The open space where poor people used to dry their clothes was now crowded with a large, dark crowd.
Although it is said that clothes are dried here, the clothes hanging on the hemp rope are mostly rags like rags, which can only cover privacy at most.
Due to the low education rate and the lack of contraceptive measures and other forms of entertainment, people here like to make humans for nothing, so much so that there are more humans than clothes.
Some extremely poor survivors even had to share a robe with the whole family, and whoever needed to go out would wear it.
It is precisely because of this that when Asin stood in the middle of the crowd wearing a clean striped shirt and rough canvas pants, both his temperament and image seemed incompatible with the poor people around him who were wearing old clothes or even wrapped in sheets.
Finally, amid a burst of pushing from people, an old man with a wrinkled face and sallow complexion was pushed out.
His name is Jia Yin, he is from the rat tribe, he is less than sixty years old, but he looks like he has been buried at an advanced age.
But then again, in the slums of Golden Gallen Port, living to the age of sixty is indeed considered an advanced age. Most people have finished their lives before they are forty years old.
People on this street unanimously believe that since he is the child of the rat tribe, it is most appropriate for him to be educated by the elders of the rat tribe.
They need to figure out three things.
One is what those "iron men" said to him that day, and the other is where did he get the money to buy this outfit.
As for the third thing, it is also the most important one.
What does it mean to ask them to move away?
The old man who was squeezed to the front had a look of helplessness on his face, but he also knew that it was best for him to do this.
So he cleared his throat, looked at the young man in front of him seriously and said.
"Axin, you are a good boy. I watched you grow up. I hugged you when you were only as big as a coconut shell."
Asin nodded.
"I remember, Grandpa Jia Yin."
There was a relieved smile on the old man's face, but the rows of criss-crossing wrinkles quickly became serious again.
"We all know that you are a good, honest boy. You and your family are good people on this street, so you are on our side, right?"
"certainly."
Asin nodded again, glanced at Grandpa Jia Yin, then at the neighbors around him, and continued speaking slowly.
"I can swear to my gods that I want everyone to live a good life more than anyone else."
As soon as he finished speaking, an indignant roar came from beside him.
"Then what do you mean by asking us to move?"
That angry shout immediately ignited the emotions of everyone around him, and the continuous rebuke instantly drowned the two people standing in the crowd.
"That's it! What do you mean!"
"This is our home! We're not going anywhere!"
"How much benefit those people did you!"
"Okay, I finally understand where your clothes come from!"
"Bah! Eat something that crawls inside and out!"
"I knew none of these rats were good!"
"Quiet, everyone, be quiet...let me talk to this kid." Jia Yin's voice was pleading, and he raised his hands to try to calm everyone down, but all he received in response was raindrops of spittle.
No one paid any attention to him.
After all, the rat tribe are just a bunch of lowly things.
Although they look like humans, they are like rats in the gutter on the inside. People here look down on them from the bottom of their hearts.
Just as the wolves are rich in the bravest and bravest warriors, they are also rich in prostitutes, pickpockets, thieves and profiteers.
This group of villains who do all kinds of evil have only a slightly higher status than the Yue people who have been deprived of all property, power and even personal freedom.
People here have no doubt that the next ethnic group to be demoted to slavery will definitely be these disgusting rats.
It is a disgrace to allow this group of inferior people to live in the prosperity of the empire!
Everything would be better without them!
Bathed in the curses of everyone, Asin looked at the indignant faces expressionlessly, and suddenly felt like laughing.
His status is indeed low.
But how good are these people?
Even if you are as noble as a wolf, you are just a dog that picks up garbage in this hellish place. Even if you are as docile as a sheep, you will still give birth to ruthless gangsters and robbers.
But his old father, who was looked down upon by everyone on the street, had lived his life honestly and diligently. Not only had he never offended anyone, but he had also taught him and his brothers and sisters to be honest people.
If you are classified as a good person, you can be reincarnated as a master in your next life.
Frankly speaking, he has indeed lived an honest and responsible life for the past seventeen years, and he once planned to spend the rest of his life just like this.
