Rise of the Wasteland in Cultivation

In the conference room on the eighth floor, the doors and windows were tightly closed, the curtains were drawn, and a light-emitting energy ball the size of a marble rested on the table, emitting a soft glow.

Bi Lang, the leader of the Canglang scavenging team, sat weakly against the wall with a sallow complexion. Despite his burly build, he gave off a listless feeling, completely lacking his former fierce and domineering aura.

"Xiao San, we owe you a lot this time, otherwise the entire Canglang Squad might have been wiped out here tonight." Bi Lang stood up and said with a smile.

Leng San glanced at the metal box Bi Lang was carrying in his left hand and asked curiously, "Is this what you got in return for the lives you sacrificed?"

Upon hearing this, Fatty and Zhou Chen both gasped, instinctively reaching for their weapons at their waists. They were clearly worried that Leng San would betray them, especially since their leader was seriously injured. If Leng San were to try and seize the weapon, they might not be able to stop him.

Bi Lang, ever the opportunist, chuckled magnanimously and said, "Everyone has a share. Since Xiao San has run into you, it must be fate. You get a share of what's inside as a way of repaying her for saving us tonight, don't you all agree?"

Zhou Chen nodded with a forced smile and said, "I have no objection."

The fat man was clearly unwilling, but after being secretly nudged by Zhou Chen, he muttered, "I have no objection either. My life was saved by Brother Xiao San, so giving him my share is fine too."

Leng San looked at Ye Wenrou, whose clear eyes met his for a second before she said, "If you, Xiao San, also want a share, I have no objection."

"Yes!" Leng San answered simply and decisively.

In the wasteland, weakness is not tragic, kindness is. Never beg for charity, but don't give charity to others casually either. It is only right to work for money and to repay those you save.

Ye Wenrou paused for a moment, gritted her teeth, and said resentfully, "Then let's break up. No one owes anyone anything!"

Although Leng San had acted very kindly and fairly, and with his strength he could have easily taken the hit, he only chose to share, Ye Wenrou was still a little disappointed. She had thought Leng San would be different, after all, in this situation, scavengers who could step in to save people were as rare as phoenix feathers.

Bi Lang, however, took it all in stride. In this world, those who are willing to save people are practically saints, and saints only exist in legends and books. Let alone saints, even slightly kind people are destined not to live long in the wasteland.

"Zhou Chen, open it and take a look." Bi Lang tossed the metal box to Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen took the metal box, placed it on the conference table, and touched its surface. A digital interface appeared on the metal box lid, indicating that a password was required to open it.

Zhou Chen seemed quite skilled. He confidently took out a quantum decoder from his backpack, plugged it into the digital interface of the metal box, and fiddled with it for a while. But half an hour passed and there was still no movement.

"Brother Chen, are you sure you can handle this?" the fat man asked, leaning closer.

Zhou Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead and cursed, "What's the rush? Even if you're about to hang yourself, you need to catch your breath first. You fatso, get out of here. Your bad breath is affecting my performance."

"Tch, can't poop, and then blames Earth for not having gravity!" The fat man rolled his eyes, muttered, and walked away.

Zhou Chen fiddled with it for another half hour, but still couldn't open the metal box. He awkwardly stroked his chin and said, "There's no reason for this. The tutorial clearly says this. Please wait a moment while I look at the tutorial again."

As Zhou Chen spoke, he pulled a book out of his backpack. The cover of the book read: "Peak Hacker - From Beginner to Expert, 30-Day Crash Course!"

Leng San was speechless; this guy was just learning and applying what he had just learned!

The hot-tempered Ye Wenrou shoved Zhou Chen aside, pulled out the overclocking oscillation blade, and slashed at the metal box.

"No—ah!" Zhou Chen screamed in agony.

The high-frequency oscillation knife is also nuclear-powered, allowing the knife to oscillate at a high frequency, much like a high-speed chainsaw, capable of cutting through ordinary steel with a single stroke.

The metal box in front of her was probably made of lead alloy, which could protect against radiation, but it wasn't very strong. Ye Wenrou chopped the metal box open with three strokes.

The crowd instinctively gathered around, feeling both nervous and excited. However, when Bi Lang and the others saw what was inside, they were all stunned, and their expressions turned extremely ugly.

"No!" Zhou Chen cried out in despair, clutching his head. The fat man collapsed to the ground. Ye Wenrou sighed and rubbed her forehead, speechless. Bi Lang trembled all over.

It turned out that the metal box didn't contain a memory device, medicine, or even paper books; it only contained a few potatoes in plastic bags and three unopened packets of seeds.

"No no no no..." Zhou Chen frantically searched for the metal box, even snatching the overclocking oscillation knife from Ye Wenrou's hand and chopping it open inch by inch. Unfortunately, apart from a few potatoes and a few packets of seeds, there was really nothing else.

The fat man picked up two potatoes, his face contorted with grief, and said, "Three lives for three potatoes, and three damn packets of seeds—carrots? Corn? Tomatoes? What use are these to me? I can't grow them even if I take them back!"

