The young man with glasses in a crisp suit gave Zheng Xiu an obvious sense of disobedience when he appeared on the stage.
Zheng Xiu thought for a second and instantly understood where this sense of dissonance came from.
--clean.
In this era and in this context, "clean" itself is a rarer thing than gold.
Beside the young man, the hyena gang of marauders wore patchwork equipment, and the surface of the armor used to be bulletproof was painted full of dents or scratches left by bullets. They wore various protective masks produced by different manufacturers on their heads, and their complete lenses reflected the cold light.
It was under the contrast of the surrounding "green leaves" that the young man with glasses, whether deliberately or out of habit, kept a gentle and elegant smile on his face when he walked out of the base and came towards them.
"It seems that you are the leader of the 'Train Gang'?"
The young man smiled slightly, and a coin slipped out of his cuff silently, dancing and turning in a colorful way on the back of his hand and between his fingers.
"We are the Orange Cat Club."
Zheng Xiu carefully corrected the other party's remarks and stared calmly at the other party playing with Hua Huo's coins.
"Orange cat club?...Orange cat?" The young man's elegant smile froze for a long time. He looked up and down at the nearly 1.9-meter-tall macho man in front of him, and the corners of his mouth twitched twice without leaving any trace.
"Very good, Orange Cat...cough, Orange Cat, very good." The young man quickly regained his composure: "I am the leader of the Hyena Gang, Adili Castellano D. Santiago. I sincerely invite you You replace Cowan's worthless waste and become a member of our hyena gang to jointly create a perfect kingdom, one that is truly controlled by humans after the disaster, with no distortion, no disaster, no famine, no cold, an ideal This country belongs to us...the new world!"
"New world!"
"New world!"
"New world!"
The young man’s fragrant cake...ah no, this is not the first time he has said such encouraging words. As soon as he finished speaking, the marauders around him raised their rifles high, and echoed with bursts of excited howls from under their masks.
"Kewan," Zheng Xiu heard an unfamiliar name in the young man's words and smiled: "You mean, the person whose hair turned into drill bits?"
The young man nodded: "It's that trash."
It turns out his name is Cowan.
Only then did Zheng Xiu know the name of the person who had his head drilled.
"So, you know I killed him."
"'Qing' of the 'Brotherhood' signed a non-aggression contract with us. I believe that Qing is a good person and will not kill our people at will. We also obeyed the contract and gave 'Qing' a place to stay in the valley. "Having said this, the young man flipped the coins in his palms faster and faster:
"Your train... ah, I'm sorry, you orange cats have just arrived in the valley. That loser Cowan wants to rob you without saying a word. He said he likes your train very much. That loser doesn't even have to think about it. How can he make it happen?" A train that has not left the 'severely affected area' for hundreds of years has successfully arrived in the valley. How can it be possible that only ordinary people are sitting on the train?"
"certainly,"
Without waiting for Zheng Xiu to answer.
The young man pushed up his glasses with his fingers and showed a meaningful smile: "Dear Orange Cat Club leader, you still have time to think about it, why not, taking advantage of this time, I invite you to enter our base and visit our new world. the foundation of.”
Xia Sha, who had been silent all this time, suddenly raised her compound crossbow and aimed it between the young man's eyebrows. In her opinion, now that they are face to face, no matter they are humanoids or ordinary humans, as long as they are hit by the poison soaked in the arrows, there is no possibility of survival.
Zheng Xiu quickly stretched out his hand to press down Xia Sha's compound crossbow, smiled and shook his head: "There must be something wrong over there in Qing."
"Ah." The young man heard this and shook his head in annoyance: "I thought this could be used as a trump card in negotiating with you, but now it can only be used as a negligible bargaining chip."
He clapped his hands.
At this time, a younger brother next to the young man carefully handed an instrument that resembled a mobile phone and was slightly larger than a palm into the young man's hand.
The screen lights up, black and white.
