Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 28 Targeting
The foreman extended his chubby finger and swiped across the screen, transferring 30 credits to Zhuang Fan's account.

He grinned and said, "This thing is a bit broken, but the positioning chip inside still works. Let's keep trying."

30 credits, a negligible number, barely enough to pay for two protein bars.

Zhuang Fan knew very well that even on the black market, the most worn-out secondhand version of this basic wrist device could sell for over two thousand credits.

The price offered by the foreman wasn't even worth the price of scrap metal recycling; it was more like charity.

But he saw hope.

In his eyes, the garbage mountain at the incinerator was no longer a useless pile of waste, but a gold mine.

Eliminating the decaying fog cost him almost nothing.

As long as he is diligent enough and can endure the stench and high temperature here, he can earn at least two hundred credits a night.

Watson witnessed the entire transaction, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He remembered clearly that when the Wasteland Traveler was discovered, its surface was covered with a layer of dark brown decay, meaning it was severely corroded and had no recycling value.

But Zhuang Fan simply held it in his hand and observed it quietly for a while, and the unsightly brown mist disappeared into thin air.

Watson thought he had misjudged the situation.

However, Zhuang Fan soon proved with his actions that his "eyesight" was far more than that.

A portable banknote detector, its casing corroded and mottled by decaying fog, is almost unrecognizable.

The two military-grade memory chips had their contact points completely covered in brown rust.

Three almost brand-new lithium solid-state batteries, the latest model, usually only used in high-end power armor, now lie quietly in the mud like three pieces of scrap metal.

There are also two sets of carbon nanotube bulletproof vests contaminated by the decaying fog; the protective coating on the surface has failed and turned completely grayish-white.

These pieces of trash, which Watson considered should have been scrapped long ago, were all restored to their original state after Zhuang Fan bent down to observe them for a moment.

Zhuang Fan did it very discreetly, using his body or a pile of garbage to block the surveillance cameras before making his move.

The whole process was silent; the decaying fog evaporated into thin air as if it had never existed.

When these odds and ends of "high-value" items were placed in front of the foreman, his surprise was undisguised.

He picked up the lithium solid-state battery and tested it with professional instruments. A green indicator light lit up on the screen, meaning the battery was still usable.

"Strange, it was checked before being put into storage, how come so many were missed today?"

Ultimately, the shipment was exchanged for 240 credits.

The foreman's smile grew even more genuine as he patted Zhuang Fan's shoulder forcefully.

"Kid, you're a treasure hunter in the garbage dump! Keep up the good work, and you won't be treated unfairly."

Zhuang Fan was humble and brought his collar closer. "Brother, could you help me cross off 60 points? These are a token of my respect."

He adopted a humble attitude, saying, "I just hope that you can let me come here to earn some extra money in the future."

The foreman paused for a moment, then smiled. He quite admired this kind of person who knew the rules.

"Keep these 60 points for yourself."

He waved his hand and said, "As long as you don't neglect your normal work and can find more valuable things, I have high hopes for you."

"Thank you, bro."

Zhuang Fan nodded, but a hint of difficulty appeared on his face: "It's just that... I don't get along well with Foreman Nissen. Today is a temporary secondment, but I'm afraid we'll be sent to the front line again tomorrow."

After hearing this, the foreman at the landfill lost his smile and frowned slightly.

He knew what kind of person Nissen was, and he was also aware of the dirty dealings within the criminal camp.

He could tell which was more important: a tool that could consistently generate excess returns and a fool that only exploited brute force.

"How about this."

He pondered for a moment, then tapped his knuckles lightly on the table: "I'll talk to the higher-ups. As long as you can continue to prove your worth, I'll smooth things over with Nissen. He should at least give me some face."

"Thank you so much."

Zhuang Fan's gratitude was perfectly timed. "By the way, Watson is very good at things that are deeply buried. Without his help, I..."

"no problem."

The foreman readily agreed; to him, it was just a trivial matter.

……

On the way back to their hideout, Watson remained silent the entire time. He had a lot of questions, but he didn't dare to speak.

He knew very well that the items contaminated by the dark brown decaying mist were beyond repair, a fact that everyone in this era understood.

But the facts are clear: Zhuang Fan does have ways to make the decaying mist disappear without a trace.

This was beyond his comprehension.

He wanted to speak several times, but swallowed the words back, his heart filled with struggle.

Zhuang Fan noticed his emotional fluctuation and took the initiative to ask, "Is something on your mind?"

"No...no." Watson denied instinctively, his eyes darting away.

But the moment he lied, Zhuang Fan keenly sensed something amiss.

He could clearly "perceive" that in Watson's brain, the incredibly thin, eerie mist had briefly stagnated.

