C19 The Relationship Became More Harmonious

By the time Payson found Meow and Bella, he had already given up on resisting. Meow was comfortably nestled in Bella's arms, purring contentedly under her gentle strokes.

It appeared that Meow had let down its guard around Bella, and she had no intention of hurting the creature.

"At present, everything is normal," Payson mused.

Meanwhile, Ashes was still grilling Moorer.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm a mediocre doctor with a bit of mechanical knowledge. I enjoy working out, and that's all I do!" Moorer exclaimed in frustration.

"That doesn't add up!" Ashes countered, "By your account, you're just an average Joe! So how do you explain those terrifying interrogation tactics you used earlier?"

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Moorer said, torn between laughter and despair. "Those kinds of scenes are a dime a dozen in movies! What's wrong with picking up a few tricks?"

"...No, my assassin's intuition says you're no ordinary man! I need to get to the bottom of this!" Ashes was relentless.

"Look, Ashes, my friend," Moorer replied, still with a hint of incredulity, "there's a sixty-year gap between us! Things were a lot different back in my day!"

"I can vouch for him; he's telling the truth. Moorer was indeed a doctor before he went into hibernation," Payson interjected, stepping in to defuse the situation.

Moorer's eyes sparkled with hope, as if clutching at a lifeline. He quickly chimed in, "See? Even Payson is backing me up. I'm just a regular guy! You're reading too much into it!"

"...Then do you have any proof?" Ashes was still not convinced.

Payson produced a paper document and explained, "This is the personnel registration form I brought from the Sanctuary. It clearly lists everyone's gender, height, age, weight, and so on during hibernation, as well as our job titles and social standing..."

Ashes accepted the document, scrutinizing it with great care. He understood the significance of such a paper, but being from the wasteland, he barely recognized the letters. Making sense of the document was proving to be an immense challenge.

"Hey, where did you get this document?" Moorer whispered.

"I just grabbed it from a drawer in the Sanctuary Registration Hall," Payson said, pulling a face. "It's actually a janitor's schedule. I was going to use it as toilet paper, but it turns out to be useful now."

Just as Payson had predicted, Ashes didn't understand the document. But too proud to admit his confusion, he pretended to comprehend and handed it back, saying,

"It appears... you were right. Moorer really is a doctor... I was worried for nothing..."

Moorer breathed a silent sigh of relief. If his identity were exposed at this moment, it would spell big trouble!

"I'm actually quite curious about what you do..." Payson murmured.

"Er... Ashes, did you score any good loot from Bella?"

At the mention of loot, Ashes perked up. He brought over the small black bag of war trophies, presenting each item with enthusiasm.

"Wow! Bella was loaded! Check this out! Top-quality magnesium bars! A whole pack, exactly six. And look at this, brand-new smoke grenades, three of them, plus this! A stun grenade! Wow... this is some quality gear..."

While Moorer and Payson might not be impressed, for Ashes, these items were treasures. He believed that with these gadgets, an assassin was truly equipped.

"...Hey, take a look at this... Huh? What's this?"

Ashes pulled out a silver-white disc-shaped object, ten centimeters in radius and five centimeters thick, made of metal with a small red cross at its center.

"Could this be... some kind of mini force shield generator?" Moorer scratched his head, unfamiliar with the device.

"Or maybe it's a nano medical kit that releases nanobots to heal the body in an emergency... See that red cross? It's probably medical equipment," Payson suggested.

"What are you even talking about?" Ashes was utterly baffled by their exchange. Force shields? Nanobots? He had never heard of such things. To him, it was nothing more than a metal frisbee. Quickly losing interest, he shrugged and tossed it aside.

He might not have noticed the "Handle with Care" message on the back of the frisbee, but the events that unfolded were a direct result of his careless throw.

When they finally took stock of their supplies, they had collected from Bella a civilian telescope, six magnesium strips, a set of military night-vision gear, three smoke grenades, three stun grenades, two offensive grenades, one defensive grenade, a military dagger, and a water bottle identical to the one they had pilfered.

"Is DS really that broke? They don't even issue you a gun?" Payson grumbled. He had assumed that a large, high-tech organization like DS would standardly equip everyone with a firearm, but he was left disappointed.

"These days, having a revolver or an M1911 is quite enough. What more could you want?" Ashes shot back. He thought Payson was overly idealistic, always dreaming up impractical things.

"Ah... speaking of guns... hold on a sec, I'll go grab something!" Moorer exclaimed before dashing out of the camp. He hauled a heap of "junk" from the neighboring repair shop into the service station, leaving everyone curious about his activities.

