Old Tan, You'll Regret This!

A shadow flickered through Tan Jie's eyes. As the commander of the East District, he was no more than an ant in the eyes of a behemoth like Dawn City. If war came, Gray Soil Town would be no different from cannon fodder.

King Snake continued, "Have you ever considered that the Hyena Pack's sudden appearance might be related to Dawn City?"

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"Deputy Commander Bai has arrived!" A loud voice rang out through the Tire Tavern.

Dozens of pairs of eyes turned toward the entrance at once. They saw the weakened Bai Ye slowly walk in, supported by one of his underlings.

The underling supporting him was flushed red as he whispered, "Deputy Commander Bai, I already shouted what you told me to. Don't forget to reward me with a piece of meat later."

Feeling everyone's eyes upon him, Bai Ye patted the underling's shoulder in satisfaction. "Don't worry, I've already forgotten."

"Huh?!"

"Deputy Commander Bai, you've finally arrived. How are you? Are you well?" Tan Jie greeted him with a broad smile and personally helped Bai Ye to his seat.

"Do I look well to you?" Bai Ye glared at Tan Jie in displeasure.

Tan Jie did not get angry. Ever since accepting the fact that Bai Ye was crazy, his mentality had become surprisingly good.

Forget being cursed at by Bai Ye—even after getting slapped more than a dozen times before, he had not gotten angry.

"Sit, sit. Let's talk."

Bai Ye sat directly between Tan Jie and King Snake, carrying himself like the boss.

"What are you standing around for? Bring the wine and meat already!"

Before long, the wine and meat were served. The grilled meat was blackened, prepared without any culinary skill whatsoever, relying entirely on the most primitive ingredients.

Yet Bai Ye ate with great relish. It could not be helped; this body had barely eaten a full meal in its life.

"Eat slowly. Don't choke." Tan Jie poured him wine with a smile. Watching Bai Ye eat meat no longer pained him. In fact, he wished Bai Ye would eat more and replenish his Blood Qi.

This kid really risked his life in battle!

While chewing meat, Bai Ye mumbled, "What were you two talking about just now? Were you secretly badmouthing me behind my back?"

"How could that be? You're the great hero. We can't praise you enough."

"We were just discussing the Hyena Pack." King Snake took over. "Their arrival was sudden. I suspect it has something to do with Dawn City's recent movements."

"Oh?" Bai Ye raised a brow. "Tell me in detail."

Naturally, he had heard of Dawn City. More precisely, almost no one in all of Gray Soil Town had not heard of it. It was the holy land in the hearts of Gray Soil Town's residents.

Legend had it that everyone there had food to eat and schools to attend, as well as clean water to bathe in every day. The women were all exceptionally beautiful, with delicate, fair skin unlike the Wastelanders, whose skin had been roughened by constant wind and sun.

"It's like this." King Snake organized his thoughts and slowly said, "Recently, Dawn City has frequently dispatched its army and slave-catching teams, plundering the populations of major settlements on a massive scale. They seem to be preparing for war."

Bai Ye nodded. Dawn City was not the only major city in this wasteland. A century had passed since the Great Cataclysm. Over those hundred years, humanity had recuperated and multiplied, and great cities had risen from the wasteland one after another. Major factions competed against each other, each carving out its own territory.

"What does that have to do with the Hyena Pack?"

"As far as I know, the Hyena Pack originally occupied the area around Black Mountain. Although they had mutated into Mutated Beasts, their animal instincts remained. They were territorial and normally would not leave Black Mountain.

"Now that they've suddenly appeared in Gray Soil Town, I'm guessing something must have happened at Black Mountain. The last time I went to Dawn City to trade supplies, I happened to overhear people from Dawn City saying that the Dawn Army had repeatedly entered Black Mountain. So I think Dawn City wants to occupy Black Mountain's strategic terrain in preparation for war," King Snake explained.

"Does it have to mean war? Maybe Dawn City is trying to eliminate the Mutated Beasts on Black Mountain?"

Tan Jie sneered. "Deputy Commander Bai, you think too highly of Dawn City. You've never been there, so you don't know what those people are like. Compared to Wastelanders risking their lives on the edge of a blade, the people in the city are the ones who truly eat people without even spitting out the bones.

"Those lords would never do anything that did not benefit them. If the major factions had joined forces to deal with Mutated Beasts, those damned Monsters would have gone extinct long ago.

"It is precisely because they are constantly fighting among themselves that none of them are willing to waste troops clearing Mutated Beasts outside their own territories.

"Some factions even deliberately leave the Mutated Beasts alive, using them as buffer zones between themselves and other factions."

Bai Ye smiled faintly. Good. It fits my stereotype of humanity perfectly.

"Enough of that." King Snake changed the subject. "We can't interfere with the affairs of those big shots anyway. The urgent matter is dealing with the Hyena Pack first.

"Deputy Commander Bai, can you continue fighting tomorrow?"

"Yes! Absolutely!" Bai Ye had already been unable to wait any longer.

"No, no, no..." Tan Jie hurriedly stopped him. "You used up too much today. You should rest for another day. Gray Soil Town still has enough food to last a few days, so there's no need to rush."

He was truly afraid Bai Ye would die halfway through a fight. If that happened, who would kill the Hyena King?

Couldn't he see that Bai Ye now needed someone to support him even to walk?

"Old Tan!" Bai Ye slammed the table, his voice instantly drowning out the tavern's noise.

Everyone in the tavern stopped what they were doing and looked toward the three commanders. The atmosphere abruptly fell silent.

Seeing this familiar posture, Tan Jie immediately felt a headache coming on. "Deputy Commander Bai, you..."

"What do you mean, me? As the old saying goes, strike while the iron is hot, and then—"

"Stop, stop. You know too many old sayings; I can't argue with you. But don't forget, I'm the commander! You must rest tomorrow!" Tan Jie said firmly.

Bai Ye stared at Tan Jie dead in the eye and said, word by word, "Old Tan, you'll regret this!"

With that, he picked up his wine and meat, turned, and left.

"Hey, hey, hey! You there, hurry up and support Deputy Commander Bai!"

Night fell.

Bai Ye lay comfortably in bed, but his mind kept replaying the conversation he had had with Tan Jie and King Snake that day.

War was coming!

A sense of crisis immediately rose within him. War was not a dinner party—it meant real guns and live ammunition!

He could use Time Stop, but the question was whether he would have time to activate it.

Bullets traveled faster than his thoughts. If war truly broke out and tens of thousands of soldiers opened fire, even one minute would not be enough for him to run out of the battlefield.

And besides bullets, there were cannons, sniper rifles, tanks...

In the chaos of battle, he could not keep Time Stop activated forever. He did not have enough time for that.

Gray Soil Town nominally fell under Dawn City's sphere of influence. Once war began, would people from other factions spare Gray Soil Town?

What if one day, while he was asleep, several shells suddenly fell from the sky? He could die before even activating Time Stop. Who could he complain to then?

Even if he stayed vigilant at all times, suppose he was sharp enough to detect every attack in advance and used Time Stop to evade them—how many times could he dodge? He could not possibly waste all his time on that.

Damn it, no! The wasteland was far too dangerous. He needed to find somewhere safe so he could accumulate time more effectively!

With that thought, Bai Ye began considering Dawn City. If he could enter Dawn City, it would at least be much safer than the wasteland. Even if war broke out, even if Dawn City lost, the city's civilians would be the last to suffer.

When the time came, he could flee in advance instead of living in constant fear on the wasteland as he did now—facing Mutated Beasts today, guns and artillery tomorrow, and food shortages the day after.