Chapter 1

Sunlight pierced through the trees, leaving dappled shadows on the ground. A hand parted the undergrowth, revealing a gaunt face.

It had been seven days since he'd been on the run. Han Xiao had spent seven days living in the jungle, finishing his military rations and fresh water. All that was left in his backpack was a pile of equipment looted from the Night Owl Squad.

He had sacrificed the Light Mechanical Arm by jamming the Silver Blade's dagger. What followed was a matter of course. Even if he was down to his last sliver of health, he could still easily beat Silver Blade, who wasn't skilled in close combat. How could he lose with a Feilong charging at his face? Even Du Nai himself couldn't lose!

Anyway, he had the blueprints, and he could rebuild the equipment as long as he had the materials. He wasn't worried about it at all. Equipment damage was far too common for a mechanic in battle.

The medical conditions in the jungle were terrible, but fortunately, his Endurance stat was high enough that he didn't have to worry about wound infections. Enduring the pain, he dug out the bullet, and the wound would slowly heal. The wound from the sniper rifle was a bit of a problem, stuck in the gap of his scapula. It hurt Han Xiao so much that it took him half an hour to recover after digging out the bullet. The image of Guan Yu calmly playing chess while getting his bones scraped didn't suit Han Xiao at all.

Throughout his journey, he had been blessed by Lady Luck. He hadn't encountered any ferocious beasts, and the few long-eared rabbits he had encountered had ended up in his belly. The beasts of Aquamarine Star were extremely fierce, and there were even some intelligent beasts. They had attacked cities many times in history. Some powerful beasts, such as the amphibious Whale Elephants, were dozens of meters in length, width, and height. They were impervious to guns and cannons and could even destroy a city single-handedly.

Although Han Xiao remembered the map of Aquamarine Star, he couldn't do anything without knowing his location. He could only learn from Kua Fu and run in the direction of the rising sun, sleeping in the trees at night, being woken up seven or eight times by bugs. Compared to the frequent late nights, he deeply realized that mosquitoes were the most annoying creatures in the world, without exception.

"When will I ever get out of this forest?"

Han Xiao gasped for breath.

At that moment, a camp appeared in the distance, with fences and caltrops made of wood, cement, and scrap metal in strange shapes. These were simple defensive measures. There were dozens of felt tents in the camp, and wisps of smoke rose, clearly a wanderer settlement very common on Aquamarine Star.

Han Xiao was immediately delighted. He desperately needed supplies.

After walking a few dozen meters, Han Xiao's expression suddenly changed, and he retreated sharply.

He saw the ground in front of him churning with dust, and a thick rope net suddenly rose up. Thin metal sheets were tied to the net's meshes. This was a dangerous blade net trap. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, or he would have a bunch of holes in his body.

"This guy actually dodged it!"

A long-haired youth emerged from behind a tree, wearing wanderer attire sewn from various animal skins. He looked at Han Xiao with malice, aiming a homemade shotgun at Han Xiao's head, arrogantly saying, "Stop, don't move!"

This youth was obviously a resident of the settlement. Han Xiao didn't want to cause a conflict and raised his hands. "I'm just passing through."

"Passing through?"

The long-haired youth noticed Han Xiao's bulging bag and immediately became greedy, his eyes revealing avarice. "What's in your bag? Take it all out for me!"

Seeing this, Han Xiao sighed inwardly. He was probably being robbed. No wonder the size of the blade net trap was just about the size of a human body. It turned out it was used to catch people. In a chaotic world, human life was as cheap as grass. Most wanderers were defectors who refused to join the Six Nations. The harsh environment of the wilderness cultivated their hyena-like greed, and killing and robbing for resources was all too common.

"Are you deaf? Take your stuff out!" The long-haired youth cursed and approached, the homemade shotgun pressed hard against Han Xiao's forehead.

His backpack was full of guns and ammunition, and it was all standard equipment from the Germination Organization. There was no way he could show it. Han Xiao remained unmoved.

"Can't you understand what I'm saying? Believe it or not, I'll fuck you up in one go!" The long-haired youth cocked the shotgun, looking ferocious.

