Chapter 59

Shen Cong did not manage to find any survivors in Gongjia Village, but his 15A radar showed that there were plenty of moving creatures at Lishui Bay Housing Estate, which was a clear sign that there were plenty of survivors moving in that area. Hence, Shen Cong came to the roundabout, and immediately after, he saw the group of people riding the motorcycles.

The person in the lead had bone spikes on his shoulders, signalling that he was a mutant.

Based on Zhang Youhai’s information, the person with a mutation on his shoulders was one of the three mutants in Dragon Slayers—Wang Dong.

Honk! Honk!

Shen Cong pushed his horn.

Wang Dong and the others gasped in amazement at Titan for a while before they heard the horn. Then, Wang Dong rode his motorcycle next to Titan, but he saw no windows, so he could only shout. “Friend, mind meeting us?”

Clang!

The armor on the side of the truck compartment slid open, and a sunroof opened. Shen Cong was already in his Drastically Modified Battle Armor. His helmet-covered head popped out of the window, and in his hand, he held his Type 64 pistol (now filled with Activity). Through the gaps in the helmet, he stared at Wang Dong and his group.

‘Eight people. Wang Dong is a mutant. He has a handgun at his waist. The baldy beside him also has a handgun. The others have machetes and iron sticks. There’s a guy with tattoos on his arm. He has a crossbow on his back… I don’t see any bonemetal weapons, but I won’t exclude the possibility that I didn’t discover the firearms.’

Shen Cong only cared about tabulating their strength and did not say anything. The atmosphere became a little awkward.

Wang Dong and the other seven people just watched the helmet-covered head at the sunroof. When Shen Cong did not speak even after they waited for a long time, Wang Dong gave his seven subordinates a glance, telling them to pay attention.

Then, he said, “My friend, are you a survivor from somewhere else? Welcome to Juchao District. I’m Wang Dong. We’re all survivors of the disaster, and we live nearby. We came here to scavenge for goods. Those who come from afar are all our guests. Do you mind coming out to have a drink so that we can become friends?”

Shen Cong noticed the subtle gesture from Wang Dong, and he immediately began guessing that the man was harboring ill will toward him.

But he was only on guard in his heart. He did not show it on his face. “I know you. You’re Wang Dong from Dragon Slayers. I’m not a foreigner, but I’ve never stayed in the city, is all. I know the situation in the city very well. There’s no need for us to drink together, but I’ve found some resources in Yinpingzhen. Do you have any intention to trade?”

“Haha! I didn’t expect that you would have heard my name before, my friend.” Wang Dong chuckled as if to cover up something. “Trading is fine. Dragon Slayers love trading the most. We’re all survivors of the disaster, so it’s only logical that we help each other. My friend, come out and eat with us. I’ll contact my eldest brother and second brother so that we can talk about the trade.”

Wang Dong spoke frankly, but Shen Cong had long since known that the man was from Zhang Youhai, and even if he did not know, Shen Cong would not believe in anyone easily.

He nodded and said, “There’s no need for us to eat together. But we can trade.”

“My friend, I still do not know how I should call you.”

“Huang Xiaoming.[1]”

“Pfft.”

Wang Dong and his group were stunned. Then, Wang Dong chuckled. “My friend, please don’t joke around.”

“I’m not joking around,” Shen Cong said seriously.

Why were they allowed to call themselves Leader of the Secret Organization and Tianshen but Shen Cong was not allowed to call himself Huang Xiaoming? Of course, he was just choosing a random fake name for his own use. Even though he knew that no one would know him even if he mentioned his real name, being careful would keep him safe. It would be best if he did not reveal his personal information.

“Urk… Huang Xiaoming… Big Brother Xiaoming, is it convenient for you to tell us what sort of resources you can exchange with us?”

Shen Cong’s eyes flashed. “Some cigarettes and alcohol.”

“Oh, cigarettes and alcohol?” Wang Dong’s eyes lit up. “Big Brother Xiaoming, what would you like in exchange?”

“Diesel.”

Shen Cong did not hide his goals. Titan was a huge war truck, so it was definitely something that ate up fuel like water. He needed a lot of diesel, and even if he wanted to hide it, it would be impossible.

It would be for the best if they were willing to trade with him, but if they were not, Shen Cong did not mind snatching what he needed.

He should do everything with a self-centered mind.

“Hmm… diesel, huh?” Wang Dong cast a glance at Titan. “It’s not easy to get diesel. Big Brother Xiaoming, what was the original model of this vehicle before you modified it? You spent quite a lot of time modifying it, right? Do you mind if I take a look? It looks too cool, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Shen Cong ignored him. “I’m in a hurry. If you’re willing to trade, hurry up and contact Zhang Tianshen and tell him to wait for me here. I won’t wait for long. If you don’t have diesel, I’ll go to Wang Gen or the Secret Organization to trade.”

Once he finished speaking, he shut the armor with a slam.

