C21 Contract

Three days later, at dawn, a long line of trucks stopped at the northern gate of Orchid Town. There were a total of fifty trucks, and the carriages were covered in dark green canvas. They were very far away, but one could smell the stench from the carriages.

If one opened the canvas, one would see the densely-packed corpses of mutated creatures. There were necrophagous dogs, living dead, and other common creatures in the wilderness.

Due to the unpleasant smell, the transport team would usually set off at midnight to avoid causing complaints from the residents of the town.

Under the starry sky, a worn-out All Terrain Vehicle was parked on the slope in front of the convoy. Most of the red and white paint had fallen off, and the surface of the car was riddled with dents. The protective bars were also somewhat distorted.

There were two young people sitting in the front passenger seat. One of them was wearing a black waterproof military uniform with a second lieutenant's epaulette. The other young man looked a few years younger than the former. He was wearing an ordinary yellow military uniform with no epaulette to show his military rank.

This young lieutenant was Chen Xing, and the young man beside him was the driver Yang introduced by Little Five.

Fifteen minutes later, the convoy was fully equipped and slowly moved forward. The All Terrain Vehicle was then activated and moved to the front of the convoy. Originally, they were following behind the convoy, but when they followed behind the convoy, the stench was extremely unpleasant.

The strong light at the front of the car illuminated the red land ahead. From time to time, one or two small figures would appear and disappear into the ground. Those were the most common red-furred mice in the Red Soil Continent. They lived in the wilderness and lived on grass stems and shrubs.

The wilderness at night was extremely dangerous, but that was only for a single traveler. A convoy like this had a large number of people and a great momentum, so the wild creatures did not dare to approach them. Of course, the Wormy Wolf or the Corpse King would not go deep into the human controlled area.

Chen Xing pulled down his military cap and closed his eyes to sleep. There was nothing to see in the wilderness. It was just a red land, withered grass, and bushes. It was even more boring at night, with only endless darkness. The horizon in the distance was like a black mist that engulfed the sky, mercilessly devouring the stars.

"Wuwuwu …"

The sound of the engine lingered in his ears, and his body trembled along with the uneven terrain. Chen Xing could not fall asleep at all, and he couldn't help but think of the scene when he left Orchid Town for the first time fifteen years ago.

At that time, he had a miserable life in Orchid Town. He had to wash plates for a few months before he was able to pay for the fare and follow the transport team to Dragon Town. The two places were more than one thousand and five hundred kilometers apart, and they could only travel three to four hundred kilometers a day. Sometimes, there would be rain, and the road would be muddy, so it would take some time.

That time, he had to walk for seven days before he reached Dragon Town. Since he didn't have much money, the captain of the convoy took half of the fare and helped him, so he naturally did not have a seat. He sat on the roof of the truck, and below him were corpses. The stench was unbearable. When he first arrived at Dragon Town, he had vomited meat for half a month. It could be seen how big of a psychological shadow he had.

After that, he spent another nine years in the mercenary group. He was promoted to a captain by the mercenary group. Now, he had only been reborn for less than half a month, and he had already become the captain of the Orchid Town's Team Three. He was also a second lieutenant, and he had a position in the mercenary group. It could be said that the world had changed, and he was no longer the same person as he was in his previous life.

To be more precise, his status in the past half a month had already surpassed the nine years of hard work he had put in his previous life.

This was a cruel world, but it was also a world full of opportunities. The strong were like the dew, and the weak were like the bitter yellow.

His starting point this time was more than a little bit higher than his previous life. Although it was impossible for him to develop so quickly in the future, it was still a good foundation. After recruiting all the members, he would be able to build an underground water station, and he would be able to earn some money for a while. Then, he would be able to improve his three attributes.

Generally speaking, the effect of increasing attributes was not obvious in the early stages. As the saying went, no matter how good a kung fu was, it would still be useless if it was not sharp enough. When one's attributes were lower than 50, this was basically true. However, after reaching 50, the traditional weapons would gradually lose their use.

The higher the muscle density, the stronger the body, the faster the speed, and the sturdier the spiritual energy protection, it would make the hot weapons feel like scratching an itch or slowing down the camera. Sniper rifles and rockets would all become flintlocks. Not to mention bullets, even if they were to shoot at a close distance with a cannon or a missile, it would not be very useful.

At that time, the battle between the strong would turn into a simple melee fight. Only the spiritual weapons created by master craftsmen would be able to play a certain role.

While he was thinking, he was gently pushed by someone. Then he heard Yang's voice.

"Captain, there are refugees in front."

Chen Xing raised his large military hat and sat up straight. He looked in the direction that Yang was pointing at. Hundreds of meters away in the wasteland, a group of refugees were dragging their families and carriages across the road.

"Stop the speed and stop," Chen Xing said. This kind of problem should be left to the transport team to deal with.

Just as he finished speaking, a shout came from behind through the loudspeaker.

"Get out of the way, quickly get out of the way!"

