Has it been so long already?

Su Ziyu felt a bit lost when he learned that twelve years had passed.

I wonder how many of the friends I once knew are still alive.

The average lifespan in the Wasteland World is quite short, maybe not even over forty on average. He never imagined so much time had already passed in this world.

The journey was relatively calm.

Su Ziyu saw a pack of mutated wolves, each as big as a small calf. The wolf king in the lead looked a bit like a husky; they chased the convoy for a while but did not immediately attack.

"Hey!?"

"Who still has food? Roast venison? Quickly throw some down!"戒色 woke up from the wolf howls and stood up, shouting to the other members of the convoy.

After speaking, he turned to Su Ziyu and said, "Don't worry."

"That's Blood Fang."

"The wolf king around here often moves in the forests near the Grand Canyon. It doesn't usually attack humans, but it really loves cooked food. As long as you throw some meat to them, they won't attack us."

There's actually something like this.

Could it be that the wolf king has gained sentience?

A glint of Spiritual Light appeared in Su Ziyu's eyes as he looked at the giant wolf in the distance. Its size was almost that of an adult cow, with muscles extremely well-developed and its body covered in many scars. The more he looked, the more it resembled a husky, noticeably different from the other wild wolves around.

"After the great disaster, fewer people kept dogs."戒色 naturally lit a cigarette, exhaling smoke, "People don't even have enough to eat at times, let alone the energy to raise dogs."

"Most domestic dogs are nearly extinct."

"But some dogs have mingled with the wolf packs. Blood Fang seems to be a hybrid of a husky and a wild wolf. It's somewhat different from other wolves, more friendly towards humans."

"It really likes to eat cooked food."

"As long as you have cooked food with you, it's not easy to be attacked by them."

The Spiritual Light on that wolf king does resemble a Druid's Animal Companion, but the light of intelligence isn't as bright—it should be just relatively smart, not quite fully sapient.

Sure enough.

Upon seeing the cooked food, the wolves stopped their pursuit, grabbing some roast meat and leaving like the wind.

The wolf packs from the Wasteland Era are doing quite well.

Many species are gradually going extinct, but wolf packs can be seen all over. They hunt other mutated creatures and are now sly and ferocious, not easy to deal with even using ordinary firearms. Moreover, wolves hold grudges. If one escapes, it becomes a potential future threat, so they generally don't attack proactively.

The lifespan of wild wolves isn't long. Although there are many wolf packs, they don't tend to become overly rampant.

After the great disaster, the reproduction of mammals became more difficult. Wild wolves may give birth to two or three at a time, but if one survives, it's considered quite good. Severely mutated cubs are bitten to death by their parents or abandoned in the wilderness.

Su Ziyu silently listened to戒色 talking big. This guy might have northern ancestors, as he talked boastfully the whole journey.

"Why did you become a monk? It's the Wasteland Era!" Su Ziyu asked curiously.

戒色 was momentarily stunned, then he smiled and said, "My parents died when I was very young. After all, this isn't Huaxia, and life isn't easy for Chinese in America."

"Later, I was adopted by an old monk."

"When I was young, I got injured while adventuring, and half my body was infected by radiation, causing some mutations in my entire arm."

"Even though I later replaced it with a pair of mechanical prosthetics, I know my body very well. It's absolutely impossible for me to have offspring, and I don't want my children to come into this world with disabilities and mutations, so I simply inherited the old monk's entrails and became a monk myself."

"It's a pity I didn't learn more from him back then. I barely know any sutras except the Prajna Heart Sutra."

"With nothing better to do, I even dabbled in some Mechanical Buddhism texts."

"How about it?"

"Isn't it quite literarily cultured?"

Su Ziyu nodded, seemingly infected by his optimism, and smiled, "It really is refreshing."

"This era still requires a little spiritual sustenance." 戒色 took a drag on his cigarette, blowing out a cloud of smoke, "You wouldn't believe it. Quite a few people ask me to chant sutras for the dead—not just the Chinese, but even some whites and blacks enlist my help."

This is the end of the Wasteland.

Having a monk around is already pretty good, don't expect strict rules. It's impossible to survive the Wasteland Era without killing.

About two or three hours later.

A large gathering place appeared before the group. It looked like an abandoned town that had been renovated. During the great disaster, many cities suffered nuclear strikes, so most gathering places now are situated in relatively remote locations because the nuclear radiation pollution is less severe. The outside of this camp was a circle of mottled, rusted corrugated iron walls. There were two watchtowers at the main entrance, with guards holding guns, one white and one Asian.

"Many people inside the Elk Camp are those who escaped from the Chinatown Camp." 戒色 extinguished his cigarette butt and said, "There are quite a few Chinese here. If anyone gives you trouble, just mention my name."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.