The background of the screen was the hut where Qing Shisan went in the dark night. In front of the hut, a huge translucent box appeared from the ground. Qing Shisan was sitting cross-legged in the translucent "box" moodily, smoking a cigarette.
Seeing Qing Shisan's rare deflated look, Zheng Xiu felt a little want to laugh.
"Qing!"
On the contrary, Xia Sha, who was holding a compound crossbow at the side, rushed forward to snatch the instrument from the young man's hand, but was stopped by Mia: "Xia Sha, Qing will be fine. We still have a boss. I believe in the boss. He is the boss." unrivaled."
The word "invincible" came to the young man's ears. The young man turned off the screen and said with a smile: "It seems that your ability has won the trust of your subordinates. That's good. I am looking forward to our cooperation even more, with you and Qing joining us." , we will definitely be able to create a new civilization and a safe utopia. By the way, you are..."
Zheng Xiu thought for a while.
Grounding point.
"Nicholas Zhengshan."
Mia, who was pulling Xiasha, and Xiasha, who was being pulled by Mia, widened their eyes at the same time.
"Okay, Nicholas. The Hyenas welcome you."
The young man kept playing with the coins in his hands, smiling and making a "please" gesture sideways.
Zheng Xiu put his hands behind his back and stepped into the base under the watchful eyes of the predators.
There was no particular reason why he made up a random name.
If I had to give a reason, it would be because "God" cannot be called directly by his name.
After becoming a god, he will be somewhat sensitive to believers who call him by his name.
Just like he didn't know where Pei Gaoya and Gu Qiutang were now, but he was sure that they were safe and sound. Another example is that before Qing Shisan had an accident, he muttered in his heart, "Master, help me." Zheng Xiu probably knew that something had happened to Qing Shisan.
He didn't want to tell unnecessary people his real name, it was just too noisy.
"Boss! Do you really want to..."
Mia, who was surprised just now to find out that Zheng Xiu's last name was "Nicholas", was even more surprised now that Zheng Xiu actually planned to go deep into the enemy camp.
"Please, save Qing!"
Xia Sha has long lost her previous hostility towards Zheng Xiu. When Qing Shisan is in danger, she can only turn to Zheng Xiu for help now.
"You don't have to come in, I'll go in and take a look."
Zheng Xiu smiled and waved his hands to Mia and Xia Sha: "It doesn't matter, Qing Shisan will be fine, I told you." The tone in which Zheng Xiu said this suddenly reminded Mia of them rushing out of Area 32 During the siege, Zheng Xiu said "It doesn't matter." The same certainty, the same affirmation and calmness, as if describing a fact that will definitely happen in the near future. It was a sentence without modification, but it gave people an inexplicable power to soothe people's hearts.
Shasha and Mia calmed down at the same time and nodded at the same time.
…
at the same time.
Qing Shisan quietly took a few puffs of cigarette, feeling satisfied.
He stood up and looked at the translucent wall that trapped him.
I saw Qing Shisan tapping the translucent wall with his cigarette rod with a depressed expression, and strange ripples appeared in circles. He couldn't tell what material it was for a while.
"Qing, there's no need to try. This is not an 'ability', there are no limits or ways to crack it."
In front of the cabin, a thin man wearing a high-collar windbreaker set up a small bench in front of Qing Shisan. He noticed Qing Shisan's movements in the "box" and without raising his head, he concentrated on reading an old book in his hand. book of.
The cover of the book had been torn off by the ravages of time, and the thin man put it back together with tape, making the book look a bit funny. Qing Shisan glanced at the cover of the book, which read "One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes".
"What is this."
Qing Shisan asked, although when he asked this question, he did not expect the other party to answer.
The man closed the collection of bad jokes.
The collar of his windbreaker covered his nose, revealing only his deep-set black eye sockets and messy hair.
He silently closed the book and said in a low voice: "It seems you don't know about the 'artifact'."
"Sacred weapon?" Qing Shisan's expression slightly condensed. He knew that there were two types of humanoids, upper-level humanoids and lower-level humanoids. The only difference between the two is whether to awaken and control the artifact.
