Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland.

The old man took his granddaughter from Chad's arms and without waiting for anyone to respond, he walked towards the depths of the pipe, stepping on the corpses and body parts all over the ground.

He walked on a wooden plank path that had been built later. As soon as he stepped on it, it made a dangerous creaking sound, as if it would break and collapse at any time and fall into the bottomless lake below.

Although the drifter old man was holding Li Yin, his steps were still steady, and it was obvious that he was already familiar with the route.

"Do you want to follow?" Bo looked at Lu Meng.

A tiny light was hanging above Lu Meng's palm. He had just killed no less than a hundred people in an instant, all with one hand, while the flame of the oil lamp in his other hand barely flickered.

Chad leaned to the side. He understood what Bo meant. The reason why they went to the downtown area was, firstly, to avoid the technology hunters above, and secondly, to find out the dark side of the lagoon in the depression.

Therefore, as soon as they made their move, they targeted the top boss of the drifter community, hoping to strike with lightning speed. They were small in number and low in number, so even if outsiders investigated and searched for them, they would be powerless.

But whether to come into contact with local drifters in the process is another matter.

"Let's go." Lu Meng took the oil lamp and shone it around, then put it back in place and extinguished the wick. "They have invited us."

Glass smiled.

Chad stood up and walked forward, picking up the cloth bag on the ground. Because his movements were so rough, a faint groan could be heard from inside.

They moved in unison.

Soon he caught up with the old man in front.

……

……

The thin man woke up from his coma, his face was haggard, and the surrounding environment was filled with a damp and rotten smell that was disgusting.

But the man didn't have any special expression. He had already gotten used to it because this was his home.

What really made it unbearable for him were the burning pain from the wounds on his body.

Some of the holes are still bleeding.

"That bastard was so cruel." Huang Xiang touched his forehead, where his skin was scraped when he was thrown against the wall. "When I saw them leaving, they seemed to be heading in the direction of Uncle Li..."

The man suddenly became alert: "Who!"

"it's me!"

The old man lifted the filter and crawled out, holding a thin little person in his arms: "You're okay! Fortunately, you are not as impulsive as I thought..."

"Uncle Li," Huang Xiang recognized the man and was a little surprised, "How did you get here? Did Qi Gou and the others give you any trouble?"

The one he was referring to was the previous leader. Huang Xiang had martial arts skills, but he was unwilling to obey and failed to join the gang that managed the community. He had never been very obedient to the so-called Brother Qi in the first place, and now that he was not doing it in front of the other party, he naturally would not show any respect to him behind his back.

But even so, such behavior was still a bit rash. The old man was about to subconsciously remind him not to speak out of turn, but then he remembered something and just sighed: "It's good that you're okay."

The drifters live in the same community and have no one else to rely on, so they can only help each other.

Huang Xiang is very capable and usually has a lot of responsibilities. Sometimes he is the one who stands up to support gang leaders during negotiations, but over time he is inevitably seen as a thorn in the side. Even if they don't plan to get rid of him at the moment, he will definitely be taught a lesson.

"If this is considered okay..." Huang Xiang smiled self-deprecatingly. His body, which had just stood up, suddenly swayed and was about to fall down.

The old man was startled and had no time to help.

A black shadow flashed.

Supported behind his back.

"Thank you... Who are you?" Huang Xiang was also surprised and turned around to look.

"She..." The old man didn't know how to introduce her.

Bo: "Snake head."

"No!" Bo did not deliberately disguise or cover his face during this trip, and Huang Xiang recognized him, "You are the girl who helped us lead the way before!"

"He's also the snakehead." said Bo.

Huang Xiang exchanged glances with the old man, who hesitated for a moment and then nodded slowly.

"I see." He first stood up, then slowly sat down against the wall. "It's a pity that my home is in such a state now, and I can't properly entertain you and thank you."

The man pointed to the surrounding walls.

The place where they were was just a small groove in the extensive pipes of the lower city, squeezing out a space.

But even in this place that could barely be called a home, the few bottles and jars that existed had been smashed and the rotten furniture was overturned on the floor.

“How could they do this to you?” the old man also noticed it and spoke in fear.

