Chapter 36

The winter in the Wasteland was extremely frigid. Even In the early morning hours when the darkness receded and dark clouds still covered the sun; a pale hue hung aloft, and the entire world was even colder.

The world seemed to be covered with a layer of veil, making it hard to see.

In the Wasteland far away from Mining Town, above a frozen ground.

An ugly modified SUV raced on the ground with an abnormal rumble.

Behind it, the Mining Town had become a small black spot and the explosion sound had long been inaudible.

On the driver’s seat, the oncoming biting winds hit Lin Tuo, hurting him like a knife. He couldn’t help but want to complain after relaxing his tightened heart.

This SUV was very similar to the one on Earth, but it had undergone some magical changes.

Many parts of it were out of place and crude. The front windshield was even missing; when the car sped up, the biting wind made his facial muscles stiffen.

Besides, the engine sound was not right, it was very messy and loud. Yet, the car’s speed was not fast.

However, considering that this is a creation from the “old era”, he had an inkling that the person who modified this probably pieced many parts of it together. So, it’s really hard to complain about it.

“Hey, where are you taking me?”

On the car’s backseat, Hua Xi, whose face is flushed from the cold and with snot coming out of her nose, couldn’t resist asking.

“I don’t know,” replied Lin Tuo calmly. Before the little girl could widen her eyes, he immediately said, “I’m not familiar with the surroundings. Maybe you could suggest a place for me to go?”

He ran out in a hurry; he’s truly clueless.

Fortunately, he managed to ki—cough, brought a local. At least, he can ask for directions.

Hua Xi was stunned. “No way! You—”

“Huh? We seem to have accidentally disturbed something.” Holding the steering wheel, Lin Tuo glanced at the rearview mirror, frowning slightly.

Under the light of the morning sun, many black dots in groups were appearing in the rearview mirror, chasing the car quickly.

At first, it was hard to see them.

But after a few breaths, Lin Tuo finally saw clearly the appearance of these “pursuers.”

It was a group of gray wolves with hair standing upright, a robust body, and a ferocious look.

“It’s the Eremus Wolves!” Hua Xi also noticed the abnormality and tried to stand up. She used her head to bang open the small sunroof of the car, then looked toward the back and cried out in alarm.

“Are they the Mutated Beast? Are they strong?” asked Lin Tuo.

The real master of this Wasteland was not human, but the Mutated Beast wandering everywhere in the Wasteland.

“Very strong! Their skin is tough, ordinary knives wouldn’t be able to wound it. Furthermore, their teeth can bite through steel, and the most troublesome things are that they hunt in groups and have strong endurance.

They will pursue you continuously for several hours if you provoke them. Even powerful Wasteland Hunters would generally choose to avoid—eh? What are you doing?”

Hua Xi was introducing solemnly when suddenly, she saw Lin Tuo opening the bag full of weapons and ammunition.

“Practice shooting,” Lin Tuo said concisely.

He then used the rope in the car to hold the steering wheel and used some object to hold down the gas… Anyway, there is an endless abandoned plain ahead. So, there is no need to obey the traffic rules.

He quickly took out the rifle parts from the bag and tried to assemble them.

When he was in college his roommate, who was a military fan, deeply influenced him, which allowed him to have some broad outline on the structure of guns. Although indeed he never touched Wasteland’s gun model, the basic structure should be the same.

After a little effort, he assembled a rifle. Lin Tuo then loaded in a magazine and poked open the sunroof using the rifle’s barrel.

They obviously made this sunroof for this kind of situation, only wide enough to get a person out.

Lin Tuo turned back while holding the rifle with both hands, feeling a little excited.

He had only managed to shoot guns in a game before. Now that he saw a pack of wolves chasing him, it made his hand itchy.

With a clumsy movement, he tried to aim at the wolf.

At this moment, the wolves were already close to the car. He can already see their fur, tongue, misty breath, and foul saliva from the corner of their mouth.

Seeing his movements, the wolves immediately adjusted their position, trying to avoid the bullet’s trajectory.

But in the next second.

Bang!

The bullet made a strange arc and miraculously shot one wolf… or so he believed.