Just then, Han Xiao moved with lightning speed. He raised his elbow and slammed it hard into the long-haired youth's chest. The long-haired youth screamed and flew backward. Han Xiao's other hand snatched the homemade shotgun.

"Crap, I've run into a tough one!"

The long-haired youth clutched his chest, panicking, and crawled backward with his hands and feet, wanting to get away from this murderous person.

Han Xiao untied the blade net trap, pulled out a thick rope, tied the groaning long-haired youth to a tree, picked up the homemade shotgun, and looked it over.

This gun was crudely made, and the barrel was crooked. It was bound to explode as soon as it was fired. It was just plain stupid to bring this kind of thing out to rob people. But this also proved that this youth had never killed anyone. It was all bluff.

Seeing Han Xiao pick up the gun, the long-haired youth panicked and hurriedly begged for mercy. "B-Big brother, I didn't recognize Mount Tai. Please, spare me."

Han Xiao slapped him on the head and scolded, "You only know you're wrong now?!"

The long-haired youth didn't have an ounce of backbone and hurriedly said, "I was wrong, I was wrong."

"What were you wrong about?"

The long-haired youth hesitated for a moment and cautiously asked, "Should I have brought another gun?"

Han Xiao was amused. "You're pretty cheeky!"

"You're a magnanimous person, just let me go." The long-haired youth said with a mournful face.

"Get lost, I don't have a fart as big as you."

Han Xiao raised the butt of the gun and knocked the long-haired youth unconscious, shaking his head helplessly. This person was a resident of the settlement, and he still had to enter the settlement to buy food and water. He didn't want to kill anyone and cause a bigger problem, so he had to tie him up and knock him out.

"Consider yourself lucky," Han Xiao muttered.

…

After trekking for half an hour, Han Xiao finally entered the wanderer settlement. The residents here looked at him with wary eyes.

The wilderness environment was dangerous. The wanderers of the wilderness were clannish and exclusive. Although outsiders were rare, they weren't unheard of, so Han Xiao wasn't surrounded like a monkey in a zoo.

The wanderers of the wilderness lived like gypsies, often migrating. Next to each tent was a small pickup truck covered with a dust cloth. These pickup trucks were mostly modified vehicles, rusty and even without an outer shell, the frame exposed to the air.

A pickup truck represented a family. This settlement was small, with only a few dozen families, but it had everything it needed. Han Xiao smoothly found the market, where a bearded white man was doing business on the back of a pickup truck.

"Outsider?" The bearded merchant coldly glanced at Han Xiao. "Do you know the rules here?"

"What rules?"

"We only accept bartering."

That was great, I don't have a dime on me.

"I need a map, three buckets of water, and five kilograms of food, jerky, bread, anything." Han Xiao grabbed a pile of bullets from his bag. "I want to pay with these."

"Ammunition?" The bearded merchant's eyes lit up, and he subconsciously looked at Han Xiao's bulging backpack, a greedy look appearing on his face.

Ammunition was a hard currency in the wilderness. All wanderers needed bullets. The manufacturing of bullets was more complicated than that of homemade guns. Even if small-scale wanderers could manufacture ammunition, the production capacity was terribly low. Each shot fired was one less bullet.

"One hundred and fifty bullets," the bearded merchant said.

Han Xiao's face darkened. "You're asking for the moon!"

The things he needed were just everyday supplies, and according to the market price, they shouldn't exceed one hundred. Even considering the scarcity of resources in the wilderness environment, the premium couldn't exceed five hundred percent.

And what about the bullets? Each one was worth at least three yuan, and that was for the worst quality dirt bullets. Each of the brass bullets Han Xiao offered were high-quality ammunition produced on an assembly line, with shiny and exquisite casings. Ten yuan wouldn't be considered expensive. One hundred and fifty bullets were worth at least one thousand five hundred, and this would take half of the three hundred bullets Han Xiao had brought. He was clearly being ripped off.

"If you have the guts, don't buy it," the bearded man said leisurely, lowering his head to file his fingernails, looking like he had him figured out.