"It's because we didn't reach an agreement on the previous approach..." Huang Xiang said halfway, looked at Bo and realized that he had said something wrong, and said: "My lady, we, the drifters who have returned, are very grateful to you, but you came at the wrong time. Business in the depression lagoon has not been good recently... But don't worry, if you need anything, just let me know. If I can do it, I will definitely not refuse."

"No need to say anything extra..."

As soon as Bo opened her mouth, another voice came and continued her words: "We don't have many problems, but if you don't deal with your own problems, it will be difficult to deal with them in the future."

A tall young man walked out. Huang Xiang felt nervous after being exposed. He frowned and asked, "Who are you?"

Lu Meng pointed at Bo: "Her employer."

Bo paused and nodded.

Chad was following behind him. When Huang Xiang noticed it, he immediately shifted his attention to Chad.

"My customers." Bo said.

"Stowaway," the old man added.

Chad: “…”

Before he spoke, his identity had already been clearly arranged.

It seems that as an authentic technology hunter, I will have to bear the title of a smuggler when I return to the base this time.

"Okay." Huang Xiang's mouth twitched. He didn't care about the identities of these people. With the endorsement of the old man surnamed Li, there was no reason to doubt. The man looked at Lu Meng: "Looking at your appearance, you are also a stranger. You actually brought the business of recruiting people to the territory of Huabao. I'm afraid you are either brave or have some skills, right? But you don't know that he is most taboo about this matter."

"How about... just joining them?"

Huang Xiang was not as kind to Lu Meng as he was to Bo. However, even though his words were thorny, they still meant to warn Lu Meng of the risks. It was also his personality.

Hearing this, before Lu Meng could say anything, Chad on the side couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Huang Xiang frowned. "You are a stowaway. If something goes wrong, you will be the first one to be arrested!"

Chad: “…”

"Look, you're still in the same temper!" The old man put his granddaughter down and hurried forward, "Why are you talking more anxiously than before? Actually..."

"Because Mr. Huang feels that his injuries are serious and he probably doesn't have much time left. There's no need to be so restrained, right?" Before the old man finished speaking, Lu Meng squatted down, and his eyes under the bamboo hat just met Huang Xiang's trembling eyes. "It's better to be more casual and free and comfortable."

"What's going on!" the old man was shocked.

"Brother, what happened to Uncle Huang..." Even the little girl Li Yin next to him understood the seriousness of the words. She stepped forward and grabbed Lu Meng's sleeve, with a hint of anxiety on her thin yellow face.

"I'm very happy that you can call me brother, but I always feel that I'm downgraded at this moment." Lu Meng took off his hat, revealing a head of white hair. He ignored Huang Xiang's obstruction and lifted up the other's trouser leg, followed by a foul smell.

I saw that the other person's legs were covered with rotten flesh and the wounds were so deep that the bones were visible.

The room smelled foul.

It all came from this.

It’s just that the environment of the entire lower city is not very good. Not to mention the sewage and dead insects and rats discharged from the upper city, it’s not uncommon to see a few dead bodies floating in the air from somewhere. That’s why the old man didn’t notice anything unusual before.

Judging from the extent of the leg injury, although he was severely injured by Brother Qi's mace before, those were only superficial injuries.

"Is this... the wound you left last time when you protected Xiao Si? Didn't you tell me it was healed?" The old man was shocked by what he saw and asked in pain, "So you lied to me."

Seeing that the secret was exposed, Huang Xiang could only smile palely: "In this environment, it's not easy to heal the injury, but... it's just to save some money on medicine, haha."

Living in the lower city, the climate is humid and the sanitation is poor. If you accidentally fall into a poison pool every time you swim back and forth, it will be a serious blow to the wound... But if you don't do this, you can't survive.

Saving money on medicine is just a joke because he can't afford it and has no channel to pay for it.

Lu Meng was right. Huang Xiang's behavior and words had indeed become much more casual now, and he could even make a joke at this time.

But the old man didn't laugh out loud.

But I feel doubly sad.

The reason why he came to find Huang Xiang was, firstly, to confirm the other party's safety, and secondly, because the environment in the Lower City was complex. Although the division of spheres of influence had been fixed, the specific personnel of the forces changed frequently. Not to mention a year, a whole group of people might be replaced even in a month.

Even Bo could only remember the general building paths he walked through as a child, but was not familiar with the culture of the drifters and gangs.

