Chapter 51: The Truth

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: The Truth

After listening to Ning Ye’s explanation, Xiang Yi finally had a clear picture of what Scavengers were all about.

Though Ning Ye’s reasons for joining them were a bit different from the average Scavenger’s.

"Is it really not dangerous?"

"Are you serious right now?"

Ning Ye looked irritated by the question, but the moment she caught Xiang Yi’s gaze, she swallowed it back down. "Of course it’s dangerous. Look how many people died today."

"Either way, it’s the Scavengers taking the risks out there, not the military. The military won’t make a move until they have solid intel."

"But it’s not so bad, really. This colony hasn’t been established for long, so the Abnormalities we run into aren’t that tough."

"Not that tough? What do you mean by that?"

Ning Ye realized she might have said a little too much. She played dumb. "Exactly what it sounds like. Most Abnormalities are within our ability to handle. You especially."

Her version of "handle" probably meant survive long enough to run away, while "you especially" most likely meant Xiang Yi actually had a shot at killing or containing them.

But Xiang Yi just kept staring at her without saying a word.

He wasn’t taking it at face value.

Ning Ye stared back just as silently.

Information had value. If Xiang Yi wanted it, he’d have to pay for it somehow.

But he didn’t have anything to offer right now.

So Xiang Yi let it go. There would be other chances to find out what she meant.

The corner of Ning Ye’s mouth twitched upward. She was glad to have found a cooperative partner.

Then Xiang Yi held out his hand. "I need a container. For containing Abnormalities."

"A container..."

Ning Ye looked like she had a headache. After a moment, she fished out a small metal box from somewhere on her person and handed it over — one Xiang Yi had seen before.

The box was a mechanical construct of sorts, which meant Xiang Yi could pull up its panel just the same.

[Silent Alloy Storage Box]

[Structural Framework: 5cm×5cm×5cm Cubic Frame]

The material was familiar. Back in prison, he’d watched He Dong contain a Blood Crystal Cluster using a large metal case made of Silent Alloy.

The box’s design was familiar too — it was the same kind Sun Yifei had used to store the Shuffling Monster’s nail clippings, and the same kind Shi Tie had used to store the Black Stone.

Xiang Yi tossed it up and caught it a couple of times. "You want me to catch Abnormalities for your research with this little thing?"

Ning Ye’s expression turned slightly embarrassed. "Look, this is all I brought with me this time. Next time I’ll bring a big crate. You think you can even carry one?"

Xiang Yi glanced over his shoulder at Shi Tie. With its raw strength, hauling something heavy was no problem at all.

"If you can manage it, bring a crate of tritium fuel cells when you come out next time. I’ll be staying outside for a while. I won’t be heading back into the city."

"No problem."

The two of them confirmed their next meeting time and location, and then Ning Ye left without lingering.

She made it two blocks away and, once she was sure Xiang Yi could no longer see her, she couldn’t help tugging at her clothes.

Her back was soaked through with cold sweat. A few beads of it trickled down from her forehead.

She wiped her brow and spent a moment trying to steady the near-overwhelming anxiety coiled tight inside her chest.

But before long, a rush of excitement she couldn’t hold back flooded in to replace it.

This was her first time ever making contact with a Spiritual Ability User — and not just any Spiritual Ability User, but one who had already harnessed a fraction of Black Stone Power. She’d even managed to strike a deal with him. Her research on Abnormalities was going to go a lot more smoothly from here on out.

She glanced back in the direction she’d come from, pressed a hand to her chest to slow her racing heart, and kept walking toward the city.

The moment Ning Ye was gone, Xiang Yi’s expression went flat.

He looked down at the dusty floor, at the footprints left in the grime, then stamped out the burning campfire.

"Build me a fire."

Shi Tie paid no mind to what Xiang Yi had just done. It simply followed the order.

It bent down, gathered the scattered pieces of wood that had been kicked around, and stacked them back into the shape of a campfire.

