Chapter 140: Wasteland Comrades
by xennovel“Master Snake is really nice. Very generous.”
Lu Xin remarked with some emotion, sitting in the passenger seat of the off-road vehicle.
Gecko was driving intently, lips pressed tight, eyes fixed straight ahead.
After a moment Lu Xin added, “I’d heard people in the Wasteland were straightforward. Now I finally get it.”
Gecko’s neck seemed locked in place, unmoving. He shifted gears mechanically, like a wooden puppet devoid of feeling.
He’d been like this ever since they left Blackwater Town.
Back then the man in the red suit, who looked quite handsome and dashing, had transformed into that horrifying state after spending less than half an hour alone with Lu Xin in the warehouse. Anyone who saw him would almost feel a sense of pity, rare in the Wasteland.
But he himself had been sharing a car with him this whole time…
…No, with *them*!
After another moment Lu Xin said, “If everyone in the Wasteland was as reasonable as Master Snake, coming out here in the future would be pretty convenient…”
…
Gecko finally couldn’t hold back anymore and slowly spoke, “Are you praising Master Snake just because she gave you a motorcycle?”
“Not just that…”
Seeing Gecko finally speak, Lu Xin breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Gecko had been acting strangely ever since leaving Blackwater Town.
He was a bit worried about Gecko.
He quickly smiled and said, “Master Snake not only gave us all the Alliance Coins, gold goods, his motorcycle, and everything valuable from that guy, but she also kindly promised to help deliver them to Qinggang City for us. Plus, she waived the fine for firing guns in Blackwater Town, filled our tank for free, replenished our water and food, and gave us local specialties…”
“Also she said she wants to partner with me when she does business in Qinggang City in the future…”
“It’s just a pity that due to regulations I couldn’t leave her my number…”
…
“Yeah I regret that a bit too…”
Gecko sighed in agreement, then suddenly snapped back to attention. How had he gotten drawn into chatting with him again?
But since the dam had broken, he didn’t dare stay stiff anymore. Gecko secretly glanced at Lu Xin in the passenger seat.
Then he saw Lu Xin smiling at him, his teeth white and even. “You can finally chat…”
“Seeing you so quiet since we left Blackwater Town, I thought something had affected you. I was quite worried.”
Gecko was taken aback for a second. “You were worried about me?”
“Yeah.”
Lu Xin said, “Don’t our regulations state that if a teammate loses control, they have to be cleaned up?”
“Swish!”
Gecko’s hair stood on end, his body stiffening once more.
For a Spider-type adept at contorting and controlling the body, this was like an inverse application of his ability.
“I’m kidding.”
Lu Xin quickly explained, “Actually I saw you weren’t in a good mood. I wasn’t sure if it was because I ordered you around as captain back in Blackwater Town and made you unhappy, so I wanted you to relax. If I did something wrong…”
He paused slightly and said earnestly, “…I’m willing to apologize to you!”
…
“No you misunderstood. I never like joking with people!”
Gecko first responded seriously, then his attitude softened slightly, his expression becoming a bit surprised.
He peeked at Lu Xin and carefully asked, “You care about me that much?”
“You’re even willing to apologize to me for such a small thing?”
…
“Yeah.”
Lu Xin stated frankly, “You’re the first colleague of the same rank I met at the Special Cleaning Department, and the teammate I’ve partnered with most for fieldwork. You’ve taught me a lot and been good to me. I consider you a friend, so of course I care about you…”
After a slight pause he smiled, “Honestly I didn’t have many friends back at the Company.”
…
“That’s something I really didn’t expect…”
Gecko was slightly moved by these words, turning his head to look at Lu Xin with some surprise.
Seeing Lu Xin’s calm and earnest expression, Gecko’s mood gradually improved. Suddenly his tone shifted as if injected with chicken blood, becoming excited. He laughed loudly, “But brother you’re really long-winded! Did you even need to say all that?”
“We’re not just friends, we’re brothers!”
He excitedly slapped the steering wheel twice, both proud and smug, laughing heartily, “Going out on missions together, doing cleanups together, even having to figure out how to fudge the expenses when we get back… This kind of bond… means we watch each other’s backs, okay?”
…
Lu Xin found his words quite reasonable, and seeing him finally liven up, he gradually relaxed.
He thought to himself, “Yeah, but my back is watched by my family. But…”
“…I can definitely watch Gecko’s back!”
…
However just as he was thinking this, Gecko’s excited voice suddenly shifted again becoming a bit lower:
“About us being friends…”
“…Do your uncle, auntie, and sister mind?”
