super-mechanic

Chapter 13: Wanderer gg land

Chapter 13: Wanderer gg land

The sunlight filtered through the forest canopy, casting dappled light and shadow on the ground. A hand pushed aside the bushes, revealing a haggard face.

It had been seven days since he escaped. Han Xiao had spent these seven days living in the jungle. He had run out of military rations and fresh water, and all that was left in his backpack were a bunch of items from the captured Night Lords squad.

He had disabled the light power arm to jam Silver Blade's dagger. After that, it was only natural that, even with his health at a bare minimum, he could still overpower Silver Blade, who wasn't skilled in close combat. How could he lose when he had the upper hand? He couldn't afford to be overconfident and end up losing!

Anyway, he had the blueprints. As long as he had the materials, he could rebuild the equipment, so he wasn't worried at all. For a mechanic in combat, damaged equipment was a common occurrence.

Medical conditions in the jungle were extremely poor. Fortunately, his high endurance attribute meant he didn't have to worry about issues like wound inflammation. He endured the pain to dig out the bullet, and the wound would gradually heal. The wound caused by the sniper rifle was a bit of a problem, as the bullet was lodged in the gap between the shoulder blades. To dig it out, the pain made Han Xiao freeze for half an hour before he could recover. Compared to the heroic image of Guan Yu scraping the bone to heal the wound while calmly reading the *Spring and Autumn Annals*, Han Xiao felt he didn't measure up at all.

On his journey, luck was on his side, and he didn't encounter any ferocious beasts. Instead, a few long-eared rabbits he came across ended up in his stomach. The beasts on Aquamarine were extremely fierce. There were even intelligent beasts that had attacked cities several times in history. Some powerful beasts, like the land-and-sea amphibious whale elephants, were tens of meters long, wide, and tall. They were impervious to gunfire and could even single-handedly destroy a city.

Although Han Xiao remembered the map of Aquamarine, without knowing his exact location, there was little he could do. He could only follow the rising sun, much like Kuafu chasing the sun. At night, he slept in a tree but was woken up by bugs seven or eight times. It was more frequent than the night watch, and he came to deeply realize that mosquitoes were the most annoying creatures in the world, without a doubt.

“When will I finally get out of this forest?” Han Xiao panted.

Just then, a camp came into view in the distance. It was made up of wood, cement, and scrap metal, forming oddly shaped fences and ground spikes. This was a simple defensive measure. There were dozens of felt tents in the camp, and a wisp of cooking smoke rose, indicating that it was a wanderer settlement, a common sight on Aquamarine.

Han Xiao was immediately delighted. He was in desperate need of supplies.

After walking a few dozen meters closer, Han Xiao's expression changed drastically, and he quickly stepped back.

He saw the ground in front of him stir up a cloud of dust, and a large net made of thick ropes suddenly rose. The mesh was tied with thin metal sheets. This was a dangerous knife net trap. Fortunately, he reacted quickly; otherwise, his body would have been riddled with holes.

“This guy actually managed to dodge it!”

A long-haired youth emerged from behind a tree. He was dressed in a wanderer's outfit stitched together from various animal skins. He looked at Han Xiao with hostility, holding a homemade shotgun and pointing it at Han Xiao's head. He said arrogantly, “Stand still and don't move!”

The youth was clearly a resident of the settlement. Han Xiao didn't want to start a conflict, so he raised his hands. “I'm just a passerby.”

“Just passing through?”

The long-haired youth noticed Han Xiao's bulging bag and immediately saw the potential wealth, his eyes filled with greed. “What's in your bag? Hand it all over to me!”

Seeing this, Han Xiao secretly sighed. It seemed he had run into a robber. No wonder the knife net trap was just the right size for a human body; it was used to catch people. In this chaotic world, human lives were as cheap as grass. Most of the wanderers were people from fallen countries who refused to join the six major countries. The harsh wilderness environment had made them as greedy as hyenas. Killing and robbing for resources were all too common.

“Are you deaf? Show me what's in there!” The long-haired youth cursed as he approached, pressing the homemade shotgun firmly against Han Xiao's forehead.

The backpack was filled with guns and ammunition, all standard equipment of the Sprout Organization. There was no way he was going to show it. Han Xiao remained unfazed.

