"My name is Scott, and this is my partner, Mia," After Pete left, the young man in black soft armor pointed at another tall and slender woman in black armor beside him and said to Dudian and the others, "During these ten days of scavenging, we will be the team leaders of this operation. Everyone had better follow my orders. If something goes wrong, it will be bad for all of us, and there will also be quite a severe punishment when we return to the consortium."
Upon hearing the word "punishment", Mekin, Zach, and several other children with unruly tempers immediately became obedient and promised honestly.
Scott turned to Dudian and said, "Little guy, what's your name?"
"Dudian."
"You have good potential," Scott nodded slightly and said, "But don't be proud. In the face of death, potential doesn't mean much. Later, you just follow behind me, and I'll tell you some things you need to pay attention to."
Was he going to teach Dudian step by step? Dudian couldn't help but have a much better impression of this person and nodded slightly to show that he understood.
When the others behind heard this, how could they not know that this meant Dudian was going to be cultivated with special attention? For a moment, many people secretly felt jealous, but they just resented it in their hearts and didn't say anything.
After all, Dudian's status as a promising candidate was obvious, and he had also received two blessings. Whether in terms of combat power or status, they couldn't rival him. Moreover, behind Dudian, there were three roommates who were the strongest and most united small group among them. Even the hot-tempered and reckless children didn't dare to provoke Dudian and Mekin, Zach, and Sham rashly.
"Here, these are your rations and water for the next ten days. Each of you take one. I've brought them for you this time. Next time, you go to the headquarters to get them yourselves," Scott pointed at more than a dozen black backpacks on the ground beside them and said.
Dudian looked at this black traveler's backpack, stepped forward to pick one up, and untied the rope. Inside the backpack, there were some things that looked like mud balls. He had seen them at Jura's house. They were mashed potato balls. They tasted really bad, but they could fill one's stomach easily... Or rather, usually, after eating one, one wouldn't have the appetite to eat a second one.
Mekin, Zach, and Sham followed behind Dudian and quickly selected three backpacks that looked a bit larger.
Seeing that the people behind were also going to choose in the same way as the three of them, Scott smiled wryly and said, "Stop choosing. They all have the same amount. These are given by the headquarters and are never wrong. Save your clever trick for later."
Mekin, Zach, and Sham smiled sheepishly.
"What's this?" At this time, Scott noticed the black powder tube inserted in Dudian's waist.
"It's a little thing, not worth mentioning," Dudian said, "It won't get in my way."
Seeing him say this, Scott nodded and didn't say anything more. He turned to the twenty scavengers from the consortium in the distance and said, "Come and gather. We're ready to set off."
These twenty scavengers from the consortium were all adults with dark skin. Some were even older than Scott. Now, at Scott's call, they all gathered together. Their standard soft armor was the same as that of Dudian and the others, and so were their short swords. Apparently, with the consortium's abundant financial resources, they could ensure the supply of these hardware equipment.
"Boss Scott, which area are we going to today?" A thin young man asked.
"Area 8," Scott turned to the taciturn woman in black armor beside him, Mia, and said, "It's getting late. Shall we set off?"
Mia nodded slightly.
Scott waved his hand and took the lead to clear the way in front. He also said to the newbies like Dudian behind, "This outer area has been completely cleared. You don't have to worry about anything. Just conserve your strength for now."
Hearing this, Dudian and the others thought it made sense. Their tense muscles gradually relaxed, and they looked around at the surrounding environment.
This was a wasteland nearby. The ground was quite damp. Dudian had noticed earlier that a lot of moss had grown on the Great Wall behind them, which was completely different from the sandy terrain behind the Great Wall.
"Is this what it's like outside the Great Wall? It's completely different from what I imagined. I thought it was all deserts everywhere," Mekin, behind Dudian, looked around in surprise and said.
Zach laughed and said, "Well, we don't have to worry about the water source problem now. You can squeeze water out by digging a hole anywhere."
Scott in front heard his words, turned his head and glanced at him, and said, "There are puddles all over the ground. You don't need to dig a hole to find water. I'm just afraid you won't dare to drink it."
"Uh?" Zach was taken aback.
Dudian explained to him, "The radiation outside the Great Wall is too high. Even the water filtered by the soil can't be drunk. To get drinkable water, we need to find the deep water source at least dozens of meters underground, which is suitable for the human body. With our current strength, digging dozens of meters is as difficult as digging a few meters in the desert before. It's just a waste of physical strength. So we need to be very thrifty with the water source."
Hearing Dudian's words, Zach and several other children with puzzled expressions suddenly understood.
Scott looked back at Dudian, didn't say anything, and continued to lead the way in front. After walking for about more than ten li, they suddenly came to a place with less vegetation on the ground. To be precise, they came to a ruin.
When Dudian saw this ruin, he was immediately stunned.
This... was actually a dilapidated city?
In front of him was an asphalt street. However, the street was covered with moss and lush vegetation. On both sides of the street were concrete high-rise buildings, as well as two or three-story commercial buildings. Now, they were all in ruins, in a state of disrepair. Some only had a crumbling wall standing alone, covered with vegetation vines and moss. It seemed that in a few more years, they would be completely buried by these densely growing plants.
On the desolate street, there were some tattered clothes scattered around. These messy clothes obviously had a very long history. They had been soaked by the disaster rain and covered with dust, and had long since turned into hard and black objects like stones, only retaining a rough shape.
Dudian was completely stunned.
This... was exactly what a ruined city looked like!
Could it be that this was what the Earth looked like three hundred years after the disaster broke out?
The once prosperity, the once civilization lights, the once human footprints all over the Earth... Could it be that, just like this ruined place in front of him, only the empty shell after the disaster was left?
He suddenly felt as if something was blocking his chest, and he couldn't breathe. His eyes were a bit moist.
"Dian, Dian?" Mekin saw that Dudian suddenly stopped and couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder.
Dudian came back to his senses and saw that Scott and Mia had already walked into the street in front. He quickly caught up. However, when his foot stepped onto this asphalt street covered by vegetation, he felt all sorts of emotions in his heart. The longing for his parents and sister filled his mind like a flame. But he sadly understood that what was gone could never come back. This was the reality, just as real as the ruins he saw in front of him!
"This is Area 9. It has already been scavenged," Scott saw that the people behind didn't catch up in time, turned back and waved, "Keep up the pace. Don't waste your own lives."
Dudian pursed his lips slightly and lowered his head to follow him.
As they walked along, Dudian saw that the street had been scavenged extremely clean. Basically, except for the collapsed houses, there were no items left. On such a spacious street, there should have been many abandoned cars, but not a single one could be seen here. Obviously, as Scott had said, they had already been scavenged and taken back.
However, after these technological products from the old days were picked up, why was the technology inside the Great Wall still so backward?
Could it be that after being corroded in this place with severe nuclear radiation for three hundred years, they no longer had any research value?
He followed behind Scott and Mia, like a wandering soul, looking at all these things that were once familiar, but could only remain silent.