Chapter 8

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Long Sihai, 39 years of age, was the leader of the Long clan, one of the four great clans of Island City. When he was young, he dabbled in business and was known as Uncle Longsi.

Not long after the Cataclysm, he established his own independence from the four clans that had joined forces. He didn’t listen to orders and guarded his own piece of land, claiming that he only wanted to live a few more years.

Although he had the biggest mecha, he was the most timid and had always been a coward. He didn’t even leave Island City before Lin Qing died.

Lin Qing slowed down and chatted with Huang Quan. The two of them quickly got on the highway. Not long after, the sky turned completely dark, and more people gradually appeared on the road.

They were all from the city.

“Are we going to rest here?” Huang Quan asked Lin Qing.

“No, there are a lot of mountains here, and there might be wild animals. There’s a service area about eighty kilometers ahead, so let’s rest there.”

“I’ll listen to you.” Huang Quan shouted to the people on the side of the road, “Hey, there are many wild beasts around here at night! Don’t rest here!”

No one paid any attention to him. Only a young woman in a suit said, “Brother, can you give me a ride? I’ll pay you.”

“Sure, come on up.”

“Brother, bring me too. Please help me. I’ll pay for the ride too.”

“Please, I don’t have a car or money. Can you save my life?”

“Brothers, I can’t fit so many people in my car. Since your trucks are big, and you have nothing to do, bring some of us along.”

Huang Quan was dumbfounded. When he allowed the first person to get into his truck, he didn’t expect dozens of people to immediately surround him. Some of them didn’t even wait for him to speak as they climbed into the back of the truck.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Someone slapped Lin Qing’s truck hard and shouted at Yang Feng, “Mister, my grandma’s legs aren’t good. Quickly open the door and let her in.”

After letting Yang Feng out, Lin Qing transformed into his mecha form and said with an unfriendly gaze, “If your legs aren’t good, then don’t go out. If you keep talking, I’ll send her to hell.”

“Why are you like this? We’ve all fallen into misfortune at the same time. What’s wrong with helping others?”

“You’re so heartless. Has your conscience been eaten by dogs?”

Lin Qing narrowed his eyes as he looked at the white car that scolded him for having a bad conscience and punched it.

The punch sent the five-meter-tall Motorbot flying more than ten meters away. He left behind a trail of sparks as blue smoke rose from his body.

The people around them kept quiet out of fear and instantly left. Even the old lady with bad legs jumped a few meters away.

“Why don’t you go to the city and bring out the people who haven’t come out?” Lin Qing looked around coldly. “I don’t owe you anything. Get lost!”

With so many people on him, they would be a burden in an emergency situation. After all, he would have to put them down one by one before transforming into his mecha form. He would die seven or eight times before he could do it if he were to do that.

Also, if he helped them, some people would cling to him. In the following days, he would also have to cover their meals and accommodation.

Furthermore, if he did anything wrong, others would immediately say that he was heartless and cruel.

He had encountered too many such incidents while escaping in his previous life and almost lost his life several times.

Meanwhile, Huang Quan was stunned by Lin Qing. Although they had only known each other for a day, he knew that Lin Qing was definitely not a hard-hearted person. He never thought that Lin Qing would leave others in the lurch.

“Old Huang, throw them away.” Yang Feng shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his hands together. “There are many people like them on the road in front. How many can you save?”

“Why are you speaking like that too? Do you believe that I’ll throw you out first? I know what you mean, but what’s the big deal if I can help them to the best of my abilities?

“The service area is still eighty kilometers away. Do you know what it means for these people without cars to walk there?”

They had escaped in a hurry, so many of them didn’t bring any luggage and came empty-handed. However, it took half a day for them to reach here. If no one carried them for the next 80 kilometers, they would really die.

“Fine, you’re a good person, and I’m a bad person, alright? There are so many people here. How many do you plan to bring along? There are probably quite a few people in front too. Do you want to bring them along as well?”

Huang Quan threw down the people who jumped onto his truck and transformed into his mecha form. Then he pointed at some women who had children but no cars. “All of you, come up. The rest, scram.”

His truck was enormous, so it wasn’t a problem for him to fit dozens of people at once. However, the conditions were a bit harsh, as there was no roof, unlike Lin Qing’s truck, which was completely closed and didn’t need to be exposed to the sun.

With a wave of thanks, the group of women and children climbed into the truck while crying tears of joy. Meanwhile, those who couldn’t go up stared at Huang Quan with vicious eyes and cursed him in their hearts.

The two trucks went back on the road. Just as Yang Feng said, the highway was full of people. They were old, weak, sick, and disabled. There were also children and their mothers. Some were sleeping in cars, some were sleeping on the ground, and some were sleeping in the middle of the road.

In fact, there were even many corpses lying there stiffly.

Every time they saw a car pass by, these people would cheer excitedly, but their hopeful eyes would soon turn numb once again.

“F*ck!” Half an hour later, Huang Quan said to Lin Qing, “I can’t take any more people. Can you take some?”

Lin Qing was unmoved. “Big Brother, it’s all thanks to me that you can bring so many people safely. You don’t have the ability to fight, so I’m the only one who can do it. If I take people, both of us will lose our ability to fight.”

“I know. But I really can’t stand it anymore. For every person you take, I’ll find you a crystal. Just tell me if you want to do it or not.”

Clang! Lin Qing’s truck door opened.

A few minutes later, the two trucks were on the road again. In the driver’s seat, Yang Feng said curiously, “Lin Qing, you were from the lower classes of society, so you should have more compassion than Old Huang when facing these people. Why is it the opposite?”

“What about you? Didn’t you agree not to bring anyone along?”

“Ha, I’m different. I know my limits. It’s fine if it’s during normal times, but now I can’t even protect myself. How can I protect them?”

“You and I are the same.” Lin Qing sighed. “The difference is that I come from the lower classes, so I understand the lower classes better. It’s fine if I don’t show mercy, but once I show mercy, I will definitely invite a lot of trouble.”

“Haha, but aren’t you taking people along with you now?”

“You heard Old Huang tempt me with crystals. Compared to danger, crystals are obviously more tempting.”

Yang Feng couldn’t help laughing. “But according to my observations, you aren’t someone who would be willing to put yourself in danger just for some benefits. You can’t bear to do this either, right?”

Lin Qing didn’t say anything and just sounded his horn to urge the people in front to get out of the way.

The 80-kilometer journey would normally take an hour. But on this road, they only reached the service area during the middle of the night.

Seeing hundreds of people standing outside the service area and a group of Motorbots arguing, Lin Qing said, “Look, here comes the trouble.”

“One packet of instant noodles costs one hundred yuan, and water costs fifty yuan. Are you going to buy it?”

“It’ll be three hundred yuan for fast food and thirty yuan to use the toilet once.”

“Gasoline costs one hundred yuan per liter. Those who want Overlord Oil instead should consider how much you can pay.”

“By the way, all Motorbots friends will enjoy half price.”

When he got closer, Lin Qing saw the situation clearly. It turned out that the boss of the service area had raised the prices dozens of times for all the food.

If the boss were an ordinary person, he would have been beaten to death long ago. However, he wasn’t an ordinary person but a Motorbot. He was a Wuling van who had snatched the job of refueling after the Cataclysm.

There were more than ten Motorbots beside him who had all transformed into their mecha forms. They had their arms crossed in front of their chests and cracked jokes as they guarded the place.

Most importantly, Lin Qing had seen these thugs before. They were all from Brother Liu’s fleet.