Supplies were very important to him. Han Xiao sighed, counted 150 bullets, and was about to pay.
Big Beard shook his finger and started to raise the price. "180 bullets."
Han Xiao's eyes were filled with anger. You f * cking profiteer! You're raising the price!
Big Beard saw this and shouted exaggeratedly, "Oh, what a scary look! Do you want to kill me? Everyone, come and look! Someone wants to kill me!"
As soon as he said that, dozens of Rogues surrounded him. Some of them even picked up weapons like crowbars and iron rods, eyeing him fiercely.
"This is our territory. You dare to make trouble?"
"Okay, you're the best. 180 bullets, that's the price." Han Xiao was so angry that his teeth itched. He did not want to cause more trouble, so he squeezed the words out of his mouth and threw the bullets to the ground.
Big Beard smiled proudly and asked someone to bring the things over and hand them to Han Xiao.
After confirming that the map and supplies were correct, Han Xiao gave Big Beard the middle finger. He did not want to stay a second longer and turned to leave.
At this time, Big Beard spoke again. "Hey, do you want to walk out of this forest on foot?"
"Why? Do you have a problem?" Han Xiao stopped and said in annoyance.
"I have an old pickup truck. Do you want it?" Big Beard said casually as if the unpleasantness just now had never happened.
"I can't afford to pay you," Han Xiao said sarcastically.
"You can afford it." Big Beard pointed to Han Xiao's backpack. "You have so many bullets. You must have brought a lot of guns. Use those guns to pay."
High-quality guns were very popular among rogues. They generally relied on hunting to maintain their food source. One more good gun meant one more hunter.
Han Xiao's backpack was full of the Owl Squad's equipment. The quality was very good, and there were also sniper rifles and bulletproof vests. It was more than enough to exchange for an old pickup truck. However, he shook his head and refused Big Beard's proposal.
The tracks left behind by driving in the forest were too obvious. It was basically the same as pointing at the nose of the pursuers and saying, "Did you see that I'm taking this road? If you don't want to race with the helicopter, it's better to walk."
Furthermore, he had another consideration. These guns were all standard weapons of the Germinal Organization. Once a Germinal Organization team came to this settlement and discovered the organization's standard weapons, the settlement would be destroyed. Selling these guns was equivalent to indirectly killing people.
Although Han Xiao had just been ripped off by the merchants, he was not that crazy.
The bearded man was still unwilling to give up and wanted to sell a few more words. Suddenly, a bell-like voice sounded from the side.
"Carroll, you are tricking an outsider again!"
A burly man in an animal skin hunting coat strode over, and the crowd parted automatically as he passed. It was obvious that he had a lot of prestige in this settlement.
Big Beard Carlos had a bitter expression. "Hu Hongjun, I finally managed to make a deal with you. Don't meddle in my business!"
Hu Hongjun snatched the bullet from Big Beard and handed it to Han Xiao. He said generously, "The things you want are not worth much. I'll give them to you. Here, these are your bullets."
Han Xiao was stunned. He carefully looked at Hu Hongjun. This man was Asian. He had a strong body, white hair, sharp eyes, and a sense of heroism in his speech. His righteous action of returning the bullet immediately made Han Xiaoxin have a good impression of him.
"Hey, what should I do?" Carlos shouted.
Hu Hongjun did not even turn his head. "Isn't it just some food? I'll return it to you tomorrow."
Carlos was flustered and exasperated. It was not easy to rip off a customer, and you gave me a fair trade. Do you know what business is?
Hu Hongjun was very hospitable. He said, "You are a guest from afar. Looking at your haggard appearance, you must not be used to life in the forest. How about this? Stay at my house for a night and continue tomorrow."
Han Xiao hesitated for a moment before nodding. He indeed wanted to have a good rest. Moreover, his first impression of Hu Hongjun was that he was a straightforward and forthright man. He did not seem like a bad person. Of course, even if the other party had bad intentions, Han Xiao would not be scared.
The two left together. The surrounding wanderers also dispersed. Only Big Beard Carlos was left. He was angry, but he did not dare to say anything. There was no other way. Hu Hongjun was one of the hunters in the settlement. Everyone relied on him to hunt and bring back food. Moreover, Hu Hongjun was very generous and had a good relationship with people. He did not dare to offend him.
…
Hu Hongjun brought Han Xiao back to his tent. As soon as he opened the curtain and entered, he shouted, "An, I have a guest. Make more food today."
