Chapter 50 Above the Wasteland

Chapter 50 Above the Wasteland

"Did you see it, the moon on the seafloor!"

The sky and the sea mirrored each other, each a mirror to the other. Their little boat sailed right on the dividing line. It was impossible to tell which moon they were closer to, and their trajectories were identical, so there was no need to worry about losing their way.

"Where are we going? Back to the house in Mandu?" With You Jinhui awake, Chen Jiyan no longer felt like they were on the run. He was in good spirits, as if they were just on a short trip.

"We need to take a longer detour." All the docks were unsafe; they had to pass through Aishi.

The weather was favorable, calm and peaceful at the moment, so at least they wouldn't be too disheveled.

"What are you thinking about?" You Jinhui reached out and smoothed Chen Jiyan's damp hair at his temples.

"I just didn't expect Cecily to personally go into the sea. I thought there would be many people." What leader charges the front lines solo?

"Because she's the only one who has maintained this pace for years, which is why she was chosen as Captain. Moreover, what she brings in alone matches a whole team's haul. She's experienced, regularly takes a group of followers out to sea, to teach them the ropes."

"The history of Mogang is quite complex, hard to explain in a few words. The records you saw aren't wrong. Indeed, a group of humans landed from the sea. The integration of the two sides always came with conflict. Mogang also couldn't sustain the sudden population surge, so some chose to leave, seeking new habitats."

Initially, a few straggler squads established tribes on the wasteland. Later, many who couldn't make it in Mandu or Dingshu fled there. After Sangxia'en was built, some test subjects escaped there—the only place that didn't require identification.

Returning meant punishment, plain and simple, and due to radiation, their lifespans were shorter than before. The Central District wouldn't waste resources to help them; they might even be snatched up by research institutes for human experiments. At best, they'd be exiled from the Central District. So, they took to wandering the wastelands, like old-time pirates, hijacking mission trains now and then, with resources barely enough to sustain themselves.

Only their battlefield wasn't the ocean, but the wasteland.

It wasn't a life of luxury, but it was free. Because their bases were unfixed and too scattered, there was no concerted effort to wipe them out—the cost far outweighed the gains. However, there was an internal bounty list with considerable rewards.

You Jinhui had crossed paths with some of them a few times and had built up some rapport.

"After retiring, you entered Dingshu, were allocated your Crystal Source quota. Part of it was unaccounted for, said to be kept for yourself, but actually funneled to them, right?" Chen Jiyan spotted the issue. "Was that missing period before also spent in Aishi?" He also wanted to ask if that was when his eyes were injured.

"It's not a master-servant or employment relationship, just a few business dealings." You Jinhui brushed it off lightly.

"Do they just keep wandering, never returning? What about the children?" Their lifestyle resembled nomadic tribes on the grasslands, but the risks were exponentially higher.

"If they're willing, I can offer them work."

"What about lifespan? Didn't you say it drastically shortens?"

There's no specific study, but the data on record shows the average lifespan is about 10% shorter than in other regions.

"So, you hardly see elderly or children under ten in Aishi."

Although there are personnel in service, most stick to the relatively safe Central District. Those looking to beef up their resumes for future promotions would venture further to prospect for mineral veins.

"Ninety percent of the Crystal Source comes from here."

So, maps are practically nonexistent, and the system is barely functional, and only near signal towers.

Not long after, they arrived at a ramshackle house on the verge of collapse. You Jinhui tied a blue cloth strip outside—a habit from his service days. Empty houses were considered ownerless; blue represented Dingshu, red represented Aishi, each keeping to their own.

"Alright, rest for a bit, then we'll find transportation." Aishi isn't large in area, but it almost encircles the inland cities. It's easy to get turned around, and walking is too time-consuming.

Chen Jiyan followed inside. The layout and furniture were old, walls worn by time, doing little more than breaking the wind.

"Is this the bounty list you mentioned?" A poster was stuck behind the door; the bounties for the top ranks were indeed hefty.

"Number one, impressive."

"It's nothing to be proud of." You Jinhui's first instinct was to get rid of the evidence; this thing was still here.

It was a portrait of a younger You Jinhui, before he became the Administrator. Black and white style, sharp features, eyes more piercing than now. It seemed the rebellious streak You Ting and Roze mentioned was no small thing.

"And wearing an earring?" The number one's portrait occupied seventy percent of the space, looking like a personal photoshoot to the uninformed, with the others just filling out the page.

The person in the portrait felt somewhat uncomfortable, unwilling to face that embarrassing chapter of his past.

"In my youthful ignorance, my ambitions were sky-high, thinking I could dominate Aishi."

Such a try-hard, grandiose statement was quite amusing.

You Jinhui gave a warning look: "I'm not like some people who run away from home without even saying goodbye."

Chen Jiyan stopped laughing, covering his mouth to show he was listening seriously.

"I had a run-in with a teammate. When I returned, he put me on the bounty list, and because the funding was excessive, I left everyone else in the dust."

It definitely wasn't just "a bit of friction." What kind of deep-seated grudge was this?

"What did you do to him?"

"I was innocent," You Jinhui emphasized. "In the depths of a mineral vein, because I dodged some floating 'ghost lights' and didn't warn him in time, I accidentally let half his hair get burned off."

That's grounds for a blood feud! Hair was such a precious thing, even in the 21st century, he thought!

"How do you complete the task? Take you to claim the bounty?" No wonder, the sum next to first place was a truly staggering figure.

Aishi had no so-called currency; the only thing that passed for currency was Crystal Source.

