Beginning with the Ubume Bird Chapter 279

Chapter 279: Chapter 5: Winter Is Coming

“Raiding…”

Li Yan muttered to himself.

“We've got to get into the shelter right away, immediately.”

Afafu shouted at Li Yan.

“Don't worry, you said it yourself, the shelter won't take us in without a permit.”

Li Yan waved his hand dismissively.

“Then let's find some cover and hide. The people from Danzuo Automobile are crazy. And…”

“And they have a bad relationship with Black Star's vehicles, right?”

Li Yan asked.

Afafu swallowed hard and nodded with difficulty.

“The Gobi is so vast, where could he look for you and me? It's just a matter of staying away from those ruins harboring thugs.”

Li Yan raised his eyebrows: “Are you really with Black Star's vehicles? Those weren't lies to deceive the mob, were they?”

Afafu answered earnestly, “I'm not lying. My husband is a colonel officer with Black Star's vehicles; his name is Qiao Xing. I'm a researcher affiliated with Black Star's vehicles…”

She took out a silver metal nameplate that the baby had been clutching in its hand and showed it to Li Yan.

“This is my nameplate.”

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Li Yan took it over and saw a series of numerical codes along with Tibetan script he couldn't understand. At the bottom of the nameplate was an aggressive-looking car charging head-on, its hood adorned with a black pentagram.

Li Yan glanced at the baby with wide, round eyes but did not return the nameplate: “Your child?”

Afafu answered softly, “Yes.”

“Where can we get a permit?”

“Kuang Zhuoma's camp, I know the way.”

Li Yan nodded, not asking any further questions.

He walked over to the shaggy-bearded man Black Rider Ghost had brought back, the one with exceptional marksmanship, and activated A Fleeting Glimpse.

Name: Shan Bu

Second-tier soldier type: Wanderer (an expert marksman adept at guerrilla warfare)

Li Yan smiled and half-jokingly thumped the Black Rider Ghost's chest: “I told you to kill him, so why did you bring him back?”

He didn't expect the Black Rider Ghost to speak. Li Yan's interactions with the Black Rider Ghost were always through simple commands, such as intercept, block, kill, etc., and the rest was up to the Black Rider Ghost himself to figure out. That the Black Rider Ghost brought him back this time was beyond Li Yan's expectations.

“Can kill anytime, keep alive to ask questions,”

Li Yan suddenly turned around, looking incredulously at the Black Rider Ghost.

The Black Rider Ghost's eyes bore two crimson points staring at Li Yan, enough to make someone with less nerve get goosebumps.

Li Yan looked at him, then at Bai Laotou, who was tugging at his own beard on the Ghost Rider's shoulder. After a while, he said, “Next time just kill him. If we need to keep someone alive, I'll instruct you.”

The Black Rider Ghost's crimson eyes flickered as he nodded slightly.

With a wave of his hand, Li Yan sent the Black Rider Ghost along with the screaming Bai Laotou swirling into the square hole of the Copper Coin in front of his neck.

Li Yan then turned back to look at the shaggy-bearded man on the ground, pointing at the bloodstain near his own eyebrow: “Give me a reason not to kill you.”

The disheveled bearded man struggled to raise his neck, facing Li Yan's question. After pondering for quite a while, under Li Yan's intense gaze, he laughed helplessly and shrilly, “Heh~ Can saving a bullet be a reason?”

Li Yan was initially set on killing him, but the man's words took him aback. He looked at that ugly, pitiful smile and laughed without a sound: “You're quite humorous.”

After that, Li Yan fell silent for a while.

The man didn't speak; he just looked indifferently at Li Yan,

His eyes were a turbid yellow, the filth at the corners crusted over, not to mention the bloody hole on his cheek. His body was already riddled with the scars of radiation.

“In this era, there aren't many people who can remain humorous.”

Li Yan got on his motorcycle and called out to Afafu: “Let's go!”

Afafu glanced at the shaggy bearded man, then hurriedly got on the bike with her child.

The Dodge Tomahawk turned its head in the direction Afafu had pointed.

“Good luck to you.”

The engine roared away.

The scruffy-bearded man gasped for air, turned over, and managed to sit up. He looked at the tin can next to him, which contained a whole can of clear water.

Slish-slash~

Li Yan, with the buzzing radio at his waist, was followed by Afafu, who cradled a deeply sleeping infant.

