The occurrence of the cataclysm changes the face of the world, not the hearts of people.

There is a saying that Hades is easy to see, but the little ghost is difficult. Generally, the gatekeepers of the stronghold will be more or less greedy for small gains. They know that some of the things that are very valuable in the colony may be the garbage picked up by the roadside in the hands of the lone wanderer. So, every time a lone wanderer enters the colony, they ask for something. And the sophisticated lone wanderer never complains too much, because those things are really garbage, scattered all over the city. What's more, in the event of a conflict with these gatekeepers, the armed forces in the stronghold will come to their aid. In all probability, this stronghold will never be accessible again. Therefore, adhering to the principle that more is better than less, most lone wanderers acquiesce to this rule.

Walking into the stronghold, a rotting stench hits my face. Chen Erdong knew that this was the smell of some dying people coming together. He looked to the left and right, and sure enough, he saw dozens of people leaning crookedly against the wall on the inside of the high wall, their eyes glazed and without a trace of vitality. If it weren't for the slight opening of the mouth and the heaving of the chest, it would not be wrong to be mistaken for a corpse. Most of them were skinny and unclothed, and under the torn clothes, some wounds could be seen, and maggots were surging inside, and it was very disgusting to burrow around. These are people who have been abandoned by fate, and maybe tonight or tomorrow, they will die here. Then he was collected by the city's corpse removal team and pulled outside for cremation.

Troubled times are not as good as dogs, this chaotic world has long been dilapidated, and if this continues, this little flame of human civilization may really be completely extinguished. But what does it matter to you? Although Chen Erdong was a little unbearable, he knew that his strength was weak and he couldn't change anything at all.

Chen Erdong continued to move forward, which was originally a playground for prison inmates, but now it has the appearance of a small town. The humble cabins were pressed to the ground, like shoeboxes, which could only accommodate one or two people. A main passage is sandwiched between two rows of wooden houses, and at the end of the road is another high wall, where the prisoners were once held. This "road" is just enough for three people to pass in parallel, and it is extremely narrow.

Walking along the passage, Chen Erdong remembered the scene in the flea market that year, when Uncle Yang took him through the crowd to teach him how to recognize people. The streets and alleys there are also cramped, with a dazzling array of trinkets or special-colored snacks on both sides of the road, and people rubbing shoulders or going backwards in high spirits. The memories dissipate, and the dark, damp environment pulls him back to reality.

The hut was so crudely made that you could see some of the doors and windows. Looking through the doorway, the moonlight poured into the house through the window. Chen Erdong could see a few pairs of dull eyes, quietly looking ahead. Their situation is only better than that of the dying at the base of the wall, and if the stronghold is ready to go out to scavenge for supplies, maybe they can be some cannon fodder. Otherwise, they can only wait for a mouthful of porridge every day, barely maintaining their basic vital signs. This is the most common state of ordinary people after the cataclysm, and barely staying alive is already the result of their best efforts.

There was a quiet musty smell throughout the stronghold, as if they were quietly waiting for death.

Chen Erdong has become accustomed to these scenes, but every time he feels a little worried. However, he knows that what cannot be changed, it is useless to rely on inner fluctuations alone. Moving on, he finally heard a bustling voice in the distance. There, that's the world!

Approaching the foot of the wall, he noticed a street that stretched out along the wall and topped up at the end of the passage. Sure enough, at both ends of the T-shaped road are a row of containers, swinging from east to west. These houses are much better than those wooden houses, at least on the pre-cataclysmic construction site, they can still be used as temporary shelters. And those voices came from the container. In front of the container is a road, more than three meters wide, which completely separates the wooden house from this side. A three-meter-wide passage seems to separate the two worlds, calling for life and death on the other.

Chen Erdong stood at the intersection and carefully observed the surrounding situation, after all, the terrain of each stronghold is different, and he needs to ensure that in case of an emergency, he can find the fastest way to exit the stronghold. After all, catching turtles in urns is always bad to be turtles. The cell is a three-story building, which should be rectangular, located in the north of the entire prison, and at the end of the east is a small two-story building, which cannot be seen clearly. There should normally be a building behind this cell, which is the area where the prison guards are located.

The containers have open doors, and some cargo can be faintly seen from inside. There are those who sell tools, there are those who sell meat, and there is even one that sells ammunition, as if it were a small bazaar. Of course, there are also some people who don't have any goods on the table, just empty rooms and wait for people, which in ancient times was called a half-closed door. After all, people still have an animal side, and the women in many strongholds have almost disappeared, and the ambition of the men has never been the five girls, who may have accumulated a month's worth of dried meat and entered these houses after a while.

