CHAPTER 4: CHAPTER 4: NUTRIENT INJECTION

In the end, San Ye never mentioned the grudge between Qu Jianlei and Rogers again.

Perhaps he forgot, or maybe he thought it wasn’t worth it.

A dispute between two small ants, is it really worth mentioning?

Qu Jianlei was taken back to the survivors’ temporary camp in the wild and thrown into a five-meter-deep pit.

He couldn’t prove his innocence, especially with live knots on his wrists and ankles, the suspicion was too great, being observed was inevitable!

His companion was Rogers’ corpse; they seemed to be trying to determine if he would resort to cannibalism.

Qu Jianlei definitely wouldn’t eat a person, but he couldn’t withstand...the hunger was too intense.

So, he pleaded loudly, "San Ye, how about giving me a tube of Nutrient Injection? In return, I’ll help you transport goods once!"

"I have a warm piss, do you want it?" San Ye’s curse came from afar.

"Then could you please give me a filter paper?" Qu Jianlei wasn’t at all bashful, living in the Wasteland, dignity is a luxury.

At least a piss is warm; wouldn’t warmth be a good thing?

What’s more, the water resources in the Wasteland are severely scarce, people defecate much more frequently than urinate...

This statement has a certain odor, let’s not elaborate further.

Then, a tube of Nutrient Injection descended from the sky, landing in the deep pit.

And then, San Ye’s voice came cursing, "Twice...or I’ll dismantle your tricycle!"

In the Wasteland, there’s no talk of favors, but if it doesn’t involve major interests, most people don’t mind doing a good deed occasionally.

San Ye indeed looked down on Sha Qu, but apart from being a little foolish, Sha Qu had never done anything bad.

The key thing is that, in the Fallen’s lair this time, Sha Qu actually untied the knots on his hands and feet, that surely takes some skill!

Not to mention, he even knew how to tie a new knot and pretend to be immobile.

The average survivor would struggle with that, but Sha Qu did it, showing that, while foolish, he was capable.

Capable people are, of course, worth investing in, San Ye understood this well.

After all, it’s just a tube of Nutrient Injection, hard earned by Qu Jianlei, but it was nothing to San Ye.

"Just one transport," Qu Jianlei muttered softly, not caring if the other party heard.

With a tube of Nutrient Injection in his stomach, he hummed contentedly, "Comfortable!"

The Nutrient Injection wasn’t big, about the size of half a thin sausage—of the slimmest kind.

As for taste, it wasn’t great, even had a strange flavor.

But just this tube of Nutrient Injection basically guaranteed a day’s consumption for the human body, including essential trace elements and vitamins.

So it was... quite magical, Qu Jianlei always tried to figure out the production process of Nutrient Injections.

Well, saying he was figuring it out might be an exaggeration, his information sources were limited, and he was broke, so what figuring out?

He merely wanted to know how to replicate a low-cost version of the Nutrient Injection.

Now he was so hungry he felt dizzy, though he’d consumed a Nutrient Injection, after the initial relief, his body felt even hungrier.

After all, it’s been two days since he last ate anything.

The next moment, another Nutrient Injection fell down, and a voice sounded, "That tricycle...is it yours?"

Qu Jianlei looked at the tube of Nutrient Injection but didn’t reach for it—some things are hard to digest.

He swallowed, answering with difficulty, "Yes, the tricycle is mine... It’s designed for easy turning..."

"But I was knocked out during transport, whatever the tricycle has done recently is unrelated to me."

"In a single sentence, you answered all I wanted to ask," the voice replied coldly.

After a pause, he spoke again, "The transmission system is quite sophisticated, are you willing to work for me?"

If I were willing to work for someone, I would have done it already~~ Qu Jianlei felt a bit speechless.

It’s impossible to work, I never worked in my past life, so I won’t in this one either!

Plus, he had more reasons than in his past life; not only could he not stand an employer bossing him around, but he also worried about having his secrets exposed.

Qu Jianlei swallowed and answered, "If I don’t work for you, this tube of Nutrient Injection has nothing to do with me, right?"

Sure enough, the other party arrogantly answered, "Just a tube of Nutrient Injection, if you don’t agree, I’ll take it back to feed my dog!"

The wording was precise, indicating he didn’t care about the Nutrient Injection, but also wouldn’t tolerate greed.

It’s just... a bit insulting!

Qu Jianlei wasn’t angry, "Then you better take it back to feed the dog... It’s more valuable than me."

To say he wasn’t angry would be false, but more importantly, there’s no way to argue, and being recruited by such a powerful force could be really dangerous in the future.

Therefore, there’s no need to flare up immediately, just tactfully get through this hurdle, what harm is there in verbally conceding?

"Oh? How interesting," the voice sneered, "since you refused, leave the Nutrient Injection untouched."

"When you starve to death, I’ll retrieve it myself!"

His words were extremely condescending, the insult was so heavy—even if you’re starving, you’re not allowed to touch my Nutrient Injection!

My Nutrient Injection is for my dog!

Placed before ordinary people, who could bear such remarks?