Bi Lang coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground. For this trip to Xiangshi, his team had almost spent all their savings and even lost three lives, only to return with useless seeds. It was truly a complete loss!

At this moment, Bi Lang felt as if he had fallen into an abyss. He was seriously injured, and even if he could be healed, his strength would be greatly reduced. He was already in his early thirties, and even if he lived to be fifty, he had already lived more than half his life. His hope of making a comeback was extremely slim.

Leng San stepped forward, picked up a potato, and found it to be extremely fresh, probably because it had been preserved in the vacuum of orbital space. He estimated that it could still be grown. The packets of seeds were unopened and should still be viable.

"How do you classify these things?" Leng San asked.

Zhou Chen smiled wryly, "How can we divide it? It's not even enough to fill a gap between our teeth. If you want it, take it all, mistress."

"Okay!" Leng San didn't stand on ceremony and swept everything into his backpack.

Ye Wenrou's heart skipped a beat and she said, "Wait a minute, save one potato for me. I've never had a fresh potato before."

Leng San tossed a potato to Ye Wenrou, who caught it, gave him a deep look, and said, "Little San, are you planning to take these seeds back and plant them?"

Before Leng San could answer, Zhou Chen poured cold water on the idea, saying, "It's useless. It won't grow. You might as well roast it and have a snack."

Leng San didn't respond. He had his own plans. Chenxi had the ability to purify and could continuously release spiritual energy. He could take these seeds back and let Chenxi plant them. Maybe they would grow successfully. If they did, he would have fresh fruits and vegetables to eat in the future.

Bi Lang, having weathered many storms, recovered his composure after a brief period of dejection. He apologized to Leng San, saying, "Xiao San, I'm sorry, when bad luck strikes, even drinking cold water can cause problems. We've lost a lot this time; the value of this stuff isn't even worth the light machine gun bullets you wasted."

Leng San shook his head and said, "Scavenging is risky, that's normal, and I think it's worth it."

A hint of surprise flashed in Bi Lang's eyes. Judging from Leng San's tone, could this kid possibly have a way to grow crops? That shouldn't be possible, right? The land has been contaminated with radioactive materials; even if crops were grown, they wouldn't be edible.

"I've never eaten potatoes before, especially fresh potatoes," Leng San added.

Bi Lang felt relieved and laughed, "That's true. You were all born after the nuclear war. I was luckier than you. I was exactly ten years old when the nuclear war happened. I've eaten all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables. Back then, my mom loved to buy durians. I was so sick of them. Now... I can't eat them even if I want to."

Bi Lang licked his lips, a look of reminiscence on his face, then suddenly spat out a mouthful of foul blood.

Leng San frowned and said, "Master Bi seems to be seriously injured?"

Bi Lang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and laughed, "To be able to escape with my life from a B-level ability user is already incredibly lucky. What's a little injury!"

Leng San's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "You encountered a Level B ability user?"

Bi Lang nodded with lingering fear, but didn't elaborate on what kind of superhuman they were. Instead, he asked, "By the way, Xiao San, why did you come to Xiang City too?"

"Xiangshi?" Leng San asked in surprise, "I didn't go to Xiangshi, this is Shenzhen."

"Is this Shenzhen?" Zhou Chen and the fat man looked at each other in bewilderment.

Ye Wenrou said with a strange expression, "Xiao San, are you running a fever? This is clearly Xiangshi."

Leng San's heart stirred, and he turned and walked to the balcony. Bi Lang and the others exchanged glances and followed him out onto the balcony. They looked up at the sky in the direction of Leng San's gaze and were surprised to find that there were two moons in the sky!

"These are... two moons?" Zhou Chen was dumbfounded.

Bi Lang's expression shifted, and he asked in a deep voice, "Xiao San, are you sure this is Shenzhen?"

Leng San nodded and briefly recounted his experiences that day, leaving Zhou Chen and the fat man dumbfounded.

Ye Wenrou frowned and said, "So, you're saying we were chased by zombies for several streets, and then we went straight from Hong Kong back to Shenzhen?"

Bi Lang, being a man of considerable experience, said in a deep voice, "It seems we've inadvertently stumbled into a distorted, chaotic space. This industrial park in Shenzhen is connected to the Forbidden Zone in Hong Kong. No wonder the radiation levels here are so high; the radiation is probably overflowing from the Forbidden Zone in Hong Kong. The vanished horde of corpses has likely returned to Hong Kong."

"What do we do now? We can't find an exit, and we can't get out either," Zhou Chen said anxiously. "Although the radiation here isn't too high, staying here for a long time will still take a toll on our bodies."

Bi Lang looked at Leng San, who shook his head and said, "I don't have a solution for now either. Let's try again tomorrow. We'll find a way eventually."

"Alright, everyone rest first, and we'll figure out a way to get out tomorrow at dawn," Bi Lang instructed.

So, Zhou Chen, Ye Wenrou, and the others went to rest and recover their strength.