CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 31: CHILD LABOR

The hairless creature was quite surprised after hearing Qu Jianlei’s words, "You have a gun, and you’re still afraid they won’t talk?"

Qu Jianlei calmly retorted, "What if they just refuse to talk?"

He never considered himself a soft-hearted person.

Raised in the peaceful society of Blue Star, he could kill without blinking, and even his body wouldn’t feel any discomfort.

The people he wanted to kill surely had their reasons for deserving it.

But casually finding two people to question and killing them if they don’t talk was... a bit of a challenge to his limits.

His personality was somewhat stubborn, and yes, he was a bit troubled, but boundaries are not something to be easily crossed.

Those survivors who resorted to cannibalism, he would never associate with; senseless killing was not something he wanted to do.

The Wasteland had its own rules, which he was powerless to resist, but as a person, he must have his code of conduct.

He didn’t want to become someone like Sai Xiansheng.

The feeling of life and death being at his beck and call might be good, but he didn’t like it.

The hairless creature paused, "You’re right, you saved me, so you’re naturally not that ruthless."

Qu Jianlei didn’t respond, even though the other person was just a child, in the Wasteland, one should never expose too much about oneself to anyone.

After a pause, the hairless creature sighed, "No need to kill, with your strength, you can just pay for directions."

"Heh," Qu Jianlei shook his head dismissively, yet said nothing.

He had been misdirected deliberately on Blue Star before, so how could he trust the integrity of Wasteland dwellers?

In the vastness of the Wasteland, a slight directional error could lead you to death.

The hairless creature stayed silent after seeing his reaction: it was clear the other party didn’t intend to take his suggestion.

From then on, Qu Jianlei traveled during the day and cultivated at night; as for food and water... supplying a little more wouldn’t hurt.

The hairless creature recovered quickly, proving that the Wasteland dwellers’ physiques were indeed extraordinary, plus he was still young,

On the third day, early in the morning, he proactively volunteered to drive.

Qu Jianlei’s cultivation was observed by the hairless creature, but he truly had no idea what the other was doing.

Wisely, he didn’t inquire, but rather eagerly asked to drive, wanting to show his value.

Honestly, had he not made this request today, Qu Jianlei had considered leaving him behind.

He had already given him three doses of Nutrient Injection, which wasn’t bad, his body had recovered quite a bit, did he intend to keep freeloading?

Watching the hairless creature driving the huge motorcycle, Qu Jianlei felt no guilt for employing a child worker.

If he didn’t hire him, he would be dead! This wasn’t some 996 boss’s presumption, the Wasteland was just like that.

Qu Jianlei attempted to meditate on the carrier, but after several tries, he gave up—it was really too jarring.

But being able to lean on the carrier for relaxation was much better than constantly riding the motorcycle.

However, he quickly realized the convenience of employing the hairless creature.

The wilderness of the Wasteland was always a place of survival of the fittest, it had never changed.

Over many days, the two had encountered five or six groups of survivors, one of which had as many as nine people.

Seeing that the driver was a child, almost all the survivors revealed a greedy look in their eyes.

But seeing the silhouette and weapons on the carrier, everyone chose to remain silent.

It might be a peerless fiend or someone from a great power, in any case, not many could afford child labor in the wilderness.

In settlements, hiring child laborers was relatively more common.

After a few such repeated encounters, the hairless creature couldn’t help but remark, "Sir, your aura... really is strong!"

"Aura, my ass," Qu Jianlei replied with a cold sneer, "They just know that the first to make a move usually ends up as cannon fodder."

The hairless creature immediately understood, "So they’re all waiting for someone else to scout ahead?"

This level of response was lacking, Qu Jianlei secretly curled his lips.

The hairless creature driving the huge motorcycle with his small frame appeared really odd, yet he handled it effortlessly.

"We’re just traveling continuously like this, shouldn’t we check the surroundings?"

What could there be to see in the surroundings? Qu Jianlei really didn’t want to bother.

The conditions were relatively better already, it’s natural to want to find a place with more order to settle down.

However, half a day later, he abruptly asked, "What could be interesting out there?"

The hairless creature hesitated before answering, "You could check various conditions and also... what if we run into a pack of mutant beasts?"

Qu Jianlei paused in surprise before answering, "Let’s keep driving for now, we’ll talk when we reach a camp."

Statements like this... it’s true that good words don’t work as well as bad ones, for half a day later, they encountered trouble.

While the child was driving intently, Qu Jianlei suddenly spoke, "Hold on, something seems off ahead."

The hairless creature immediately hit the brakes, "What seems off?"

There were some issues with the tie between the carrier and the motorcycle, and an emergency brake caused a stiff forward and backward jolt.

But Qu Jianlei was used to it, he rolled forward with the momentum, landing on the ground.

He focused his gaze ahead, "It seems like... the ground is shaking?"

"The ground is shaking..." The hairless one squints, "Is it a herd of mutant cattle? I don’t see any."

