The distant swirling dust gradually dissipated.
As the group of three got closer to their destination, the wide road filled with tire tracks gradually revealed other Deserted Village Squads.
Each kept more than a hundred meters apart, wary of each other.
Lin Feng finished the last sip from the bottle, observing those deserters draped in burlap hoods.
Their condition was not good, with most of their figures hunched, bent at the waist, struggling to move forward.
Like those devoted monks on a pilgrimage.
The deserter teams walking in the middle of the road, the most level place, were in much better condition, not only dressed cleanly, but also moving with stable and vigorous steps.
These teams were extremely strong, mostly led by several Late-stage Enhanced People, like the top notched Desert Village Squad Li Hu that Lin Feng's group encountered earlier.
Above them were the Desert Hunting Squads formed by the Evolvers permanently residing in Oasis Town.
And Lin Feng and his two companions walked on the edge of the roadway.
Under the control of the leading captain, they maintained an even pace, neither fast nor slow.
The chunks of meat and wolf hides on the cart were covered with burlap, not attracting attention.
Thus, they journeyed over ten kilometers and finally reached the outskirts of the main force.
It was only at this moment that Lin Feng finally saw relics of old world civilization, rows of old, rusty cars.
Cars of various sizes and models formed a circle.
They created an arc several hundred meters in diameter.
Lin Feng roughly estimated that there were over a hundred cars in the outer ring alone.
A layer of black covering was on top, not very clear to see.
Inside, the camp also housed many small trucks and modified RVs, and from time to time came the sound of banging.
Unlike the deserters nearby, those who lived in the cars, although their faces were equally sallow, were full of Spirit, lacking the lingering weariness that haunted the deserters.
After all, they didn't need to walk on two legs and could get a full rest every day.
Lin Feng looked at a fellow lying on a car seat, legs crossed up, also thinking of some rest.
Sleeping along the journey on heaps of stones, his body was marked with red welts from the rocky pressure.
Thus, the deserters' quality of sleep was always poor, only collapsing into slumber from utter exhaustion.
Keeping a wide berth from the convoy, the group followed the deserteers' team, entering the center of Oasis Town.
The previous convoy they passed formed a circle five hundred meters in diameter, with strict order surrounding it.
"That convoy follows the moving Oasis and is one of the villages under Oasis Town."
Ding Yi spoke, quietly introducing to Lin Feng.
Chen Shanshan, pulling the cart, looked back:
"They are forging various iron tools and should be Machanical Village, one of Oasis Town's four major villages. Besides it, there are three other villages: Holy Spring, Farm, and Dawn."
"The Four Major Villages respectively control weapons, water sources, food, and energy. Among them, Holy Spring Village represents the Church, while the other three villages are under the Three Major Clans on the Oasis."
"These are the official forces of Oasis Town."
"Approximately over ten thousand people live among them."
"Besides these, there's our destination for this trip, Fifth Village, formed by a large number of free Evolvers."
Saying that, Chen Shanshan stopped, and what caught her eyes was a mixed gathering of camps.
It was the Fifth Village she spoke of, the rest stop for all deserters on this journey.
Unlike the orderly Machanical Village just now, Fifth Village was utterly chaotic, with many deserters lying directly on the ground or setting up tents, filled with quarrels, curses, and shouts.
Many groups sat on the ground, chewing on sandalwood grass roots, their gazes scanning the passing deserter teams, searching for the supplies they carried, showing greedy expressions at the sight of food.
"No hot weapons are allowed inside the village, Lin Feng, keep your Revolver well."
Chen Shanshan reminded softly, then continued deeper into the Fifth Village:
"Don't stay on the outskirts. The bottom-tier deserters here are extremely ferocious and addicted to stealing. They won't have the supplies we need."
"Go rest in the car convoy inside, where top-notch deserter teams are stationed, with abundant resources."
Lin Feng and his companion nodded and followed.
Crossing several hundred meters of deserter heaps, they saw a camp formed by a circle of cars, similar to the Machanical Village they passed earlier, with security guarding the entrance.
Chen Shanshan went forward with ease, taking a cut of ribs from under the cart's burlap and handed it to the entrance guard, acquiring passage.
"The trading inside is overseen and protected; the permanent residents of Fifth Village also live here."
Listening to the captain's introduction, Lin Feng glanced around; it was his first time witnessing such a close-up interaction with human civilization evolved from wastelands.
It felt like being in a strange Otherworld.
The cars were lined with a layer of black Armor; previously, it was too far to see clearly in the Machanical Village; now up close, they turned out to be solar photovoltaic panels.
Lin Feng was a bit surprised, but on reflection, found it reasonable.
In a world of eternal daylight with no night, the only free and infinite energy source is the blazing sun above.
