Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 383 - 19 - Entering with a High Profile

Chapter 383: Chapter 19 - Entering with a High Profile

"Another patrol unit from the Steel Council?" Gao Yu muttered while peering forward on tiptoe.

The faces of the newbies immediately grew worried and unconsciously began to last fade back into the shadows, not wanting to be seen. Among them, Chu Baichuan, blessed with the most rebellious spirit, had already tied his watermelon knife to his waist and was secretly cocking the bolt of his AKM in preparation.

"Who are these people?" Lu Fan raised his hand, shining the bright beam of his LED flashlight directly onto the faces of the men without any concern for their identity.

Blinded by sudden light, these men obstructed their faces with their hands, swearing loudly. The two of them armed drew back the bolts of their guns with loud gestures, hoping to intimidate this group of drifters.

"Fanfan, don’t make trouble." Zhang Bingcheng was startled, he didn’t want to get shot due to the chaos.

"You’re the one making trouble. These guys are just a bunch of petty vagrants. Why fear them!" Lu Fan grabbed a hand grenade and made a move as if to throw it.

"If these were soldiers from the Steel Council, would Old Pavel dare to put on such a combative front?" Tang Zheng coldly huffed, dissatisfied with Zhang Bingcheng’s cowardly attitude.

The newbies were reassured, but also felt foolish for missing such an obvious detail.

"Leader, they are blocking our path only to demand toll. Give them a few bottle caps, these men do not have the guts to leave the compound to scavenge, there’s no need to dirty your hands over them." Old Pavel smiled obsequiously, fixed a fierce glare at Toliaev, since Pavel wasn’t frightened of the Steel Council, he certainly wasn’t afraid of these small fries.

"Old Pavel, just because you know my dad, it doesn’t mean you can speak like this. Be careful, I might turn on you!" Threatened Toliaev, his face a mix of anger and embarrassment. The young men behind him started cursing loudly as well.

In the settlement, not everybody has the courage to risk their lives like Little Pavel. Among the younger generation, many are timid, they would only go as far as to kill a few radiation rats in the sewer pipes. Most of the time they rampage in the second layer, pulling off some lying, deceiving, kidnapping, thieving, and robbing. After all, every fifteen or so days, traders and wanderers from other settlements will come by.

"Toliaev, who do you think you’re cursing at?" Little Pavel, while afraid of the Steel Council, was not afraid of them. He drew the revolver at his waist and pointed it at them.

"Oh, you’ve replaced birdshot with cannonballs, no wonder you’re so assertive," Said Toliaev sarcastically. After glancing at Tang Zheng and their equipment, he swallowed his saliva and his attitude subdued quite a bit.

"Let’s go!" Tang Zheng didn’t want to waste any more time on them, he urged Old Pavel to get a move on. If it weren’t for Alice’s apron not being able to be exposed, he wouldn’t mind giving them a few radiation rat corpses.

"Dream on!" A young boy, confident since he was armed, blocked Tang Zheng’s path, pointing his muzzle at Tang Zheng’s waist. He extended his hand to try to grab Tang Zheng’s rifle.

Tang Zheng knocked the muzzle away with one hand, while the other quickly grabbed the boy by the hair and gave it a fierce tug downwards. The poor soul instantly lost his balance, as Tang Zheng swiftly kneed him in the face.

With a thud, the boy immediately slumped to the ground without even twitching, passed out, with blood and saliva spilling from his swollen lips.

Toliaev and his gang of ten or so were startled, but before they could react, a few dark gaping new muzzles were already pointed at them.

These men were just a band of ruffians, they might be good at brawling or stabbing people in the back, but when facing a real threat to their lives, the first response was to surrender.

Once someone started throwing away the rusty machetes and iron pipes in their hands, the others also gave up resistance. Now at the worst, they would just undergo a beating but if they were stubborn, they might actually get killed.

"All of you, hands on your head and face the wall." Lu Fan went over, fired a shot with his revolver and called out to Little Pavel, "Pat them down, I only want the bottle caps."

This blatant act of robbery left the newbies dumbfounded. Surprisingly, the residents of the wasteland did not show any surprise at all. Even Toliaev only muttered a curse with an acrimonious face.

"They’re poorer than I am, be thankful if you can find a few bullets." Little Pavel delivered a kick to Toliaev’s butt, he didn’t even bother to do the patting down himself, and yelled, "Take off all your clothes!"

About ten people grumbled and cursed at Little Pavel, but quickly followed suit. They were used to the cold anyway, and besides their ragged clothes they had nothing else to their names.

"Forget it, all of you scram." Tang Zheng noticed that Little Pavel did not collect their guns, clearly, he didn’t want to push things too far and decided to let them go.

After a brief interlude, Tang Zheng and his group finally entered the first level of Compound 12. This used to be the Most Metro, but after more than a century, the space inside has been dug out to be even more expansive, and the railway tracks were nowhere to be seen, the Steel Council presumably melted them down to make bullets.

"This place is even worse than slums." The sight made the female models gasp in surprise. Approximately five or six thousand people lived here, but less than one percent of them had tents to shield their bodies. They curled up, huddled in a corner with lifeless eyes, silently awaiting death.

