The identity card had been burned by the flames, and the laser-printed photo had turned into a black pile of wrinkles. The appearance of the photo could not be seen clearly.
However, the name next to the photo was indeed "Wanzanghai".
Bai Xiaolu naturally could not take out his identity card. He could only brace himself and raise his identity bracelet, pretending to be weak and in pain. He said vaguely, "My, my name is Bai Xiaolu. When I escaped yesterday, I was separated from the adults. I only remember the explosion, the fire, the airwaves, and a lot of blood. It hurts, my head hurts, I don't remember anything!"
"Yes, when you escaped, it was really miserable."
The teenager named "Wanzanghai" sighed, seeming to believe Bai Xiaolu's words. But the muzzle of the gun aimed at the boy did not move at all. "Do you have any weapons on you or in your backpack?"
Bai Xiaolu originally had a pistol on his waist, but he did not know where it was when the thunderstorm struck.
He still had two foldable automatic rifles and a dozen magazines of bullets in his backpack. He could not take them out in a short time, but the muzzle and the handle of the gun were poked out of the backpack. Even a blind person could see it, so he could not lie. He could only reluctantly nod.
"Very good."
Wanzanghai's smile became more and more unfathomable, and his voice became more and more gentle. "Student Bai, we are all on the same side. First, we were attacked by the demons, and then we were caught in the thunderstorm for a day and a night. Even so, we were lucky enough to not die, and we met each other. It can be seen that we are destined to meet. You and I should hold hands and walk out of this damn Gobi together. Don't worry, I will never abandon you.
"However, your mental state is very bad now. It is too dangerous to hold a weapon. It is very easy for you to hurt yourself or others. So, your weapons will be kept by me. I will return them to you when necessary. Is that okay?"
Bai Xiaolu was slightly stunned.
In the Wilderness, a weapon full of bullets was as important as a heart. No one would easily hand it over to others.
"Hmm?"
Wanzanghai shook the muzzle, narrowed his eyes, and said in a sinister tone, "Little brother, firearms are dangerous things. Not everyone can handle them. With the little firearms education in our school, it's already good enough that you can learn where the trigger is and where the safety is. Do you really think that you're not you just because you have a gun in your hand?"
Bai Xiaolu hesitated for a moment, but her brother said in her heart, "Give him the gun."
"What?"
Bai Xiaolu exclaimed in a low voice, "Brother, in the Wilderness, guns are life!"
"It's alright."
The elder brother smiled. "I've already recovered. I can 'activate' at least once."
Bai Xiaolu heaved a long sigh of relief inwardly.
His brother was his biggest support. No matter how strong and cunning his opponent was, he was only a teenager. He couldn't be more difficult to deal with than "Lord Snake", could he? Her brother could silently destroy the enemy's cerebral vessels at the speed of lightning. He would never give the enemy the chance to pull the trigger.
"Okay."
Bai Xiaolu nodded and pretended to be out of his wits. He stammered, "T-then I'll let Big Brother Wan take care of it."
Just as he was about to open his military backpack, Wanzanghai said, "Wait, don't move. Leave both backpacks where they are and walk ten meters away from me with your back facing me. Let me remind you, this is the vast Wasteland. It's filled with deadly quicksand, sandworms, Wasteland Wolves, landmines, terrifying robots, and Wasteland Bandits. There's also deadly acid rain and radiation zones. Without food, supplies, and radiation detectors, no one will be able to escape. Don't do anything stupid."
Bai Xiaolu knew better than Wanzanghai about the horrors of the Bloodthirsty Wasteland, especially the uninhabited area in the north of the Wasteland. He didn't play any tricks and obediently left his backpack where they were. He walked ten meters away from Wanzanghai with his back facing him.
Her brother focused all his attention on sensing the strangeness of the teenager behind him.
"Crack, crack."
This was the sound of the automatic rifle being found and loaded.
"Hehehehe!"
Then, Wanzanghai's laughter rang out.
The teenager's laughter was very much like a lizard's.
Even though Bai Xiaolu knew very well that lizards didn't know how to laugh at all — even the Double-Headed Venomous Lizard that had mutated due to radiation wouldn't laugh.
"Okay, turn around."
When Bai Xiaolu heard Wanzanghai's words, he turned around and saw that the supplies he had painstakingly collected had been scattered all over the ground by Wanzanghai.
The teenager sat cross-legged with one rifle placed across his legs. He was adjusting the scope of the other rifle, and from time to time, he would make popping sounds.
Then, Wanzanghai threw his original shotgun at Bai Xiaolu. It landed at the boy's feet with a bang. "This one is for you!"
Bai Xiaolu was overjoyed and hurriedly grabbed the shotgun. However, when he touched it, he felt that something was wrong. He opened the magazine and sure enough, it was empty. There were no bullets at all. Moreover, from the trigger to the barrel, the gun was somewhat crooked, as if it had been severely burned and electrocuted. Even if there were bullets, it might not be able to shoot.
"Hehe, sorry, I forgot that the gun doesn't have bullets."
Wanzanghai aimed the automatic rifle at Bai Xiaolu, and his voice became particularly cold. "But this one definitely has bullets."
Bai Xiaolu's heart sank.
However, his brother's brain became particularly hot.
