"I... I have a bag of potatoes, a large piece of dried mouse and a bottle of drink. I hate to part with them. We can't find anything around here…you…as long as you don't hurt my brother, I can give all these things to you…" The little boy said urgently. He bowed his head and sobbed.

Three black lines appeared on Jiang Lius.h.i.+'s forehead. Although it was quite common for others not to have much food, s.h.i.+ Ying Squad was an exception. They rarely ate rice, and all of their meals consisted of mutant meat.

"Boa, say no more! Anyway, this time we failed. I accept that!" The young leader said and calmed down. And then, he asked, "Where are you from? I can recognize almost all the survivors in Pan Zhu City, but I've never seen you before!"

"Can't you guess? From what direction did we come from?" Zhang Hai asked while playing with the shotgun in his hands. The group of robbers was really fearful of the shotgun.

Jiang Lius.h.i.+ stared at Yang Tianzhao, scanning him from head to toe. Jiang Lius.h.i.+ was quite intrigued when he heard that Yang Tianzhao was familiar with most of Pan Zhu City's teams.

"Where? Northern Jiangsu?" Yang Tianzhao asked in reply.

"Hey, you little twerp. Stop asking! Do you believe me when I say that I'll shoot you? Brother Jiang asked you to give us all mutant nuclei and rare metals. Move it!" Sun Kun stepped forward and pressed the shotgun's barrel against Yang Tianzhao's belly. Sun Kun had not shaved for many days now, so a thick rough beard had grown on his face. In combination with his stout body, he also looked fierce.

"Don't kill my brother." Boa, who was carried by Ling, twitched and burst into tears.

"Oh, my G.o.d." Seeing the little kid crying, Sun Kun felt awkward. If he were an adult, Sun Kun would have already slapped him, but he was just a little kid.

"I… don't have any mutant nucleus at all. But if you need rare metals, I can bring you to our mining area. What rare metals do you need?" Yang Tianzhao was in pain because of the shotgun's pressure, and his ribs felt weak. 

"You are a paranormal, how is it possible that you don't have mutant nuclei? What about mutant meat, don't you need energy to preserve yourself? Where is the warehouse you said? We will go there to search," Sun Kun said in his low voice

Yang Tianzhao's body trembled. "I can take you to that warehouse, but you ... you can't kill anyone! If you have any venomous thoughts, then I'd rather die here." He looked up and stared at Jiang Lius.h.i.+. There was a hint of concern in his eyes. Yang Tianzhao knew that Jiang Lius.h.i.+ was the team's leader.

 "We just needed materials, not your life," Jiang Lius.h.i.+ answered coldly.

Yang Tianzhao was stunned and felt that those words sounded familiar. Although Pan Zhu City was not far away, Jiang Lius.h.i.+ was not in a hurry to leave. Jiang Lius.h.i.+ felt they were fortunate after meeting such a strange team. It was a rare opportunity for them. Pan Zhu City was a famous mining city in Hujiang Province. There was not only a large number of gold, silver, iron and other minerals but also many a.s.sociated minerals. Rare metals were not as common as copper and iron. It was difficult for ordinary people to get their hands on them.

After leaving Wu Shui County, they had used up all the rare metals which were obtained from Xiang Xuehai's warehouse. If the MCV were to be damaged in the future, Jiang Lius.h.i.+ would be unable to repair it. It would be a severe problem. Coming to the mining city, of course, Jiang Lius.h.i.+ had to collect lots of materials.

Zhang Hai and Sun Kun held their shotguns and watched the group of people. Yang Tianzhao was at the front, holding Boa tightly.

After walking for more than fifteen minutes, he observed Zhang Hai and Jiang Lius.h.i.+, and then he felt relieved. He guessed that s.h.i.+ Ying Squad was not a cold-blooded team. If they were, killing everyone in his group would be just like killing ants. Yang Tianzhao was extremely depressed. He only hoped that this group of people could get what they wanted and quickly leave.

After walking for a while under the hot sun, they all felt tired. However, Jiang Lius.h.i.+ looked energetic. Yang Tianzhao looked around and was very surprised. 'How can this Captain be so energetic? It's so hot!'

Moreover, he couldn't find any energy fluctuations from Jiang Lius.h.i.+. However, he felt that Jiang Lius.h.i.+ was quite amazing. How could he know that Jiang Lius.h.i.+'s blood had been evolved and that it could regulate body temperature according to different environments?

Eventually, the minibus stopped before a 100-meter-high mountain. Yang Tianzhao walked to the hillside in front of a cave that had collapsed. That mine hole was no different to other mines'. The entrance to the cave was also blocked by several huge rocks. Only through several gaps exposed between the large rocks could one notice the depth and darkness inside the cave.

"Brother!" Boa with tears in his eyes looked at Yang Tianzhao. His small eyes were full of anxiousness.

"Don't be afraid, it's okay." Yang Tianzhao was also helpless. He was like a fish on the cutting board, waiting for others to deal with him.

He pulled out a small hollow stone from his b.u.t.tocks. "Yeah." Yang Tianzhao aimed at a small hole and blew. At that moment, at the mine's entrance that originally appeared to be closed, the rocks blocking a hole completely fell to the ground. Finally, it exposed a hole that two people could pa.s.s through.

Jiang Lius.h.i.+ was a bit surprised. And then they followed Yang Tianzhao into the cave. After pa.s.sing through the cavern, Jiang Lius.h.i.+ looked down and saw an iron beam, a twisted rope, and a metal machine lifting device below. Obviously, it was a small machine well. Into the cave, the horizon suddenly narrowed. The height and width of the mine in front of them were all about two meters, and the air was turbid. Four mine cars were parked on the tracks.