At the door of a container on the east side of the road, there was a handsome-looking person. He sat slumped in a gray suit, at least two sizes larger, dangling like a bamboo pole carrying a piece of clothing. He hunched his shoulders, his fingers open, glancing at the intersection without a match. Seeing someone coming in from outside, he quickly got up and walked towards Chen Erdong. There were several other people nearby who saw that he had taken the lead, and they scolded and retreated to the container, and continued to sit and wait for the next visitor. At this time, the lone wanderers will come from the north one after another, after all, winter is coming soon, and it is no longer suitable for scavenging.

"Uncle, do you play with women?"

Chen Erdong looked at this person and felt a little surprised. There are many such things in the bases, but most of them are the work of hooligans. Those people don't talk about their appearance, and their temperament gives people a very vulgar feeling. But the person in front of him is different, and he has a faint bookish aura in his body, and he believes that he should be a decent person before the cataclysm.

"Don't like women? Uncle, what do you think of me? Seeing that Chen Erdong didn't speak, just stared at himself, the handsome man didn't twist at all, and began to sell himself again.

"No, I'm looking for someone."

These people are very good at reading words and feelings, and they never force themselves to buy and sell. They are also better than those who sit and wait to die, after all, there are often people who stumble, but there are not often drifters.

When this person heard that Chen Erdong was looking for someone, his mouth grinned, and he smiled happily. Maybe he subconsciously felt that today's ass was saved.

"Who is Uncle looking for? I'm very familiar with this place, who do you ask to tell me, and I'll take you! ”

In an instant, the belt passenger turned into a tour guide + intermediary, and changed another kind of flower work. The people who can survive in this world are not fuel-efficient lamps.

Chen Erdong took out a photo and held it up for him to see. In the photo, a middle-aged man in a suit reclines back in a chair with a glass of red wine in his hand.

The tour guide looked at the photo and thought about it carefully, and after a while, he seemed to remember something. He rolled his eyes a few times, frowned, and said in distress:

"Oh, it's him! It's not easy to do, this man is very powerful with us, I don't dare take you to him! ”

The tour guide shook his head as he spoke, feeling that it was extremely difficult to do. Chen Erdong was not angry when he saw this, and directly took out a piece of jerky from his cloth pocket, which he had prepared in advance. The current hard currency in this world is not gold and silver, but grain. And the best thing to use is this kind of jerky, which is easy to carry and relatively rare. A piece of jerky is less than three taels, and with the staple food, it is enough for one person to eat a day. Of course, if it is canned meat, the price will have to increase several times.

"Heck, that guy wasn't that unkind. You must be his relative, I'll take you to him! After taking the jerky, the tour guide suddenly came alive again.

followed the tour guide to the east, and finally Chen Erdong saw the small building clearly. It was supposed to be a utility building in the former prison, but now I don't know what kind of storefront it has become. Before he entered the small building, a smell of wine wafted out of it. At the door of the small building, the two big men looked at the approaching guide and spoke.

"Dr. Turtle, what are you doing here?" These two big men are dressed more decently. Jeans and a T-shirt look neat.

"Boss Yu, Boss Sun, this person is looking for a drunkard, I brought it by the way."

Only then did the two notice Chen Erdong, who was hanging far behind Dr. Turtle. At this moment, he is wrapped in a cloak, so that people can't see his heels. In an unfamiliar environment, he never follows the guide closely, and only when he is three meters away can he have a buffer to react.

Chen Erdong walked to the door of the small building and asked aloud, "What are the rules here?" ”

Chen Erdong's straightforward two were not surprised, after all, they had also seen a lot of lone wanderers, and they knew that most of them were not talking nonsense.

"Three jerky for a whole night, only the entrance fee is included, and the consumption inside is counted!"

Chen Erdong took out three dried meats and handed them over, and the Yu boss on the left took it and looked at it, nodding with satisfaction. He threw the jerky into the bag around his waist and motioned for Boss Sun next to him to open the door.

"Uncle, take me in, there are a lot of people here, I'm afraid you won't be able to find a stuffy person." Dr. Turtle spoke.

"Is the stuffy man in there?" Chen Erdong ignored him and turned to Boss Yu and asked.

"A jerky!"

"In!" Boss Yu put the jerky handed over by Chen Erdong into his trouser pocket and said a word lightly.

"Then uncle, you have a good time, come to my house and sit down, I guarantee that you are satisfied!" Dr. Turtle said without giving up, nodding and retreating.

Chen Erdong saw that the door of the small building had been opened, so he ignored Dr. Turtle behind him and walked in directly.