CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: NEWS OF THE MECHA

The person blocking Qu Jianlei finally stood up.

Since the other party wasn’t here to sell Mutant Beast meat, he had no intention of making things difficult.

The weapons on the other side’s body didn’t intimidate him, but being able to kill a B-level Mutant Beast alone showed undeniable strength.

So he straightforwardly stated, "If you get a Crystal, we’ll buy it at a high price."

After all, this is a place with rules! Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

However, he didn’t rush to pick up the meat, but instead stated, "I can give half to you."

The other person didn’t speak but looked at him with interest, a slight mocking smile on the corner of his mouth.

Qu Jianlei didn’t look at him and continued, "I want to learn how to identify Mutant Crystals."

"You’re dreaming," this person turned aside, not bothering to look at him again.

Qu Jianlei had a thin skin; he genuinely wanted to learn, which is why he didn’t mind the other’s rudeness and reluctantly gave it a try.

Since it wasn’t possible, he let it go, took down his Gauss Rifle, and used the barrel to pick up the two pieces of meat.

With two consecutive skilled maneuvers, over two hundred kilograms of meat were directly lifted onto his shoulder.

Then he quickly left.

The three people saw him take down his rifle and instinctively became a bit wary, not expecting this kind of operation in the end.

Watching him disappear into the distance with light steps, the three of them were at a loss for words for a moment.

After a long while, the machine gunner sitting in the truck bed spoke in astonishment, "He really is... a master!"

The physical fitness of Wasteland people is generally strong, so carrying several hundred pounds and walking is not a big deal.

But being able to flick one’s wrist and make several hundred pounds of meat fly up is not something an ordinary person can do.

The man blocking the way looked a bit displeased, snorting coldly at the remark, "What is this... a show for?"

However, he didn’t understand everything; Qu Jianlei did this not only to show off but also to guard against them suddenly attacking.

If he crouched down to carry the meat, it would be quite inconvenient for him to react.

He kept on guard all the way until he walked five kilometers and then slightly relaxed.

When he reached the foot of the mountain, he saw a few motorcycles from afar and exhaled deeply.

"This place can be visited often; it is very helpful for me to break through myself."

The return trip was much simpler; there were motorcycles dedicated to transporting passengers.

Someone tried to extort him for ten kilograms of Golden Patterned Bear Meat for a ride, but in the end, Qu Jianlei chose one that cost three kilograms.

When he returned to the outside of the Settlement, it was already midnight, and he got off two kilometers away from the small courtyard.

In short, he didn’t want anyone to notice anything unusual, so he tried to keep a low profile.

The next day, the smell of meat wafted through the yard, and Xiao Jin didn’t go out, helping Fugui process the prey.

Initially, they suggested curing the meat, but Qu Jianlei had an idea; he wanted to make meat floss.

Meat floss is extremely high in caloric density and easy to store; he was preparing it for crossing the Endless Mountain Range.

Although Hongyi is calm now, he felt it was necessary to be vigilant in peace.

Most of the lynx meat and a small amount of Golden Patterned Bear Meat were made into meat floss, and the rest were for immediate consumption.

With meat at home, even Crack didn’t wander around much and came back on time for meals.

Then, he was amazed by Fugui’s appetite, and although he didn’t say anything, he couldn’t help but look again and again.

Qu Jianlei did have words for him, "Crack, there’s a bit of a problem with the map you gave."

"There can’t be a problem," Crack couldn’t help but reply, "Many people have verified it."

Qu Jianlei didn’t argue with him, "Be serious when gathering other information and don’t make any more mistakes."

Crack was taken aback, nodded silently, and said nothing more.

Qu Jianlei took five days to recover from the injury this time; the flesh wounds hadn’t healed completely, let alone the bone fractures.

During this time, he even crafted some small gadgets — people in the Wasteland really aren’t that delicate.

On the sixth day, he even started practicing the "Eight Pieces of Brocade," feeling that the pain in his shoulder blade wasn’t as severe.

Xiao Jin did remind him to rest for another two days, but he said it was fine.

After all, time waits for no one.

Besides, he believed that ever since he began cultivating the "Nameless Qi Refining Technique," his recovery ability had significantly improved.

Otherwise, where would all that energy from eating so much go?

One day later, the scabs began to fall off, and surprisingly new pink flesh grew underneath.

After another ten days, Qu Jianlei felt seventy to eighty percent recovered and went out hunting again.

This time, he returned twelve days later.

He brought back more than ten Iron Wire Snakes, two pangolins, and half a Steel Hairy Wild Boar.

Qu Jianlei got injured again; the Steel Hairy Wild Boar was also a Mutant Beast, although not a classified one, it was still difficult to deal with.

The key is this creature is fearless and fierce.

This time, Qu Jianlei sprained his ankle; he accidentally stepped on a round stone while dodging, causing it himself.

However, he highly suspected that his ankle was also fractured.

He rested for eight days this time, and the swelling on his foot subsided; during this period, he couldn’t even cultivate the Nameless Qi Refining Technique.

But his appetite remained the same, and even Xiao Jin couldn’t help but mutter that they needed to find a way to earn some money.

