There are many benefits to having a Deathclaw around.
First of all, you no longer have to worry about those mutated big-headed flies, radiated cockroaches, mutated dogs and other messy things blocking your way, which makes Fang Zheng's subsequent journey a lot easier.
Most bandits will just run away when they see the Deathclaws, unless they are so stubborn that they are confident in themselves and not afraid of sacrifice... Well, such people would have died long ago in the wasteland and would not be alive today.
But it still caused some trouble, just like what is happening right now.
"Who the hell are you!!!"
The militiamen in front of him were holding rifles, staring at Fang Zheng. They were fully armed and guarding behind the gate of the stronghold, but even so, each of them was still pale and trembling as if they had seen a monster.
It was no wonder. After all, in the dark night, a man wearing a black windbreaker, a wide-brimmed hat, and carrying a big sword, with a deathclaw standing behind him, looked like a devil from hell. Even if they did nothing, just standing there, it was enough to scare people to pee their pants.
But fortunately, there is still someone inside with whom I can communicate.
"We are not suspicious people!!"
Kate hurried out to negotiate, she raised her hands to indicate that she was not carrying a weapon, and then walked to the militia. Now Kate only prayed that these people would not be too stupid, and would not panic and make mistakes such as pulling the trigger and accidentally firing, otherwise they would become the dinner of the death claw.
"We are just passing by! Please believe us, we have no hostility!"
"...No hostility?"
The militiamen held their rifles, looked at the woman in front of them, and then looked at the silent man standing not far away and the deathclaw behind him. They didn't know what to do. They were not organizations like NCR or the Brotherhood of Steel. This was just an ordinary wasteland settlement, and they were just residents here. Although these militiamen had participated in battles, they usually protected themselves from attacks by bandits and robbers. And now this man with a deathclaw...
They didn't know what to do, so they could only turn around and look at a middle-aged man - he seemed to be the leader here.
Feeling the gazes of his companions, the middle-aged man took a breath. Although he usually thought that he was very handsome as the self-appointed small town sheriff, he was not handsome now.
But he still gritted his teeth and walked out and came to the woman.
"What do you want to do?"
"We just hope to get a place to stay for one night."
Kate explained helplessly that since Fang Zheng adopted the Deathclaw, they had not had smooth sailing along the way, which was normal. If it were Kate herself, she would never let a Deathclaw enter their town. However, these were not issues that Fang Zheng cared about. He just left all the work of negotiating with others to Kate, and he just stood by and yawned or listened to the radio.
"Stay overnight?"
The town sheriff looked at the Deathclaw speechlessly, while the latter stared at him viciously. The murderous intent revealed in its cold black eyes made the man almost pee his pants.
"But what's with that Deathclaw...?"
However, at this moment, Fang Zheng spoke.
"This isn't a deathclaw."
"……no?"
Hearing this, the town sheriff was shocked. He stared at the monster in front of him in surprise. Although he had never seen a deathclaw, he had heard others talk about this most ferocious and terrifying monster in the wasteland. But... if this is not a deathclaw, then what is it? Is it some new mutant monster?
"So it is...?"
"It's a dog."
“……???”
After hearing Fang Zheng's answer, the town sheriff suddenly felt as if there was something wrong with his ears.
"Excuse me, sir, but what do you say it is?"
"dog."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng looked at the Death Claw behind him.
"Dog meat, sit down."
“… Ugh.”
Upon hearing Fang Zheng's order, the Deathclaw immediately lost its temper and sat on the ground obediently.
"Roll around."
“… Ugh.”
"I told you to roll over."
Fang Zheng kicked Deathclaw. The latter hesitated for a moment, but finally lay on the ground and rolled on the spot.
"Sit down."
Stand up and sit again.
"Look, it's a good dog."
Fang Zheng clapped his hands and looked at the stunned and speechless town sheriff.
"Sometimes he's a little bit disobedient, but it's okay, don't worry, he won't bite."
“…”
Are you fucking kidding me! ?
For a moment, the town sheriff wanted to curse, but his instinctive desire to survive forced him to shut his mouth. Although he was only the sheriff of a wasteland settlement with less than 30 people, he also knew that a man who could make the Deathclaws obey him was completely different from those damn vagrants and bandits outside.
