Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 377 - 14: Subway Shelter

Chapter 377: Chapter 14: Subway Shelter

"In the Wasteland, idiots die."

That is the brutal law of the Wasteland World that even children know well, because there’s a saying all Wasteland residents are familiar with.

"Even a baby would stab your heart skillfully with a dinner knife behind your back, and then steal every bottle cap from you."

Old Pavel and the other two couldn’t figure out Tang Zheng’s intention, so they chose to cooperate. After all, considering the other party’s crazy consumption of supplies, they simply don’t care about fifty bullets."

"What year is it now?" Tang Zheng lifted his fingers, staring at their gaze, and said, "Don’t try to fool me."

"It’s 2153 AD, I think. I’m not sure. Anyway, nearly a hundred years have passed since the nuclear bombs destroyed the world." In Old Pavel’s daily struggle for life, he doesn’t have time to keep track of such trivial and useless information.

"Why don’t some people wear radiation suits? Are they poor? Or don’t they need it?" Tang Zheng wasn’t afraid to show his ignorance. If they became greedy, he would just kill them. As for this era, it disappointed him. A hundred years after the nuclear winter, he guessed the monsters must have mutated several generations.

"They’re fourth-generation mutants who are naturally immune to radiation. We middle-aged people have too few resistant cells in our blood, so we have to wear protection." Old Pavel pointed to his mask, spoke helplessly, "Actually, young people can suffer mild radiation damage, but they are poor and helpless."

Tang Zheng took out the Geiger counter and checked. The reading was only slightly higher than the safe standard, which means there was a radiation source near the teleportation point.

"You just arrived at the Subway gathering place. The Iron Fist Council is what you should be most wary of." Sholokhov also wanted to show off a bit. After demonstrating a friendly attitude, he asked, "Can I pick up these bullet heads?"

Tang Zheng nodded, indicating it was okay, then he immediately asked, "Are they the local evil power?"

"On the contrary, they maintain local order, but their law enforcement is very violent." Little Pavel’s face was full of scorn and indignation. "Right, there are also high taxes."

"If you want to rest here, it’s best to find a guide. This place is a haven for robbers, swindlers, drug dealers, petty thieves, and slave traders." old Pavel suddenly showed a sly smile, pushing his services forcefully, "Also, Moscow’s finest prostitutes are in our No. 12 gathering place. If you need, I can take you. With Old Pavel’s face, you can get 15% off."

"Let’s go. Let’s join my companions. I guess those two unlucky ghosts are already corpses." When Tang Zheng said this, he tossed the drum magazine and watched their expressions. If these guys showed any resentment, he would kill them immediately.

Old Pavel jumped out and grabbed the drum magazine without hesitation. What did the lives and deaths of others have to do with him?

"Don’t you want these bullet cases?" Little Pavel licked his lips. These people were really extravagant. They didn’t even bother to pick up bullet cases.

"As you wish." Tang Zheng walked forward nonchalantly, smiling, "What’s the price to hire a guide here?"

"One drum magazine, no, one rifle." Old Pavel corrected himself, staring at the AK74 on Tang Zheng’s chest, swallowing his saliva. He thought if he could get his hands on it, it would be better than those top-grade prostitutes who charge ten bottle caps.

"How much stuff can a bottle cap buy?" Tang Zheng glanced at Little Pavel who ran past him and said, "Don’t take me for a fool."

If it wasn’t for Trojan saying that stuff on survivors couldn’t be exchanged for bottle caps, Tang Zheng would certainly be very frugal.

"A bottle cap can buy ten bullets, or a pound of black bread, 300ML of clear water, or 30ml of pure vodka." Old Pavel spoke, swallowing his saliva as he mentioned food. His stomach uncontrollably grumbled for food. Sholokhov couldn’t help himself either, but their faces had already been hardened. In the Wasteland World, people with face couldn’t survive.

"Only buy such a little stuff?" Tang Zheng still didn’t have a clear picture of the prices.

"A little? If you ration it, it’s enough to live for three days. Do you know? Most of people in the gathering place only own ten or so bottle caps. More often they barter with bullets." Little Pavel collected the bullet cases at the fastest speed and ran over, not panting at all, indicating he was in good shape. Hearing Tang Zheng’s words, he thought the guy was unreliable. Looking at his healthy complexion, he suddenly asked, "You’ve never been hungry, right?"

"Of course." Tang Zheng nodded subconsciously, which immediately drew gasps from Old Pavel and the others. They looked at him with faces full of envy, jealousy, and hatred.

"If you’re not short on money, one bottle cap can get you to play a group*P with some cheap prostitutes in the East of the gathering place. If you like virgin chicks, just add one more cap." Little Pavel was obviously very familiar with this, and he smiled and solicited customers, "If you mention my name, Little Pavel, you can get 10% off."

"Your old man’s name is worth 15% off though." Tang Zheng laughed out loud. Listening to the names of the two, they should be named after the axe.

"You little rascal, watch your tongue." Old Pavel faked anger and slapped the back of his son’s head, all to please the customer.

"No wonder it takes two years to accumulate, one nuclear bottle cap is equivalent to ten dollars. Wait, you can’t even play mass *P for ten dollars, not to mention underage prostitutes." Tang Zheng could already foresee the difficulty of this task; he tapped on his gun with the index finger of his right hand, mimicking Morse code, but the three wasteland residents didn’t react at all.