Until yesterday, he was treated like a sewer rat by these guys, pushing and pushing him out of the crowd, just to test who those "iron men" were and what their attitude was towards them...
At that moment, standing alone on the street, he suddenly hated himself for being a coward, and also hated those people who had made him a coward for seventeen years.
So much so that when those people handed him the gun, he wished he could pull out the guys who pushed him out and kill them on the spot.
But he didn't do that.
This is not out of kindness.
But he knew very well who gave him the gun in his hand - or the power of life and death.
Since the master can put this gun into his hands, he can also take it away from him.
In order to retain this power, he must do everything he can to please them.
He won't show mercy when it's time to kill.
but now.
He had to get it done beautifully and with the minimum cost - before all the twelve bullets in the pistol were used up.
Holding the cold metal texture in his pocket, he tried hard to overcome the fear in his heart and the instinct that had been engraved in his human nature for seventeen years.
Then, like an honest child, he nodded his head for the third and final time.
"Yes, I did collect money, and it was a huge amount of money, a huge amount of money that you poor people can't even imagine in this life."
The surrounding area suddenly became quiet.
He could feel that in addition to pure anger, the eyes looking at him also contained a hint of greed and desire.
It's like a hyena meeting a hare.
They only wished that they were not the ones who took over the gun from the Alliance, and they wished they could snatch away all the money in their pockets.
Without pausing, Asin used all his strength to maintain his composure and calmly said what he had been thinking about all night.
"A total of 40,000 yuan. Not only did I buy myself a new set of clothes, clothes that can be called clothes, I also bought a set for my brothers, my elder sister, my younger sister and my parents. After that, we also bought a new set of clothes for myself.
I plan to buy three pigs and some household items to help make everyone’s life more comfortable.”
A slightly stout man took a step forward and stared at him intently.
"Why did they give you money? Those iron men."
Asin recognizes this guy.
This guy's name is Vikram, and he is from the wolf tribe. It is said that he has served as a soldier before, but only this guy knows for sure.
He only knew that this guy was a well-known villain on this street. He often bullied his older brothers and younger brothers, as well as his honest and honest father.
Asin knew very well that the reason why this guy didn't directly snatch the money from his pocket was not because he was afraid of himself, but just because he was afraid of the "iron men" who seemed to be standing behind him.
It is precisely because of this...
He said nothing to lose the support of the adults.
"I sold my house to them," Asin looked at him expressionlessly, imagining the group of iron men standing behind him, and continued speaking slowly, "Now that house belongs to them.
, whether they blow it up or use it as a target, it is their freedom."
Everyone was in an uproar when they heard this, including Vikram who was standing in front of him. Countless people had expressions of surprise and shock on their faces.
"You can't do this!"
"That's not just your house! It's also the house on this street!"
"That's right!"
At least--
This huge sum of money deserves its own share!
Vikram's eyes narrowed, and his tone took on a hint of menace.
"Boy, I live down the street from you! If a shell lands on me—"
"Then you go discuss it with them! With those iron men!" Looking at the chattering people, Asin suddenly broke out and interrupted everyone with a roar.
No one expected that this usually obedient, honest and low-key young man would suddenly lose such a temper, and the surrounding area fell silent for a moment.
Even the famous villain on this street, the guy named Vikram, looked at him in astonishment, as if he were looking at a freak who had taken the wrong medicine.
But even so, this guy just watched.
Asin knew that this guy would not dare to touch him.
He is now extremely calm and even more sober.
He knew that the more unscrupulously he behaved at the moment, the more these people would think about having a backer behind him, and the more they would worry about what gave him the unscrupulous courage.
What's more, they didn't guess wrong.
I do have that thing.
And it’s in his hand!
After looking around at the astonished faces around him, Asin continued speaking with undiminished momentum.
"...Go, huddle together, and discuss with those iron men to let them fight the empire elsewhere! Or you can send a cowardly guy to discuss with His Majesty and let him control the port and the Governor's Mansion.
For those iron men!”
Looking at the speechless guys, he smiled coldly.
