Chapter Thirty-Three: The Wasteland

War,warneverchanges.

War, only war has never changed.

In 2067, the Great War broke out, and because of the growing shortage of resources, the two most powerful countries in the world, the United States and China, finally broke out into war.

China's flood of armor and dragoon-style stealth armor captured all of Alaska, and the T-45d, the first successful power armor model developed by U.S. defense contractor WestTek, was sent to the front to take part in the decisive Battle of Anchorage in the early stages of the war.

In 2074, contrary to the U.S. claim that it was only retaking Alaska from China, U.S. power armored infantry units were sent to China itself, but they did not play much use in the face of the electromagnetic rifles developed by China, and only consumed American resources and military spending in vain.

The war went into the quagmire of a tug-of-war, and then ...... Nuclear weapons fill the sky.

The world is destroyed.

And then...... The world has been reborn.

This is the world world in ruins, the world after the war, the world world covered with radiation dust, the world world without law and morality, every day is no better than the previous day, and every day is no worse than the previous day.

And one day, the door of the underground shelter numbered 101 was opened, and an ignorant young man stood on the land of Washington, looking at the gray sky that he had never seen in his twenty-year-old life, and the dusky sun hanging high in the sky. In the distance is the dilapidated pre-war capital, and in the sunlight, the city's cutouts are of dead corpses.

There appears to be a small village a few miles away, where information about the missing father may be found.

So the young man touched the 10mm caliber pistol hanging from his waist and walked forward firmly.

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Megaton Town.

This tin town is built around an unexploded nuclear bomb that somehow failed in its fuse during the Great War and was planted in a puddle that remained untouched for 200 years.

Gradually, this nuclear bomb became a landmark...... The building, if you think of it as a building, attracts many people to settle here, forming a small town with about a hundred people. There is a bar, a restaurant, a clinic, and a grocery store in town. The mayor of the town is a middle-aged black man named Lucas Sims, whose shotgun never leaves his side, and it is with this well-maintained shotgun and a helpful and kind heart that he maintains the authority of the lord of the town in this town.

Moriarty's Bar, owner Colin Moriarty, a miserly and ruthless mongrel. Miss Nova, the barmaid at the bar, is happy to have a spring breeze with you if you pay enough for bottle caps. The bartender, Moriarty's slave zombie Garble, who Moriarty bought fifteen years ago, don't be intimidated by his rotten appearance, he's just a zombie human who has been heavily contaminated by radiation.

On this lazy afternoon, the radio was playing old Inkblot songs from 300 years ago, and Garble was wiping his glass and listening intently to lazy blues jazz. The song seems to be called "I-Dont-Want-To-Set-The-World-On-Fire", which is also Garble's favorite song, and whenever he listens to it, he can forget the miserable life of being abused by Colin Moriarty for a while.

At this time, the door of the bar was pushed open, and a young man stood in the doorway. Garble raised his eyelids and looked, this man seemed to be different from the other people who wandered in the wasteland, not only did he wear cleaner and neater clothes, but his temperament was different from that of the people who struggled to survive in the wasteland, his eyes were very simple.

"Uh...... Has anyone here ever seen a middle-aged man named James? He might look more like me, or does anyone know where he's going? ”

There was silence in the bar, and the jazz music on the radio continued to play melodiously.

The young man seemed to be a little unable to read the atmosphere, and he repeated what he had just said.

"The best whisky in Megaton Town, never mixed with water, five caps for one glass, twenty caps for one bottle." Garble replied dryly.

At last he met a person who answered him, and the young man seemed to have found a savior, sat down directly in front of the bar, and asked eagerly, "This ...... Belch...... Zombie dude, have you ever seen a guy named James? ”

"Nope."

"Hmm...... Do you know who has seen him? ”

"Go ask Moriarty."

"Uh...... Where is Moriarty? ”

As the two men chatted in, the owner of the bar rubbed his head and walked slowly out of the back room.

"I'm here, little friend. You're making a lot of noise here, so that the old man can't sleep at noon...... Come on, you're looking for James, I haven't seen him in a while......"

The bar's owner, Colin Moriarty, looked the young man up and down and poured himself a glass of water.