Of course he, a "pseudo-humanoid", couldn't master this kind of local stuff, so he simply kept his mouth shut.
"Huh? It seems you know." The man shrank his neck and hid most of his face in his collar: "It's just a pity that you are not the 'chosen one' and are not qualified to control the artifact. Then, answer me a question, If you get it right, I’ll tell you the answer.”
Qing Shisan was stunned and nodded: "You tell me."
"What do the cannibal chiefs eat?"
ah?
After thinking about it, Qing Shisan answered somewhat uncertainly: "...person?"
"Correct answer." The thin man in the windbreaker opened "One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes" again and read it with relish: "Traveler."
"Eating travelers?"
"Hahahaha——" The man suddenly laughed like crazy.
This laughter made Qing Shisan unable to stop himself.
After laughing awkwardly for a while, the man pointed at Qing Shisan, looking like he was laughing hard: "You are so funny, Qing."
"..." Qing Shisan's mouth twitched.
"The artifact, the 'Traveler' I'm talking about, is one of the ten artifacts. The binding artifact, 'The Traveler'. Give up, as long as I don't take the initiative to untie it, you can't break free of the 'Traveler'."
Qing Shisan lit another cigarette and smoked it.
The cage called "The Traveler" is filled with smoke.
A few minutes passed.
The man in the trench coat closed "One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes" again.
"Your leader should agree to join the hyena gang soon."
Qing Shisan did not answer.
"Then, for the sake of us becoming brothers soon, if you answer my next question correctly, I will tell you how to leave the Traveler."
Qing Shisan was not worried at all that something might happen to Zheng Xiu. The words of the man in the windbreaker made Qing Shisan, who was smoking, narrow his eyes slightly: "Well, you tell me."
"It's still the cannibal chief. If one day, the doctor tells him that he is sick and needs to be vegetarian, then what will he eat?"
"ah???"
This question made Qing Shisan fall into deep thought.
…
Zheng Xiu's ears twitched slightly.
He secretly sensed that Qing Shisan seemed to be in a strange "crisis".
A little tangled, but not dangerous.
Strange situation.
Not dead anyway.
Zheng Xiu didn't know that Qing Shisan was falling into the "hell of cold jokes" at the moment, and he was thinking hard about it.
There is a complex smell permeating the base, including the smell of sweat, gunpowder, rust, toast, and canned preservatives. There was a thick layer of soil accumulated in the base. When the young people took Zheng Xiu to visit the base, they stepped on the boots and the dust flew up. Under the bright spotlights, the dust particles were clearly visible.
"This base is a treasure of civilization left by the ancients. Walking in the base, you and I have to sigh. Human beings a few centuries ago once had a brilliant civilization. You see, with the help of the accumulation of water, we can easily obtain With a lot of power, we have a strong armed force, and we can easily shut out distortion."
"We can use the dam as the center and build high walls around it. We can continue to expand outward. The flag of our utopia will one day be planted in every inch of soil occupied by aberrant creatures."
"We will have inexhaustible food, we will have inexhaustible clean water, and we will be able to gather the 'new humans' who are awakening around the world. This is an evolution and an elimination. I am very happy, You are about to join us at the beginning of this evolution.”
The young man seemed certain that Zheng Xiu would join his utopia. Along the way, he eloquently explained his ideals and aspirations to Zheng Xiu.
Zheng Xiu soon saw the room Qing Shisan was talking about. There was a huge antenna device placed on the roof, and Zheng Xiu recognized it at a glance. Colorful lights flickered dimly behind the sealed window, beating rhythmically.
"What's over there?"
"Military radio device." The young man played with the complete coin along the way. With nimble fingers, the coin flipped like the wind on his fingertips. The young man did not hide Zheng Xiu's intention. He pushed up his glasses and said with a smile: "When I came here, I was also very shocked. This military machine can actually be used normally. We use it to block all signals. In this world, There is no way to detect the valley, and of course, after blocking the signal, we can't get in touch with the outside world. I use it to protect the valley."