As Tang Zheng and the others passed by, only some children extended their hands, looking at them with hopeful eyes, begging for food. Most people didn’t even bother to waste the energy to stretch out their hands, because they knew they would not get anything.

"Can’t believe they don’t even make a fire, how lazy are these people? No food is understandable, but there’s plenty of wood outside." A female model, covering her nose, made a snide remark.

"Look at them, do you think they have the energy? Probably would drop dead before getting out of the subway." Lu Fan glanced at them disdainfully. He couldn’t believe these women had the gall to criticize others. He suspected they would become regulars here in a week.

After being rebuked, the female model did not dare to retort. She didn’t want to be kicked out of the team.

"The air here is too terrible." Even with a triple defense mask on, Pang Meiqin could still smell the foulness in the air. "Could there be a plague?"

"That’s why you should pray not to get sick. Otherwise, tough it out. Remember, one pill of cold medicine could drive you to bankruptcy." Old Pavel, walking quickly, shooed away the begging children nearby and explained, "These are all orphans who’ve lost their parents or were abandoned. The Council expelled them from the second floor for causing trouble."

"Brief us on the terrain." Tang Zheng did not allow his sympathy to overflow. Before he had security, he had too many other things to worry about.

"There are four passages, each leading to the second floor from the east, south, west, and north. They’re easy to recognize, no need to remember them." Old Pavel led them through the eastern sector, down a concrete road wide enough for three tanks to run parallel. About twenty meters ahead, they could see the street view of the second floor,

There were stone slab streets running crisscrossed, and the buildings on both sides weren’t built with bricks, but dug directly from the soil into cave dwellings. Then a layer of waterproof construction material was applied on the outside, which made it look crude. But compared to the upper floor, this was heaven on earth.

"The radiation level here is below safety values, you don’t need to wear your triple-protection suits." Sholokhov had just finished speaking when he found the young leader was already looking at a Geiger counter.

Prostitutes standing outside and soliciting customers greeted Tang Zheng and his group enthusiastically, blowing kisses. They were scantily clad, with cloth strips barely covering the vital parts of their bodies. Some even pulled down their bras to give people a preview.

"Hey, only four black loaves to enjoy the best prostitute on the second floor!" A woman closest to Tang Zheng and others came over, intentionally swaying her body to attract attention.

Among the men, except for Tang Zheng, everyone’s gaze had shifted. The urban management officer and the peddler had expressions of having hit the jackpot, their eyes fixated on the prostitute’s chest.

"Bro, they are so big!" An Ning sucked his snot back in, surreptitiously caught a glance at the prostitute’s chest, and shared his discovery with An Ping.

"How about it, young man, are you interested?" The prostitute had a sharp eye and recognized at first glance that the one leading the way, Tang Zheng, was the leader. He was well-prepared but showed no interest in her. The clever prostitute immediately switched targets and approached the An brothers.

Thanks to the gift from Trojan, survivors had all learned Russian, so they understood what she was saying.

"Just four black loaves, two bullets will also work." The prostitute didn’t beat around the bush, squatted down, gave a kiss to An Ning first, and then held onto him.

"Brother." Caught off guard, An Ning lost his footing. He didn’t know what to do and turned to his brother for help.

The urban management officer and the peddler envied him. The Russian lady might be somewhat dark, dirty, and ordinary-looking, but she was a bona fide foreign woman. The two men were tempted, reached into their pockets, touched the magazines, and instantly felt like tycoons.

"Actually, this Wasteland World isn’t that bad." The urban management officer and the peddler exchanged a glance and reached an unspoken agreement.

"Get lost." Seeing the prostitute harass An Ning, Sholokhov stepped forward, swinging the butt of his SVD rifle violently at her shoulder.

"If you want to relieve some stress, it’s better to find a familiar prostitute. Otherwise, be careful she might cut your throat when you’re asleep." Old Pavel, looking at the urban management officer and the peddler with a grin, said, "Otherwise, the magazines the LEADER gave you will become somebody else’s spoils of war."

"Two hundred meters east from here, there’s a bar called ’Black Iron’. I know the strippers there. They’re pretty, have good skin, and even offer a 10% discount." Old Pavel transformed into a pimp and started soliciting business.

The urban management officer and the peddler had never received such treatment in reality before, their heads immediately in the clouds. They felt like lords, snorted in acknowledgment of understanding.

"Forget it, you’ve ruined her face, how’s she supposed to work?" Tang Zheng reached into his backpack, withdrew an ammo clip, took four 5.45mm bullets out of it, and threw them to the prostitute sitting on the ground begging for mercy.

"Thank you." The woman thanked him gratefully, didn’t dare to harass them further, and hurriedly left.

"Why would you give her bullets? What a waste." The urban management officer yelled, thinking Tang Zheng was a fool. At the very least, he should have gotten a feel of her.

Tang Zheng ignored him, turned back to the newbies, and asked,"Now we should discuss, what do you want to do?" (to be continued. If you like this novel, please vote for it on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)