Chapter 50: He's Been Cold for Three Days

"Selling things, you say."

Nick Young leaned closer to take a look. "There are quite a few places in Pancake Town where you can sell things. But I recommend you go to San Francisco Tavern to peddle your goods. They don't ask where things come from, they are quite trustworthy, and they basically buy anything."

Xu Wang nodded, put away the mechanical green eye, and memorized the name of the bar.

If he was going to live in the wasteland from now on, the trash he scavenged would definitely need to be unloaded somewhere.

Therefore, a reliable sales channel was truly important.

"Come over this way. I'll take you for a tour around Pancake Town first."

Nick Young was really doing a great job fulfilling his duties as a "novice village guide NPC."

Xu Wang led Tiezhu, following right behind Nick Young, watching and quietly listening to Nick Young's introduction.

It didn't take long for the two of them and the dog to make a full circle around Pancake Town.

This small town was even smaller than Xu Wang had imagined.

Calling it a town was more like a housing estate from the pre-war era.

The total resident population settled here barely exceeded a thousand.

It didn't even have as many residents as a single modern apartment complex.

"Our Pancake Town is a member of the New Alliance Government, so a certain level of order is barely maintained here. Although it can't compare to a fallout shelter, it is much better than other places in the wasteland."

By this time, Nick Young had already led Xu Wang onto the main street of Pancake Town.

He casually found an iron barrel stool outside a sheet-metal house and sat down. After briefly introducing the distribution of buildings in Pancake Town, he began to explain the administrative situation of the town to Xu Wang.

Information like this was extremely important to Xu Wang, who had just arrived.

After sitting down, Nick Young saw that Xu Wang was still standing and offered a friendly reminder, "You don't need to walk anymore. Have a seat and rest for a bit too."

"Oh!"

Since Nick Young had said so, Xu Wang found a spot to sit down as well.

He very naturally sat right on Nick Young's lap.

He sat bolt upright, with his back straight, facing away from Nick Young.

After all, there wasn't a second stool around, and Xu Wang figured he understood Nick Young's subtext.

???

Feeling the body heat coming from his lap and staring only at Xu Wang's broad back, Nick Young was utterly shocked!

Scavengers on both sides of the street were already casting strange glances in their direction.

Anxious to the extreme, Nick Young's face turned somewhat pale!

He frantically slapped Xu Wang's back and said urgently, "Get up! Get up! That's not how you sit!"

"Oh."

Having just arrived, Xu Wang behaved very obediently.

When Nick Young told him to get up, he obediently got up.

Just as Nick Young finally managed to heave a sigh of relief, he saw Xu Wang turn around and sit right back down on his lap, face-to-face.

Still maintaining that stiff, bolt-upright posture.

∑(っ°Д°;)っ！！！

Looking at Xu Wang, who was inches away, Nick Young was scared out of his wits!

This was even more terrifying than before!

If he had known, he wouldn't have given that reminder in the first place!

Why did it feel like residents of the fallout shelter had a mental state even more concerning than his own?!

Nick Young simply couldn't accept this kind of face-to-face proximity with another man, so he hastily pushed Xu Wang away and stood up.

Seeing Nick Young stand up, Xu Wang straightened his clothes and leisurely sat down on the only iron barrel stool available.

Handsome, tall, and straight-backed, Xu Wang sat on the stool.

Nick Young stood beside him with a panicked expression and a hunched posture.

This scene looked precisely like a wealthy young master and his butler.

Nick Young finally recovered somewhat and looked at Xu Wang speechlessly. "If you wanted to sit on my stool, you could have just told me! What on earth were you trying to achieve by scaring me like that?"

Xu Wang gracefully trimmed his fingernails and replied without lifting his head, "For fun."

"Fine, you're amazing. I yield."

Nick Young sighed, sat directly on the ground beside him, and continued his introduction, "Although the public security in Pancake Town is passable, you still need to prepare yourself to die at any moment. People die in the wasteland every day, and Pancake Town is no exception."

"That's wonderful! I'm looking forward to it."

Hearing this, Xu Wang immediately responded with excitement.

Nick Young opened his mouth, acted as if he hadn't heard Xu Wang's remark, and continued, "However, you don't need to worry too much; our mayor is a very capable person."

"Ever since he took office, the crime rate in Pancake Town has dropped for three consecutive months. I even got to keep a sheep of my own."

"I believe that as long as you work hard, under the mayor's leadership, you will definitely lead a good life in Pancake Town. That's what the people from the New Alliance Government always advertise."

"Pardon me, let me interrupt for a second. The mayor you're talking about—is he a man around one meter seventy-six tall, wearing a striped suit and sporting a mustache?"

Xu Wang raised his hand once again to interrupt Nick Young's speech.

Nick Young had originally wanted to lose his temper, but upon hearing those words, he grew suspicious. "That's right. Do you know the mayor?"

"No, I just saw him. He's right over there, and his sleep quality seems quite good."

Xu Wang pointed across the street.

Nick Young looked in the direction of Xu Wang's finger.

At the entrance of the alley, the mayor was lying completely pale and motionless, stiff as a board!

Dirty water had soaked his suit, and swarms of small flies buzzed continually around the mayor's corpse.

"The mayor? The mayor! The MAYOR!!!"

Nick Young was first stunned.

When his crashed brain finally managed to resume functioning, nothing remained except absolute shock!

"Are you calling his soul back? The mayor has been dead for three days, you idiot!"

An elderly woman carrying a wooden log walked past, casting a very disdainful glance at the overreacting Nick Young.

At this moment, Nick Young was still in a daze.

He seemed unable to accept the fact that the mayor, who had been doing such a fine job, had abruptly died.

Even more absurdly—

The mayor of Pancake Town had been dead for three days.

Yet this wasteland town went about its business as usual, and nobody even bothered to investigate the cause of the mayor's death.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Right at that moment, several stray dogs ran out from the street corners and alleys.

The stray dogs surrounded the mayor's corpse in a pack and proceeded to drag him away.

Throughout the entire process, the surrounding people didn't even spare the mayor's body a single glance.

Everything was treated as utterly commonplace.

"What a truly kind mayor—still feeding stray dogs even after death. Truly, he's got me weeping tears of gratitude!"

Xu Wang had also witnessed that scene, and to show his respect, he let out a fake, exaggerated howl.

"It's over, completely over. This world is beyond saving. I thought that once the New Alliance arrived, we'd finally have a good life, but it's no different than before!"

Nick Young shook his head with a dejected expression, though he quickly adjusted his mindset. Looking at Xu Wang, he said, "See that? This is the wasteland. Even the mayor of a town can die without a sound."

"How come you feel more like a blind mole rat than I do? You'd better hurry up and tell me where I can sleep and where I can find a job suited for me."

Xu Wang grew somewhat annoyed by Nick Young's dawdling manner and muttered as if he were about to unbuckle his belt to throw a tantrum.

Nick Young hastily pressed down on Xu Wang's hand and sped up his speech. "Places to live are easy to find. There are three options."

"First, buy a house in Pancake Town or rent a place to live. But that costs quite a bit of money. The cheapest room still costs 350 coins a month."

"Second, find an inn to stay temporarily. For example, the San Francisco Tavern I mentioned earlier—their worst room is 20 coins a night."

"Third, sleep anywhere in the streets and alleys, but safety and privacy are not guaranteed. You might fall asleep today and never see tomorrow's sun."

Upon hearing that final option, Xu Wang's eyes lit up!

The best answer was already laid out right in front of him—did he even need to choose?!

With a plan forming in his mind, Xu Wang asked again, "What about jobs then? How does everyone earn coins here?"