Chapter Content
Rolling heat waves scorched the Ash-Stone Ground. Amidst the Garbage Ruins piled high like mountains, several Gray-Skinned Lizards darted nimbly through the shadows. The roar of engines echoed in the air, and a massive shadow slowly spread over the area.
Immense gusts of wind whipped up clouds of dust that filled the sky. The Giant God Transport Type 3 Spaceship, a million-ton class vessel, was mockingly referred to by the Scavengers as the Colossus Garbage Truck.
The blue flames within the massive propulsion engines on both sides gradually died down. The thrusters slowly rotated, pointing their nozzles toward the ground as the ship entered hover mode.
Hum!
The alloy baffles beneath the hull slowly opened, and countless pieces of trash poured down. It seemed truly endless, taking a full half-hour to finish dumping, eventually forming a brand new Garbage Mountain.
In the shadows of a Garbage Mountain not far away, a few Gray-Skinned Lizards raised their heads. Their narrow, bestial eyes were filled with greed. A new Garbage Mountain meant new food.
Splat!
A black leather boot slammed down, crushing a Gray-Skinned Lizard renowned for its agility underfoot. In an instant, green blood oozed out. The remaining Gray-Skinned Lizards vanished in the blink of an eye.
A figure bent down. Fingers wrapped in white cloth strips pinched a bit of the green blood and smeared it over his dry lips.
Rumble!
Blazing purple flames erupted. The Colossus Garbage Truck pulled a white contrail behind it and disappeared into the horizon.
"Master, Master, the garbage truck has left! We should head over..."
A one-eyed robot let out an excited voice. It was less than a meter tall, with a single wheel supporting its dilapidated inverted-triangle mechanical body, missing one arm.
This was a shelter built within the Garbage Mountain, welded together from discarded iron sheets. It was not large, measuring only about sixty square feet.
On the roof, a young man lowered the Single-Barrel Telescope in his hand. Although his shirt looked quite worn, it had been washed clean and faded almost to white.
"The Colossus Garbage Truck. That is a massive cake, and those greedy hounds won't miss out on it."
Li Yu jumped down steadily from the roof and casually tossed the Single-Barrel Telescope into a Garbage Pile.
The Garbage Mountain itself was the best safe deposit box, as long as one remembered the combination.
"But... Claptrap has been missing an arm for a long time, and Cleanup Day is approaching. You also need to pay the Protection Fee to temporarily leave this place..." Claptrap let out a sad voice.
"Exactly how did your emotion module learn all this?" Even though it had been nearly ten days since he transmigrated, Li Yu still felt speechless toward this highly emotional robot.
"Master, you were the one who scavenged my emotion module for me! Claptrap was happy for several days because of it." Claptrap spun in a circle around Li Yu, suddenly becoming extremely excited again.
Li Yu ignored the erratic robot and pondered inwardly.
'Cleanup Day is almost here. All the trash will be recycled by Opto-Electric Technology. To temporarily leave this place, paying the Protection Fee is the only way...'
'There should be quite a few good things in this Garbage Pile, likely worth a lot. However, those few guys nearby are not easy to deal with. To get a piece of the pie, I'm afraid I can only rely on my cheat to see if it pulls through...'
With a slight stir in his mind, a screen that only Li Yu could see appeared before his eyes.
[Host: Li Yu]
[Avatar Count: 1 (Deploying)]
As a transmigrator, this was his means of survival. He could deploy his Avatars to countless worlds and earn rewards based on their survival duration and actions. However, his own consciousness seemingly could not follow them over.
[Transformers World: Avatar Survival Time - 7 Days]
[Route Selection: Approach the Protagonist]
[Day 1: As an Undocumented Person in New York City, you were successfully arrested and treated as a Stowaway.]
[Day 2: Detention life is always dull...]
[Day 3: The soap on the ground was full of temptation, but you successfully Guarded the Chrysanthemum.]
[Acquired Title: Chrysanthemum Guardian]
Damn it!
Li Yu flipped through the log. Every time he saw the entry for the third day, it gave him the speechless urge to question the heavens.
[Day 4: Your conversational style did not resemble a Stowaway, thus catching the eye of a Gang Underling who befriended you.]
