Translator: AnubisTL
Soon, Chen Jiang and the girl emerged from the wasteland.
Just a few steps beyond the wasteland's edge, the girl skipped ahead and leaped into a shallow earthen pit.
In an instant, a dozen men in gray, dust-covered clothing, perfectly camouflaged against the surroundings, rose from the pit, their gun barrels pointed directly at Chen Jiang and his companion.
"Hahahaha!"
A bald man strode forward, laughing heartily. "Welcome to the human survivor base! Your skills are impressive. With you joining us, our base will flourish even more."
He paused, his tone turning meaningful. "Of course, only if you prove yourselves worthy. Then, you might even have the right to pursue my sister. She's been by my side since childhood and has always been drawn to the strong."
"Show us what you've got, and you might just win her heart."
"Oh dear!"
The girl, slightly embarrassed, hid behind the man and gently tapped his back with her fist. "Big brother, please don't say such things."
Chen Jiang clearly sensed that after the man's words, the hostility in the eyes of the dozen or so men standing in the pit suddenly intensified.
They had clearly taken him as a rival for the girl's affections.
"Is everyone here?"
Chen Jiang carefully scanned his surroundings. After confirming that no one else was hiding nearby, he calmly raised his gun and aimed at the man before him, pulling the trigger without hesitation.
"If everyone's here, let's get this show on the road."
Brrrrt!
The sharp burst of gunfire abruptly shattered the silence of the wasteland.
Three months of wilderness survival experience had taught Chen Jiang a crucial lesson: in close-quarters combat where both sides are armed, the one who shoots first often has the best chance of survival.
Bang!
The bullet, accompanied by a flash of fire, tore into the man's abdomen.
Splurt!
Blood splattered outward, but the man didn't immediately fall dead. He must have had some kind of protective item on him.
The man, his face contorted with terror and rage, scrambled back into the earthen pit on all fours, bellowing, "Shoot! Shoot them all!"
The moment Chen Jiang fired, Scar Dog, shotgun in hand, strode forward with a crazed glint in his eyes, as if death held no fear for him. He advanced steadily, pulling the trigger with each step.
This display of reckless courage stood in stark contrast to his earlier claims of fearing death.
The girl, startled by the sudden attack, bolted toward the earthen pit in terror. Before she could reach it, Scar Dog's shotgun blast felled her instantly.
Rat-tat-tat!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Chen Jiang and his companion unleashed a relentless barrage of bullets, their fingers clamped firmly on the triggers, pouring out a torrent of firepower.
Simultaneously, Chen Jiang deployed his autonomous turret, aiming it at the earthen pit and unleashing a sweeping hail of bullets.
The sheer volume of fire pinned the group in the pit, forcing them to keep their heads down.
A few tried to emulate movie scenes, raising their guns above their heads and firing wildly.
However, the Steel Sword Autonomous Turret, a two-star item, possessed an automatic targeting system.
After several men had their arms blown to pieces in mid-air, followed by agonizing screams, no one dared to repeat the tactic.
With the suppressive fire pinning down the group in the pit, Chen Jiang pulled two grenades from his coat. He bit off the pins and tossed them in graceful arcs into the pit.
These grenades were two single-use items he'd looted from the item shop in City 18. He'd deliberately saved them without using them for enhancement, anticipating just such a situation.
The grenades proved remarkably effective. Chen Jiang and his companion even saw bodies launched into the air by the explosions before crashing back down into the pit.
Meanwhile—
The group hiding in the pit had no intention of waiting to die.
Their leader, burying himself deeper into the pit, roared with a ferocious expression, "They're just two people! Let's rush them! We'll all die if we stay here!"
"Besides, we each have two lives anyway!"
"What are we afraid of?!"
His words ignited the group's fighting spirit.
Soon, spurred by the man's furious shouts,
The survivors, their faces twisted in fury, surged out of the pit, raising their weapons and unleashing a hail of bullets at Chen Jiang and Scar Dog.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire and gunpowder smoke were the eternal anthem of the wasteland—a realm governed not by laws, but by the brutal dichotomy of life and death.
Survival was the ultimate reward for those who endured.
Thud!
A stray bullet pierced Scar Dog's calf.
He staggered and collapsed to his knees, his jaw clenched tight, veins bulging in his neck. Yet his hands remained steady as he raised his shotgun.
Aiming at the terrified man before him, who was frantically firing his hand cannon, Scar Dog roared with savage fury:
"Scared now? You dare fight to the death with me?!"
Boom!
The trigger pulled.
The terrified man's head exploded like a smashed watermelon.
The Steel Sword Autonomous Turret maintained its relentless fire, sweeping across anyone who dared to show their face.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The dull thud of light bullets tearing through flesh echoed through the air.
The screams of agony gradually faded away.
Soon, silence descended.
Chen Jiang calmly walked among the corpses, methodically emptying a magazine into the head of each one to ensure their final demise.
Only then did he approach Scar Dog, glancing at his injuries.
He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and placed it between Scar Dog's lips.
Chen Jiang frowned slightly, his expression tinged with displeasure. "Why did you charge so far ahead again? Does a shotgun always mean rushing into the fray?"
"Hiss!"
Scar Dog winced, sucking in a sharp breath. He took a deep drag from his cigarette and exhaled a thick plume of smoke over the wound, using it as a makeshift anesthetic. Then, he pulled a white cloth-wrapped dagger from his chest pocket.
He plunged the dagger into the wound, carefully prying out the bullet.
Next, he retrieved a capsule with meticulous care, crushed it open to reveal a white powder inside.
He sprinkled the powder over the wound and wrapped his lower leg with a clean white bandage.
Only then did he exhale in relief.
After greedily inhaling the last of his cigarette, he pinched out the butt and tossed it aside. Turning to Brother Jiang, he forced a wry smile. "Brother Jiang, you know I'm afraid of dying."
"The thought of them trying to kill me terrifies me."
"When I panic, the adrenaline makes me lose control. I just want to rush in and kill the enemy as quickly as possible."
Chen Jiang's brow furrowed as he stared at the white bandage on Scar Dog's leg. He sighed. "Still, there's no need to charge so far ahead."
"It's just a scratch," Scar Dog said, shaking his head. "It'll heal in three or four days."
The capsule he'd used earlier was a rare drop from killing mutated beasts. It effectively suppressed inflammation and accelerated the regeneration of flesh and tissue at the wound site.
(End of the Chapter)
📖Read [MCC3KM] ahead on Pa.treon@AnubisTL upto c64. [+2]
🎁All [3] Novels can be accessed for just $6/mo.
🔥Translated [1.1k+] Chapters and [2.46M+] Words.