…
Lu Xin glanced at the rearview mirror. Mom was elegant and composed, touching up her makeup with a compact mirror.
Sister had a piece of chocolate in her mouth, her little feet dangling out the window, sleeping soundly on Mom’s lap.
When his family first appeared Lu Xin had suspected Sister might be a ghost, but now he was completely sure she wasn’t. Ghosts couldn’t be in the sun, but Sister could, although she’d become lazy and listless in the sunlight. Then, as soon as they were somewhere darker or the atmosphere became oppressive, she’d become unusually excited…
…
…
“When making friends, it’s better not to tell them everything, okay…?”
Noticing Lu Xin looking back, Mom offered a kind reminder, “Otherwise they’ll just grow more distant…”
“Actually that was just a joke I told you.”
Lu Xin nodded slightly and smiled at Gecko, “My ability is just a bit strange, that’s all.”
“Huh?”
Gecko’s expression was genuinely puzzled, but he didn’t pry further. After a moment’s thought his expression relaxed again, not dwelling on the issue. He just laughed heartily, “You don’t need to tell me! Actually I heard about it long ago. Besides, there was always a professor at the Research Institute saying your ability wasn’t Spider-type but Family Fun…”
“Since it’s Family Fun, it’s perfectly normal for the ability to be a bit strange, right…?”
“Besides…”
As he spoke he stole a glance at Lu Xin, “If you really had that many family members, how could you act so normal?”
Lu Xin nodded in agreement. “Thanks for understanding. Actually I know sometimes people don’t get me, and they think I’m not that normal. Some are even a bit scared of me…”
“No way I’m definitely not that kind of person.”
Gecko said seriously, “I think you’re perfectly normal. At most you just have a few not-so-normal family members…”
In the back seat Mom raised her eyes from behind her delicate little compact mirror looking at Gecko.
Sister woke up squinting her eyes to stare at Gecko in the rearview mirror.
…
Lu Xin thought for a moment and interrupted him, “…Let’s not talk about this topic anymore!”
“Uh… okay okay…”
Gecko caught on his body stiffening slightly again, feeling a chill creep up the back of his neck.
Then he adjusted his mood turned the steering wheel and changed the subject, “Alright alright, we’re about to hit the main road.”
“Tell me what you found out during the interrogation back in Blackwater Town!”
…
Lu Xin nodded took out his small notebook flipped through a few pages and began thoughtfully:
“That Puppet-type ability user is called Chen Zhong. Written as Zhong (重), pronounced Chong.”
“He’s thirty-four this year unmarried. Had three women but no children. Originally he was a resident of some High-wall City. After awakening his ability he thought he was pretty amazing so he went into the Wasteland to make a fortune gradually making a name for himself in the west with some big jobs.”
…
Gecko was a bit stunned. “That detailed?”
Lu Xin looked up at him. “He told me willingly…”
Gecko fell silent for a moment seeming to recall some unpleasant memories, quickly stopping that line of thought. “Okay you continue.”
“Mm.”
His train of thought interrupted Lu Xin looked at the notes in his notebook and continued, “Three years ago he caught Qin Ran’s eye.”
“Right… In his words he called Qin Ran ‘Boss’ and said his name was Zhang Sihuo…”
“According to him initially none of them respected each other but after a fight he ended up in Qin Ran’s hands. But Qin Ran didn’t kill him instead inviting him to join the Knight Orders. However they weren’t the kind of Knight Orders that raid in the Wasteland more like a temporary professional action squad with Qin Ran as the captain responsible for taking commissions from elsewhere…”
“Every time they received a commission Qin Ran would telegraph them and they’d gather at a designated location.”
“Their missions mainly came from High-wall Cities or some large factions including but not limited to…”
“Assassination escorting searching for specific items etcetera…”
…
“This…”
While driving Gecko’s expression turned incredibly strange his voice even sounding a bit cold, “How did you get him to talk?”
“How come I heard that these people in the Wasteland I don’t know if they’re stupid or what but they’re all tight-lipped always shouting about keeping promises. Forget ability users even ordinary people are hard to get information from after being captured…”
“I didn’t expect this one… to be so cooperative?”
…
Lu Xin paused slightly looked earnestly at Gecko and said, “He really told me willingly.”
…
Gecko subtly shivered using his ability to stop himself from trembling, forcing a smile. “Right that makes sense…”
“You don’t even need to explain I’m telling you I’m very easily convinced…”