"How do you open this thing?" Faced with the blood-smeared mechanical arm, Bai Ye was at a loss. His dagger could not even scratch it, and he knew nothing about machinery, so there was no way he could open it up.
"Li Zuo, can you open it?"
Li You walked over with a complicated expression. "You... you're a Transcendent too?"
The mentality of fearing his brother would suffer, yet fearing even more that his brother would drive a luxury SUV, was on full display.
"If I said I wasn't, would you believe me?" Bai Ye asked.
Li You gave him a look that plainly said, Do I look like an idiot to you?
"What's your Transcendent ability? How did you kill so many people in an instant?"
"Not telling you." Bai Ye did not explain that he was not a Transcendent. He truly was not one—he was merely an ordinary transmigrator.
Time Stop was only possible because time flowed at different speeds in the two eras.
"That's not fair. I thought you were my friend. I even told you my Transcendent ability."
"Heh." Bai Ye sneered and began exposing his embarrassing past. "I may be greedy for life and afraid of death, but I'm even more afraid that for the rest of my life..."
"Bro, bro, bro, I was wrong! Stop reciting it, stop..." Li You's old face reddened as he hurriedly begged for mercy.
"Let me take a look at the mechanical arm for you."
After putting in enormous effort, the two finally turned the mechanical arm into a heap of scrap metal.
"Fuck! King Snake, you really deserved to die! Even at death's door, you didn't say a single truthful word!" Bai Ye cursed furiously. After all that effort, there was no money inside the mechanical arm at all—only some intricate mechanisms that could be used for sneak attacks.
"Damn it, let's go. What a waste of time!" Bai Ye kicked the mechanical arm, then turned and climbed into the off-road vehicle Tan Jie had driven over.
Once Li You got in, he started the vehicle.
"You can drive too?" Li You looked shocked. Watching Bai Ye skillfully handle the vehicle, he suddenly felt that Bai Ye did not seem like a Wastelander.
"What's so surprising? Isn't this something anyone with hands can do?" Bai Ye smiled disdainfully, saying nothing about how he had needed three tries to pass the second driving test before transmigrating.
"But why are you driving back? That's not the direction to Dawn City."
"Obviously, we're going back to Gray Soil Town."
Li You froze. "Are you insane? What are we going back for? To die?"
Bai Ye looked at him contemptuously. "Don't use that brain of yours, which isn't even as oily as a peanut, to question my decision.
"It'll be dark soon. As a Wasteland hunter, I can tell you solemnly that traveling through the Wasteland at night is no different from suicide."
Bai Ye was telling the truth. The Wasteland was ten times more dangerous at night than in the daylight. Even the most experienced Wasteland hunters would not choose to hunt at night. Even if they were unfortunately stranded in the wilderness, they would find somewhere hidden and safe to hole up.
Besides that, he wanted to save up some time. There was only one minute left. What if they encountered danger out in the wilderness?
Gray Soil Town might be at risk of being attacked by Mutated Beasts at any time, but at least it was temporarily safe and offered them somewhere to stay.
Yellow sand swept by the wind across the streets of Gray Soil Town, while gray feathers scattered around hundreds of corpses drifted in the breeze.
The road, stained with blood and yellow earth, had cracked into a web-like pattern. Half a rusted can, caught in one of the fissures, rolled through the wind and sand with a hollow clatter.
Clang, clang, clang...
The can rolled past Li You's feet. Looking at the desolate, deserted town before him, he could not help asking from the depths of his soul, "What... where is everyone!? Where are all the people from Gray Soil Town?"
Although they had gone through a disaster, three or four hundred people had survived in Gray Soil Town. Yet in just one short hour, they were all gone!
Bai Ye crouched down to inspect the marks on the ground, immediately understanding what had happened. "There are lots of footprints here, along with drag marks from heavy objects. If I'm right, everyone ran away."
"They ran away?"
"That's right. Gray Soil Town was not big to begin with, and many people heard what that Knight Girl said. Then King Snake and the others drove off to chase us. The residents probably thought their leader had fled by car, so naturally they panicked even more and all ran."
"Fuck, those people ran fast. I wanted to find a doctor to bandage my right hand!" Li You gritted his teeth as he held his right hand and cursed unhappily.
Aside from his own life, his right hand was the most precious thing he had. He was terrified of developing lasting damage that would affect his ability to use his Transcendent power in the future.
"No matter how fast they ran, could they be faster than you?"
Li You's face stiffened awkwardly. "Can we not bring that up?"
"Let's go. We need to find somewhere to settle down first."
After several hours of work, the two finished arranging a relatively sturdy brick house and sealed up the windows and doors.
Li You wrapped bandages around his right hand while Bai Ye stared at the Cockroach Protein Bar in his hand, troubled.
Food was not a concern for now, because Li You had stolen supplies from the Tire Tavern beforehand. There was alcohol and Cockroach Protein Bars, but no meat.
Li You thought meat was difficult to store and took up too much space, so he had not brought any. By the time they returned to the Tire Tavern, it had already been looted clean by the residents.
The gray sparrows littering the ground outside were Mutated Beasts. Their meat had long since been contaminated and was completely inedible.
"What were you thinking? You'd rather take alcohol than meat?" Bai Ye asked irritably.
"Meat can be obtained through hunting, but alcohol can't. When surviving in the Wasteland, you can go without anything except alcohol!"
Li You happily gulped down some cheap liquor, feeling as though his right hand did not hurt as much anymore.
"Alcohol is the essence of food—the more you drink, the younger you become! It fills your stomach, boosts your courage, relieves pain, and disinfects wounds. Where else could you find something this good?" As he spoke, he blew out another smoke ring.
Bai Ye asked darkly, "Then what's with the cigarettes?"
"Cigarettes are more valuable than gold! You could use them as money, and surviving in the Wasteland is so stressful—you have to ease those taut nerves somehow... Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?! Beating up a disabled person? Do you have any conscience at all?!"
"Go smoke somewhere else!" Bai Ye chased the eyesore that was Li You to one side, then continued staring blankly at the Cockroach Protein Bar.
I could have tolerated Cockroach Protein Bars, if only I had never eaten meat!
"Ah, woof!"
Bai Ye swallowed the pitch-black Cockroach Protein Bar, complete with cockroach antennae, in one bite. He did not dare chew at all, afraid he would accidentally throw it up.
"Bleurgh..."
"Brother Ye, you look like you just ate shit."
"Bleurgh... This thing is worse than shit. It's stickier than shit and less sweet than shit. Shit is free, but this costs money!"
"Is it really that disgusting? I eat this every day, and I'm not as dramatic as you. How many days have you even been deputy leader? You've forgotten your roots way too fast," Li You muttered quietly.
"That's because you've never eaten anything good!" Bai Ye glared at him.
He missed the days of the Civilized Era more than ever. At this time, he would have already been at the barbecue stall downstairs, drinking beer and eating skewers.
Before you continue