The oldest scavenger is around forty years old, while the youngest seems only seventeen or eighteen, not counting the fact that Westerners generally develop earlier.
Su Ziyu didn’t see anyone above fifty.
Almost half of them show strange bodily traumas—so resembling burn scars, others like keratin growths. Typically, the older the person, the more noticeable these conditions are, while those who are younger look relatively normal. As Su Ziyu’s gaze fell upon a brown-red long-haired woman in her twenties, she was also looking at him with interest and suddenly blew him a kiss.
Su Ziyu averted his gaze.
At that mont, Pasha walked up to him, glanced at the woman, who was laughing mischievously, and pulled him onto a large truck.
The truck was loaded with nurous chanical parts, probably removed from sowhere.
The scavengers also had guns, but they seed more peaceful, unlike the plunderers who gave off a crazy vibe. Two n, one black and one white, sat on the other side of the truck, both appearing to be mixed-race. The black man’s lips were cracked, with a row of blisters at the corner of his mouth. He was rolling sothing in paper to smoke it and, upon noticing Su Ziyu and Pasha’s gaze, grinned, saying, "Want a puff? It’s good stuff!"
Both shook their heads and looked away.
The black man didn’t mind; he lit up, took a drag, then handed it to the mixed-race white man beside him. They held guns in their arms, looking exhausted. After a few drags, their spirits seed a bit dazed.
Dejected, depressed, living day by day, lifeless.
In their eyes, Su Ziyu saw no trace of hope; these scavengers resting on the truck looked like numbed corpses.
Soon.
They reached the camp.
From a distance, Su Ziyu appeared disappointed, expecting it to be a city or at least a decent town, but regrettably, it looked like a massive garbage dump. Outside, piles of plastic were stacked, rusty steel scattered randomly, swarms of green-headed flies hovered, and a large circle of rusted iron sheets ford a wall, with people ard and standing guard at the gate.
"If I catch you smoking this again, I’ll break your legs!" a German man’s angry voice rang out.
Su Ziyu leaned forward and saw him snatch a suspected cigarette from a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy’s mouth, throwing it to the ground and stomping it.
"Who gave him this stuff? Don’t bla for being ruthless!" the German man said sternly, casting a cold glance at the others.
At that mont, a slightly chubby middle-aged white man walked over.
The German man imdiately changed his expression to a smile, greeting him, saying, "Hi! Bob! Old buddy! How’s it been lately?"
"Not bad." The slightly chubby middle-aged white man hugged him briefly, glanced at the truck’s contents, and asked, "What did you find? Any German or Chinese goods?"
The German man smiled awkwardly and replied, "Most of this ti is Japanese goods. But the quality is passable, manageable, right?"
"Japanese goods," Bob responded with a sowhat fake smile, "All Japanese goods!..."
"You know."
"The quality of Japanese goods isn’t great. Those found, after a few uses, tend to fail."
"I can only offer this price..."
Bob held up three fingers, prompting the German man to frown deeply before he smiled, patted the German man’s shoulder, and said, "Old buddy. Next ti you find Chinese goods, I’ll stick to the original price. I know a place with lots of Chinese goods."
"If you find alloy steel for making Exoskeleton Armor, I’ll give you this price!..."
The two walked away arm in arm.
anwhile, the boy initially chastised by the German man bent over, picked up the cigarette that had been stomped, brushed off the ash, gave Su Ziyu a warning look, and then turned, hiding behind the truck to light up and take a puff again. Other scavengers also lazily got off, heading into the camp. The brown-red long-haired woman who had blown Su Ziyu a kiss winked at him, stuck out her tongue with small tal studs embedded, licking her lips with inexplicable humor.
"Stay away from her," Pasha’s cold voice suddenly said, "Unless you want a venereal disease."
The two headed toward the gate.
"Pasha!" A robust black woman ran up, embracing Pasha, saying, "Thank God you’re okay! That’s great!..."
"I almost thought you..."
Pasha awkwardly extricated herself from the embrace, pointing to Su Ziyu beside her, saying, "He saved ."
"Thank you! Buddy!" The black woman rushed to hug again, and Su Ziyu, unable to evade, felt like he’d been hit by a black bear.
"Marcella. Let’s go inside first," Pasha pulled Su Ziyu, darting off quickly.
There were quite a few people inside the camp.
Pasha seed to have so status there; many guards greeted her and so scrutinizing eyes fell on Su Ziyu. The streets were sowhat dirty, with plenty of plastic waste piled along the side, and discarded parts casually thrown about after removal. Across the street, two young n, seemingly of Indian descent, were selling grilled rat at with a sign that read — "Ten yuan for three."
Currency was issued by the conglorates.
However, it wasn’t very convenient for circulation, aside from currency, there were gold, silver, and other precious tals, but the most valuable commodity remained dicine, especially anti-radiation dication. Many people were at the grilled rat stall, appearing mostly scavengers; not everyone used currency for purchases. Su Ziyu saw a la man exchange a chanical watch for six grilled big rats. These big rats were larger than rabbits he rembered, each roasting and sizzling with oil, with so people sitting on the street edge gnawing. The provided drink resembled a yellow soda-like concoction.
"Want to try?" Pasha teased.
Su Ziyu quickly shook his head.
Many people here had chanical limbs, but so hadn’t installed them. Su Ziyu saw a young man cleaning the street, looking very skinny, with darker skin, one arm normal and the other appeared to be that of an eight or nine-year-old child. Upon noticing Su Ziyu’s gaze, he lowered his head and quickly walked away.
Pasha sighed silently, patted his shoulder, saying, "Let’s go. I’ll take you to the hotel first."
A scrapped vehicle was parked outside the hotel.
The logo was Maserati, looking shabby and dusty, with a row of bullet holes visible on the surface. The hotel’s decor was in a steampunk style, giving a dark, desolate vibe. Strange tal parts adorned the walls, and a vintage phonograph stood on the counter, looking like a non-functional decoration.
The owner was a man in his fifties, the first person Su Ziyu saw appearing younger than fifty.
"Get him a room," Pasha said.
They had taken quite a few spoils from the plunderers, but the most valuable box was thrown by Su Ziyu into the drain, and they only managed to keep so currency and dicine.
A young man took Su Ziyu to a room upstairs.
Pasha faced the old man’s teasing gaze, grabbing him, lowering her voice, saying, "Don’t you dare let those bitches disturb him at night! Understand?"
The old man chuckled, adjusting his attire, saying, "Understood."
Pasha glanced nervously at the staircase, then went upstairs nonchalantly.
.........
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