Chapter 27: What Does It Mean to Defeat Them One by One?
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No matter what, Teddy finally managed to make out Xu Wang’s face through the slits of his swollen, reddened eyes.
For a moment, he could hardly believe it.
“Xu Wang? You’re all right?”
Teddy still remembered.
A few days earlier, when that band of raiders stormed the shelter, they had immediately chosen to make an example of someone.
Unfortunately, Xu Wang had been one of the chickens killed to scare the monkeys.
“Yeah. I came back to life.” Xu Wang gave him a thumbs-up, grinning brightly.
Teddy decided not to dwell on that. He glanced around, and when he saw that no one was nearby, he hurriedly said, “Run before they discover you! There aren’t many raiders left inside the shelter now.”
“What do you mean, there aren’t many raiders left?”
Xu Wang showed no intention of fleeing. Instead, he placed a hand on Teddy’s shoulder and pressed him back onto the folding chair, making him sit still and answer his questions.
Teddy grew anxious.
But Xu Wang was determined not to leave, and there was nothing Teddy could do.
He could only answer, “That group of raiders must have been acting according to a plan. Their main objective in coming to our shelter was a black box.”
“I’m guessing the black box from Shelter No. 92 was taken by them too. They know exactly what the most valuable things in a shelter are. Ordinary wastelanders wouldn’t possess that kind of knowledge.”
“I suspect there must be someone else directing them from behind the scenes.”
Xu Wang nodded.
He committed this information to memory.
The more powerful the faction, the greater the force it was bound to command.
When he wanted to die in the future, he could simply go looking for them.
As for the black box Teddy had mentioned, Xu Wang was rather interested in that too.
If he got the chance, he would take a look.
But now was not the time to investigate further.
Xu Wang looked at Teddy and asked for the information that mattered most at present: “How many raiders are left inside the shelter?”
“There should be six. They were specifically left behind to keep watch over us. Once the other raiders finish transporting the black box, the main force will return. So if you want to escape, now is the best time!”
Teddy spoke rapidly, telling Xu Wang everything he knew.
Six in total.
Xu Wang had already dealt with one in the elevator.
That meant there were five left.
Xu Wang felt it should not be a problem. He ought to be able to handle them.
Looking at Teddy, the shelter overseer, who was cautiously touching the wounds on his face and occasionally sucking in a breath from the pain, Xu Wang asked his final question:
“Why aren’t you running? Aren’t you free to move around right now?”
At that, Teddy lowered his hand and looked up at Xu Wang. Despite his swollen, pig-like face, his expression was solemn.
“I’m free to move because those raiders need slaves to take care of their daily lives.”
“There are still forty-six people imprisoned inside the shelter.”
“If I escape, none of them will survive.”
“I’m the overseer of Shelter No. 92. I have a duty to protect my residents.”
“Wow!”
Xu Wang immediately regarded him with newfound respect.
He had not expected this seemingly unserious and somewhat timid fellow to possess such a strong sense of responsibility.
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“Go hide near the elevator first. I just took out a raider there, so it should be safe for the time being. Once I deal with the rest, I’ll come find you.”
Xu Wang patted Teddy on the shoulder.
He looked exactly like an old leader giving orders.
Teddy was completely dumbfounded. Then, as though he had suddenly thought of something, he asked excitedly, “Everyone allowed into a shelter is a top talent from some field or another. Could it be that you were a super-soldier before the war?”
“No, that’s not right. I’ve seen the identity records of everyone in the shelter. You seem to have been a researcher at Blue Light Biology.”
Teddy muttered to himself, his expression caught between confusion and doubt.
Xu Wang ignored him and made his way deeper into the shelter along the industrial-style corridor.
The information Teddy had provided was already quite clear.
This band of raiders intended to seize Shelter No. 92 for themselves.
From that, Xu Wang could infer that they were probably indulging themselves in the shelter’s residential district.
He would certainly find them there.
“Iron Pillar, you’ve got a keen nose. If you smell anyone, warn me—but don’t make a sound.”
Xu Wang called out to Iron Pillar again.
Iron Pillar immediately sat down where it was, placed both paws over its mouth, and made a gesture indicating silence.
“Good dog,” Xu Wang praised.
As it turned out, Xu Wang’s guess had been correct.
The raiders had grown accustomed to hardship in the wasteland. The moment they entered the shelter, it was as if they had stepped into heaven.
Their leader had taken the main force away.
Without their superior keeping watch over them, they became even more reckless, lowering their guard completely.
After all, in the eyes of most wastelanders, the blue gophers living inside shelters were no different from radiation roe deer: foolish and utterly harmless.
Inside the residential district, five raiders wearing leather armor had spread out.
Three of them were leisurely drinking in the square open recreation area.
Iron Pillar located the other two.
They were both resting inside their individual quarters.
Xu Wang naturally chose the tactic of picking them off one by one.
At present, he was not yet strong enough to face several armed men at once.
A roundabout approach was essential.
“Come on, Iron Pillar. Follow me. We’ll take them out one at a time.”
Xu Wang bent down and patted Iron Pillar on the head, motioning for it to follow.
Iron Pillar obediently lowered its body and entered stealth mode alongside Xu Wang.
Following the stairs upward, Xu Wang reached the second floor of the square indoor park.
The corridor on the second floor resembled stadium seating, surrounding the square indoor park below.
The three raiders were sitting at an outdoor table beneath them, drinking and chatting.
Judging by their appearance, they were already thoroughly drunk.
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Every so often, their loud, carefree laughter rang out.
After quietly bringing Iron Pillar above the group, Xu Wang smoothly and gently scooped it up.
“Whine?!”
Iron Pillar tilted its head. It had no idea what Xu Wang intended to do.
But it instinctively sensed that something was wrong and immediately tried to struggle free.
“It’s you! Go, Iron Pillar!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Wang shouted and hurled Iron Pillar several yards away, straight toward the heads of the three raiders!
“Woof, woof, woof!”
While still in midair, Iron Pillar’s eyes widened.
Then it desperately twisted around and unleashed a furious barrage of barking at Xu Wang.
It had figured it out.
It had been sacrificed!
So much for picking them off one by one!
What kind of “picking them off one by one” started by attacking the group with the most people?
“Enemy attack!”
The raiders below heard the commotion as well.
In the wasteland, whatever else one might lack, anyone who managed to survive generally possessed no shortage of survival experience.
Especially raiders like them.
The three men immediately abandoned their drinking glasses and grabbed the iron-pipe rifles beside them.
“Iron Pillar! Activate your ultimate transformation!”
Xu Wang shouted again.
In midair, Iron Pillar suddenly began transforming with a clattering series of metallic clicks.
The next second, what had been an ordinary dog transformed directly into a luxurious fishing boat weighing dozens of tons and measuring twenty-five meters in length, descending from the sky!
“Boom!”
A fishing boat that massive came crashing down.
The entire shelter reverberated with a tremendous roar like a bomb exploding.
The ground beneath Xu Wang’s feet even seemed to tremble slightly.
Fortunately, the shelter had been built exceptionally solidly.
Otherwise, the floor below would have suffered serious damage.
The shelter’s high-tech flooring was capable of withstanding Iron Pillar’s fall.
The three raiders made of mere flesh and blood were not so fortunate.
Under Iron Pillar’s “embrace of love,” they and their iron-pipe rifles were crushed into a mangled mass that could not be scraped off the floor.
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