Chapter 2: Not the Sort of Person So Full of Kindness

Corn said okay and ran to find Wei Gang at the back of the line.

Wei Gang scratched his crew cut and cursed under his breath. “Big Flower, come with me and see what’s going on with that kid.”

“Yes.” From among the people behind Wei Gang, a woman in her thirties stepped out.

Wei Gang strode along, still muttering, “I knew this kid would cause trouble sooner or later. Look at this—didn’t I call it? We’ve only just set out!”

He hurried up to Jiang Chenan and motioned for Big Flower to examine Gu Xiaomai.

“Captain, my skill is limited, but from her complexion, pulse, skin color, and the bruised, swollen puncture mark in the crease of her left elbow, I can tell this child has had a massive blood draw.”

“She’s unconscious now because of blood loss. A blood draw like this would be enough to kill. I don’t know why she’s still alive, but she’s not far from death.”

As she finished, Big Flower seemed to remember something. She lifted the hem of Gu Xiaomai’s clothing at the back and, sure enough, saw a tiny, still unhealed wound on the right rear side of her waist.

“She’s also had bone marrow taken. Judging by the wound, it was done last night. The other side was crude and brutal, not caring in the least about this girl’s condition.”

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

Even Corn, an orphan who had not spent a single day in school, knew that massive blood loss could kill.

With the amount of blood drawn already enough to be fatal, and then her bone marrow taken as well, it was obvious the people who did it did not care whether Gu Xiaomai lived or died.

The fact that she was still alive now was not because they had shown mercy, but because her own will to survive was tenacious.

And now, even though Gu Xiaomai had not died, they had still sent her to the reclamation team. It was clear they had no intention of letting her live.

Jiang Chenan, the others, and Wei Gang all looked at him.

Wei Gang bristled under their stares. “Why are you all looking at me? It wasn’t me who sent her here. The patrol office handled all the paperwork. It says she stole a special energy stone and was sentenced to six months of labor reform with the reclamation team. I’m only the escort. This isn’t something I can refuse.”

Jiang Chenan asked, “Then what do we do now?”

Wei Gang scratched his head and looked at Jiang Chenan and Corn. “I’ll get a stretcher made. You two carry the kid. If we send her back to the base, she’s definitely finished. Out in the wasteland, she might still have a chance.”

Jiang Chenan and Corn looked down at their own thin arms and legs, then at Gu Xiaomai—small, though not tall, but plump enough—and wondered whether they could even make it to the destination.

Seeing what they were thinking, Wei Gang said, “If you can’t carry her anymore halfway through, I’ll call someone to take over for you. But everyone in my team has their own duties, so the people who can help you won’t be able to stay with you for long.”

“Okay.” Jiang Chenan agreed, and Corn nodded right after him.

They placed Gu Xiaomai on the makeshift stretcher Wei Gang had someone put together, then Jiang Chenan and Corn lifted it and continued along behind the reclamation team.

They felt sorry for Gu Xiaomai’s ordeal, but the most they could do was carry her safely to their destination. They could not do more.

In this era of disaster, for kids like them—fifteen or sixteen, just grown, with no ability yet and no adults to feed them—simply staying alive was already remarkable.

They did not ask for much. So long as they did not starve to death, that was enough.

Wei Gang stayed at the rear with his men, guarding against ambush and watching for polluted creatures.

Though this road had been cleared by the Eastern External Expansion Corps, few people used it, and now was the season when plants grew rapidly. Who knew when it might be overrun again by polluted vegetation?

Once outside the base, danger was everywhere. No one dared let their guard down.

The E4 reclamation team, caught in the middle, kept close to the people ahead of them while also warily watching the newly sprouting plants on both sides, afraid that a polluted plant might suddenly emerge from among them and attack.

Polluted plants, or rather all polluted creatures on Blue Star, had originated from the unprecedented stellar explosion in the solar system twenty years ago.

The immense energy from the stellar blast collided with Blue Star, producing two different kinds of energy gas, which researchers named pure qi and turbid qi.

Pure qi was beneficial to life and growth, while turbid qi brought harmful effects.

Yet both existed within living beings. Once the balance between them was disrupted, a creature would mutate into either a purified being or a polluted one.

Polluted creatures were highly aggressive and knew only how to attack. They were the last thing humans wanted to encounter.

Since the appearance of pure and turbid qi, life had undergone a tremendous mutation. Coupled with abnormal weather and frequent natural disasters, the former prosperity and peace of Blue Star had vanished entirely, and the world had entered the age of catastrophe.

After more than a decade of upheaval, the five remaining great bases in Region C, in order to expand their living range, increase survival resources, and open connection routes between one another, began forming their own external expansion corps. In the twentieth year of the catastrophe, they made their first attempt to enter the wasteland and explore.

The E4 reclamation team where Gu Xiaomai was located was an affiliated unit under the logistics division of E4 Battalion, itself part of the Eastern External Expansion Corps formed by the Guardian Base in the center of Region C.

Inside the reclamation team were criminals punished for wrongdoing, as well as people who could no longer survive in the base and were seeking a way out. It was a mixed crowd, and the work was not only heavy but full of danger.

Looking at the half-grown youths in front of him, who had been carrying the stretcher all day and were gradually growing exhausted, Wei Gang let out a deep sigh in his heart.

Twenty years ago, they had still been children sitting in bright, spacious classrooms, studying without a care in the world.

But now they had to fight for a living in a wasteland full of danger.

When would this damned life ever come to an end?

Wei Gang called over one of his men and stepped forward to pat Jiang Chenan on the shoulder. “Take a break. I’ll carry her for a while.”