“Don't you understand what I'm saying? Do you think I won't shoot you?” The long-haired youth c****d the gun, menacingly.

At that moment, Han Xiao moved. With lightning speed, he raised his elbow and struck the long-haired youth's chest hard. The youth let out a painful cry and flew backward. Han Xiao grabbed the homemade shotgun with his other hand.

“Oh no, I ran into a tough guy!”

The long-haired youth covered his chest, panicked, and crawled backward on his hands and knees, desperately trying to get away from this dangerous man.

Han Xiao untangled the knife net trap, pulled out a thick rope, and tied the groaning long-haired youth to a tree. He picked up the homemade shotgun and examined it.

The gun was crudely made, with a crooked barrel. It was likely to explode when fired. Taking such a weapon out for a robbery was truly a sign of a lack of sense. But it also proved that this youth probably hadn't killed anyone before; it was all just bravado.

When the long-haired youth saw Han Xiao pick up the gun, he panicked and quickly begged for mercy. “Big brother, I didn't know you were someone important. Please spare me.”

Han Xiao slapped him on the head and asked sternly, “Do you realize your mistake now?!”

The long-haired youth had no backbone and quickly said, “I'm wrong, I'm wrong.”

“What's wrong with you?”

The long-haired youth hesitated for a moment and then asked tentatively, “Should I have brought an extra gun?”

Han Xiao was both angry and amused. “You're quite the joker!”

“Please be merciful and let me go. I'll be forever grateful.” The long-haired youth wailed.

“Get lost. I'm not as magnanimous as you think.”

Han Xiao raised the butt of the gun and knocked the long-haired youth unconscious with one blow. He shook his head helplessly. This person was a resident of the settlement, and he still needed to enter the settlement to buy food and water. He didn't want to kill someone and cause a bigger commotion, so he had to tie him up and knock him out.

“Consider yourself lucky.” Han Xiao muttered.

......

After walking for half an hour, Han Xiao finally entered the Wanderer Colony. The residents eyed him warily.

The wilderness was a dangerous place, and the wilderness wanderers were a clannish and xenophobic group. Although outsiders were rare, it wasn't unheard of, so Han Xiao wasn't stared at like a monkey in a zoo.

The lifestyle of the wilderness wanderers was similar to that of the gypsies. They often migrated. Next to each family's tent, there was a small pickup truck covered with a dust cloth. These pickup trucks were mostly modified vehicles, rusted and some even without a shell, with their frames exposed to the air.

A pickup truck represented a family. This settlement wasn't large, with only dozens of families. But despite its small size, it had everything one needed. Han Xiao easily found the bazaar, where a bearded white man was doing business on the hood of a pickup truck.

“An outsider?” The bearded merchant gave Han Xiao a cold look. “Do you know our rules here?”

“What rules?”

“We only accept barter.”

That was actually a good thing since he didn't have a single coin on him.

“I need a map, three buckets of water, and five kilograms of food. Jerky or bread will do.” Han Xiao took out a bunch of ammunition from his bag. “I want to trade these for them.”

“Ammunition?” The bearded merchant's eyes lit up, and he instinctively looked at Han Xiao's bulging backpack, a greedy look crossing his face.

Ammunition was like hard currency in the wilderness. All wanderers needed bullets, but the production process was more complicated than that of homemade weapons. Even if small groups of wanderers could produce ammunition, their production capacity was extremely low, with each bullet being precious.

“One hundred and fifty bullets.” The bearded merchant said.

Han Xiao's face darkened. “You're asking for too much!”

The items he wanted were just daily necessities. According to the market price, they would never cost more than a hundred. Even considering the scarcity of resources in the wilderness, the price increase wouldn't be more than five times the normal price.

And the bullets? Even the worst-quality homemade bullets cost at least three dollars each. Each brass bullet Han Xiao had was high-quality ammunition produced on an assembly line, with a shiny shell, brand new and well-made. Ten dollars per bullet wasn't an exaggeration. One hundred and fifty bullets were worth at least one thousand five hundred dollars. Han Xiao only had three hundred bullets with him, and the merchant wanted half of them. It was clearly an attempt to rip him off.

“If you don't like it, don't buy it.” The bearded man calmly lowered his head and started cleaning his fingernails, looking as if he had the upper hand.