Damn it! Let’s smash the darkness together!
Chapter 117 - 88: Returning home with youth as a companion, ecstatic even when facing death! (1/3, please subscribe)

Chapter 117: Chapter 88: Returning home with youth as a companion, ecstatic even when facing death! (1/3, please subscribe)

"No groups want me for dungeons, and asking questions gets me blocked. Seriously, this upgrade network is super unfriendly to newbs."

"Just forget about riding on other’s coattails."

"Well then, since it’s come to this, I’ll just have to become the thickest leg myself."

Xu Shu concentrated all his thoughts and stabbed forward into the Tai Chu Scroll, blowing up a fog of mystery amidst chaos, wherein lights and shadows appeared:

"[Checking current status...]"

"[Check complete.]"

"[Your current situation is dire. You are trapped in a shelter’s basement without water or food. With such scarcity, even a legendary alien warrior of your level, rank 12 of the first rank, will be trapped alive here within a week.]"

"?"

What the heck?

Where am I trapped?

"[You don’t believe it, you walk up the stairs, you find the exit’s iron door firmly sealed.]"

"[What should you do? Perhaps you could try yelling for help, you shout: ...]"

"["Who the hell fixed this door properly?"]"

"[You did the repairs yesterday.]"

"["Oh, which idiot locked the door?" You kick the iron door with a mighty force, completely blowing it off its hinges.]"

"[With a few snaps, there was a group outside, heading to the hall to get breakfast, stunned as they watched you. Among them, two girls got hit by your kicked door, dead, with blood and flesh everywhere, a total mess.]"

"[Horror like this... Even an unintentional act by a Transcendent could lead to the death of ordinary people. Be more careful next time!]"

"["Oh no, please, spare us~~" They were so frightened that they immediately knelt and burst into tears.]"

"["Who locked the door?" you asked them with a grim expression.]"

"["We don’t know who... Sir, we didn’t know you were down there~" Everyone was extremely frightened.]"

"[You couldn’t tell if they did it on purpose or by accident, since you hadn’t told anyone you were sleeping inside last night — you mostly assumed it was an accident, because if someone really wanted to harm you, they wouldn’t just lock a door.]"

"["Alright, I’ll be more careful next time I act. For now, let’s eat breakfast," you casually made the sign of the cross over your chest.]"

"[Damn, how would they know if there would even be a next time?]"

"[Now their admiration and reverence for you have soured; they think you’re a terrifying tyrant.]"

"[And you, who crushed two lovely girls in their prime, do you have no sense of guilt? You even dared to smile.]"

"[Damn it! That’s just terrible! Although it’s a journey, couldn’t you be a bit restrained? Are you seriously treating the journey like an 18+ game? You can’t damn do that!]"

"[After breakfast, you repeatedly confirmed that the quicksand area had completely disappeared.]"

"[You had Gu Pan continue to drive, and with the trembling citizens’ send-off, you left the shelter.]"

"[This time, your destination for Gu Pan is not another shelter, but to head east. You’ve made up your mind to return to the safe zone today no matter what.]"

"[Using the shelter as a reference, your current coordinates are (-15, 14). You embark on your way home.]"

"[Tough and tiring is the mortal journey, clarity returns as we find the path, you drove for six full hours, then, towering into the clouds, aiming sky-high, entering your line of sight was the "dumb" character-shaped Star Tower.] (Note 1)"

"[That’s the Star Tower! Next stop: D8B3 safe zone. You’re nearly there.]"

"..."

Damn "dumb" character-shaped Star Tower.

Xu Shu nearly burst out laughing.

However, despite encountering no further dangers along the way, he remained vigilant.

Everywhere was death, everywhere monsters, the Wasteland was too dangerous.

"[You rolled down your window, enjoying the fresh breeze and had Gu Pan continue imparting general knowledge orally, including the process of signing up for school.]"

"[You were fully prepared; you were thinking of your family, eager to return home.]"

"[You saw a huge city protected by towering walls hundreds of meters high.]"

"[You’re almost back to your homeland!]"

On the screen, a bird’s-eye view of a huge Wasteland city appeared.

Around the city was a "⊙", and below it a "田" character, with ⊙ atop the fields.

The city was almost entirely laid out in multiple "田" character segments.

Centered around the Star Tower, it radiated outward, intersecting in a radius of ten kilometers, thereby forming a coordinate system.

In reality—not just in layout and coordinates was it "田."