"...You don't dare to do this. You only dare to find someone who looks easy to bully. It's best that this person is someone you are very familiar with but not that familiar with. It's best that he works hard and doesn't complain even if he's beaten or scolded.
The one who can fight back is like me standing here."
"I'm the one who wants to drive you away from here, right? Then come and kill me, and then watch your house explode into ruins with a bang! The soldiers of the empire will use them as bunkers. The Governor's Mansion
The iron men here will use them as targets. When they finish shooting, pat their butts and leave, you will get nothing but a pile of sand and soil! Come on, don't you have any hands!"
No one took action.
There wasn't even anyone to talk to.
Asin panted slightly.
He had never said so many words in his life, and he did so in front of so many people.
But he was already standing here, like a mouse cornered by a wild cat.
The only thing he can do now is bluff.
If he was afraid, these people would really kill him.
Gritting his teeth to hold back his trembling shoulders, Asin tried hard to recall the words he had thought about last night and continued speaking word by word.
"It's me, the poorer poor guy who you poor devils look down upon the most on weekdays, and now I have helped you negotiate a suitable price, so that your worthless shacks can be exchanged for at least four heads, which you have never seen in your life.
Touched fat pig!"
"Forty thousand, forty thousand Xilan coins! If you are willing to dismantle it yourself, they will give you an extra twenty thousand. This is the benefit I helped you get! It's me!"
He roared at the top of his lungs, his voice even hoarse, and when the people around heard it, they suddenly boiled like a boiling oil pot.
forty thousand!
If you tear down the house yourself, you’ll get an extra 20,000 yuan!
As for their shabby house, no one would want it, let alone 40,000 Xilan coins, or even 20,000! And even if it was worth that much, no one would buy it.
Many people are already moved.
As the young man named Asin said, this amount of money is an astronomical sum for most people living here.
With this money, they can not only build a more spacious hut in the countryside, but also buy three or four big fat pigs.
And with pigs, even if you are a wealthy farmer, it is better than crowding in the slums to pick up odd jobs with no meal.
Seeing that everyone was excited, Vikram was panicked.
He usually makes a living by collecting protection fees, extorting money, and doing some sneaky things, and these jobs are divided into territories.
Without this neighborhood, he would be like a wild dog without a home, and would have no choice but to go to other dogs' territories and compete with them for food.
He will be bitten to death by those more ruthless wild dogs!
He has no objection to selling his dilapidated house at a good price.
But it should at least be a huge amount of money that can make him have enough food and clothing for the rest of his life!
It would be better for him to become a real wolf, rather than hanging out with these poor people like a wild dog!
"Wait! Why is it only 40,000--" Vikram put on a fierce expression, and took a step forward with a stern expression.
If he takes a few people to discuss with those iron men, maybe he can get more——
However, before his words could be spoken, he was interrupted by a sudden gunshot.
There was a blood hole on his forehead. Vikram looked at the young man whose arms were shaking with widened eyes in astonishment. After a moment, he fell heavily to the ground, with red and white stains scattered all over the ground.
He didn't know.
Someone has been looking at his head for a long time.
Hearing the gunshot, the crowd burst into commotion, like monkeys being splashed with hot oil, but instead of moving forward, they moved backward in fear.
Jia Yin looked at the rat tribe guy who pulled out the gun in disbelief, as if he was looking at something treacherous, and said with a trembling voice.
"You killed someone..."
"Yes, let me be a beast in my next life."
Trying hard to hide the trembling of his index finger and arm, Asin put the gun back in his pocket, said this sentence indifferently, then looked at the people around him and continued.
"What about you? Do you want to take the money and get out of here, or do you want to be like him?"
Just as he expected.
No one cared about the body.
People die here every now and then, whether from starvation or illness, no one cares at all.
Even if the Governor's Palace is right next to it.
What they care more about is the gun in his hand, the gun given by Iron Man that symbolizes authority, even though there are only 11 bullets left in that gun.
besides--
They still care about themselves.
Or money.
As for Vikram.
That guy is already dead.
Not many people liked him when he was alive, let alone after he was lying on the ground. The mass grave was his final destination.