Huang Xiang is an exception. He is not only familiar with the local community, but also has connections in the other four major communities.

The old man vaguely guessed that the three people around him were of great importance and had great ambitions. They had eliminated the leader of a large community on the first night they arrived at the Depression Lagoon. They would definitely not stay in this community temporarily, but would need someone to lead the way and guide them.

Others' influence is insignificant and they cannot offer any valuable rewards, so they can only do what they can and help with referrals and commissions.

The news of the leopard's disappearance and the shock in the local community would surely spread soon, and who knows how big a stir it would cause by then... But the old man had not expected that this fellow drifter who was always helpful might leave them before those things happened, let alone provide extra help.

On the other side, Bo had stood up and stopped the little girl, holding her away from Huang Xiang's rotten legs that were almost dead. The anti-slaver finally understood why the other party had not noticed the blood on his body and the blood-stained bag on Chad's back before - the high fever of inflammation probably made the other party a little confused and his vision was blurred.

Lu Meng watched this scene.

Thoughtful.

He suddenly said, "Five years ago, you were already in the Lagoon, right? At that time, do you remember that a slave ship came here, carrying the goods of the Hunter Gang, and then sailed to the Sorrowful Mine Town?"

"...Slave ship?" Huang Xiang looked at the young man who had revealed his injuries. He originally wanted to keep it a secret and didn't want others to know, so he was a little angry at first.

But after truly accepting this fact, looking at the people around him, whether it was the drifter's grandfather and grandson, or the other strangers, there was no indifference in their eyes, but rather concern that could not be concealed.

Being able to complete my final journey in such an environment, rather than rotting alone in a pipe filled with stinky water and moss in the downtown area, this feeling... isn't bad.

Therefore, he was much more open-minded at this moment. He did not feel offended by Lu Meng's sudden question, but thought carefully: "Yes, the Lowland Lagoon is a transit point for many places, and it is a neutral force. Large-scale slave ships have come here several times... But I can't know which one you are talking about."

He probably understood the old man's intention of bringing the other party here. This time when he returned to the city, his leg injury was serious and he could no longer hold on. He could not do other work, but he could still provide some information.

Just consider it as the final reward.

"...Why do you ask this?" Hearing the words slave ship and hunter gang, Bo's back tightened and he also looked at Lu Meng, "And it was so many years ago, isn't it too long ago?"

In the United Cities, both in the North and the South, although the composition of the aristocracy is different and their interests are not entirely consistent, they both widely practice slavery.

In the north, the slave trade was dominated by the slave trading guild of Lady Janai, a first-class licensed merchant. Yamudu's subordinate, the sharpshooter headhunter, had been a slave hunter in the guild in the past.

And in the south.

The organization responsible for capturing and managing slaves is a violent armed organization called the "Hunter Gang". Compared with the Slave Trading Guild, they regard slaves as a highly profitable commodity. The Hunter Gang exists to directly serve the aristocratic families and is responsible for providing cheap labor for the production of major city-states. It is rumored that the mastermind behind the Hunter Gang is also a certain city-state overlord.

Naturally, he was also the enemy of anti-slavery advocates.

"Find someone." Lu Meng said.

The other party followed his master around and had no fixed place to live, unlike several other important combat forces with huge potential who had fixed places to search.

Just try your luck.

However, at this point in time, he might not have been bought by an undiscerning owner, and therefore was still wandering in a slave market.

It’s a pity that when the slave ship first arrived five years ago, Lu Meng’s personal strength was still very low. It was not even safe for him to travel and protect himself in this world. It was not enough to support him to come to the Depression Lagoon, let alone the more deserted Ai Mining Town.

The person must have been taken away by the Hunter Gang by now.

Fortunately, there are still clues.

"But it's okay. You can ask more questions later. You must remember it very clearly..." Lu Meng looked at Huang Xiang and said in the other's confused eyes, "Because, there was another celebrity on that slave ship at that time."

"Ask slowly..." Huang Xiang pondered the subtle meaning of these words, and suddenly a gleam of a knife flashed in his eyes. He was so frightened that he subconsciously crawled backwards.

Lu Meng was holding a long knife with a bright red blade in his hand, and he slowly pulled it out of the sheath: "As for your symptoms, I have seen them many times--"

"The only option is amputation."

(End of this chapter)