CHAPTER 63: CHAPTER 63: THAT’S LIFE

Qu Jianlei didn’t move at all, stayed in place for over ten days... This time, it’s not about running far to win.

The main thing is... he buried a lot of supplies in the safe zone.

Currently, he might be able to run far, but those supplies include many energy blocks, and mecha consume energy blocks like crazy!

He thought his concealment was done well, camouflage, thermal shielding... not lacking at all.

However, on the fifth day, he felt something was off.

Looking up, he frowned, "Damn... flying mecha?"

In wasteland legends, most of the mecha were able to fly.

But many mecha could only fly close to the ground, maybe at three or five hundred meters altitude, to avoid ground obstacles.

But now the real situation is: very few mecha can fly... very very few.

Mecha were rare in the first place, and now it’s the end of the world, maintenance conditions are not available.

So most of the mecha cannot fly, even though everyone knows they once could.

Qu Jianlei had even heard that transport mecha could fly.

But obviously, he couldn’t fly in his current situation.

So he could only continue to hide, and increasingly felt a bit unsafe.

Just as he thought, as time progressed, more and more people from Hongyi Settlement came into the mountains to search.

At the peak, it was estimated that twenty to thirty thousand people entered the mountains.

It’s unknown what benefits or orders the General Settlement gave.

However, many people have inconveniences, but also advantages, which is that it’s a mixed crowd, rather than less orderly when numbers are low.

Especially at night, most people wouldn’t continue searching the mountains, randomly setting camps disrupted others’ searches.

Fights were common in the vicinity of Hongyi Settlement, everyone followed rules, but entering the danger zone was different.

A single disagreement could trigger fights, even murder and loot aren’t surprising.

After all, there are plenty of wild beasts and mutant beasts here, people disappearing is normal.

In fact, this large-scale adventurer mountain invasion also incited reactions from the beasts.

Timid beasts fled to the deep mountains, while bold or ferocious ones had heightened aggression.

During this period, Qu Jianlei was nearly discovered twice, one time the opponent even held a metal detector.

Luckily, he sneaked out several times during the night when people were entering the mountains in large numbers, catching rabbits and muntjacs.

When people approached to search, he released these animals, they decisively turned to hunt wild creatures.

As time moved on, over a month passed, two rains fell, the weather gradually cooled.

The beasts of autumn are the fiercest, accumulating fat and food for the winter.

For a time, mountain search losses greatly increased, even though mostly elites were now remaining in the mountains.

Eventually, someone complained, and the voices rapidly expanded: beasts need to prepare for winter, and so do humans.

If you don’t make reserves during this time, surviving this winter might not be possible.

The people from General Settlement responded to these calls with just two words: Suppress!

Is the noise too much? Get rid of the ones making noise, and there’ll be no more noise.

However, this time, their targeted demographic was too large, while Hongyi has always been known for following rules.

Some even started assassinating people from the General Settlement, shooting cold guns, setting traps, and poisoning.

Hongyi’s guard team originally leaned towards the General Settlement.

Aside from hierarchical factors, they had two truckloads of people killed by Black Heaven, creating a substantial grudge.

But the conflict between Hongyi survivors and General Settlement sharpened, they couldn’t sit idle.

If this continues, the hard-earned reputation of Hongyi Settlement would be completely destroyed!

Thus, those in power in Hongyi finally couldn’t hold back and started negotiating with people from General Settlement.

Both sides weren’t in good moods, nearly fought during negotiations, but ultimately, the General Settlement people backed down.

They couldn’t provide high subsidies to so many people, nor would they disclose what crime they were pursuing.

No matter, even without Hongyi’s natives, they could search by themselves.

However, once Hongyi’s natives withdrew, within a few days, beasts preparing for winter surged in.

Even adventurer teams they hired couldn’t withstand it, casualties noticeably increased.

The key is, nobody knows what crime Black Heaven committed to be searched for half a summer and autumn.

Since you think we’re unworthy of knowing, don’t blame us for slacking off.

By this point, people from General Settlement couldn’t win hearts over.

Thus, they dismissed some teams, raised hiring prices, retaining others.

Then their search areas were only the safe zone and danger zone, extremely dangerous regions were out of reach.

It was obvious to everyone this was General Settlement’s last stubbornness—leaving just like this was too disgraceful.

So they bet everything on Black Heaven being hidden in this area.

There is an advantage to taking a step back, as the search efficiency greatly improved, and some security was ensured.

However, another half a month passed, and there was still no news of Black Heaven, so they continued to cut some people from the team here.

When winter started to set in, the General Settlement only left some people guarding at a few mountain passes, and the main group had to withdraw dejectedly.

