tavern.

Inside the tavern, people held their cups and celebrated wildly. For these Wastelanders, getting drunk while there was wine today was already the greatest luxury. They had no time to mourn the dead, because they might be next. They might as well enjoy each moment while they could.

This victory feast included not only Tan Jie, but also King Snake, the commander of the West District.

The two commanders shared a table, holding their wine cups with broad smiles as they chatted cheerfully.

But no one knew how much sincerity and pretense lay behind those smiles.

"Bai Ye certainly stole the show this time. I can see that the way people from both the East and West Districts look at him has changed." King Snake took a light sip of wine, smiling faintly.

"Hmph." Tan Jie snorted coldly. Naturally, he understood the hidden meaning in the other man's words. After all, the person who understood you best was not your friend, but your enemy.

"Don't bother trying to sow discord. You can see clearly what kind of person Bai Ye is. That kid was poisoned by toxic mushrooms and had his brain damaged. He's already gone mad, and a madman won't submit to anyone.

"In other words, my East District can't tolerate him, and neither can your West District."

King Snake nodded in agreement. He had long seen the answer in Bai Ye's eyes. Whether it was himself or Tan Jie, Bai Ye had not taken either of them seriously. Before, he thought it was merely youthful arrogance, that Bai Ye believed having a Taboo Object made him invincible.

Now he understood. It was not youthful arrogance, but youthful madness. He was insane.

"What do you plan to do? Do you need help?" King Snake asked with a smile.

Tan Jie gave him a cold look. "I don't need your help. This madman can get himself killed on his own. I think you're only pretending to offer help—you really want to take the opportunity to get your hands on the Breath of Bones!"

"Don't make it sound so ugly. You and I are both from Gray Soil Town in the end. Internal strife leads nowhere. Haven't you noticed that the world is becoming increasingly unstable? Dawn City has been mobilizing its troops frequently and plundering people from various settlements on a massive scale. War is probably coming.

"If you and I don't unite and cooperate, we'll only end up dying without a burial place.

"So, in my opinion, once Bai Ye is dead and the Hyena Pack has been dealt with, we should take the Breath of Bones to Dawn City and sell it. We'll split the money equally. You can buy an advanced Genetic Potion, while I upgrade the mechanical equipment on my body. Only with strength can we ensure our survival."