"You and your companions may come in."
Finally, the small town sheriff decided to take a step back. He remembered that he had read in a book before that if you take a step back, the sky will be wide open... Who said that?
"But this Deathclaw..."
"dog."
“No, this…”
"dog."
As Fang Zheng spoke, he patted Deathclaw's lowered head and stared at the small town sheriff in front of him.
"...Well, your dog...it..."
“It doesn’t bite.”
"...Okay, please come in."
In the end, the sheriff succumbed to the evil forces.
Fortunately, Fang Zheng said that they just wanted to find an empty house to stay for one night and didn't plan to stay for long, which made the town sheriff somewhat relieved. The town they were in originally had a population of hundreds of people, and of course there were many houses - or in other words, there was no crisis of rising housing prices in the wasteland now, and there were more houses than people. Of course, you don't have to expect too much about the infrastructure inside.
So the sheriff took Fang Zheng and the others to a house on the edge of the town, told them they could use it as they pleased, and then left in a hurry.
Fang Zheng asked Deathclaw to lie outside to keep watch while he walked into the house. At this moment, Kate was walking around in the house, searching everywhere.
"Ah, Mr. Founder, look, I found a light bulb, it still works! And this radio, it still has a few intact parts inside it!!"
When Fang Zheng walked into the house, he saw Kate running out excitedly holding a disassembled radio. After the nuclear war, people's demand for electronic equipment has been reduced a lot. On the one hand, most people have no knowledge in this area, and on the other hand, in their opinion, these useless things are far less attractive than a gun.
But it was completely different for Kate. She grew up in a shelter and was much more familiar with electronic equipment than the wasteland residents. She was also very hands-on. Basically, whenever Kate went to a place, she would enthusiastically search for all kinds of electronic equipment and circuit boards left there. According to her, Kate was going to use these to make a Pip-Boy...
Fang Zheng naturally didn't care, but...
"You probably haven't forgotten that you're looking for your brother and sister."
Fang Zheng silently reminded Kate as she was removing the radio casing and taking out all the usable electronic parts. He found that Kate was very enthusiastic about collecting garbage. Basically, every time she arrived at a building, she would go in and search for some random things, so much so that Fang Zheng wondered if she had forgotten her main purpose.
"Of course not."
Hearing Fang Zheng's question, Kate paused what she was doing.
"Of course I remember..."
"That's good, go on."
Fang Zheng complained silently, then walked straight into the bedroom and closed the door. Kate stared at the closed door, then lowered her head after a moment and continued to struggle with the worn-out radio in her hand.
And just like that, the night passed.
The next morning, Fang Zheng and Kate were "escorted" to the gate by the fully armed militia. Seeing them preparing to leave, the town sheriff was somewhat relieved. He didn't sleep all night yesterday, staring at the hut outside, fearing that the deathclaw would suddenly attack and hurt people. Fortunately, the deathclaw had no intention of moving at all, but lay outside the hut for the whole night.
I'm glad you're okay.
Next, as long as we send these plague gods away, we can return to our daily lives.
Unfortunately, the sheriff's idea was too optimistic.
Just as he was about to "courteously see off" the group of people, a man suddenly rushed into the town gate, panting. He was in tattered clothes and covered in blood.
"Legion! Legion! The Legion is coming!! They attacked Greenshade Town and are coming this way now!! Run!!"
The man shouted and waved his hands. However, when he turned around and saw the Death Claw staring at him, his eyes rolled back and he fainted on the spot.
The sheriff did not pay any attention to the man. On the contrary, he became nervous.
Legion!!
For a gathering place like them that struggles to survive alone in the wasteland without any support, the Legion can be regarded as the most terrifying enemy! They are like locusts, burning, killing and looting everywhere. Every time they arrive at a gathering place, they will kill all the rebels, turn the survivors into slaves and take them away. At the same time, they will burn everything there with fire - they are much more terrible than the Death Claws!
And at this moment, a series of gunshots rang out, completely breaking the previous peace and silence of the town.