He stomped on the accelerator, and Titan started turning to Lishui Bay Housing Estate.

Wang Dong quickly shouted, “Big Brother Xiaoming, why don’t we go to Sanhe Village together?! Our resources are all located there! The diesel is there as well!”

His response was Titan passing him by before heading out of Lishui Bay Housing Estate.

*****

“Damn it, Huang Xiaoming? If he’s Huang Xiaoming, I’m Xu Zheng[2]!” The baldy stroked his bald head and asked Wang Dong, “Third Brother, how are we going to get that diesel?”

Wang Dong thought about it for a while before he said, “Let’s go and talk to Eldest Brother first. Da Wei, bring Xiao Zhao and Junzi to keep an eye on that Huang Xiaoming. He doesn’t look like someone easy to deal with.”

Da Wei nodded. “Should we warn those scavengers to be careful with what they say?”

“No need. Huang Xiaoming already knows about us. He should know what we do as well. No matter what, don’t offend him first. Wait for me to talk with Eldest Brother and Second Brother.”

“Alright. Third Brother, go ahead and talk. I’ll keep an eye on that poseur with Xiao Zhao and Junzi… But that poseur… sure modified his car to the point that it looks really damn cool… Tsk tsk, if we get it, we’ll have a fun time with it.”

Once Da Wei finished speaking, he brought Xiao Zhao and Junzi on a detour and went back to Lishui Bay Housing Estate.

Wang Dong led four subordinates to Sanhe Village in search for Zhang Tianshen.

But they did not know that Shen Cong saw what they were doing through his radar. The 15A radar was a small surveillance radar that was specifically designed for this sort of situation. Even though it faced interference from the radiation and its effectiveness was reduced, it could still determine the movement trajectory of objects within an area of a kilometer. Hence, Shen Cong noticed that Wang Dong sent three people to take a detour and get closer to him.

Shen Cong was not surprised by this, but he already started thinking of many things, like all the possible outcomes.

He was very certain that once the other party found a chance, they would definitely harm him.

If this were the past, his persecution complex might have pushed him to his limits a long time ago and caused him to do something drastic. Now, his body possessed the strength of five bulls, and Titan was at Level 1. His confidence had increased, and it managed to suppress his persecution complex, allowing him to think about his problems calmly instead of being swamped by all the illusions of being harmed.

At the very least, he could tell what were major threats and what were minor threats.

Shen Cong parked Titan at Lishui Bay Housing Estate, and immediately, the survivors in the housing estate were attracted over. They walked out of the ruins of the buildings and craned their heads to look at the incredibly monstrous and domineering war truck.

While the survivors observed Titan, Shen Cong observed the survivors.

He needed an agent. In this city, he was surrounded by humans, and there were dangers lurking everywhere. When he left Titan, the dangers he would be exposed to would be much higher than the dangers he faced when he was in a village. If he had an agent to help him run errands and exchange resources, he would be relatively safe. And even if his agent was killed, it would not affect him.

Once the agent was killed or his resources were snatched, he could drive Titan at the perpetrator to take revenge for his agent.

Just when he was prepared to use his own views as the standard to pick his agent, he saw a group of familiar people among the survivors.

It was Old Lee and his group.

Old Lee’s scavenging team had wandered around Yinpingzhen for multiple days, so Shen Cong was very familiar with them.

He immediately rolled down his window and shouted outward in a deliberately crude tone, “You, old man with the white hair! Come here! I’ve something to ask you!”

Old Lee pointed at himself. “Are you talking to me?”

“Yeah.”

Old Lee hesitated for a moment before he made to go over, but his teammate—Ma Laoshan, the one who had been hit earlier—held him back. He stood in front of him and shouted at Shen Cong slightly nervously, “Can’t you say whatever you want from over there?”

The savage looking Titan and Shen Cong in his Drastically Modified Battle Armor had an incredibly dangerous presence that could not be seen with the naked eye. The fangs from the fanged wolves on Shen Cong’s helmet were the worst. They were the symbols of evolved beasts, and now, Shen Cong wore them on his head. The people were unable to help but suspect that Shen Cong was an evolved human as well.

The survivors were nervous and anxious when they faced evolved humans.

“Don’t be nervous. I just want to ask questions.” Even though Shen Cong told them not to be nervous, his tone was rather aloof, and it made him appear to be incredibly ghastly.

Shen Cong had long since hypnotized himself to only have one emotion when he faced everything that was not himself in the post-apocalyptic world.

He had to be cold and aloof.

The novels, movies, and TV series revealed far too many similar cases that led to one single truth: All the Messiahs died, unless the screenwriters decided to give them a cheat ability, or they were the main character and had plot armor.

As someone who was a high-ranking member in the survivor forum, Shen Cong had long since discussed how a person should act during the apocalypse with multiple survival freaks.

All the answers were similar.

They had to be careful, put on a facade, act cold-hearted, and be resolute.

When there were no laws restricting people, all the emotions had to make way for survival.