There was truly no choice at all.
Xia Yan understood that with only one leg left, even walking out of this street was a struggle, let alone returning to Boulder City.
And what would she achieve by going back anyway?
Though she had been a mercenary for quite some time, she hadn't saved much. The cost of a high-end neuron-linked bionic prosthesis was in the tens of thousands, and even a more basic mechanical model cost thousands.
Prices like these could rival an entire chemically powered exoskeleton.
Even selling herself wouldn't cover it.
Either she went with these people or waited here to die.
The decision, in reality, wasn't that difficult.
Perched on the edge of a rickety wooden cart, bouncing along with sacks piled high, Xia Yan sighed quietly to herself.
Perhaps this journey was her final taste of freedom.
Other than being taken back to bear children, she couldn't fathom what other use she might have to this man before her.
A skill?
A job?
Ha.
She pondered. All she really had left of value was this body.
They say it'll hurt. She wondered if that was true…
"We're here."
A voice up front shattered her wandering thoughts.
Snapped back to reality, Xia Yan raised her head to find she'd been brought to a small woodland clearing.
Amidst the trees lay an open area scattered with wooden stakes, and a half-finished concrete wall stood tall, as smoke wafted from nearby kilns. Behind them were pits for smoking meat and racks for fish.
The air was heavy with the scent of roasting meat, accompanied by the clangs and bangs of hammers.
People were busy—some hammering stones, others pumping bellows, hauling stones, building walls, or chopping trees.
This place resembled a sprawling worksite.
Primitive, yet bustling.
Are these… his men?
Gazing around, Xia Yan's face grew pale with astonishment. She counted quickly, noting the significant number of people—at least a dozen or more, clad in matching blue uniforms.
Upon seeing these uniforms, it took her only a moment to deduce their identities.
Shelter residents!?
She'd never heard of a shelter nearby.
But then…
What were they building?
Xia Yan was puzzled.
Shelters weren't uncommon in Springwater City. Some had opened years ago, while others remained sealed, awaiting the day their unlock dates arrived.
Well-run shelters could stand as factions of their own; those less fortunate often became prey to mutants or other creatures.
She remembered a shelter near Boulder City, whose reclusive survivors avoided outside contact. They kept a low profile—let alone embarking on massive construction projects aboveground.
But was this wall even useful?
It was sturdy enough to withstand bullets, but could it be tougher than a shelter's door?
That thing was said to block even gamma rays.
"…Are you shelter residents?"
"Yes," Chu Guang glanced at her wounded leg and said, "I thought you'd passed out."
She'd been surprisingly quiet the whole way.
Chu Guang, his attention mostly diverted elsewhere, hadn't really noticed her, assuming she'd fainted from blood loss.
To his surprise, she was still conscious.
"I'm not that fragile."
Raising her chin defiantly, Xia Yan kept her brows and expression stiff, hoping it might make her seem a bit more dignified.
At the very least, less fearful.
Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to her act of defiance; they didn't even notice.
"Noted," Chu Guang replied, withdrawing his gaze from her bloodied, mangled leg. "Your wound is healing faster than usual."
By the standards of Shelter 404's attribute system, her physique was at least 8 points, give or take.
Ordinary people, even without excessive blood loss, would have been feverish and unconscious by now.
But she was somehow holding up, sweating coldly, her face pale, and her awareness slipping.
It might be a "gift."
Survivors in the wasteland often exhibited traits different from ordinary humans, and it wasn't unusual for their bodies to have strange adaptations.
Chu Guang looked at the two players and gave them orders.
"Take the food to 'Tomato Fried Egg' for safekeeping."
Days prior, he'd instructed Brother Fried Egg to prepare a storage area for grain and meat.
It should be ready now.
Whether to dry and store it or simply stack bags, the cook would know better than him.
With players around, Chu Guang didn't feel the need to worry about minor details.
Last time, curing the meat had already drained him. If he managed the granary, it might spoil or become rat food before winter.
