CHAPTER 7: CHAPTER 7: INJECTION

Qu Jianlei was a bit bewildered when Mr. Sai called him over, "...Hire me?"

"Remember, don’t question me!" Mr. Sai raised his hand, gesturing at him, "Only this once!"

Next time, he might kill someone!

Qu Jianlei quickly organized his thoughts, "I won’t ask again, but my transportation business isn’t exactly booming."

"Not exactly...booming?" Mr. Sai also found this Blue Star style of expression a bit unusual.

Why not just say the transportation business is scarce?

He’s definitely got a bit of a mental issue!

Mr. Sai spaced out a little before speaking again, "Are you saying your ability to gather information is poor?"

"Yes," Qu Jianlei nodded, "There aren’t many Scavengers who can afford to rent a car, and they don’t usually show their wealth."

The truth is, Scavengers are tight-lipped, and their circle is quite exclusive. He’s just a peripheral auxiliary role!

"That...doesn’t matter," Mr. Sai didn’t want to admit he’d misjudged.

Moreover, having a pawn in place is necessary, even if it’s an obvious one.

"You just need to tell me whether you accept the employment?"

What would happen if he didn’t accept the employment? Qu Jianlei almost blurted this out, considering everyone knew he wasn’t all there mentally.

But given the "Only this once," he still expressed, "I’m clumsy, I’m afraid I won’t do well, so don’t make the fee too high."

If the fee is too high, the other party might estimate injecting me with agents to reduce risk!

"You’re not clumsy," Mr. Sai smiled knowingly.

Their contact was short, but he sensed that the other party wasn’t lacking in intelligence.

However, mentally, there seemed to be some issues, but the quality of speaking honestly was also a smart behavior.

Mr. Sai couldn’t be bothered to explain further, anyway it was just a casual move, "How about two vials of Nutrient Injection per day?"

Qu Jianlei’s eyes lit up, he was starving for a whole six years, "Getting important information should come with rewards... it should be like this!"

—As long as you keep me hooked with rewards, I’ll definitely work wholeheartedly.

"You really didn’t question it," Mr. Sai laughed when he heard that, "With a quick response, how could he be a fool?"

"There’s plenty of rewards, let’s see what information you can gather... Go get the injection!"

Still need to get an injection? Qu Jianlei’s heart sank, this is as far as your vision goes!

Do you understand differentiation? Different treatments trigger competition, which helps you gather more information.

He ridiculed in his heart, but his face remained expressionless, "Oh, injections are also expensive."

It’s the second time Mr. Sai heard him say "injections are expensive," thinking he really hasn’t seen much of the world.

But then again, considering he can consume four vials of Nutrient Injection in one go, it’s imaginable how hard life usually is.

So he glanced at the person beside him, raising two fingers, indicating "injection number two."

Number two injection is an improved version of number one, with slightly less toxicity.

This guy is ultimately a fool, with a weaker constitution, it would be a pity if he’s unable to take the Antidote in time and dies.

Qu Jianlei, however, didn’t notice this detail, his mind was filled with frustration: still need to inject?

What he couldn’t tolerate was being manipulated by others, let alone with hidden life-threatening dangers.

The Wasteland environment is extremely harsh, but from the weapons alone, it’s clear how advanced the pre-doomsday technology was.

Poisonous injections + staggered Antidote... isn’t that normal?

He subconsciously wanted to risk escaping, really, his head was having a hard time controlling his body again.

But seeing the two headless corpses not far away, he forcibly suppressed the impulse.

Because of the intense restraint, his body couldn’t help but tremble violently.

Others looked at him strangely but didn’t find it unusual... being afraid of being injected with poison, isn’t that normal?

Everyone knew, Sha Qu was timid, preferring labor work rather than being a Scavenger.

Qu Jianlei, while forcefully suppressing his impulse, rapidly analyzed everything he saw.

Pale blue injections, he wanted to identify the name from the vial, but obviously, the other party wouldn’t make such a low-level mistake.

Injection into the deltoid muscle of the arm, damn, it’s the left arm...

This means the poison can quickly reach the heart.

Wait... someone can inject into the right arm too? This seems like an opportunity.

—If reaching the heart slower counts as an opportunity.

Qu Jianlei subtly twisted the deltoid muscle of his right arm, similar to his little trick when escaping, a technique he learned from his own exploration.

If it has any use, it’s temporarily blocking blood vessels locally.

This technique is bizarre, but useless for a fight, so for six years, he’s been a weakling.

Similarly, it consumes a lot of energy, under normal circumstances, he couldn’t use it.

But now there’s no choice, buying time is what matters.

