"Hehehe, did I waste my efforts again?"

After leaving District D2, the outside world became a strange and desolate wasteland. Everywhere, there were traces left by human civilization, but there was not a single trace of human presence to be seen.

As I stood there dazed, there suddenly came a scream from the ruins, unmistakably from a human!

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!! Don't come near!"

The person only managed to say half of their plea before a red light leaped from a short distance away, and the person fell silent.

Not good!

When that person... No, I should say when that machine came out, I quickly retracted my head.

"Did it... not notice me?"

To prevent it from detecting me with infrared sensors, I didn't even dare to expose myself, and could only lie down on the ground, holding my breath.

"..."

The opponent was not so much stronger than me, but rather different in species...

Upon returning to the camp, I didn't dare to go anywhere because the soldiers were preparing to stay up all night near the security checkpoint. I had no choice but to stay in my own room and wait for them to leave.

The old man was right, if I leave the safe zone, there will be nowhere else for me to go.

...

"Be careful!"

"..."

"What a weird person. It seems there really are quite a few weirdos these days."

"I'm not deaf, you know. It's not nice to talk about others like that behind their backs... Young man?"

A disheveled middle-aged man with a beard turned around, emitting an aura unlike any living person.

Without hesitation, Black Pupil asked, "Sir, you clearly bumped into me suddenly, and you were walking so close to my home... wait a minute, are you injured?"

Halfway through his sentence, Black Pupil noticed that something was off about this person. He was walking with one hand against the wall, as if afraid of falling to the ground with one wrong move.

No wonder, it wasn't that he didn't want to apologize, but rather that he couldn't.

"Kid, just pretend you didn't see anything, I don't want to have anything to do with anyone!"

The man didn't speak for a long time, and he was completely soaked from the rain, looking very cold.

And Black Pupil only noticed just now that the man had been wearing a yellow prisoner's uniform all along. With this appearance, wandering around haphazardly, could it be that he was an escaped convict?

With this thought, Black Pupil couldn't let him go. If he turned out to be a notorious murderer, then Black Pupil had to bring him to justice!

"Hey!"

Black Pupil didn't hesitate anymore, but directly took out his laser dagger and aimed it at the man's head, saying, "This is not something you can control, or rather, I hope you can be honest and not do anything irrational!"

He had made up his mind. If this man dared to resist, he would kill him without hesitation!

According to the Alliance's regulations, anyone in the safe zone who was a criminal could be killed by private law by anyone. However, there was one condition: absolutely no harboring of criminals, otherwise one would be arrested together with the criminal and sentenced to the same crime. In other words, being treated as accomplices.

But the two didn't have a standoff. The man actually fainted right in front of Black Pupil.

"Are you... alright?"

Black Pupil thought for a moment and decided to wait for him to wake up before making a conclusion, and not immediately have the soldiers arrest him.

"Uncle, you really lucked out!" Heitong smiled on his face and said, "If anyone else sees you, they would definitely hand you over to the Alliance army. As it stands now, I'm the only one courageous enough to save you!"

After saying that, he carried Uncle into the house.

Since Uncle's identity had not been figured out yet, he was still treated as a prisoner for the time being.

Heitong was also extremely cautious and happened to take out some unused ropes from the room, tying Uncle up securely to prevent him from escaping.

After everything was prepared, Heitong started examining Uncle's injuries.

"Huh?"

No matter how Heitong searched, he couldn't find any wounds on him. It was obvious that the situation was definitely not caused by external injuries!

Since it wasn't external injuries, then it could only be...

Heitong widened his eyes and carefully observed his arm, finally discovering some clues.

"So that's how it is..." Heitong's expression instantly turned serious.

It's no wonder Uncle's complexion looked so terrible, it was caused by the cursed disease!

From his complexion, Heitong could tell that the guy's condition was not ordinary, it seemed to be quite serious.

If he didn't use some medicine to stop it soon, the consequences would probably be even worse than they were now!

