Zhao Yaxin immediately realized her lapse, hurriedly collected her smile, deliberately put on a serious face, and shoved the meat back into his hands before turning away.
Su Lin shrugged indifferently, then looked regretfully at the snake meat on the ground.
If only the Mutated Beast Meat could be eaten directly, this python would certainly make an excellent ingredient... what a pity.
He carried the meat on his back and quickly caught up.
The two continued their search.
Zhao Yaxin’s pace slowed.
Because when Su Lin saw her start collecting supplies, he actively relied on the King of the Garbage Can to search every corner of the ruins for more items.
Although they were all low-grade goods, Zhao Yaxin showed no disdain and meticulously packed them into a snakeskin bag.
Soon, one bag was bulging.
Su Lin was now full of energy, no longer the burden he was the first time he went out with his second uncle, significantly increasing their search efficiency.
Before long, the first snakeskin bag was full.
Zhao Yaxin skillfully unfolded a backup bag.
She was secretly amazed: Could this young brother-in-law’s luck truly be unreasonable?
However, Su Lin was not satisfied.
Since the python, he had shot and killed two more Mutant Beasts in succession, but ended up with nothing from the three.
The contrast between his previous glorious victory of two out of three and now three consecutive failures left him feeling quite frustrated.
Seeing most of the morning pass by, he didn’t want to return with just the initial piece of meat. This piece was already several dozen pounds lighter than yesterday’s; if there were no more gains, roughly speaking, wouldn’t it mean this trip was in vain?
He stewed with determination, his eyes scanning the ruins like a hawk, seeking traces of Mutant Beasts.
However, it seemed the more anxious he was, the harder it was to find his targets.
Another half-hour passed, the garbage bags nearly filled a third one, yet they had only chanced upon a single prey.
Where was the promised beast pack?
Could they all have surged to the outskirts?
Frustrated, Su Lin kept his head down, following behind his sister-in-law.
Suddenly, Zhao Yaxin stopped in her tracks.
Su Lin looked up in confusion.
He saw her staring ahead, her cool voice tinged with uncontainable disbelief:
"A golden... vending machine?!"
"What?" Su Lin was baffled, following her gaze.
In the distance, at the base of a half-collapsed building, stood a spotlessly clean vending machine!
Even more astonishing was that the machine was powered!
Inside the transparent glass cabinet, dazzling golden light shimmered continuously!
A powered vending machine in the wilderness?!
Zhao Yaxin abruptly glanced at Su Lin, her cool eyes showing unprecedented excitement, her speech quickening:
"Your luck is truly astonishing! Quickly! Vending machines in the wilderness can offer random blueprints, and golden ones might even produce a Tier One Blueprint!"
Such good fortune existed?!
Su Lin was instantly invigorated!
The value of a Tier One Blueprint needed no elaboration.
If it happened to be a Tier One Mechanism Blueprint, that would be a real windfall!
He could almost hear his heartbeat quickening.
Zhao Yaxin, for the moment disregarding her wary stance toward the "repeat offender" brother-in-law, grabbed his wrist without hesitation, left the three heavy snakeskin bags behind, and dragged him towards the shining gold!
However, after only a few steps, the two of them came to an abrupt halt.
From behind a half-human high broken wall ahead, six burly, unfriendly-looking men slowly rose, staring with eyes like wolves.
The one leading had long hair draping over his shoulders, his bare muscular upper body evident, and his eyes visibly lit up at the sight of Zhao Yaxin’s stunning beauty.
"Whoa! Our luck today..."
The long-haired man grinned.
Zhao Yaxin’s pretty face changed slightly, her body tensing suddenly.
Bang—!
Bang bang bang bang bang!!
The enormous sound of bowstrings vibrating and five urgent gunshots ripped through the wilderness’s dead silence!
Su Lin held a crossbow in one hand and a gun in the other, his stance steady, his arms rock-solid!
Six consecutive shots!
Each one a headshot!
The six men’s expressions didn’t even have time to turn from greed to shock before a bloody hole appeared on each of their foreheads, and their bodies collapsed like boneless sacks.
The leading long-haired man only got halfway through saying "luck" before collapsing with a smile, asleep.
It was too sudden.
No one on the opposite side reacted.
Zhao Yaxin: "..."
Su Lin swiftly reloaded the pistol with a backup magazine, stowed his weapons, then turned back to pull his still-stunned sister-in-law excitedly towards the golden vending machine:
"What are you dazing for? Go check it out quickly!"
Watching his seamless, blink-free ruthless killing and road clearing, Zhao Yaxin genuinely believed the rumor about the Chang Family’s extermination being his doing!
She couldn’t help but exclaim softly: "Do you... recognize them as being from Black Scale Village?"
Su Lin abruptly stopped in his tracks, turning back in surprise: "???"
A face full of question marks.
"Huh?"
Zhao Yaxin’s beautiful eyes widened: "You didn’t know they were from Black Scale Village?"
Su Lin’s eyes widened more: "How would I know they were from Black Scale Village?"
"Then you just opened fire?!" Zhao Yaxin was utterly astounded.
Su Lin said incredulously: "They saw you and their eyes lit up, just short of having the word ’villain’ engraved on their foreheads! Not killing them, what would we keep them for, New Year???"
Zhao Yaxin’s mind was buzzing.
Seeing her shocked expression, Su Lin put on a serious face and said earnestly:
"Sister-in-law, this is the end times, with law crumbling, morals degenerating, and human life cheap as dirt. You’re so beautiful, you must act preemptively like me, or you’ll suffer later! Besides, there’s the vending machine’s massive advantage right before us."
He had always been a fan of various post-apocalyptic online novels, a seasoned "theorist."