Bai Wei's response brought a brief silence between the two.
After all, Bai Wei's sister was a topic both of them were trying to avoid, a hurdle they couldn't get over.
In fact, there was one thing they were both deliberately evading.
It had been over a month since the original owner deceived the girl, and it was even longer since her sister was sold off, more than two months had passed.
With so much time gone by, even if they could find the headquarters of Rupert's organization, the girl's sister might have already been resold, or worse, unable to withstand various torments and perished.
However, Bai Wei's recent words had instead given Lin Yu a glimmer of hope.
The fact that she could produce a cybernetic implant equipped with such advanced energy shield technology suggested that her sister might not be as simple as she appeared on the surface.
After all, if Bai Wei could have such a cybernetic implant, why couldn't her sister?
Perhaps it was for these reasons that Bai Wei could maintain hope and rationality in the current situation.
If there were truly no hope, the two of them wouldn't be able to face each other so calmly.
"Forget it, we've delayed long enough. We don't need anything else, let's go."
Skipping over this heavier topic, Lin Yu lost the mood to continue scavenging for spoils.
Bai Wei boarded the fully enclosed truck with Hyena Harold, while Lin Yu temporarily stayed behind, driving DawnMech ahead to clear the way, both quickly heading towards the camp's exit under the gradually rising sun.
...
"Old Zhang, stop looking, hurry and hide! The Mech is coming, and I don't know if it's the Federation or some group sending a disaster your way. Be careful not to get burned..."
In the dilapidated junkyard, a neighbor who had seen the Mech rushed in and pulled Old Zhang.
However, Old Zhang did not respond, standing dumbfounded at the door, staring blankly at the old Mech that rushed past his front door.
Mech!
A Mech assembled from scrap parts!
"It can't be... it shouldn't be..."
Even though Lin Yu's Dawn had already disappeared from view, Old Zhang continued to stare intently in the direction it had gone, mumbling in a daze.
"Old Zhang, you..."
The neighbor gently nudged Old Zhang again.
"Where did this Mech come from? Did you see?"
Old Zhang suddenly spoke, his tone involuntarily tinged with urgency.
"Over at Gray Rat Street, I heard it suddenly burst out from someone's place, breaking through the encirclement of another unknown force..."
The neighbor replied honestly.
"Damn! It really is that kid! It must be that kid!"
Old Zhang's hands trembled with excitement, as if waking from a dream, his face flushed, and he dashed outside.
From the looks of it, he seemed to want to chase after Lin Yu.
Unfortunately, the Mech moved too quickly, and by this time, it had already vanished from the street.
He could only run a few steps before stopping, panting and regretting his rashness.
However, Lin Yu had not actually left the camp at this moment.
As soon as he reached the entrance, he was blocked by a group of people.
"Black Snake gang, are you trying to stop me?"
Lin Yu recognized the attire of those blocking his way, his voice cold, the crimson in Dawn's eyes seeming to darken further.
These people were the security team of the Black Snake camp.
Of course, that was just a more palatable name; in reality, they were the armed forces of the Black Snake gang, the rulers of this camp.
"Don't get me wrong, we have no ill intentions towards you."
A serious-looking middle-aged man with an Eastern appearance stepped forward from the security team.
"Ha."
Lin Yu merely chuckled, not wanting to speak.
No ill intentions?
The armed forces of the human trafficking organization behind Rupert could come in large numbers, and to say that the Black Snake camp had no collusion with them—who would believe that?
"Sir, you must understand, this is the Wasteland, and the entire Wasteland is a mix of fish and dragons; very few people are absolutely innocent. For the Black Snake camp to survive, we cannot meddle too much."
The serious middle-aged man seemed to have guessed Lin Yu's thoughts and explained, "The Serio organization has a habit of coming here to rest and transport goods. We didn't expect them to clash with you, nor did we anticipate..."
"Nor did you expect they would run into someone as tough as me, right?"
Lin Yu smirked.
"Ahem, we didn't expect our little Black Snake camp could give rise to a talent like you."
The serious middle-aged man felt a bit awkward, then straightened his expression and corrected himself earnestly.
"Fine, I'll take your word for it."
Lin Yu nodded slightly, scanning the crowd before his gaze returned to the serious middle-aged man: "Since, as you say, you have no ill intentions, then why stop me?"
"Since you ask, I'll be straightforward."
The serious middle-aged man cupped his hands and said, "I am Black Snake, and I stopped you to discuss a deal."
"You are Black Snake?"
Lin Yu was slightly surprised.
From the name, he had thought the mastermind behind the Black Snake camp would be a ruthless and cunning figure, but unexpectedly, it was this somewhat serious and stiff middle-aged man.
However, this surprise was only a fleeting thought in his mind, and he quickly responded, "What deal?"
"I just inquired about the situation, and if I'm not mistaken, your next step should be to look for the Serio organization's headquarters?"
Black Snake spoke in a somewhat convoluted manner, which Lin Yu, if still in Lu Bu's persona, would have found quite agreeable.
His words were in the form of a question, but without waiting for Lin Yu to respond, he continued:
"Your Mech can indeed dominate ordinary troops, but essentially, it is just a basic Mech made from scrap parts, lacking most of the armed modules of formal Mechs.
With just alloy armor, you shouldn't be able to withstand heavy weaponry. This time, Hyena Harold and the others were out escorting goods and didn't bring heavy weapons, but their headquarters certainly has them.
To put it bluntly, if you find yourself surrounded or in a prolonged battle, you might be facing certain death."
"Are you implying that you can help me?"
Lin Yu remained noncommittal.
Dawn was indeed not a true Mech.
No matter how cleverly designed, it was merely a pile of scrap parts cobbled together.
Moreover, compared to a real combat Mech, Dawn lacked far too much: armor system, shield system, flight system, anti-missile system, radar system, various thermal weapons... all were absent.
Currently, Dawn was equivalent to a blank slate, the most basic bare-bones Mech, still on the verge of being scrapped.
But there was no way around it; a skilled craftsman cannot make bricks without straw. Those things were either high-end technology or military technology, and it was basically impossible to dig them out from the junkyard. He couldn't just conjure them out of thin air.
"This is the deal I want to discuss with you. Upon completion, I am willing to provide a set of Red Bee decoy modules and a batch of backlight anti-radiation micro-missiles."
Black Snake smiled slightly and clapped his hands: "Of course, before that, to demonstrate our sincerity, I have also prepared three Star Dome Suppressants for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone behind him approach
ed with a low-temperature storage box, opened it, and revealed three translucent, needle-free syringes still emitting white mist.
(End of Chapter)