However, Qu Jianlei truly wasn’t an ordinary person, his thinking was different.

He muttered softly, "Starving me in three days... probably won’t happen."

Upon hearing this, he couldn’t help but smack his forehead in frustration, "Indeed a fool... can’t understand a word!"

The day passed quickly, and Qu Jianlei was already so hungry that his vision was turning blue.

In fact, he had learned quite a few Daoist techniques, even tried practicing Turtle Breath Technique, but... clearly it’s not suitable to use now.

Just then, the powerful sound of engines came from afar, almost piercing the sky!

"Is it... Hong Four’s combat team coming out?" Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but think this way.

Hong Four is the only settlement nearby, and they say there are places like Hong Five and Hong Seven, but those settlements are too far away.

The combat team of the settlement is extremely powerful, essentially like an official team.

Hunters are considered very strong, but not all hunters qualify to reside in the settlement!

And the hunting missions issued by the settlement, every hunter rushes to complete them.

The gap between the two is so large that there’s no need to elaborate.

For Qu Jianlei, he had only heard of the settlement, and had seen it from afar at most.

He didn’t even have the qualification to approach the settlement, let alone enter.

Soon after, a series of gunfire sounded, and Qu Jianlei immediately recognized it, "Gauss Machine Gun!"

The Gauss Machine Gun is far more formidable than the Gauss Automatic Rifle, with fierce firepower and a long range.

Just from the shocking sound, one could tell it’s the vehicle-mounted kind, but luckily, it could be heard that the gun muzzle was aimed at the skies.

The machine gun fired only one burst, then the loudspeaker blared.

"Hong Character Four Settlement patrol team on duty, everyone stay where you are, hands above your head!"

"Those who defy... shall be killed without mercy!"

Qu Jianlei wasn’t sure what was happening outside, but anyway, he leaned against the wall of the pit, weakly raising his hands.

Not long after, there was a commotion, someone shouted angrily, followed by several more gunshots.

Someone muttered softly, "Damn fugitives!"

Clearly, a fugitive tried to escape and was subsequently shot dead.

Qu Jianlei was already too tired to ponder those noises, because he was just too hungry, thinking consumes calories.

At this moment, he even felt like laughing, among the survivors outside the settlement, who knows how many fugitives there are.

It was just that person who couldn’t keep calm, so he got shot.

The next moment, two uniformed, armed men came to the edge of the pit.

The uniforms weren’t very new, covered in sand and various spots.

Yet both were holding automatic rifles, pistols and grenades strapped to their waists, with short daggers on their leg straps, radiating a chilling aura.

One of them had a long weapon on his back, which looked like a Long Blade.

He looked at Qu Jianlei, questioning from high above, "What do you do?"

"I make a living at the mine," Qu Jianlei weakly replied, "Previously caught by the Fallen..."

Due to lacking strength, he tried to keep his explanation short, addressing the issue in just a few words.

"Kid’s quite arrogant!" The patrol with the Long Blade frowned, dissatisfied, "Just a few words... who are you fooling?"

Just by his tone, you could tell he was ready to kill at any moment.

"Forgive me, sir," Qu Jianlei chuckled bitterly, "I’ve only had one tube of Nutrient Injection in five days, too hungry to have strength."

The other patrol snorted coldly, "Have the courtesy to put some thought into lying, look to your right, what’s that?"

"They won’t let me eat, said they’d wait till I’m dead from hunger... then take me back to feed the dogs."

"Wow... are you that hated?" His eyes blinked, casually drew out two tubes of Nutrient Injection and tossed them down.

After some thought, he threw down two more tubes, "Since you’re hungry, eat them all now... immediately!"

Compared to the survivors in the wilderness, the patrol team members weren’t short on money, they could at least afford several tubes of Nutrient Injection.

But he wasn’t a kind-hearted person either: You must consume all four tubes of Nutrient Injection to prove you’re not lying!

Anyone who’s eaten compressed biscuits knows, food with too high a calorie content, eating too much of it causes great trouble.

However, for Qu Jianlei, this really wasn’t a problem, he had been in a state of hunger for years.

As for binge eating after hunger causing negative bodily reactions, that wasn’t a concern either.

Nutrient Injection is easy to digest, won’t cause any discomfort to the stomach, as long as you can bear its caloric content.

And Qu Jianlei was least concerned about calories, this body was lacking too much, "Thank you for your generosity, sir."

He voraciously gulped down three tubes of Nutrient Injection and paused.

The man looked at him with a half-smile, his hand already touching the pistol on his waist, "Can’t eat anymore?"

"I need some water," Qu Jianlei replied seriously, "It can help me transfer the calories."

In fact, it’s not about transferring calories, but the sudden high caloric intake would soon cause dehydration.

If he forced himself, he could eat the fourth tube, but... why harm his own body?

"Makes sense," the patrol with the Long Blade said with interest, tossing over a leather pouch, "Here’s your water!"

The patrol team had canteens, this leather pouch now contained water meant for the engine’s radiator, not very clean.

(New book uploaded, seeking all kinds of support.)