Jiang Chenan stepped aside, walking beside the stretcher and shaking out his arms, which had grown weak and trembly.

The man Wei Gang had called also swapped places with Corn.

Only when the sky had fully darkened and it was no longer possible to travel did the leader in front finally find a suitable place to rest, and the group stopped.

The temperature on an early spring night was still low. Amid the wind and the howls of animals, the people of the reclamation team huddled together and fell asleep around the rising fire.

Wei Gang’s men also began resting, apart from those on watch.

Cold moonlight fell on Gu Xiaomai. Her breathing gradually grew long and steady. Between the two chambers of her heart, a bead slowly appeared. It grew larger and larger until it filled the place where her original power core should have been, and then it stopped changing.

The bead’s surface was rough and uneven, yet it gave off a gentle, warm glow. Soon the light drew inward, and a tiny drop of liquid condensed on its surface.

That liquid passed through the left and right chambers of Gu Xiaomai’s heart and her alveoli, flowed through the nearly dried-up blood vessels in her body into the central vein, and by then the drop, once the size of a grain of millet, had shrunk to the tip of a needle. Finally, it successfully reversed course through the blood sinuses and nourished her bone marrow.

At that moment, the changes within Gu Xiaomai’s body were known to no one.

Corn and Jiang Chenan squeezed together, leaning against each other as they prepared to sleep. Catching sight of Gu Xiaomai lying on the stretcher, Corn asked curiously in a low voice, “Brother Chen, why did you tell me to go wake her this morning? And then we carried her all day. You don’t seem like such a kindhearted person!”

Jiang Chenan shot him a glare. What kind of nonsense was that?

“She once gave me a nutrient solution when I was close to starving to death.”

Jiang Chenan glanced at Gu Xiaomai. The orange-red firelight fell across the girl’s fair face, and whether it was his imagination or not, he felt as though a trace of color had returned to her cheeks.

Still, why had this girl, who had once been so carefully pampered, become like this?

Jiang Chenan pressed his lips together, a hint of displeasure flickering in his eyes.

“Huh? A lifesaver? Then I guess you’ve repaid the favor.”

Knowing Jiang Chenan was not simply being foolishly kind, Corn said no more. When even staying alive was hard, blind benevolence was not something one could afford.

Instead, he began talking about the reclamation work ahead. No matter what, he had already decided he would follow his Brother Chen.

At daybreak the next morning, Wei Gang had a team member wake everyone and continue on their way.

Jiang Chenan was just coming to himself when he was about to call Corn to lift Gu Xiaomai, only to see that she had opened her eyes.

“You’re awake?”

Hearing Jiang Chenan’s voice, Corn immediately turned around and looked down at Gu Xiaomai on the ground with delight. Smiling, he said, “Little Mai, you’re finally awake! How do you feel? Can you walk on your own? Brother Chen and I carried you all day, and so did Team Leader Wei and the others.”

Gu Xiaomai had not expected to faint—and to stay out for a whole day and night.

These two unfamiliar boys were truly wonderful people. And that Team Leader Wei, who had looked so fierce, had actually not thrown her away.

Gu Xiaomai sat up. Her body felt much lighter than it had yesterday, and she smiled gratefully at the two of them. “Thank you for not leaving me behind, and for carrying me for so long. From now on, you’re both my real brothers. If you ever need me, just say the word.”

Corn muttered in a low voice, “With a little sister like you, who needs one? Just a complete burden.”

Gu Xiaomai looked up at Corn. “What did Brother Corn say? I didn’t catch that.”

Jiang Chenan shot Corn a warning glance.

Corn coughed. “I said your health is pretty terrible. You’ll need to take good care of yourself later, though sadly we don’t have the conditions for that right now.”

Gu Xiaomai laughed carefreely. “We can take our time and nurture it later when there’s a chance. I already feel much better. I can walk on my own today. You two worked hard yesterday.”

As they spoke, the whole team had already set out again.

Gu Xiaomai returned the stretcher to Wei Gang and thanked him. After that, the three of them followed the group onward.

Seeing that Gu Xiaomai could travel on her own, Wei Gang said nothing more. He could help for a while, but not for a lifetime. If the girl wanted to survive, she would still have to rely on herself.

After another half day of forced marching, Gu Xiaomai was still able to keep up at first. She walked and talked with Corn, but little by little she began panting hard, weakening terribly until she could no longer go on. In the end, Jiang Chenan and Corn had to support and pull her along. Fortunately, this time Gu Xiaomai did not faint.

At last, the group reached the outside of E4 Battalion’s camp.

After Wei Gang spoke with the sentry, one of them quickly ran inside, and Gu Xiaomai’s group waited again not far from the gate.

Through the crowd, Gu Xiaomai studied the camp. The sentries wore the same clothing as Wei Gang and his men: a striking red uniform that stood out all the more against the silver metal mesh wall behind them.

Behind the sentries, beside the gate, hung a sign reading, “E4 Battalion of the Eastern External Expansion Corps, Guardian Base.”

Through the open gate, Gu Xiaomai saw that the camp’s ground was also covered with a layer of silver metal. Different-colored tents stood in an orderly scatter upon it—bright yellow, warm orange, pure black, red-and-white stripes...

People were coming and going in and out of the tents within view, especially one striped red and white tent, from which people were constantly being carried in and out. It looked like an infirmary.

Could that be a hospital? She wondered whether she would be allowed in to see a doctor and have her body checked.

Still, this place really was dangerous. In just this short while, dozens of injured people had been carried into the camp right before her eyes.

Gu Xiaomai kept watching the camp. Then the sentry who had gone in earlier came back out, bringing with him two men, one fat and one thin.