Chapter 1

"Alarm, alarm... Unknown powerful electromagnetic interference!"

On the touch control screen, dozens of red lights were flashing wildly, and the sweet artificial female voice was clearly filled with panic.

Qu Jianlei, in his pajamas, stared in disbelief at the scene. "Faraday cage... There's a frequency band missing?"

Immediately after, he felt a blackout before his eyes and lost consciousness.

The next moment, he felt a chill and suddenly woke up, with a splitting headache.

"Am I dreaming of returning to China again?" Qu Jianlei sighed inwardly and slowly opened his eyes.

His vision was a bit dim, and he couldn't see clearly where he was for a moment.

However, why were his hands and feet tied up?

Was it a robbery, or... a sexual assault?

If it was a robbery, he had been poor for six years since he crossed over, and the other party's judgment was terrible.

If it was a sexual assault, the original body he possessed wasn't bad-looking, but... it was too weak.

However, there was no doubt that he was still in the wasteland, the land he secretly called "the wasteland."

As his vision gradually adjusted to the dim environment, he vaguely saw a hanging white object.

Focusing his gaze, he was almost frightened out of his wits. Those white objects... were human limbs!

Dissected... human bodies? For a moment, he felt his hair stand on end.

Was he captured by the Fallen?

The Fallen... were mutated humans who ate people.

This wasteland had been polluted by something, and there were many mutants among the survivors, but not many who ate people!

When Qu Jianlei first crossed over, he knew about the existence of the Fallen, but he had never seen one.

The back of his head ached again, but it wasn't the usual internal pain; it was the pain of an external injury, and he felt a bit dizzy.

He had been hit with a blunt object! Qu Jianlei made the judgment.

So, before being hit with a blunt object... what was I doing? How could I be so careless?

He tried hard to recall the fragments of his life after crossing over, and scenes flashed through his mind one by one.

Every time he dreamed of returning to China, he would review his experiences to calm himself down—his OCD was incurable.

The original body he possessed was also named Qu Jianlei, an orphan around eight or nine years old, not very smart, and died of cold and hunger.

The original body left him no grudges, but it was also someone everyone could bully.

After crossing over, Qu Jianlei had some ideas for making money, but for him, being weak, wealth was a sin.

Now, he was a cart driver, making a living by transporting garbage for others.

The wasteland had large garbage dumps, where he could always find useful things to repurpose.

Many survivors relied on the garbage dumps for food.

Qu Jianlei had also tried to find good things in the garbage dumps, but unfortunately, he was too weak.

He couldn't compete for territory, and even when he managed to find something decent in a corner, it would always be taken away by others.

No matter how well he hid it, it was useless.

So, he decided to make a tricycle and help the scavengers transport the garbage they collected.

Not all scavengers were willing to pay for transportation, and Qu Jianlei went through several years of hunger and fullness.

However, the good thing was that everyone knew he didn't make much money, so the number of times he was robbed decreased significantly.

But it wasn't zero.

This time... he thought carefully, he was knocked out while transporting garbage.

The person who hired him was a scavenger who had only been in the garbage dump for less than a year and was usually very frugal.

This time, the person seemed to have found something good and was willing to pay to hire his homemade tricycle.

Qu Jianlei was very hungry and asked for a tube of nutritional agent as payment, which he took on the spot before starting work.

However, after not going far, he felt a shock to his head and lost consciousness.

Little did he know, he had been captured by the Fallen! Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh, "Sigh."

It's over, like Liu Laolao entering the Grand View Garden—more trouble than it's worth.

His sigh had just escaped when a soft exclamation came from not far away, "Is... it Dumb Qu?"

Qu Jianlei turned his head to look. A few meters away, a dark figure was curled up on the ground.

However, the voice was not unfamiliar, "Rogers?"

Rogers was one of the few people who didn't bully him, but their relationship... wasn't particularly good.

He was a year or two younger than Qu Jianlei and had almost died of cold and hunger. Qu Jianlei had saved him with a bowl of hot water and half a tube of nutritional agent.

They had relied on each other for a while, but Rogers' betrayal had left Qu Jianlei severely beaten.

Afterward, he only said, "Dumb Qu, I just want to live better."

Their friendship had ended, and Rogers had successfully joined a small gang, now much stronger than Qu Jianlei.

But he had never bullied Qu Jianlei. When he saw others bullying him, he didn't stop them, but he never did it himself.

