Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland.

"Grandpa, will they be okay?" A crisp voice came from the dark pipe, with a hint of worry in the tone.

Sticky water falls.

"Don't worry, good people will be rewarded..." an old voice sounded, comforting.

An old man surnamed Li, carrying his granddaughter Li Yiner, trudged through an abandoned oil pipeline. The space here was wide but pitch black. Only the broken hole above their heads let in the dim light from the upper city all night long as a guide.

Look from afar.

It looks like a sky full of stars.

The drifters followed the caravan and successfully reached the platform of the depression lagoon.

The law enforcement team did not conduct strict checks on these parasites. Firstly, they were familiar with their faces, and secondly, the poisonous sores on everyone's body could not be faked. Even if there were technology hunters from the Black Scratches, they would not be able to blend in for a while.

not to mention.

Law enforcement hunters also seemed reluctant to engage with them.

After a brief dispersed inspection, they dispersed.

The old man surnamed Li saw with his own eyes that the caravan was taken away by the mechanic's apprentice, and he knew in his heart that they were most likely out of trouble.

Even if he explained the complexity of the matter to his granddaughter, the little girl would not understand and could only comfort her by explaining away the law of cause and effect, which he himself did not believe in.

"Yeah." Li Yin lay on her grandfather's back and nodded heavily.

She didn't understand complicated things, but she knew who had helped them just now.

After the wind and rain, she has now recovered some of her spirit.

After a while, the old man and the child arrived at the shack they had built. The pipe here was cracked in the middle, and was connected by wooden boards that were obviously laid later, thus connecting with other places in the lower city.

Just as the old man breathed a sigh of relief and was about to light the oil lamp and make the bed, he heard a quarrel in the darkness.

"Are you sure you're going in this direction..."

"How dare I say that? I haven't been here for many years."

Their voices were kept very low.

But in this pipeline layer where only insects and rats are moving and the waves of lake water are heard, it appears unusually clear.

The old man suddenly became alert.

His hand, as soft as a dry pine tree, reached for the knife hidden under his clothes.

"Hmm... it's that sister's voice."

Li Yin rubbed her eyes and said in a daze.

The old man was about to think that something was wrong, thinking that his granddaughter's unintentional words must have been spread out, but after hearing her words clearly, he came to his senses.

Amid the sound of quarrel.

There was one that really looked like the girl who had previously reminded them of the poisonous pool in front of them.

The quarrel stopped.

"Ah, we meet again." Bo acted as if he was discovered, and his tone was not as cold as before in front of everyone, but with a hint of friendliness.

"Big sister!" Li Yin said excitedly.

"It's really you. I didn't have the chance to thank you before..." The old man realized that the other party had no ill intentions, and combined with his previous experience, a heartfelt gratitude came out of his words.

He can tell good from bad.

If this skilled girl had any ill intentions, there would have been no need for her to take them with her on the swim.

If they weren't used to explore the drug pool.

The drifters are a pure encumbrance.

Not to mention the heavy rain that followed and the rising tide in the pond. If it hadn't been for the light of the caravan's pack animals' chains, their group of drifters would have been dispersed long ago. Not to mention the danger, all their efforts would have been wasted.

Bo waved in response.

Chad stood aside silently with his arms folded.

With their strength, it would be very difficult for them to sneak here without being discovered by the drifting grandfather and grandson.

Not to mention making the mistake of speaking in a way that could be heard.

But then he realized that someone was living here, and this was also the meeting place they had agreed to meet, so it was not convenient to change it.

Fearing that their ghostly figures might scare these ordinary drifters, Bo indicated that they should reveal their whereabouts in advance.

"Are all these anti-slavery people so petty?" Chad thought he had learned something new.

In terms of attentiveness alone, these legion-level people are able to control the rhythm of the battle and the surrounding battlefield environment. Even if there are differences in strengths and weaknesses, they will not be that bad.

But this was the first time Chad had seen someone use such observation skills on something that seemed insignificant.

The old man lit the oil lamp.

A tiny light illuminated the dim passage.

"Excuse me," Bo said with a smile, "but if you want to thank someone, don't thank me--"

Hearing this, Li Yin blinked and looked at Chad who was leaning against the wall.

Let’s go to the outside world.

"Who should I thank?" the little girl asked puzzledly.

The old man couldn't help but laugh. His granddaughter was still a bit straightforward. These two were obviously being modest, but she actually took them seriously.

