They drove northwards for three days and gradually entered the depths of the ‘Northern Wasteland’. Thankfully, they were not surrounded or blocked yet.
Compared with the slightly populated area in the center of the Furious Blood Wasteland, this place was much more desolate and desolate after the end of the world. Illuminated by the lackluster, thick, and colorful mist, the sand and stones attached to the melted tanks and tanks formed threatening statues; the collapsed underground fortresses formed pitch-black hollows; not to mention the sentry cannons, automatic gun turrets, magnetic storm coils, and prismatic towers that were still functioning after being swept by radiation and blast. Deadly traps were everywhere. The corpses of countless adventurers and the wreckage of vehicles silently told the horror of no man’s land.
Only an overlord of the desert such as Boss Gold Tooth, who had been struggling in the blood-like sand for more than ten years or even his entire life, had the courage and capability to drive an off-road vehicle into an uninhabited area with two kids.
Over the next two days, Boss Gold Tooth pretended that he was not satisfied with Bai Xiaolu’s driving skills. He mainly asked Wan Zanghai to drive, but he asked Bai Xiaolu to curl up in the back seat and focus on the training of Yuri’s notes.
Of all the techniques to utilize the power of the heart, hypnosis was not very difficult. After all, even an ordinary person without superpowers could become a Master Hypnotist.
His brother had grasped it very quickly. Even Bai Xiaolu had learned a thing or two about it. However, he did not stop at all during his journey. He did not have time to be alone with Wan Zanghai and could not find an opportunity to attack.
Three days later, the opportunity finally came.
In the sky behind them, a few black spots were hovering below the dark grey clouds.
It was the mutated falcon of the Vulture Gang. It had excellent eyesight and could communicate with its master telepathically. In many cases, it was even more useful than an unmanned reconnaissance plane.
The Scorpion Gang and the Vulture Gang were actually wary of Boss Gold Tooth to such an extent that they wouldn’t let go of him even though he had entered the no man’s land. It was as if they wanted to see him dead or alive.
With the enemy scouting in the sky, they could only choose to advance at night. During the day, they would drive the off-road vehicles to the hollows of the sand dunes and camouflage them with desert camouflage canvas.
As it happened, they had been travelling day and night for three days. Their physical and mental strength had reached their limits. It was time for a good rest.
Boss Gold Tooth had taken over the off-road vehicle by himself. All the guns, ammunition, and assets were with him.
Bai Xiaolu and Wan Zanghai, on the other hand, were crouching in a desert camouflage tent not far away from the vehicle. After all, there were no guns, transportation, or supplies. They could not escape anyway.
The two of them craned their necks and pricked up their ears. Very soon, they heard the heavy snoring of Boss Gold Tooth from the SUV.
The snoring didn’t stop for a full three minutes. The interval was very even. The boy and the young man looked at each other. Suddenly, Wan Zanghai grabbed Bai Xiaolu’s collar with an extremely hideous expression.
“Speak!”
Wan Canghai almost bit Bai Xiaolu’s ear off. “What did Boss Gold Tooth ask you when you stitched up his wounds? Did you tell him anything?”
“N-no.”
Pretending to be half-panicked, Bai Xiaolu stammered, “As I said, we are classmates in the underground city. Your name is Wan Zanghai, and you are the son of the laboratory director of Gold Mountain Clean Water Company. That’s all.”
“Is that so?”
Wan Canghai narrowed his eyes and stared at Bai Xiaolu, trying to find a loophole on her face.
Bai Xiaolu had been training with her brother for two days. Wan Zanghai wouldn’t see through her easily.
“Hehe…”
Wan Canghai stared at him for a long time before he resentfully said, “I can see that there’s something wrong with your attitude over the past two days. You’ve been singing with him and helping him change his medication every day. Don’t tell me you’ve accepted his small favors. You haven’t been fooled by him, have you?
“Let me tell you something. Be clear with your head. He is a demon, the most sordid, sordid, and inhumane beast! If necessary, he will kill you and drink your blood, eat your meat, and gnaw your bones without even blinking!
“What?”
Bai Xiaolu pretended to panic. “How come?”
“How come?”
Wan Canghai sneered, “The devils are not human beings at all. They are just animals in human skin. Even their ‘human skin’ is extremely ugly. What can they not do? Even if you don’t remember the education in class, you should remember clearly how the ‘New Gold Mountain’ broke into the city, shouldn’t you? Boss Gold Tooth is the culprit!”
Bai Xiaolu was silent.
“If you think that you can get away as long as you do whatever he says, it is the typical ‘Stockholm syndrome’, or the victim’s reliance and trust in the criminals.
Wan Canghai said coldly, “Don’t be silly. Right now, the two of us are still of some value. Therefore, he brought us with him out of ‘kindness’. Once he achieves his purpose, there will be nothing left of us!
“Please, please be clear about this. Boss Gold Tooth is the enemy, and we are on the same side. We are compatriots and of the same nation!