Qu Jianlei had initially hated him a lot, but later... the hatred had faded.

In the wasteland, everyone had their own principles.

Rogers sighed, "Dumb Qu, are you still hating me?"

"Dumb Qu?" Qu Jianlei snorted coldly, unwilling to say anything more.

Who used to call me "Brother Qu" all the time? Thanks for showing me the evil of human nature.

"Dumb Qu, we're about to die, what can't you let go of?" Rogers asked indifferently.

"I really regret not being as smart as you. Otherwise... I would have lived a hundred times better!"

"Hmph," Qu Jianlei snorted again. Living a hundred times better? Your IQ is really touching!

Rogers didn't think there was anything wrong with his words, "Just join any organization, and you can show your value."

What value? Do you know what "eating and wiping clean" means? Qu Jianlei didn't even bother to respond.

It's impossible to communicate well with these low-IQ beings.

Fortunately, during the time they spent together, he had kept many secrets, or he might not have survived these six years.

"Still hating me? Suit yourself," Rogers didn't care much.

He chuckled, "Do you know why we're still alive?"

"I don't," Qu Jianlei replied indifferently. He didn't really want to know the answer; he just didn't want to seem too different.

If the other party wanted to say it, he didn't mind listening.

"It's because the Fallen want to 'feed on flesh,'" Rogers laughed, his voice full of schadenfreude.

"Aren't you trying to hold onto some principles? Dumb Qu, I'm asking you... will you eat human flesh?"

Qu Jianlei was silent for a long time before he finally asked, "So... have you eaten it?"

"Of course I have!" Rogers answered without hesitation.

The next moment, he became agitated, "Whether I've eaten it or not, it's none of your business... don't think you're any better than me!"

"Living! Living is the most important thing!"

Eating human flesh... that can never be a friend! Qu Jianlei had already made up his mind.

But he didn't bother to say anything to this idiot.

After a long silence, he suddenly spoke, "Actually, you haven't eaten human flesh, right?"

Rogers was silent, and after a few seconds, he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Do you know? I really hate your self-righteous attitude."

"You know everything, don't you? Then why didn't you know that the Fallen were going to catch you?"

"I'm just more familiar with you," Qu Jianlei replied indifferently. "So now... do you want to die?"

"I want to live, not die!" Rogers answered quickly. "I'm just arguing with you because I'm not convinced!"

"Brother... Qu, I don't want to die. You must have a way, right?"

"I don't have a way," Qu Jianlei replied calmly. "Just wait for rescue."

The Fallen are the common enemy of all survivors in the wasteland.

Even if people are at odds with each other, they will unite without hesitation when faced with the Fallen.

The reason is simple: the Fallen not only eat people but can also absorb the mutated genes from human bodies.

In short, the more they eat, the stronger they become.

This evil existence is intolerable to everyone, and the survivors have zero tolerance for the Fallen.

So, the rescue he mentioned might really exist.

"Bullshit rescue!" Rogers snorted, his emotions extremely unstable.

Then he laughed bitterly, "Brother... Qu, do you know? I've been captured for three days. Where's the rescue?"

"Three days, and they haven't even given me a bite of human flesh, saying I'm too strong. But you might get to eat it earlier..."

At the end, he seemed to think of something amusing and actually laughed.

Worried about attracting the Fallen's attention, his laughter wasn't loud, but it sounded evil.

So insecure? Qu Jianlei couldn't help but sigh, "I never thought I would cause you so much psychological pressure."

"Stop being fake!" Rogers couldn't help but roar softly.

But the next moment, he pleaded, "Brother... Qu, save me."

"Saving you is also saving yourself. Do you want to eat human flesh or be eaten by the Fallen?"

He switched roles very naturally, and Qu Jianlei wasn't surprised.

In the wasteland, who doesn't wear multiple masks?

But the next moment, a doubt arose in his mind: Could this be a trap for me?

In other words, there might be no Fallen, just some people interested in his secrets.

So they set up this trap, with Rogers playing his part.

This possibility really exists. The wasteland is a place where interests are paramount.

And Rogers knew a bit about his extraordinary nature.

Qu Jianlei took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

He knew very well that the best choice was to refuse the other party or pretend not to hear.

I haven't even figured out my own secrets. At this critical moment, shouldn't I focus on my own survival?

However, although he knew this was the right choice, he couldn't control himself.

Because... he had a problem!