Chapter 15 Supply

Supplies were too important to him. Han Xiao sighed, counted out one hundred and fifty bullets, and was about to pay.

The bearded man wagged his finger, raising the price on the spot. "One hundred and eighty bullets."

Han Xiao's eyes flashed with anger. *You damn profiteer. You're raising prices on the spot. May you never have children!*

Seeing his expression, the bearded man cried out exaggeratedly, "Oh my, such a scary look. Are you trying to kill me? Come and see, everyone. Someone here is trying to kill me!"

At these words, dozens of wanderers nearby gathered around, some even picking up crowbars, iron bars, and other weapons, watching him warily.

"This is our territory. You dare cause trouble?"

"Fine, you're awesome. One hundred and eighty it is, that's the price. Choke yourself to death." Han Xiao gritted his teeth, not wanting to cause any more trouble. He squeezed out the words and threw the bullets on the ground.

The bearded man smiled smugly and had his men bring the items over, handing them to Han Xiao.

Confirming that the map and supplies were correct, Han Xiao gave the bearded man the middle finger, not wanting to stay a second longer, and turned to leave.

At this moment, the bearded merchant spoke again, "Hey, you think you can walk out of this forest?"

"What, you got a problem?" Han Xiao stopped, annoyed.

"I have an old pickup truck. Do you want it?" The bearded man said casually, as if the unpleasantness earlier had never happened.

"I can't afford your price." Han Xiao retorted.

"You can afford it." The bearded man pointed to Han Xiao's backpack. "With so many bullets, you must have brought a lot of guns. Use those to pay."

High-quality firearms were popular among wanderers. They generally relied on hunting for food, and a good gun meant one more hunter.

The equipment in Han Xiao's bag all belonged to the Night Owl Squad and was of good quality. There were also sniper rifles and bulletproof vests, which were hot commodities, more than enough to trade for an old pickup truck. But he shook his head and refused the bearded man's suggestion.

Driving in the forest would leave tracks that were too obvious, basically pointing at him for the pursuers, saying, "See? I went this way." If he didn't want to race helicopters, it was better to walk.

Moreover, he had another consideration. These guns were all standard-issue weapons of Germination. If a Germination team came to this settlement and found the organization's standard-issue weapons, the settlement would face a devastating disaster. Selling these guns would be indirectly killing people and leaving clues that would make it impossible to shake off the pursuers.

Although Han Xiao had just been ripped off by the merchant, he wasn't so depraved as to do something like that.

The bearded man was still unwilling to give up and wanted to promote it further, when suddenly a booming voice sounded from the side.

"Ke Luo, you're trying to rip off outsiders again!"

A burly man in animal skin hunting clothes strode over, the crowd parting automatically in his path, obviously holding great prestige in this settlement.

The bearded man, Ke Luo, wore a bitter expression. "Hu Hongjun, I finally managed to make a deal. Don't interfere!"

Hu Hongjun snatched the bullets Ke Luo had gotten his hands on and handed them to Han Xiao, saying generously, "What you wanted isn't worth much. I'll give it to you. Here, these are your bullets."

Han Xiao was stunned for a moment, carefully sizing up Hu Hongjun. This man was a Huang race (East Asian) with a robust build, slightly graying hair at the temples, sharp eyes, and a hearty manner of speaking. His righteous act of returning the bullets immediately gave Han Xiao a favorable impression.

"Hey, what about me?" Ke Luo cried out.

Hu Hongjun didn't even turn his head. "It's just a little food. I'll pay you back tomorrow."

Ke Luo was furious. He had finally managed to open for business and rip someone off, and you gave me a fair exchange. Do you even know what business is?

Hu Hongjun was very hospitable and said, "You've come from afar, and you look tired. You're probably not used to life in the forest. How about this, stay at my place for a night and set off again tomorrow?"

Han Xiao hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. He did want to rest properly, and Hu Hongjun's first impression was of a straightforward and generous man, not a bad person. Of course, even if the other party had ulterior motives, Han Xiao wouldn't back down.

The two of them left together, and the onlookers dispersed, leaving only the bearded man, Ke Luo, pounding his chest and stamping his feet, daring to be angry but not daring to speak out. There was no way around it; Hu Hongjun was one of the hunters in the settlement, and everyone relied on him to hunt and bring back food. Moreover, he was generous and popular, so Ke Luo didn't dare to offend him.

…

Hu Hongjun led Han Xiao back to his tent. He lifted the curtain and shouted as he entered, "An, I have a guest. Make a little more food tonight."