I really want to find the third person.

"You two," the old man surnamed Li lowered his voice and said, "Why don't you come over and talk..."

He has already guessed the other party's identity.

One of them was familiar with the terrain of the depression lagoon and was even able to go deep into the lower city area where ordinary technology hunters would not set foot, and the other followed closely behind.

more importantly.

When the tech hunters checked their caravan, they left secretly ahead of time, apparently to avoid the strict law enforcement team.

Then, the answer is obvious -

"Stowaway?"

Chad pointed at himself and said in surprise.

"Don't worry, this is not uncommon in the downtown area." The old man interpreted the surprise on his face as panic of having his secret exposed, and quickly comforted him kindly.

"This girl." He looked at Bo, "She must be the snakehead."

Although never seen it before.

However, the communities in downtown were interconnected, complex, and filled with many forces intertwined. Even for him, it was impossible to recognize all the capable people. At most, he only knew a few of the top leaders.

Bo openly led the caravan, but secretly took people to the lower city to smuggle... People in this line of work are already walking in a gray area, and being able to get along with both the black and white worlds is the most basic skill.

"But, young man..." The old man said to Chad with a hint of encouragement: "In the lower city of the Depression Lagoon, although there is a chance to become a technology hunter, it is not so easy to stand out." Chad felt complicated.

He usually does not show off or advertise himself, but his attendance success rate and points in the organization are always among the best. He can be considered an excellent front-line hunter, otherwise he would not be qualified to participate in the task of acquiring the Ai Mining Town.

If we compare our performance, most of my colleagues would have to admit defeat.

As a technology hunter, Chad knew the existence of the Lower City, but he was not familiar with it. Unexpectedly, he was mistaken for an undocumented stowaway by a drifting old man.

However, the old man's words reminded Chad of the time when he had just swam from the Mine Town and escaped death, before he became a technology hunter... At that time, weren't they, the later Mine Hunters, no different from illegal immigrants?
So he did not refute and remained silent.

However, the friendly smile on Bo's face froze a little: "Old man, you mean that the Tech Hunters are now selecting members from the Lower City... What about the original Lake Town people?"

"Yes." The old man was a little surprised that Bo didn't know. He didn't understand the other party's address for a while. He touched Li Yin's head and thought for a while, "You mean the people of Lake Town... Oh, I heard this kid's mother mention that there were ordinary residents in the upper class of Lake Town in the past, but the power of the hunters has grown, and many houses in the blocks have been requisitioned. Now, those who live there are either technology hunters or people who can serve them. As for the rest, they have moved to the lower city a long time ago. After a long time, it is hard to tell them apart..."

Seeing that Bo was silent, he kindly reminded:
"Girl, this snakehead is very good at his job, but you have to be careful around here. The 'Leopard' boss in our community is very powerful. If you bring people in without telling him and get discovered..."

The old man looked at Bo's skills and originally thought she was an experienced human snakehead, but he just realized that she didn't seem to be very clear about the recent situation in the lower city of Lake Town. He was afraid that she was a newcomer or not in this community, so he became a little worried.

But before he could finish his words, a sound came from the pipe again.

That was the sound of steel rubbing against each other, continuous, as if someone was pressing a steel pipe against the wall, scraping it all the way.

Extremely ostentatious.

There was a crackling sound, and there was more than one person.

"It's bad!" The old man's expression changed, and he immediately lowered his voice and said to Bo and Chad, "Hide quickly and don't make any noise--"

Without waiting for the two to react, he stepped forward and blocked the oil lamp with his body, creating a shadow. At the same time, he hugged his granddaughter and signaled her with his eyes.

Li Yin nodded heavily.

Keep your mouth shut.

"Old man Li, it's so stormy outside, I almost thought you wouldn't be able to come back." A frivolous voice came from far away, "You've become more capable, huh? The harvest from this trip... must be good, right?"

"Brother Qi, what are you talking about!" Hearing this, the old man's face changed again and again, and finally he forced a smile and said, "It's just a small business, and it's all thanks to your blessing..."

Sparks flashed, illuminating the face of the person who came. He had a pierced mouth and a fierce look. Although he was not young, he was probably in his thirties. But it still seemed quite strange and funny to hear the white-haired old man calling him "brother".

However, the sparks flashed in the hand of the man called Brother Qi, but what he held was not a steel pipe but a mace covered with spikes. He just used it to scrape iron filings from the old oil pipeline and ignited them in the air.

