"Found it... I finally found it!"
Overjoyed, Qin Che wept tears of joy, and an even greater power surged from within him, propelling him toward the fortress.
At this moment, Qin Che no longer cared about what would happen to him.
Whether he was treated as a laborer, a pig for meat, or a slave, he just wanted to have a full meal first. He had no mind to think about what would happen after that.
Qin Che quickly slid down the sand dune and jogged unsteadily toward the fortress.
Looking out from the outside of the fortress, one sees a collection of pottery and cylindrical buildings, with thick water pipes clinging to them. Thick smoke is slowly rising from many places, and the clanging of blacksmiths can be heard incessantly.
As soon as Qin Che entered the fortress, he was enveloped in darkness and fainted.
...
I don't know how much time passed.
When Qin Che woke up again, he was in a room.
However, he discovered that his hands and feet were shackled with iron chains.
Qin Che swayed his body and struggled slightly, causing the chains to clang loudly.
This is a square room made of rusty metal walls and water pipes. A dim yellow ceiling light shines from the ceiling. There are windows on both sides that offer a view of the road, but there are hardly any people on the road.
The room was sparsely furnished, with a workbench covered in metal tools and parts, and a stove for boiling water. Although the stove had a strange design, Qin Che recognized it as an indoor solar cooker that used sunlight to provide heat.
In addition, there were some tables, chairs, and benches, and there was another room behind the bed, but the door was closed.
Is anyone there?
Is anyone there?
Qin Che called out twice.
An old man with gray hair, wearing a jacket, sporting a thick beard, emerged from the room behind the door. He had a pipe in his mouth with a cloth bowl hanging below.
He glanced at Qin Che, pointed to the furnace, and said, "That's a parabolic concentrator that heats cottonseed oil. After the hot oil enters the exchanger and melts the tin, the heat is transferred to the serpentine tube, where the cottonseed oil is heated to 300°C and then enters the furnace through the second loop. Isn't that interesting?"
Qin Che opened his mouth: "Can you... let me go?"
He tugged at his arm, the chains clanging loudly.
The old man took a puff of his pipe and chuckled, "If I let you go, what if you become violent and hurt someone? Sigh, there are more and more homeless people these days. But judging from your attire, are you perhaps an adventurer?"
Qin Che was stunned for a long time. "I'm not a bad person. I walked in the desert for a long time and collapsed here from exhaustion."
The old man ignored him and muttered, "You don't seem to be an adventurer either. I searched you, but you have nothing on you. Where did you come from?"
Qin Che frowned and said, "There is an underground shelter to the west. That's where I came from."
The old man frowned, puffed on his pipe, and said, "It's just a pile of ruins there. You can't fool me."
Qin Che remained silent for a long time before asking, "How long was I unconscious?"
"Three days."
The old man chuckled, finished his cigarette, tapped the sole of his foot with it to let the tobacco fall out, and said, "I'm the sentry on duty here. They all call me Old Cigarette Butt. What's your name?"
"Qin Che".
"Fine, Qin Che, right? I don't care what your background is, or whether you're a good person or a bad person, you can't go in now."
"Why?" Qin Che asked, frowning.
“They’ve been catching spies everywhere lately, and homeless people like you are the most vigilant people in the fortress. Tell me, if I let you in, wouldn’t I be harming you?”
Qin Che frowned and asked, "Why are you arresting spies?"
“The area has been rather unsettled lately. I heard that a group of motorcycle gangs have come and are robbing people everywhere. They usually send someone in disguise as a homeless person to scout the area first, and then launch an attack on you at night. Of course, you don’t need to be nervous. I’m not talking about you.”
Old Cigarette Butt glanced at Qin Che, "You'll be tied to this bed until this is all over."
"You eat, drink, and relieve yourself all in bed?"
"Yes, they're all in bed."
Qin Che: ……
He kept track of the time in his mind, having learned from Old Cigarette Butt that he had been unconscious for three days.
In other words, he can start the second simulation immediately.
However, the current situation is not much different from before. Before, there was no food, and now there is a complete loss of freedom.
"Then what should I eat?"
"You'll only get one meal a day, which will be delivered to you. But don't even think about escaping. I can't say what will happen inside the fortress, but if you try to escape, you'll surely die. Don't think I'm joking."
Old Cigarette Butt glanced at the chains binding Qin Che's limbs and chuckled, "But... you can't escape either."
After saying that, he left. Before leaving, he locked the door, and the sound of locking doors could be heard repeatedly, not just one lock.
Although there are windows in this room, they are all surrounded by iron bars. Old Cigarette Butt left so confidently, so the room behind the door must also be closed.
Qin Che sighed. No matter what, it's good that he survived.
Although he only gets one meal a day and has to be tied up here, at least that old cigarette butt guy shouldn't be a bad person; at least he didn't kill him to sell his organs.
Qin Che closed his eyes and immediately began the second simulation.
[Wasteland survival simulator in progress.]
At 18, you finally found a human settlement, but unfortunately, you were imprisoned by Old Cigarette Butt. However, he wasn't lying; someone brought you food every day, but the person delivering the food refused to talk to you. No matter what method you used, you couldn't obtain any information about the fortress, and you could only silently accept reality.
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