As predicted, once Bella let her guard down, her smile was truly captivating. Her presence brought a unique vibrancy to the otherwise all-male camp.

Frankly, without Meow acting as a social lubricant, Bella would have found it impossible to fit into their environment.

In the presence of such an adorable creature, it was impossible for anyone to resist its charm.

By the time they had divided up Bella's gear, it was already 1 PM. From that point, Moorer was holed up in the service station with his collection of scrap and hadn't emerged since. Meanwhile, Meow was being petted by Bella, who was also trying to coax information from her. Ashes had taken it upon himself to fetch water and scout for supplies, while Payson kept a watchful eye on Bella from a short distance, ensuring she didn't do anything inappropriate, all the while lost in memories of his past...

Bella's face brought to mind a sister he once knew, codenamed "Sixteen," who might have been the only person able to peer into Payson's soul. Bella bore a striking resemblance to her, yet there was a fundamental difference between them...

Ashes returned around 4:30 PM, his hands full with several pots of water and a bag of white granular substance.

Watching Ashes grin foolishly, Payson had a good idea of what had caused such joy.

It was the salt they had been craving for so long!

At a little past six in the evening, Ashes prepared another pot of soup with the rat meat that hadn't dried yet. With salt added this time, it was much easier to stomach.

Bella emerged, cradling Meow in her arms. Clearly, after a full day of bonding, Meow had completely warmed up to Bella.

As they were about to dine, Ashes curiously asked Bella why the DS organization hadn't issued her a firearm.

"It's quite... frustrating," Bella said, shaking her head in dismay. "Our organization does indeed raise an army and train them, but they don't provide firearms to warriors below three stars. Those warriors have to either purchase their own or make them. Only those who achieve a three-star rank are allocated standard weapons by the DS organization."

"Ah, that explains the mismatched weapons among the soldiers when we infiltrated the water plant," Payson realized, "The DS organization must not be as well-funded as I thought."

"And because of that, the greedy mechanics in our organization mark up the prices outrageously when selling weapons privately! A pistol could cost you hundreds of bottle caps! And to think, my daily wage is less than 20..." Bella vented to the group.

Halfway through their meal, Moorer emerged from the service station, covered in grime.

In just a few days, Moorer's once pristine white lab coat was on the verge of turning black, now smeared with oily fingerprints and emitting an odd odor.

But that wasn't the focus. The real point of interest was the peculiar object Moorer was holding.

It was a comically designed air cylinder gun, constructed from a medium-sized pressure tank with two steel pipes for support. The gun was covered in a tangle of air hoses, which Moorer had secured with zip ties. Two hoses connected to a trigger fashioned from a bicycle brake handle, while the rest of the tank linked to a barrel-like component between the two pipes.

Moorer had also attached a plastic bottle with a hole drilled in it to the upper right side of the barrel, filled with 6mm steel balls—commonplace in any repair shop.

To Payson, the gun was nothing but junk, yet for Bella and Ashes, it was a prized possession.

"Haha! Check this out! My latest creation! A semi-automatic cylinder gun that fires 6 mm steel balls with considerable force. It can take down a mutated cockroach or a mutated spider, no problem. And if it hits a person, it can inflict serious injury!" Moorer chuckled, cradling the weapon.

"Wow! This is awesome! I want it! How much?" Bella was genuinely interested in the item; she had been longing for a gun for quite some time.

"Sorry, this one's not for sale. However, if you really want it... I might think about giving it to you based on how you perform."

Bella immediately quieted down.

Around eight in the evening, everyone else had settled down for the night, but Meow, being nocturnal, was wide awake. The later it got, the more energized it became. Eventually, Moorer couldn't keep it contained any longer and decided to let it patrol the city walls while he and the others slept.

Expecting a cat to stand guard obediently? Impossible. Meow leaped from the city wall to a car roof, then onto the sign of an old gas station, clearly restless.

Suddenly, a familiar scent wafted into Meow's nostrils. Meow sniffed vigorously... Ah! The aroma of canned cat food!

Lured by the prospect of food, Meow bounded over the city wall and dashed toward the source of the scent.

At a street corner, Meow indeed found an opened and warmed-up can of cat food lying there.

"Who left this here?" Meow wondered. But the scent was irresistible, and it couldn't hold back. Wiggling its hips and arching its back, Meow pounced on the can and began to feast.

Unexpectedly, as it was enjoying its meal, a large black sack descended upon it from above.