Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 376 - 30 - The Poor Wasteland Resident and the Generous Employer

Chapter 376: Chapter 30 - The Poor Wasteland Resident and the Generous Employer

"The black metal texture of that machine gun is indeed captivating, but what I want more is a woman. Look at their skin, so fair and smooth ... it must feel very comfortable to have them under you." A young man with a full face of a scruffy beard, too penniless to afford a gas mask, exposed his head to the air. But he was a mutant, no longer afraid of radiation damage.

This guy is tall and sturdy, his bone joints abnormally large. He holds a dilapidated AK47, which he loved dearly, continuously absentmindedly polishing the barrel with his sleeve, obviously a habit developed over years.

"Where are these wanderers from? Are they all mad? They dare travel without wearing protective clothing, and those fantastic gear..." Another middle-aged man, his gas mask blanketed in dust and grime, turned black, murmured endlessly about various suspicions. However, no one paid any attention to him - they had grown accustomed to his cautious nature.

"Enough, Sholokhov, what I care more about is the amount of food they carry in their backpacks. I hope it’s not frozen black bread. Also, lend me your scope. This cheap telescope isn’t enough." Seeing a few snowflakes land on his damaged telescope, Grigory hurriedly wiped them away, terrified of getting it wet. He cherished the item greatly.

Little Pavel and Pavel both hushed him. After the nuclear war, even the smallest supplies are extremely precious - a piece of bread the size of a fingernail is worth fighting to the death over.

"Hurry, keep up. It’s time to make a move. If Iron Fist’s patrol car sees them, we won’t get anything." Old Pavel got up, clutching his AK74 covered in tape, and carefully started to crawl forward. Sholokhov also closed his mouth. They were all experienced wasteland adventurers and understood these basics.

Tang Zheng tucked himself into the third floor of an abandoned building, only exposing his 10x telescope through the window to observe the pursuers. However, after three minutes, he had already seen the figures of five people.

"Could their gear be any shittier? Four broken guns, and one of them even uses a homemade crossbow." Tang Zheng grumbled, almost in tears. All of them were wrapped in ragged coats or padded jackets, entirely shrouded in darkness. Darting around, their faces had long lost any discernable features.

"It really is a wasteland world." The thought of living in this world for two years made Tang Zheng shudder. Not to mention the problem with bathing, luckily he brought toilet paper, otherwise, he would’ve been in misery.

The northern outskirts of this city had been bombed by nuclear weapons, so only a small part of the buildings remained intact, but after over a hundred years of abandonment, they were only empty shells. A thick layer of dust covered the ground, with only a few birds and animals occasionally appearing in the ghostly city. Besides some resilient weeds, no other green plant could be seen. The whole scene was a desolate, gray expanse.

"It’s too desolate." This environment could produce a sense of oppression over time, coupled with the fact that one could only hear their own breathing. Even Tang Zheng felt a certain sense of unease and loneliness.

The five wasteland dwellers carefully passed the building where Tang Zheng was hiding. Apart from Pavel and Little Pavel, the three adults were very cautious, stopping to survey the buildings around them since this was where Tang Zheng had disappeared.

Tang Zheng quickly lowered himself, slowly pulled the bolt, knowing he couldn’t hide his footsteps and combat could occur at any moment. He then began to hesitate. He definitely had to keep one captive for intel, but what about the others? Kill them all?

"Wonder what their relationship is like? It would be great if the matter could be resolved with supplies." Before understanding the general information about the city, Tang Zheng decided to come off as more benevolent initially.

There was no doubt that they were hostile; Tang Zheng could tell from their greedy eyes. However, after a glance at Tang Zheng’s hiding spot, the five individuals didn’t bother with him and continued to chase after Qin Yan’s group. In their view, one person as bait was too few; they had to make the most of their limited bullets to gain the most prey.

Tang Zheng shrugged his shoulders and followed along.

The five adventurers were very familiar with the area. A minute later, Grigory and Pavel left the group to take a detour, presumably to ambush Qin Yan’s group.

"Excellent opportunity." Tang Zheng waited another minute to make sure they had moved far enough away. He hid behind an old rusted car and began to shoot at the remaining three, Old Pavel and his two companions.

The crisp sound of gunfire disturbed the silent city. Two puffs, and bullets pierced the snow next to Sholokhov’s feet.

Because ammunition was rare, the three of them didn’t strike back; instead, they immediately looked for cover. They didn’t anticipate that Tang Zheng, who was alone, would dare to attack.

"One of you come out to talk, or the next shot will be a headshot." Tang Zheng fired two short shots towards the car where Little Pavel was hiding.

"You maniac, do bullets grow on trees? It’s such a waste." Little Pavel cursed. He had never seen anyone squander things like this in his life.

"Russian?" Tang Zheng laughed; it appeared these guys were impoverished, which meant the negotiations could likely be successful.

