Chapter 6: Outliers
Wandering around in the desert when a sandstorm comes is obviously not a good choice.
The dust outside was getting more and more intense. Countless sands were blown by the wind and violently hit the outer layer of the temple, making a bang bang sound.
Less than twenty meters away, outside the buried entrance of the ruins, one could still smell a hint of gunpowder smoke that had not yet dissipated.
The hunter robot whose main battery pack was pierced was like a dead giant, using its body to block the crack outside the temple and prevent sand from rushing in.
Quicksand kept falling from the broken dome above.
The sky was dim, making the cool temple dim as well, but there was a light source similar to a mining lamp, so it was not so dark that one could not see one's hand in front of one's face.
Instead, the shadows illuminated by the light were projected on the corners, and the elongated shadows gave a feeling of a group of demons dancing wildly.
Jiang Xia sat on a broken box.
The sci-fi-looking electromagnetic heavy sniper was placed beside his legs. The entire group of wasteland warriors was disarmed, and all the weapons were piled behind Jiang Xia.
With so many weapons, I feel a sense of security from the bottom of my heart.
He sat there alone, holding a short dagger and cutting off his long hair that was in the way, while looking at the crowd on the other side.
They are so weird.
Jiang Xia thought so.
From his observation, in just a short time together, he had already seen the peculiarities of this group of people. Each of them wore strange-looking clothes that seemed to be woven out of some kind of leather and cloth.
The technique is very crude and the appearance is very wild, it can only be said to be clothing.
But underneath these coats they wore shirts and breeches that were clearly industrial products, some of them wore riding boots, others hunting boots.
They all looked unkempt.
The men all had unshaven beards, but the two women were better looking, with short hair and heavy smoky makeup, and their eyes were painted like pandas.
Everyone has tattoos of unknown meaning on their necks and cheeks.
There were also a few young people with very exaggerated hairstyles, such as rooster heads, or Mohawks.
Almost everyone has some quirky decoration.
Nose ring, earrings, or lip rings.
Maybe it symbolizes rebellion or freedom or something, like an incomprehensible trend.
They are very vigilant.
Although they had been disarmed, as long as they were still able to move, their eyes were fixed on the pile of weapons behind Jiang Xia. This state showed that they were already accustomed to fighting in which they had to draw their guns quickly.
The loss of their weapons made them uneasy.
It also shows that their living environment does not seem to be friendly.
The ethnic groups of this group of people in front of me are also very complex.
That Su is an Asian with black hair and black eyes.
The old soldier in the lead, although his skin was extremely rough, could still be identified as a white person.
Among the remaining people, there were brown and black. The two women seemed to be mixed-race, with the demeanor of South American women. Their skin was better, but not smooth.
But these are all external.
What Jiang Xia paid more attention to at this time was their inner qualities.
The limbs that look normal but are actually metallized and mechanized.
Like some kind of high-tech prosthetic.
The surface is made of bionic material and looks no different from normal skin and flesh, but the inside is filled with metal skeletons and encapsulated circuits strung together.
There are also some things like slots.
Everyone has one. Everyone in this group has been modified with such prosthetics to a greater or lesser extent. Some only have arms or five fingers on their hands.
The most exaggerated one was Su who was rescued by Jiang Xia before.
This guy's limbs are all sophisticated and destructive prosthetics.
He seems to be a medic.
Under Jiang Xia's gaze, a sharp knife popped out from Su's wrist and cut open the damaged and twisted prosthesis for his companion.
He also took out spare prosthetics from the sidecars of those very cool, wasteland-style tracked motorcycles and replaced them with them.
The scene before me is somewhat terrifying.
But others turned a blind eye.
Jiang Xia knew that this group of people were providing treatment, but seeing the prosthesis being replaced at will, with screwdrivers, welding guns and small impact hammers taking turns, really made people feel uncomfortable all over.
This is not treatment at all, it's like slaughter.
And, the most important point.
Jiang Xia cut his hair short, put the dagger back into his waist, and brushed his cool short hair. Taking this opportunity, he took another look at the group of wastelanders.