“Sir, no offense, but which faction do you belong to?”

“Me? Didn't you say I was a Wilderness Hunter?”

“I have never seen a double-gene tier three Wilderness Hunter, which represents an investment of over 800,000 yuan. That's enough for a family of three to live in a safe area and spend the rest of their lives in peace.”

Li Yan did not speak.

Afafu tightened her grip on the swaddling clothes, “Of course, that question isn't that important.”

“I'm afraid you won't believe me if I told you.”

Li Yan's short hair fluttered in the wind.

“Simply put…” Li Yan said in a calm tone, “I have amnesia.”

“Amnesia?”

Afafu looked confused.

“Yes, it may be a side effect of some kind of genetically modified agent. I have amnesia. And I've lost contact with the main troops, don't have anything on me that can prove my identity. The only thing I remember is the four words 'Shuishu Park,' which is why I was so desperate to find this place.”

After saying this, Li Yan gave himself a thumbs-up inwardly.

Flawless.

“Shuishu Park, I have never heard of this name before.”

Afafu shook her head, she pursed her lips and said, “But I think, maybe my husband has heard of this place, and there are only a handful of organizations that can cultivate a tier three soldier. It won't be too hard to find. By the way, are you really…?”

Li Yan narrowed his eyes, he didn't ask about Afafu's ordeal, but instead asked something else, “Walking all this way, I've heard too many new terms: Black Star vehicles, Raine Brothers, Kuang Zhuoma, Medicine Buddha, Danzuo Automobile. Take this opportunity to explain them to me?”

“Of course, no problem.”

Afafu smiled.

In fact, whether Li Yan's amnesia was true or false did not matter; whether Afafu believed it also did not matter. What was important was that Li Yan needed a context to tell the woman: “I don't know anything; I want to ask everything. Just tell me honestly from the beginning. I'll find Shuishu Park, and I might as well help you find your husband on the way.”

Afafu organized her thoughts and began to explain, “The Raine Brothers are a local munitions company that sells large-caliber sniper rifles and special ammunition. They are local arms dealers with great influence.”

“Kuang Zhuoma, backed by Tan Ya Mining, has abundant oil and iron mines in sector B and has reached a long-term cooperative relationship with Tan Ya Mining because of this. They occasionally have friction with the Raine Brothers.”

“These two are local organizations. Meanwhile, Black Star vehicles, Pompeii Armaments, and Tan Ya Mining, known as the Three Heroes of Winter, almost have a presence in every corner of Winter that supports human life. But in just sector B, these three powers might not be much stronger than the Raine Brothers or Kuang Zhuoma.”

“As for Medicine Buddha, it's the local faith, officially named Glazed Medicine Master Pure Land Buddha. They preach that all the sufferings of this era are Buddha's wrath, believe in the Medicine Buddha, and after death, one will be reborn in paradise. Ha, they're just some paranoid lunatics.”

“Nevertheless, in the whole of sector B, devotees of the Medicine Buddha are endless. From homeless wanderers to strictly disciplined military organizations, almost all have followers of the Medicine Buddha. Even gradually, entire organizations begin to degenerate, turning into fanatics of the Medicine Buddha. There are many such cases, for instance, Danzuo Automobile.”

“And there's more…”

Suddenly, Afafu's expression turned serious, “Severe radiation has filled Winter with incredible uncertainties. I've been in a helicopter to a safe area abandoned by Pompeii Armaments for sampling research. It's filled with walking corpses whose flesh rots, and their teeth and nails carry infectious viruses. I've also seen the skeletons of huge beasts, comparable to the dinosaurs before the Winter. Although these creatures lack organization and intelligence, they have abnormally aggressive instincts. Combined with the spread of the cold currents, the actual range where humans can survive is getting smaller and smaller…”

Afafu covered her mouth, “Oh, I've gone off-topic a bit.”

“It doesn't matter, I'm listening attentively. But Afafu, let me ask you something. The sweeps by Danzuo Automobile against the refugees, what do they usually deploy?”

“It's usually cars, soldiers, machine guns, and the like.”

“Would they use bombers?”

“What a joke, who would waste that much?”

Li Yan looked up, “Then tell me, who's flying that thing up there?”

Afafu looked up in alarm.

Chapter end