This change was so subtle that he wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been completely focused.

Zhuang Fan's heart stirred; he vaguely grasped something, but he wasn't quite sure.

He decided to continue testing the waters.

"I do have a way to deal with the Decaying Mist."

Zhuang Fan chose to be honest, as if stating a trivial fact, "but this matter needs to be kept secret."

Watson visibly relaxed, letting out a long sigh of relief as the weight on his heart lifted.

"Brother Guangtu, don't worry, I swear I will never tell anyone." He lowered his voice at the end to make sure no one was around.

The moment he made his promise, Zhuang Fan sensed the strange mist changing within his mind once again.

This time, the thin, eerie mist flowed smoothly without any stagnation.

It's almost certain that it's Zhuang Fan.

Lies cause a special fluctuation in a person's thinking, and this fluctuation is directly reflected in the form of the mysterious fog.

This is practically a natural lie detector.

Watson, unaware that he had become a test subject, leaned closer and lowered his voice: "Brother Guangtu, are we going to make a fortune?"

"Ah."

Zhuang Fan nodded: "But it's too slow for me to search for things by myself. From now on, you'll be in charge of digging up the equipment that looks salvageable, and I'll be in charge of dealing with the decaying fog. If we work hard for a month, we should be able to save enough money to leave."

Watson nodded vigorously, hope rekindling in his eyes.

A two-year prison sentence, which was once an unattainable number, is now within reach.

"By the way," Zhuang Fan changed the subject, asking seemingly casually, "were you doing something in bed last night? You made quite a racket."

Watson blushed instantly, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and vehemently denied it: "No! I... I was fast asleep, I didn't do anything! You must have misheard!"

Hey, you lied.

Zhuang Fan caught that familiar, stagnant mist again, this time with a clearer sense of it.

In a wasteland filled with lies and betrayals, the implications of this ability are self-evident.

He decided to find more people and conduct more tests to verify and familiarize himself with the lie detection capabilities.

……

The next day, Nissen did not send them to the front lines again.

The foreman of the landfill sent someone over early in the morning to temporarily transfer the two people away, and even showed the approval from their superiors.

Nissen's face was grim. He stared at Zhuang Fan, but ultimately said nothing, only letting out a cold snort.

With Watson joining them, the two became much more efficient.

Watson has a natural intuition for all kinds of discarded parts and equipment, and can always accurately find the target from a pile of seemingly useless garbage. After his initial screening, he hands it over to Zhuang Fan for defogging.

To avoid suspicion, Watson would use his body to cleverly block surveillance cameras from various angles, creating a safe space for Zhuang Fan to "cast his spells".

But Watson never knew how Zhuang Fan had managed it. He was also very discreet and knew better than to know too much.

The high temperature and stench had no effect on them; Watson was covered in sweat, but a smile remained on his face.

As Zhuang Fan familiarizes himself with his new abilities, he tries to sense the various eerie mists in the junkyard while eliminating the decaying fog, hoping to glean more information.

Throughout the day, the two worked together seamlessly, and their final results far exceeded their expectations.

They found a damaged security android, but the core processing unit was intact;

A military-grade external power arm, only the interface was contaminated by rotten fog;
There is also a 1-kilogram high-purity titanium alloy ingot.

These items earned them a total of 500 credits, and this was the result of Zhuang Fan's deliberate attempt to keep a low profile.

The foreman was very satisfied with their performance and immediately awarded them 250 points each.

Watson was so excited that his hands were trembling. This was the biggest income he had received since entering the criminal camp, and he even fantasized about the free life he would have after leaving.

Zhuang Fan was equally happy, but for a different reason: he could now make a preliminary assessment of some of the strange fog information surrounding him.

For example, if the eerie fog in a certain area presents a pure form, it means that no one has set foot there for a long time.

If the form of the eerie mist is chaotic, he will try to determine the cause of the chaos, which races have come, how long they stayed, and where they went.

Each person's eerie mist is unique. After he memorized the eerie mist characteristics of Watson and the foreman, Zhuang Fan knew all their whereabouts perfectly well.

Of course, the most important thing is the ability to detect lies.

He had Watson lie about all sorts of trivial matters, and then had him distinguish the differences between the truth and lies in their veiled forms.

Then, he tried to remember this subtle change and gradually etched it into his instincts.

On the third day, the two returned to the junkyard, this time with even greater gains.

They even found a well-sealed medical kit containing several vials of expensive gene repair fluid.

But when they handed the offerings to the foreman, the man lost his enthusiasm from the previous two days and became indifferent instead.

These valuable items ultimately only earned them 50 credits.