Zheng Xiu thought thoughtfully: "In other words, after canceling the shielding, can you contact the outside world?"
"Why do you want to contact the outside world?"
The young man asked puzzledly.
"I want to find a place called 'Paradise'."
Uh-huh!
When Zheng Xiu mentioned "Paradise", the predators who were following him all looked at each other with strange expressions after taking off their masks.
After a while, bursts of laughter broke out in the base.
"Hahaha! It turns out there are still people who believe in 'Paradise'!"
"Boss, are you sure you want to recruit him? He actually believes that 'Paradise' exists!"
"This guy actually wants to find paradise!"
"These are old legends from hundreds of years ago, but some people still believe them!"
"Wait a minute, isn't he one of those stupid believers? Those believers of the Lady of the Night have no brains and have been deceived by the legends from hundreds of years ago!"
"Shh!" The young man smiled and stretched out his palm to suppress the noise around him.
He looked at Zheng Xiu:
"It turns out... haha, you are looking for paradise." Unlike others, the young man's face did not show any ridicule, but showed a bit of regret: "Actually, we don't need to look for that illusory 'paradise'. I I believe that 'Paradise' does not exist. Hundreds of years have passed and no one has ever been able to reach 'Paradise'... I think the real meaning of this legend is that Paradise is actually in the hands of each of us. Human beings, we the chosen ones, can create our own 'paradise' with our own hands. This is the true meaning of the 'Legend of Paradise'. This is also the true purpose of the Lady of the Night leaving the 'Legend of Paradise'."
"Do you also know the legend of Lady Night?" Zheng Xiu asked.
"The Lady of the Night is a god, she is a true god. The arrival of the lady ended the old gods, but she also brought us the deep night and the long dusk." The young man pointed to the dust cloud in the sky with a smile. He wondered why Zheng Xiu would ask this. Children who grew up in the wasteland, whether they were humanoid or not, all grew up listening to the legend of the Lady of the Night.
In other words, the "this era" they see is based on the legend of "The Lady of the Night ended the old gods".
The Lady of the Night ended the old gods, leaving behind a barren land where everything was ruined, aberrations spread, and new humanity was awakening. "This is a brand new era, an era in which 'new humans' are gradually opening their eyes and looking at the world."
Suddenly, the young man's face changed slightly, he closed his eyes and stopped playing with the coins.
"Did you hear that?"
Zheng Xiu suddenly turned his head and looked into the distance, at the long dusk created by dust clouds.
The other side of the mountain.
"This is 'The Sound of Evolution.'"
Zheng Xiu suddenly squatted down and covered the ground with his palms.
His calm expression was a little more solemn.
The young man didn't understand what Zheng Xiu meant when he suddenly squatted down.
When Zheng Xiu stood up again, he shook his head and said: "It was quite pleasant chatting with you, but unfortunately, it seems that I can't stay here for a long time."
The elegant smile on the young man's face suddenly solidified: "What do you mean?"
"This is not a paradise, and it is about to 'fall'. I don't know if what you hear is the sound of evolution, but because you talk so much, I will give you a little advice."
Zheng Xiu raised his index finger seriously: "A group of rats are coming."
"Rat?" The young man laughed dumbly. The coin spinning between his fingers flickered and disappeared. He raised his hand and threw the coin high. The thrown coin rotated gracefully in mid-air. After reaching the highest point, it then rotated downwards in a free fall.
The young man put away his smile, and as the coin fell, he asked word by word: "Are you rejecting me?"
"Yeah." Zheng Xiu nodded and pointed to the military device with an antenna: "Can I borrow that thing?"
Snap.
Snap.
"that's too regretful."
The coins spinning and falling in the air suddenly burst into a burst of dazzling light.
Snap!
"Run! The boss is about to activate his 'power'!"
The marauders dispersed.
Snap!
A dazzling blue electric light shot out from the coin, condensed into a beam in an instant, and penetrated Zheng Xiu's chest.
