The Record of Unusual Creatures

2"Plan?" Hao Ren turned to look at Ulyanov or more accurately, the helmet that covered his face. "I haven't thought about it. I'll take things as they come. Maybe I'll find a place to settle down after all of this is over."     2

Ulyanov cleared his throat and asked in a whisper, "Where did you learn your fighting skills?"     

He thought that Hao Ren was just a wealthy, retarded civilian who lacked a sense of survival in the wasteland. But after witnessing his fighting skills, he began to have a keen interest in Hao Ren's background. Without biochemical re-engineering and electronic aids, it was rare to gain combat strength more potent than that of regular soldiers, even in the Lawless District. Feeling Ulyanov's curious eyes behind the full-face mask, Hao Ren tilted his head slightly. "I used to fight on the battlefield, but don't ask why."     

"Mercenary?" Ulyanov sized him up. "You don't smell like the regular forces."     

"Sort of," Hao Ren said quietly, pretending to comb the girl's blonde hair. He wanted to end the conversation. "I don't want to talk about the past."     

Sitting across the carriage, the reticent Carl suddenly spoke in a blunt manner, "Ulyanov, you talk too much."     

The armored vehicle moved along the empty and vast wilderness. Human-made structures finally appeared ahead. Hao Ren peeked through the side window and saw the cemented ground on both sides of the road. Half-fallen streetlights and electricity poles zoomed past the windows from time to time. He felt like he had returned to civilization. A screen at the front of the carriage suddenly lighted up, displaying the scene of the road ahead. Rows of factory-like buildings and puffs of smoke began to appear. Sandwiched between the tall buildings were a large number of simple, Lego-like houses.     

Haze had engulfed the entire building complex, and smoke rose from the top of the town to the sky above, which was just as hazy. It seemed as if the polluting smoke from the factories had spread to the entire world. Ulyanov saw the situation outside and coughed instinctively. "It makes me sick just by looking at it."     

"You can still feel the haze in your throat?" His female teammate laughed. "I thought it's just a prosthetic?"     

"Vanaessa, no one would take you as a dummy if you keep your mouth shut." Ulyanov snorted, glaring at her behind the mask. He then turned to Hao Ren. "The area right ahead is part of Black Street, which relies on these factories. The factories provide electricity and products to Zero City, and Black Street's laborers get food and medication in return. This place isn't suitable for the rich like you. You better go to Zero City. After all, what you have is money."     

"You'll quickly lose your money and life if you stay in Black Street," the arrogant mercenary Vanaessa mocked Hao Ren. "The 'rules' of Black Street will get to you no matter how skillful you are. The lowlifes here have 10,000 tricks up their sleeves to set a simple-minded chap like you up."     

Hao Ren shrugged. It looked like he was just a typical stupid moneybag in the woman's eyes, yet he did not try to explain himself. He just gazed out at the buildings coming up ahead. "Black Street... Isn't it a street?"     

"Of course not." Ulyanov shook his head. "It can't be helped that people who come here for the first time always mistake it for a street. Black Street is a relatively large town, about the size of a city. However, it was originally just a street. People here call it Black Street, but before the war, it was called New Bay. Now, not many people still remember the old name."     

"Only the old boys remember such things." Vanaessa spread out her arms and leaned back in her seat as she looked up at the roof. "New Bay, Broken Valley, Brightpearl City... New Ancar now exists only in history books. Probably even the history books will soon go extinct. But who cares?"     

"Zero City isn't far away from Black Street," Ulyanov said to Hao Ren. "Our base is at the edge of Black Street. We can take you to the vicinity of Zero City; then you're on your own."     

Hao Ren did not reply. He was pondering the matter in his mind. Nolan's voice traveled from the front all of a sudden. "If you have no place to go, you can come to our place if you want."     

"Huh?" Hao Ren looked up at Nolan's back in the cab. "You'll let me in?"     