In reality, it went straight into the sky—yes, the sky, not even the ground.

“What are you doing? Can you even aim?” On the backseat, Hua Xi poked her head out of the sunroof and couldn’t help but ask.

“Shut up.” Lin Tuo ignored her. Isn’t it normal for a novice to fail at his first shoot?

He tried to find a feel, then he pulled the trigger again.

Bang!

Well, at least it was a little better this time. The bullet hit the snow and raised a snow foam.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

……

Lin Tuo emptied the magazines, one after another, but none of his shots hit the target.

This is after all his first time touching a gun. Yet, his first target was a moving one—one that can also dodge—the difficulty was just way too high.

“So you don’t know how to shoot, do you? If you don’t know, let me do it, ah! You are wasting money damn it, these bullets are money!”

Hua Xi watched as Lin Tuo emptied a magazine, the corner of her mouth twitching in pain.

All the bullets that she had picked were general-purpose bullets. In this era, it was no longer possible to mass-produce bullets anymore.

Every force was using the ammunition and firearms left over from the old era.

The latter’s situation is not that bad, as long as you carefully maintain it, it will not break. But the bullet is different, it’s consumable. On the Wasteland, it was more valuable than food—the hard currency.

Lin Tuo’s wanton use made her heart and liver tremble in pain.

“Say, can you shut up? I have a high K/D ratio if you don’t know.” Lin Tuo ignored her and changed the magazine, still looking for a feel. [1]

He indeed missed his first few shots, but he’s definitely improving.

Shooting, to put it bluntly, was nothing more than just 'steady hand” and “calm heart.”

Lin Tuo’s physical quality was far superior to that of ordinary people. His balance and grip stability was extremely strong, and his mentality was also good. The reason that he isn’t shooting any target precisely was because he isn’t familiar with it yet.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With another round of gunshots, the wolves finally gradually felt the threat. The bullet no longer flew around randomly, but became more stable and precise.

BANG!

Finally, when he had slightly mastered the method of shooting, a bullet hit a gray wolf in the eye coincidentally.

PU!

Before the wolf even had the time to scream, it flopped on the ground.

“One down.”

Lin Tuo counted silently while shooting calmly.

From time to time, a gray wolf was injured or killed.

When he knocked down the fifth one, the alpha wolf finally roared and stopped chasing. It led the tribe to disappear behind the hillside.

“Have they given up?” Lin Tuo had not yet enjoyed himself to the fullest.

“No… not that. They sensed something worse.”

Next to him, Hua Xi said with a gloomy and bitter expression.

Lin Tuo followed her line of sight and saw a giant bear in the jungle on the right.

Its body was enormous, comparable to a wild buffalo; its fur white, seemingly translucent under the sun; eyes glowed with evil red glow; and the protruding teeth glistened with a metallic luster.

“It’s the Ferus Bear! Even rifle bullets can’t pierce through its skin if not shot on the vital spot! Run! Damn it! Step on the gas and get rid of it!” Hua Xi’s face was deathly pale. [2]

She felt grieved in her heart.

No one knows why her luck was bad so bad. There were only a few Ferus Bear, one might not even be able to find them even if one wished to. Yet, here they are randomly bumping into one.

The destructive power of this thing was incredible, and it was also extraordinarily brutal.

There’s only one case that Hua Xi had heard that happened nearby.

A Ferus Bear once stormed a temporary encampment of the Burning Fire Company in the dark. It massacred their entire team; killed their executive director who was an Evolved Ones and gnawed at his organ before it left safely.

If they’re caught by this thing, how can they survive?

“Ferus Bear? Is it strong?” There was a change in the look of Lin Tuo’s eyes. He tried to shoot it. It didn’t work, it only angered the opponent.

“Interesting.” Lin Tuo was not flustered.

He put away his rifle and retracted back into the car. After that, he holds the steering wheel while casually looking for a direction. Finally, he stepped on the gas, leaving a trail of smoke.

The Ferus Bear was reluctant to let its prey escape and pursued at a terrifying speed. Although there was a distance between them, it didn’t flinch.

