Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 60 Meeting
The next day, it was dawn.

Zhuang Fan and Hua Xin changed into newly purchased carbon fiber bulletproof vests.

The clothing is lightweight and close-fitting, with hard armor plates protecting key areas, making movement effortless.

They moved to a new garbage dump.

The waste piles up higher and more chaotically here, with rows of steel tombs howling in the wind.

Not long after the two began their search, seven figures surrounded them from behind different piles of waste.

The man in the lead had a hideous scar running across his nose and was carrying a gear-shaped steel pipe in his hand.

"New here, huh? This territory is ours."

Scarface's voice was arrogant: "The rule here is that the protection fee is three thousand gold coins per day. Pay it now."

What if I don't give it to you?

"Then get out of here, but leave an arm behind, and the woman too."

Zhuang Fan casually raised his left hand, and the large-caliber automatic pistol was already in his grasp.

Almost at the same moment, seven dark wisps of mist entered their heads.

Everyone's bodies stiffened and their eyes widened.

"Bang! Bang bang bang!"

In less than three seconds, seven bodies fell to the ground.

Zhuang Fan put down his gun and tilted his head slightly towards Hua Xin.

"Search it and take the valuables."

After several days of intense experience, Hua Xin has adapted to the cruel rules of the wasteland.

The law of the jungle prevails; there is no mercy.

She stepped forward swiftly and searched Scarface, finding several hundred gold coins and a metal-pipe pistol.

Zhuang Fan walked to the cart next to him and looted everything from weapons and ammunition to food and water.

After doing all this, they turned and left, heading towards a distant hilltop.

Before long, these corpses will be quietly dragged away by something in the shadows, leaving no trace.

It's approaching noon.

Hua Xin's keen perception came into play once again.

She lowered her voice: "Brother Ya, over there."

Zhuang Fan followed the gaze and saw that familiar figure reappear atop a garbage-strewn mountain in the distance.

It's Catwoman again.

She stood there quietly, motionless, calmly gazing at Hua Xin.

Zhuang Fan frowned and slowly moved closer.

"Why don't you leave?"

The old catwoman didn't react, still muttering that indistinct syllable, which sounded like "scratching," or something else entirely.

Her eyes held no emotion, only emptiness and obsession, fixed intently on Hua Xin.

Zhuang Fan raised his pistol and aimed it at her feet.

"boom!"

The bullet sent sparks flying as it hit the trash.

The old catwoman's body trembled violently, as if she had been jolted awake from a dream, her eyes filled with fear.

Zhuang Fan fired more than a dozen shots in a row until she let out a hoarse scream and scrambled away.

Hua Xin watched her departing figure, filled with confusion.

"What does she want to do?"

"do not know."

Zhuang Fan put away his gun: "A madman, he probably smelled your cat scent and stuck to you."

In the evening, the two returned home laden with their loot.

That thin figure followed the car slowly and stubbornly once again.

Hua Xin looked at that lonely figure in the rearview mirror, which was stretched long in the setting sun, and felt a strange tightness in her chest.

Outside Mao Shan Wang's stronghold, Xiong Da was picking his teeth with a huge bone. When he saw the two of them, he greeted them in a simple and honest manner.

"What good finds did you get today?" Mao Shanwang poked his head out of the crab shell, still a little sleepy.

Zhuang Fan unloaded all of his day's harvest, more than forty pieces of equipment and parts in excellent condition.

After finishing his examination, Mao Shanwang nodded.

“That’s right, twenty-two thousand gold notes, not a penny less.” Zhuang Fan accepted the money and handed over the prepared list:
Two basic wasteland traveler vehicles, a batch of special cement and steel plates, a water purifier, a banknote detector, a nano-medical kit, and two sets of carbon fiber bulletproof vests.

There is also enough food for four people to last a month and a large amount of bullets.

Mao Shanwang glanced at the list and said, "No problem, I'll prepare everything for you tomorrow."

Zhuang Fan hesitated for a moment, but still spoke.

"Old Cat, I have a question for you. Lately we've been running into a very strange old catwoman with a collar around her neck. Do you recognize her?"

"Old Catwoman?"

Mao Shanwang was silent for a while, then sighed: "There are at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, of these old catwomen outside Linhai City."

"Most of them were rejected from the slave market, or were beaten senseless and had no value. They were left to fend for themselves, and their fates were all tragic."

Zhuang Fan fell silent.

Just then, a sleek black airship glided to the side of the outpost.

The car door opened, and a familiar figure stepped out.

It is Chu Ningyan.

She changed out of her military uniform and into a simple gray civilian outfit, her tactical mask still covering half her face.

She walked straight up to Mao Shanwang and said in a cold voice, "Boss Cat, has my order arrived?"

"Cinderella, we've arrived."

Mao Shanwang took a sealed metal box out of the crab shell.

"Wasteland Traveler, premium model, 95% new".

Chu Ningyan took the box, her gaze inadvertently sweeping over Zhuang Fan, her usual aloofness softening slightly.

"It's been a long time." Her voice was soft, like a gentle breeze.

Zhuang Fan felt a chill run down his spine. He was currently using the identity of "Wuya," yet the other party could recognize him at a glance.

"We know each other?"

"I don't know you, but your voice sounds a lot like an old friend of mine from seven hundred years ago."

"Um, you also remind me of an old friend of mine."

A barely perceptible smile appeared in Chu Ningyan's eyes: "I guessed before that you didn't go to Nancheng, and that you must still be in this vicinity."

"You're not here to arrest me, are you?"

"I'm not getting involved in this anymore, or... you come with me to collect the reward, and I'll split the prize money with you?"

"no thank you."

Chu Ningyan picked up the Wasteland Traveler and automatically locked it onto her fair wrist.

She casually raised her hand, her fingertips long and slender, her skin as white as snow; even an unintentional movement carried a neat and beautiful quality.

"However, the nuclear men are back. This time, Raven is leading the team. He's still a bit resentful that he didn't catch you last time, so you'd better hide well."

Zhuang Fan nodded solemnly.

He tried to sense Chu Ningyan using the eerie mist, but found it was like throwing a stone into the sea, with no feedback and no way to detect lies.

Every plant and animal in the wasteland contains a mysterious mist; if not, there is only one possibility.

She's also a detective.

"Grey Goose, I have a question I'd like to ask you."

"Talk about it."

"I have a companion who has been infected by spider fungus, and the spots on his back are still spreading. Is there any way to cure him?"

Grey Goose's answer was direct, shattering all his unrealistic fantasies:

"The only way to cure it is to transplant the brain into a completely new clone. There is no other way."

Just as Zhuang Fan had anticipated, the answer was that they could only wait until the time was right.

She raised her wrist, lightly swiped her fingertips, and sent her private communication channel—the movement was fluid and natural.

"You can contact me if there's an emergency."

Zhuang Fan glanced at the add request that popped up on the terminal, his eyes flickered slightly, and he pressed confirm.

"Ok."

Before leaving, Chu Ningyan's gaze fell on Hua Xin, and her voice softened considerably.

"Remember to hide your tail and protect yourself."

Hua Xin responded softly, "Thank you, sister."

Chu Ningyan withdrew her gaze, turned around and walked towards the airship, her back view slender and straight.

(End of this chapter)