Upon receiving his command, Fang Chang and Ye Shi nodded in unison.
"Yes!"
"Aye, sir!"
Chu Guang said nothing more.
Reaching out, he hoisted the weakened mercenary off the cart, ignoring her gasp, and slung her over his shoulder like a sack.
Then, grabbing the backpack Ye Shi had stripped from the other mercenaries, he strode toward the infirmary.
Ye Shi and Fang Chang watched, impressed.
The supplies and a living person must've weighed at least a hundred kilos.
He'd lifted them as if it were nothing.
As he walked toward the infirmary, Old Bai, noticing the scene, sidled up.
"What's going on? Who's that person Boss has?"
"Ask Fang Chang; he's got the whole story. I was just a bystander," Ye Shi grumbled. He felt like nothing more than a tool, unable to follow the plot.
Fang Chang gave a helpless shrug.
"Don't ask me. The game has no subtitles, and I couldn't understand the NPCs' dialogue. Just think of her as a new NPC."
Old Bai was taken aback.
"Alright… but what happened to her?"
"Oh, she nearly died," Ye Shi sighed. "You don't know what we ran into on the way back."
"What did you find?"
"A Crawler."
"What? You ran into a Crawler?" Old Bai looked at him in shock. "What does it look like?"
There was information about Crawlers online, but no descriptions of their combat abilities, nor any reference images.
Old Bai remembered Crawlers were said to be symbiotes from fungal infections, like Eaters, with roots in bioweapons but lost trace of their origins.
He had thought they might be theoretical monsters that the developers hadn't modeled yet.
He hadn't expected them to actually show up!
"Hideously ugly, with four long arms. Crawling, it's about waist height; standing, about two meters. It's absurdly strong and, worse, lightning-fast! We fired a whole round but didn't land a shot. The Overseer took it down with a steel pipe, no problem."
Ye Shi's retelling, though lacking in detail, was enough to captivate Old Bai.
He looked to Fang Chang for clarification, and Fang Chang nodded.
"Just like Ye Shi said, the Crawler's ridiculously powerful."
"I'd bet the new expansion includes more activities, more mutant types, new NPC factions, and quests. I'll discuss it later—gotta drop off supplies for Brother Fried Egg."
While Old Bai wanted to talk, the limited daylight meant he had little time for breaks.
With a sigh, Old Bai nodded.
"Alright, you go… I'll keep working on the furnace. When you're done, get over here!"
"Will do. See you in a bit."
Meanwhile, in the infirmary.
The players noticed the Overseer's return, along with the woman slung over his shoulder.
"Dude, check it out! He's got someone on his shoulder!"
"Who is that???"
"A new NPC?"
"And it's a girl!"
"Finally, a new NPC! Brothers, we're one step closer to open beta!"
"Hell yeah!"
The excitement of an approaching beta test spurred the players to work even harder on their tasks.
Feeling her cheeks burning, Xia Yan, slung over Chu Guang's shoulder, shivered not only from her awkward position but also from the stares piercing her like needles.
She couldn't understand their words, but she didn't need to.
She could guess from their leering eyes, matching those of other men she'd encountered.
She could picture them, like wasteland hyenas, flattering the alpha male in hopes of getting a piece of his leftovers.
And clearly, she was the succulent lamb on offer.
Xia Yan's terror grew, her clenched teeth chattering, and her eyes even began to well up, shedding a few silent tears.
Suddenly, she regretted her choice. Being ravaged and tossed aside for the wolves seemed worse than a quick death with dignity.
But her body wasn't listening.
The elevator descended.
They arrived.
Chu Guang strode through the shelter's doors, passed the buffer room, and into the residents' hall. He dropped the backpack and then set Xia Yan down on a chair.
"Ow—easy… what do you want?" she hissed, glaring at him.
"Stay still."
Without further words, Chu Guang opened a drawer and took out a silver metal tube. Flicking off the cap with his thumb, he tapped it with a finger, readying it.
"It shouldn't hurt much. Just bear with it."