"I will give you thirty bullets. Give me all the information you have about this city; otherwise, you all die." Tang Zheng shouted, not worrying about revealing his location.

"At least fifty." Little Pavel couldn’t hold himself back and blurted out,earning a fierce glare from his father.

"Impossible, it needs to be a rifle at least." Old Pavel bargained. However, as soon as the words left his mouth, the metal helmet on his head was riddled with bullet holes.

"Forty, and you better make up your minds, or those two poor souls will surely die. My companions aren’t as merciful as I am." Tang Zheng looked unflustered as he quickly changed his spot to avoid a potential sniper shot.

"The opponent is experienced, sniping is impossible." Sholokhov put down his SVD, his face gloomy. "They are tough opponents."

"Dad, what should we do? Forty bullets aren’t few." Little Pavel’s voice had scarcely fallen when a barrage of gunshots rang out. He almost jumped in fright and cried out in annoyance, "You spendthrifts, save some bullets for me!"

In response, a volley of bullets flew by. Even Old Pavel and Sholokhov felt their hearts wrench at the lost bullets. They could’ve traded those bullets for two days’ worth of food.

Having thoroughly crushed their morale, Tang Zheng lazily said, "I also need a guide. If you do well, there will be extra rewards."

Tang Zheng was loaded with firearms. In addition to his Thunderstorm rifle and Gauss sniper rifle, he had three C-Level guns, an undamaged AK74 and an undamaged M4A1, on top of two regular M4A1s, an AN94, two M1911A1 handguns, a six-barreled machine gun, and an M249. All of them were seized. As for the nearly three hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, hand grenades and AT4s, it goes without saying Tang Zheng was a walking armory.

Tang Zheng obtained many Thunderstorm rifles in just two team battles, even Pang Meiqin and Bai Guo got one each. Therefore, he wasn’t interested in ordinary firearms anymore, not even undamaged ones. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gifted the Howling Reaper to Miranda as a favor.

The gunfire on the front street ceased, replaced by the sporadic sound of hand grenade explosions. It was evident that Little Lu Fan was on his killing spree again. If it were Pang Meiqin, she would never waste a single bullet unnecessarily. The Thunderstorm rifle she carried was just for show. She would never fire a shot unless push came to shove.

Old Pavel and his companions’ faces paled, they hesitated.

"Dad, don’t hesitate. The grenades they’re throwing would be enough for us to buy food for a month. Besides, we’re so poor, even if we were robbed, they would probably think it’s filth." Little Pavel was not belittling himself, he was stating the facts. Listening to the blasts of the grenades, he was so envious his eyes turned green, "We can’t let a big spender like this slip away."

"I’ll count to three, if there’s no answer, the negotiation ends and you can await your death." Tang Zheng knew he needed to pressure these people, so he shortened the time between counts.

"Wait, I agree." Old Pavel quickly accepted. He was also pained at the waste of grenades. He shouted, "Tell your companions not to throw any more grenades, give them to us, five will do."

"Put down the gun, come out with your hands on your head, don’t worry, I won’t be carrying a gun either." Tang Zheng hoped to keep his protective clothing a secret, so he gave them the impression that he was afraid of gunfire too.

"Alright." Old Pavel did not hesitate, hung his gun on his chest , and slowly came out.

"Very good." Seeing all three of them leave their hiding spot, Tang Zheng also walked into the main street and asked, "Now, can you tell me who you are?"

"We are residents of this city, we all live in the subway gathering area. You wanderers are going there to resupply too, right? I can lead the way." Old Pavel looked Tang Zheng up and down and asked, "Eastern people, which gathering area do you come from?"

"Please note, you don’t have the right to ask." Tang Zheng warned with a stern face, "Which city is this? How many gathering areas are there?"

"Moscow, there are seven as far as I know, but I’ve only been to two of them." Old Pavel was cooperative, but there was a cunning gleam in his eyes that was typical of the wasteland people. "Can you pay the first ten bullets in advance?"

"Sure." Tang Zheng reached into his backpack from behind and pulled out a drum magazine, giving it a shake, "7.62mm bullets, if your answers are satisfactory, this hundred-round drum is yours."

"What do you want to ask?" Little Pavel’s eyes were green with envy staring at the drum magazine in his hand. His gaze soon slid to the backpack behind him and conjectured what was inside. Then he looked at Tang Zheng’s brand-new AK74 on his chest, seemingly smelling the appetizing scent of gun oil, hence hesitating.

Little Pavel began to consider whether he could take him down in a melee, since Tang Zheng was wearing triple protection outfits, and it was impossible to judge his strength based on his physique.

"Don’t be impulsive, this young man sounds very confident. He dare to come over, which shows he’s not afraid of us at all." Sholokhov’s sight was sharp, he looked into Tang Zheng’s eyes through his gas mask. He’s completely fearless, and regards them as ants.