Chu Guang was lucky, he didn't encounter any insurmountable dangers along the way.
Not only that.
When he arrived near Bet Street, he happened to see a commercial team from Giant Stone City unloading at the entrance of Bet Street.
Old Watt, carrying a hunting gun, stood to one side smoking his homemade dry pipe while Old Charlie was having a pleasant conversation with the team's leader, and idle scavengers were unloading under the watchful eye of the gunmen.
The leader of the commercial team was called General Lee, whose first name Chu Guang didn't know; he only knew that he came from Giant Stone City with eight gunmen and about twenty mutated yaks.
Every so often, he would bring his men and beasts to Bet Street to sell some supplies, while taking away the "specialties" from here.
In the Wasteland, especially in urban areas, animals are more reliable than vehicles.
The roads are littered with broken-down vehicles and collapsed ruins, plus the highways, due to lack of maintenance, are severely cracked, even with roots of vegetation breaking through, rendering most wheeled vehicles immovable.
By comparison, donkeys, cows, horses are precious—they may not be fast, but there's almost nowhere they cannot go.
Most importantly, they're cheap to maintain, just thirty pounds of grass for a hundred kilometers.
Technology isn't always reliable, at least not here.
Of course, if it's a long trek across provinces, that's a different story.
Chu Guang once saw a half-wheeled, half-track truck with a chimney-like thick barrel standing on top, quite in the spirit of punk art.
But these bulky trucks generally don't enter the city; they usually offload outside the city and trade with active medium and small commercial teams in the surrounding area, and then they leave.
Chu Guang noticed that among the goods being transported to Bet Street this time, there was even a woman wrapped in a long robe.
Her hands and feet were in shackles, with a barcode printed on her ankle; her delicate white skin looked nothing like a Wasteland survivor, more like an elf who had stepped out of a movie.
Or rather, a "commodity" cultivated from a growth vat.
"A clone?"
Chu Guang had only heard of the slave trade in Giant Stone City before, but this was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes. However, such "luxury", he thought, could only be afforded by the town's mayor.
Chu Guang didn't immediately approach but quietly waited in the shadow of the ruins for the trade to be completed.
The "cowboys" were all busy and did not linger here.
After loading the goods, General Lee reached into his chest and pulled out several white chips, which he threw to the idle scavengers like giving alms.
Then, amidst a chorus of thankful and wistful praise, he and his gunmen set off, herding the yaks, loaded with big and small parcels.
Chu Guang followed from a distance, crossing two streets.
However, at that moment, the man walking beside that General Lee suddenly stopped and stared straight in his direction.
Chu Guang's heart skipped a beat on being noticed.
They were at least a hundred meters apart—how did this guy spot him?!
But, since he'd been discovered, it was pointless to follow behind anymore.
Chu Guang walked out from the ruins, first raising his hands to show he meant no harm, then carrying a black plastic bag, he approached.
Stopping under a crooked coffee shop sign about ten meters away, he halted.
For both parties, this was the safest distance.
In the event of a conflict, the carbon nanotube bulletproof vest he wore close to his body would buy him at least five seconds to escape.
As long as he wasn't shot in the head...
"I mean no harm," he said, "I just want to trade with you."
The man called General Lee narrowed his eyes and rested the shotgun on his shoulder.
"Are you a scavenger from Bet Street?"
"Chu Guang."
"I don't care what your name is, and we don't do petty trades," the man said with a mocking look at the plastic bag in his hand, "You might as well give that stuff to that old guy Charlie."
Chu Guang said nothing but opened the plastic bag, revealing the commodity inside.
The man was clearly knowledgeable; his expression froze as he apparently did not expect the bag to contain something other than old parts and batteries, but rather this kind of desirable item.
Chu Guang noticed a flash of greed in his eyes that was hard to catch.
"Where did you get this from?" the man asked.
Chu Guang looked at him and said indifferently,
"Sewers, next to a mutated leech nest, but even if I told you where, would you really want to go?"
"It was just a casual question, don't mind."
His eyes' greedy look diminished a bit, and the man handed his shotgun to his attendant, stepping in front of Chu Guang.
"How do you plan to sell it?"
The recycling price at Bet Street was one point per 50 grams, but this thing's real value was definitely worth much more!
After two seconds of silence, Chu Guang decided to take a gamble and quoted five times the price of Bet Street's recycling station.
"I have 2000 grams here; I want 200 points!"
"Deal."
Seeing that the man hesitated only briefly before agreeing, Chu Guang immediately realized that he had underpriced his offer.
Indeed, the damned mayor's selling price to these merchants was surely more than that!
These bloodsuckers!
Chu Guang silently cursed the mayor and his family in his heart, wishing that tonight he wouldn't be able to perform in bed.
"Let's be friends; my name is List."
The man extended his right hand, his earlier arrogance gone, smiling now, "I rarely deal directly with scavengers, but you are an exception... I find you very interesting."
Unpretentiously, Chu Guang shook his hand.
"Thank you, I am Chu Guang."
"I know, you just told me."
Releasing his hand, List stared at Chu Guang and continued, "So firstly, I hope the mayor won't find out about our trade today."
Chu Guang said,
"Of course, he won't know; I don't want any trouble either."
"Ha, you're a smart man."