But one thing surprised Heitong, Uncle could endure until now, which was truly impressive.

"It seems like I was overthinking it, this Uncle is even more mysterious than I imagined."

Heitong looked at Uncle's appearance and suddenly felt that he had an extraordinary aura.

Such a person was truly rare, if there were really any troubles, he would probably need to give him a good lesson.

"This person looks unfamiliar, could he be someone imprisoned in a laboratory?"

Although he had never seen this person before, it didn't mean he didn't exist.

However, Heitong didn't think so, he felt that the man in front of him was not that simple.

Snap! Uncle suddenly tried to sit up, but because his body was bound by Juxi, he was pulled back before he could even get up, hitting the back of his head against the corner of the wall.

And then... he fainted again?!

Heitong found it hard to believe why Uncle in front of him was so strange, even fainting again.

Since it was his fault, he had to use some means now.

Splat! Heitong poured a basin of cold water on Uncle's face, waking him up from his unconscious state.

"Wake up quickly, don't play dead, because you might really die soon!"

"Urgh!"

Heitong's cold water finally had an effect, directly waking Uncle up from his unconscious state. He didn't care whether Uncle had a peaceful sleep or not, after all, he still had unfinished business. If he dared not clarify Uncle's identity, then he would be accused of harboring a dangerous criminal!

Inside and outside the safe zone, everything was still in a state of disarray, and if anything went wrong at this critical moment, Heitong would not forgive himself. Heitong had been living in torment and pain for many years, and if not for some mistake, he wouldn't have ended up in his current state by accident. Therefore, before rescuing this old man, Heitong became even more cautious than before.

"If you're awake now, then tell me. Otherwise, I'll immediately hand you over to the Alliance Army!"

"No... No! I beg you, I just want to go home, don't give me to anyone!!!"

"Alright, alright. Just honestly tell me what happened to make you look like this now?"

"I... I... I..."

"Oh, stop stammering. I need you to be clear-headed and calm."

"Huh?"

"Haven't you understood yet? I need to hear the truth from you, not some nonsense!"

Heitong didn't know what to say anymore. This old man was just too difficult to communicate with.

"Uh, I... I'm not feeling well right now. If you can get me a glass of water, maybe I can speak more fluently."

The old man started asking Heitong for water before even saying a few words.

Heitong didn't say much either. He turned around to prepare the water for the old man. However, in that instant, he sensed a slight movement behind him. The shadow on the ground was getting closer and closer to him!

Without hesitation, he quickly dodged to the left, avoiding the old man's clumsy attack.

Smack!

Heitong kicked the old man in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground once again. Due to his injuries and Heitong's kick, he couldn't get up anymore.

Seeing the old man's miserable state, Heitong squatted down with great interest to observe him.

"Old man, I'm not strong at all. Everyone says I'm no stronger than a weak girl. You're embarrassing yourself like this."

"I have no interest in you personally, and... were you originally a boy?"

"Uh, old man, that's a bit too impolite. Maybe I won't give you water after all. You don't seem that thirsty anyway."

"This... even if I want to apologize to you now, you probably won't forgive me, right?"

"Yeah, even if I forgive you, I'll wait until Scented Sister... oh, until the Great General returns and then discuss my judgment of you."

Heitong was truly angry this time. He even tied up the old man with a climbing rope to prevent any further accidents.

Heitong had indeed been careless just now, especially in such an unstable period in the safe zone. If something unexpected really happened, he would be the one to suffer.

The conversation returned to the beginning, about the old man's background, and...

After considering for a moment, Heitong asked, "Old man, can you tell me your name?"

The old man didn't hesitate and answered, "Juxi... just call me Juxi. Does that name satisfy you?"

"Hehe," Heitong simply smiled faintly, "Then I'll call you Juxi. Hmm... Uncle Juxi, what crime did you commit to be locked up in prison?"

"Prison?!" Juxi seemed startled, as if he didn't even know he was in a prison.