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: "..."

Couldn't this bastard understand human speech!?

King Snake and the others also gathered around, trying every way they could to stop Bai Ye from going out.

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

Putting on an expression of disappointment, as though steel had failed to become steel, he sighed and walked away.

As everyone watched his retreating back, they did not know why, but it seemed especially lonely.

After a long while, Tan Jie spat a thick glob of phlegm onto the ground and cursed, "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 forbidden artifact and died outside."

No one answered his curses. The crowd silently threw stones from the city wall to drive away the hyenas outside, yet other thoughts rose in their hearts.

They too thought Bai Ye was a madman, because in this wasteland, only madmen would risk their lives to protect people who had nothing to do with them.

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

But they felt that this madman was a hundred times, a thousand times better than the two current 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 name.

People from the civilized era a century ago called them... heroes!

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

When Bai Ye returned to his temporary residence, there was no trace of loneliness on his face. Excitedly, he 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 His once thin, shriveled body had now been replaced by sleek, streamlined muscles.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 [Breath of Bones] had returned twelve streams of vitality to him. With the support of those twelve streams, his body, long weakened by malnutrition, had finally regained its vigor.

Feeling the abundant strength within him, Bai Ye curled his lips into a smile. Although his physique still could not compare to Tan Jie's genetically modified body, 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, along with the Hyena King, how far would his physique improve?

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 one minute of frozen time, a skin-and-bones man might run two hundred meters, but a strong man could run three hundred meters, or even farther!

That meant his efficiency during the same amount of time had greatly increased, indirectly saving him time.

"Not enough! It's still not enough! I need more... more power!" 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 that helped him acquire more power. Time was limited; every use meant less remained.

Therefore, he had to use his limited time to obtain greater strength!

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

In this crisis-ridden wasteland, only strength was truth.

There were not only all kinds of twisted mutated beasts here, but also powerful genetic modifiers, mechanical modifiers, and even more mysterious Transcendents. This was an era where the strong ruled everything.

In the memories of the original owner of this body, he had seen far too many bloody incidents.

Murder? It was nothing new.

A piece of blackened bread, a bottle of murky 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 say you want no conflict with the world and refuse to clash with anyone? Wait until the slave-catching squads come knocking, and they'll show you what despair means.

Knock, knock, knock...

A series of knocks interrupted Bai Ye's train of thought.

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

The moment Bai Ye heard there would be a banquet, his eyes lit up. After fighting for so long, he was hungry anyway.

He opened the door, and in an instant, he became a perfect actor. His body went limp as he leaned against the junior member who had knocked.

The junior member turned pale with fright. "Deputy Commander Bai, you..."

"Help me over there," Bai Ye said weakly.

The junior member looked at Bai Ye's frail expression, then recalled the scene of him charging forward without regard for his own safety. Respect quietly rose in his heart, and he hurriedly supported Bai Ye with deference.

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

Inside the tavern, people held up their cups and celebrated wildly. For wasteland people like them, drinking while they still could was already the greatest luxury. They had no time to mourn the dead, because the next one might very well be themselves. They might as well enjoy every moment they had.

This victory feast did not only have Tan Jie in attendance. King Snake, the commander of the West District, was there as well.

The two commanders shared a table, holding wine cups as they chatted merrily, both smiling from ear to ear.

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

"Bai Ye certainly stole the show this time. I see that the people from both the East and West Districts are looking at him differently now." King Snake took a light sip of wine, smiling faintly.

"Hmph." Tan Jie snorted coldly. Naturally, he understood the hidden meaning behind King Snake's words. After all, your enemy understood you better than your friend.

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

"In other words, my East District can't contain 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 regarded either of them as worthy of notice. At first, he had thought it was merely the arrogance of youth, that Bai Ye believed possessing a forbidden artifact made him invincible.

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

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

Tan Jie shot him a cold look. "I don't need your help. This madman will get himself killed sooner or later. I think helping is just an excuse—you really want to use this opportunity to get your hands on [Breath of Bones]!"

"Don't make it sound so unpleasant. In the end, you and I are both from Gray Soil Town. Internal conflict leads nowhere. Haven't you noticed that the world is becoming more and more unstable? Dawn City has been deploying troops frequently and plundering people from every settlement. War is probably coming.

"If you and I do not unite and work together, we will only end up dying without even a place to bury our bones.

"So, in my opinion, once Bai Ye dies and the Hyena Pack is dealt with, we should take [Breath of Bones] to Dawn City and sell it. We split the money evenly. You can buy advanced gene serum, while I upgrade my mechanical modifications. Only with strength can we ensure our survival."