Mutant cattle are good stuff, and Qu Jianlei’s weapons can deal with them.

But if it’s a herd, we’d have to run. Even if we hit one or two, we wouldn’t get any spoils; it’s not something you can handle without a large team.

However, Qu Jianlei furrowed his brow and jumped onto the cart, observing the distant ground, "It seems like there are ripples on the ground shaking."

"That’s sandworms!" The hairless one turned the steering wheel and accelerated, "Sandworms always come in groups!"

Qu Jianlei, unprepared, staggered and nearly fell off the cart.

Fortunately, his physical condition had been improving steadily, allowing him to adjust his posture in time.

Unexpectedly, the next moment, the hairless one changed direction again.

Qu Jianlei’s body swayed again, and he couldn’t help but scold, "What are you doing?"

"There’s more rocks over there," said the hairless one, stepping on the gas, "to avoid sandworms, you have to get to a place with lots of rocks!"

Qu Jianlei fell silent; he had heard about sandworms but only knew of them in passing.

All he knew was that sandworms eat everything, can grow ten meters or more in length, and seem somewhat like oversized earthworms.

When you don’t know something, it’s wise to listen to someone who does, even if that person is a child.

Nevertheless, as he turned to look back, he was still curious, "Don’t sandworms eat rocks?"

"They can’t swallow big rocks," the hairless one focused on driving, "Stop asking... see if they’re catching up fast?"

Qu Jianlei stared intently behind them, noticing earth blades rapidly stretching toward the motorcycle, "The speed’s decent."

The resistance of moving underground is too great, even for sandworms, they can’t be that fast, "Unfortunately... it feels like there are dozens of them."

"None of them are mutated," the hairless one breathed a sigh of relief before looking back for a glance.

"Dozens? There can be thousands in a sandworm swarm, this one is just near us, but it’s good they’re not mutated..."

Mutant sandworms are much faster than ordinary ones.

The motorcycle, towing the cart, can go at most thirty kilometers per hour, and if it encounters them, it might not outrun them.

However, Qu Jianlei was considering something else, "If there are only a few, I’d like to kill a couple."

"Sandworms have no value," the hairless one replied without looking back, "Only a small portion of their meat is edible."

Qu Jianlei rolled his eyes at that, "Knowing so much, how could you get poisoned by purple lichen?"

"I was starving," the hairless one grumbled, "I was trying to control it all along..."

Qu Jianlei asked again, "Does sandworm meat contain high energy?"

"The edible part is too small," the hairless one answered without hesitation, "and it’s inside the layer..."

Sandworms have a thick keratinous layer with mild toxins; their inner flesh is highly corrosive.

The edible part is just a small section in the middle; the key is that breaking the keratinous layer is difficult, and you have to prevent the corrosive liquid from seeping out.

Even with a ready-made sandworm carcass, dissecting it to retrieve the edible meat is costly.

Killing sandworms also comes at a cost, and in his words, killing sandworms is entirely uneconomical.

Even if there’s only one sandworm, there’s no need to kill it—unless it poses a threat to you.

The gravel area was not far from them, about two kilometers or so, though at first, it was just some small gravel.

As they entered the gravel area, the earth blades behind them also accelerated, looking relentless.

Watching as gravel constantly surged out of the soil, even flinging small stones into the air, Qu Jianlei was quite astonished.

"Are you kidding me? How long have they been starving?"

The hairless one kept his head down driving, and after a while, said, "Small stones can’t stop them... the speed is decreasing."

The motorcycle’s speed slowed, while the sandworms’ did not; they clearly weren’t willing to give up this delicious meal.

After another three kilometers, the sandworms were less than four hundred meters from the motorcycle.

The obviously increasing stones caused the motorcycle to bounce continuously, making it harder to move.

After five kilometers, the sandworms were only two hundred meters away from the motorcycle; though the rocks had grown larger, they still relentlessly pursued.

"Unlucky," Qu Jianlei decisively jumped off the cart, took off running, with several guns strapped to him.

In a flash, he overtook the motorcycle. The hairless one was dumbfounded, "Hey, are you just leaving me?"

Qu Jianlei was running for his life but didn’t forget to respond, "With a lighter load on the motorcycle, you should be quicker too."

He swore that was his true intention, not the "as long as you run faster than your companion when encountering a bear" scenario.

The hairless one glanced back at the advancing earth blades, pressing hard on the gas.

"With a lighter load, the bike’s bouncing more! I can barely hold the handlebars!"

Qu Jianlei knew that was true, but he absolutely wouldn’t go back to be the "ballast," "Good luck!"

Fortunately, after another two kilometers, they reached an area with plenty of rocks, greatly hindering the sandworms’ pursuit.

By then, the extending earth blades were less than fifty meters from the motorcycle.

The two didn’t stop but continued to run, covering over a kilometer more.

At this moment, a rock the size of a small car was flipped over three or four times by the earth blades.

It seemed that as a signal, those earth blades gradually ceased their pursuit.