"Although Zero City's safer than other places, it may not necessarily be suitable for you," said Nolan. "They'll take away all your property in exchange for just a few years of 'civil rights,' and you'll have to work like a dog for the city council to survive. The place is safe, but there's nothing more other than that. I think… you don't like that kind of life, do you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have fled the city of the Naturals."     

After seeing Hao Ren's ability, the mercenary leader was eager to recruit him because her team needed new blood urgently. Even though Hao Ren wanted to investigate the situation in that world, he did not want to get himself on a leash by joining any groups, so he politely declined, "Never mind. I'm not interested in being a soldier."     

"Oh, is that so?" Nolan said casually, After that, she said no more.     

"But I have no place to go right now," Hao Ren said, thinking he should find a place to stay. "Can I stay at your place temporarily? Of course, I'll pay for it."     

He did not expect the mercenaries to welcome him, but Nolan's reply surprised him. "You can stay for a few days, and I don't need your money. You saved my life; treat it as an act of reciprocation."     

Hao Ren was a little surprised. "Isn't your place a military garrison? Don't you need to conduct background checks on outside visitors?"     

Nolan waved her hand in front of the carriage window. "Do you want to live here?"     

"Of course."     

"Do you want to kill me?"     

"Why should I?"     

"Then the background check is over."     

Hao Ren was speechless.     

"How do you think I should investigate?" Nolan's voice was still flat, but this time there was some slight sarcasm. "Ask you to fill up a questionnaire? Check your credentials? Check if you have any criminal history in the civil registry? Oh, come on! Forget that sh*t. Here is Lawless District; most people want to survive here. No one cares what you used to do as long as you don't stab me in the back—even if it's just temporary."     

Hao Ren was stunned, surprised that he had just found a place to stay in this world so quickly. It was a bit surreal.     

Nolan did not speak again but continued to drive at ease. Soon, the armored truck arrived at the checkpoint in Black Street. After passing through several sentries, they finally came in front of an old barracks.     

Hao Ren lifted the MDT (the corpse) and jumped out of the truck after the mercenaries. The filthy air around him choked him as soon as he was outside. The air quality in the place was even worse than the previous city ruins. It seemed that permanent haze shrouded the entire of Black Street. He coughed, licked his lips, and found that the air there was strangely "chewy" in a way.     

A few soldiers were walking around the area between the barracks. Some buildings had the Gray Fox symbol painted on their outer walls, where Nolan's small team was based. Although there were sentry posts around the base, the security was lax, and the place was more like an armed refugee camp.     

Here, fighting was not uncommon; it was everyday life, hence the scene before him.     

Two mercenaries, who looked like commanding officers, stepped forward to greet Nolan. Nolan casually talked to them, citing the ambushes and losses suffered that day. Then she ordered for Khiton's body to be dragged out. "Dry him and hang the body outside at the intersection. Spray a Gray Fox mark on it and make it more visible. I don't want any of the recruits being bought over by the Rangers again. There's nothing stupider than defecting to other mercenary groups or the Rangers.     

The two officers immediately ordered the soldiers to carry out the task. Before Khiton's body was taken away, Nolan bent down and regretfully said to the traitor whose face was almost completely blown in half, "What a pity. You used to be a poet, but now, you've become a..."     

Hao Ren, who was shocked by young Nolan's ruthlessness a moment ago, was now surprised. "Are there still poets in this era?"     

Ulyanov sulkily said, "Sometimes, our boss may say some baffling things—Khiton grew up in a slum. How could he have learned poetry?"     

Hao Ren sighed. Nolan turned around and said, "All right, people. Go back and get some rest. You... Hao Ren, right? You follow Ulyanov. There's a room next to his. It used to be Khiton's room. Now you can use it."     

Hao Ren nodded and turned to leave. However, Ulyanov could not help but say, "I don't mind a person in the next room, but the body..."     

Hao Ren was at a loss for words.     

He looked down at the body in his arms. The MDT-turned-corpse was still as lifeless as before. It appeared there was little sign of revival.     

Of course, from a biological perspective, it was impossible for "her" to move again.