However, such an adventure also brings rewards; on the third day after the swelling on his foot subsided, Qu Jianlei finally broke through the bottleneck.

If nothing unexpected happens, he should be at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

After breaking through the bottleneck, he could practice peacefully for a while longer.

However, after twenty days of cultivation, he entered the mountains again, gaining experience and hunting for food at the same time.

This time he wandered for about ten days with not much harvest, only catching three Salted Lambs.

The taste of the Salted Lamb was very delicious, naturally salty, yet unfortunately, it wasn’t a Mutant Beast and didn’t contain much energy.

But when he returned, there was a surprising piece of news waiting for him.

Cleft found out a piece of information: someone was secretly wanting to sell a damaged Mecha!

Mecha! Qu Jianlei was nearly unable to contain his excitement upon hearing this, "What type, how damaged is it, what’s the price?"

Cleft could confirm that the Mecha was a transport type, with likely a sixty to eighty percent integrity.

As for the price... eight thousand silver coins, no bargaining.

For Qu Jianlei, the price wasn’t much of an issue; a transport type Mecha was precisely what he desired.

The Mecha itself had very strong carrying capacity; having a Mecha greatly increased the odds of crossing the Endless Mountain Range.

Specializing in transport would be even better; it could be said it’s most suitable for him.

However, there was a problem, "I want to inspect the goods before the deal."

"That’s impossible," Cleft replied straightforwardly, "The other party absolutely refuses to inspect the goods."

Qu Jianlei didn’t respond to him, just looked at him calmly: Is this how you gather information for me?

Cleft felt a bit unnerved by his gaze and awkwardly explained, "Even if it’s a damaged Mecha, it’s still a contraband item."

The Wasteland regulates Mechas extremely strictly, much more rigid than gold; getting caught usually means death.

Qu Jianlei waved his hand, speaking indifferently, "No need to bother, whoever wants to buy it can."

He even began to suspect whether Cleft was scheming with someone to trick him.

Still, that saying holds true, loyalty and betrayal constantly play out in every corner of the Wasteland.

Qu Jianlei feels rather insecure, but he knows better to restrain hope.

Then Xiaojing also reached out to Cleft, "You’re not harboring some ill motives, are you?"

"Where would I be?" Cleft couldn’t stand Xiaojing misunderstanding him.

"You too come from a Settlement, how strict is the Mecha regulation... Aren’t you aware?"

"I really am not aware," Xiaojing bluntly stated, "Back in the day, my family even had a Mecha."

"What kind of family do you come from?" Cleft was astonished upon hearing and couldn’t help but ask, "How did it come to this?"

"Now I’m asking you," Xiaojing impatiently said, "Are you colluding with others to set up Brother Fugui?"

"I wouldn’t dare trick him," Cleft shrugged, replying with a bitter smile.

"He frequently returns from the Endless Mountain Range with hunted Mutant Beasts, am I crazy to deceive such a person?"

Xiaojing thought for a while and then sighed, "Cleft, if you want to leave, just say so; neither of us will stop you."

"But such unreliable things, just don’t do them anymore."

Their conversation didn’t escape Qu Jianlei’s ears; upon hearing it, he smiled slightly; Xiaojing was still too kind-hearted.

If Cleft really wanted to leave, he wouldn’t hesitate—this fellow knew quite a lot.

Facing Xiaojing’s words, Cleft also fell silent, only letting out a long sigh after a while, "Ah~"

As for the Salted Lambs Qu Jianlei caught this time, he kept two to eat for himself; the remaining one... he sold it.

Those meat-dominating people mainly hoarded Mutated Beast Meat; they weren’t too concerned about ordinary beast meat.

Yet this Salted Lamb was extremely delicious, more expensive than usual Mutant Beast Meat.

So selling one to cover expenses was inevitable.

Qu Jianlei abandoned his pursuit of the Mecha, yet the news still affected him, prompting him to consider the Flying Backpack.

Flying Backpack was a concept from Blue Star, during his travels, it was merely at the laboratory manufacturing stage.

There might be a few samples, but the performance was definitely unstable.

However, Qu Jianlei knew the design was relatively mature, with just two manufacturing bottlenecks.

One was materials, the other was energy.

Yet in the Wasteland, these two bottlenecks don’t seem like much, even though the place resembles an apocalyptic scene.

As Qu Jianlei reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining, the small lake’s rotation speed increased slightly and could be summoned more easily.

Without much consumption of the Mutated Beast Crystal, the small lake already extracted various designs and data for the Flying Backpack.

These things weren’t developed by it, purely a product of big data collection.

Among such collected data, much information and data were hidden, essentially just several large frameworks.

But for Qu Jianlei, it was sufficient; he could address the issues of materials and energy himself.

This time, he unexpectedly stayed in the small courtyard for about twenty days.

Besides cultivation, he devoted himself to perfecting the Flying Backpack design.

As for seeking help from the small lake? Qu Jianlei expressed his intention to do it himself; that guy consumed too much Mutant Crystal.

On the 20-day mark, he returned to the mountains for hunting.

This time, he was determined to catch some Mutant Beasts to sell for money; the materials needed to manufacture a Flying Backpack were truly pricey.