"Understood," a woman replied.

Han Xiao walked into the tent and saw the woman called An. She had ordinary looks and wore a simple cloth dress. Han Xiao noticed that her eyes were lifeless, clearly blind.

"This is my wife," Hu Hongjun said with a smile.

"Hello," An said, hearing the voice. She smiled in Han Xiao's direction and groped for pots, pans, dried meat, and wild vegetables, placing them on the simple stone kiln stove in the center of the tent to cook.

Since the other party was so enthusiastic, Han Xiao didn't stand on ceremony and sat on the ground, chatting with Hu Hongjun.

After some conversation, Han Xiao confirmed that Hu Hongjun had no other intentions, simply being warm and hospitable. He couldn't help but lower his guard a little.

"I noticed earlier that most of the people in this settlement are Bai race (Caucasian). How did you end up banding together with them?" Han Xiao asked.

The intelligent species on Aquamarine was humans, with a total of four races: Hei (African), Bai (Caucasian), Huang (East Asian), and Shan Hu. They were all products of natural selection. As Darwin said, the more dangerous the environment, the stronger the life it creates. The Shan Hu were even more robust than the Hei.

"There's no particular reason. There was war at the time, and I happened to run into this group of wanderers. An was sick and needed care, so I stayed. Although we have different homelands and races, we're all survivors of the old era, refugees, so what's the difference between you and me? We're just in the same boat, huddling together for warmth." Hu Hongjun said with a sigh.

Aquamarine originally had hundreds of countries. After coming into contact with interstellar forces, they understood that having so many countries on one planet was a complete waste of limited planetary resources. Not being unified meant endless internal strife. If it continued, when the planet's resources were exhausted, civilization would be trapped on the planet, losing the opportunity to step into the universe.

So, with the help of those with ulterior motives, the social environment underwent drastic changes over several decades. Through war, negotiations, and economic pressure, through peaceful or unpeaceful means, the strong survived, and finally it was reduced to only six countries.

Some of those who lost their homelands chose to join the six countries, some chose to join Germination, and the rest were wanderers.

The world of Aquamarine was in the throes of transitioning from the old era to the new. The people of those countries that were annexed, destroyed, or disintegrated were immersed in grief and disillusionment. Everyone hoped that their country could survive, but when the wheels of history felt they had stopped long enough and needed to continue moving forward, some things that seemed indispensable had to accept being abandoned by the times, becoming a few words left in history books. Some simple examples include the wave of layoffs in the early 1990s, when countless secure jobs were broken, or the five thousand years of Chinese history, when the imperial system that had lasted for thousands of years was overthrown until the Republic of China. Before that, the existence of the emperor was something everyone considered a matter of course, such as the dark religion of the Western Middle Ages.

The progress of civilization, like a mighty river, is unstoppable. Every person, every event, even a country, is just a grain of sand wrapped in the river, drifting with the current.

Those with limited individual power can only vent their grief on the internet or in marches, or immerse themselves in the national honor of the past, feeling depressed and unhappy. The more radical ones refuse to accept the citizenship invitations of the six countries, becoming wilderness wanderers, gathering in the wild. Wanderers account for 30% of the planet's population.

And some warriors who once dedicated their blood and sweat to the country oppose the six countries with more extreme actions. The Germination organization is a behemoth born in this social environment, with the idea of overthrowing the six countries, sharing a common hatred, and is the well-deserved leader of the underworld.

It is easy to maintain the status quo, but reform is always accompanied by pain. Even with universally applicable knowledge, there are still stubborn elements who are unwilling to accept it. Compared with private interests and social progress, some people will always choose the former, *After I die, who cares if the world is flooded*. And these people usually play the role of "resistance" on the road to evolution. After all, selfishness can bring real benefits, while righteousness is just an ethereal belief. Selfless people are rare animals, otherwise "selflessness" would not be called a virtue. Otherwise, there would be no need to hold the annual "Touching China" awards, just to tell everyone: "Look, there are still good people in the world. Learn from them, and save the organization some trouble."

Hu Hongjun said, "Since the Andi Ya battle, history has been divided into two halves. The past thousands of years are called the old era, and now is the new era. Sometimes I think, what was so bad about the past life? Peace and stability, but war was launched because of the so-called theory of internal strife. The consequences paid may be more serious than internal strife. Besides, even if it is going to happen, it will only be hundreds of years later. Let future generations solve future problems. What does it have to do with us?"

Han Xiao sighed.