Pleased with Chu Guang's answer, List nodded with a smile and continued to speak.
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"I can pay you 200 points right now, but... since you're going to use these chips to exchange for stuff anyway, why not just buy directly from me and save yourself from the middleman's markup. I also have some surplus goods here, I can give you a 20% discount, how about it?"
Chu Guang didn't believe his so-called 20% discount nonsense as there was no way he could know how much the goods on the backs of the cows were sold for in Giant Stone City.
However, as long as his price was cheaper than Bet Street, there was no reason for him to refuse.
"I need weapons, do you have any?"
"Of course, what kind do you need?"
"Guns."
"Guns, huh?" List stroked his chin, "How about a 9mm bolt-action pipe rifle? It only costs 200 points, and I'll throw in 30 bullets for free. If you want to buy extra bullets, they are 1 point each, an absolutely fair price."
"A 20% discount?"
"This is already discounted. If you think it's too expensive, I have cheaper options, like the 5mm pipe handgun for 100 points. It's quite effective against Looters but not recommended against Variants."
That's already a 20% discount—is not bad.
I'll believe you when hell freezes over!
Chu Guang glared at him and said.
"I'll take the 9mm bolt-action pipe rifle plus 60 bullets. In addition, I want to buy food and other supplies with another 20... no, 25 points."
Watching List shrug nonchalantly, Chu Guang continued in a serious tone.
"There's more than 2 kilograms of mushrooms in the Mutated Leech nest, but I can only collect the ones near the entrance... you get what I mean?"
"You want me to invest in you?" List looked at Chu Guang with interest, "Interesting."
Chu Guang remained unmoved and said.
"Why not? I bet even at this price, you can still make a good profit. And if you agree, the goods I bring next time could be ten times what I have today! Don't you find that tempting?"
List was tempted.
Honestly, it was an attractive proposition.
Carrying these two kilograms of Blue Umbrella Mushrooms to Giant Stone City, he wouldn't just buy one bolt-action pipe rifle—he could buy ten.
These country bumpkins living on the outskirts have no idea what rad-resistants and anti-rad drugs mean to city folk.
The good stuff is all hidden near those nuclear bomb craters!
"Normally, very few people can get chips off me."
List signaled his assistant with a glance, instructing him to take a pipe rifle and 60 bullets from the mutated yak.
"You are the exception."
Counting out 25 white chips from his pocket, List handed them over to Chu Guang, along with the goods.
"20 kilograms of Blue Umbrella Mushrooms, consider it an investment. I await your news."
"I'll come here again at the end of the month, and if all goes well, it will probably be the last time this year."
"I hope to see you then."
Mutated Leeches.
No one wants to mess with those things.
Only God knows how many disgusting bugs are hiding in their nests—and the worst part is, regular piercing gunfire is useless against them.
Their terrifying regeneration ability and vitality allow them to split into two new individuals after a brief struggle, even if cut in half, let alone just a few small holes.
As for fire...
Not only is it uncertain if you can ignite it, but even if you do, you'll burn the valuable stuff too.
A complete loss.
"Right, the twenty kilograms of Blue Umbrella Mushrooms, I'll just count as 2000 points for you. You can place orders with me, no need to pick through others' leftovers."
Watching Chu Guang fiddle with the weapon in his hands, List reminded him.
Chu Guang stopped what he was doing and looked at him to ask.
"How do I know what goods you have?"
List snapped his fingers.
His companion got the hint and handed over a square tablet computer.
"There are photos on it; swipe left and right to choose... I won't teach you if you know how to use it. I guarantee the quality of these goods is good, but I do not guarantee that what you actually receive will look exactly like the pictures."
After skimming through the tablet that Chu Guang had received, he realized there were indeed quite a few good items on it.
Especially, he saw what he needed the most.
"Have you made your selection?" List urged as he watched Chu Guang browsing.
"I've chosen," handing back the tablet, Chu Guang said, "A 10KW wood-fired generator and a KV-1 powered exoskeleton."
"You have good taste. The KV-1 is a base model but also one of the most durable. But why do you need a generator? If you're worried about running out of electricity, it's better to buy extra batteries. I offer a trade-in service here, very cheap."
A generator wasn't cheap; one would cost 1200 points.
By comparison, just 800 points were enough for a KV-1 powered exoskeleton, and a matching chemical energy battery was only 150 points.
Even if battery replacements were expensive, they wouldn't amount to over a thousand.
And after buying it, where would he even put it?
An exoskeleton could be worn under the clothes, but a generator wasn't something a common Scavenger could afford.
Seeing right through List's concerns, Chu Guang said.
"Don't worry, I won't take it back to Bet Street."
"I was just asking. How you handle it is none of my concern. After all, even if you claim I sold it to you, I won't admit it. You'd be the one at a loss," List shrugged nonchalantly, glancing at the sky not far away, "It's getting late; till we meet again."
Chu Guang stopped him.
"Wait a second, do the items I just ordered have a 20% discount?"
List laughed heartily, waving his hand without turning back.
"The prices you saw are already the discounted ones."
Chuang Guang: "...%￥#￥%"
Damn it!
I'll show them who's boss next time I deal with these swindlers!
Watching the Commercial Team move off into the distance, Chu Guang, with a dark expression, also turned to leave.
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