"How come there are so few?"

Watson's face was full of astonishment and dissatisfaction. "Those few vials of gene repair fluid alone would cost far more than this outside."

"This is the price. The previous reward calculation formula was wrong; the system malfunctioned."

The foreman gave a friendly look: "However, we won't take back the extra credits we gave you before. From now on, we'll follow the new standards. Keep up the good work, guys."

Zhuang Fan was certain that the foreman was lying, but the reason was unclear.

Hua Sheng wanted to argue, but Zhuang Fan pulled him back, saying, "Thanks, brother. We'll head home now."

"Go."

On the way back, Watson was still indignant.

"He's messing with us. What system error? He's kidding me! It was working fine just two days ago, and now it's recalculating?"

"I know," Zhuang Fan replied simply.

"Brother Guangtu, what are we going to do? We work hard all day, and this is all we get?"

"There are two possibilities."

Zhuang Fan remained silent for a moment, then looked into the distance.

"First, our performance these past few days has been too outstanding. They don't want us to save up enough money to buy our freedom, so they're trying to lower the price and keep us tied up here like dogs for the long term."

"And what about the second one?" Watson pressed.

"The second kind..."

Zhuang Fan's gaze became complicated. "I'm not sure yet. I need to go back and check before I know."

His idea came true.

As soon as the two returned to their hideout, they saw Nissen and several of his men blocking the entrance.

The surrounding criminals kept their distance.

Nissen clapped slowly and laughed heartily: "I heard you guys made a small fortune, not bad, not bad at all."

He walked up to the two of them and gently patted Watson's cheek with the serrated side of his hand.

"However, haven't you forgotten something?"

Nissen's tone suddenly turned cold: "Eighty percent of the extra credits you earn must be given to me as tribute. Do you understand?"

Watson's eyes widened; he was too angry to speak.

Zhuang Fan ignored the chainsaw that was so close at hand and stared straight at Nissen: "Did you do the foreman's sudden price reduction?"

Nissen didn't deny it, and his face became even more smug.

"So what if it's me?"

He leaned close to Zhuang Fan's ear and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Here, if I want someone to die, they won't live past the next day. If I want someone to be a slave for life, they'll never be able to turn their life around. Let's see how long you can last, you little brat."

He straightened up, his voice regaining its loudness, as if he were announcing to everyone.

"I forgot to tell you, after two months of comprehensive evaluation, your performance was very poor."

He took out a data panel, the screen of which lit up with a blinding light, and began to list things in detail:
"Clear negligence during the transport of the wounded, fined 200 points; assembly line operations leading to increased product damage rate, fined 350 points; coal mining efficiency far below average, fined 400 points..."

The charges were listed one by one, each corresponding to a precise fine.

"After calculation, Watson, you will have 1,000 credits deducted. As for you, Guangtu..."

Nissen's gaze fell on Zhuang Fan, filled with a sense of vengeful pleasure. "You also need to add a charge of 'group fighting,' which is considered a serious offense. Deduct an additional 800 points."

"In other words, the balance in your account has been completely deducted. I will cover the remaining amount for you, but interest will be charged at 5% per month."

Nissen enjoyed the somber expressions on their faces.

"Of course, of course, I know you are angry, that's normal."

He spread his hands, feigning understanding, "There's nothing I can do. I'm a civilized person, and I prefer to solve problems in a civilized way now. As for resorting to violence, that's something only barbarians do."

Looking at his buzzing chainsaw arm, Zhuang Fan knew that the two of them were completely at his mercy.

As long as Nissen is still there, they have no hope of turning the tide.

No matter how hard they work or how much money they earn, it will all be deducted from their earnings under various pretexts. Let alone two years, they probably won't be able to leave the criminal camp for the rest of their lives.

"Does the battalion commander know you've done this?" Zhuang Fan asked finally, wanting to confirm one thing.

"You don't think the battalion commander doesn't know about these things, do you?"

Nissen laughed even harder. "To tell you the truth, everything here is under the battalion commander's control."

Nissen is lying.

The battalion commander was unaware of this matter, or rather, unaware that Nissen had gone so far.

"I see."

Zhuang Fan didn't say another word, and pulled the distraught Hua Sheng back to his bunk.

"Brother Guangtu, we're doomed this time."

Watson lay on the bed, his hands covering his head, "We'll never get out, never..."

The newly ignited flame of hope was extinguished by a bucket of ice water, leaving not even a wisp of smoke.

There are no other options left.

Zhuang Fan understood Watson's feelings; he offered neither comfort nor anger.

After a long while, he spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but exceptionally clear.

"This time, I'll be the barbarian."

(End of this chapter)