Gaining A New Family Member

"Open your backpack, and let me take a look." Lin Ke refused to spare any detail. He would only let down his guard after a thorough check.

Forbes didn't dare to show any hint of hesitation. He hastily took off the backpack, unzipped it, and poured out all of its contents—canned food, water, compressed biscuits, paper napkins, and a bowling ball-sized chunk of cooked beef wrapped in cling wrap.

Just as these 'hard currencies' attracted Lin Ke's attention…

Clang!

A gleaming kitchen knife fell out of the backpack, producing a crisp, clear, and melodious clang.

Forbes squeezed out a smile that could practically blind Lin Ke and said, "I'm a cook, honest! This knife is to be used to cut the beef!"

Lin Ke didn't say anything but watched Forbes' performance quietly instead.

"Alright! I admit that it's for self-defense as well."

With his gun pointed at Forbes, Lin Ke gave another order. "Get up, lift your clothes, and turn one round."

Forbes looked terrified. His eyes were widened as big as bells, and the whiteness of his sclera contrasted with his dark, tanned skin, making his eyes look extremely, exaggeratedly, and incredibly big.

Forbes covered his buttocks with his hands, a shifty look in his eyes as sweat drenched him. He had heard about such things before in the camp. After all, the desert was very distant and remote. Apart from the slaves, only mercenaries were in the camp…

Forbes bit down hard on his lip and evaluated the risks in his current situation.

The other party was armed with a gun. Should Lin Ke fire, he would be finished.

… As for himself, it would be nothing more than just suffering a bit of bleeding and pain. It would pass with a bit of tolerance.

He didn't go through so much trouble to escape, risking being discovered by the mercenaries and beaten to death, just to die in a place like this!

For the sake of survival, I'll put up with it!

"Hurry up! Stop dawdling!"

Lin Ke waved the pitch-black pistol he was holding again, the threat in his actions rather strong.

Forbes took a deep breath. Both his hands—which were clutching his flax clothing—were shaking. Then, he lifted the flax clothing and turned around, such that his back was to Lin Ke. With his eyes shut, he gritted his teeth hard and said, "In that case, please take care of me!"

Lin Ke: BlackGuyQuestionMarkFace.jpg

…

In the Wastelands Gang headquarters.

The switchboard operator's signal was cut off.

What the slave had shouted at the end had honestly wholly shattered his perception of this issue. He reported the satellite phone video, voice data content, and the situation all to the supervisor-in-charge.

The supervisor-in-charge then hastily brought the information with him to report to the higher-ups. "General, this is the latest news from the frontline! Our very last soldier has also fallen in battle! I have a video and audio recording that the satellite phone captured at the end here."

As the video and audio recording played, the tent fell into pin-drop silence.

"You can withdraw the rescue helicopter now."

What was the point of sending a helicopter over when the men were already dead? The Machinery Holy Cult might even still be lying in wait there to ambush them.

"Have you determined his identity?"

"Yes, we have. This person was captured from a desert trade caravan last year by soldiers from the 52nd camp. He was later sent into a mixed unit in the slave camp to join the ancient ruins excavation project. Judging from the timeline, it is indeed rather fishy."

"In that case, he's most probably a spy that the Machinery Holy Cult planted. He might just be related to the destruction of the ancient ruins this time."

Bang!

In a towering rage, the general smashed his fist onto the table.

This ancient ruins excavation project was a project that he had fought against the masses' opinions in meetings and spent an exorbitant amount of money to undertake.

But now, after he had spent the money and invested human resources and material supplies into it, everything was ruined by a sudden round of quicksand.

Everything had gone up in smoke!

The general rubbed his temples and said with a deep frown, "Send experts to the ancient ruins' site and investigate the situation. There's an underground crypt at the bottom of the ruins, so why would quicksand appear for no reason?!"

"Other than that, the Machinery Holy Cult spy is now the only one that knows the inside story about what has actually happened. Distribute and spread his photograph far and wide. I don't care whether you go to bounty hunters or assassins; I only care about the results. Capture him! I want to know the truth behind what had really happened! I don't believe he can stay in the Machinery Holy Cult's territory and not come out for his whole life!"

