Supplies are critical for him.
Xiao sighs and counts 150 bullets. He is about to hand over to the beard guy. The beard guy waves his fingers and asks for more "Now, 180 bullets." Damn the profiteer! You son of bit**!
The beard guy notices the change in Xiao's face and shouts loudly, "Oh my! His eyes fucking scare me! Do you want to kill me? Fellows look at this outsider! He wants to kill me in our camp!"
Shortly, many stragglers gather here. Some of them take a crowbar or iron-bar. They seem unfriendly. "This is my god damn place. Give the bullets or fuck off!"
"Sure, 180 bullets. Deal!" Xiao is furious but he doesn't want to risk it. He counts some more bullets and throws them on the pickup.
The beard guy is happy and asks others to prepare supplies Xiao asked. Xiao confirms that the map and supplies are there and gives him a one-finger salute.
He is about to leave. He doesn't want to stay here for even one more second.
However, the beard guy speaks again, "Hey, do you want to walk out of this forest?"
"None of your business." Xiao stops and replies with anger.
"I have an old pickup for sale. Do you want it?" The beard guy says if nothing happened.
"I can't afford your price." Xiao sarcasms.
"You can." The beard guy points at Xiao's bag. "You have many bullets. That means you must have some guns too. Pay with the guns."
High-quality guns are very popular among stragglers. They live by hunting. One good gun means one more good hunter.
The equipment from the night owl squad is in Xiao's bag. They are all of high quality. Snipe, bullet-proof vests are popular, which weigh enough for an old pickup.
But Xiao turns it down. The trace in the forest is too obvious. It is like leading the enemy to you. He doesn't want to race with a helicopter. It is better to walk. On the other hand, these guns are from the Sprout. Once the Sprout chased him to this camp. The equipment will bring disaster here. And it will leave clues for the chase. Let alone he was just bullied in the trade by the beard guy.
The beard guy doesn't want to give up. Before he says something, another voice comes.
"Kaili, you are bullying an outsider again!" A strong man with a hide cape walks closer. The crowd gives way which means he is highly respected here.
"Hong, I nearly made a deal. Leave me alone!" Hong grabs the bullets from the beard guy and gives them back to Xiao, "The things you ask are worthless. Take them as a gift. These are your bullets."
Xiao is surprised and stares at Hong. This man is coloured, strong, and around 40. His voice is friendly and powerful. The behaviour of giving back bullets wins Xiao's preference.
"Wtf, what about me?" Kaili shouts. Hong doesn't turn back and says,
"Just some food. I will give some to you tomorrow."
Kaili is furious. It is not easy to be a profiteer in the field. Now you teach me to trade fairly? Do you know what business is?
Hong is friendly and says, "Friends come as they are. You look tired. Not used to forest life? Do you want to take a rest at my place and leave tomorrow?"
Xiao hesitates for a while and nods. He really wants a rest. Hong seems to be a nice man. Even though he is a badass inside, Xiao wouldn't be afraid.
They leave together. The crowd gradually went back to where they were. There is only Kaili left, angry but silent.
Hong is one of the hunters in the camp. All of the residents rely on hunters to bring food back. Besides, Hong is generous and friendly. Residents all like Hong. He doesn't dare to confront Hong.
….
Hong brings Xiao back to his tent, slides the door open and says happily, "Ann, we have a guest today. Cook some more food."
"Get it." A woman answers.
Xiao walks into the tent and sees Ann. She is a normal woman with a simple dress. Xiao notices that she is blind. "This is my wife" Hong laughs. "Hello" Ann hears and smiles towards Xiao's direction. She finds the pan, meat and vegetables and starts cooking on a small stove.
Their friendly loss Xiao's tension. He sits down on the ground and talks with Hong. After the conversation, Xiao makes sure that Hong doesn't have bad ambition on him. He is nice.
"I just noticed that most people in the camp are white. Why do you gather with them?" Xiao asks.
The wisdom species in blue planet is human. In total, four kinds: black, white, coloured, and sanur. All are from evolutions. The dangerous atmosphere makes stronger species. The sanur is even stronger than the black.
"No particular reason. It was wartime. I happened to meet this crowd of stragglers. Ann was sick and I needed to take care of her. So we stayed. Although we were from different nations and we are different, we are all people from the old era, people from the conquered nations. At this point, we are the same. We need each other." Hong sighs.
There were hundreds of nations in Blue Planets. However, after getting in touch with the universe, there is an internal friction theory that a great number of nations is a waste of resources of the planet. Split means endless 'war' of all kinds. United is the only way to develop the civilisation. And the theory became dominated in the planet. Thus, hidden people pushed for the change in the world. Dramatic changes happened in several decades. Wars, negotiations, economic sanctions, peaceful or not, are applied to those nations.
As a result, only six nations are left now. The people from the conquered nations chose different ways - some joined the Six Nations, some joined the Spout and the left became stragglers.
The whole world in Blue Planet is in pain of transition form old era to the new era. People from those nations which were merged, destroyed or broken up were in great sorrow and shame. They all hope their own nations can survive. But their indispensable nations were given up by the course of history. They became several lines in the history books. For example, worldwide economic depression, thousand years history of the kingdom of Huaxia civilisation and western dark religious period in medieval times.
The progression of civilisation is like an unstoppable river.
Every person, every event, every nation is the sand and dirt that goes with the flow. The power of individuals is limited. People can only share their sorrow and shame on the internet.
The radicals refused the invitations from the Six Nations. They chose to be stragglers which make up 30% of the population. Some old soldiers chose a more extreme way to fight against the Six Nations.
The Sprout is the 'baby' of hate and anger.
The idea of the Sprout is to destroy six nations. It is the power in the shadow. Conservatism is easy and revolution often comes with pain. Some conservatives won't accept the change and they are the resistance of progression.
After all, everyone has their own selfishness.
…
Hong says, "After the Andia war, history is split in half. The past thousand years are named as the old era. Now is the new era. When I think about it, I didn't find any disadvantages of the old era life. It is peaceful and nice. The war started from an internal friction theory. The price is much more than internal friction. Even if internal friction happens, it would be a hundred years later. The next generation will be able to solve it. Why are we so reckless?"
Xiao sighs.