'You should be careful. There are many people in the depths of the mine. They are very deep in the mine, and my spiritual power cannot cover so far," Ran Xiyu's voice suddenly sounded in everyone's mind.

Ran Xiyu, Li Yuxin and so on had stayed in the minibus to protect it and notify Jiang Lius.h.i.+ for any sudden changes.

This cave was a few kilometers long and rocky terrain, coupled with the wet soil, and Ran Xiyu's power was greatly weakened. Especially in the deeper parts of the cave, there were many excavated holes which were extended to dense spiderweb-like pa.s.sages. She could not scan many places, so after her warning, everyone stayed vigilant.

This cave was the robbers' turf. Therefore, they didn't dare to be careless at all.

"Don't pull any stunts." Ling waved her dagger suddenly toward Yang Tianzhao, but she didn't hurt him. Yang Tianzhao was scared to death

"You can rest a.s.sured that as long as you keep your promise, we will not engage in other actions. After all, I am the only paranormal in our team…" Yang Tianzhao explained. And then Jiang Lius.h.i.+ nodded.

Jiang Lius.h.i.+, Yang Tianzhao, and Boa went on the first tramcar. Sun Kun and Zhang Hai went on the last one holding their shotguns.

'Boom!'

The tramcars rushed toward the deep of the mine. The mine was quite long, and there was no trace of light. About one minute later, their tramcars stopped. They arrived at the end of the mine.

"Electricity!" Jiang Lius.h.i.+ was surprised when he saw lights in front of him. The other members of s.h.i.+ Ying Squad were also surprised. In the past, such things as electric lights were very common. However, after doomsday, many of mankind's achievements had ceased to exist or became rare.

"This is my brother's invention. He used solar energy to set up those things. My brother was the one who arranged the wirings too," Boa explained with a prideful tone.

Jiang Lius.h.i.+ stared at Yang Tianzhao. He suddenly remembered that all materials, including that signal arrow, should be made by Yang. It seemed that this young guy was actually a genius inventor. Jiang Lius.h.i.+ always valued talent.

"Don't listen to Boa. This solar lamp had a solar panel or something. I just tinkered with it." Seeing Jiang Lius.h.i.+'s gaze, Yang Tianzhao explained.

"Yeah." Jiang Lius.h.i.+ nodded.

"Now let me look at the warehouse. All the materials should all be divided into categories. I want a lot of rare metals, so I need your entire inventory. As long as you give me these things, I won't bother you."

After hearing Jiang Lius.h.i.+'s words, Yang Tianzhao heaved a sigh of relief. "Okay, I'll bring you there," Yang Tianzhao answered.

Originally, he had thought that Jiang Lius.h.i.+ needed iron, which had been collected by other teams. He hadn't expected that Jiang Lius.h.i.+ would just need rare materials.

Presumably, the movement inside the tunnel was noticed, and some thin miners walked out slowly from the caves in all directions.

The miners, without exception, turned out to be all young people and children. A child was almost naked, with only a piece of cloth covering his private area. They were covered in dust. When they noticed Jiang Lius.h.i.+ and his members, who they were unfamiliar with, they became nervous. Some children were so scared that they were about to cry.

Obviously, Yang Tianzhao was their leader. He said a few words, and then everyone calmed down. Within a short time, the two juveniles in charge of the warehouse went into it with Jiang Lius.h.i.+. Ling, Sun Kun, and Zhang Hai stayed outside.

Under the control of two paranormals, no teenager dared to have any other thoughts. After walking around in the warehouse, Jiang Lius.h.i.+ was totally shocked by it. Although they were poor, a lot of high-quality iron ore, copper or other common metals were stored here. Some rare metals were placed in the corner with labels. In other places, there were sacks of rice, some dry food and so on.

"Mutant meat?" Jiang Lius.h.i.+ asked.

Yang Tianzhao became nervous at once, and then he tried to explain, "It's the last one. I've put a lot of salt on it, and it's tough to eat." However, Jiang Lius.h.i.+ knew what he was thinking.

"Call your people to bring all these rare metals near my minibus," Jiang Lius.h.i.+ said to Yang Tianzhao.

Jiang Lius.h.i.+ became excited because he had made a killing.

"You guys...you got what you want. Can you let us go?" Yang Tianzhao looked at Jiang Lius.h.i.+. He was still a juvenile boy, and it was hard for him to hide his emotions. 

"Don't worry. I also want you to help me make some simple time bombs and explosive packs," Jiang Lius.h.i.+ said lightly. "You should be the one who has created the steel rafts and wellhead lifting devices, right?"

Yang Tianzhao became a little angry. They were really a bunch of greedy wolves. Of course, he could create the bombs, but the materials were scarce.

"You don't have to worry. I'll trade with you. I'll use mutant meat and other food in exchange…" Jiang Lius.h.i.+ said.

Hearing Jiang Lius.h.i.+'s words, Yang Tianzhao became happy."Really? Then... Then how do you want to trade?" Yang Tianzhao's eyes were bright. In fact, for them, food was the most needed thing. As for mutant meat, only he needed it most as he had been feeling that his energy was insufficient.

"I will tell you later. I'd like you to come with us to Pan Zhu City as our Jack of all trades. I will pay you by the day," Jiang Lius.h.i.+ waved his hand and said.