[Day 5: You chatted with him, mentioning that you were a subordinate of Brother Chen, sent over to expand the 'flour' sales channels.]
[Due to your nonsensical behavior, you have acquired a Normal Talent: [Act Randomly].]
On the fifth day, due to the Avatar's bullshit behavior, he acquired an absurd talent. While others would act according to the situation, it had become [Act Randomly] for him.
[Day 6: The Underling believed your words and informed his Boss behind the scenes. The Boss was furious, believing you actually dared to steal his business, and bailed you out.]
Yesterday, when Li Yu saw this summary, his heart instantly went half-cold. How did this Avatar fail to learn even a fraction of his own low-profile humility?
[Day 7: The Gang Boss met you and tortured you half to death. You finally revealed that you lied and that there was no such person as Brother Chen. Humiliated and enraged, the Gang Boss sealed both you and the Underling in cement.]
When he scrolled to the bottom of the log, a new entry had just refreshed. The timing was a bit early, as the log usually updated at midnight.
Looking closely, Li Yu understood. It turned out the Avatar had died... Damn it, in the Transformers World, he hadn't seen Optimus Prime, nor had he seen Megatron. He hadn't seen anything at all before just dropping dead like that.
How could it be this ridiculous...
[Avatar has died. Recycling in Progress. Survival time: 7 days... Reward Settlement in Progress...]
[Based on the comprehensive evaluation, acquired Normal Talent - [Act Randomly]: Your behavioral style leaves both enemies and friends entirely puzzled.]
[Acquired White Title - Chrysanthemum Guardian: Equippable Title. The chrysanthemum remains unbroken by soap.]
[Survival Milestone Reward... Novice bonus applied. Reward temporarily upgraded. Acquired D-rank Magnetic-Energy Ion Sniper Rifle with 20 rounds of ammunition. Novice bonus consumed.]
[Avatar on cooldown. Can be deployed again in 24 hours...]
Fortunately, he got something powerful at the end, thanks to the novice bonus.
A large purple gun, standing as tall as a person, materialized in his hands. It flickered with a crystalline glow all over. Its cold, metallic texture, however, made Li Yu's palms feel hot. The magazine was very long, but it held only twenty rounds; it wasn't infinite ammunition.
The smart scope was capable of magnifying a hundred times. Beneath the barrel were four stabilizing struts. The bullets it fired could tear through heavy armor a kilometer away, yet it produced no recoil whatsoever.
"Wow, what a handsome sniper rifle!" Claptrap exclaimed excitedly.
Li Yu weighed the heavy sniper rifle in his hands. Watching the erratic artificial idiot, a few ideas gradually surfaced in his mind.
"Claptrap, come here..." Li Yu called out.
"My dear Master, Claptrap is coming!" Claptrap rolled over in a flash, its broken single arm waving excitedly.
Li Yu muttered a few words softly beside Claptrap.
After listening, Claptrap's single eye abruptly turned scarlet, radiating murderous intent. "No problem! Claptrap fully obeys Master's commands and is already prepared for a massacre!"
............
A battered radio emitted a crackling static. Inside a half-open refrigerator sat half a plate of unfinished pizza. The Titan Motorcycle, having been almost snapped in half from an impact, looked like it could only be sold as scrap metal.
Accompanied by the clinking of chains, four blood-colored hounds, standing half a person tall and drooling foul, viscous saliva, dashed out from a nearby Garbage Pile.
Their twitching noses tracked the scent of decay as they advanced. All four chains were held in the hands of a fat giant.
He was over two meters tall. The fat on his face squeezed his eyes into the size of mung beans. He wore ragged, flared overalls, making him look completely ridiculous.
The ferocious hounds let out low growls, their bestial eyes filled with tyranny. One slightly stronger lead hound suddenly stopped. Twisting its savage head like a wary wolf, it glared at the master of the chains.
Crack!
The master of the chains violently whipped the tethers. The spike-wrapped chains lashed across the four hounds, leaving behind several grisly wounds.
The other three whined incessantly. Only the lead hound that had turned its head remained completely motionless. As the corners of its mouth twitched, viscous saliva dripped down along its razor-sharp teeth.