The man standing behind Vikram moved his Adam's apple, suppressed the fear on his face, stared at the young man standing in the crowd and spoke.
"You...can guarantee to help us get this money?"
Asin said without hesitation.
"I promise."
The man hesitated for a moment, nodded, and stepped forward.
Asin stared at him intently. Although he was panicking in his heart, it did not show on his face that was numb from the sight of blood.
step.
Two steps...
Three meters away, the man suddenly stopped and took a deep breath.
"...Thank you for everything you have done for everyone."
His Adam's apple moved and he continued.
"Like you said... this place will soon be in ruins, and even if we don't take that money, nothing will change."
The surroundings were quiet for many seconds.
People seemed surprised by his approval.
But soon, sporadic sounds began to sound.
"really……"
“The price is decent enough.”
"Your Majesty will not give it to us."
"My shabby house has been leaking for a while, and I'm planning to build a new one."
With someone taking the lead, everything becomes much easier.
Although there was a bit of hesitation and hesitation in those unintentional words, the meaning revealed was not unexpected at all. They were mostly affirmations and praises for Asin.
Looking at the obedient people, Asin felt relieved, but he did not thank the man, he just looked at him indifferently and said.
"your name."
The man said with a respectful expression.
"Kunal...a member of the dog tribe."
Asin nodded.
"From now on, you are mine."
The man looked happy.
At this moment, tiny raindrops suddenly appeared in the sky filled with dark clouds, and one drop after another fell on the blood-stained muddy ground.
When they find it raining, people are like dogs after hearing the dinner bell. They rush towards the clothes and sheets hung on the hemp rope to dry, scrambling to hold them in their arms for fear of getting wet by the rain.
Afraid of being taken advantage of by others.
But Asin just squatted down, picked up a bullet casing from the ground, and wiped away the muddy water on it with his trembling thumbs.
"Go and bury him." He tried hard not to show any cowardice in his voice.
Kunal stood in the rain and nodded respectfully, like a loyal servant.
"yes!"
Not just Kunal.
Several other men also grabbed Vikram's hands and feet lying on the ground and moved him outside the square.
From this moment on, they are all his little brothers.
Nothing needs to be said clearly.
Asin, who was squatting in the rain, did not get up, but quietly looked at the pool of blood in the distance that had not been washed away by the rain, his eyes enchanted.
This is his first murder.
He found that as long as he treated people not as humans but as animals, it was easier than he thought.
Although his arms are sore and numb now, his mouth is in severe pain, and his legs are too weak to stand up...
…
"Damn, it's raining."
"Hurry and find a place to take shelter from the rain."
Near Camp Lowell, near the slums of Blackwater Street.
The four players who were patrolling along the alley suddenly saw that it was raining, and it was getting heavier and heavier, so they walked to the eaves of a nearby house.
It's a pity that the eaves are too narrow, and it's windy outside. No matter how they lean against the wall, rainwater will fall on the armor.
The "Type Five" exoskeleton has good water wading performance, but it is troublesome if water enters the gaps in the bulletproof inserts, and some moving parts also need to be re-oiled and maintained.
The more complex the machine, the more picky it is about the working environment. The only one that is truly durable is the mosquito plane produced by Goblin Technology.
perhaps……
They should hire a few NPCs to do this.
[Mountains and rivers in a dream] I was thinking this in my mind, but I saw a few pairs of bright eyes staring at them through the cracks of the half-opened window.
He looked at the Perception Department [Zero Chong] on the side, who shook his head.
"No murderous intent."
Shan He entered the dream and walked to the door, stretched out his hand and knocked on the door.
The door opened quickly, and a wrinkled face poked out from the crack of the door, with fearful eyes full of uneasiness.
"grown ups?"
"Let's take shelter from the rain."
After saying that, Shanhe Ruimeng took out a Xilan coin with a face value of 100 and stuffed it into the hands of the old man with incredible expression written on his face.
"Thank you... thank you." The old man thanked him sincerely and stepped back to make way for the door.
The light in the room was very dark, but I could barely see clearly.
There was a table in the room of less than ten square meters, with some pots and pans on it, and the pair of black eyes were hidden behind the table.
