Su Ziyu had experienced very few battles.
When dealing with the Ghost-faced Monkey, he was basically just a bystander, and when sparring with Lina, he was completely being thrashed. The only true life-and-death struggle he had was facing the monster Rote had become, but at that time, he was actually at a disadvantage. The monster couldn't be killed no matter what; it was only when it lunged straight at him and he managed to strike its forehead that he took it down. The recent fight was completely different; human bodies were so much more fragile compared to that monster. The bald leader had his head blown off immediately, and the rest were mostly hit in the heart, head, or lower body. For confronting humans, especially male humans, these are the most effective areas to target,
Su Ziyu sat quietly by the car eating compressed biscuits.
Beside him, Pasha would occasionally turn her head to secretly glance at him. If it weren't for the fact that Su Ziyu didn't look like a soldier at all, she would suspect he was one of those legendary super soldiers from the Old World. A single person using cold weapons to take down five or six armed plunderers was something she had never heard of before, and most importantly, Su Ziyu had neither undergone mechanical modifications nor was he equipped with any exoskeleton armor.
"I'm full. Let's set off," Su Ziyu stood up and said.
The plunderer's car contained many valuable items, but the most important were clean food and water. These processed foods and water would only slightly raise one's radiation pollution index upon consumption. If an average person regularly consumed such food, they would need only around two anti-radiation pills a year, similar to how people in the past caught colds a few times a year and took some cold medicine. However, this world contains numerous radiation sources, and unexpected exposure to these sources is the most troublesome aspect. Pasha mentioned a human settlement that became extinct due to an infestation of radiation cockroaches.
The two of them chose a modified pickup truck.
The vehicle was filled with all sorts of strange items, and Su Ziyu even found a heavy metal style record. These were robbed from scavengers, of which there were many worldwide, who survive by excavating past city ruins.
"What is this?" Su Ziyu poured out some special yellow star-shaped pills along with some used syringes.
"A special hallucinogenic potion. After use, it reportedly makes people feel blissful and extremely relaxed, leading to a state of mental confusion and is addictive," Pasha glanced at it and replied, "It's very popular among scavengers and fetches a high price."
"You could just call it drugs," Su Ziyu frowned, and tossed the entire box into the stinking ditch outside.
Pasha looked at him in surprise, then playfully flipped her long hair and smiled, "It's the end of the world. These things are impossible to ban outright, and we can't do anything about those people. Moreover, some tycoons secretly sell addictive drugs."
Su Ziyu didn't respond.
Pasha's lips twitched slightly; she felt this man was a bit aloof, as she was usually the one doing most of the talking.
In order to numb and control those who worked for them, tycoons secretly added special ingredients to the cigarettes provided to them, a fact known to all resistors. Those who didn't want to work for the tycoons either became resistors or scavengers.
"How much farther?" Su Ziyu leaned back in the car seat and asked while resting his eyes.
The scenery outside was nearly identical: wilderness, ruins, broken walls, stinking ditches, and swarms of rats and cockroaches. Many creatures had already gone extinct, and those still alive were often deformed. Living in such an environment easily leads to despair.
"We should arrive by tomorrow," Pasha said while driving.
At dusk.
Pasha informed him of bad news: "The car seems to have a problem, and there isn't much gasoline left."
Who knows where the plunderers got this antique vehicle; the fact that it's running is already impressive. After the cataclysm, the human population sharply decreased, and the industrial base suffered devastating damage. Nowadays, many items are found in former city ruins. This world's technology trajectory differs somewhat from Su Ziyu's previous world; they didn't heavily develop the internet industry but focused on nuclear energy applications. According to Pasha, this world has already developed stable, safe, and efficient micro nuclear batteries.
They had even created exoskeleton armor during the Old Era.
As night fell.
They heard the sound of wolves howling, and Pasha looked even more tense than during the day, because she told Su Ziyu the mutated radiation wolves were more dangerous than plunderers; the surviving wolf packs were extremely fierce and cunning. Since hearing the wolf howls, neither of them felt sleepy, so Pasha talked to Su Ziyu about the world's dangerous creatures, like radiation crabs, killer bees, giant bats, radiation eels, etc. The most dangerous radiation creatures came from ocean regions; radiation-contaminated seawater had oddly not killed many sea life but rather spawned some terrifying monsters, like the rumored giant octopus in the Pacific Ocean waters, with tentacles a kilometer long.
"The largest mutated creature I've seen is a giant swamp mother crab," Pasha looked at Su Ziyu with a faint shimmer in her eyes and softly said, "These mother crabs live in highly polluted waters and can grow over twelve meters in size; their strength is astonishing, and their shells can defend against most firearms. Their diet includes all known creatures nearby, even corpse ghosts are part of their diet."
"We lost many people then."
"It was only with rocket launchers that we finally took it down; the Brotherhood later took its corpse."
Su Ziyu listened attentively; he was very curious about everything in this world.
The next day.
Before the modified pickup truck broke down, they arrived near the camp and encountered a group of scavengers.
These scavengers seemed to have just returned from the city ruins, with vehicles loaded with scrap electronics. The scavengers came in various ages, led by a man with a German accent whose one eye was intact and the other was mechanical. He seemed somewhat familiar with Pasha and quickly agreed to take them along.
"They're Polaris scavengers. After the cataclysm, we lost so much, now we can only rely on excavating old era cities for resources."
The scavengers looked at Su Ziyu with curious eyes, and the leading German man quietly asked Pasha, "Who is he? Is he from a shelter?"
"How do you know?" Pasha responded with a hint of vigilance.
"Ha! You forget I escaped from a shelter too?" The German man lit a poorly crafted cigar, took a deep puff, and said, "Relax. I won't cause him trouble. I only care whether his background is safe."
"He saved me," Pasha deeply gazed at the man and said, "I trust him. It's best if you don't cause him trouble, or you'll regret it."
The German man frowned upon seeing Su Ziyu's weapon: cold weapons, a strange guy. He shook his head and said, "Forget it, consider it asked."
"Have him tan his skin a bit."
"The camp has many old foxes; someone might guess his identity."
Pasha also slightly frowned at Su Ziyu; yes, this man was right. Although Su Ziyu's clothing was poor, he still appeared as if he's lived in comfort for a long time. Such people were common in the past civilized era, nearly everywhere, but noticeable in the current Wasteland Era, since most now struggle to survive, many bearing radiation infection scars.
While they observed Su Ziyu, he also observed them.
These people.
How to put it.
The most apparent feature was that about two out of ten had their bodies replaced with mechanical limbs. He meticulously noted that some may have lost limbs due to battles, necessitating mechanical replacements, while others showed clear signs of body deformity, seemingly having some parts cut out and replaced with various mechanical limbs.
"Radiation mutation."
"We've lost too much..."
"About twenty percent of newborns have some degree of physical deformity. Fortunately, we've reclaimed some Old Era technology; they can opt for mechanical limb replacements in adulthood. If you plan to have children later, remember to lower both your radiation pollution indexes below 3% before conception. As long as the pregnant woman isn't exposed to radiation sources during pregnancy, there's a ninety-five percent chance the baby will be normal," Pasha's voice sounded.
Su Ziyu turned to look at her and asked, "What if there's accidental pregnancy?"
"Then we can only leave it to fate!..." Pasha sighed.
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