"Brainless beasts!" the fat man cursed angrily. Reluctantly, he pulled a chunk of rotting meat, faintly squirming with maggots, from a large sack hanging around his neck and threw it out.
The moment the carrion appeared, it instantly drew the attention of the four Hyenas. Their tongues, covered in fleshy barbs, licked the edges of their mouths repeatedly.
The fat man tossed the rotten meat away, and the four Hyenas lunged forward immediately. However, just as they were about to touch the meat, the chains pulled taut. The combined strength of the four Hyenas was unable to resist the fat man pulling the chains with a single hand.
It wasn't until the lead hound unwillingly returned to the fat man's side, lowering its head in submissiveness, that he finally loosened his grip on the chains.
The four Hyenas impatiently devoured the carrion, with the lead hound claiming the largest portion.
Scavenging wasn't necessarily a terrible chore. In fact, for those with some degree of skill, it could even be considered a lucrative job.
"White shirt, this isn't something you can lay your hands on. Go back to your doghouse."
Li Yu had just squeezed out from a gap in the Garbage Pile when he heard a voice that grated like rubbing iron sheets.
A pair of Horqin Scimitars were polished to a brilliant shine. The blades crossed over each other, occasionally reflecting the blinding sunlight.
The man leaned against a wardrobe, casting a careless glance over Li Yu. The tobacco turned bright red before a final puff of smoke was exhaled from the mouthpiece, drifting to a stop not far from Li Yu.
"Dual-Blade Kull..." Li Yu narrowed his eyes. There were a few rather famous figures among the Scavengers nearby.
Dual-Blade Kull was one of them. His paired blades were forged from a special alloy, making him highly renowned among the Scavengers.
Rumor had it that he possessed F+ Rank strength, two entire levels higher than Li Yu's F- Rank, and was only a step away from the Non-human threshold.
Applying light pressure with his back, Kull rebounded off the wardrobe. The twin blades spun around his fingers and crossed once again. The masterful technique made Li Yu secretly applaud.
"Old Lu just died; you don't need to be in such a rush to follow him." Kull was not young; his full beard was already turning white. His whole being resembled weathered rock—decayed yet sturdy.
Li Yu's former self had someone who could be considered half a father to him. When Li Yu was forced to come here a year ago due to certain circumstances, it was Old Lu who had helped him.
Although their time together was brief, because Li Yu was about the same age as Old Lu's deceased son, the older man had treated him exceptionally well.
Old Lu had a decent reputation among the Scavengers, but some time ago, an accident occurred, and he died.
There was no such thing as camaraderie among Scavengers. They were all predatory hounds, ready to devour anyone. Facing the now isolated and helpless Li Yu, many planned to see just how much wealth Old Lu had left behind.
"Roar!"
A low growl abruptly echoed from the side. Kull's pupils shrank. He immediately sidestepped and retreated, wielding his scimitars in a reverse grip. Crossing his hands, the blades flashed. Clang! Amidst a shower of sparks, a massive figure leapt back.
It crouched on the ground, its front claws tearing deep grooves into the dirt as a low rumble vibrated in its throat.
"Dog King, control your hound!" Kull shouted furiously. The fat man dragged the other three Hyenas out from the shadows.
Dog King... another big name.
Li Yu's expression grew solemn. It was rumored that Dog King's four Hyenas were no ordinary beasts. They had been fed expired Enhancement Potions. The lead hound in particular had undergone a mutation and possessed formidable strength.
Just the claws of the lead hound were enough to physically resist Kull's double blades. Because of this, Dog King faintly held the title of the number one Scavenger.
Dog King, as massive as a mountain of flesh, looked down on everything before him. "Kull, my hounds are my friends. Who ever heard of controlling a friend?"
The giant Hyena paced back and forth, its gaze sweeping past Kull, who exuded a dangerous aura. Naturally, the sheep-like Li Yu drew its attention instead.
A chill rose in his heart. Li Yu unconsciously hunched his body slightly and drew a Short Sword from his back. However, it wasn't made from any special material, making it no match for Kull's double blades.
"Old Lu's son? What a coincidence... I hadn't even gone looking for you yet..." Dog King's mung-bean-sized eyes fell onto Li Yu.