"Got it." A woman replied.
Han Xiao walked into the tent and saw the woman called An. She looked ordinary and wore a plain cloth dress. Han Xiao noticed that her eyes were lifeless. She was clearly blind.
"This is my wife." Hu Hongjun smiled.
"Hello." An heard the voice and smiled in Han Xiao's direction. She fumbled around and took out pots and pans, as well as dried meat and wild vegetables. She placed them on the simple stone stove in the center of the tent and started cooking.
Since the other party was so friendly, Han Xiao did not hold back. He sat on the ground and started chatting with Hu Hongjun.
After some conversation, Han Xiao confirmed that Hu Hongjun did not have any other intentions. He was just being hospitable. He could not help but let down his guard a little.
"I just noticed that most of the people in this settlement are white people. Why are you with them?" Han Xiao asked.
The intelligent species in the Blue Star were humans. There were a total of four races: black people, white people, yellow people, and Shanu people. They were all products of natural selection. Darwin said that it was natural selection. The more dangerous the environment, the stronger the life. The Shanu people were stronger than the black people.
"There's no special reason. During the war, I happened to meet this group of wanderers. At that time, An was sick and needed to be taken care of, so I stayed. Although our countries and races are different, we're all survivors of the old era. There's no distinction between you and me. We're just in the same boat." Hu Hongjun sighed.
Blue Star originally had hundreds of countries. After coming into contact with interstellar forces, they understood that having so many countries on a planet was a complete waste of the planet's limited resources. If they were not unified, there would be endless internal friction. If this continued, when the planet's resources were depleted, the civilization would be trapped on the planet and lose the opportunity to step into the universe.
Therefore, with the help of some people, the social environment changed drastically in a few decades. Wars, negotiations, economic pressure, and through peaceful or not peaceful ways, the social environment was reduced to only six countries.
Those who lost their countries, some chose to join the Six Nations, some chose to join the Germinal Organization, and the rest became wanderers.
The world of Blue Star was in the throes of the transition from the old era to the new era. The people of those countries that were annexed, destroyed, and disintegrated were immersed in grief and disillusionment. Everyone hoped that their country could survive, but when the wheel of history felt that it had stopped for long enough and needed to move on, some things that seemed indispensable could only accept the fate of being abandoned by the era and become a few words left in the history books. To give some simple examples, such as the wave of layoffs in the early 1990s, countless iron rice bowls were broken, or the five thousand years of Chinese history, until the Republic of China, the imperial system that lasted for thousands of years was finally destroyed. Before that, the existence of the emperor was something that everyone thought was natural. Another example was the dark religion in the Western Middle Ages.
The progress of civilization was like a surging river that could not be stopped. Everyone, everything, and even countries were just sand in the river, drifting with the flow.
Those with limited individual strength could only vent their grief on the Internet or in demonstrations, or immerse themselves in the glory of their country in the past. The more radical ones refused to accept the invitations of the citizens of the Six Nations and became wanderers in the wilderness, living in groups in the wild. Wanderers made up 30% of the entire population of the planet.
Some warriors who had sacrificed their blood and sweat for their country used even more extreme actions to oppose the Six Nations. The Germinal Organization was a behemoth born in such a social environment. Its philosophy was to overthrow the Six Nations and unite against a common enemy. It was worthy of being the leader of the underground world.
It was easy to maintain one's status, but reform was always accompanied by pain. Even if it was universal knowledge, there were still stubborn people who were unwilling to accept it. Between personal interests and social progress, there would always be some people who would choose the former. These people usually played the role of "resistance" on the path of evolution. After all, selfishness could bring actual benefits, but righteousness was just an illusory belief. Selfless people were rare animals. Otherwise, "selflessness" would not be called a virtue. Otherwise, there would not be a need for the annual Touching China Award. It was just to tell everyone, "Look, there are still good people in the world. Learn from them and save the organization some trouble."
Hu Hongjun said, "Ever since the Battle of Andrea, history has been divided into two halves. The past few thousand years are called the old era, and the current era is the new era. Sometimes, when you think about it, what was wrong with life in the past? It was peaceful and stable, but because of the so-called theory of internal friction, the consequences were probably more serious than internal friction. Besides, even if it were to happen, it would only happen a few hundred years later. The problems in the future would be left to the future generations to solve.
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