But Wanzanghai only aimed at him for half a second before he moved the muzzle away. His cold and ruthless face bloomed with an innocent smile. "Ha, I was just joking with you. Look at how scared you are. You're so timid. How did you escape from the siege yesterday?"
Just joking …
Bai Xiaolu cursed a hundred times in his heart.
He originally thought that only the demons in the Bloodthirsty Wasteland, especially the fiendish demons among the demons, such as "Lord Snake", "The Butcher", and "The Golden Tooth", would be so abnormal.
He did not expect that a teenager in the underground world could be so evil.
"But now, you should understand …"
Wanzanghai's smile only lasted for three seconds before it disappeared completely. He stared straight at Bai Xiaolu. "You should listen to someone now, right?"
"I-I understand."
Bai Xiaolu pretended to be timid and said, "I should listen to Big Brother Wan."
"Very good. Come and eat!"
Wanzanghai's smile was like a magical mask that could be retrieved from his face in an instant. He gestured at Bai Xiaolu and said, "Eat and drink to your heart's content before you can go on your way!"
Bai Xiaolu gathered all his energy and sat opposite Wanzanghai, trembling in fear. He watched him tear open the colorful wrappers and take out a foldable container made of tinfoil. He broke off a small piece of a grayish-brown solid that looked like a "compressed biscuit" and put it into the container. Then, he used something that looked like an electronic lighter to create a few sparks on the solid.
With a "bo" sound, the solid instantly expanded and turned into a big bowl of clean water!
"This —"
Bai Xiaolu's eyes widened. He did not expect that there was such a magical thing in the world. He had thought that what he collected was compressed biscuits, but it turned out to be compressed water! It was incredible that a small piece of solid that was smaller than a fingernail could be turned into such a big bowl of clean water!
How many good things did the underground people have? If those good things could be spread to the surface, how many lives could be saved?
Fortunately, he encountered Wan Zang Hai, and only then did he know how to use these things. Otherwise, making a fool of himself was a light matter, and if it was more serious, it might even cause death!
Wanzanghai divided the clean water into two halves and soaked the real compressed biscuits in it. He also gave Bai Xiaolu a few high-energy sugar pills.
Bai Xiaolu inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. She imitated Wan Zanghai's actions and swallowed the food. She thought to herself that it was fortunate that Wan Zanghai had personally prepared the food and water. Otherwise, she would have been exposed.
After eating and drinking to his heart's content, Wanzanghai slightly recovered his physical strength. He studied the compass carefully, only to find that the needle was shaking and spinning nonstop.
"Damn it."
The young man mumbled, "It's exactly as the textbooks say. The thunderstorm has just passed, and the magnetic interference is very strong. All the advanced automatic equipment cannot be used. Even the compass is under the strong interference. It is impossible to tell the directions."
Narrowing his eyes, he looked up at the sky. The sky was still covered in lead clouds as if it would collapse at any moment. Except for a few bleeding clouds on the horizon, there was no sun at all.
"Hey, do you think it's the sun?"
Wanzanghai kicked Bai Xiaolu.
Bai Xiaolu observed for a while and shook his head. "I don't know."
"That's true."
Wanzanghai grinned. "The sky has been covered by lead clouds for decades, and we've been living below the ground all the time. We've never seen the real sun except on the computer. How can you know?
"In that case, we can only try our luck and assume that it is the sun! Anyway, we can't just sit here and wait to be killed. The demons attacking the city haven't all died out yet. There are still countless scattered demons and bandit gangs in the wilderness. If we are caught by them, the two of us, as delicate underground people, will be doomed!
"Let's go. If the sky is bleeding toward the sun, this should be the west. Let's go west. Didn't we agree that we might run into the reinforcements of the 'alliance' if we go west when we break out of the siege yesterday?"
Bai Xiaolu said obediently, "I'll listen to you, Brother Wan."
The two of them picked up the assets on the ground. Wanzanghai did not watch Bai Xiaolu work alone. He even helped him carry the package. Plus the weight of the two automatic rifles, he carried more weight.
Also, he took the initiative to walk in the front and face the unknown danger.
Bai Xiaolu was confused. Was this' Wanzanghai 'good or bad? If he was really malicious, after getting the two fully loaded automatic rifles, he could have opened fire and taken all the assets for himself, right?
He had all the advantages, but he was still willing to team up with Bai Xiaolu. Did it mean that he really regarded Bai Xiaolu as one of his own?
"Don't trust him too much."
His brother said blandly, "If I were him, I wouldn't open fire either. But it doesn't mean that I have good intentions."
"Why?"
Bai Xiaolu did not understand.
"First of all, the assets here are too heavy. We don't have any means of transportation. If we walk in the wilderness with two big packages of assets on our feet, we will collapse soon."
His brother analyzed, "With our age and physical strength, one package is our limit if we walk forward on foot. Even if he kills us, he can only take away one package of assets at most and let us go temporarily. In return, he can get a grateful and unsuspecting 'mule' to help him carry one more package. Even if we consume half of the assets, he can still earn half more."
"Ah!" Bai Xiaolu exclaimed in his heart.
It was the same every time. When his brother was with him, he could instantly clear his mind and find the key to the problem.
"Second of all, and more importantly, we are very important assets. It means that we are a very fresh piece of meat."
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