In the car, Hua Xi felt increasingly anxious. A brief look of hesitation flashed across Lin Tuo’s face. Then he slowed down and parked the car in a mountain pass.

“Why do you stop? Did we run out of fuel?” Hua Xi asked in horror.

Lin Tuo only left a faint sentence. “Wait here honestly, I will confront it.”

??

After speaking, Lin Tuo opened the door and took off the low-down jacket, revealing a well-proportioned body. He then walked straight into the back.

“Are you insane? There’s no way you can beat that thing!” Hua Xi was stunned as she hurriedly poked her head out of the sunroof.

However, Lin Tuo just turned a deaf ear.

Crunch

His feet strode on the solid snow, an icy wind blows straight into his face, and fine snow foam danced.

Lin Tuo walked at a constant speed while constantly adjusting his breathing rhythm.

He was focused. The Ether inside him became slightly restless, and the cells became active.

His heartbeat quickened, blood flow sped up, and his entire body vibrated frequently at great speed. This is the warm-up method of his Martial Ancestors’ Weaponized Fist.

The body can be activated in a short period by vibrating, allowing one to enter quickly the fighting state.

Lin Tuo still remembered that when he was a child, his grandfather once said with pride that although his Martial Arts were not as well-known as the Eight Trigram Fist, the Xing Yi Fist, the Arhat Fist… and so on. [3]

But in terms of lethality, it is not inferior to any Martial Arts in the world.

It was said that this set of Weaponized Fist was originally a Martial Arts technique honed by ancient generals from thousands of battles.

After the later generations had perfected it. Through usual practice, one can become as gentle as the wind and as bold as the forest.

One can even crack mountains, break rocks, and kill a foe in mind.

Lin Tuo has not yet met an opponent whom he can go all out since his initial accomplishment as a Martial Artist.

Now, he had encountered one.

……

The icy wind howled.

The intimidating Ferus Bear also noticed the human figure in front of it.

Its red eyes flashed with doubt, but soon, it was filled with viciousness.

Just like its name, while it possessed significant power as the creature at the top of Wasteland’s food chain, it had lost its wisdom.

“ROAR~~”

Amidst the violent roar, a sizable amount of snow was raised. The bear then stabbed out its steel-like claw, strangling toward Lin Tuo’s thin figure!

“Dodge!!” Behind Lin Tuo, Hua Xi’s voice sounded out intermittently in the icy wind.

In the same spot, Lin Tuo’s figure immediately swayed and created an afterimage, evading the two sharp claws by the edge. He then went into the bear’s back.

Lin Tuo leaped onto the bear’s back and grasped at the fur with his left hand. After that, he raised his hand into the air in a gripping posture.

Strands of pale blue aura came out of thin air, condensing into an illusory short spear in his palm.

“PIERCE!!”

Lin Tuo let out a war cry and pierced down the Ether Spear in his hand.

He tore apart the fur and pierced the spear through the muscle under his full strength!

PU!!!

The Ether Spear pierced through its heart, appearing in front of the Ferus Bear chest along with warm blood.

Lin Tuo leaped back by stomping hard. He then muttered, “Burst.”

Boom!!

The Ether Spear disintegrated and exploded, shattering the heart of the Ferus Bear. With blood on it, its eyes were full of disbelief as it quickly dimmed.

……

Puff!

Time seemed to stagnate for a while. Then, the creature finally fell unwillingly and the sound of the wind became clear again.

Not far away, Lin Tuo let out a deep breath and raised his head.

He looked over the dead bear’s corpse. On the sunroof of the car ahead, he saw the dazed look on Hua Xi’s face.

1. K/D meaning Kill/Death, usually in competitive online games.

2. The name for the bear and wolf was supposed to be Wild Wolves (荒野狼) and Ferocious/Savage Wasteland Bear (废土暴熊). I changed the name to Eremus Wolves (Eremus means in Latin: wilderness, wasteland, desert.) and Ferus Bear (Ferus means in Latin: fierce, wild, savage, cruel, brutal, uncivilized) because the English just sound so… plain.

3. The Arhat Fist, Click here for wikipedia;Xing Yi Fist, Click here for wikipedia; Eight Trigram Palm, Click here for wikipedia.