The city was literally full of farmlands.

Farmland took up more than half the area of the whole safe zone, clustered inside ⊙, with agriculture, husbandry, and breeding industries abounding.

The electrical grid was a complex underground network like interlocked wolf teeth, and ghost trains loaded with harvest roared across the fields, while small towns were scattered everywhere with neatly arranged industrial and residential areas.

Tiny people, appearing smaller than ants, bustled in and out, driving small vehicles laden with goods, busily working. There were also gargantuan machines, as large as grasshoppers, aiding in the harvest.

What a modern pastoral scene!

At the heart of it all, in the core area surrounding the Star Tower, stood a modern urban area with skyscrapers towering high. The Supervision Bureau had demarcated a large circular area beneath the Star Tower as its base.

The outer areas near the fields were poorer, while the inner circle was wealthier, with various hospitals, schools, and commercial districts standing tall.

From the outer to the inner circle, it was like riding a patrol tank on the city walls, traveling from the apocalyptic present back to eighteen years ago.

From small towns to metropolises and then to the miraculous Star Tower, it was a progressive journey.

Like a living fossil, it spanned the river of time, resurrecting humanity’s once magnificent glory.

The central Star Tower was a waterway hub, the transportation lifeline.

This was a safety zone in post-apocalyptic times.

Its safety lay not just in military strength but also in its ability to produce food—each region’s safety zone was the largest producer of food supplies, supporting the people scattered across the star-spangled wasteland.

Dynamic: D8B3 safety zone.Gif

"You continue your journey, oh no!"

"?" Xu Shu flinched.

Enemies approaching?

Every "oh no" signaled trouble; this Tai Chu Scroll really was peculiar, evolving its narrative with "oh nos."

"Oh no, unexpectedly, this time you had a smooth journey without any attacks, and you successfully returned to a city gate entrance in the northwest of the safety zone."

"You breathed a sigh of relief, spotting sporadic human settlements near the city gate, with convoys occasionally departing from there."

"Some were soldiers patrolling the Wasteland daily, others were Scavengers like you once, scavenging to make a fortune."

"Today, you, Scavenger Xu Shu, the great master of the Tai Chu Scroll, have scavenged successfully, and you return still as a youth!"

"Total scavenging duration: 7 days, indeed a perfect number."

"You can choose to camp at the external refugee camp, bustling with traders, a crowded temporary market, and perhaps even a black market for underground trades—are you not going in to have a look?"

"Your choice: ?"

"You are eager to return home to see your family; a day apart felt like years, and now it’s been 21 years."

"Let’s go, first to your house for money," you tell your driver, Gu Pan.

After driving for over six hours, Gu Pan was very tired. Showing no sympathy, she struggled to bring you into the safety zone, and after a simple search by the "Safe Zone Entry and Exit Management Committee" staff, you, both legal citizens with ID documents, were allowed through.

You crossed the city wall and entered the safety zone, finally returning to the place you had lived for many years.

Not far away, about twenty meters on the roadside, stalls were selling small, greenish-yellow oranges, a common fruit this season and quite cheap. Were you...

Indeed, you planned to buy some oranges for your family and approached a slightly cute, young girl selling them.

"Beautiful, how much for a kilogram of oranges?" you asked.

She looked at you, wiping sweat off her forehead, and sweetly replied, "Ten yuan per kilogram, little brother."

"That’s too expensive, you—"

You died, and this journey ended, settling now...

"Evaluation: Youth makes good company on the return home; a magical day indeed, your eagerness to return made you die very quickly, your penchant for seeking death is unparalleled."

"You received an item: Self-Cutting Meridians (Epic)"

"Self-Cutting Meridians (Epic): A drink that looks like purified water but is golden and epic. If you actively use it, you will die, and not even a deity can save you, truly."

"Today’s number of openings: 2/3"

...

In a shelter on the Wasteland, Xu Shu opened his eyes, his expression solemn.

How did I die? It felt like being hit by a Floating Cannon; I didn’t feel a thing and was instantly gone?

Was that orange-selling girl targeting me?

This reward, without doing much, granted me the Epic item "Self-Cutting Meridians"!

So, was that orange-selling girl an Epic, no, a Legendary Transcendent?

What rank is she? How could she instantly kill me?

Questions surged in his mind, leaving Xu Shu truly puzzled.

Yet, he didn’t even know her.

Damn it, without any grievances, why?

Is it legal to kill people in the city?

Can I even return home now?