Then, he saw two All Terrain Vehicles coming out of the carriages and speeding towards the refugees, firing at the same time.

"Da Da Da!" Hearing the gunshots and shouts, the refugees panicked and threw down their belongings, fleeing in all directions.

Not long after, a truck full of goods roared past. The heavy wheels mercilessly crushed the bags on the road, leaving behind a mess and a large cluster of pungent black smoke.

The refugees were the lowest existences in this world. They did not have the most basic human rights. They were between humans and animals, and were not recognized by the "Human Extinction Management Committee." Some people treated them like rats in the wasteland and wantonly slaughtered them. Some people treated them like citizens and gathered them.

For example, Wong Bo treated the refugees as livestock and killed them whenever he wanted to. On the other hand, the mayor, Shard, was willing to recruit them and develop his own town.

In fact, most people still treated the refugees as humans like themselves and would not easily kill them. However, most of the time, they did not show much respect. For example, the mercenaries responsible for the safety of the transport team did not casually shoot them down, but only drove them away.

Apart from some tribes that lived in the wilderness or lived in the mountains, most of the refugees were either ‘losers’, ‘criminals’, or ‘unemployed’.

Under the proposal of the Committee of Management of the Human Alliance, which was signed by the leaders of all the countries in the world, any country system would abolish the death penalty. The leaders could not sentence anyone to death by law, so they could only be exiled.

However, the funny thing was that there was a huge paradox in this law. The exiled were not given any human rights and could be killed at will. Their lives were not guaranteed. However, there was still a subtle difference. For the real experts, it did not matter whether they were refugees or citizens. At least in terms of survival, the difference was not big.

Such a policy was obviously biased towards the strong, but it also conformed to the main objective of the Committee of Management of the Human Alliance — to continue the civilization of mankind. In this cruel world, only the strong could survive better.

After that, the convoy continued to move forward. They did not encounter anything special until noon the next day. During lunchtime, the convoy stopped. Although Chen Xing was unwilling to get close to them, in order to be polite, he still went over and said a few words to the captain of the convoy. He then took out two packs of cigarettes and asked Yang to distribute them to the driver and the mercenaries.

Seeing them squatting beside the truck and eating, chatting and laughing, Chen Xing felt disgusted by the stinky smell. When he returned to the car, he only recovered after more than ten minutes. However, he could not eat meat, so he could only eat vegetable noodles and drink some soup.

In the afternoon, Chen Xing, who was at the front of the convoy, saw a few three-wheeled motorcycles parked on the distant slope. He looked over with a telescope and saw seven or eight men with guns on their backs and colorful robes.

"What should we do?" Yang subconsciously slowed down and asked.

"Ignore them." After saying that, Chen Xing covered his face with his cap and continued to doze off.

Sure enough, when the convoy approached, the group of people immediately turned around and scattered. Most of the time, the robbers in the wilderness would not be interested in the transport team. Moreover, they were too few in number and could not beat the convoy. The next day, they met a small group of people who saw the convoy and immediately ran away.

However, on the third day, they met some trouble...

"Be careful, there are a group of Red Soil Lizards!" As the shouts came from the walkie-talkie, the entire convoy quickly stopped. Due to the rush, some of the vehicles collided with each other.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

About ten minutes later, the ground started to shake slightly, and as time passed, it became more and more obvious. Tiny sand particles jumped about, as if an earthquake was about to come.

Not long after, huge figures gradually appeared on the uneven slope in front of them. The dark green scales shone brightly under the sunlight, and they were covered in a metallic luster. Their flat heads, thick limbs, and long tails.

The Red Soil Giant Lizards were the most powerful herbivores in the Red Soil Continent. They constantly migrated to hunt for food, grow, and reproduce. Their bodies were huge, and the adult lizards had a head to tail length of twenty to thirty meters, and a height of three to four meters.

They were gentle in nature, and unless they were attacked or stopped, they would not harm other creatures. However, because of their huge size and the need to maintain their formation, once they fell into the group, they would be trampled into dregs very quickly.

In the wilderness, even the Wormy Wolves did not dare to rashly charge into the group of Giant Lizards. Their scales were extremely tough, and their skin was also extremely tough. There was also a thick layer of fat under their skin, and even a cannonball would not be able to penetrate it.

However, the armor made of the skin of the Giant Lizards cost more than a thousand gold coins. However, the Dragon Saliva River Kingdom prohibited the hunting of Giant Lizards. This was because the Giant Lizards were the most important link in the biological chain of the Red Soil Continent, and it involved the ecology of the entire continent. Only by obtaining the "Lizard Hunting License" issued by the Ice Blue City in the King’s City could one hunt for a specific number of Giant Lizards.

Anyone who poached would be seen as a traitor and would be sent to the edge of the Black Death Forest.

After about twenty minutes, the Red Earth Giant Lizards finally left slowly. The convoy continued to inspect their vehicles and continued their journey.