Chapter 28: The Perfect Script

"Piss-pot! What's going on! What happened!"

The commotion caused by Tie-Zhu slamming into the ground outside was deafening. It wasn't just the two other raiders in the living quarters who heard it; even Teddy, who was further away, caught the sound. He was terrified, unable to fathom how Xu Wang had managed to kick up such a fuss.

A raider with a mechanical left eye burst out of his room, clutching a rifle that looked significantly better than the standard issue. As he exited, he was stunned by the sight of the luxury fishing boat occupying a good portion of the indoor park. No matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn't figure out where this ship had come from. However, past experience in the wasteland taught him that anything could happen—miraculous pre-war technology could achieve almost anything.

But the most critical issue now was that they were likely under enemy attack. The Vault was too tempting a prize. If word got out that its doors had been opened, it would inevitably attract the attention of every faction in the area. The leader of the Blood Fist Tribe had already left to deliver the black box, leaving Green-Eye, a mere squad leader, in charge. He had originally thought that since this place was remote and devoid of resources, no one would notice the doors of a two-hundred-year-dormant Vault opening, and thus there was no need to leave behind a large garrison. Delivering the black box was the higher priority, though Green-Eye didn't really understand what was so special about that dark container. In his opinion, the smartest move would have been for the entire Blood Fist Tribe to stay and occupy the Vault.

Now, an unknown enemy had arrived. If they lost the Vault, where else in the wasteland could they find such a comfortable place? Unfortunately, the Blood Fist Tribe belonged to the boss, not to him.

"Who's there?! Get out here!" Green-Eye scanned the area, his mechanical eye darting around, attempting to pinpoint the attacker.

"Boss Green-Eye, what's wrong?" The last raider scrambled out from behind him, still chewing on a piece of bacon.

Green-Eye turned and glared at the dim-witted subordinate, his fury boiling over: "Where is your weapon!"

"Huh?" the subordinate looked confused. "What weapon?"

Green-Eye roared, raising his own rifle: "The weapon! Your weapon!"

*Whoosh!*

As Green-Eye bellowed, a strand of spider silk shot down from the second-floor balcony, stuck to his rifle, and yanked it violently upward.

"Eh?" Green-Eye grabbed at the empty air, his hands clutching nothing.

"Haha! Boss, you lost your weapon too!" the dim-witted brute beside him laughed.

Green-Eye felt a pounding headache coming on. "Shut up!" he roared. Suddenly, he felt a chill and looked up toward the second floor. There stood a Blue-Rat, holding his Hornet X-01 assault rifle, flashing a cheerful smile.

"Good morning!"

With that, Xu Wang pulled the trigger.

*Rat-tat-tat!*

Muzzle flashes erupted, and empty casings danced out of the ejection port, hitting the floor with a crisp, rhythmic sound.

*Thud, thud, thud!*

Down in the indoor park, Green-Eye had no way to dodge the bullets. Hit by a full burst in the chest, he collapsed and died on the spot. His mechanical left eye was too distinct; Xu Wang had recognized him instantly. This was the very guy who had cracked his skull and sent him plunging off a cliff to his death. Looking down at the very dead Green-Eye, Xu Wang felt a surge of satisfaction.

"Haha, thanks for the gift of death, now I'm returning the favor! Happy?" Seeing no response, Xu Wang nodded knowingly. "Ah, I see. You're happy to death! Don't mention it!"

Using his bio-static ability, Xu Wang ran his feet along the wall and quickly descended to the ground floor. Now, only the dim-witted brute remained. Seeing Xu Wang aiming the gun at him, the brute swallowed the bacon in his mouth, hastily raised his hands, and knelt down decisively.

"Tie-Zhu! Go! Disarm him!"

At Xu Wang's command, the luxury fishing boat quickly transformed back into a husky.

"Woof!" Tie-Zhu barked at Xu Wang first. Xu Wang ignored him, pretending not to hear. Only then did Tie-Zhu bare his teeth and charge at the towering raider.

"Wait! I don't have a weapon!" the brute panicked. Neither Xu Wang nor Tie-Zhu paid him any mind. Tie-Zhu roared as he lunged, tackling the raider and biting down hard on the very weapon the man had been born with!

"AHHH—!!!"

Overcome by intense pain and terror, the raider screamed and thrashed about. His pants weren't as durable as a Vault suit; Tie-Zhu's powerful bite caused blood to spray, staining the floor crimson. Each time the raider tried to fight back, Xu Wang was quick to fire a strand of silk, pinning his hands to the ground. Soon, the raider was completely disarmed. Seeing the brute pass out from the agony and blood loss, Xu Wang called Tie-Zhu back. He bound the raider tightly with silk and sent Tie-Zhu to fetch Teddy. He still had a use for this guy, and since he was no longer a threat, he could be left aside for now.

While waiting for Tie-Zhu to bring Teddy, Xu Wang began his favorite activity: looting the corpses. The three raiders near the outdoor table had been flattened by the fishing boat; their weapons were crushed and unusable, and even their gear-shaped coins had been deformed, which Xu Wang found a pity. However, adhering to the scavenger’s principle of not wasting anything, he gathered the junk and piled it to the side—whether it was useful or not, he would take whatever he could.

Green-Eye’s body was relatively intact. Xu Wang stripped him of his leather armor and emptied his pockets. As a squad leader, he was worth it—he had about forty gear-coins tucked neatly into a cylinder. Xu Wang added the dozen coins from his own pocket to the tube. Estimating the size, the cylinder could likely hold a hundred coins. It was hollow, making it easy to count the contents from the outside. Although he had no concrete proof, every raider carried these coins, suggesting they were the currency of the wasteland, or at least held some value. The most valuable things on Green-Eye were his Hornet X-01 assault rifle and his mechanical eye.

When Teddy was brought over by Tie-Zhu, he arrived just in time to see Xu Wang using a very brutal method to pry the mechanical eye out of Green-Eye's skull.

"What are you doing?" Teddy’s face turned pale at the bloody sight.

"Please don't discriminate against hard-working laborers like me. Getting rich with your own two hands is the most noble thing there is," Xu Wang said solemnly, rifling through the corpse in hopes of finding more valuables.

"You call this labor..." Teddy was speechless.

But now was not the time to dwell on that. Seeing the situation, Teddy sighed with emotion. Xu Wang had actually gone solo—well, with his dog—and cleared out all the raiders in the Vault! Regardless of anything else, Xu Wang was the hero of Vault 92. Including Teddy, Xu Wang had saved forty-seven lives.

After his sigh, Teddy looked at the captured raider and asked, "Is this your hostage?"

"No, this is an enemy I'm keeping. I'll let the tiger return to the mountain, then he'll have a miraculous encounter, become much stronger, and come back to take revenge on me. But I won't know how strong he's become, and while I'm taunting him, he'll strike me down in a powerful display of strength! The perfect script!" Xu Wang became more excited as he spoke.

Teddy was stunned. "Hey! Isn't that a terrible idea?! You should just kill him!"