"You can try." The bounty head himself suggested; maybe it would mean another income.

"You really don't mind?" Chen Jiyan was actually getting tempted.

"It's money. And it's basically free."

Their current temporary base was truly worlds apart from where they lived before.

Temperature swings, howling winds, water shortages—the brutally harsh weather wasn't even the deadliest threat.

The strange environment meant the local wildlife had evolved in bizarre, almost mutated ways. Chen Jiyan was already trying to forget the walking stones, two-headed lizards, and people-eating sinkholes he'd seen along the way. You Jinhui had been right before; tossed into Aishi, he wouldn't last a day.

Compared to Dingshu, this place fit his idea of a post-apocalyptic world much better. That two such extreme places could coexist was nothing short of a miracle to him.

Dingshu's screening process, Mogang's voluntary isolation, Mandu's peaceful tranquility—it all gave him the illusion that the New Calendar era was peaceful, safe, free from mortal danger. But that wasn't the entire world.

"Does everyone have to serve in Aishi before adulthood?"

Even if the minimum standard for passing the initial screening is FS resistance 60, could the average person really tough it out for a year here?

"Assignments vary. Those with average physical fitness are assigned to observation, inspection, and data recording. After all, life is precious; the military does its utmost to ensure everyone's safety."

"Of course, your service record also affects your future postings in Dingshu."

"You stayed here for three years." Only three years were recorded, but in reality, it might have been more. There were three unaccounted years in the middle. Could he have ventured into Aishi alone that early, without any measures or protection?

"So, I was the one who surveyed and mapped most of the terrain from that period, and safety levels were updated because of on-site surveys."

But why didn't he join the military? You Jinhui's abilities were wasted in the Finance Bureau.

"Don't give me too much credit. If they were truly serious about catching me, they wouldn't have sent so few people, and they sure wouldn't care about some treaty between regions."

You Jinhui saw Chen Jiyan hanging his head in silence and thought he was worried.

"Wait a couple more days. Someone will come to pick us up."

Two days passed, then another two.

Chen Jiyan gnawed on a dried rabbit leg, watching the usually unflappable administrator's expression grow increasingly grim. Finding some dark humor in the situation, he couldn't help but let out an unkind chuckle.

"Sorry, sorry. Let me guess... you're thinking 'the Aish Guild is a bunch of useless idiots,' aren't you?"

"An unexpected delay."

"Or should we go with Plan B? After waiting three or four days with no sign of anyone, I guess I'll have to take you to claim the reward myself."

Due to its unique geography, nearly every area in Aish has a different natural environment. Where they started was barren, practically a desert.

Half a day later, they found a water source, passed through a weed-choked grassland, and then entered a miasma-filled swamp—all extremely harsh. By comparison, the desert, which didn't have unknown creatures suddenly appearing, had a higher safety rating.

"Which way?"

A fork in the road with three paths: woods in the middle, a landfill to the left, desert to the right.

"The woods."

At least it would provide shelter from rain.

The FS index in the air fluctuated rapidly, swinging between 0 and 100. In such conditions, people with high resistance suffered greatly, whereas Chen Jiyan, with zero resistance, felt completely normal. It seemed his lack of resistance had an upside after all.

At stable concentrations, higher resistance meant less environmental impact. Conversely, lower resistance could trigger rejection reactions similar to allergies, affecting the nervous system, with no physical means of isolation.

Aish's climate was volatile and unpredictable, yet Chen Jiyan was minimally affected. The FS particles in the air weren't aggressive, leaving him feeling better than ever.

It followed a similar principle to altitude sickness. But even in this state, You Jinhui could still handle three of him.

His earlier worries had been completely unnecessary. Finally relaxing from his fight-or-flight mode, Chen Jiyan thought, *Well, things have come to this... might as well sleep.* Their luck held; they mostly found suitable shelter. When they didn't, huddling together made it bearable.

As time passed, You Jinhui's rejection symptoms worsened. Their roles shifted: initially, You Jinhui led the way; now, he pointed the general direction, and Chen Jiyan, sensing the relatively lower FS fluctuation frequencies, charted the optimal route. Considering physical condition and terrain, progress was slower than expected.

Chen Jiyan wondered if You Jinhui had ever faced such dire straits before. After all, the man's early life had been so smooth. Now, staying silent for the latter half of the journey—perhaps due to physical discomfort, or perhaps struggling with this drastic change in his circumstances. Since graduation, Chen Jiyan's mindset had been tempered into unusual steadiness, with its constant ups and downs (mostly downs). Just when he thought things couldn't get worse, life would deliver a head-on blow, reminding him it could always get more rotten.

He'd barely survived that first year without holidays or benefits, accepting that unless he became unemployed, there would be no more summer or winter breaks. He thought life was finally on track—just 40 hours of work a week, plus another ten or twenty "voluntary" overtime hours. At least the salary arrived on time each month, allowing him to scrape by.

Then, thanks to a genius colleague's maneuvers, going to work turned into an escape room. He blinked, and instead of dying as he'd wished, he found himself in the New Calendar.

Chen Jiyan appeared calm on the surface, but inside, he'd already given up, embracing the "broken pot" mentality.

Human adaptability was truly remarkable. After accepting he couldn't return, he could even step back and marvel at the spectacle with a detached perspective.

Seeing the administrator in the same wretched state, he suddenly felt an illusion of being all each other had in the world.

He shook off the jumbled thoughts of wandering the ends of the earth, hoping it wouldn't rain before they left—they hadn't brought an umbrella.