This period of time, Qu Jianlei was left restless.

If it weren’t for his obsessive nature, along with compulsions and a strong lack of security, he really couldn’t have held on.

During the daytime, he could meditate and cultivate or even practice some martial arts, but at night, he could only lie quietly to rest.

Once the energy and blood surged, there was a high possibility of being spotted through night vision goggles.

After the searchers decreased, he found some opportunities to delve deeper into the mountains.

However, he still had a large amount of supplies hidden in both the danger and safe zones; how could he be willing to leave them behind?

After the searchers withdrew to the mountain pass, he observed for another three days before he began gradually retrieving his buried supplies.

The loss of supplies wasn’t too significant, only missing five kilograms of gold, and some firearms and ammunition.

This situation was within Qu Jianlei’s expectations—they had metal detectors.

Fortunately, there weren’t many metal detectors, the Endless Mountain Range was too vast, and there were too many scattered metal parts in the mountains.

The person who took the gold was also a clever one, quietly taking it away without making a fuss.

Otherwise, someone would likely be lying in ambush here waiting for him.

He checked the inventory, the main hoard consisted of twenty kilograms of gold and thirteen large Energy Blocks.

Other supplies like firearms, ammunition, and food were abundant... Originally, he had prepared for three people.

Thinking about how three people had turned into one, a slight sadness involuntarily rose in his heart.

A famous saying from a golden-haired guy came into his mind: Perhaps... this is life.

Because he lost five kilograms of gold, he approached the last two supply stash points extremely cautiously.

However, at the very last place where he had hidden supplies, he was stunned to discover through his night vision goggles that someone was actually lying in ambush.

Just one person, about three hundred meters away from his stash location.

Who is so bold? A hint of astonishment arose in Qu Jianlei’s heart: Dare to ambush me alone?

The stash consists purely of some ammunition; if he didn’t want trouble, he wouldn’t even be heartbroken to leave it.

However, thinking about how he earned money wasn’t easy and he wanted to cultivate more, losing such a batch of ammunition... is also a loss after all.

Most importantly, his curiosity piqued: Exactly who is the guy daring to ambush me?

He decided not to approach at night and quietly waited until dawn.

Peering through the bushes, Qu Jianlei was a bit stunned: It turned out to be Flower Scorpion!

The other party’s attitude was very clear, just sitting there motionless, with the gun placed on the ground.

This woman really leaves him a bit helpless...

Crouching, he intended to leave quietly, assuming she already guessed the ammunition was his.

If it were someone else standing guard, he might take them out; leaving quietly would leave some entanglement in his heart.

However, with her there, nothing to worry about, Flower Scorpion timely passed on information that helped him avoid a disaster.

At the time, he took out two centimeters of Energy Block as a reward for her.

But in retrospect, the intensity and duration of the mountain search, that little tip seemed a bit insufficient.

Just as he wanted to slip away, Flower Scorpion stood up, stretched out her hands and legs.

Then she took out a tube of Nutrient Injection and consumed it, carrying her gun as she started moving around.

Carrying the gun in her left hand, her right hand still made the ’OK’ gesture at her chest.

Unfortunately, the direction she was headed was exactly where Qu Jianlei was hiding—the reason being the terrain was higher there.

Looks like there’s no avoiding it! Qu Jianlei simply decided not to leave and waited to see what she would do.

When she got within more than a hundred meters from him, she raised her gun, carefully looking around.

Qu Jianlei initially intended to sigh lightly, pretending to act cool or something.

Seeing her so tense, he simply said directly, "Don’t move!"

Flower Scorpion’s body instantly stiffened, after about two seconds, she let out a long breath, "You scared me to death."

Then she held the gun in her left hand and walked over quickly, "You really haven’t left yet."

Qu Jianlei sat up, without holding a gun, he just asked helplessly, "Winter has already set in, and you still come here?"

"I’m looking for you," Flower Scorpion answered without hesitation, "I figured you wouldn’t want to leave this ammunition behind."

Qu Jianlei lowered his eyelids, pondering for a moment before speaking, "I give it to you... I was just curious, who would dare lay in ambush for me alone."

Flower Scorpion shook her head, "If I wanted it, I would have already taken it; I want to go across with you."

Qu Jianlei was speechless about this, "The Endless Mountain Range is terrifying, especially in winter."

Flower Scorpion responded without hesitation, "You have a Mecha, it’s worth taking the risk once."

Qu Jianlei asked again, "Your two companions... what about them?"

Flower Scorpion replied calmly, "One is dead, and the other is disabled."