They were children of about eleven or twelve years old, with sallow complexions and dirty faces. They were boys and girls. They were all wrapped in a linen sheet, as if from a complete curtain or
Torn from the sheets.
Looking at the shiny exoskeleton and the rifles hanging on their chests, the faces of these children showed both timidity and a bit of curiosity.
They had never seen these iron men in armor, but they felt that these men seemed more powerful than the soldiers carrying rifles.
The two looked at the older girl with fear and anxiety on their faces. At the urging of their mother, they quietly climbed up the ladder and climbed upstairs.
Shanhe Ruomeng had some unbearable eyes, but he didn't say anything. He just stood with three teammates at the door to take shelter from the rain, trying not to disturb these people's lives.
The two sides just faced each other in silence, the only sound was the patter of rain outside the window.
After a while, they seemed to feel that these "iron men" were not that scary. In addition, their eyes could not be seen through the eyepieces, so the adults and children in the room gradually stopped paying attention to them.
Except for the three women who had gone upstairs before and did not come down, everyone else gathered around the table. From the iron basin filled with brown mud, they took out pieces of mud the size of a baby's fist and spread them on the table.
Into cake shape.
The old man muttered something plausibly, stretched out his hands covered with mud, grabbed some crushed wild vegetable leaves, pepper powder, and cardamom powder from the basket on the side and sprinkled them on the mud cake one after another.
The players standing at the door looked at each other, swallowed involuntarily, and communicated quietly in the communication channel.
"Is this... soil?"
"Eighty percent yes."
"Mom..."
"Looking at it this way, nutritional ointment is more delicious."
"But they actually have condiments."
Shanhe fell asleep without speaking.
He remembered seeing it on Sisi's post. It was said that there was a vast red land to the north of Golden Gallen Port.
That piece of red soil was completely different from what they usually understood as "Guanyin soil" in terms of color and composition. It seemed to have been artificially improved. Although it could not grow anything, it could be eaten directly after boiling, filtering out the sand and gravel and draining it.
The local poor people will mix some plant fiber and condiments into it to make it less difficult to eat.
Of course, although eating this artificially improved mud is not as dangerous as eating kaolin, it is impossible to eat it seven days a week.
Most of the bottom of Golden Gallen Harbor still eat black beans and a bean that is similar to chickpeas but larger in size as the main food, with various berries and wild vegetables as supplementary food. As for the main source of protein, it is mainly some insects and water snails
.
As for the "mud cake", it is just a supplement when the economy is not rich.
In short, because it is located at the junction of tropical and subtropical regions, and is located on the impact plain beside the Yongliu River, the food sources in this area are quite abundant.
It is precisely because of this that this settlement can accommodate so many people - so much so that it far exceeds the carrying capacity of this land.
However, the survivors living here are just living, and they are not even as dignified as the cows in the barn.
At least only outsiders can eat them.
After a while, the man's ritual of spreading the condiments was completed, and the mud cakes on the table all looked half-dry.
He picked up a few pieces of cake, put them into a palm-sized bowl, handed them to the older child beside him, and whispered to him to deliver them to his mother and sisters upstairs.
Then he rubbed his hands and greeted the family members who were already swallowing their saliva to start eating.
Ling Chong, who was standing at the door, couldn't stand it any longer. He took out the compressed biscuit stuffed in his backpack, walked forward regardless of the captain's eyes, and in the panic eyes of the family, he gave it to the child closest to him, and said with a hand
Lian Yu whispered.
"Eat this."
He knew very well that there was no point in doing so, just like putting gold coins into the house of an NPC with a poor family, it would not change anything.
But he did it anyway.
There's no particular reason, isn't it just to get some ideas while playing games?
Shanhe Ruimeng shook his head, but didn't say anything. Erliang Yueguang, who was standing next to him, quietly gave a thumbs up.
The little girl who was as tall as his exoskeleton breastplate opened her dark eyes and looked directly at him through her fluffy hair. Then she looked at her father and saw that his father had no objection.
I took a bite of the plastic packaging.