After the order was given from the tent in the Wastelands Gang headquarters, the incident investigation team also set off for the sunken ancient ruins.

However, nobody would have ever imagined that this investigation would end up becoming the fuse that led to a change in all the major forces' status quo.

————

With a complex look on his face, Lin Ke stared at Forbes… or rather, at his two big butt cheeks. Lin Ke's subconsciousness told him that the fatty in front of him was an extremely dangerous person!

Someone that could stick his butt in the air anytime and anywhere was definitely a merciless person.

Treasure Hunter Rat, who was standing at the side, stretched its paws out and covered its eyes. However, there was a huge gap between its paws; it couldn't take its eyes off what it was seeing. It glanced at Forbes, and then at Lin Ke, its owner. Its tiny little eyes were filled with great puzzlement.

"What exactly is your head filled with? You can put down your clothes now!" Lin Ke shifted his gaze away from Forbes' tanned buttocks, a watery mist vaguely visible at the corners of his eyes.

It stung his eyes.

Forbes trembled violently, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

Did that mean that he didn't take an interest in me? So, I don't have any more value left in me? Am I going to be shot to death? Forbes put down his flax clothing dejectedly, two tear stains shining brightly in the sunlight on his pitch-dark face.

He turned around and dropped onto his knees with a plop. Then, he cried and pleaded. "Please give me a way out, I beg you! I'm willing to do anything!"

Lin Ke engaged the safety catch on the pistol and placed it on his bandolier before slowly walking over to Forbes. He said, "I'm also a slave, so I have no need to kill you. What are your plans after this?"

Forbes raised his head in surprise and sized up Lin Ke. There was only one word in his eyes—doubt.

The mercenaries were all big, muscular men, but the slave in front of him was so frail and skinny. Even a gust of wind could blow him off his feet. With a physique like that, how could he have possibly defeated the mercenaries and escaped?

Forbes had heard the fight taking place in the green-walled maze when he was climbing out of the jeep's trunk. In his opinion, this person in front of him must either be a mercenary or someone with a special position in the Wastelands Gang and was disguising himself as a slave to sound him out for information.

Lin Ke heaved a sigh, feeling somewhat helpless. To be honest, what he had taken an interest in was Forbes' backpack full of food.

If Forbes had been an enemy, he'd have fired the gun and killed him, without any hesitation or psychological burden whatsoever, for the treasures. However, the timid fatty was also a slave that had been suffering. His successful escape from the quicksand had been wholly dependent on luck. Lin Ke honestly couldn't bear to bring himself to rob the fatty of his supplies and abandon him here all by himself.

Moreover, he had only just escaped from a perilous area, yet he still had to brave through another danger known as the Machinery Holy Cult next. Having another person around would be an additional helping hand.

"Follow me!" Lin Ke barked fiercely at him. Then, he walked in front of him and led the way.

Forbes knelt on the ground dazedly, without reacting at all.

Treasure Hunter Rat ran behind him and stretched out its little paws to push the fatty's mountain-like body into moving. However, even after using all of its strength, there was still no reaction from Forbes whatsoever.

Treasure Hunter Rat puffed out its cheeks. It scrabbled at Forbes' clothes and ran to his neck… Then, with one paw clutching his collar, it used its other paw to tickle Forbes's neck.

Upon feeling small, sharp claws drawing across the surface of his skin, Forbes immediately regained his senses and shivered, breaking into goosebumps and dashing out quickly.

Treasure Hunter Rat was just like a knight that was currently trying to tame an irritable black wild boar with a rope in his hands. It controlled the direction in which Forbes sprinted in with his collar.

Bring him to the maze and wait for me there.

Treasure Hunter Rat rode on Forbes and ran to the maze in advance. Due to Forbes's large size, which resulted in too strong of a momentum when they turned corners, they couldn't stop in time when they came to where the mercenaries' corpses were. Thus, he ended up smashing his head into the green wall and passed out.

Treasure Hunter Rat jumped off Forbes and turned in mid-air before steadily landing on the ground in the end.

Forbes gradually came to. His vision was still very blurry when he first opened his eyes, but the scene that vaguely entered his sight shocked him wide awake at once. Cold sweat trickled down all over him. He saw that Lin Ke was cutting something with a dagger while two corpses dyed in blood laid next to him.