The chains rattled in his hands. The other three Hyenas suppressed their brutal killing intent. He spoke, sounding as if he were muttering to himself, yet also addressing Li Yu.
"A year ago, Old Lu killed one of my pups, so I'll kill his Son of a Dog. That's not an unreasonable trade, right?"
Violent killing intent surged in his mung-bean-sized eyes, quickly becoming bloodshot. He suddenly flew into a rage, his entire body trembling. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for me to find a suitable pup?!"
"Roar!"
The lead Hyena crouching on the ground was already impatient. It lunged forward fiercely, its speed blindingly fast.
Li Yu's eyes narrowed. He had already raised his hand, forming the gesture for the number eight, mimicking a pistol, and pointed it directly at the incoming predatory hound.
However, a dark figure suddenly charged in from an angle, forcefully slamming the Hyena straight into the Garbage Pile. Bottles and cans tumbled down, shattering into a floor of glass shards.
The Hyena shook its head and struggled to its feet, appearing somewhat dazed.
Pressing down on his dark brown cowboy hat, the man had one arm entirely wrapped in white cloth strips and the other shoved into his pocket. The only relatively clean things on his entire body were his black leather shoes.
A trace of apprehension flashed through Dog King's tiny eyes. He tugged at the chains in his hand. "Hunter, you want to get involved?"
Beneath the brim of the cowboy hat, one could vaguely make out those sharp eyes and a greasy black mustache. "Dog King, you want revenge, but I need to repay a favor. Old Lu saved my life..."
"Haha..." Dog King burst into laughter, his whole body of fat jiggling. Even the finger pointing at Hunter was trembling. "Look here, we actually have a decent human among us! A vulture that survives by chasing rotting flesh is actually talking about repaying a favor."
A few more figures popped up nearby, all of them named Scavengers. The Colossus Garbage Truck didn't come often, but because it carried trash from the wealthy districts, its every arrival sparked a Bloody Battle among the Scavengers.
There was Widow, who used sparse strips of cloth to cover her vital areas. She had an alluring figure, but her face was pitted and covered in scars—reportedly caused by her abusive husband from the wealthy district. Her voice was hoarse, a result of swallowing glass.
"Does this greenhorn want a piece of the pie too?"
The balance of power here hadn't changed in a long time. There were only a few who got to divide the cake left by the Colossus Garbage Truck. Old Lu used to be one of them.
"That depends on our Great Good Person here," Dog King sneered, already letting go of the four chains in his hands.
Hunter slowly shook his head, holding his cowboy hat as he stepped to the side. "Blocking your dog for him just now already counts as repaying the favor."
His face was calm, completely devoid of guilt.
Li Yu shot him a speechless glance. 'That counts as repaying the favor? Isn't that a bit of a stretch?'
"Well then, Son of a Dog, do you have any last words?"
Dog King was exceptionally thrilled, as if he could already envision Li Yu being torn to shreds. The four Hyenas moved in from four different directions to corner him. The scraping of chains against the ground sounded like the approaching footsteps of the grim reaper.
The surrounding Scavengers were indifferent, their gazes utterly devoid of emotion.
Li Yu formed his hands into the "eight" gesture, then slowly raised them. The crowd finally realized that it wasn't just a number eight, but a gun shape. He was using his hands as a gun.
"Haha..." Dog King stared blankly for a moment, then began laughing so hard he rocked back and forth, clutching his stomach until tears streamed down his face.
"Son of a Dog, are you trying to kill me with your hands?"
Li Yu looked around, his arms extended, and spoke his first words to the crowd.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"
With every 'bang,' he jerked his index finger upward. After voicing the fourth one, he blew on his fingertip as if clearing away non-existent smoke.
The Scavengers frowned at first, but then their eyes widened. They gulped hard, as if witnessing something completely incomprehensible.
From left to right, the four Hyenas surrounding Li Yu were blasted away as if they had been rammed by an invisible freight train. Their entire bodies were torn apart before they could even let out a whimper, spilling foul blood all over the ground.
Crucially, all of this had happened in mere seconds. Before anyone could react, the very Hyenas that had helped Dog King forge his fierce reputation had been reduced to scattered chunks of meat on the ground.
Dog King's mung-bean-sized eyes bulged. Staring at the shredded corpses before him, his lips trembled as he spat out a few words:
"How... how could this..."
