Chapter 2029: Shelter No. 9

"There's no place for you here. Leave at once."

The hoarse-voiced man's eyes gleamed with a fierce light. He pushed his thumb forward, disengaging the safety on his metal gun.

"Hey, what's that in your hand?"

The hoarse-voiced man looked at Su Xiao's fingers, where a small section of a test tube was exposed.

"Something that can save your life."

Su Xiao tossed the test tube in his hand. The hoarse-voiced man immediately leaped backward, and the glass tube landed on the loose soil of the field.

"Drink it if you don't want to die. The taste of your internal organs being eroded isn't pleasant, is it?"

"You think... that's possible?"

The hoarse-voiced man laughed. Just as he prepared to crush the glass tube with his foot, a sharp pain in his chest caused him to pause.

Su Xiao could even regulate and heal Sha's chronic illness, let alone the problem this hoarse-voiced man had. The other party's internal organs were being eroded by a certain type of energy, and that energy was the very same one the man used during combat.

"Is it radial or spotted?"

Su Xiao snapped his fingers twice. The hoarse-voiced man turned his head away, looking somewhat 'annoyed.'

"Spotted."

The hoarse-voiced man pursed his lips. Within the vision of his left eye, there was indeed a black spot.

The metal gun was still pointed at Su Xiao, but the hoarse-voiced man had already bent down to pick up the test tube from the ground.

Picking up the tube, the hoarse-voiced man used his thumb to pry open the wooden stopper and brought the tube to his nose to sniff it.

"Die from organ erosion within a month, or drink it and take a gamble. Choose for yourself."

Su Xiao watched the hoarse-voiced man with keen interest.

"I choose to kill you, this suspicious guy, first."

The hoarse-voiced man grinned, revealing a few yellow teeth.

A few seconds later, the hoarse-voiced man stopped smiling. He tilted his chin, and a young girl wearing a green grass cloak climbed up from the ground.

"If I die, shoot immediately."

"You're really going to drink that thing? Are you crazy?"

The girl in the green grass cloak was clearly quite surprised.

"Living like this is worse than being dead. If it weren't for the fact that shooting myself in the chin is too shameful, I would have done it long ago."

The hoarse-voiced man leaped into the livestock pen, dragged over a spotted cow, and forced some of the potion into it.

After waiting for over ten minutes, the spotted cow didn't die. Seeing this, the hoarse-voiced man didn't care about the cow saliva at the mouth of the tube and drank the potion in a few gulps.

The hoarse-voiced man didn't care about Su Xiao's background, nor did he much care if he would die from drinking this potion. The burning sensation in his chest had already driven him nearly insane. Over forty percent of the hunters in the shelter had similar problems, and there was no solution.

"Cough—"

The hoarse man felt discomfort in his throat; he began to cough dryly in succession, and soon, he coughed up a large patch of blackened phlegm.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..."

The hoarse-voiced man breathed heavily, tears and snot streaming down his face. His current feeling was miraculous, as if all the mucus clogging his internal organs had been coughed out. This sense of relief made him want to lie on the ground and sleep, ignoring everything. He hadn't slept well for a month—no, a month and seventeen days. He could sleep at most three to four hours a day before being awakened by the burning sensation in his organs.

"Broken Tooth, hey, speak up. How are you?"

The girl draped in the green grass cloak spoke, ready to fire at any moment.

The hoarse-voiced man wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, stood up from the ground, and walked to Su Xiao.

"Doctor, please save my younger brother. As long as my brother recovers, I will be your dog from now on."

"Woof (Not interested)."

Xiang Bubu Wang barked at the hoarse-voiced man, who was also known as Broken Tooth.

"Of course, no problem. Where is your brother?"

Su Xiao was in a good mood because infiltrating Shelter No. 9 was much simpler than he had imagined. The superhumans in this world suffered tremendous side effects when using their abilities—namely, the erosion of their internal organs by energy.

Su Xiao had previously thought Broken Tooth's situation was just a coincidence, but after the other party mentioned that his brother also suffered from the agony of erosion, and seeing the severely eroded liver of the girl in the green grass cloak, Su Xiao knew this was a common problem for superhumans in this world.

"Please, come with me."

Broken Tooth's attitude changed drastically. That's right, this was the law of the jungle on Siren Star; or rather, capable people would never be rejected anywhere.

Following Broken Tooth, Su Xiao soon arrived at a vast slum. It was no wonder Baha called this place a slum; within a radius of several kilometers, it was filled with tents built from wooden boards. The higher-end structures were made of iron sheets, covered in rust.

Walking on the dirt road embedded with trash, Su Xiao saw humans in front of the tents on both sides. Their clothes were tattered, their faces filthy, and the calluses on their hands indicated that the fields outside were cultivated by them.