“Do you see the Citibank on Boss Gold Tooth’s chest and sleeves? Have you ever heard the battle cries of the Citibank Gang? It’s true that he is not just a demon. I very much doubt that he has the background of a regular soldier of the United States of America and is also one of the most elite special forces.
“Do you understand now? He used to be an elite soldier of the United States of America, and the United States of America was the one responsible for the damn thermonuclear war. It was an evil existence!
“Although the Citi Kingdom has collapsed and the ‘Alliance’ has been defeated by us, the remnants of the Citi Kingdom such as Boss Gold Tooth clearly haven’t given up yet. They are still dreaming of letting the bloodthirsty Citi fly in the sky again one day. If they get the cutting-edge water-cleaning technology, the consequences will be dire!
“The devil race is an enemy, and so is the Citi Kingdom. Therefore, Boss Gold Tooth is a double enemy. Look at my eyes. We both have a pair of black eyes. We are blood brothers and compatriots who will never abandon each other. You must listen to me. You must stand on my side in order to have any hope of survival. Even if you are to die, you must not lose the cutting-edge water-cleaning technology to the ‘contract’. Do you understand?”
The craziness and persistence in Wan Zanghai’s eyes shocked Bai Xiaolu. She nodded subconsciously.
He was hesitating, if not ashamed, whether or not he should hypnotize Boss Gold Tooth and help him get the password.
“Let’s get the password first. This kid’s eyes are flickering. I can’t believe everything he says.”
The brother said, “When the password is in our hands, we will take the initiative. We will decide whether to give it to the ‘Alliance’ or the ‘Contract’, or whether there is a third option.”
His brother had a point.
Bai Xiaolu calmed herself down and pretended to be enlightened. She bit her lips and said, “Of course, I will listen to Brother Wan. I will do whatever you say. Thankfully, Brother Wan reminded me. Otherwise, I would’ve been fooled by the devil!
“Brother Wan, tell me more about the brutality of the demon race, in case I am fooled by him again tomorrow.”
A hazy gleam appeared in Bai Xiaolu’s eyes as she spoke.
Wan Zanghai was dazed for a moment. His facial muscles relaxed slightly as he mumbled, “Alright. I’ll tell you—”
He started talking and talked a lot.
Under Bai Xiaolu’s hypnotization and guidance, not only did he talk about the horror of the devil race, he also talked about the daily life of the underground metropolis and let Bai Xiaolu know how extravagant, splendid, and wasteful the life of a ‘normal, ordinary’ teenager was.
Supplying the resources of an underground teenager for one day was enough for ten children of the demon race to live an entire week.
Maybe, the devils were not human beings after all. Otherwise, it was hard to imagine that the same human beings had such different fates.
However, Bai Xiaolu’s training in hypnotism was not good enough, and she was not prepared for the guiding problem, either. After talking for a long time, it was quite difficult for her to change the topic to the password of the advanced water purification technology.
There was no hurry. At the very least, today’s experiment proved that hypnotism was indeed effective and proved Bai Xiaolu and her brother’s talent in the training of mental power. That was enough.
Half an hour later, the boy and the young man both fell asleep. The journey was dangerous and bumpy. They were truly exhausted.
Before she was swallowed by the darkness, Bai Xiaolu seemed to have heard the melody of ‘Yesterday’s Reappearance’ again. She saw her healthy sister laughing like a silver bell while she was bathing in the sunlight on a hill of grapes.
The boy slept soundly and did not dream for three to four hours.
It was not until nightfall, when Boss Gold Teeth started repairing the off-road vehicle and starting the engine, that he had a dream that was not a dream.
In his ‘dream’, he saw something that could not be described with words. It was extremely weird and ugly, making his hair stand on end.
No. It was not the warning from Vulture that he had heard in the sandstorm a few days ago, but from billions of years later.
It was a vulture.
It was a vulture that had a pair of big, watery eyes and was trying to look cute despite its wretched appearance.
“It is everyone’s duty to protect Vulture!
“It is everyone’s duty to protect Vulture!
“It is everyone’s duty to protect Vulture!”
The boy seemed to hear the vulture, who was pretending to be cute, shouting while it was dancing in a funny circle.
Bai Xiaolu was immediately scared awake and screamed.
“What’s wrong?”
Boss Gold Tooth and Wan Zanghai were both shocked.
“No, nothing…”
Bai Xiaolu’s chest was heaving up and down, and she was breathing heavily. She felt that cold sweat was appearing on her chest and her back. She was so disgusted that she felt like vomiting. “I think I had a nightmare.”
“What nightmare?”
The leader of the Gold Teeth Clan frowned, perhaps because he was scared that there might be something wrong with the boy’s training.
Bai Xiaolu tilted her head and thought for a while. Then she was confused.
“I forgot.”
Bai Xiaolu stared at the deep and brilliant sea of stars through the gaps of the broken lead clouds in a daze.
He had really forgotten it.
Maybe it would take a long, long, long time before he remembered.