At once, Forbes shrank back and hid at the corner of the wall. He was extremely terrified, as if he had already imagined his own ending.

"You're awake?" Lin Ke tossed a pair of army boots over to Forbes.

Forbes received such a fright that he ducked. It was only after he rubbed his eyes that he saw that it was a pair of army boots.

After some modification—the closed round toe cap at the front was cut off—the army boots had turned into open-toed sandals.

Forbes took another look at the two corpses lying on the ground—they looked like mercenaries in both physique and appearance. The green T-shirt on the upper body of one of them had already been soaked red by blood, whereas the other corpse's upper body was straight up naked—one could clearly see the bullet holes on this body.

"Try them and see if they fit."

Forbes felt like his mind was a total mess now; he couldn't understand what was going on right now at all. He could only let himself be manipulated by someone else as though he was a puppet.

He was 'forced' to wear the army boots, which exposed all five toes on one foot.

Ermm, how should one describe this? The boot had been cut off a little too much, so his toes were a little too exposed. However, it was alright in other aspects.

"Lift your foot and let me take a look."

Forbes raised both of his feet immediately, not daring to slight Lin Ke in the least.

After looking at them for a while, Lin Ke muttered to himself, "Seems like I cut off a bit too much. I understand now!" With a dagger in his hand, he then buried himself into sawing another pair of undamaged army boots.

These army boots had belonged to the mercenaries, so the shoe sizes were relatively larger. They totally dragged against the ground when Lin Ke slipped his feet into them, making them rather inconvenient.

He was going to traverse the Gobi that was under the Machinery Holy Cult's control next. If he went barefoot, it wouldn't take long before his feet would be covered in blood.

Unlike the deserts where he could go about barefoot, rock-hard ground and broken rocks were everywhere in the Gobi.

While concentrating on cutting the boots, Lin Ke said, "I am indeed a slave, but I escaped by killing the two of them. The ancient ruins have been buried by quicksand, and the Wastelands Gang definitely won't let this matter rest. Staying in the desert is tantamount to suicide. The Gobi is the Machinery Holy Cult's territory, and that is an even more terrifying existence than the Wastelands Gang."

As he spoke, Lin Ke also sized up Forbes. He said, "They love fleshy people full of lard all over their bodies like you the most. If you're captured as a human battery, it'll be a living hell for you."

Forbes shivered and hugged himself, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

The Machinery Holy Cult capturing live humans to make them into energy batteries was something that everyone in the desert knew. The mere mention of it alone could silence babies and make them stop crying.

"I'm preparing to traverse the Gobi now and escape to the Freedom Federation's Sand City in the north. What are your plans?"

Forbes's entire mind was a puddle of goo. Back then, he had only thought of escaping the slave camp. As for what came after the escape, he hadn't given that any consideration at all.

"I-I…" He couldn't make a peep even after half a day.

After Lin Ke was done cutting the boots, he slipped his feet into them to try them out. It was just enough for his toes to extend, yet they didn't have any extra unnecessary space—they fit just right!

Lin Ke then took off one of the mercenaries' trousers. After a quick measure, he cut them into a length suitable for him. In just a few minutes, he had changed into camouflage trousers and open-toed army boots.

One had to admit that the feeling of wearing trousers and shoes really set one's heart at ease.

After being dazed for a moment, Forbes finally opened his mouth timidly and asked, "Can we cross the Gobi and safely arrive at the Freedom Federation?"

Lin Ke didn't say anymore. He got up and lifted his flax clothing. A tactical machine pistol, the Glock 17 pistol, and the two ammo clips that hung on the bandolier could be seen. He also held a dagger in his hand.

Treasure Hunter Rat stood on Lin Ke's shoulder, its two tiny little paws crossed in front of its chest and its little head tilted 45 degrees upward. They looked like the standard picture of classic, morally upright superheroes gathering.

"Alright, I'll join you!"

A brief moment later…

"Boss Lin Ke, thank you for making shoes for me."

"I should be the one thanking you. If I hadn't used you to experiment a little, how could I have made army boots that fit so well?"