Then it reached into the intact pocket of its trousers, pulled out a small pouch, and shook a fine dust over the unlit pile of wood.

The dust caught instantly, and a rough, crackling fire took hold.

Xiang Yi stared into the flames for a long time before speaking. "So how exactly did I get here while I was unconscious?"

He looked at Shi Tie as he said it — at its single, powerfully built arm, dark grey as ash.

Shi Tie couldn’t speak. Naturally, it didn’t answer.

But Xiang Yi already had his answer.

He couldn’t trust an outsider. In the end, he had saved himself.

He’d only half-believed Ning Ye’s story in the first place, and only because he’d still been groggy when he first woke up.

The inconsistencies had piled up fast after that.

Why was Shi Tie — who had been right there with him in the rubble — covered in filth, while Ning Ye, who supposedly carried him out of the ruins, was perfectly clean?

Why were there no footprints on the dusty floor from when Ning Ye supposedly came in?

Why had her voice been so tense right at the start?

Why would someone who seemed genuinely afraid of him bother to save him at all?

Every one of those questions pointed to the same explanation.

Ning Ye had simply overheard him muttering to himself as he came around, and seized the opening to spin a story.

She had been near the ruins where Xiang Yi and Shi Tie had their run-in, though — she must have been. She’d seen the whole thing go down.

"I can’t... just die like this... I need to... get somewhere safe..."

Those were the last words Xiang Yi had spoken before losing consciousness. They were also the first command Shi Tie had received.

She must have watched Shi Tie shake off the Shuffling Monster and carry his unconscious body all the way here.

She hadn’t shown up out of any desire to help. She’d come because she wanted to know what the hell was going on with Shi Tie.

That was the truth of it.

But that didn’t make everything they’d talked about worthless.

Yes, Xiang Yi had been fishing for information, but Ning Ye had genuinely given him a lot — things he hadn’t known before.

Her whole act had probably been a survival move. She’d guessed he was a criminal, figured he might kill her on the spot, and fabricated a reason for him not to.

It was only when she spotted the possibility of a deal during their conversation that she’d steered things in that direction.

Staying alive was her real goal. Everything she’d said along the way was just how she got her foot in the door.

It had worked out better than she’d probably hoped.

And from Xiang Yi’s side, the partnership was perfectly acceptable.

Whether it actually held up going forward would depend entirely on what Ning Ye did next.

Xiang Yi stamped out the fire again and jerked his head at Shi Tie.

"Let’s go. Time to move."

He brought Shi Tie back to the collapsed building — the one he’d brought down with his Laser Rifle.

After some searching, they found Shi Tie’s severed arm.

It had already started to rot slightly, but Xiang Yi tried anyway. He sliced open the healed stump at Shi Tie’s left shoulder and pressed the arm back against it.

Granulation tissue knit together, and the arm reattached.

The decay was irreversible, and the junction had swollen into something lumpy and misshapen.

But it would hold for a while. He could figure out a permanent fix later.

With the arm recovered, Xiang Yi led Shi Tie back to where everything had started.

The hospital.

By now, the place had fallen back into silence.

The Dead Spirit Dust had dispersed. Every corpse that had been moving was just a corpse again.

In a corner room on the first floor, Xiang Yi retrieved the large backpack he’d stashed there earlier.

It was full of supplies he’d scavenged from the camp — too valuable to leave behind.

But instead of heading out right away, he went upstairs to the second floor, back to the Scavengers’ camp.

Someone had clearly been here since he left. They’d taken some of the supplies and gone — whether it was Ning Ye or one of the other survivors, he couldn’t say.

The fact that they’d already come and gone meant they almost certainly wouldn’t be back any time soon.

That left Xiang Yi free to keep picking through the camp for anything else worth taking.

The reason he’d only left with one backpack before was that one backpack was all he could carry.

Now that he had Shi Tie — a full-blown Corpse Ghost — taking more was no problem at all.

The Scavengers weren’t going to need any of it anyway.

And this time, there was no one around to stop him.