Chapter 115 Rainy Season - 8 Tang Bufan opened the box and looked inside...
Tang Bufan opened the box and looked inside. Inside were a pistol, a spray can, a flashlight, a military knife, a lighter, and other small survival items.
Tang Bufan's target was a wandering beastman, whom Pei Zhishu had tracked down to the original messenger. All of Zero's instructions were transmitted through him.
Tang Bufan was surprised when he first found out. He didn't expect that there would be a resistance faction among the orcs. He thought that only the sub-orcs would join.
Tang Bufan had brought the nuclear-powered pistol, so he didn't need the one in the box. He just stuffed the military knife, lighter, and small flashlight into his pocket.
"What is this?" Tang Bufan picked up the spray from the box and asked the orc next to him.
“Stun spray,” the orc said. “Spray it on the face and they’ll be unconscious in about two seconds.”
Tang Bufan understood and stuffed the spray into his pocket as well.
The tunnel was long and quiet. Along the way, they passed an air-raid shelter. Tang Bufan glanced at it briefly and saw that it contained a lot of things, covered with a large tarpaulin and covered with a thick layer of dust.
"When Taicheng was first established, the first city wall hadn't been built yet, and every year when the beast tide came, the people in the city would hide in this cave." The beastman explained to the curious Tang Bufan, "Later, after the first wall was built, this air-raid shelter was covered in dust."
Tang Bufan could imagine the hardships of those days. He turned to look at the ugly-looking but pleasant-speaking orc and politely asked, "What's your name?"
"Madam, you can just call me Xiao Yang."
Xiao Yang. Tang Bufan smiled and said, "Back when I was working, everyone called me Xiao Tang."
Driving his car, Xiao Yang said enviously, "Life in the underground city must be great, right?"
Tang Bufan didn't know, so he could only give a vague reply.
The garbage truck passed through two exits, both of which were heavy iron gates. When the second iron gate opened, Tang Bufan saw light and realized that they were in a quaint courtyard, like a military compound from the 1970s or 80s.
There were quite a few orcs around, but they only glanced at the garbage truck casually, clearly used to its comings and goings.
Tang Bufan then realized that there must be many undercover agents like Xiao Yang in Taicheng.
The garbage truck drove out of the military compound through the back gate and entered a lane in Taicheng. It had rained lightly that morning, so the ground was still damp. Once the garbage truck was far away from the foot of the mountain, Tang Bufan saw Mount Tai behind him in the rearview mirror.
Lu Yi probably already realizes he's missing. Tang Bufan thought heavily, "He must be very worried."
But there was no other way; staying by his side would only hurt him, while being away would allow Lu Yi to dodge and fight without worry the next time he encountered an attack like a drone.
The garbage truck drove all the way out of the city. The wandering orc was not qualified to enter the city, so he kept wandering in the wilderness around Taicheng.
The garbage trucks didn't need to stop for inspection; the orcs guarding the city gates let them out directly. Xiao Yang drove Tang Bufan to the garbage disposal site outside the city, where the air smelled terrible and many scavenging orcs were lurking around.
As soon as their vehicle appeared, many scavenging orcs came over with sacks. A lot of the garbage in Taicheng was a good thing for the orcs outside the city. For example, they could pick up and use the old clothes and bedding that the city people didn't want, and they could even resell the high-quality ones to others.
Tang Bufan noticed that there were many small houses made of corrugated iron and rags, which were flapping loudly in the wind of the open field. The ground was very muddy because it had been trampled by wild animals and had been raining for a while.
"That wandering orc lives in a tattered tent." Xiao Yang stopped the car, glanced at the sky outside; it was still early before dark.
He opened the car door and got out, and Tang Bufan followed him out. The two of them walked slowly towards the homeless camp on the muddy ground.
The area outside the city was open and windy, so Tang Bufan had to hold his hat down with his hand to prevent it from being blown away.
As a sub-orc, he inevitably attracted the attention of many wandering orcs around him. However, the fact that the two of them were wearing sanitation worker vests deterred some people's evil intentions.
"Xiao Yang, brother, this!" A mid-level orc in military uniform waved to the two from a distance.
Tang Bufan turned to look at Xiao Yang beside him, and the orc with a tumor on his back nodded.
"The urban management officers here are all in cahoots."
Tang Bufan felt relieved, and the two of them went towards the wind.
The restless scavenging orcs around them completely calmed down.
As the two approached, the medium-sized orc smiled and said to Tang Bufan, "Brother, how's your first day at work?"
Tang Bufan, wearing a mask, smiled at him and said, "I'm quite used to it."
“I told you you should find a companion to stay at home so you can go out and work.” The mid-level orc gently patted Tang Bufan on the back: “Come on, let me take you to my room.”
This mid-level orc had a tin shack in this vagrant camp, with the door covered by thick burlap. After the three of them went inside, he immediately apologized to Tang Bufan:
"I apologize, Mrs. Tang, for my rudeness earlier."
"Not at all, you acted really well." Tang Bufan certainly didn't mind. He looked around the small tin shack, which contained a wooden bed for resting, a few old wooden stools, and an old stove for boiling water and cooking.