"Another inconspicuous means of communication added, but their cultural knowledge seems to have developed a gap." Tang Zheng immediately laughed at himself, realising that in a life consumed by the struggle for food each day, who would have time to learn? Even if they did learn, it would only be practical methods to fill their bellies as quickly as possible.

Tang Zheng was right; most wasteland residents had already learned to kill by the time they were eight years old, and they could process corpses without even blinking an eye. The harsh environment made them grow up quickly, and those who lived until fifty were indeed blessed by great luck.

"Uncle, two assailants just came, but unfortunately we didn’t catch them." Lu Fan expressed disappointment, his clear, black and white eyes looking at the three wasteland residents behind him. "They’re very familiar with the terrain around here, we didn’t pursue them for fear of stepping into the traps."

Old Pavel and his companions were glad that their comrades had dodged a bullet, but soon became depressed once more. Little Pavel even bluntly advised them, "The bullets and hand grenades you’ve used could’ve bought two months’ worth of food. Please be more sparing next time."

"Hah, it’s that valuable?" Lu Fan’s face immediately turned bitter, "Does that mean we need to save up tens of thousands of bottle caps for several years?"

"Apart from the leaders of the Iron Fist Council, the Freedom Group, the Wanderer’s Legion, and the upper-class people in the settlement, who can stuff a hundred bottle caps in their pockets? They’re practically tycoons." Little Pavel mocked Little Lolita’s lack of self-awareness, but his gaze was lingering on the female model; he had never seen a woman with such good skin before.

Smack! Old Pavel slapped him and quickly apologized to everyone.

"Let’s get to the settlement quickly. If we run into the Iron Fist Council’s patrol, they will levy heavy taxes on you in various names." Sholokhov scanned the surroundings, warning them, "And be aware of other rogue groups, they sometimes moonlight as slave traders."

Upon hearing this term, the female models felt a chill run down their spine. They certainly didn’t want to be toyed around like dogs.

"Slave traders? It would be perfect if they come; I’ve been worrying about where to earn some bottle caps." Lu Fan and his hand grenade, looking depressed as he pointed everyone in the right direction, casually asked, "Is there any other way to earn bottle caps?"

"Being a slave trader, robbery and theft are the riskiest but also the fastest way to earn money. Then there’s scavenging, hunting, drugs, cars, firearms, bullets, bread – all hot commodities in the settlement." Old Pavel blurted out these illegal activities without realising them, "And if you can find an armory or take over an oil refinery, that’d make money too."

"Wait, if you’re saying the Iron Fist Council has such a big influence, then even if we enter the settlement we will be betrayed and they’ll come knocking at our door, right?" Tang Zheng paused, chuckling, "Maybe you guys would even be the first ones to blow the whistle."

"Hahaha, how is that possible?" Old Pavel stuttered, clearly believing this to be a likely outcome.

"Uncle, I think looting the Steel Council is a reasonable move; at least twenty thousand bottle caps will be secured." Lu Fan calculated quickly, "This campaign should be quite worthwhile."

"Don’t be impulsive. The Steel Council controls half of the settlements in Russia and they have at least thirty thousand well-equipped soldiers under their control. Plus, countless peripheral members." Old Pavel was startled by Little Lolita’s crazy idea and immediately intervened, "Their predecessors were once the military army, but after a hundred years, their military discipline is rotten to the core. If the wasteland residents resist, they are met with brutal suppression. Besides, just our number 12 settlement alone has thousands of militants. You guys are so few, not even an afterthought for them."

"How do they sustain such a huge army? By exploitation?" Lu Fan glared at him, "Aren’t you guys just too naive?"

"They control all the resources that one needs to survive; what can we do about that? Besides, they have the ability to manufacture weapons, even reclaimed an oil refinery, and have their own cars and tanks. They can easily crush us civilians." Commented the two middle-aged men and Little Pavel, who had clearly suffered his fair share.

"Huh, how can I understand what they’re saying? It’s Russian, isn’t it?" Xu Biyun moved closer to Lu Fan and tried to communicate something to Little Pavel; there were no issues.

"It must be Trojan’s inclusion, how else can we survive for the next two years if communication is a problem?" Pang Meiqin was delighted as she realized they can master another foreign language without spending points.

"What’s the name of that machine gun?" Little Pavel stared at the Howling Reaper Qin Yan held in her hands. "How many bottle caps did it cost?"

"That’s the German Army’s MG3, known as the cloth shredder." Lu Fan gave him a surprised glance, and asked, "Ever heard of Stalin?"

"What is that? A medicinal drug? The only one I know is penicillin," Little Pavel responded earnestly. "Even obsolete drugs are seldom traded in settlements, and they can only be bought in the black market at high prices."

Just as Lu Fan was about to speak, a troop of slightly disciplined soldiers appeared in their line of sight, loudly warning them to halt and prepare for inspection.

.....

PS, I got the Chapter numbers wrong again in Chapter 13, but the content is correct.

Sorry, it’s a typing error! (To be continued. If you like this book, you’re welcome to recommend it and buy monthly passes on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)