Seeing that she was stabbed in the mouth by a plastic saw, Ling Chong quickly signaled with his hand.
"You have to tear it apart, like this."
The little girl hesitated for a moment, clumsily followed his instructions and tore open the plastic wrapper, then hesitantly took another bite.
For a moment, her eyes widened, and her dark eyes seemed to be coated with a layer of color, with a layer of hazy waves rolling around.
It was a delicious taste she had never tasted before.
She stuffed it into her mouth hungrily. When Ling Chong saw this, he looked around and saw no water container. He gritted his teeth, took out a bottle of bottled water from his backpack, unscrewed it and handed it out.
"Stop choking."
The little girl was indeed choked and coughed hard. She took the water bottle and drank most of it before she recovered.
After unhooking the helmet's visor, Ling Chong knelt down, smiled, reached out and touched her fluffy hair, and asked in a gentle tone.
"What's your name?"
"Arno."
Why does this name sound like a boy?
never mind.
Ling Chong didn't care and continued with a smile.
"My name is Ling Chong. If you see a bad guy with a gun with a long stick in the future, go over there and find us."
As he spoke, he pointed in the direction of Camp Rowell, which was where their centurions were stationed and where the rebels were stationed.
Arnold, who had a mouth full of biscuit crumbs, nodded his little head vigorously and licked his fingers with unfinished content. He didn't know if he heard what he said.
The children around were looking at this side eagerly, swallowing their saliva, and the sticky mud cakes in their hands suddenly lost their smell.
Thinking that after giving them all, Ling Chong simply took out the last few compressed biscuits from his backpack and gave them to everyone present, including their father, the old man with wrinkles on his face.
man.
Seeing the children devouring their food, Ling Chong felt satisfied in his heart, with a satisfied smile on his face.
A few compressed biscuits don't cost much, not to mention that no one eats them at all, they are just a temporary supply just in case.
The older boy took his younger brother upstairs, seemingly intending to share the delicacies brought by the "Iron Man" with his sisters and mothers.
The old man stared at the biscuit in his hand silently, with a sad look on his face, as if he was thinking about something.
Finally, as if he had made up his mind, he looked at the smiling Ling Chong with a pleading look on his face.
"Arnold is too young...please find another one."
Ling Chong's smile instantly froze on his face.
"What?!"
Erliang Yueguang couldn't help but burst out laughing, clutching her stomach and leaning against the earthen wall. Shanhe Ruimeng looked at the guy with a black line on his face, and looked away because he felt embarrassed.
[New Version], who had been silent until now, suddenly shook his shoulders as if coming back to his senses, and spoke.
"In Borneo Province, only elders and husbands can touch a woman's head. For an unmarried woman, touching her head means proposing... I just logged off and went to Lao Si's post to check."
"What the hell!?"
Shanhe sighed as he fell into his dream.
"Drag him out and kill him."
Erliang Yueguang, who was giving a thumbs up a second ago, also nodded in deep agreement.
"+1, what a newborn."
New version: "...?"
"Wait a minute, I didn't make it! This doesn't count!"
Ling Chong quickly stood up from the ground, dumbfounded and wanted to explain, but his three teammates all looked at him with disgust.
The little girl named Arnold just licked her fingers, indifferent to the chirping sounds of those people, and didn't understand why her father sighed.
A pair of dark eyes stared straight at the backpack containing delicious food, and she was thinking about one thing.
It would be great if I could get another piece.
Before I knew it, the rain stopped outside the house.
Just when Shanhe Ruimeng was about to take his three teammates and leave here as soon as possible, a gunshot from outside the window suddenly broke the tranquility after the rain.
That's the sound of the Ripper's rifle!
The four of them were instantly alert.
Without waiting to say goodbye to the family, Shanhe Ruimeng pushed open the door and rushed to the street. Three teammates with guns and ammunition quickly followed behind him.
With the addition of the exoskeleton, the four people moved as fast as lightning. In just one breath, they formed a formation in the direction of the gunfire, leaning on the bunker and setting up their rifles.
However, what they didn't expect was that the group of guys with guns standing on the opposite street were not their enemies.