Chapter 45: Slashing a Few Bad Guys in Passing

Her husband went out to find food a few days ago, and when he was discovered by the patrol, only his blood-stained clothes remained; she held her child, not daring to shed a single tear. Because of malnutrition and the loss of his father, the child fell ill, suffering from a low fever that would not break.

"Take it!" Liu Mu withdrew her hand, glanced at the backs of the two soldiers walking away, and basically understood what had just happened. "Just find me more scrap steel next time; I'm always buying here."

Hearing this, Liu Fugui relaxed his clenched fist. "It was my fault for taking it out in front of them. Boss Liu, do you want old hardware? My shop is near the south side of the city, and I still have some stock."

Liu Mu's eyes lit up immediately. "I do. How about this: you all go back to the Base first, and how about you bring me over in an hour?"

Number 110 felt she owed too much—the medicine from Liu Mu, the items from Liu Fugui's shop—and in the end, she hadn't given anything herself, so she said she would come help move things in a while.

"Zhou Dajie, what use is there in keeping those things now? It's better to let everyone survive. Don't say any more; I'll make the decisions about my things."

The three of them hid the items and returned to the Base. Liu Mu threw the chair steel frame back into the Truck, and just as she returned to her stall, a drop of pitch-black liquid suddenly fell before her eyes.

She rubbed it between her fingers; the greasy texture contained almost half dust, Beast Crystal, and other solid substances, emitting a familiar, pungent odor.

Her expression changed instantly; she picked up a Raincoat, put it on, and whistled a few times toward the distance.

The whistle was quickly answered. Only after learning that Gouzi was hiding in a half-collapsed swimming pool did Liu Mu feel at ease. She spread out a piece of rain cloth, propped one side against the body of the Truck and tied the other to two upright poles, blocking the Black Rain that had grown heavier in less than a minute.

It started to rain!

Watching people run toward the Base one after another, she thought for a moment, took the Loudspeaker she used when traveling to the countryside out of her space, and played a recorded message on a loop.

"Black rain is falling from the sky; I have Rain Gear here. Trade scrap for raincoats, umbrellas, and rain cloths. Cheap and practical—scrap steel, scrap iron, scrap bottles, pots, and pans can all be traded!"

With the volume turned to the maximum, the people running in the Black Rain were instantly drawn to it. Goods always attract the most customers when they are needed most.

Liu Mu stood in front of her stall wearing her Raincoat, letting the raindrops, which were as thick as black oil, fall on her; she shook them off, and they slid to the ground. People began to run toward her.

"Big brothers and sisters, come take a look, you can trade anything," Liu Mu hurried into the rain shelter to greet them, and soon the area in front of the stall was crowded with people.

Amidst the clamor of questions, if one ignored the appearance of these people, it gave the illusion of having returned to before the disaster.

The Black Rain was corrosive; the few people who ran in later were screaming in pain, which only intensified everyone's determination to get Rain Gear.

Although the city had become a ruin, if one searched carefully, one could still find many good things; sure enough, someone dug out a lot of gold and jewelry.

But these had no value at all in the apocalypse. Liu Mu swept her gaze over the seven or eight men in front of her and said indifferently, "One raincoat per person."

"Why? This is jewelry we have here! Are you fucking blind or doing this on purpose? This is more than enough to buy you and your Truck!"

There were no signs of hunger on these men. As soon as they arrived, they drove away the people who were about to trade for Rain Gear and even rummaged through the stall, clearly intending to rob it directly.

"Take it or leave it, get lost if you're not trading!"

Liu Mu stepped on a pair of rain boots, stopping the man who was about to take them. "You want to trade for rain boots? Not enough!"

"You're fucking looking for death!"

The man's eyes turned fierce, and he swung his fist at Liu Mu's cheek.

The force was not small. Liu Mu grabbed his massive fist, didn't waste words, pulled and pushed, and kicked the man in the crotch with wind at her feet.

Those nearby even heard a slight sound of Shatter. The man screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his crotch with one hand, while the arm he had swung hung limp at his side—it was already broken.

The man's cry of pain was short and agonizing; people cannot wail continuously in extreme pain.

Seeing this, the other men were not intimidated; instead, they resorted to dirty tricks. They were among the first to adapt to the apocalypse and were notorious bullies in the Base. They often hung out together, intercepting other Survivors who had found supplies, killing them if they didn't hand them over; after all, as long as it wasn't inside the Base, no one would care.

When they saw that the person trading Rain Gear was a female Boss, they decided not to pay a single thing. If Liu Mu didn't give it up obediently, they would kill her on the road after she left and take the vehicle for themselves. Then they would go out, find a place to gather Survivors, become the bosses themselves, and no longer have to be restricted by the Base's bullshit rules.

Who knew they would run into a tough nut today.

Liu Mu showed no mercy; she snatched a knife from one of the men and slit his throat directly.

Fresh blood sprayed out. The remaining two who hadn't been knocked down realized that this person was also someone who dared to kill. They immediately abandoned their companion and ran toward the Base, hoping the Base rules they usually resisted would save their lives.

Liu Mu stomped and broke the ribs of the man trying to crawl up, and the knife in her hand flew directly toward the other man fleeing. The next second, the entire blade sank into his back.

The man collapsed into the Black Rain, his blood failing to stain much of the ground.

The other one ran faster. Just as the surrounding Survivors imagined that man calling soldiers to kill Liu Mu, everyone suddenly hugged their heads and screamed.

A behemoth suddenly lunged out from somewhere in the black rain curtain, its gaping maw biting the fleeing man in two. The upper and lower halves were flung over ten meters away, and he died on the spot.

Liu Mu looked down at the four gasping, dying men and sneered, "Robbing me, are you?"

"No, we don't dare," the men struggled out of the rain shelter, their skin immediately becoming red and swollen from the Black Rain, but this bit of pain was nothing compared to their lives.

In the guard post not far away, there was no movement at all, which made them even more desperate. Someone who wasn't seriously injured scrambled up and ran in the opposite direction of the Base, but the giant beast, which had been dozens of meters away, was instantly upon him; the man didn't even have time to scream before he lost his life.

The crowd in the rain shelter fled in terror. Liu Mu stood before the increasingly heavy rain curtain and whistled, "Get back to the Truck, you'll lose your fur if you get soaked in the Black Rain!"

As soon as Niu Boyi heard he would lose his fur, he worried about his handsome appearance and immediately rushed over like the wind. Amidst the terrified screams, he leaped into the back of the Truck and grumbled at Liu Mu, "Woof woof woof, why didn't you say so earlier? I'm already wet, woof."

"Don't lick it, go take a shower," Liu Mu didn't forget to instruct him; it was the first rain, and who knew how poisonous it was.

She didn't pay any more attention to the three remaining villains writhing in the Black Rain and turned back with a smile. "Everyone, don't run, let's continue trading. That auntie just now, you can take two raincoats and rain boots; hurry and get out of the rain, this rainwater is poisonous!"

"I run an honest business and never gouge customers; I just happened to kill a few bad guys earlier. Auntie, you can ask that Da Gouzi; there's even less need to be afraid. That's my dog, I've raised him for many years, he's very well-behaved!"