The flames along the way even outshone the oil lamp that the old man used to lighten the wick of, illuminating the crowd of gang members behind him.

Brother Qi snorted: "Since you know, then I don't need to say more, right?"

He waved.

A younger brother came up from behind and pulled out a cloth bag, which was filled with something heavy and made a crisp sound.

They are all scattered coins.

A little goes a long way, but it still makes a bag full.

"I understand, I understand..." The old man smiled and took out a bunch of coins from his pocket, "It's the same regular money as before."

The young man just took a quick look and swept the coins into his bag.

But it's not over yet.

The remaining gang members went around the two men's shack, rummaging through the drawers and cabinets, searching even the old man's body. Finally, they pulled out a stack of round coins and piled them together.

This money was mainly carried by the old man, which was what he earned during his trip. As for the shack at home, he would not dare to leave any money there even if he had money.

The gang members who were trying to turn over the house cried out in bad luck several times.

These coins are roughly equivalent to the regular money the old man paid.

Seeing that he understood the rules so well, Brother Qi nodded in appreciation, but then he said with disdain: "I've worked hard for half my life, but in the end I can only earn this little. I'm so poor, what's the point of living... I might as well just give up."

"Yes Yes……"

No matter what the other person said, the old man just nodded.

Brother Qi was a little bored. He walked forward, grabbed a handful of coins, and threw them into the bag for collecting regular money.

Some of them were thrown inaccurately.

It just scattered under the tide outside the pipe and disappeared without a trace.

If it were in the past, the old man would have been doubly distressed.

But today, he saw that the gang members searched through boxes and cabinets, but they didn't find the two benefactors, which meant that they had already left successfully. The old man was relieved and hoped to delay these people for a while so that the snakehead girl and the illegal immigrant could run away.

"Old man Li... you are quite honest." Even Brother Qi was a little surprised at his obedience, and then he smiled and said, "Brother Bao is right, you are the most sensible person in this community - you are old and wise, unlike Huang Xiang who doesn't know what's good for you."

Hearing Huang Xiang's name, the old man looked up in surprise - that was the thin man who helped him catch his granddaughter when he was swimming.

Only then did he see that the mace that Brother Qi was carrying was stained with drops of blood, and even the dampness of the downtown area could not wash it away.

A muscle in the old man's cheek twitched.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "What you and Brother Bao said are..."

As Brother Qi was talking, he pretended to grab more from the Kaibi. This time, the old man couldn't help but stretched out his hand to try to stop him: "Brother Qi, please leave some for me. Just think of it as buying a candy for my disappointing granddaughter..."

Brother Qi stopped his hand after hearing that. He didn't really want to take it. No matter what, he had to leave a way for these low-level drifters to survive. This would not only save unnecessary trouble, but also ensure a long-term life. He just glanced at the little girl in the old man's arms with disdain: "Buy some candy and rice to supplement your diet. If you keep going like this, she will grow into this horrible shape. Even if you want to sell her to human traffickers, no one will want her. What will she do if you die, old man..."

Little Li Yin opened her eyes wide.

The tears stopped rolling out.

But just when all the gang members were preparing to call it a day and the old man thought he had gotten through this difficult time, Brother Qi suddenly stopped and shrugged his nose.

Then he grinned and said, "You are not honest, old man... There is someone else hiding here!"

"Otherwise, there would still be such a strong smell of blood in the air!"

The old man was shocked at once. He instantly thought that the two men might have been injured when they sneaked into the lower city, but he was too weak to notice it, just like he could only smell the moisture of the lake but not sense any smell of blood.

But, it's too late.

Brother Qi is not him.

As a capable subordinate of the local community leader Leopard, he locked onto his target instantly, leaped out in a step that no gang member could see clearly, and swung his stick towards a hidden corner in the darkness.

The spikes of the wolf's fangs gleamed silver, interweaving with the remaining blood.

The next moment, red and white objects gushed out like a fountain.

"You two... why is there still a barking mad dog at the place where we met?" Lu Meng put two fingers together and pierced the man's head like a dagger, "Shouldn't we clean it up?"

"I agree."

From the depths of the passage, a cold female voice sounded.

Her position just blocked everyone's retreat route.

Behind Lu Meng, there was a long package with dark red stains constantly seeping out of it, faintly revealing the shape of a human body.

It exudes a strong smell of blood.

(End of this chapter)