The medium-sized orc brought over a wooden stool for Tang Bufan to sit on, and the three of them began to discuss their plans for the evening.
“We’ve been keeping an eye on that wandering orc for two months. He’s a very weak man. Madam, you don’t need to worry too much if you go with him,” the medium-sized orc said, lighting the stove and starting to boil water.
"Are we going to a mine?" Tang Bufan had already heard Pei Zhishu mention it before he came. There was a maze-like mine near Taicheng, like a gopher burrow, with many entrances and exits. It was dug out by humans who had been abandoned on the ground a thousand years ago when they sought refuge.
At that time, all those who had slots in the underground city had already gone down, leaving only Penglai as the surface base. Penglai was close to Beijing, which was also a good place to take refuge, with many shelters and supplies. Therefore, refugees from all over the country flocked to Beijing.
Then Beijing's traffic was paralyzed, the roads were packed with cars, and the city, which had lost its order, was frequently plagued by riots such as robbery and murder. So people fled Beijing and settled down in the mines here.
The mine is a natural refuge, and the radiation underground is relatively weak. Gradually, more and more people came to the mine. In order to facilitate the entry and exit of hundreds of thousands of people, thousands of entrances were dug out, and they lived like gophers.
However, those people eventually either died or mutated, and the mine gradually became a den of poisonous people.
"We had wiped out all the poisonous people in that mine, but this year some mutated poisonous people have appeared, and a lot of them have gone in again. Damn it." The mid-level orc said unhappily, "The Federation was getting better and better, and we were even thinking of bringing the humans up, but we didn't expect those resistance factions to cause trouble like this."
After saying that, he added a piece of firewood to the stove, clearly puzzled: "Do you think those protesters are stupid?"
“Mr. Pei said that this resistance organization is different from the previous ones, and it is very powerful.” Xiao Yang was more gentle, but his rather dirty face was also frowning: “They probably think that humans no longer need orcs.”
"So you're just using us as tools, huh?" The middle-aged orc spat on the muddy ground. "Back when there was a famine in the underground city, people were almost resorting to cannibalism. If it weren't for us orcs sending down meat and various raw materials and minerals, humanity would have been wiped out long ago. Now that they're living comfortably again, they want to kill us? You can't just kick us while we're down, can you?"
"Alright, that's enough." Xiao Yang glanced at Tang Bufan.
However, Tang Bufan did not feel offended. He had to admit that because of Eberon and Lu Yi, he now felt more at ease with orcs.
"There are people like Mr. Pei among humans." Out of consideration for his own past as a human, Tang Bufan still spoke up.
The medium-sized orc's expression softened: "That's true... Mr. Pei is a good person."
Guo Wen lost his wife early on, and Guo Shen spent many years away from home to gain experience in the wild. For the past ten years or so, Pei Zhishu has been managing all kinds of administrative and internal affairs in Taicheng. Everyone has seen his merits and hard work, and he already has a high reputation in the Federation.
Seeing the two orcs' respect and trust for Pei Zhishu, Tang Bufan couldn't help but admire the New Merchant Alliance's decision to bring out Pei Zhishu; it was a brilliant move. Now, it all depended on whether Fang Yue could control the dungeon.
With their combined efforts from both inside and outside, they were on the verge of bringing humanity out of the underground when Zero pulled this stunt. No wonder Pei Zhishu, knowing Lu Yi would be angry, still sent him out as bait.
Tang Bufan felt a slight sense of mission.
The water boiled, and the three of them drank some hot water, ate something, and patiently waited for night to fall.
The scavenging beastmen around them also returned to their huts one after another to eat meat and rest. Tang Bufan listened to the commotion around him and was a little worried.
"The three of us have stayed inside the house the whole time. Won't that arouse suspicion?"
"Don't worry, those idle vagrants have long forgotten about the three of us coming in," the middle-aged orc reassured Tang Bufan.
Xiao Yang looked at Tang Bufan with concern: "According to the plan, Madam will go to see the orc alone. We will follow her secretly, so you don't need to be too nervous."
The moment Tang Bufan appeared, the wandering orc must have known that he had been exposed. So, in order to lower his guard, Tang Bufan would say that he had come secretly by himself after reading the information.
Tang Bufan was indeed a little nervous, but in order to protect Lu Yi, he had to take the risk.
"Don't worry." Tang Bufan raised his arm to the two of them: "I've been exercising."
However, the two orcs glanced at his thin arms and didn't take his words to heart.
How strong can a sub-orc be?
As night fell, the medium-sized orc extinguished the fire with water, plunging the tin hut into darkness. However, the orcs had good night vision and could still see each other's shadows.
Once it was completely dark outside, the three of them quietly lifted the curtain in front of the door.
It was already nine o'clock at night. Since there was no entertainment, these scavenging beastmen all went to bed early. The medium-sized beastman gestured to the two of them and then went out first.
Tang Bufan immediately followed, with Xiao Yang behind him. The three of them trudged through the muddy road. Although there were some footsteps, they didn't attract much attention from the carefree homeless people.
The mid-level orc stopped and pointed to a dilapidated tent not far away in the darkness, telling Tang Bufan that was where the wandering orc lived.
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