"It's not me who is talking nonsense, James and I have been friends for years, he came to me twenty years ago, with a little baby, looking around for an underground shelter. I thought he wouldn't come back as soon as he went, but a few days ago, he appeared in front of me again...... He really found that refuge! Haha......"

"James is my father! I'm that baby...... Mr. Moriarty, do you know where my father has gone? ”

"Hmm...... Good question. But one answer comes at a price...... So, if you give me two hundred bottle caps, and I'll tell you where James is, how about it? ”

The young man subconsciously touched his pocket, and his face suddenly became embarrassed.

"Uh...... Mr. Colin, I really need ......"

"No bottle caps, no answers, I'll go back and take a nap."

Just when the young man was at a loss, a voice came from the corner of the bar:

"Hey, boy, I know where James went."

Even Moriarty turned his head and raised an eyebrow at the figure in the corner of the bar. The man was dressed in a leather coat popular among the Wasteland Bandits, with his face obscured by a large-brimmed hat, and was now occupying a table with three bottles of finished Nuka-Coke.

"Really? This gentleman, you are really my savior......" The young man walked over excitedly, but the man stood up one step ahead and shook hands with the young man solemnly.

"Young man, I'll ask you a question, and after you answer it, I'll tell you where James is, how about it?"

"Uh...... Okay, I'll do my best. ”

Looking at the young man's expression of facing an exam, the man in leather laughed first.

"Don't be nervous, it's a very simple question. What's your name? ”

“………… Adam. My father gave me the name I am, my name is Adam. ”

"Adam...... That's a good name. The leather-clad man muttered to himself, and then, taking Adam's hand, he raised it high and shouted to the guests in the tavern:

"Everyone, remember this face, remember this name! This young man will be destined to be the savior of the wasteland, the Messiah of the end times! He will fight the most powerful mutants to save the spark of America; He will bring clean and free water to all of Washington, and bring life back to the wasteland; He will destroy the missile base of the Enclave alone, destroying the crazy machine President Eden; He will board an alien spaceship and gain access to technology that can rebuild entire civilizations; He will break down the slave factories in Pittsburgh and bring freedom and human rights back to America; The slavers of the fallen heavens will tremble for him, the mercenaries of the Talon Corporation will flee from the wind, here is the future honorary knight of the Brotherhood of Steel, and the patron saint of all the weak - this is the new hero - the new brave - ours - Adam!! ”

No one spoke in the bar for a long time, and even Adam was stunned. There was a noise on the radio, and then suddenly it went silent. Garble subconsciously picked it up and shook it, and the sound of clattering parts woke up the bar owner. Feeling teased, Moriarty raised his pistol and roared:

"You two lunatics, get out of my bar! Right now!! ”

Two minutes later, the man in leather and Adam were standing in front of the small square of the megaton bomb. Watch Cromwell, the preacher of the Church of Atom, preach to the crowd:

"He came in the clouds, and a thousand eyes were blinded by him, and a thousand ears were deaf, so that they could not hear His roar—the atom is you, the atom is me, and the atom is each of us. The fission of atoms, one into two, two into four, represents the ultimate meaning of life—when we ascend to atomic heaven, each of us will be able to radiate billions of lives from our own lives—"

After listening to the sermon for a long time, the two finally began to talk.

"You may call me 'prophet,' dear friend Adam." The leather-clad man, or Su Jing, looked at poor Adam with a friendly expression.

"Uh...... Thank you, Mr. Prophet, for what you just said, even though I didn't understand what you were saying...... Now, can you tell me where my father went? ”

"It's simple, it's a small thing. Do you know the Galaxy Radio of the Three Dogs? You should go to that place next, don't thank me, this is what a model citizen who is eager to help others should do. ”

Even Adam could see that the "prophet" in front of him seemed to have something to say, and he tentatively asked, "What...... Prophet, do you need anything from me in return? ”

"Of course!" Su Jing patted Adam's shoulder hard, "It's very simple, I'm going to join your team and go on the road with you." Come on, let's go on an adventure together, to smash up mutant lair, to break into haunted mansions, to kick the Enclave in the ass...... You say you don't know what an Enclave is? It's okay, just know the way when you fight. ”

"I ...... I just want to find my father......"

"It's okay, we'll go find your father, poor James, who is still trapped in the hibernation pod, and I don't know how many years I've been a puppy there......"