A few guys who were not injured were lying dead.
Three boys and one girl.
There were no external injuries on his body, but he seemed to be paralyzed. He lay there with stiff movements, and it was difficult for him to even turn his head, although the atmosphere in the temple was a bit weird.
But they were still chatting, looking heartless, speaking in a language that Jiang Xia couldn't understand.
"It should be a Slavic language."
Jiang Xia listened attentively for a few words and thought to himself:
"There are some slight changes, but there is a strong smell of hairy tongue that cannot be concealed."
While he was thinking this, he saw Su stand up and walk towards him, holding a metal container like a kettle in one hand and a small box sealed with tin foil in the other.
It should be food.
Su's young but no longer delicate face showed a distant and cold expression. He handed the thing in his hand to Jiang Xia without any unnecessary movements.
Because Jiang Xia's hand was on the gun bag at his waist.
There was a large caliber revolver loaded there.
It’s not as cool as other modified weapons, but it can bring great deterrence to the enemy.
This thing was a "collection" he found from the motorcycle of the leader of this group of wasteland warriors.
A gun that never jams.
Thirty rounds of ammunition.
In the hands of someone who knows how to use it, it can more than slaughter the wasteland warriors in the temple twice.
Jiang Xia looked at Su's actions and then looked at his expression.
This should be a gesture of goodwill.
So he reached out and took it.
The current status of these two groups of people is very strange.
Jiang Xia didn't want to kill them, and he took away their weapons to avoid possible trouble. The wasteland warriors seemed to understand Jiang Xia's concerns.
They were severely injured in the attack, but they did not do anything irrational at this time.
Of course, it is also possible that they were waiting for the order to raid.
The brave old warrior, their leader, was sitting at the entrance of the temple, smoking a cigar and eating a suspicious paste from a tin box.
Even though his rifle was destroyed by Jiang Xia before, he didn't seem to bear any grudge or anger at this moment. He was very calm, like a great general.
“@%￥￥!”
Sue said to him.
Jiang Xia raised his head, gave an awkward but polite smile, pointed to his ears and then to his mouth, indicating that he didn't understand.
Su was not surprised. He took out a small piece of paper from his waist, took out a pen, wrote and drew on it, and finally handed it to Jiang Xia.
The latter took it in his hand and found it was a string of characters.
It looked like some kind of frequency band for information transmission, or the name and password of WIFI. Su pointed at his own head, then at Jiang Xia's head, and finally at the characters on the paper.
Jiang Xia didn't understand what he meant.
What's this?
Join the group chat?
But what tools should be used?
I came here in a hurry and didn't have a mobile phone to use.
Seeing Jiang Xia standing there without moving, Su looked at Jiang Xia and repeated the gesture. After several seconds, he finally lost his patience.
The dark and thin young man stretched out his left hand towards Jiang Xia and pursed his lips, indicating that he should hold it.
Jiang Xia looked around, thought about it, and then held the hand in front of him. The next moment, he felt a stimulation similar to electric current surging in the palms of his and Su's hands.
It's not intense, just like the excitement of playing with the lighter when I was a child.
"!!!"
Su's eyes widened the next moment.
He looked at Jiang Xia as if he was looking at some strange creature, very similar to the expression Jiang Xia had when he first saw a panda in the zoo as a teenager.
" &@%￥@!"
Su looked him up and down, withdrew his hand with some doubt, turned around and shouted to his companion behind him.
The next moment, all those who were still busy with their own things looked up.
All eyes fell on Jiang Xia.
It seemed as if the words Su shouted expressed some incredible information. Even the old soldier who was leaning aside, eating, smoking and resting with his eyes closed, turned his head and looked at Jiang Xia.
There was surprise in his eyes.
The way they looked at these rare creatures made Jiang Xia feel uncomfortable.
But at the moment, there is a language barrier, which is really frustrating. He can't even ask for directions, let alone take the next step. Jiang Xia ignored those strange and astonished looks.