Bang!

Blood splattered everywhere. A butcher with a fleshy, pot-bellied frame stood before a chopping block, splitting a skinned beast leg.

Several children with dirty faces stood nearby, their eyes fixed unblinkingly on the chunks of raw meat.

"I am always so merciful."

The butcher tossed the cleaned bones toward the children, who scrambled for them in a frenzy. This barbaric world had never been gentle to anyone.

"Doctor, our territory isn't bad, right?"

Broken Tooth spoke, looking at the children with keen interest. He had gone through the same thing during his childhood—no, it was even more bitter; he hadn't encountered such a kind-hearted butcher.

"Although it can't compare to large shelters like the Fire Skull Gang, not many people starve to death here. Being able to live is good enough."

Broken Tooth spoke of the harsh environment people endured with an indifferent attitude.

"We're here."

Broken Tooth stopped in front of a square underground entrance made of concrete. This entrance was about ten meters wide and eight meters high, with a gentle slope. A cool breeze blew from within.

Walking into the underground entrance and descending over thirty meters, Su Xiao discovered that this place was a world of its own.

Passing through a giant metal door, Su Xiao saw an underground city. Most of the buildings here were made of stone and concrete. There were roads wide enough for vehicles between the buildings, and huge light bulbs hung above. As for the source of electricity, it was likely magnetic power—the supreme achievement developed by humanity before the Great Disaster.

Clearly, this was the real Shelter No. 9; the slum above was merely for laborers and sacrificial pawns.

As for why Shelter No. 9 was built underground, it made perfect sense. A hundred years ago, humanity had suffered such a disaster; how could they not learn their lesson? That was experience paid for by billions of lives. On Siren Star, one must never live on the surface.

On the ceiling of the shelter, metal pipes over two meters thick were arranged neatly. These were cooling devices. Even if the Great Disaster were to strike a second time, they could maintain the underground temperature at no more than 20 degrees. Humanity would not succumb to natural disasters a second time.

Huge exhaust fans rotated. An off-road combat vehicle sped along the underground street, rushing past Su Xiao toward the shelter's exit.

"Doctor, this way."

Broken Tooth dismissed the girl in the green grass cloak, even tossing her a potato. Broken Tooth tilted his head, signaling Su Xiao to follow him first.

"Call me Pharmacist. Holy Flame Pharmacist."

"Alright, Doctor—ah, spit, Pharmacist."

Broken Tooth suddenly slapped himself in the face. Although this guy was lean and gaunt, he was a ruthless person; when he got angry, he would even hit himself.

After walking through the underground shelter for half an hour, Su Xiao finally arrived at Broken Tooth's residence. The shelter was much larger than he had imagined.

Bang, bang, bang.

Broken Tooth slapped his own door panel repeatedly.

"Open the door, you bastard."

Broken Tooth's face showed anger. Clearly, his attitude toward his own younger brother wasn't great. But even so, he still risked being executed by the leader to hide Su Xiao's ability, because he knew that once it was made public, whether it would be his brother's turn to be treated was truly an unknown.

The heavily paint-peeled iron door was opened. A young man with heavy eye bags stood inside, looking lifeless.

"You're not dead yet?"

The gloomy youth spoke, turning around to sit on a mechanical exoskeleton.

"If you're not dead, how could I possibly die?"

Broken Tooth sneered.

"I have bad news for you," Broken Tooth walked into his humble home and grabbed a water jug to gulp down water. The wooden table nearby was covered with metal parts.

"What?"

The gloomy youth raised his eyes to look at Broken Tooth.

"You don't have to die anymore, but I will."

Broken Tooth, having had his fill, let out a long sigh.

"..."

The gloomy youth was stunned for a moment. The next instant, he rushed forward, grabbed Broken Tooth by the collar, and growled, "What kind of joke are you playing?"

The gloomy youth's face was trembling. He knew that his brother never joked.

"There's enough food left for 12 days. After I die, don't hate anyone, otherwise, you won't live long either."

As Broken Tooth spoke, he knelt on one knee before Su Xiao, holding up his metal gun.

"Mr. Pharmacist, please, save my brother now. Save him immediately."

Su Xiao glanced at Broken Tooth and then at the gloomy youth. The development of events was becoming increasingly interesting.

Bang!

The iron door was kicked open, twisting as it fell. A blood-stained figure was tossed into the room—it was the girl in the green grass cloak from before.

"This gentleman, our leader requests your presence."

A burly man wearing a mechanical exoskeleton on his upper body, at least two meters tall, walked into the room. ===== CHAPTER 2030 =====