Fortunately, he just consumed four vials of Nutrient Injection, temporarily filling the energy deficit.

Qu Jianlei exposed his right arm and stepped forward. The person responsible for the injection glanced at him.

By right, he should be injected in the left arm, the reason...is exactly what Qu Jianlei thought.

But this requirement isn’t that strict. Since the other party exposed their right arm and is covered in blood scabs, let it be.

Without even changing the needle head, nearly three milliliters of liquid was pushed through in five seconds; the roughness is evident.

But this is the wasteland, few care about the feelings of the weak.

Qu Jianlei believes if the other party didn’t want to change the needle, fearing it might break, the speed could have been faster.

One push all the way, Qu Jianlei frowned slightly—this... isn’t right!

Even though the blood vessels were temporarily closed, he could still feel the needle contained violent energy.

Confused inside, he showed no expression, drooped his eyelids, and quietly stepped aside.

Thought it was some controllable nerve toxin, turns out... an energetic impact?

But can this energy impact... kill? And there’s an antidote?

Unable to figure it out, he decided not to think about it, and stood silently.

Soon, from his right deltoid to his right fingertips, he felt a burning sensation.

After the injection, every scavenger received a paper cup of clean water, "Drink it!"

The water was truly clear, even more refreshing than mineral water, something rare in the wasteland.

Yet, no one was grateful; every wasteland survivor is a survival expert.

Everyone knows this is to promote the medicine’s circulation in the body.

Someone murmured, "The body feels a bit hot... is this an early onset?"

The one responsible for the injection glanced at him, "The onset occurs every five days, this is a normal reaction."

Upon hearing the word "onset," Qu Jianlei became less inclined to let the unknown drug reach his shoulder or underarm.

However, resisting it was tough, and... truly energy draining.

After about ten minutes, someone came over and handed him a stained cloth bag.

Inside the bag were ten tubes of nutrient injections and a simple alloy ring.

The nutrient injections were the five-day "salary," and the alloy ring had a bumpy button to press for important information.

For unimportant information, one still had to report to the Hongsi Settlement and receive the next five-day pay.

"Thank you," Qu Jianlei politely said, while opening a tube of nutrient injection, squeezing it directly into his mouth.

Finally, he reversed the outer membrane and licked the remaining residue of the nutrient injection.

In the wasteland, everyone... every pauper consumes nutrient injections this way.

Qu Jianlei’s resentment even slightly subsided... getting advance payment was quite nice.

The key was the timing was just right, he almost couldn’t hold on.

After another five minutes, the last escapee was chased back—already dead.

Then, Mr. Sai led the convoy with a roar, same as when they arrived.

The survivors’ weapons were returned, but the noble ones from the General Settlement of Hong Character didn’t bother with such simple things.

A burly man with a fleshy face approached Qu Jianlei and shoved him, "Kid, what did you get?"

The man was a hunter, carrying a Gauss Automatic Rifle, but he felt no need to take it off.

A bunch of scavengers watched coldly, some regretted taking action a bit too late.

The burly man wasn’t the top hunter; a lean man carrying a laser sniper rifle even watched coldly.

But high-end hunters looked down on causing trouble for such small ants, they just watched coldly.

"Mr. Sai’s hiring fee," Qu Jianlei replied expressionless, "And a communicator... do you want to take it?"

"Hiring fee?" The man’s eyes lit up, appearing a bit slow-witted.

But the next moment, he snapped back, a trace of dread in his eyes.

"Mr. Sai hired you... what did he hire you for?"

"To report news from the mine," Qu Jianlei answered honestly, "I feel I might not manage, how about you do it?"

The burly man turned and left.

What a joke? Mr. Sai can underestimate the scavengers, but he doesn’t dare.

When it comes to risking lives, hunters surpass scavengers, but he dares not take the job, don’t know when he’ll be killed.

The man carrying the laser sniper rifle asked, "Why did Mr. Sai choose you?"

"Because... I’m not a scavenger, perhaps," Qu Jianlei couldn’t explain it all.

Hope your IQ is high enough to understand what I’m saying.

Don’t mention it, more than one person understood—survivors were survival experts, some have sufficient IQ.

A filthy female scavenger spoke up, "Sha Qu, are you trying to use this to threaten us?"

The other scavengers’ faces subtly changed upon hearing this.

Countless have tried to unify the scavengers of the junkyard but never succeeded, instead mostly vanished.

Mr. Sai... was considered strong, but how strong?

"I never do bad things," Qu Jianlei’s answer was a bit cryptic.

Then the next moment, he looked at a hunter and coldly said, "Put down your laser pistol!"