He sat back on the box, picked up the short whisk, pried open the container Su had given him, and took a sip.
After an adrenaline-fuelled battle, he was in desperate need of water.
"puff"
As a result, as soon as the "water" entered his mouth, Jiang Xia sprayed it out immediately. It was indeed the feeling of water flowing into his throat, and he indeed felt the comfort of water moistening his thirsty gums.
But the taste is hard to describe.
Perhaps to cover up the strong smell of rust, a large amount of sugar was added to the water.
But the sugar was probably not good sugar, and it tasted even worse. The two tastes mixed together not only did not become better, but made Jiang Xia feel like vomiting.
What kind of water is this?
He looked at the liquid in the container again, and saw with the help of the light from the ruins that a faint metallic luster was floating on the surface of the water.
He strongly suspected that Su was deliberately making trouble for him.
But when he looked up, he saw that the utensils in these people's hands were the same. They were all some kind of cheap industrial products. Even the appearance was exactly the same, and the liquids in them should be the same as well.
These weirdos!
How could they drink this stuff with a calm face?
"@! %￥!"
Just as Jiang Xia was hesitating, the old soldier who had been silent finally spoke. He shouted to the crowd, and these wasteland warriors obediently dispersed and went about their own business.
But he still looked at Jiang Xia from time to time, as if he was looking at some rare animal.
The old soldier, holding the "water", walked towards Jiang Xia. Jiang Xia didn't have the energy to pay attention to him, because neither of them could understand what they were saying anyway.
This kind of sign language communication is a pure waste of time.
“Triple-filtered water still carries radiation contamination.
Although the impact on the human body has been reduced to an extremely low level, the taste is indeed terrible. If you want to drink odorless water, you can only go to a big city-state.
They have water that has been filtered six or even nine times.
It is said that the taste is almost the same as pure water.
But the price is very high, it is a real luxury and most people cannot afford it.”
A familiar language with an accent that Jiang Xia was very familiar with rang in his ears, causing him to look up suddenly at the old soldier in front of him who was smoking a cigar, walking slowly in front of him, and sitting cross-legged there.
The latter looked at Jiang Xia, then looked at the box under Jiang Xia's butt, and the ground covered by the box.
He drank some bad-tasting water again, took out a cigar from the cigarette box he treasured at his waist, threw it to Jiang Xia, and then took out a mechanical lighter and threw it to him.
Then, whispered:
"There is no one as 'spoiled' as you in this fucking world. Su said there is no trace of a chip in your body. He said you are a 'natural person' who can't possibly exist in the wasteland.
but I know.
you are not.
You are not even from this world."
The old soldier narrowed his eyes and said to Jiang Xia, who lit his cigar, took a deep breath, and showed a comfortable expression:
"Are you an explorer from another world?"
"Um?"
Jiang Xia heard the familiar voice and felt happy that he could finally communicate with the old soldier. However, the joy in his heart was quickly extinguished by the old soldier in front of him. He looked at the man with some suspicion.
After a few seconds, he blew out a smoke ring and said:
"Answer me first, how did you learn this language?
They don't know it, which means this language is definitely not commonly used by you, and it doesn't even exist in this world. Are you the same as me?"
“No, outsider.
We have chips in our brains that come with a learning program, so it's easy to learn a new language. The note Su gave you just now was also to get you to join our chip communication to achieve barrier-free communication."
The old soldier sighed, drank a sip of water, pursed his lips, and said a little sadly:
"As for the explorers of the star sea...
I don't have that luck.
I was born and raised in this world, and this strange language I learned from others.
You are not the only explorer who has come to this world.
I was also fortunate enough to meet another one, but he should still be staying in the City of Bliss."
The old soldier paused, then he stretched out his hand toward Jiang Xia, trying to be kind, and said:
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Roger, Roger Fittals, the leader of the Black Hand. Like you, I am here for the Star Array."
The old soldier grinned, revealing a sly smile like a fox, and said:
"That's right."
"That thing you deliberately hid under your butt."