Lin Feng had previously wondered how such a large caravan, with over five hundred vehicles in a single village and over three thousand residents, managed to solve the problem of fuel consumption on their journey.
Now it seems that the entire Oasis Town is powered by solar energy, no wonder the village that controls the energy is named Dawn.
The products of Dawn Village are photovoltaic panels and electric motors.
It's likely that most of the survivor settlements on the wasteland follow a similar model.
Upon entering the Fifth Village camp, Lin Feng immediately spotted the motor inn Ding Yi had been going on about.
A moving hotel converted from a bus was parked next to the entrance.
The roof was covered with a large circle of solar panels, which also provided shade. The bus had two floors; the lower floor was a shared sleeping area, costing only half a pound of jerky for eight hours of rest.
The upper floor had individual small compartments, like a capsule hotel, divided by metal sheets, and the price was double.
The hotel also provided each person with two liters of free water and power supply, allowing them to cook food.
The sign hanging under the solar panels listed not only the accommodation price but also the ticket cost for departing Oasis Town, which required only two ounces of jerky per day, with a 15% discount for a monthly pass.
Beneath the sign stood a wooden board, with job listings and requirements written on it in charcoal.
Already, many Deserters hoping to try their luck were heading to the driver's cabin to find the hotel owner.
This was Lin Feng's first glimpse into the culture of wasteland life, making him feel incredibly curious, yet concerned about exposing his rookie status, so he glanced sidelong, observing covertly.
Beside him, Ding Yi was also entering the village for the first time. Previously, due to the team's scarce resources, they could only sit on the ground like outside Deserters, while the captain and vice-captain entered the Fifth Village to exchange for necessary supplies.
The two of them looked around, stealing glances everywhere.
They even saw a mobile bar and a bathhouse.
Only Chen Shanshan was familiar with the place, leading the two of them straight to the outskirts of the Fifth Village, parking the cart in front of a small bus.
This was also a motor inn, located in a secluded spot.
However, the owner was evidently acquainted with the captain.
The middle-aged man, shaving in front of an old-style round mirror with a red plastic frame, wore beach shorts, and his feet were in worn-out flip-flops.
The man, surnamed Huang, owned the small bus.
Boss Huang glanced at Chen Shanshan, the cart behind her, and Lin Feng and Ding Yi:
"Not bad, you just have these two rookies left?"
Chen Shanshan nodded:
"Open for half a day, three bunks."
Boss Huang put down his razor:
"One pound of jerky."
Chen Shanshan immediately took two strips of jerky from the pile of meat on the cart, weighed them in her hand, and handed them to the innkeeper:
"There's a bit extra, but it's not fully dehydrated yet."
Old Huang took the jerky, sniffed it under his nose, and showed a look of surprise:
"You actually killed a Desert Wolf. Wolf meat is a rare and hearty delicacy, not bad, even if it's not completely dry."
Saying this, he put down the razor and proactively opened the door of the small bus, which could carry only thirty people, welcoming the three on board, while reminding them with a smile:
"As for free news, Qi Mountain came by a few days ago, sold some of his men to the Slave Market, and is currently staying in the north of the village, trying to connect with the Evolvers."
Chen Shanshan nodded and replied with a thank you.
Lin Feng and Ding Yi carried the wolf meat wrapped in burlap, following the captain onto the bus.
The original seats of the small bus had been removed, converted into long compartments on the left and right sides, with four on each side, totaling eight. The conditions were far inferior to the bus at the entrance.
The compartments were separated by wooden boards, each sleeper two meters long, seventy centimeters wide, divided into upper, middle, and lower levels, with only eighty centimeters of headroom on each level, allowing for sitting in a crouched position.
Similar to the hard sleepers on a green-skin train.
The three of them just fitting into a single compartment.
At the head of the bed was a small electric fan that could blow a slight breeze, and thanks to the solar panels providing shade on the roof, the interior wasn't hot. An exhaust fan in the back made it cooler than outside.
With outside temperatures nearing fifty degrees, the shade from the solar panels made it just over forty inside, and with the bed fan, it brought the temperature to something near normal.
Previously, Lin Feng wouldn't have been able to sleep, but in the wasteland scorched by the blazing sun, thirty-six or thirty-seven degrees felt comfortable.
After washing her face outside, Chen Shanshan came back, bringing two bottles of water to Lin Feng and Ding Yi, and said:
"Most Deserter teams won't arrive for a few hours; let's rest and get some good sleep first."
"We can join the gathering later."
Lin Feng and Ding Yi nodded, split the wolf meat into three parts, held it in their arms, and fell into a deep sleep.
A few hours later, the captain woke them:
"Wake up, it's time to eat, Old Huang made delicious pan-fried wolf meat."
"Once we finish eating, we need to get down to business."