Pasha is a very capable woman.
She is approximately 1.72 meters tall, weighs about 60 kilograms, and has a well-proportioned yet muscular build, suggesting she exercises a lot. This means she won't be a burden to Su Ziyu, but it also implies that their food demands will significantly increase.
They quickly found a seemingly clean water source, but as soon as Pasha dipped a needle from her mechanical wristwatch into the water, the display showed—"Mildly polluted water."
"We probably won't find cleaner water nearby," Pasha said, licking her dry lips.
Humans need at least 1,500 milliliters of water a day; a person can go several days without food but will die after just three days without water.
Su Ziyu glanced at her and nodded slowly, and the two of them simultaneously bent down to replenish their body's missing water.
Intense exercise increases the body's sweat rate; it might not be a problem in the short term, but once dehydration symptoms appear, a person's condition can rapidly decline. The water here is very clear and has no odd taste, but after they drank, their radiation pollution index rose by about 1%. Pasha's mechanical wristwatch is interesting; it looks like a high-tech personal terminal, not only capable of monitoring one's condition but also storing data and possessing some analytical capability, which with added skills could resemble a physical version of some systems.
Before nightfall, they finally found prey.
The prey is slightly disturbing; it looks like a deer but has two faces, as if two deer heads were squeezed together and then part of it was cut off and sewn back. Fortunately, its body is normal, just with some mottled patterns, otherwise, Su Ziyu honestly wouldn't know if he dared to eat it.
"Radiation mutation." Pasha explained to Su Ziyu while handling the prey with a tactical dagger: "Eating it might increase your radiation pollution index, but we can't find better food."
"Right?"
Su Ziyu sensed that she might have noticed something because he indeed felt out of place with this era, with everything here.
The meat is delicious.
The taste is good, but after eating, the radiation pollution index increased again, and Su Ziyu's radiation pollution index was nearing 2%.
They chose a relatively safe leeward spot to spend the night. After lighting the campfire, Pasha kept sizing him up while Su Ziyu then had the energy to carefully observe the woman before him. She looked quite pretty; Western faces all seemed similar to him, but he could still judge attractiveness—her skin was a bit dark, wheatish, not as fair as Su Ziyu's, a small scar at the corner of the eye, which didn't disrupt the overall aesthetics, giving off a somewhat fierce vibe, with calluses on her hands, more pronounced abs than his, arms and thighs strong, appearing a bit dangerously alluring.
"I'm waiting for you to ask me the time," Pasha suddenly said after staring at Su Ziyu for a while.
Su Ziyu looked surprised but did not speak.
He had been mostly silent all along.
Because the more he spoke, the easier it was to expose himself.
"It is now January 25, 2169, 20:45. It's been over a hundred years since the Day of Disaster." Pasha looked intently into Su Ziyu's eyes as if gauging his expression changes, speaking firmly: "You really aren't a Wilderness Hunter, are you?"
"You just came out from a shelter."
Su Ziyu hesitated upon hearing her words but then slowly asked, "How did you know?"
"I've seen people come out from shelters. You have an aura that conflicts with this era." Pasha's lips curled into a slight smile, gradually taking on a confident demeanor, speaking slowly: "It seems like you came out alone and have just wandered into the wilderness not long ago? Otherwise, you wouldn't have ventured into the Southern Cross! The Scavengers around here all know it's a dead zone!"
"Although you conceal it well, you can't fool a seasoned hunter."
Pasha's mouth slightly curled up, seemingly pleased to have seen through Su Ziyu's identity. She continued, "Did your shelter malfunction? Are you the only one left alive?"
People coming out from shelters are usually well-equipped; Su Ziyu looks just like a wildling. He probably escaped from the shelter without having time to grab any equipment.
Su Ziyu didn't speak because he wasn't sure how to respond.
However, Pasha seemed to interpret his silence as reluctance to elaborate. After hesitating, she said, "I'm a member of [Freelancers]. I'm here in the Southern Cross for a crucial mission. Don't worry. We aren't interested in the wealth inside the shelters. If possible, I'd really like to invite you to join our organization."
"Freelancers? Join you?" Su Ziyu slightly frowned.
"Yes." Pasha's expression gradually became serious: "You have been asleep in the shelter for too long. You have no idea what earth-shattering changes have happened outside!"
"Civilization has already drifted away from us."
"This is a barbaric era."
"Over a hundred years since the Day of Disaster, those corporations gradually controlled our world, enslaving others to work for them, while also controlling the most important resource in today's world—medicines!"
Pasha's tone grew somewhat agitated as she gritted her teeth: "This is an injection against radiation, these are pills to reduce radiation."
"All these are firmly in the hands of those corporations!"
"After the disaster struck, the entire world was utterly changed under immense radiation. Now, everything around us carries radiation pollution, even if we eat clean food and drink purified water, our bodies will accumulate radiation pollution little by little, only these medicines can eliminate it."
"My parents died because they couldn't afford medicines; they saved the last dose for me."
"We are Freelancers, and we resist!"
Su Ziyu remained silent, seemingly processing the information, then looked up after a moment and asked, "What are you doing in that city?"
"Looking for the formula to eliminate radiation." Pasha's voice grew somewhat low as she said: "To restore the world to civilization, we must first break the corporations' monopoly on medicines. It is said there is a laboratory in Southern Cross with the formula for anti-radiation potion."
"But we failed. There are too many Corpse Ghosts there!"
"Corpse Ghosts?" Su Ziyu asked in confusion.
"A type of creature that appeared after the Day of Disaster. They are difficult to deal with. Approaching them results in severe radiation pollution." Pasha chuckled and said: "By the way. Your skills are good. Those Corpse Ghosts are very strong and fast-moving, I rarely see anyone using cold weapons to take them down."
Su Ziyu asked, "Can't you research the potion formula yourselves? Why go to such a dangerous place to find it?"
"It's impossible." Pasha shook her head with a bitter smile: "There's a component in these potions that involves genetic programming, which was top-notch technology from the old era, and we can't decode the synthesis of this substance."
"Their core technology is tightly held by corporations."
"All medicines circulating in the market are controlled by those corporations; they are expensive, limited in quantity, and many people die because they can't afford them. Even if ordinary people work hard in the corporation factories for a whole year, the compensation they receive only suffices for basic survival needs, and the remaining money is only enough to buy a small amount of these medicines. An accidental radiation source infection might just mean waiting for death."
"Those corporations are exploiting us like slaves!"
A dark wasteland era.
Su Ziyu pondered for a long time before raising his head and asking, "What are your plans next?"
"Return to the camp." Pasha said softly: "Will you come with me?"
"Sure!" Su Ziyu replied with a nod.
The woman across from him looked up at his words, seemingly pleasantly surprised.
......