Hunter pulled his hat brim down further and quietly retreated into the shadows. The other Scavengers mirrored his actions.
Sniper. They all thought of this possibility simultaneously. They stared at the youth in the center, bewildered as to how anyone in this junkyard could have acquired a sniper rifle.
Dog King seemed unable to believe that all his hounds were dead. His gaze remained hollow and dazed until Li Yu lowered his hands, at which point he suddenly moved.
With an agility highly incongruous with his massive frame, he leapt backward and hid in the shadows. Plunging into a Garbage Pile, he sought to obscure the sniper's line of sight.
His previous shock had been entirely faked to lower Li Yu's guard. He knew Li Yu's finger gestures were some sort of signal, which was why he waited for the boy's hands to drop.
He naturally understood that capturing or killing Li Yu outright was the best option, but he didn't dare gamble on whether his speed could beat a sniper pulling the trigger.
'As long as I can hide!'
Dog King's gargantuan body smashed through countless piles of trash. Profuse sweat poured from his fleshy frame. His eyes were ablaze with fury and a burgeoning plan for revenge.
Li Yu's reaction was quite nonchalant. He wasn't surprised by the sudden movement, because to him, it made no difference.
Claptrap would strictly and mercilessly snipe anyone who threatened his life.
He raised his hand and aimed his index finger at the spot where Dog King had disappeared.
"Do you not know about something called infrared vision?"
His index finger jerked up silently. A bullet, invisible to the naked eye, tore through the countless layers of garbage in front of Dog King and slammed accurately into his body.
On top of the highest Garbage Mountain nearby, resting on a few scrap iron racks, the purple sniper rifle was mounted. Several frayed wires extended from Claptrap's body, plugging directly into the sniper scope's interface.
"A hit, wooohoo!" It shook with excitement, incredibly overjoyed.
A moment later, accompanied by a heavy thud, everyone knew that Dog King had fallen, even though no one could see it.
Suddenly, a dumbfounded sensation washed over them. Dog King, whom they all viewed as a formidable rival, had just died. He had died here, just like that, effortlessly.
Li Yu scanned the crowd. Their appearances and outfits varied wildly, but their only commonality was that they were all filled with wariness and hostility. He knew he had just become public enemy number one.
But this was an inevitable outcome. No one would maintain a friendly attitude toward someone who could take their life at any moment.
The moment he revealed the sniper rifle's existence, this treatment was guaranteed.
But... who cared?
Among Scavengers, fists were the only absolute law!
"Everyone, no need to thank me. Now there's one less person to share the cake," Li Yu said, leaping out of the gory remains of the Hyenas, doing his best to keep his hard-earned shoes free from bloodstains.
For a moment, no one spoke. This group of Scavengers exchanged frequent glances, but not a single one was willing to step out of the shadows.
Even knowing that hiding wouldn't stop the hidden sniper from aiming at them, they still couldn't bring themselves to abandon this tiny shred of false security.
"Forget it. If you guys don't want to come out, I'll just go scavenge for trash by myself." Li Yu shrugged and walked toward the "massive cake" in the distance.
His eyes instantly zeroed in on the two pieces of a Titan Motorcycle halfway up the mountain. It seemed to have been in a terrible crash, almost completely snapped in half.
The design of the Titan Motorcycle was highly exaggerated, featuring two massive wheel hubs that were a full meter in diameter. Just these two alloy-forged hubs alone could be sold for 5,000 Star Coins.
If one encountered an idiot who hadn't dismantled the Zeus Engine inside, it would be worth 100,000 Star Coins.
However, such idiots were clearly rare. As soon as Li Yu climbed near it, he saw a massive hole near the rear wheel hub; the engine inside this Titan Motorcycle had already been removed.
Skillfully pulling out a toolkit from his back, Li Yu began dismantling. Having followed Old Lu for a long time, he had a pretty good understanding of which materials still held value.
It wasn't until Li Yu had completely removed the two wheel hubs that the Scavengers in the shadows cautiously stepped out.
Hunter pressed the brim of his hat out of habit. Feigning nonchalance, his gaze swept over several high vantage points nearby in an attempt to discover something.